Apr 30, 2010

Botanical Gardens

Yesterday, I was waiting for a client at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens so I took the opportunity to photograph some of the luscious scenery.



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Apr 28, 2010

Young Artists

I am very fortunate to be friends with many artistic fellows, especially my two close buddies Yudi Lewis and Yossi Belkin.

Yudi the brownish reddish head, is a phenomenal poet and great and deep observer of life. I posted some of his poetry for you to experience your self.

Yossi, I know many people confuse us. We look alike. We have gotten it numerous times. He is a unbelievable graphic designer. Click the here to view his amazing work.

These are shot with a film camera, Minolta SLR with a 50mm 1.7 on Fujicolor 400 roll.


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Homage to My Soul, By Yudi Lewis

The silence is more engulfing then the noise of your discontent
More frightening then the dogs barking at my heel
The gap increases
But the feeling grows
At times it tumbles out of my shaking hands and beyond my control
Your hold is strong and deep
Stalking the very shadows of my troubled sleep
My eyes are not Claptons guitar...They cannot weep
Once again I am left confounded
Surrounded by insecurities long gone and buried
They swoosh by fast echoing their sentiments of the past
When we like ordinary people donned our public masks
When we were chaste
And now the time…the time…
It wastes…

Le Poisson Rouge, By Yudi Lewis

Its hard to write a poem
though its all i want to do sometimes
just sit and write
write all day
write through stormy, cloudy, chilly,
warm, and snowy
fast and slow
short and long
summer winter days.

Sometimes I try to capture a dude on the train
sometimes I try to word a couple frolicking in the park
I look for the simple ironies in day to day life
I look at the stereotypes and try to dissect them
as if they were a frog in bio class..

Most people, I have little doubt see this as a fruitless task..
I mean who hasn't tried to capture something as obvious as that..

I want to personalize the world
I want to..
I want to "Carpe diem"

I want to step outside, and inhale the rich Brooklyn air
A mixture of cold pavement
wet leaves
A unidentifiable home cooked meal..
breath it in to the core of my sometimes broken self..

I want to self medicate off the city that never sleeps.
I once asked a a shoeless philosopher on the corner of Bleecker Street
between Sullivan St & Thompson St,
I asked this man in his large tattered jacket
a felt hat at his feet
what is your secret?
by what rules do you live your life?

He looked at me with what i could swore was a twinkle in his eye
flashed a toothless grin
as if mocking the preppy white kid asking his advice
the ultimate full circle, no doubt a reason to laugh ..

Then he spoke and said;
my advice?!
my advice to you;
never give up.
never stop fighting.
never ever give up.
you have a dream?
you go out there and fight for it.

It was an answer i expected
the privileged snob that I am
I robbed him even of that.

Apr 27, 2010

Children + Film Addict (me) = Awesomeness

I have eagerly awaited for this roll to develop, and it was well worth it!
These were shot on a Mintola SLR with a 50mm 1.7 on a TRI-X Black and White ISO 400 roll.



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Apr 26, 2010

TGIF

This past Friday some friends and I chilled around Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. Happy Hour, and Japanese food. What better way to start a weekend!

I was generally trying to snapshot the afternoon, catching people in a natural state.





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Schneur Menaker Photography on Facebook.

I made a Facebook page! If you are on Facebook please join.





Apr 24, 2010

Casual Daylight

Here is a few random photos from a day at work at Luria Academy.


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Apr 22, 2010

Jealousy

Things we desire and those we can not obtain. Forget what we are to achieve how we feel. Disgrace your soul in vain for your ego defines you in the accomplishment you are to exceed. For envy brings us all down to the devils low. Forgotten morals laugh on high as we cling on, claiming them. For humans have lost this feud of jealousy. Ripped dreams and broken hearts are all that accompany your selfish mind. Jealous of what we can not obtain.
Are we jealous for what we don't have? Or for those things we've never dreamed on seeing? Are we being selfish if we dream someone else reality? We are weak for love and have not found its true answer other then in the visions of others. Can true jealousy bring us to a greater and better good? Perhaps it can! But as you test and attempt something so sensitive and fragile it may destroy you. For jealousy as weak as it can be allows you to see beyond what you have not. Are we not all jealous for something or someone? Does that not help you think beyond your self, a true retrospection? So as weak as you might have to be at states of jealousy remember that it can make you stronger.
Being jealous of something or someone you can't attain makes you ponder on how far you may reach.

Beginning Film

When I was down in Florida my sister gave me her old Minolta film SLR. I have never shot with film before, and was quite excited to do so! I really love the emotion, depth, and color film brings out. I bought myself a 50mm 1.7 so expect some more film shots coming up real soon.
These were shot with a Minolta Maxxum SLR, 28-70 3.5-5.6 lens on a ISO 400 roll.



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Of course I didn't forget about my other baby :)
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Third Season (video)

This is a short video of my friends on our shoot. Check out the prior post 'Third Season' (Click the link if player doesn't load.)

Apr 20, 2010

Sibling Democracy

When I was down in Miami last month, I photographed this wonderful family. We had soo much fun! They were the cutest siblings ever!




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