The Studio

I visited Mr. Romero's studio today. A lot of press photographers have hobbies on the side. Mr. Romero is an artist. He primarily paints, but he also likes to make collage-type pieces. His studio is filled with "junk" he found and things people gave him, as well as an amazing assortment of photographs and drawings. It's the type of place where you can look around for hours, constantly finding new, interesting things to investigate.





Mr. Romero.





On the left, one of Mr. Romero's friends in the building. He's a master carpenter. He was talking about when he went to a leper colony. "...And you don't take cameras there," he told me. "Not because they're not allowed, but it's just something you don't take photos of."



My dad, Won.

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Well, I've maxed out my flickr account for the month. So, I'll see you in September.

Christian Retreat

Last week, I went on a Christian Retreat for four days and three nights. Though I'm not religious, my friends needed a bass player, so I filled in. Retreats are composed of singing, sermons, games, and just having fun. It's a big deal in the Christian circle because it's often where one "meets God" and takes one's religion to a higher level. To anyone not religious, it all probably seems strange or even scary; all of these people are regular guys and girls but when it comes to worshipping God and Jesus, they're very passionate.



This is the youth pastor, Sam Oh giving a sermon.



A retreat staff member.



Students sometimes need a person to talk to, and the youth pastors are always open to it.



The worship usually gets intense towards the end of the night. Here, several students are praying for each other while the band continues praising.



Two students praying for a girl whom they may or may not know personally.



Some fall to the floor while worshipping, screaming out their prayer.



On the last night of the retreat, after worship, there was a camp fire.



Several students embrace for silent prayer. Many kids at these retreats feel like family, united under a common faith, devotion, and struggle.

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Until next time, good night.

Praise

I went to a church in White Plains where my friends were performing at a Christian "Praise Night." Whenever I go to their church, I'm impressed by the community that's formed. There are probably internal conflicts, as there are in any community, but the members have a genuinely warm, family-like dynamic. It's a shift in atmosphere for me because though I'm not religious at all, I've been moving through different church communities my whole life.

Before White Plains, though, was the City:





I've been distant with Christianity since the end of high school. It is strange being around the religion so much while questioning many aspects of it.





I'm going to be playing the bass for my church during a retreat this week, so expect photos from that soon.

Windows

I projected the image of my bedroom windows (below) onto a white piece of paper using a 50mm Pentax.



Now that I've done that, I'm bored again.

Nothing Special

Two of the Early Morning Starbucks Boys.


Everyone is faceless

Sunday Morning

Didn't really get to sleep last night, so Conor and I went to Starbucks at around 8 am. And then it was off to church for me.


A man entertaining/being entertained by his baby.


Johnny with his guitar.


My mom, Kyung, left, listening to the pastor's wife, surrounded by the church.

Woo Assignment

I had the honor of joining Stuart on an exciting thrill ride of an adventure. We went to a little league game in Henry Hudson Memorial Park where the Riverdale team got whipped. It wasn't the greatest assignment but I got to see Stuart in action for the first time as well as continuing to brush up on my photography.


The man, the legend, Stuart Peterson.


The Riverdale coach, pitcher, and catcher deliberate during their crushing game. I tried to get a bigger kid on the opposing team in on the photo, as if he's a bully. I don't know if it worked.

What time is it?

Mostly, people suck. The other night, a drunk man was at a deli while crying about wanting to see his son. He was also, of course, yelling at me with all the required projectile saliva. The deli cashier told the drunk man not to curse in front of young kids like us (Mark and I). Ah, the benefits of looking like a 14 year old. Before all of this, on the way to the deli, someone drove by saying, "Fucking asians." Conor jokes that maybe the man was saying "I love fucking asians" and I just didn't catch the first part.

Anyhow, Conor likes to wake up at 5 am to torture himself (he calls it working out). So, in an effort to un-rust myself, I photographed him.







Afterwards, I got a bagel at Bagel Corner, then a large iced coffee (no sugar) at Starbucks, where I got to meet Jonathan.



Apparently he skates, shoots photo and video, but wishes he'd get more into photography. Cool guy, not grouchy at 6:30 in the morning. See, not everyone's an asshole.

Conor Romero

This is my friend Conor Lee Alexander Romero. He is an up and coming actor. Years from now, people will come to the nursing home and ask me, "you took photos of Conor Romero?!" and I'll say, "I can't believe my children put me in a nursing home."

The 40D

I got the 40D yesterday. Here are some photos. God created the CMOS sensor so that those of us with f3.5 lenses could take photos like these, some at an ISO of 3200

New York Times

So yeah. A bunch of video people down at the Times wanted to know how I made the film, so I did a little presentation and met some of the people who work there. One guy, David Frank pointed me towards Lisa Simons who said I should send a resume during the spring for a potential summer internship. Fingers crossed.

Many thanks to Mr Romero for showing Conor's and my video around the NYTimes offices. He also took these photos of the presentation: