Sunday, October 4, 2009

Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass...

Okay, this past month has kind of flown by, and I feel bad that I haven't posted any pictures of New York yet! I'm still getting to know my way around the city, and I've only been to a few tourist attractions. As far as "attractions" go, I went to the Museum of Natural History, walked around Times Square and Rockefeller Center, and I went to a Yankees game. Other than that, I've mostly just been getting to know my neighborhood and school area better. Don't worry--I'm going to be doing more exploring on Fridays and Saturdays, and I'm going to be taking more pictures.

My classes are coming along. One of my classes is very similar to the class I was a TA for at BYU, so I feel like I have good grasp on the material (we're even using the same textbook!). It is on a graduate level though, so the discussion and analysis is more intensive. It really makes me appreciate the education I got at BYU--yes, some students here at NYU are "hot shots" (it sounds like they've read practically every film book or article that's mentioned in class), but for others, it looks like they're in way over their heads. As for me, I'm enjoying it. The classes are more challenging (300+ pages of textbook and/or article reading each week--you miss one week, and you'll probably never catch up), but because of the preparation I received at BYU, I feel like I can analyze, research, and write just as well as the other students. Just this past week, several other students asked me about the types of classes I took at BYU (wearing my BYU hoodie to class sure can be a conversation starter, be it about football, school, or whatever). They were really surprised (and a little jealous) when I told them about Science Fiction in Literature & Film, Hollywood Films of the 1970s, Film Music, History of Animation, History of Documentary and Non-Fiction Filmmaking, Film Genres, International Cinema, Media in the Contemporary Classroom, and the list goes on. So here's a general shout-out to my professors--I tried to send them all postcards, but I keep thinking I accidentally left someone out. In no particular order: Sharon Swenson, Dean Duncan, Darl Larsen, Amy Jensen, Jeff Parkin, and Ben Unguren. And others that I didn't have class with, but worked with or learned from in various capacities: Tom Lefler, Brad Barber, and Tom Russell.

Okay, now for some pictures.

Marcus--me and him and a couple of others went to an
art festival down in Brooklyn, where most of these pictures were taken

Kind of random, but this is one of the art displays--it's just tons
and tons of rolled up piece of cardboard. Pizza boxes, shipping crates, etc.


This is an artist named Serge Mikel--he also writes and
performs classical and jazz music


Serge Mikel again--I think these were my favorite shots of the day


A random wall in DUMBO (see the title of this post)
--ha, I think I accidentally bumped up the red
saturation when I exported from Lightroom.


Alas, I didn't see that a car had come into frame until after I had
gotten home and downloaded the pictures from my camera


Babetta
Okay, this wasn't at the art festival--it was on my last film set at BYU
(can I just say, being "set photographer" is like the most relaxing job on a film set?). But I liked the way this candid shot came out and thought I'd post it anyway.

This was a jazz band performing in Washington Square Park--I shot them in color, but even as I was taking the pictures, I wanted them to be black and white.

The jazz band again--I liked how their instruments were
kind of banged up and dingy looking


Yeah, it's another shot of the drummer, but I was just messing
around with shifting the focus from the near drum to the far one.


And a friend of mine needed some headshots for a broadcast
journalism resume. This was taken in Central Park
on a cloudy day

I think that's plenty for now--please leave some comments!

9 comments:

Breanna Stutz said...

Jon! Can I just tell you that you are missed dearly here in Provo, UT? But these pictures are great! And impressive! Also, go BYU :)

Brad said...

Congrats Jonathan and thanks for the shout out. Btw I think I know the artist of one of those pieces you saw at the art show! Do you remember seeing the name Jared Clark? A fellow byu grad no less...

Montserrat said...

The photos are wonderful Jon! So glad to hear you are enjoying your classes and that all is going well.

Michelle said...

Those are great pictures! I especially like the cardboard rolls and the one of the painter's hands.

Unknown said...

great shots Jon, I loved the cardboard one the best. Sounds like you are having a lot of fun. Try and do some work too. :) haha

Jeff Parkin said...

Jonathan! A shout out to you, too! I love the photos--great eye. And I'm stoked you're there in the Big Apple. What an adventure. Enjoy it!

Claire said...

Jon, these shots are INCREDIBLE!
My favorites are the chalky Serge Mikel ones and the black and white jazz band ones.
Thank you for letting us enjoy your talents!

Unknown said...

Well done Jonathan! I see Lightroom is treating you well.

Hayley Marie said...

I love LOVE the pictures from the art festival, especially the ones of the man painting with his hands! Looks like things are going wonderful for you out there!