intimiste: west village

Showing posts with label west village. Show all posts

Friday, October 14, 2011

reunion: la bonbonniere

back in the '90s, when i was living in the west village (and "casually employed" or in grad school), la bonbonniere was where i spent my mornings.
on weekdays, i'd sit for bowl of oatmeal (skim milk and brown sugar). 2 cups of coffee.
on weekends: the special challah french toast or blueberry pancakes. side of bacon. (maybe an extra cup of coffee, too.)

i'd have with me a notebook and 3 or 4 newspapers, including the ny tabs, and i'd catch up on all the sporting news. sometimes i'd just take in the view--inside, my fellow "regulars," outside, the traffic along the avenue. whether i was stuck, deep in a lonely streak, or feeling carefree, i always left there with a lift.

i since i moved away years ago, i've only been back a couple of times. it's changed a lot, to look at it.

but the feeling is the same.

hooray...like i never left...

oct 13, 2010

photos © anita aguilar

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

tourist vista: "following the sun"

(with apologies to mfw, for stealing his post title)

one early evening last week, i left the office and followed the sun.

it took me downtown.

and then we drifted west, and i walked--for the very first time--though the washington square village apartment complex.

this massive, "tower in the park" superstructure is generally not esteemed (certainly not by anyone i know) so i was surprised at just how lovely the interior courtyard-slash-parking lot looked that day. the yellow fooled me for a moment--i forgot i was in new york city. until a guy started screaming at me--a security guard, admonishing me for trying to take a photo.

is the rest of the world as paranoid as we are?

here's all i got from "the inside":

ok. i snuck in one more, closer to i.m. pei's "university village" (far less charming than the colorful glazed brick of the washington square apartments) :

this 60-ton, 36-foot high sculpture, by carl nesjar --also new to these eyes--is based on picasso's "sylvette." it was rendered by sandblasting norwegian basalt and cement...

Sunday, September 5, 2010

sisterhood

the pretty...

and the silly

Thursday, May 13, 2010

lights, camera, action (day 3)

our location for today and tomorrow is a medical office on morton street in the west village.

our days typically start at 8 or 9, depending on when we can schedule the location and the talent. what is interesting--potentially stressful--for the crew when it comes to these location shoots (as opposed to studio shoots) is trying to balance the look that the producers are striving for with the limitations of the space in terms of actual square footage and layout and available light.

both this particular office and the concept behind it ("primary care done different") are new. the walls are alternately glossy white and mediterranean blue--and still mark-free--with lots of colorful graphic art to attract the eye (and distract the mind?). the fixtures and furnishings are shiny chrome. daylight streams in through the glass front--which is mostly frosted to add a bit of privacy, but clear at "eye" level to draw a bit of interest for both patients and passersby. it's a like perfectly composed ikea showroom--which i'd say beats the average doctor's office (even on fifth avenue, thank you) by about 3,000 miles.

it didn't take long for the team to realize that street traffic would wildly disrupt the audio, so we retreated to the actual examination rooms for all the shots. the team (um, art director nancy) converted 2 offices into 5 different ones, using greenery and frames (and illusion). the video team had their own challenge-there was only enough space to fit 1 key light and 1 fill light (not the 6-8 light scenario that they would consider ideal) to enhance the pretty but muted daylight that filtered through the rear-facing windows. there was no room to even fit a tripod--or the cameraman. rufus stood outside with the rest of the team and viewed the action via the monitor.

this week reminded me how much of video and photo production is about problem-solving. and being creative. and patient.

and it reminded me how fun and funny this particular group can be, especially in the closest quarters...