bird | mareadyphotography's blog

my hood #3

Posted by mareadyphotography in documentary on March 29, 2010

check out the other shots of my hood here:

there's so many things i like about this scene. i mean, maybe its the girls braids with the blue beads, the motion of the throw, the girls vs. boys, the open courtyard, the trash in the corner... it's all really beautiful to me.

: there where a lot of cool things in there.

: and tarot cards. nothing brings the occult and catholicism together like reading tarot cards on a prayer mat surrounded by candles with saints on them and thousands of biblical statues.

: this is a whole store with nothing but religious statues

: when window styling gets awesome

: scooters with training wheels are weird. this girl was so dang cute.

: photos like this mean a lot to me. there’s a cool story there somewhere.

: somebody walked up to him and asked, “so does selling this stuff give you enough to make a living?” and he said, “nah, but i gotta do it to make ends meet.”

: this sidewalk is always a hot spot for out-of-a-van flea markets

: the boys playin ball. when i asked if i could take a shot, a couple guys stepped out and said, “nah, i don’t want my picture taken – i appreciate you asking, though” and were super cool.

: this guy got nailed with like 1000 snowballs. then right afterwards, some girl ran up and did a flying ninja pounce right on this poor fella. it happened too fast for me to catch it.

: i love this guy’s picture-takin stance

: goin for the triple lindy.

: it’s all fun and games until some kid faceplants

: she said, “go dad, go!”

: another unhappy sledder

: plum tuckered out

: yeeehaawwww

: i’m gonna pretend that her jacket says “apple blossom” cause a 5 year old with an “apple bottom” jacket just seems wrong

: school’s out

: this roach coach is always at the same spot almost every day. and they’re usually always busy.

: another store of religious stuff. who is that random guy in the middle with the hat?

: he built this RC car from scratch. that sucker was fast.

: rat poison in use. keep out.

: i see a few of these portable mechanic trucks around. if your car is busted, they’ll come to you and fix it right there on the street. it’s pretty awesome.

: i love this pizza. i’ll even go out of my way to get it. the crust is really salty and it makes it delicious.

: pizza palace

: this girl was playing peek-a-boo with me

: nueva york

: fresh sqeezed OJ is bomb diggy

: it’s a minimum security playground

: sandals, white socks and checkers

: closed for renovations/court order. before this hood was dominican it was really irish – so there are a ton of irish bars around still

: chillin on the corner

: street food

: there’s so many beautiful things about this shot. i mean, maybe its the girls braids with the blue beads, the motion of the throw, the girls vs. boys, the open courtyard, the trash in the corner… something about this is really beautiful to me.

: sidewalk fruit and lottery tickets

: he made a clean catch and took it in for the touchdown

: the fellas dragged an old couch from the sidewalk trash and got some more use out of it. at one point, they had a huge blue tarp tied to street signs to give them some shade. love it.

: i like these colors.

: swingsets and buttcracks

: the MTA buses are built like tanks. ask that guy’s bumper.

: broadway

: a couple games of bones at the end of the day

: pow pow powerwheels

: the 1 train in all of it’s glory

angel, ball, big wheel, bike, bird, bones, broadway, building, car hood, cast, chains, checkers, couch, crutches, documentary, doll, dominos, dyckman, football, fresh squeezed, fruit, girl, grill, hood, hoola hoop, inwood, keenan's bar, manhattan, naranja, neighborhood, new york, nyc, orange juice, parking meter, photo, photography, photojournalism, pizza, pizza palace, plane, play, playground, portrait, rc car, religious, roach coach, scooter, sled, slice, smile, snow, statue, swing, tools, train, trash, van, window, wreck

1 Comment

pic-a-pet slideshow and interview

Posted by mareadyphotography in documentary on March 8, 2009

UPDATE 20 oct 09

you’ll be missed, mr. madonna

tony_madonna_memorial

this summer i was lookin all over for venus flytraps. i made calls to plant stores, went to home depot and some other places, but nobody had any left. so one day i was walking down broadway past dyckman st. (200th st) in manhattan and i saw an old, small plant/pet supply store called Pic-A-Pet. see, i’m a sucker for small, privately owned stores; the older the better. this store had weathered a few storms in it’s day and the guy sitting down just inside the door seemed to be in about the same condition. when i asked him if he had any venus flytraps, he said with a smile, “yeah, we got em for 9 bucks.” so i picked up two plants. i asked him if i could have a receipt and when we walked near the register that looked like it hadn’t been used since before i was born he looked around for his receipt book. it was yellowed with age and when he handed it to me, i looked it over and it was receipt #42 from the 70’s. i said, “don’t write many receipts, huh?” and he started laughing. his name was Mr. Tony Madonna – a life-long new yorker; a real genuine kind of guy with a heart of gold. it’s funny how once i stopped in to ask about flytraps and now i stop in whenever i’m near just to say howdy to my new friend. his wrinkled face and callused hands have a few stories to tell and if you stop in, you just might get to hear a couple.