Photography – Page 4 – Karen's New York Love Affair

Last day at the Cornelia St. Cafe

I’ve been getting emails from Cornelia St. Cafe owner Robin Hirsch for the past month, letting his mailing list know that the cafe will be closing for good, after 4 decades of being a Greenwich Village institution. I wandered over there today after Barre class, not realizing it’s the last day they will be open.

I had a chat with Robin, and he said the closure is not just about rent increases, but also about general landlord nastiness. Evidently the landlord who owns the building is on the Top 10 list of worst landlords in New York, and actually boasts of being THE WORST!

I’ve had a few wonderful evenings at the cafe over the past few years, and recently was the first patron in for a morning coffee, trying to soak up the last few bits of memory before the cafe closes. Some of you may recall that when I worked at Krystyna’s Place, the vintage clothing store on the same block as the cafe, we wound up the photo shoot at the cafe, and I met Robin that day. He gave us each a glass of wine, as Krystyna is a good friend of his. It was the perfect ending to a dream day.

So I have a soft spot in my heart for this New York institution. For a while, my writing teacher from Gotham Writers, Nelsie Spence, was hosting a monthly comedy reading show here, the Imperfect Perfect Show. Sadly, I never got over to see it.

Today was an especially vibrant and emotional day at the cafe, with regulars and new visitors alike thronging around the bar, filling the tables, and lining up outside for the 3:00 PM Songwriter’s Exchange. Tonight, the final event will be an artists’ salon, starting at 7 PM. I was lucky to get a seat at the bar, and ordered a tasty New Year’s Day brunch of eggs Florentine, coffee, and mimosa. An excellent first meal of the year, though tinged with sadness.

Here are some short clips of the scene outside the cafe today.

On one side of me was a couple from Toronto, in town to celebrate New Year’s Eve. The man is a performer in Come From Away in Toronto, and his partner is a tango dancer. They went to a tango event last night and then finished up the evening at Marie’s Crisis, a sing-along piano bar in the West Village. On the other side of me, I met a long-time New Yorker and cabaret performer, MAC nominee Kathryne Langford. She is under consideration for a Bistro Award for a recent cabaret performance, and has promised to take me out to some of her favorite New York places. How wonderful to meet a new friend on the first day of the year.

The cafe is selling its custom-made tables. Lacking space in my apartment for any more furniture, I took home a Cornelia St. Cafe sparkling bottle instead. (See top photo.)

Robin Hirsch is an amazing person, a former Oxford, Fulbright, and English-Speaking Union Scholar, who has acted, directed, taught, and published on both sides of the Atlantic. He is a long-time supporter of eclectic artists and art forms, ranging from stilts, to tight-rope walking, to writing to spoken word to music, and much more. He has written a book about the cafe, called The Whole World Passes Through: Stories from the Cornelia Street Café, and other works as well. His cafe will be much missed, and I wish him and the staff all the best as they head in a new direction.

Here’s a brief history of the cafe, and some stories about the cafe on the same page. Here’s another great article about the cafe and some of the famous and infamous people and goings-on.

Christmas in New York 2018 – the Rockettes!

I’m going to make a new Christmas tradition, shared by many New Yorkers and tourists before me, to see the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall for their annual Christmas Spectacular.

Outside Radio City - Christmas in New York — *Outside Radio City Music Hall*

I saw them for the first time last year, on a dream date with a guy named Guy, and I was super excited to see the show again this year.

Christmas Balls outside Radio City Music Hall — *Christmas Balls*

My friends Sally S. and Heather F. (of 9 W. 10th St, my former home) know people connected with the show, including the people who sew all the sequins on the costumes (in a tiny tailor’s shop in Chinatown) and one of the former dancers. These creme de la creme fraiche dancers do up to 4 shows a day! Sally told me the choreography has been the same since the 1930s. The repertoire is too big to do all the numbers in one year, so they switch them around, with the most popular numbers being performed every year. For example, the precision dance of the toy soldiers.

Radio City Music Hall - Interior — *Waiting for the curtain to rise. During the show, the entire proscenium arch becomes a movie screen.*

There is something so fascinating and mesmerizing about the chorus line, when they are all kicking their legs in unison. I don’t know why I love it so much. It is thrilling to see, and it never gets boring… Sally, who is a prominent member of the dance community of New York (founder of the International Tap Society, on the Bessie Committee, teacher, author, etc.), said this question has occupied the dance world for decades, if not centuries, with no clear answer!

Children's choir at Radio City Music Hall — *Each year, children’s choirs perform a pre-show Christmas carol. How cute is that?*

This year I attended with my friend from work, Sally M.

Delta Airlines Sucks — *Sally M. outside Radio City Music Hall*

We had a fantastic time, and I can’t wait to see the show again next year!

Portrait of Lew McFarland

I’m thrilled to be taking an online master class in photography with Annie Leibovitz, along with students from all over the world. She is a fantastic teacher, and so inspiring. I have been working very long hours this fall, and having this class in the background of my mind has kept me sane and connected to the creative joy in my life.

Lesson number 3’s assignment was to take a photograph of an older person in my life, ask if they have photos of when they were young, and then see how the younger photos inform me when I’m photographing them now.

I asked my friend Lew McFarland, who’s post-80, to sit for this lesson. He brought out photos from his babyhood, boyhood, his Grade 12 graduation photo, and his photo when he was ordained as a minister in his early 20s. It was fascinating to hold these impressions of who he was as a young man, starting out in life, with his face and attitude now. Of course, no person has only one side, and it was a challenge to go through the photos to find one representative picture. I chose 3, to show different aspects – joy and mischieviousness, stark beingness with a tinge of apprehension, and then this seated photo, which seems the most Annie-esque–showing him in his chosen place in the world for this stage of his life, a sub-penthouse apartment in Chelsea. It is moving for me to consider the course of his life, and the complex and still vulnerable man he has become.

David Bowie Station to Station

This was a super-cool New York happening! In conjunction with the David Bowie Is exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, the MTA and Spotify collaborated to put up this tribute to Bowie at the Broadway-Lafayette Subway (the station closest to Bowie’s home on Lafayette Street). I met other people wandering around looking at the pictures who were also profoundly impacted by Bowie, and we strangers shared stories with each other.

I have often wondered what was so compelling about Bowie that made so many people feel a personal connection to him. I didn’t find out how many until after he died and I got the Ziggy haircut, which has prompted dozens of people to share their love of Bowie with me.

Bowie Station 1

I think for me personally, one of things is the androgyny that Lynn Goldsmith mentioned in the quote in the above slideshow. I have always felt that my truest self is androgynous, and that the particular gender I carry in this lifetime is not my deepest self. I believe I’ve been both genders, over hundreds of lifetimes, and this one happens to be female, but can feel what it’s like to be male as well.

For teenagers and folks in their twenties who are trying to figure out what gender and sexuality feels right, Bowie offered the freedom to do that. He was a role model who said it’s all acceptable, and wonderful. I recall the lyric from Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide, where he says “Gimme your hands, ’cause you’re wonderful…” That to me is the epitome of Bowie’s kindness, love, and acceptance.

Bowie Station 2

Then there’s the simple fun of dressing up and putting on a character. Bowie gave us so many fantastic looks and characters to emulate. I don’t know the statistics, but if you Google Ziggy images, you will see dozens of people dressed in various guises of Ziggy. I’ve certainly loved dressing in several Ziggy costumes with full make-up. The year Bowie died, there were several Bowies in the Halloween parade in the West Village. I remember the guy in the Bowie Labyrinth costume. Fantastic! There is a Bowie Ball where people get into Bowie costume–not just in New York but in Vancouver and I’m sure many other cities as well. And I went to a Bowie roller disco in Brooklyn at which dozens of people roller skated dressed as Bowie!

Bowie Station 4

In the musings he wrote in the last image above, he recounted his trip to the Village in the 70s, where he followed the footsteps of his “enthusiams.” I did the exact same thing on my first trip, staying at a hotel where Dylan had stayed, going to the Whitehorse Tavern, and Carrie’s SATC stoop. He followed the same urges to New York, to touch the people who inspired him, and found a life for himself here.

Bowie Station 5

After he died, the first thing I connected to was his creative brilliance. I watched the videos, like so many did, and listened to his music. I was in training for the New York marathon, and listened to his music on the endless long runs through the North Shore mountains in Vancouver. I was so blown away by the body of work he had created during his lifetime. 25 studio albums! Innovative rock videos long before MTV. And so much more.

I listened to his final album, Black Star, and was curious about and moved by what he chose to express on his way off the planet. According to Donny McCaslin, who played sax on the album, Bowie was also very interested in collaboration and hearing what his fellow musicians had to bring to the co-creation. So he had his personal genius, but also a gift of collaborating with others to create something bigger than any one person.

Bowie Station 3

So why do I love Bowie—the phenomenon, if not the person, though I did see him up close and personal a few times! I was right in front of the stage at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, and felt Bowie’s special charisma pour over me. There is something so lovable about him, and I think he makes people feel they are like him, so some of his stardust must be in each of us.

New York fashion model shoot on Cornelia St.

Sept. 20, 2017 – Earlier I told you about my fantastic summer gig at Krystyna’s Place. An unexpected outcome is that Krystyna is an amazing artist and photographer, and she offered to do a photo shoot of me for a model’s portfolio. We spent the afternoon on a glorious sunny day in early September shooting photos up and down Cornelia St. This is a preliminary pic to give you an idea.

Krystyna dressed me in fantastic couture, mostly vintage. The dress pictured above is more recent, from Venice, and is absolutely stunning haute couture. It’s exquisitely rich satin, with asymmetrical details and the pattern is coral roses with grey touches on a white background. Stay posted for more pix when Krystyna finishes processing the shoot. I hope I can give you a full-length shot of the dress later.

I felt like a real fashion model, and had so much fun wearing the gorgeous clothes and striking poses. Passers-by joined in the fun as well, sometimes holding the reflector for Krystyna or commenting on the amazing outfits that Krystyna put together. The green crinoline might look familiar to you from the window dressing that I created as my final masterpiece at the store.

Karen Rempel photographed at Taglialatella Galleries art opening in Chelsea Sept. 14

Embed from Getty Images

Sept. 17, 2017 – My friend Angela James and I attended an opening at Taglialatella Galleries on Thursday night, Sept. 14. We saw an exhibition of iconic original and limited edition works by influential graffiti and pop artist Cristophe Schwarz, aka Zevs. The collection is called Zevs: Liquid Assets.

Here’s a pic of the artist at the opening (black t-shirt):

It was a real scene. Evidently the night began with tequila shooters, and the champagne flowed freely from there. I was honored to be photographed with Ange in front of a great piece of art that my outfit matched. The slideshow at the top shows some images taken by celebrity photographer Patrick McMullan. This one is by Ange:

Many thanks to my friend Pat Duffy, writer and instructor at the United Nations, for the invite. Ange and I had a blast, and met some amazing people, including artist and professional partier David Padworny; actor, photographer, and former model Mark Reay, who made the autobiographical documentary Homme Less; writer/actor/producer Gregor Collins; and artist and musician M Fisher, aka Viking Swan.

Here’s David with a Louboutin-flashing babe. There’s a button on her shoe with a message for President Trump!
And here’s M (from another event):

He’s working on an upcoming photo exhibit that will take place in Spain.

Karen Rempel launches CP6 Productions

CP6 Productions is a premier HD video production company in Vancouver specializing in art and music videos.

My inspiration for video production was born in Manhattan. In Washington Square Park, to be exact. When I took my first video I wanted to capture the sounds of competing musicians in the park, especially the completely unexpected piano player. I took out my iPhone 5s, and CP6 Productions was born. (See Washington Square Jazz.)

VIFF

I am very excited to be submitting my work to VIFF 2016. This is a new realm of artistic direction for me. For many years I have been inspired by the films of VIFF. I’ve loved movies since I was a little girl, and used to read the accounting production credits back when I was an accountant in the late 80s. I dreamed of having my name on the big screen even then, but had no idea that one day I would be creating my own films.

CP6 Productions

CP6 is a reference to Counter-Phobic Six, one of the nine positions in the Enneagram system of understanding human psychology and spirituality. The Counter-Phobic Six leaps in where others fear to tread. I’ve been skydiving, fasted alone in the desert for four days and nights, and lived alone in the wilderness for six years. I wear my CP6 badge with pride, and I am now sharing the In Joke with you. Making movies always requires taking a leap into the unknown. And like other dangerous ventures, it’s a helluva lot of fun!

Videos

These are the initial raw materials of the work I will be submitting to VIFF.

E. 4th St – take one – Lou Reed’s Heroin
E. 4th St – take two – Voidoids, Reed, Darling
Shadow Play – 5 minute video of art opening on YouTube
Another New York Love Affair – 1 minute audio meditations of the sounds of New York on YouTube

Karen Rempel publishes photo series Shadow Play Two

I took this photo series to capture the invitation and mystery of rosy golden sunset glow. The golden light infuses everyday domesticity with the mystique of a heavenly garden in Persia, inviting you to enter into a world of serenity.

Those of you who’ve seen my first Shadow Play will recognize the star player. There’s a new star on the scene, too, and he’s very surprising.

Shadow Play Two

Karen Rempel publishes Another New York Love Affair #25

I am excited to share Another New York Love Affair #25 with you:

I took this footage of the “Sterling Cooper” building in my final week in New York, at the end of March. At the time I was midway through watching Mad Men on Netflix, and in love with the cast of characters. Also in love with New York, and the beautiful strangeness of Madison Avenue. Enjoy!

I am aiming for 100 over the next three years. I’ve got to get back to New York to do it, though!

Karen Rempel is in love–it’s springtime in New York

Yesterday was the first day of spring, and it snowed in New York. I went for a run as glorious flakes skirled and floated through the air, stage-lit by the lights along the Hudson River walk. It’s a nice hour-long run from my place in the village along the Hudson to the Financial District Ferry Terminal and back.

I passed tennis players on my way to the ferry terminal, enjoying the gentle snowfall, and caught a glimpse of One World, nestled between the legs of two other high rises.

New Yorkers still call this the World Trade Center.

On the way back, I could see the Empire State Building in the distance, over 70 blocks away (the lit tower in the center of the photo). I love seeing these two landmarks as I go about the city. They are orientation touchstones, helping people find their way, much like a striking tree or cliff formation would have guided our ancestors.