Madison Ave.

110th & Madison 63, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

I took advantage of the "warm" (40 degree) temperatures yesterday and got back out to shot the next corner in my 110th street project.

It was a little hard to "get back on the horse" in terms of talking to strangers but we got it done.

The rest are here.

week 4

110th & Manhattan 109, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

the newest set of photos is here. this week nick and i entered some new territory. we received our first threat although we disagree to the extent of it. or usual request for a photo was met with something like "no you can't - you don't know me - do not ask me for my picture" and what followed was either something close to "you've been warned" (what nick thought) or "ask me if i have warrants" (what i thought).

nick also gave this guy a dollar in exchange for his portrait. i'm still trying to decide my stance on that going forward. it's not like i'm going to make money from taking his picture but it still feels a little weird. thoughts anyone?

week 3

110th & Columbus 82, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

this week nick and i set up at 110th & columbus. the rest are here.

week 2

110th & Amsterdam 30, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

this week i set up on the corner of 110th & amsterdam with my friend meena and continued the stranger interaction project...

this week's results are here.

portrait project

110th & Broadway 12, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

i haven't posted here in a long long time but i started a street portrait project yesterday that i've wanted to do for a while. my roomate nick and i headed up to 110th & broadway and after various test shots, i decided on the setup above, facing east in the traffic island. then we got to work chatting up strangers passing by. we were out there for 45 minutes but agreed that we would have been happy to do it for much longer. we plan to work our way east "across 110th street" (the name of the project) in the coming weeks.

the all of the photos are here.

the steps of the main library

midtown - 5, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

this was a totally lucky shot that i got while sitting on the steps on the main library (41st and 5th). i happened to have my camera already out or i would have missed it.

Ward's Island

Ward's Island - 19, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

I was on my bike and took a spontaneous trip to Ward's Island, which I had never been to before. The island includes ball fields, mental institutions, drug rehab programs and many other things that I am still not aware of. More pictures here.

central park - harlem meer - 6, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

i really like the greens in this photo but i couldn't really get as close to the duck as i wanted to, without getting in the water...and probably scaring it away.

p.k.'s sports bar / restaurant., ltd.

Brooklyn - 17, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

"come share the love. enjoy the happiness." how new york...this bar owner understands that we need to be reminded to enjoy happiness.

Brooklyn - 10, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

this is outside of the brooklyn museum of art. looks like we finally ran out of summer days. i actually said, "i'm sick of summer" the other day...not sure what came over me...i'm enjoying the cool for now. we'll see how long that lasts...

open house new york

St. John's Cathedral - 3, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

i was pretty half-assed about getting out to open house new york venues this year. i went to st. john's cathedral which is about five blocks away. i could probably go anytime but i know that they usually hit you up for a pretty hefty "suggested donation" and i thought this would be a good time to go and skip that (cheap, i know). i went at 2:30 with hopes of catching the 3:00 "vertical tour." when i asked, i was informed that the tour was limited to 10 people...TEN people. if you aren't familiar with the scale of open house new york, you can easily wait in line for 2 hours to get into someone's house...much less st. john's cathedral.

the next day i arrived at the arch in grand army plaza an hour and a half before they were scheduled to stop giving their version of a vertical tour and i was told that i was already too late.

this is one of my favorite shots from the lobby of the williamsburgh bank building (one hanson place...now being converted to condos).

One Hanson Place - Brooklyn - 9, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

back to nyc

back to nyc, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

this is a shot from the plane (obviously) as we headed back into newark. i don't understand flickr sometimes. it keeps stats of how many people see your photos. there are some not particularly impressive photos from sweden that have been seen around 20 times. this awesome (if i may) picture of manhattan that has only been viewed once! not to sweat myself but this is a great picture, no?

bye bye stockholm

Stockholm - 410, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

this is my last sweden entry. this is a photo from my last night in stockholm that i got to spend with my new friend joy. we took turns taking pictures each other as we did silly jumps on a playground trampoline. this is about the least silly of them all but it's my favorite.

oh yeah...

Värmland - 176, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

i forget that there are stars for months on end...literally forget that they exist. this was a nice reminder.

another strange outcome of the non-polluted countryside was the warning i got to not be surprised if i felt really tired the first couple of days as my body adjusts to getting a much higher level of oxygen.

you know they're ready when...

Värmland - 41, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

got to meet the "neighbor" who lives on the other side of the lake from fanny's family's cabin. he was driving away from his house when we met him but was all too eager to show his recent hunting kills. he drove back up his curved driveway 300 feet in reverse and produced these birds from a sack in his shed.

when we asked him why they were sitting in his shed in a bag he replied that they were old birds and they needed to sit for about a week for the meat to become tender. we asked if the birds started to smell after a week and he replied (i kid you not): "yes! that's when they are ready - when they smell and...when they drip from the bottom." (complete with "ass dripping" hand gesture - the pause was only to make sure he was translating/explaining it properly).

Värmland - 58, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

record shopping

Värmland - 73, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

yeah...record shopping in nearby Torsby didn't prove very productive so we had to find other ways to entertain ourselves...

Värmland - 29, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

Värmland - 5, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

this is the cabin that i stayed in for the week in Värmland. ben and fanny were in the other cabin that faced it from about 25 feet away. and below is how i heated it (because it was very very cold, at least some of the time).

Värmland - 66, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

Värmland

Heading To Värmland - 48, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

So sorry (if anyone was actually following along) I'm back in the states now...my blogging & flickr posting fell off when we went out to the Värmland a.k.a. the Swedish countryside where the internet access (and running water) were not in high supply. It was beautiful though...

Von Krahl Theatre Bar (Tallinn, Estonia)

Estonia - Tallinn - 74, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

I can't lie, I liked this venue a lot better than any venue I've been to in NYC in a long time. Cozy, multi-level, good loud sound. I'm sure there are "better" places in NYC but not ones that hire DJs that play music I like and don't have a door policy that discourages going.

This shot is people dancing to "If You Really Love Me" by Stevie Wonder at the end of Ben's DJ set. The crowd was pretty young (you only have to be 18 to drink etc. in Estonia) but they were pretty open to good music all over the map. The residents even ended the night with a drum & bass set which received a beyond-enthusiastic reception.

More Estonia photos here.

This is a photo from my DJ set:

Estonia - Tallinn - 41, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

Estonian Air

Estonia - Tallinn - 3, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

These are photos of our approach to Tallinn Airport in Estonia. Oh look, all the buildings look exactly the same...how post-communist.

Estonia - Tallinn - 5, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

Spy Bar

Stockholm - 340, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

i djed at spy bar (stockholm) last night from midnight until 5a.m. and for those that don't know, that's the look of a good song, not chest pain. as ben and i were biking home at 5:30 in the morning, i stopped to take the picture below. i propped the bike on the kickstand and walked down to the water about 50 feet. somehow, in those 4 minutes that i was trying the shot from different angles and ben was waiting across the street...someone materialized from thin air and stole the bike. there was literally no one around where we were. of course...it wasn't my bike...boo.

Stockholm - 347, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

urban terrain

Stockholm - 305, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

i'm pretty sure these are illegal in the US or at least in most US cities...it took me by surprise.

9/11 Anti-US Imperialism Protest

Stockholm - 213, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

I went to a an anti-u.s. imperialism protest near stockholm's central station on the anniversary of 9/11 (tuesday). it was somehow tame and intense at the same time. there more pictures here. i'm glad to see people out making their voices heard but the energy spent didn't seem that constructive. they toppled at 40-foot (?) effigy of bush made to look like the devil which seemed a little too oversimplified. as people were stomping on it, two guys got into a shoving match...it was too hard to figure out what for with the language barrier. i'm going to try to get someone to translate all the signs for me.

Stockholm - 265, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

Folkoperan Bar & Kök

Stockholm - 192, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

last night we went to the folkoperan bar & kök for i don't like mondays. afterward we went out with sam, patrick and crew to play pool.

Stockholm - 193, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

Berns Nightclub

Stockholm - 173, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

this is a shot of the crazy nightclub that ben and i played in on sunday night from 11pm-4am. it was most crowded between the 3 and 4. (it's in the basement of the same hotel as the Berns Terrassen.