Sally D’s Mobile Photography Challenge: Black and White (Times Square)

17 August 2015

Lens:

1. Times Square, New York City; Copyright © 2015 Sally W. Donatello All Rights Reserved/Lens and Pens by Sally

2. Times Square, New York City; Copyright © 2015 Sally W. Donatello All Rights Reserved/Lens and Pens by Sally

Let me know which you prefer and why. Click onto each image to enlarge.

Pens:

The urban landscape seduces in ways that sometimes can be counterintuitive, equally shocking, delightfully informative, inspirational, openly appealing, and mildly pleasant. As a person dedicated to the complexity, extravagance,  simplicity, and triumphs of Mother Nature, nevertheless I  long to be in the city for its wide range of emotional, intellectual and visual swings. I am driven to immerse myself in those experiences that only an urban environment can provide, including its legacies.

New York is one such paradise that has cradled my affinity for above-ground treasures. I have journeyed there more times than any other urban center on the East Coast, USA. Each time I step onto her streets, chills of enthusiasm chase me. There is so much to do, feel and see: the new, the old, the promised, the impossible, and possible.

Barely any other place is as symbolic of a city’s stream of consciousness than Manhattan’s Times Square. It’s infused with a pulse of what makes it such a mysteriously vibrant experience. Whether I am observing or participating, I am engaged in its layers of thrills. Sometimes those citified moments are laughable, and at others seriously serious. Sometimes the rhythm is melodic, and other times shrill.

NYC is a place of juxtapositions that create opposing forces—all of which make for strongly evocative reactions that stick to one’s inner core. I never leave her borders without some quintessential moment: whether it is visiting a new site (High Line) or rediscovering a bakery and restaurant (Balthazar) or stumbling upon a treed park (City Hall Park) or spying odd street life (everywhere) or managing to walk ten miles as easily as the day slips through my thoughts. I am particularly blessed to live within a two-and-a-half-hour drive of this spectacular arena for playful discovery, lucky me.

In the Lens section are two images of Times Square that were taken on a recent trip in July. We stayed on the 33^rd floor of a hotel that was nestled in the palm of the action. In the conversion to black and white many of the bustling distractions become less apparent.

Imagining monochrome allowed me to be attentive and examine the myriad of interactions that still were competing. I also envisioned a series of discrete landscapes that might inspire random thoughts about Mother Nature’s embodiment within the urban environment.

The city becomes a mammoth canvas for creativity. Much of which already is embedded in its daily life.  NYC becomes a black-and-white tribute to photojournalism and photography and social media.

Tip of the Day: The National Geographic Society has contributed to the public’s knowledge about the ills and pleasures of the human condition. It covers adventures knee-deep throughout the world. It covers the rural and urban settings. It covers the wild and the tame of Mother Nature. I am fortunate to live only a two-hour drive to Washington, D.C. where the Society is located. Throughout the year you can attend exhibitions and workshops. While I am awed each month as I turn the pages of its magazine (via snail mail), attendance at one of these presentations is memorable and noteworthy. I realize that many people may not know the Society also sponsors these events outside the nation’s capital. While their photography is highly rated, each event is filled with valuable information that pinpoints the significance of the topic. Most of the programs are held in the United States, but they also are found throughout the world. Click here to view the upcoming calendar. Click here to learn more about the Society. To view the National Geographic’s photography is to open up the possibilities of how we each see the world around us and how our world affects the past and present. It’s a fabulous adventure and gift.

National Geographic Society

View other entries for this week’s challenge:

https://sustainabilitea.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-black-and-white-milking-it-for-all-its-worth/

https://chasinglifeandfindingdreams.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/crazy-month-of-work-and-fun/

https://piecesofstarlight.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/dry-and-shadowy-end-of-summer-for-sally-ds-black-and-white-challenge/

https://patchworkponderings.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-black-n-white/

https://angelinem.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-black-and-white-back-in-the-day

http://ohmsweetohm.me/2015/08/17/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-black-and-white-3/

https://toweararainbow.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/prison/

https://decocraftsdigicrafts.wordpress.com/2015/08/18/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-black-white-impressions-at-arataki-honey-farm/

http://luciledegodoy.com/2015/08/17/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-black-and-white-3/

https://amaltaas.wordpress.com/2015/08/18/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-black-and-white-2/

http://debs-world.com/2015/08/18/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-black-and-white/

https://shareandconnect.wordpress.com/2015/08/18/mobile-photography-black-and-white/

http://nwframeofmind.com/2015/08/19/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-black-and-white-on-the-way-to-wallace-falls/

Note:

As always I welcome comments about this post or any part of my blog. My photographs for the mobile photography challenge are taken with an iPhone 6.

If you’d like to join this Mobile Photography Challenge, please click here for details and history of the challenge. If you have any questions, please contact me. Below is a reminder of the monthly schedule with themes for upcoming challenges:

1st Monday: Nature.

2nd Monday: Macro.

3rd Monday: Black and White.

4th Monday Challenger’s Choice (Pick One: Abstraction, Animals, Architecture, Food Photography, Night Photography, Objects, Portraiture, Still Life, Street Photography, and Travel).

5th Monday: Editing and Processing with Various Apps Using Themes from the Fourth Week.

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