As I write this entry, it is the morning of my third day. When I arrived back at the apartment yesterday in the late afternoon, my plan was to process the day's images and then write this diary entry. I processed the images (see below), and then my energy level dropped. I headed off to get some Chinese food for dinner. Instead, I got a small frozen entree and a packaged Caesar salad at the local grocery store. I suppose I was looking for comfort food and a quiet evening. I was too tired and relaxed to gather my thoughts about the day, so I am writing this the morning after.

The predicted rains have arrived. The forecast for yesterday was light showers for most of the day - that is what happened. The forecast for today called for showers with periods of heavy rain and wind; once again, the forecasters got it right. Before coming here, I knew that rain was forecasted, so I made plans accordingly. I went to the Museum of Modern Art yesterday and planned to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art today. However, my host reminded me this morning that the Met is closed on Wednesdays - damn, I should have checked during my planning stage.

It was an easy subway ride to MoMA, with just a few blocks of walking. A massive crowd of people was waiting to get into the museum, so I decided to walk around and take some photos. Like any genre, street photography requires a combination of preparation, skill and experience. I am not particularly focused on street photography. There are many definitions of street photography; for purists, the definition is "candid images of human beings acting or interacting in daily life." Sometimes, I will be able to make an image that meets that definition, but that is not my purpose or focus. I focus on exploring the city to find things that interest me enough to make an image without rules or limits.

While I was walking around, waiting for the crowds outside the museum to thin out, I experimented with more long-exposure shots and engaged in a form of street photography called "fishing" by some. Basically, I stood in one spot with an interesting background or light and then waited till the right subject entered the scene. Neither technique created any images worth post-processing.

When I returned to the museum, the line at the door was still long. Then, I discovered that there was a second entrance just for members. I was in the museum just like that, but the lines to check tickets and get into the galleries were just as long as the ones outside. It is spring break for many around the country, and there were large groups of people who were obviously families or tour groups. I headed for the bookstore to pass some time and wait for the crowds to thin out and check out the photography section, but when I returned to the entrance, the lines were just as long. Then I got lucky. I overheard a conversation between a couple of museum employees on how it was just human nature to step to the back of the queue without even paying attention to their (the employee's) direction to another queue on the other side of the entrance where the line was much shorter. I did pay attention.

While waiting in line, I overheard conversations in Spanish, Italian, French, Chinese, Japanese and several other languages, probably Scandinavian or Slavic, that I would need to be more of a linguist to differentiate. In the end, I was lucky, and once I was in the galleries, I avoided the crowds focused on starting on the first floor and working their way up or the crowds almost running to the fifth floor to see Van Gogh's Starry Night and Monet's Water Lilies. I was headed to the fourth floor to see an exhibit of photographs: Ernest Cole's House of Bondage: A Look at Apartheid in South Africa.

I had the exhibit to myself, and I came away with a great deal to think about and process. I will let some more time pass and maybe write a future post on my reaction to it. The exhibit closes this weekend, but I highly recommend that you take a look at his work—start here.

As I walked around the museum, I made a few images that I have included in the gallery below. Then, after lunch, in the cafe, where I sat at the window with a view of the city and the street below, I headed off to the new Leica store/gallery in the Meatpacking District.

If you are headed to New York, check out what is displayed in the gallery; it is a great facility. The great photographer Elliott Erwitt passed away last November. The ARTnews obituary described him as "a photographer whose numerous pictures of celebrities, dogs, politicians, and more have woven their way into public consciousness." The exhibit at the gallery of his work - Love & Laughter. It primarily consisted of photographs of New York, specifically New York's dogs - there is a wry humor in those photos. The one image that has stuck with me was a photo of Erwitt working in his studio similar to this one: