Here are two views of the fire hydrant on Delevan Street that was open for more than a week in mid-July. First children were cooling off in it. Then people were driving their cars through the spray for a little rinse. Then the children got soap and buckets and set up a little car washing business. They told me they were raising money to build a skateboard park.
(You can see it bigger if you click on it.) Every photo I've posted on this blog for the past year has been taken on medium format film with my Hasselblad camera. But a month ago I got an Olympus XA, an old Japanese rangefinder that fits in my pocket. This picture and the next one are taken with it. It doesn't capture quite as much detail as the Hasselblad, but I can keep it with me and pull it out when something in the neighborhood catches my eye... like this caution tape on Mill Street.
(please click on this image to see it bigger) I love the people and streets and strange old buildings of this neighborhood, but after a couple of years photographing those things, I loved shooting some wildflowers in Red Hook. Down on Van Brunt Street, past the shipping terminal there is this little lot. The sign on the fence says it's some sort of public protected meadow. One summer evening the gate was open and I stepped in and made this picture.
I met this woman while she was waiting for the bus, and when I asked her if I could take her portrait she held her pose with uncanny focus and stillness. When I got the film back I kicked myself for not including her whole bag in the frame, but as I've spent time with the image I've come to like just seeing the little handles that pick up the blue of her shirt.
