Harold Davis's Blog, page 113

Thap Rua

Thap Rua—Turtle Tower—is a structure in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake, an island of peace in the bustle of downtown Hanoi. The Turtle Tower is linked to an ancient legend of a magical sword, a powerful Dragon who helped defeat Chinese invaders, and the protective Golden Turtle God.

Thap Rua (Turtle Tower) © Harold Davis

Imminent Death by Motorcycle

Hanoi is a fascinating city—vibrant, prosperous, and ramshackle all at once. Stepping outside means risking imminent death by motorcycle. The only way to cross a street is to head across at a steady pace, hoping that the vehicular calculations of relative velocity versus future positioning in time and space match your own. There is no stopping, and this is no game of (or for) chickens. Crossing the street in Hanoi is a fun sport in a way, at least once the death-by-motorcycle defying parameters are internalized and accepted.

Outer Crossing © Harold Davis

Above: The Long Bien Bridge “walk way”; Below: View from the back of our hotel in the Old Quarter.

Rear Window © Harold Davis

Long Bien Bridge

The Long Bien Bridge stretches across the Red River from Hanoi, Vietnam. It is a cantilevered iron structure designed in the studio of Gustav Eiffel. Strategically important because it connects the port of Haiphong with Hanoi, it was extensively bombed during the US-Vietnamese war.

Long Bien Bridge © Harold Davis

Exploring Hanoi with my friend Eric, we decided to try to walk across the Long Bien Bridge, which today is used as a train bridge, with two side walkways that are the domain of the ever-present motor cycles. Crossing the bridge didn’t seem very safe for a mere pedestrian, but it was fun photographing the “distant light” through the train portion of the bridge.

The Whole Magnolia Branch

This is the magnolia branch I brought home and used for macro photography practice in an image I showed earlier.

The Whole Magnolia Branch © Harold Davis

Composition of the entire branch was a bit of a challenge, and I’m glad I got this done and archived, because I won’t see my production machine for about a month—and by then my attention undoubtedly will be taken up by other subjects.

Magnolia Blossom

Wandering the paths and stairways of the Berkeley hills, I came upon a gardener shaping a venerable flowering magnolia tree. A largish branch lay on the ground. I asked if I could take it, and carried it home.

Magnolia Blossom © Harold Davis

Generally, these flowers are hard to capture at the macro level outdoors because they tend to be high up, and are in motion in the slightest breeze. But indoors was a different story! I also enjoyed capturing the entire pattern of the branch on a black velvet background. The broader image will help provide a context, and I plan to process a sequence later today if I have time after packing before I leave for Vietnam.

Martin Then and Now

This is a photo of my wonderful father Martin Davis that I recently scanned and retouched to restore some damage. Martin thinks it was taken when he was sixteen and had just graduated from the Bronx High School of Science.

That was then, and this is now: although you can see that Martin’s spirit remains strong and shines through. Recently we had my parents over to celebrate Martin’s 89th birthday. In the iPhone capture below, he has just opened a gag birthday gift that my son Nicholas picked out (Nicky has a wicked sense of humor!).

Reflections in The Pond, Central Park

Walking south from Bethesda Fountain to get to my dinner appointment on West 57th Street, I stopped by a body of water at the southeast corner of Central Park to enjoy a few minutes of tranquility, and to get centered before I met a representative from the publisher of The Photographer’s Black & White Handbook. Alas, tranquility was not to be.

Reflections in The Pond, Central Park © Harold Davis

I climbed out on a rocky peninsula, and started getting my tripod set up. At that moment there was a huge urban caterwauling of emergency vehicle sirens. I never learned what the fuss was about, but the red lights across Central Park South added to my color palette during my longish (thirty second) exposure. The morals: One person’s firetruck is another person’s aesthetic element; and, quietness is a rare commodity in a major metropolis!

Wedding Day

This is a photo of my darling Phyllis and myself on our wedding day almost 25 years ago. The color print (an inexpensive drugstore print made from color negative film I think) was starting to fade, so we scanned it to preserve it. Phyllis and I walked to St Michael’s Church from our apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I remember crossing Broadway with a little old lady cackling and waving a cane and shouting to Phyllis, “Kiss him, you fool!”

We’ve come along way since that day. Across the country, and four kids later, marrying Phyllis was the best thing I’ve ever done. It hasn’t all been a bed of roses. We’ve weathered kids in intensive care, illnesses, battles with the school district, and financial pressures. But every day and in every way our relationship has grown richer, and I love Phyllis even more (if that is possible) than the day we married.

My Grandparents: Harry and Helen Davis

These are portraits of my paternal grandparents. Harry Davis was born Herschel Davidowitz in 1892. Helen Davis, nee Gotlieb, born in 1895, and Harry were both from Lodz, Poland. They met in New York, and were married in 1925.

Harry Davis (born Hershel Davidowitz); Photographer and Date Unknown

The images are flatbed scans of sepia tinted photos that have suffered some damage over the years. The photographer and date of the sitting(s) are unknown. Clearly, these portraits marked some kind of formal or special occasion, as the subjects are dressed up and looking their best. This is not the kind of studio portrait that would have happened every day.

Helen (nee Gotlieb) Davis; Photographer and Date Unknown

I never knew my grandfather Harry Davis as he died in 1947 before I was born. However, in his absence, he was a figure who has loomed fairly large in my life, since he was an artist, and I was named after him.

My grandma Helen on the other hand was a beloved if somewhat peculiar presence in my early years. I believe that English was her fourth language (after Yiddish, Polish, and German). This led to an idiosyncrasy of language that was particularly noticeable in her essentially incomprehensible written communications. Her vast love for her family was immediately and always apparent, and I loved her a great deal.

My father adds some biographical details:

Harry and Helen knew one another slightly in Lodz. She came to borrow books at an informal lending library that he and his friends had established in Lodz. His friend Felix Kornberg was married to her sister Regina. Harry reconnected with Helen at the Bronx apartment of Bessie, another sister.

Harry had been taken as a forced laborer to Germany during World War I. After the war he and his brothers established a furniture manufacturing business in Leipzig, Germany. So he came to New York City from Germany.

Helen really didn’t know German. For her, speaking German was just speaking Yiddish with a different accent, especially a very soft “l”.

White Rose Blushing in Color and Black and White

I thought this white rose with a hint of satin-like blush was going to look great in black and white, but when I processed it I saw that the color had some appeal as well. One of the great things about digital black and white is that you can have a “two-fer”: a color image and a monochromatic image. 

White Rose with a Blush 2 © Harold Davis

 

White Rose in Black and White 2 © Harold Davis

I photographed this white rose using ambient sunlight with my 200mm f/4 Nikkor macro lens on a tripod, and a 18mm extension tube to get a little closer. Each image is a blended combination of six exposures, stopped down to f/32 and bracketed one EV apart for each exposure (by shutter speed).

White Rose with a Blush © Harold Davis

 

White Rose in Black and White © Harold Davis