Namibian 4 x 4
Namibia, Southern Africa – 2017
Spring of 2017 found my family heading off on an epic bucket-list journey through the wilds of Namibia in southern Africa. Traveling with Southern Cross Safaris, we planned to spend two weeks on backcountry safari, sleeping in tents and utilizing their custom-built “Unimog” off-road vehicle to penetrate deeper into the bush then normally travelled. What follows is a few (lots) of my favorite images from the trip, which were whittled down from the more than 3000 images I captured. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!
We start with a shot of a Namibian donkey cart, or Kalahari Ferrari, the quintessential Namibian 4×4 form of transportation seen throughout southern Africa. These fellas bid adieu to us as we left the paved roads a little over an hour into the trip, and for the better part of the next two weeks.
Street Art, Bushwick Collective, Brooklyn, NY
Bushwick is a working class neighborhood in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Bushwick Collective is an outdoor gallery on the streets of Bushwick that was founded in 2012 by Joseph Ficalora, a local resident who gets owners to donate space on buildings for street art. The Collective now attracts artists from around the world as well as legendary NYC artists and local Bushwick artists. The collection is temporary, with the average mural lasting up to 12 months before being replaced. Here are a few photos of the art taken during my visit in the fall of 2016. Each image can be clicked to enlarge.
HAND-PULLED NOODLES
Preparing Lanzhou-style hand-pulled noodles in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City.
Water Breathing Dragons in Zürich
Details of the Swiss sculptor Richard Kissling statue created in 1889 in honor of Alfred Escher, a renowned Zurich politician and entrepreneur.
Dante’s Gate
Dante’s Gate: Leper Entrance to Spinalonga Fortress.
Spinalonga was one of the last active leper colonies in Europe. There were two entrances through the massive stone walls of the Venetian fortress: one main gate, and one tiny dark tunnel of an entrance on the side of the island that was not much higher than head height. This was the lepers’ entrance, known as “Dante’s Gate”. Due to the slow curve in the entrance path, peering into the tunnel caused daylight to close into darkness, giving no clue as to what horrors lie ahead. What the arriving lepers soon found on the other side was food, water, shelter, and medical attention.
The fortunes of the lepers on the island took a turn for the better in the 1930’s when law student Epameinondas Remoundakis arrived and pressed the Cretes for improvements to the inhuman living conditions. Soon, the “houses of Spinalonga were whitewashed after many years of decay, the road around the island was opened, an outdoor cleaning service was set up, a theatre and cinema were built, and classical music was heard from the loudspeakers in the street. People fell in love and were married on Spinalonga. They had children, some of whom grew up with them without ever catching the disease. They looked after one another, did any work they could to improve their lives, ran their own kafeneion and barber shop, and had their own church of St Panteleimon, with a brave priest who, though not a leper himself, volunteered to spend his life among the exiles. Life on the Leper Island began to be more like that they had left behind when they had been forced to leave their homes and move to Spinalonga”.
City Architecture 2 – New York
New York City – 2015
If you look closely, I believe that you can see Batman descending the fire escape.
Empire State Through Manhattan Bridge
New York – 2015
View of the Empire State Building through the Manhattan bridge as seen from the Dumbo neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Bridge – New York
Brooklyn – 2015
The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge which connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn over the East River. Completed in 1883, it is one of the oldest of either type bridge in the United States.When the Brooklyn Bridge first opened, it cost a penny to cross by foot, 5 cents for a horse and rider and 10 cents for a horse and wagon. Farm animals were allowed at a price of 5 cents per cow and 2 cents per sheep or hog. It is now free for all beasts and vehicles to cross.
Baby Flinging – New York
Brooklyn, New York 2015
Shoe flinging is the practice of throwing shoes whose laces have been tied together so that they hang from overhead power lines or telephone cables. Shoe flinging is thought to have many purposes, some examples are to define street gang territories, to pinpoint a drug dealing zone, or to commemorate a life or death event. Baby flinging, on the other hand, is a newer practice, which many believe is being used to mark the boundaries of rogue evil clown gangs in the rougher sections of Brooklyn.
Palace of Westminster
London – 2015
Finishing up London 2015 pic series with one more shot of the Palace of Westminster, Elizabeth Tower/Big Ben at night.
Humans of London Tower
London Tower – 2015
Finishing of my London series with a short “Humans of London Tower” set.
Tower Bridge from Tower of London
View Across the Thames
The Tower of London (“Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London“), located on the banks of the river Thames in central London, was first built in 1066 as part of the Norman conquest of England, the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by Norman, Breton, and French soldiers led by Duke William II (William the Conqueror) of Normandy.
The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William in 1078, and was a resented symbol of oppression by the new ruling elite. Throughout the centuries the castle had been besieged multiple times, as controlling it was critical to controlling the country.
This view from outside the White Tower shows the Tower Bridge, a combined draw bridge and suspension bridge across the Thames which was built in 1886–1894.
London Underground
Buckingham Palace
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