The Gates -- Just got back

Unimaxium · Feb 20, 2005

I just arrived home from a trip up to NYC today, and you can bet I took plenty photos of The Gates (somewhere around a total of 108 ). Some of you had mentioned that you'd like to see my photos when I got back, so there they are below.
But first, here's a brief summary of my day: I got up early, took the 7:00 train from Philly to NYC, arrived somewhere around 9:00, waited around Penn Station for about an hour until the nearby B&H superstore opened at 10:00. I went in, got all my supplies I needed to get some good shots for the day -- basically a cheap monopod (so I could confidently use my 200mm zoom lens on my K1000) and a few rolls of film. And I must say, on a side note, that store sure was an experience! They have different stations for everything; you go to one counter, tell them what you want, they print out a slip of paper that you take to the payment desk, pay for your stuff, get another slip of paper and head to the merchandise pickup desk and get your stuff. It was very crowded, even right after they opened their doors (there was a line outside when I got there), but very efficient. Quite interesting. So after that, I walked down to Central Park and took plenty of photos. Then had lunch around 1:00 or 2:00, made a trip to the Guggenhiem Museum (which was actually kind of disappointing IMHO), and headed back into Central Park to check it out farther north than I was previously. Took more photos, got tired, walked all the way back to Penn Station, and got on the 6:00 train back home.

So... I took pictures using my 3 different cameras: a Sony Cybershot PSC-D71 (basically a 3.2MP point-and-shoot), my Canon ELAN 7N with 50mm f1.8 prime, and my Pentax K1000 with some 80-200mm f2.0 zoom. Since I just got home, I have yet to get any of the film developed (which I'll do tomorrow), but I have managed to post my digital shots online. They're all unaltered, so they're nothing all that special -- mostly touristy shots. But there are a few nice ones in there. You can view them here:
http://homepage.mac.com/skyboy/PhotoAlbum7.html

And I'll of course post the good film shots when I have a chance to get them developed and scanned, so check back later for updates.

danalec99 · Feb 20, 2005

Nice series!

I should pay a visit too before they wrap it up.

Unimaxium · Feb 20, 2005

Yeah, it is a good thing to experience first-hand. I think Jeanne-Claude and Christo were right when they said that it's not made to be experienced any other way than by actually going into Central Park and seeing all the gates. The scale of it is hard to grasp until you are actually among all of them, looking at the way they wind along every path as far as you can see in any direction. Photos can maybe capture the pretty colors of the saffron cloth, and even the beauty of certain sections of it, but you can't fully see the "art" as a whole until you see it first-hand. I think it was a really cool thing to see. Some people might find it not worth it, just not all that interesting, but I found it to be a really interesting form of art.

Unimaxium · Feb 21, 2005

Ok, here come the first three images I've scanned from the film negatives. I will continue posting more here as I scan and edit them.

JonMikal · Feb 21, 2005

WOW! these are very nice! i'm going to nyc next weekend; hope it's still there.

Unimaxium · Feb 21, 2005

I'm pretty sure it will be. It went up on Saturday the 12th, and it is up for 16 days total, so it should come down either Sunday or Monday

Mumfandc · Feb 21, 2005

Unimaxium said:
I'm pretty sure it will be. It went up on Saturday the 12th, and it is up for 16 days total, so it should come down either Sunday or Monday

Nice shots. I happened to meet Christo and Jeanne-Claude at a booksigning at the Met, last Friday evening. I skipped my 3D design class for it! Secretly, it was for only 300 people. They advertised the signing for 7:00 PM, but by word of mouth, you had to get a special purple button at 5:00 PM to reserve your spot. I was #42...yay! Many people were really upset cuz they bought the books, but came too late.

BTW, I think "The Gates" will be up until the 27th...

Went to the park 5 times already...I took a lot of pics but I had a hard time composing the gates in my shots. We'll see how they come out.

Glad to hear about your B&H experience. That's what I thought when I went there for the first time.

Unimaxium · Feb 21, 2005

Wow, that's cool that you got to meet them. The whole secret purple button thing sounds very Jeanne-Claude and Christo - ish.

If you're heading back to Central Park any time soon, you might want to check out the Guggenhiem as they have one of Christo's original drawings of The Gates on display. I was kind of surprised when I saw it in there. J-C and Christo funded the whole project by selling these things to the tune of a quarter-million each. It's somewhere on the 5th floor, iirc (the highest floor you can go to since they're doing some installation on all the higher floors). It's pretty cool looking.

Mumfandc · Feb 21, 2005

Unimaxium said:
If you're heading back to Central Park any time soon, you might want to check out the Guggenhiem as they have one of Christo's original drawings of The Gates on display. I was kind of surprised when I saw it in there. J-C and Christo funded the whole project by selling these things to the tune of a quarter-million each. It's somewhere on the 5th floor, iirc (the highest floor you can go to since they're doing some installation on all the higher floors). It's pretty cool looking.

I'm not a huge fan of the Guggenheim either. The way they hang the art doesn't look nice. Maybe I'll stop by though.

The Metropolitan Museum really tricked a lot of people...they promised "spectacular views" of Christo's Gates from the rooftop. When you actually go, you see nothing but trees!

BTW, did you get any "Gates" fabric swatches? You can ask any of the assistants walking around with the "untangling" wands. I have like 30...lol

Unimaxium · Feb 21, 2005

I was wondering where to get swatches... I had heard you could get them and saw a couple people with them in the park, but wasn't sure how they got them. So unfortunately I didn't get any. But i did keep reaching up and touching the fabric; it's a really nice texture. So all i've got is my memory... and about 100 photos

LittleMan · Feb 22, 2005

This may be a stupid question..... but What are they there for??

Great shots btw!

danalec99 · Feb 22, 2005

LittleMan said:
This may be a stupid question..... but What are they there for??

The Gates

LittleMan · Feb 22, 2005

danalec99 said:
The Gates

cool... so it's just art? right?

Unimaxium · Feb 22, 2005

Yep. It's just a work of art.

Aoide · Feb 22, 2005

I'm so jealous that you got to go and see that. And especially take pictures of it. Nice pictures by the way. I just love seeing everybody's shots of the gates. I don't think I'll get tired of them.