Sunny with a chance of Truth

Janet Malcolm's article about Thomas Struth ("Depth of Field," The New Yorker, September 26, 2011) contains a great quote by Struth:

I think what matters is that when the circumstances are prepared well and the people sit and look into the camera there is always a chance of truth.

When the circumstances are prepared well in our field, there is also always a chance of truth.

Advertising Vehicles

While we're talkin' trucks (I realize you were talking types—both faces/fonts and sterotypes), here's a moving medium to get attenton while on the road: trucks. The "Milk's favorite cookie" road campaign is brilliant. Mr. Oreo was truckin' too fast for me to capture the side view; perhaps I'll get lucky on the drive back to NY. After seeing the road-ad, I just couldn't get one of my favorite cookies out of my mind.

The breast cancer message is clearly less frivolous (although, clearly, not shot with said attribute).

A bad type choice

Although it does say a lot about the owner, in its own way.

Boot-i-ful

This is a belated pick-up on your heels/soles tribute to Fashion Week; to wit, my recent fascination with cute boots. The format normally consists of a very short skirt or jacket paired with boots. Of course, it helps to be between the ages of 15-25 to pull off this look. Not shown: open-toed boots, some with zippers, many of them suede.

Soles in 15

Heels in 5. Go Fashion Week!

  

Remembering Forward

In On Being, broadcast early this morning, Krista Tippett held a conversation about remembering forward a decade after September 11. It's worth a listen. The thought-provoking comments and questions complement the heartache of hearing family members read the names of—and giving personal shout outs to—otheir lost beloveds.

I see red people

Erik Piepenburg's 's New York Times article about the various posters for the play Red is a example of the many ways to solve one problem. The title of the article, "When the Color is Primary," is witty as well.

Screenshot is from the NYT website.

Edward Hopper in Maine

OK, I'm prejudiced. My father, who was from Brunswick, Maine, loved Hopper. So, I couldn't resist capturing the banner in front of the Tondreau Block.

Far better than any self-referential photo opp is the "Edward Hopper in Maine" exhibit at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art until October 16. The 32 oil sketches, done on Monhegan Island from 1916 to 1919, were revelations. Splendid. Generous use of paint. Humbling. Dare I say abstract? Fresh. Does the painting below put you in mind a bit of Richard Diebenkorn?


The portions that I saw of ancillary film, made for The National Gallery of Art in Washington, were revelatory. And the tidbits gleaned from a podcast interview with Carroll Moore, the producer of the film, were reassuring to those of us who can't get started. When Hopper was blocked, he went to the movies.

Screenshot of Hopper's Monhegan painting is from the Bowdoin College Art Museum website.

The New Jersey Firemen's Home

Every year on Labor Day weekend Boonton, NJ there is the Boonton Fire Department Labor Day Fair, a.k.a. The Boonton Labor Day Carnival, complete with pig roast, beer tent, rides, junk food, zeppole, and games.

Also in Boonton over on Lathrop Avenue surrounded by a beautiful stone fence, there is the New Jersey's Firemen's Home (no mention of what to do with the Firewomen) for retired Firemen. Inside there is also a cool firefighting museum. But the coolest thing about the NJ Firemen's Home...? The gate and it's fantastic metal lettering.

Happy Labor Day. And thanks, firefighters.