Beacon shop keeper

Main Street, Beacon, NY. Store owner takes a break to fix her hair and have a smoke.

Contentment at Homespun

As the world knows, every other person in Beacon, NY is a refugee from Brooklyn. Our acquaintance who makes cowboy boots and children's shoes, and who recently moved into a loft in Newburgh (across the river) said, "When you can't afford to live in Bushwick, you know it's over." I wonder if these two once came from Brooklyn?

Leader of the pack

I was photographing a friend sitting outside a gallery in Beacon, NY where his work is on display when Caroline noticed Megan. She was locked in a kiss with a boy but they eventually released each other and I was able to ask if I could photograph them. Her boy friend did not want to but Megan and her sister and friend agreed to it.

Girl on a pink bench

"Smile and ask her." I said to Caroline. I sat in the car exhausted from driving to Pennsylvania and back the day before, then playing tennis, followed by a disturbed night. Our dog Louis tried to scare away coyotes by barking at them with his head stuck through the cat flap.

As I sat in the car I thought how unlikely it was for the girl in pajama bottoms, who had disappeared into the laundrette in Beacon, to say no to being asked by Caroline and Louis if she would have her picture taken. Louis, now an invaluable member of the team, trotted towards the launderette guided by Caroline. It was as good as done.

Young Enlishman again

Kit and his father liked this shot better than the one below. The side light has narrowed his face. And he looks comfortable amongst the indecipherable graffiti symbols.

Young Englishman

Fifteen year-old Kit, on a visit from London to see his father who lives in Beacon, NY. I photographed them together but liked this shot the best. It was the last I took. Just as I was about to take the camera off the tripod Kit spoke to me about his love of landscape photography and settled his weight on one foot with his hands behind his back like a leaning tree that had been severely pruned.

Draftswoman and soap maker

When asked by Caroline if I could photograph her, she replied, "I mean, I have totally never had a good picture taken of me."

Gwen is an architectural draughtswoman during the day. At night she goes down into her basement and makes soap and oils that smell deliciously of lavender and geranium.

She sells them regularly at the Beacon farmer's market and online at:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/beyondthepicketfence

Caroline had mentioned her as a possible subject several times and this weekend we found her at a craft fair in Beacon. I pulled gently on her arm protesting that we both thought she had a wonderful face. Could she please spare five minutes, ask her friend to look after the stall and come with me.

I had found a place with good light two doors down in the entrance to an empty store.

Meditation can be dangerous

Man turned to stone by staring at Central Hudson power lines. Sculpture by Emil Alzamora in his open air studio in Beacon, NY.

At Emil Alzamora's

Caroline with her hands full at the Open Studio in Beacon.

Couple in round glasses

They came as we left. I wanted a picture of him and as I looked through the finder she appeared at the side of the frame. You really can't say, "Clear off."

Abandoned tennis court

I was going to call this "The State of British Tennis" until Murray beat Federer in the finals of the Shanghai Masters the other day, so I'd better be careful. We'll see.

Juicy Bar proprietor

This place in Beacon, New York, came and went too. I do not know if the proprietor fared as well as Louis did from Café Maya.

Hands on Hips 3

I heard that Mary swam the Hudson River annually to raise money for schools. The event was over for the year but she agreed to come out in her swimsuit one Sunday morning to have her portrait done. It was November. She even got into the water but this shot was my favourite.

At first she smiled and struck a pose not far from a nineteen-fifties pin-up. But as I struggled with balancing myself on the rocks, and tried to find a place to plant the tripod legs firmly between them, I noticed she was just simply standing there while she waited. I said, "Please, don't move from how you are."

Off duty waitress

I was lucky. In a normally busy place there was nobody except her, the proprietor and one customer. She sat on the stool, tucked her leg under her and looked at the lens. My Rolleiflex, God how I miss it! But I'm addicted now, foully addicted to the damn digital life.

Weary art lovers at Dia: Beacon

Today was the first time I had gone to Dia:Beacon, the local must place for culture. I had always resisted it, partly because I do not like the art shown there and partly because I thought they had probably ruined the building. And indeed they have. This huge, superb factory building has been many times subdivided into giant cubicles and passages assigned to each artists.

The photograph, stolen from under the eyes of one of the polite sixteen year-old Dia guards, shows one of the comfortable sofas that are scattered around the museum for weary art lovers. The two occupants look as though they might be there until closing time.

Alex and Ashley

When I first saw this couple, they were sitting on a bench in the museum, but I was under the direct gaze of one of the guards. As I wanted the couple to look a certain way, I would have had to have spoken to them, which would have drawn the attention of the enemy. Now that everybody has a digital camera the guard would probably have known how to delete the offending photograph and demanded to do so.

Both Caroline and I were astonished at the youthful appearance of the woman in this photograph when we learned her occupation. At first, we did not believe that we had heard correctly, which was that she was a Professor of Sociology at Boston University (or would be in September), so young - not possible, and assumed we had heard wrong. But when I checked with them for the caption we had not heard wrong and she is indeed a professor.

I often do not want to take people away from the location where I first saw them, because I was drawn not only by their looks but also by their gestures and pose. It's very difficult to re-create that in another place. You have to start again really - go for something new, which is what I did here.

It was the first warm day after many bitterly cold ones and the sun reflecting from the snow covered ground gave a soft light.

Jon Beacham

Sometimes people I photograph tell me they do not want to do what I've asked. "Stand, please, next to the printing press with your hand on the lever."
"I'd like to sit," Jon replied, "I don't like to stand when I'm photographed." I wasn't sure what to say. Jon then said, "What do you want anyway?"

"I don't know," I said, "but during this exchange I will see something that I like, or you will do something I like." After a further pause he sat in a chair by the window and looked good. Nice light.

Jon is a book dealer. He specializes in art and poetry. He is also a film maker (nothing digital), photographer (again, nothing digital), and a letterpress printer. He has been a monk.

David Dasch

As soon as I saw this man I was struck by the depth and symetry of the lines bracketing his mouth. David Dasch runs a one man advertising business from his house in Beacon, NY. He is also a musicologist who plays transcribed Schubert and Beethoven on the guitar. A Morgan guitar made in 1954. "That was before the rush, before everybody wanted one." In order that I had a clear view of the blue walls, David and I moved a settle out of the way. He thought I had levelled it and I thought he had, but it fell, hitting a postcard stand which in turn hit a picture on the wall, miraculously not breaking the glass in spite of it falling to the ground. Such are the hazards of shooting in people's houses. We picked everything up and began again. He couldn't have been nicer about it.

I'm impressed with Nikon. This is the first picture I have taken on the D40 at 800 ISO, needed in this shot as it was a dullish day, and I did not want to supplement the window light.

Waitress in diner

This person is a waitress in the diner in Beacon, New York. She looks more like a customer about to give up waiting for her friend, but is not disgruntled enough to prevent good feelings towards the camera from coming through. There also is no sign of impatience in her look, as though she really had no more time for this nonsense as there were customers waiting for her to take their order. This was, of course, because she actually preferred being in front of the camera than dealing with customers.