Mountain States Telephone
My Dad was born in Central City in 1917 and had two older sisters. When they moved to Denver in the 1920s Shirley and Leora eventually got jobs with The Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company. Shirley died very young, but Aunt Lee worked for them her entire adult life. I have some of her Bell System awards for long-time service, including a lovely gold bracelet with an inset diamond for 40 years. Cris and I were walking on 14th near our hotel on Curtis and I looked up to see this sight. The building is awesome. There are murals both inside and outside that look to have been done sometime in the 2os. I can imagine my Aunts walking in through the entrance on their way to work each day.
Henry Moore
Denver’s Botanic Garden is having an exhibit of 20 Henry Moore sculptures and it is great to see them in such a cool environment. They are placed all around the grounds in very interesting locations. Well worth a look.
Oyster Bar
Without a doubt, one of my favorite places in the world in the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station. Had some Cotuits and Blue Points and then a great pan roast before getting on the train to come home.
WTC
I had a good room at the Millenium for my Binghamton University shoot. I was hoping to get on to the WTC site Friday morning for the New York State Museum, but it didn’t work out for now. This is a huge project and they seem to be working through the night. After I took this picture, Peter, Matt and I had a great meal at Les Halles.
Wall Street
There was lots of action downtown because the president was here talking about Wall Street reform. There were tons of tv people doing stand-ups. They always draw a crowd.
Big Pete in NYC
Peter Carroll and I have been working together on and off for a very long time. He is always willing to stand around while I take goofy photographs. We are in New York for a couple of days and just after this we found an amazing falafel stand for lunch. What a sport!
Garden
Every year these plants come up in the garden at about the same time. They are so delicate and lovely, but they never flower (edit: They do have little flowers which I have discovered are refered to as sow’s teats). I have no idea what they are (edit: see comments). It is a nice gray day, so I figured it was about time to take some pictures.
Masonic plates
I started going to the Syracuse China seconds store back in the early 80s when I lived in Ithaca. Back then they sold all kinds of great items. I have a nice set of State of Louisiana Senate plates that I still use all the time. And since my days at the Meadville Unitarian Church, I have loved the kind of kitchens that one finds in churches and meeting halls. I have recently been working on a project for the New York State Museum photographing Masonic Lodges. This shot comes from the kitchen at Western Star Lodge #15. Two birds with one stone.
Jack Gilbert
Another amazing person I photographed for Poets & Writers was Jack Gilbert. He grew up in Pittsburgh so we talked alot about Western Pennsylvania. Along with Franz Wright, he was one of the most interesting and provocative people I have ever spent time with. He talked about love, art, and success and told me wild stories about his life.
Franz Wright
I am uploading some older shoots to my photoshelter site, and looking at my photos of the poet Franz Wright brought back memories of the day I spent with him. He is such an intense and deep fellow but I felt completely at ease. His work is stunning and well worth checking out.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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