Sotheby's

I was contacted by the Sotheby's auction house in London.

They wanted to buy this picture of the Berlin Wall that they found on my website. They are going to put it in some 20th Century Italian Sale catalogue, which is sent to their clients worldwide.

I'm not quite sure what their intention is, but they will send me a copy of the final book. They said it was for a "comparable".

As it was taken 25 years ago, and they wanted a high quality version of it, I had to go on a scavenger hunt through my old old negatives to find the original. And, I found it within 5 minutes, imagine that.

This shot wasn't really of the wall, it was really showing the space in between the "wall", as there were actually two walls and this gap between.

I had a rather creepy feel when I first approached the wall. But, it was nice that they had a platform constructed to be able to look across from West Berlin, to the East Berlin side. I later did make the trip across and did have a rather creepy day.

Cigarette swing

Cigarette swing
Originally uploaded by jfraissi

A rainy day around 6pm. I went up some side streets looking for something to shoot and I saw this woman walking purposely. As she walked, she did a full arm swing with her cigarette in hand. I rattled off about ten shots and this one was my favorite. I like the balance between the various levels of umbrellas and the woman looking on (probably looking at me).

Below is a color version of this which is a little less standard.

Doggy, you can drive my car

I... woof, look good!
Originally uploaded by jfraissi

I know... another dog shot (and I almost never take dog pictures). I'm more of a cat guy.

OK, the car was parked. And the dog appears to be sitting on the owner's lap. Still I thought it was a funny shot. The vain dog is checking himself out.

Reflex Shot

Synchro Dogs
Originally uploaded by jfraissi

I was on my cell phone talking to a relative about a family health issue (solved) as I walked along the street. With my camera at my belt I was reflexively taking pictures whenever something seemed of interest. I typically have the camera pre-set for street photography.... fast shutter, higher ISO, smaller aperture for extended focus, etc. Sometimes I put it on sports mode. Anyway, I saw these dogs in a flash and took one quick shot.

Multiple Emotions

Multiple Emotions
Originally uploaded by jfraissi

Was in Atlantic City, walking the boardwalk, observing.... and taking pictures. I saw this group of girls who were in some sort of marching organization. As they waited to go on (which seemed to be some sort of rhythmic dance in formation up the boardwalk), they were occupied by shouting at each other. I'm not sure what was going on, but each individual expression in this picture tells a story. I especially like the glare from the girl on the far left. A lot of anger.

Cig

Cig
Originally uploaded by jfraissi

I saw this guy casually standing in front of an office building around 6pm. I rattled off three shots at the cigarette as I approached from behind and this one isolated it best. There was very little color to it, so it worked best in black and white. I worked a little bit on the cigarette itself to make it a little clearer.

City Truck

City Truck
Originally uploaded by jfraissi

This truck caught my eye. Kind of looked like a hot rod of sorts. It was there to help with some asphalting, which was why the cones were there. I liked the orange cones and the angle it was parked at on a crooked street. It's kind of strange that the mirror on the left is almost at the same level as the one on the right, even thought the truck is crooked.

New Series - Street Shots

There has been an update at the Fraissi.net Photo Gallery:

> There are now pictures posted which feature Street Shots.

You might have noticed I have not sent an update since January. That’s because I have not added any new sections to the website. This does not mean that I have not been taking pictures. In fact, I have probably taken more pictures than ever during that time. The major reason for that is that I was given a new high caliber camera in April for my birthday, an Canon EOS 40D. This is my dream camera and can rattle off pictures rapidly (I think of it as a machine gun). This really helps with capturing the precise moment of action. Also, the quality of pictures in low light is far better than I’m used to.

So, as I commute to my job in downtown Manhattan, I’ve had ample opportunity to explore the camera and as a result I have taken thousands of shots in the last few months… many to just see how the camera works, and many more that were immediately deleted.

As a result of the frequency of shots, I have been posting shots almost daily up to my Flickr.com account. Posting to Flickr is a bit quicker to do compared to creating pages on the website. And it gives instant measurable exposure and social links with other photographers.

The Street Shots series is a highlight of the Flickr pictures taken over the past few months. Many of the people shots were with the new camera, but there were also many taken with the older Konica Minolta camera I was using. My goal is to capture the feeling and the people of the City. Sometimes it may be an object, or silhouette. Sometimes it is a group of people in conversation, or a pattern of people with an interesting composition. Sometimes I pick a spot and wait for the people to come, other times I am capturing my own experience, such as the commuter shots.

Not on Fraissi.net, but of interest, are pictures I took of the Tickertape Parade that went up Broadway’s Canyon of Heroes following the football Giants Super Bowl victory in March. These are posted in a set on Flickr. I have very few shots of the parade itself, it was just too crowded. But there are some interesting crowd shots. The picture to the right was from the 39^th floor of my office building taken at the beginning of the parade.

Say, if you didn't take see the last series of pictures posted with the subject of Wall Street, here’s another chance to check them out.

Tickertape Parade

A tickertape parade. I always wanted to experience one, but they are not as common as they once were. There are commemorative strips embedded in the sidewalk up Broadway that record each parade. They were rather regular in the '50s, any visiting dignitary seemed to have one. Lately though, it has only been for NY sports champions.

The victory by the Giants in the Super Bowl, quite a feat as they beat the undefeated Patriots, sparked the parade that I had sought. The crowds started assembling 5-6 hours before parade time. The streets were busy with excitement as the anticipation grew.

While, the focus was on the Giants as they went by in the parade trucks, there was a buzz and electricity on the blocks, called "The Canyon of Heroes". Waves of enthusiastic crowd noise circled up and down the avenue. People hung from balconies and looked out of windows, and the floors were littered.

I started taking pictures as people got ready, then as the parade approached I got a perspective from the 39th floor of an office building. Then descending in the midst of the crowd to see what was going on there. The atmosphere was electrifying.

New Series - Wall Street

There has been an update at the Fraissi.net Photo Gallery:>

There are now pictures posted which feature Wall Street.

There were all taken on Wall Street itself, or within the three block vicinity.

The Wall Street area is an eclectic mix of people, stores and buildings. There are stockbrokers, security police, tourists, TV crews and business people all intermixed in this small area.

Besides the NY Stock Exchange, there is Federal Hall, where George Washington was sworn in as the first president of the US. The steps of Federal Hall are an interesting place to sit and observe people passing by (and eat a sandwich). From this one vantage place, there are views of: tourists posing for each other in their pictures, police patrolling with machine guns, CNBC cameras being setup, and floor traders taking a smoke break while talking on their cell phones.

The major entry roads to Wall Street have security barriers built into the pavement that block traffic. They are raised and lowered like drawbridges to give vehicles access when needed. Otherwise, the core of Wall Street is a pedestrian mall. I made about 5 trips to Wall Street to get this assortment of photos.

Say, if you didn't take a look at the site last month, here are my selections for the best pictures from last year, Top 10 of 2007.

Coffee Shop Window
Originally uploaded by jfraissi

As you might notice, I've been doing more street photography, many of strangers who I find interesting. These work best in black and white.

As an example, I was walking down Nassau Street, and saw a lookalike couple sitting in the window at a coffee shop who I found interesting. This picture on Flickr shows them staring into space, seemingly bored with each other. I really like this one.