Irish Hunger Memorial
The weather this weekend was just stellar, you could not have asked for better from mother nature. The days were warm with blue skies, birds tweeting, bees bumbling and butterflies buttering. Saturday morning I was up early, had a cup of coffee and a bowl of blueberries (yay, it’s berry season!) and out the door I went.
A few weeks ago a friend of mine told me of the Irish Hunger Memorial in Battery Park City so, that was my photo taking goal for the day. I took the #2 to Chambers Street and when I exited I stopped to take a few more photos of the ongoing construction of the new World Trade Center buildings still in progress to add to my WTC gallery. I then commenced to make my way to Battery Park City and the memorial. There was much activity in the park as the day was so beautiful and as I walked north through Robert Wagner Park I took shots of flowers, boats, people painting and water falls. These images I will present to you in a another blog post later this week along with images of the Hudson River Conservancy Park.
Not exactly sure where this memorial was situated, I walked past the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal on the river promenade and looked to my right and finally spotted a silvery overhang and behind it what looked like a pile of rocks. This I surmised, must be the place. I walked under the overhang and through a small tunnel that led to the front entrance of a little Irish stone cottage. I was completely enchanted having never seen the like of this before and ruminating on how it must have been to live in a home made from rocks. From the history I read on line this cottage was designed by the artist Brian Tolle and the house is composed of stones from 32 counties in Ireland. This work of art is to commemorate those who died or were forced to leave Ireland and strive for a better life in America, due to the great potato famine in 1845, an Gorta Mór.
The beauty and tranquility of the Irish country side is captured perfectly in the placement and design of this archaic structure. The natural color and texture of the rocks, the green grasses sprinkled with tiny purple and pink flowers surrounding the cottage and the ivy gracefully hanging from the roof or lintels of the door ways. What completed the picture was the deeply scarred stone marker with a celtic cross carved in the center, grown over with coarse green bushes, sitting at a jaunty angle like it had been there for a hundred of years. For a brief moment this site nestled in busy lower Manhattan made you feel that you were indeed in Ireland, a land someday I hope to visit. Enjoy the images below and I hope they will inspire you to make a visit to Battery Park City and this little bit of Ireland.
On & Off the Brooklyn Bridge
Happy Memorial Day,
I have had a terrific weekend and did a lot of shooting around the city as well as enjoying a family BBQ and birthday party pool side at my sisters home in Long Island.
Saturday, for the first time I walked across the infamous and beautiful Brooklyn Bridge, one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. The typical New “Yawka” that I am I spend my life surrounded by some of the most historic monuments, bridges and other places of interest in the world and just now am finding the time to visit them. But, as they say better late than never.
My photography intention for the day was to head down town to Battery Park City to take shots of tourists and sailors enjoying the holiday weekend in NYC, but changed my mind when the #5 stopped at the Brooklyn Bridge stop and made the decision to finally walk across this historic landmark. I realized very quickly that I would have no problem looking for people to photograph because there were a million of them all around me and all heading across the bridge. Although at times packed shoulder to shoulder the crowd moved slowly but happily as they surveyed the surrounding views of South Street Seaport, the Manhattan Bridge as well as the skyline of Manhattan. It was a challenge not to bump into some one when you stopped to compose a shot or to keep from getting run over by a bicycle zipping between Manhattan and Brooklyn. This bridge really is an engineering marvel and I was mesmerized by the abstract criss cross of the suspension cables emanating from the two huge limestone and granite towers. When I zoomed in for a tight shot I felt as if I was enclosed in a spider’s web of steel cables. I was stopped every once in a while and asked if I would take a photo of someone or couple with the bridge in the background and as always I obliged. It is a nice way to meet people from other states and countries.
As I walked along the bridge’s promenade I noticed locks, lots of locks and many of them alone or in great bunches clinging to the walkway fencing or jutting from a metal ring embedded in a granite pillar beneath one of the bridge towers. Well, these are “love locks” apparently and are put there by couples who have pledged their eternal love to each other. They brought a smile to my face and are a great addition to my Locks gallery.
After a few hours I made my way back toward Manhattan photographing people selling souvenirs and offering bicycles for rent by the hour. As I exited the walkway and walked over to the subway I stopped for a few minutes to photograph a man doing head stands and other acrobatic movements on the street. It was a great way to end a great day of shooting in the great city of New York.
Later this week I will post the photos that I took today walking along the Hudson River and Chelsea Piers.
Enjoy the photos below and you can and see the full gallery here: Brooklyn Bridge gallery.
Stay in focus,
Cate
Lower Manhattan & South Street Seaport
Hello All,
I hope everyone had a great weekend. I had a blast; beach on Sunday (yes, the sun paid NYC a visit and stayed all weekend) and a delicious BBQ on Saturday. I’m over my “phunk” and spent all day Friday shooting the historic neighborhood of lower Manhattan (Wall Street) and South Street Seaport all decked out for the 4th of July. Despite all of the trendy tourist traps that have now become part of this landscape there is still the feel and sense of the old New York of 200 years ago. I think my photos have done it justice. Enjoy.
Stay in focus,
Cate – www.photobycate.com
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