Suzy Allman

Finding Rye's Meeting House: Archaeology at the Milton Chapel

 

For a series of short films about the restoration and history of the Meeting House on Milton Road in Rye, New York.  This one is about archaeology, and why we preserve what's underground.  A little newspaper article from 1877 serves as a starting point for historical archaeologist Sara Mascia and her team.

I think PSAs should be engaging and should tell a story; they should be fun to make, as well.  The Canon Mark IV DSLR is the perfect tool for capturing film-like video and bringing a historical subject to life.

Double Exposure: "Pilgrim at the Gates of a New City"

Pilgrim at the Gates of a New City:  Double exposure using Hasselblad 500 C/W and Ilford HP5+ film.  Done entirely in-camera, without Photoshop.  ©Suzy Allman

Another double exposure.  This one was taken (first exposure) in Union Square, and (second exposure) in my backyard in Rye, New York.  I love laying a texture over the first exposure, and in this case, I used the stones of my patio to give the portrait the speckled surface of a pond.

This picture is the cover art for a soon-to-be-released album.

Double Exposure: "The Double Gallant"

 

"The Double Gallant": Double exposure portrait for album art.  ©Suzy Allman

More double-exposures for a series of portraits using the Hasselblad 500 C/W and Ilford HP5+ film, and without any Photoshop.  This one was done for a recording artist and his soon-to-be-released album. 

It was also shot in the middle of busy Union Square in the afternoon.  Would you believe a picture in the middle of a New York City sidewalk could come out so clean?

Red Sox at Yankees, First Game

Red Sox at Yankees, First Game: Derek Jeter.  ©Suzy Allman for The New York Times

Red Sox at Yankees, First Game: Alex Rodriguez.  ©Suzy Allman for The New York Times

 

Red Sox at Yankees, First Game: Alex Rodriguez.  ©Suzy Allman for The New York Times

 

Red Sox at Yankees, First Game: Robinson Cano in the dugout.  ©Suzy Allman for The New York Times

Double exposures: Untermyer Park, Yonkers, NY

Until it Cries for Mercy: Double exposure at Untermyer Park in Yonkers, New York, and in Rye, NY.  Hasselblad 500 c/w, Ilford HP5+. ©Suzy Allman

Luxury is the Wolf at the Door: Double exposure in Rye, NY.  Hasselblad 500 c/w, Ilford HP5+. ©Suzy Allman

More abstract double exposures with my favorite model, Sissy.  These ones were (like the others) done entirely in-camera, without the use of Photoshop.

The title of the first comes from Og Mandino:  "Henceforth will I apply ALL my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy."

And the title of the second is from Tennessee Williams: "Luxury is the wolf at the door and its fangs are the vanities and conceits germinated by success."

A Love Letter: Saving Rye's Meeting House

 

 

The city of Rye has a little old meeting house that's been standing idle for many years.  It's just a block away from me, and is part of the (also idle-standing) Bird homestead.

Becoming involved in the project has given me the opportunity to learn more about shooting DSLR video, and in the process I've decided to pursue a documentary project about Junius Bird, an adventure-seeking archaeologist who was born and raised in the house. 

But first, I made this little video "love letter" to the meeting house, with an advertisement for the preservation architect who is speaking there next Saturday.

I like the new video technology.  What I am coming slowly to love above all this shooting, though, is the editing: finding the story, matching the beats in the speaker's voice to the beats in the music, or the shifts in meaning to the video transitions, or the words to the pictures.  It's incredibly time-consuming.  But the ease of using the DSL video camera enables professional shooters to tell a fuller story, and for me, the story starts right up the street.

 

 

More Hasselblad 500C/W Double Exposures

"The Forest That I Carry Inside": Black and white double exposure with Hasselblad 500 C/M and Ilford HP5 Plus.  Done entirely in-camera with no Photoshop.  ©Suzy Allman

This double exposure is named after Jane Goodall's answer to the question of why, despite so many questions after her return from the forest, she seemed so peaceful. "I always answer that it is the peace of the forest that I carry inside."

I've felt like my double exposures may be getting repetitive, and so I bought a (used) macro lens for the Hasselblad and am trying it out this weekend at the Mets home opener, which I'm covering for the NY Times.  They had also hired me for the Yankees opening day, until a family emergency called me away.  I'm looking forward to the National Anthem and passing out cookies in the camera well.

If you have never used this camera and are interested in shooting film, you'll love -- among other things -- the way you don't have to worry about a battery, because it's entirely mechanical.

"The Only Thing That Ever Has": Randall's Island, black and white double exposure with Hasselblad 500 C/M and Ilford HP5 Plus.  Done entirely in-camera with no Photoshop.  ©Suzy Allman

Yours My Graffiti: Black and white double exposure with Hasselblad 500 C/M and Ilford HP5 Plus.  Done entirely in-camera with no Photoshop.  ©Suzy Allman

From a Whole Other World Begin to Whisper: Black and white double exposure with Hasselblad 500 C/M and Ilford HP5 Plus.  Done entirely in-camera with no Photoshop.  ©Suzy Allman

Aerials From the 2011 New York City Half-Marathon

Aerials from the 2011 New York City Half-Marathon.  Upper West Side Apartments and Runners, Central Park.  ©Suzy Allman for The Wall Street Journal

Aerials from the 2011 New York City Half-Marathon.  Runners, Central Park.  ©Suzy Allman for The Wall Street Journal

Aerials from the 2011 New York City Half-Marathon.  Blossoms, Reservoir, Runners; Central Park.  ©Suzy Allman for The Wall Street Journal

The 2011 New York City Half-marathon took place this Sunday.  As opposed to the full-length ING New York City Marathon of November, this one offered a springtime loop through Central Park before spilling out onto 7th Avenue and Times Square.  The resulting pictures were a refreshing change of scenery.

With the forecast calling for abundant sunshine, Eric Ross and I finally got helicopter No. 2 to start, took off from Linden Airport in New Jersey at 7:30 -- about racetime -- and fifteen minutes later were flying over the park.  Doors off, leaning out, the temperature was just at freezing.  No inflight beverage service in a little two-seater.

Central Park doesn't seem so large when you have a single view of its totality.  It was manageable.  We picked up the biggest cluster of runners and spent the hour following them as they snaked under the still-bare branches of that gorgeous Olmstead-designed park.  Looking at the pictures afterwards, I could see a pink tinge to some of those branches.  Spring's not far off.

The nice thing about this marathon is that it afforded me a completely different subject to shoot: different time of year, bare trees, different location.  The big marathon can look the same from year to year, so this was a relief.

If you ran in this year's half-marathon and would like to order a print from the park, the pictures can be seen and ordered from my Photoshelter account, here.

Which to Cross and Which to Burn

"Which to Cross and Which to Burn" by Suzy Allman, ©2011.  Double exposure taken at Big Sur, south of Carmel in California.

...is the title of this double exposure taken at Big Sur, south of Carmel.  Why do I feel it's important to say this look was achieved entirely in-camera, with no Photoshop?  Because I hate shortcuts!

It's harder to admit when a double exposure -- as opposed to a single -- doesn't work, because each double exposure involves a lot of time, and time between exposures, and sometimes wasted ends (or middles) of rolls of film, when you can't wait any longer to develop your pictures and see what you have.  And so you become attached to them.

But sometimes they don't work -- I'm not sure this one does -- and you have to just let go and shoot more. 

Thank you to those good shootin' folk who have written with questions about this technique.  I'm happy to answer your questions via email. 

Sea, Sea Rider: Double Exposures at Big Sur

 

Sea, Sea Rider: Double exposure at Big Sur.  Taken with two exposures, entirely in-camera and without Photoshop manipulation.  Ilford HP5, Hasselblad 500C.  ©Suzy Allman

Spent almost a week in California's Big Sur, and Pinnacles National Monument, to hike and take (film) pictures.  Big Sur is better known than Pinnacles, which is at the end of a  long drive into the rather remote interior to the east of Big Sur; Pinnacles is in a class by itself for hiking and natural beauty.  I made several double exposures on the shore and in the canyons.

We stayed in a beautiful home high at the top of a canyon, looking out over the tops of the giant redwoods and the Pacific.  The waves crashing on the face in this portrait were the rocky seaside there. 

Sea, Sea Rider is the name of a story by funky 60s writer Richard Brautigan.  We read it when we were kids and my Dad was none too happy about that!  And I can see why.  Don't read it.

Sometimes there is too much pretty in one place and Big Sur will make you cry.  I'm not so good at re-entry.  I'd like to live there.