Celebratory spirit

As promised, here is the celebratory spirit I said I would find. We reached our goal on Kickstarter and are going ahead with the proposed exhibition. But the smile we see here is also a very natural vivacity, unrelated to a specific event. Here is a greeting that Latoiya would give to those who greeted her, whatever the occasion. We met her today in the heat of the afternoon, taking her three year old nephew to basketball practice.

Don't mess with me! Hurry up—take it! It's  not actually what she said but it sure looks like it. I don't always find that peaceful, enigmatic look I search for. 

But, this weekend I shall look for a face that gives a more celebratory feel, to match our reaching the Kickstarter goal earlier this week. Watch this space! 

If you or a friend were considering a pledge, Kickstarter will gladly receive them until June 5th. One's project is allowed to be over subscribed. We have indeed reached our goal, but we still need funds to pay our interns and volunteers who will be helping with printing, mounting and installation. The expert help required with the printer, and the cherry picker operator for installing the work, must also be paid.

Giving a talk at the Newburgh Library, Thursday 24th May, at 7.00 PM.

Three Blades

 

I ran down Chambers Street in Newburgh to catch up with these young men. They agreed to my photographing them but immediately took off. They shouted and waved at me as they disappeared down the street, "We'll be back!" I waited five or ten minutes. Then, there they suddenly were, dressed much as they had been when they left me, but... they had all changed their shoes. In spite of the gleam and marvelous colors of their sneakers—jet black, shining like patent leather, to piercing lime green—I liked this shot the best. It showed their beauty, style and physique—what had caught my eye in the first place. 

Please visit Kickstarter to consider pledging support for the outdoor exhibition of mural size prints we plan to display on the wall of The Ritz Theater in downtown Newburgh.

Gardening and drumming in Newburgh NY

I was filming Agii and Decora sowing seeds in their garden on Chambers Street in Newburgh. I noticed how Decora showed Agii how to do everthing with her hands. Smooth the soil with the palm, make the 1/4 inch trench with your forefinger and fill the trench after you have sown the seeds with forefinger and thumb.

Along comes Kazi Oliver to volunteer his help. Decora said to me, "You must film him; he is a great drummer." Kazi fished out a drum from the back of his mini-van, tapped it a few times but was not happy with it and exchanged it for another. This is his battery.

To see him playing go to: https://vimeo.com/41953039

The Waitt

The Waitt are the poetry rap group from Newburgh, NY. We met them at an open mic night at The Wherehouse on Liberty Street in Newburgh. They kindly agreed to record this to help promote our Kickstarter project for the planned outdoor exhibition of mural size prints on the wall of The Ritz Theater in Newburgh. To find details of the exhibition and how to pledge, please go to kck.st/Izx5aH.

Friends

Michael is a photographer and his friend from California is still not used to the harsh winters and humid summers here in the East. But she has been here 12 years, mostly in and around Newburgh. What does that say?

He is a member of The Waitt, six young poets and singers who rap. We filmed them for an update on our Kickstarter project. The good life in Newburgh—forthcoming event.

Strength

Taken a couple of months ago, this is a picture of Bettina Utz, Caroline's Pilates teacher.

Diverse talent

Agii is a gardener and poetry rapper in Newburgh. We met her first at an open mic night at The Wherehouse. on Liberty Street, a place where they want everybody who passes through their doors to leave knowing they have been more than welcome, and given the best burger for their money. In the back, Dan, the proprietor, once a month gives over the space to people who want to perform. They are charged nothing and encouraged to bring their own food. The place is packed.

Her garden is precisely laid out into six 4ft x 8ft raised beds where she is going to grow raspberries and strawberries. All the wood that lines the raised beds is recycled from torn down neighboring houses. The land itself was donated by her friend Decora of ReadNex Poetry Squad.

Please go to Kickstarter for details of the re-launch of my appeal for funds for my outdoor exhibition of the people of Newburgh. During our many visits to the city during the last three weeks we have received wholehearted approval for this endeavor and a cry that this exhibition must take place. Please help if you can.

"Essence of Newburgh"

Purvis, who's store looks out directly on to the wall where I plan my exhibition, has some nice words to say about its prospects.

Thank you all for your generous support of the Kickstarter project. We still have 5 days to go so there is time to pledge if you are thinking about it.

Purvis, proprietor of the Newburgh store Hiphopheaven, says that the exhibition will be, "A benefit to Newburgh and for Newburgh."

Newburgh newlyweds

Susan had lived in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Cynthia on the Lower East Side for many years. "The urban architecture and the broader community is what I love most about Newburgh," said Cynthia.

They found a small abandon but solid building that made electrical parts. They converted it and made raised beds on the rough ground in front of it to grow raspberries and strawberries. 

"This is the face of Newburgh; this is why I like this city," they exclaimed when I showed them the mockup. 

It's all on Kickstarter and if you have a moment, please look. We still need pledges. If you already have, thank you.


Cynthia, a resident of Newburgh, describes the effect the outdoor exhibition of my portraits of the citizens of Newburgh might have on them and the world around us.

"They are going to stop and look."

In the video below, Ianthe Dehaney recognizes friends and acquaintances in the mockup photograph of the planned outdoor exhibition of my Newburgh photographs.

Please go to Kickstarter to pledge. The exhibition can only take place with your help. It is an exhibition of portraits of citizens of Newburgh which will be displayed on the wall of The Ritz Theater to pay tribute to the people who live in this lovely place. We welcome, with great thanks, any amount that you can afford. 

Pledges must be made by April 11 to be sure that the exhibition takes place. If you have been thinking about it please act now, and tell your friends that you have done it. They may understand why, and be able to help too.

Ianthe Dehaney recognises friends and acquaintances in the mockup of the planned outdoor exhibition of my Newburgh photographs.

"Exactly what's needed."

Rodney was sitting outside The Wherehouse in Newburgh, across the street from the Ritz Theater where I am plan to display my portraits of the citizenry of Newburgh.
I asked him if he worked at The Wherehouse. "I fill the gaps when needed," he replied. "I am a musician." He is also a decorated Vietnam war veteran.
For details of my appeal for funds to mount this exhibition please go to Kickstarter.

Kalia likes "Newburgh: Portrait of a City"

As soon as I had got out of the car and slung the tripod over my shoulder I turned to see who was around.  I saw her at once. A flash of orange hair, chatting merrily with her friend striding towards us. Yes, she said, she would tell me what she thought about displaying prints on the wall of the building in front of us.

Please visit Kickstarter to consider a pledge for the proposed outdoor exhibition of my Newburgh photographs.

Ruth Claiborne

Listen to Juanita talking about Ruth, the Newburgh bar owner, who spent her retirement visiting the sick.

Please visit Kickstarter to consider a pledge for the proposed outdoor exhibition of my Newburgh photographs.

It's dark inside

What, I thought, goes on inside this pair of garages, nothing to do with cars surely. Outside, ivy falls like icicles, flag stones have sunk but are not yet buckled or cracked, weeds are fairly under control and there are signs that two cars have recently been parked there fairly regularly. A dark mystery inside. Of course, I could have looked.

Please, if you have given this photograph a moment's pause, go to Kickstarter where you will find details of the planned outdoor exhibition of pictures like this to commemorate a time when nobody took any notice of this lovely place. We need your financial help to make and install the mural size prints.

A smile on Broadway

I do not take many smiling pictures but this was irresistible.

She is featured in my proposed outdoor exhibition of the people of Newburgh. This exhibition can only take place with your support. Please go to Kickstarter if you think you can make a pledge. 

Cowboy

The date, 1996, one of the first photographs I took in Newburgh. He is also a photographer,  doing weddings and events. I saw him again a couple of years ago in the same hat.

Please see details of plans for an outdoor exhibition of my Newburgh pictures on Kickstarter.

Engaged couple

Two young men and a young woman were sitting outside their house on one of those glorious days we've been having. I climbed a few of the steep steps that led up to where they were sitting and said that I wanted their views on my proposed outdoor exhibition of mural size prints to be displayed on the wall of the Ritz Theater. (Please see my Kickstarter project.)

Something familiar about the woman kept nagging at me. At first she wanted nothing to do with my quest. She did not want to be photographed and did not want to give her views on Newburgh. "I would not be able to say good things without the bad. Anyway," she added with a good natured look, "I am waiting for a proper proposal of marriage and a ring, before I am photographed with him."

I continued to wonder where I had seen her before. She began to tell me where she thought we had met. It was Williams Street, when she was a sixteen. I had also photographed her friends.

In the end I took their picture, thanks to the gentle persuasion of her fiancé. I marveled at their beauty and style and left them knowing we'd go back and film them when we'd got a decent microphone to update our Kickstarter project

Two days later Caroline got an e-mail from her. This was who she was—13 years earlier. With, as she put it, "Her first fiancé."

Newburgh teenagers

Today I am launching an appeal on Kickstarter for pledges to support the cost of an exhibition of mural size prints (4ft x 6ft). The exhibition will coincide with the publication of my book "Newburgh: Portrait of a City" published by W. W. Norton.

Newburgh lies 60 miles up the Hudson River from New York City. First settled by German Lutherans in 1709, it became in turn the center of the timber trade, the fur trade and shipbuilding. During the 1930s through the mid-1950s it was the great manufacturing town that produced hats, ribbons, handbags and military uniforms.

Downtown Newburgh has fallen from the status of "All American City" awarded by Look Magazine in 1952 to one of the most distressed cities in the United States. It is a city that has never recovered from urban renewal; a city that has been ignored and overlooked for more than 50 years.

The photographs will be displayed on the wall of the Ritz Theater in the heart of downtown Newburgh, through the sponsorship of Safe Harbors of the Hudson, a nonprofit organization that is committed to transforming lives and building communities through housing and the arts.

The outdoor display will allow all the citizens of Newburgh free and constant access to them.

Thank you for your time in considering this appeal. You will find the details here on Kickstarter.

Quiet man

This is Ivan, brother of Jason Ross. He arrived late on that day in Brooklyn when Jason and Natasha found subjects for me. He sat down and hardly spoke. Yet, later when I photographed him, he was the paragon of politeness and consideration.