Weekend Road Trip – New York City

Living in Philadelphia is great for many reasons – one of which is the short bus ride up to New York. On Friday after work I headed up to the wonder city for a mini-reunion with a long lost middle school friend, and a little sight seeing. Saturday morning I woke up and headed out about 9am. On the way to Central Park I stopped at one of those oh-so-new-york bagel shops for a morning bite and was so thrilled that they didn’t skimp on the cream cheese. I love New York! While munching on my bagel and strolling through Central Park, puppy watching and daydreaming, the boyfriend arrived and met up. From there we went to the Guggenheim (my first time!) and then on to meet up with my friend at the Natural History Museum. I am devastatingly in awe of this museum.

The first stop was the planetarium. Super cool. Next time I go back (and there WILL be a next time) I’m going in to watch whatever their feature is. Then we hit up the dinosaurs on the 4th floor. After staring in wonder at these mammoth ancient creatures it was almost time to head out, with a stop in the African Mammals room on the way out. This was the icing on an already deliciously sweet visit. As I walked in gawking at the gigantic elephants marching through the center of the room – I felt like I had been here before, looking at all of the full-scale animal dioramas before. I’ve never stood in this room before, but the images weren’t new.

Polar Bear 1976

Gemsbok 1980

Hyena-Jackal-Vulture 1976

Of course, Hiroshi Sugimoto made a series of photographs (Dioramas) in this museum over several years, which I’ve stared at many times. It’s hard to express just how extensively his work has influenced me. Looking at his work I can feel the style of the stories I want to tell with images. Not only were the displays themselves intriguing and occasionally unsettling, but the chance to see these subjects first-hand was equally inspiring. After getting home and thumbing through my book of Sugimoto plates (for the 100th time) the pleasure of the experience only grew.

Next time I’ll have to remember to take a tripod.

“When I first arrived in New York in 1974, I visited many of the city’s tourists sites, one of which was the American Museum of Natural History. I made a curious discovery while looking at the exhibition of animal dioramas: the stuffed animals positioned before painted backdrops looked utterly fake, yet by taking a quick peek with one eye closed, all perspective vanished, and suddenly they looked very real. I had found a way to see the world as a camera does. However fake the subject, once photographed, it’s as good as real.” – Hiroshi Sugimoto