Photography

Farewell to 2009

So this is the time when we choose to look back on the year that has just ended.  Or in some cases, not look back.  It seems that this past year was a difficult one for a lot of people, an annus horribilis or a “year to forget.” For me, that particular title could be better applied to another year that was far more tragic and difficult.

So I feel a little at odds looking back at 2009 and seeing a really rich year, one filled with visual and personal experiences.  I actually learned a lot, about other people around the world, about myself, about what is important to me, and I think that is actually reflected on these pages in a strange way.

I expect this coming year to be more of a transitional one, though I am not exactly sure yet where that will lead.  But in the meantime, we at CatSynth will continue to do what we do…

Lights on the 7 Subway Line

Some lines in the New York City subway system use diamonds and circles to differentiate between express and local, respectively. This is the case on the 7 (Flushing) line as well. However, I while most trains simply carry the appropriate sign, the trains on this line used lights instead, creating a unique effect:

As far as I know, this is only line which features these lights. The picture above illustrates the green circle representing the local train. Below is a red diamond representing the express:

I was not particularly happy with the second photo, but it does illustrate both the red light and an interesting side-effect that I observed: the reflection of these bright colored geometric lights on the windows both from other trains and within the car itself. I found myself watching the colored shapes dance, and contrast with a few of the passengers sitting in the car or rushing along the platform. Not mesmerized per se, the way a cat reacts to a light pointer, but still focused. I don’t know if anything will come of it besides this brief post.

Bleecker Street Station, New York City

Many of the stations on the New York subway system have been upgraded over the years, cleaned up and adorned with artwork and location-specific decor. The Bleecker Street Station on the Lexington Avenue line is not one of them. It’s still quite spare and run-down, the supporting columns a bit rusty. As I waited for an uptown #6 train, I took this photograph looking along the tracks and platform:

Just afterwards, I looked across to the opposite platform and saw a young woman making a similar photograph, also looking uptown. Almost as quickly, a downtown #6 pulled into the station, and as the train pulled away, she was of course gone. A typical movie cliche, but our main purpose in this little station was to catch our trains to wherever it was were going next.