After lightning and thunderstorms through the night, we were awoken to more rain. Everyone was hustled out of bed and onto the wet sidewalks at 9:00 AM to begin our day-long journey in Brooklyn. Luckily for our group of 20+ people we were catching the subway when rush hour had ended and didn't have to pack in as we had become accustomed to doing. When coming out of the turnstile, I dropped my camera for what must have been the fifth time during our course. I picked it up to inspect the damage and I realized that I couldn't use the zoom on the lens--it was locked into place. I forced it from 24 mm to 55 mm, and with a crunch I knew it was completely broken.

Our subway ride to from lower Manhattan to Brooklyn was brief and the botanic garden was right outside the subway station. The rain ceased while we were underground, but everything at the garden was muddy and sodden. On the other hand, all the flowers and shrubbery smelled fantastic after the shower. The Brooklyn Museum--only a stone's throw from the botanic garden--was our next destination. Although I am a native New Yorker, I had never been or had the interest in going to this museum. I find myself more interested in paintings and photographs at museums than the ancient stone sculptures and jewelry that were on display at the Brooklyn Museum. I think that it is astonishing, however, that some of the pieces they had in their collection were from the ninth century and one dating back to the first century and still completely intact.

Our day was only halfway over. We walk to the apartment of Lori Nix where she has her art studio. Lori is an artist who creates miniature models and scenes of cityscapes, dreamy settings, and inspiring thoughts from her childhood. Each and every set she makes is created by hand and takes approximately 7-8 months. When she is finished, she uses a view camera with an 8x10 inch negative to capture her models in all their glory.

Next, we made our way to Lorie Novak's studio near the Manhattan Bridge. Lorie is a photographer whose work is completely her own. Some of the ideas that she has come up with are fantastic (projecting a giant image onto trees in the middle of the forest and then photographing the effect, using double exposures on her film negatives). She gave us things to drink as well as a slideshow showcasing her work.

Both of the artists that we met were very affable and inviting. We headed back to Weinstein Hall on University Place for dinner. Following dinner we were off again to the 8th floor of the Tisch building for a lighting demo from our teacher assistants.

Writing down all the things that we did in one day is astonishing.

Man, I'm tired,
Martin