jazz and colors: the yes! trio

...aaron goldberg, omer avital, and ali jackson

(bonus star sighting: bill cunningham, in his famous blue smock and bike)

@ jazz and colors, central park

nov 10, 2012
***
all photos © anita aguilar

pretty city 2011: good looking

my favorite twosome, taking in the view at mile 22 of the nyc marathon...

@ marcus garvey park, east harlem.

nov 6, 2011

© anita aguilar

inspiration: green street

lever house/park ave. aug 20, 2011

@anita aguilar

i love the contrast between the uptown and downtown sides of park ave...and all the shades of green.

the dream of spring and summer

and...

the park at versailles

may 20, 2011

paris postcard: pedal pushers

"anita can't ride a bike."

that's one of our big family secrets/jokes. i mean, i can. now. sort of.

we moved to paramus when i was in the second grade. we lived in a new development of two-family houses, on the edge of a cul de sac. we had lived in the bronx before then and play time outside was always a coordinated event after school or at a park, so it was neat to have, with the mere sliding of a glass door, a wide green space for cart-wheeling and a whole block that we could own in the afternoons. all the kids had bikes, and so my sister and i learned to ride, too.

i don't recall needing training wheels for too long--it was the turns got me. i always felt like i'd fall over! i'd breeze along, on my hot pink number, with the hot pink and white striped banana seat and the little vanity plate (which, trust me, took forever to find in paramus in the 1970s) and at the end of the cul de sac, i'd hop off the bike, walk it around the turn, and then get back on.

ridiculous, embarrassing, and no one in the family could figure out how i -- such an athletic little thing-- couldn't navigate a damn turn. it must have taken me a really long time to learn it--or it was just that compelling a picture--because it fed into the "can't ride a bike" reputation that haunts me now. part of me must believe it too, since it doesn't seem like a natural activity for me to pursue.

but paris makes you dreamy about such things. i considered renting a bike a few times during this trip but i remembered a promise to my aunt, that i'd send her a post card. i couldn't possibly risk riding along the streets of paris until i wrote to her...dear tita celia. paris is in full bloom. i love the big sky and the strong coffee. i thought of you as we dined at closerie las lilas. will rent a bike this afternoon...xoxo...

***

some cool riders

first bike shot.

ooh la la --lace dress!

in st. germain

riverside--left bank

in st. germain

rue bonaparte...

in st. germain

in st. germain

my favorite guy: in montparnasse

paris postcard, day 1: pretty city

a late night flight that gets you into paris at the noon hour is a smart play, but if you don't sleep well on planes, the "i'm in paris!!" buzz wears off smack in the middle of the afternoon.

it hit me pretty hard, so i don't have many photos from day 1, but i love this lady on her bike.

and wherever i go, i love to see an "I love NY" tee..

may 19, 2011

photos © anita aguilar

ello guvna...

meet orlando, who hooked us up with free bikes...

living pavilion, by ann ha and behrang behin

living pavilion, by ann ha and behrang behin

commando, 2010. by mary ellen scherl.

dressing the dog: you're lookin at 3 varieties of ketchup (spicy, spicy pineapple, and the traditional tomato), a spicy mustard and a spicy mayo...

i loved the sweetness and the char of the corn. the juice from this exploded, squirting one, even two feet. which was at once embarrassing and marvelous.

i left that half a stick of butter alone.

where was blue marble ice cream? we rode circles around the parade ground, comfort and evans roads...and nothing. but mister softee saved the day.

pretty city: west side ride

pretty city: meet gary

i've been reading lately about the merits of a 50mm lens--i have a good one, but really haven't explored its use outside of...well, i haven't used it outside. i rely on my tamron zoom when i'm outdoors. i like that it allows me to get up-close to something or someone (somewhat) unobtrusively (it's sort of long, and hard to miss). but the 50mm is a lens that was standard back in the day. (henri cartier-bresson? he used a 50mm on a small format camera. clearly the thing works). so this is what i'll be taking out with me for the next several weeks. we'll see what i can learn.

it's a whole different world with the 50 mm--you have to really move around and do a lot of recomposing to get a shot. but i kinda like it.

today, i hit the madison square park area (on my way to home depot). if you stand on the northwest corner of the park, you'll have one of the best views of the empire state building. i've yet to come up with a better than ordinary shot of that landmark, but i wanted to give it a try today.

i saw this instead. a rad bike. just waiting for me to take its picture.

was this a piece of art?

detail shot, of the wheel...this is for my friend, nicholas. crazy? crazy generous, crazy cute, girl crazy...which is part of why we all love him.

tried to get the flatiron in there somehow. i took many from this angle.

and then finally the bike's owner popped up and asked if he could get in the photo.
meet gary...photogenic gary. i thanked him for his modeling...

and that encounter, my friends, made my day.
more with the 50 mm to come.

ghost bike memorial

david smith. sixth avenue/36th street, nyc.

7:07 pm

untitled (bike memory)

© 2007 matias aguilar. all rights reserved.

"untitled" from isle of man series, part 7.

matias has posted some great new photos from his isle of man series. i couldn't decide which one to "feature" here, but i particularly love the mood and light in this shot. and i have a thing for motorcycles.

not that i have ever driven one myself.

but a dear, former boyfriend of mine developed a singular passion for motorcycles shortly after we started dating. he purchased a used suzuki gs850, a modest, but very cool bike. i had never been near a bike, let alone on one, and it didn't hold much appeal ("scary!"). but when this particular opportunity came along--to be escorted around town by this sweet, sweet guy, at the point when he was falling in love with the idea of being on the road, on a bike--i started to imagine what that kind of freedom might mean. i couldn't resist. he was fearless, and my "fear" fell away pretty quickly. which is not to say I didn't hold on pretty damn tight...

there maybe no better way to see new york city. as the passenger, you can literally sit back and enjoy a wonderful, unobstructed view of the sky and the cityscape. and you hear nothing but the constant, gentle whir of the engine, the wind against your helmet.

more than a few times, late at night, we rode across the brooklyn bridge. manhattan shining bright behind us, brooklyn twinkling ahead, everything truly aglow under the full moon light. as if we were watching an amazing silent film. or, creating one.

unforgettable.