smile | mareadyphotography's blog

abuelo turns 99. or maybe 100.

Posted by mareadyphotography in documentary on February 4, 2014

his family records say he’s 99 – his military records say he’s 100. nobody really knows, so next year he’ll celebrate his 100th again just to be sure. you would NEVER KNOW he’s 99 (or maybe 100). his mind is sharp as a tack and his body is in better shape than most americans half his age. in fact the last time we visited abuelo, he was all stove up because he fell while riding his bicycle. all that and the guy plays a mean game of dominos. see you next year at your 100/101 year party, abuelo.

100 years old, 50mm, 5d, abuelo, canon, portrait, smile

1 Comment

my hood #3

Posted by mareadyphotography in documentary on March 29, 2010

check out the other shots of my hood here:

my hood #1

my hood #2

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

goat puke

Posted by mareadyphotography in Uncategorized on January 8, 2010

this stinky bunch of rascals is my niece and nephews. they’re all fueled by goat milk. it’s pretty tolerable to get puked on by babies, but not if they’ve been drinkin goat milk. one day one of em hacked up on the bottom of my jeans, and i kind of ignored it. a few hours later i was like, “dude, WHAT is that SMELL?” and i couldn’t figure it out. every now and then i’d get a whiff of a smell that would almost curl my toenails, and i kept looking around to try and find it. another hour or so later, in some golden glance of inspiration, my eyes got big like quarters and i sat up straight and thought, “oh, no – my jeans.” i bent down to take a whiff and it was like a mangy, wet goat found it’s way to my legs about three weeks earlier, got nice and comfy, curled up and died. that stuff could make a vulture gag.