August Rain

Yet another rain falls today, filling the moat around my castle. I went out to the garden and picked a bunch of zinnias for my wife and left them all over the house for her to discover. What else can one do on a day like this?

Central Park Pond Moment

The duck in this picture is not thinking "A last look at summer" or "Fall is just around the corner" or "Summer went by so quickly." Clearly, this duck is enjoying the scenery, having a very present moment before plunging in for a paddle around his pond.

Get Behind the Eight Ball

To be behind the eight ball means to be put in a difficult position. But the sign in this photograph appears to be more in the motivational vein, such as YOU CAN DO IT! Or, NEVER GIVE UP! Or maybe it resembles a political ad. On the other hand, some might read as a suggestion to get into a difficult position, such as getting in front of an onrushing bus.

Speaking of motivational phrases and politics, when you mix them together Martha Washington appears and speaks the following (remember, they buried her alive):

“I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.”

Central Park Lovers II

The forms
of the emotions are crystalline,
geometric faceted. So we recognize
only in the white heat of
understanding, when a flame
runs through the gap made
by learning, the shapes of things--
the ovoid sun, the pointed trees

lashing branches

The wind is fierce, lashing

the long-limbed trees whose
branches
wildly toss--

William Carlos Williams "April" from Della Primavera Trasportata al Morale (1930)

Central Park Lovers

A New York City thunderstorm sounds like God and his/her cohorts are whipping around huge pieces of sheet metal in the air and rubbing together live electric wires that are fifty feet in diameter. Closer to earth, the rain and wind flatten pedestrians against the buildings. An umbrella? Don't bother. Even I want to wait out the storm under the bed with the cat.

A few days ago, New York City's Central Park was hit by one such storm. Hundreds of trees, more than a century old, were knocked down. For many New Yorkers like myself, it is devastating to see these uprooted behemoths. I grew up with those trees. It is kind of like losing a bunch of old, experienced friends.

Feeding the Cats

Key West probably has almost as many cats as it does poultry. Yes, it has the six-toed cats, which are said to originate from the Hemingway House. But there also just a lot of regular Toms. Volunteers help manage the stray population by spaying and neutering them. You can tell when a cat has been fixed because his ear has a little knick taken out of it. All the cats look forward to the al fresco meals they get twice a day. That's what those little piles of cat food are which you can come across every now and then on the sidewalk.

Rust

Time will rust the sharpest sword,
Time will consume the strongest cord;
That which molders hemp and steel
Mortal arm and nerve must feel.

Harold the Dauntless [1817] canto I, stanza 4
Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)

Sir Walter Scott used to be one of the most popular authors of all time; not just in his lifetime but even after he died. Back then, time always was considered the conquerer of people. These days, our solution is to speed up everything, as if that could keep the passage of time at bay. Perhaps.

Key West Rooster

Today I am selling my photos at a corn festival, in Hurley, New York. Rather than posting a picture of corn, I thought I'd post a connoisseur of corn. This rooster lives in Key West. He makes his home in a banyan tree. Key West is about the farthest south you can go and still be in the United States.

MY-T-PURE Flour & Feeds

Old walls are a dependable source for found art. This wall is somewhere in the American South. The aqua blue and pink colors stand out, and the illustration of the feed sack is wonderfully clear. I've always wondered if the words "MY-T-PURE" were enough to convince someone to buy Puritan Mills' flour and feed.

Clouds II

Same cloud day, same cloud time, but a slightly different view of the cloud image that was yesterday's post.

Clouds I

Alfred Stieglitz, a man who was instrumental in persuading people that a photograph can be a work of art, took a series of cloud pictures at his home in Lake George, NY. Many of Stieglitz's pictures strip their subject down to its essence, and the cloud pictures do just that. But what do I mean by "essence"? Essence suggests minimalism, but it can mean many other things. In the case of this cloud picture, it can mean the particular, present moment I shot these clouds in upstate New York. These clouds also represent all days with beautiful clouds - here is the essence of timelessness. This image of clouds is also freeing, uplifting, and mind-opening.

The Betty Gay, Tucson, AZ

Speaking of signage and distinctly American culture, so much of that is beautifully preserved in the dry heat out West. Old storefronts such as this one -- maybe the store originally sold ladies hats and gloves -- are newly outfitted as pool halls, cell phone stores, and chain drugstores. I think Betty Gay's current incarnation is a screening room.

Amanda, O.

One of the reasons I took this photo was because my good friend, Amanda, would like this collection of signs gathered around her name. Signage like this cluster in Amanda, Ohio can be seen in towns all over America. It is a cultural artifact of our time and place. This signage, in many ways, reflects so much about America - religion, business, education - stuff we take for granted even as we vigorously defend it.

Blue Creeping Phlox

There's nothing so gratifying as when an entire carpet of flowers covers a section of my flower garden. Blue Creeping Phlox never fails to supply me with pleasure when it blooms. Thus it seems appropriate to carpet the entire frame of this photo with the image of the phlox.

The Painters

On a recent trip to Lake Wyola, near Amherst, Massachusetts, I caught these men painting a local church. Their white shirts, the silver ladders, and the white paint contrasts the green doors and windows. Their positioning reminds me of musical notes.

Key West Rust

Rust is nature's paint. Much beauty exists in rust, even rusty nails.

A Barn, a Pitchfork, and the Mohonk Preserve

I love this pictchfork, which I found propped up against an old barn on Mohonk Mountain. Although the lighting may look artificial, it's actually just the late afternoon sun. That is my favorite time to take a walk at Mohonk. A lot of people go rock climbing around there. But if I did that, I wouldn't be taking pictures.

Summer Tomatoes

All year we look forward to summer tomatoes. This year, it's been so rainy and cool, not to mention a blight wasting so many tomatoes in the northeast, that we'll be lucky if we get ten tomatoes from our dozen plants.

I took this picture last year, when I picked the remaining tomatoes on the vine, right before the first frost. We ate the last tomato in December!

City Island Row Boats at Jack and Sal's

Welcome to my blog. Periodically I will be adding images here, so please check back every now and then.

Many of the images you see on my blog, plus a few more, are available for purchase at my Etsy shop, Robert Goldwitz Photography.

I also sell photographs at fairs in the New York and New Jersey area. In the winter, you can find me in Key West, at the Sunset Celebration in Mallory Square.

I also have a website that features
other pictures I have taken over
the years. Click here to visit.