around here

We've been hit with some absolutely stunning weather recently (read: no humidity and tons of sunshine) and I took that opportunity to walk everywhere and anywhere. From laps around my neighborhood to exploring new blocks in LIC and Flushing to playing Tourist For a Day at the Met Museum (because how could I not at least stop in for a few hours?), I've given my Fitbit a run for it's money these past few weeks - which is good, because I'm still working off all that midwestern goodness from my trip to see family in early August. I feel a bit bad because just as everyone is wrapping up their summer vacays and going back to school and work, I'm getting started on my break. But then I notice how for the first time in months there aren't a million people everywhere and I'm able to zip in and out of stores without having to elbow my way to the sale rack and I stop feeling too bad and I look up and see beautifully puffy clouds in a bright blue sky while on my way to meet my lovely friends for a ridiculous adventure and I smile and remember why I moved to this city in the first place.

1.) I finally found the "secret" bookstore (Albertine's)
2.) Rooftop vibes
3.) Bench sitting
4.) Eating our way through Queens
5.) Art admiration. Artmiration? Let's go with that.
6.) Peekaboo skyline
7.) Sometimes a friend of a friend invites you to Sunday services at a Hindu temple. And so you go.
8.) Bought a coat and they threw in the views for free.
9.) Ruben craving.
10.) Astoria architecture.

this purple city

This past Christmas, my boyfriend's parents gave me a gift certificate to Adorama (a local camera store). I knew immediately what I was going to get - the Lomography Diana Mini, a 35mm film camera that I had my eyes set on for quite some time. Like many (many) amateur photographers, I grew up using film cameras but switched over to digital pretty much as soon as I could get my hands on an affordable model. If the shoeboxes of photos that still lie underneath my bed in my parent's house are any indication, I stopped regularly using film sometime around 2003/2004; incidentally, I distinctly remember spending about five hours in a Best Buy as I carefully poured over and picked out the prized camera that would accompany me on my semester abroad in Europe.

But the thrill of analogue photography has stayed with me all these years - there are obviously a million reasons why digital photography is much easier/cheaper/convenient/etc. than traditional film photography, but I will never forget the magic that I felt while developing my own film in the darkroom of the community college where I took a black and white film class one summer.

So back to the Diana camera. I'd been looking to get back in to analogue photography, if not to the extent that I install a darkroom in my bathroom, then at the least I shoot a couple rolls here and there just to see what happens. And in the true spirit of "see what happens," I unearthed a few rolls of film that I had been carting around in a box since quite possibly the last millennium. Now, I KNOW that I had not treated those rolls with any care or concern. I'm sure that at one point I kept them in the freezer like any good photographer knows to do, but after half a dozen moves across almost as many states, those rolls didn't stand a chance. But rather than throw them away, I decided to see what, if any, kind of pictures they'd produce.

The first chance I got to play with my old film in my new camera was during the New York Blizzard That Wasn't. Since I was blessedly given a day off from rehearsal, I was able to wander around the neighborhood and photograph all three inches of snow. The resulting pictures aren't great - they're blown out, they're not framed particularly well, and they all have a slightly purple/grey tinge to them. But I kind of love them! They seem to show an Astoria from another era, one that has yet to be hit with Photoshop and immediately perfect Instagram filters.

I used up the end of the roll on a day trip to the Dia art museum in Beacon, NY. Not too many of those images turned out (I think it was too dark in most of the galleries), but I did get one cool picture from a Richard Serra installation. I'm not 100% sure if the quality of the pictures is a result of the old film, the novelty-nature of the camera, or (most likely) a combination of both those factors, but I have another roll out for processing and am working my way through a third, and am so happy I rekindled my love of analogue photography. I just can't for the life of me figure out what took me so long!

These photos were shot on a Lomography Diana Mini camera with Fujifilm Superia X-TRA 400 film, developed at my local Duane Reade, and scanned into my computer; none of the pictures have been digitally retouched.

30x30: Noguchi Museum

It's no secret that I'm a bit of an art museum nerd. I've trekked across cities all over the world just to step foot in certain museums, and it's likely that given even a few hours of free time, I can be found wandering amongst the statues and paintings of the Met. So I was actually a little disgusted at myself when I realized that there was an entire art museum a mere 15 minute walk from my apartment and I hadn't once visited it in the four years I've lived in Astoria. I vowed to change that asap, and there was no better time than during this 30x30 challenge.

So on a blustery day in November, I took advantage of the museum's "First Friday" policy (a lovely program that allows patrons to pay-what-they-wish on the first Friday of every month) and walked over to The Noguchi Museum. Named after and designed by 20th century sculptor Isamu Noguchi, the museum is conceived to be an open-air sculpture garden, housing what Noguchi considered to be some of his best works.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the museum. It wasn't at all crowded (note to self: stop being an old lady) and it was perfectly peaceful to wander the naturally-lit galleries, getting in touch with my inner Zen amongst the wabi sabi of the minimalist wood and stone carvings.

It was a relatively small space - the entire experience took about an hour, and that was with circling back to view some galleries a second time. But the museum's accessibility (in terms of content, that is) is one of it's stronger points. While the Met is famous and amazing and spectacular, it is so incredibly huge that first-time or casual visitors can and do get so overwhelmed that it's hard to visualize just popping over for a quick and quiet visit. But the Noguchi is just the opposite - it's actually perfect for a lunchtime recharge (provided you're in the area), and makes me wonder if more museums shouldn't be designed with this idea in mind. Not everything has to be flashy and designed by a starchitect. Sometimes it's nice to just appreciate good art.

If you go: The Noguchi Museum is located 9-01 33rd Rd. (at Vernon Blvd.) in Long Island City; take the N/Q to Broadway and walk towards the river. The museum is open Wednesday-Sunday and is pay-what-you-wish on the first Friday of every month.

All photos were taken by me with my trusty iPhone 4s and edited with PhotoToaster, Snapseed, and/or A Beautiful Mess. 30x30 is my name for a silly little bucket list project that I intend to complete by my 30th birthday at the end of March, 2014.