"NIGHT OF THE LUNA"

"Night of the Luna"  Recently, while visiting friends in the Catskills, we had the good fortune of a serendipitous visit by a rare and quite exquisite Luna moth. We had gone out to the porch after dinner and this amazing creature circled a lamp a few times and landed on the floor. Amazingly, Lisa Crafts, who has been working on a film project involving beasts of many persuasions, had a mobile film studio inside. The stage was set and our new friend, as well as  a few other creatures of the night were most accommodating in their film debut.  By the next morning all had left to pursue nature's course... or an acting career.

all photos ©Ken Brown

"GOTTA GO VERTICAL"

Sometimes, you just gotta go vertical....

Chelsea sidewalk

High Line hijinx

real estate dreams, midtown

Lower East side

hopeless in Soho

big smile Beyonce, Times Square

window washers in midtown

climbing towers in Bushwick

all photos ©Ken Brown

"HORSESHOE CITY"

I know it sounds like something from the Discovery Channel, but a truly remarkable event takes place each year when a 460 million year mating ritual is enacted on the beaches of New York City during a full moon high tide.  Thousands of Horseshoe crabs gather in a number of coves and inlets along the city coastline to partake in a beach party with ancient

origins. 

"You come here often?"

Lisa Crafts, (my wife) is filming some of this extraordinary event for part of an installation...

Over 90,000 eggs are laid and an average of ten will make it to maturity.

Local seabirds go into a frenzy...

                                              average life expectancy is around 30-35 years, at least for the fraction of

                                              a percent that manage to migrate from shore to sea...

                                            It is amazing to observe these absolutely ancient creatures, often encrusted 

                                           with barnacles, as they lay their eggs  and slowly shovel past the flotsam of 

                                           our time and return to the sea,

a Sea Robin...

all photos ©Ken Brown

"JR." IN NYC

This past month NYC was graced with a visit by the international French art star, JR., whose large scale photo poster projects have occurred in cities around the world. I've followed his work for many years and posted a piece when he did a project in the Bronx a couple of years ago. I have been especially moved by the interactive community projects that focus on the transformative connection between people and art.

http://www.insideoutproject.net/nyc/ 

This is the photo booth van that was parked in Times Square from April 22nd-May 10th.  6,000 New Yorkers got their pictures taken and their faces were posted on walls, the 

ground and occasionally on the billboards at night.

Had to do it.

The following selection is from a collaboration by JR and Jose Parla

that is showing at the Bryce-Wolkowitz Gallery in Chelsea.  May 7-July 12th

                                 the previous 6 photos are ©JR and Jose Paral

"DAILY DRAMAS" NYC

"daily dramas" as performed by a few of the 8 and a quarter million cast members...

all photos ©Ken Brown

"AMOUR IN THE AIR"

ah Springtime, and amour is in the air...

all photos ©Ken Brown

"THEY WALK AMONG US"

They walk among us, and though usually shilling for products, or especially in Times Square, photo op tips, they are all part of the enormous cast of characters that make 

street culture so wonderfully amusing.

overzealous polar bear

Liberty changes her playlist

hopping down the bunny trail...

time out...

sometimes, limited visibility makes

navigation difficult...

walk like an Egyptian or dress like a cannoli,

one of life's little conundrums

Earth Day 2013

all photos ©Ken Brown