New York City's High Line

On our first day of studio in New York City yesterday, we visited NYC's High Line Park.  I was familiar with the High Line after watching the documentary Urbanized (2011, Gary Hustwit).  The project is a really creative, innovative answer to both restoration and preserving history, as well as creating green space in an urban environment.  New York City's High Line is an elevated railway track above Manhattan's West Side which had become overgrown after decades of being unused.  In 1999, Friends of the High Line was founded as a community group to preserve the historic structure.  The High Line (first phase opened in 2009, second in 2011, and third currently under construction) is now a community park with landscaping designed by architects, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and landscape architecture firm, Field Operations.  The High Line serves as not only a place of gathering, but a connection between surrounding buildings.  It's a really unique concept, and I quite enjoyed the execution of it.







I love how they left the rail lines and incorporated them into the landscaping and design -







There are some pretty great views -







These lounges actually roll along the track.  You can push several together or separate them!





There were two different amphitheaters (this is the larger) with a glass wall so that you could see the traffic and buildings behind the stage -











The High Line only spans a mile, so it's an easy walk.

We also checked out the Chelsea Market which is indoors and off the High Line (though I believe only accessible from the street).







The site for our project has access to the High Line (the line actually runs right through the site), so I'll have many more opportunities to explore this unique place.




During the summer, the High Line Park is open from 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM.  It runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues.

Chelsea Market is located at 75 9th Avenue, between 15th & 16th Streets.  To access from the High Line, take the 16th Street exit.

Headed to the Big Apple!

Hello, again!

I'm disappointed that I fell off the blogosphere while in Italy because that was something I really wanted to keep up and do well.  One of the unfortunate things that I learned while studying abroad is that you can't do everything.  And I realized that I couldn't construct my standard image and description-filled blog post and still keep up with everything else.  So the blog was one of the first things to go.

I did have many European adventures that I intend to share here, and I'll post here and there when I have time to really tell a good story.  But as you might've guessed from the title of this post, I am headed to New York City for the summer!

This is another great opportunity that was available to me through the Clemson School of Architecture.  I'll be taking a 6-hour studio class and living in on-campus housing at Columbia University.  The professor is known for being tough, so I'm hoping to have a really good project for my portfolio at the end of the summer.

My flight is tomorrow morning, so naturally, I'm still not fully packed, yet.  And I decided that I needed to update the blog before I finish packing.

Speaking of updating the blog, this is something I plan to do much more frequently from now on!  I've decided that even if I'm just posting one picture with a little paragraph, it's better than letting my blog fall asleep, again.

So for now, I'll leave you with a photo of the gorgeous sunset over Genova's Porto Antico, taken from my bedroom balcony...

Alumapalooza 2013

This marks my 4th year of photographing Alumapalooza for Airstream.  Each time, I meet someone new and instantly connect with them.  It's not hard to bond with other people who have the same love of travel, and these campers do it in style!
I love photographing candid moments and portraits of the people who attend the event each year.  Photographing Sandy and Ed with their wedding photograph to celebrate their 30th year together, was inspiring. Also, I enjoyed listening to stories of each person who stepped foot in front of my lens.  All of you are amazing and inspiring to me.

I have to say that the best part of the trip for me was what Kirk said to me.  He's pictured below holding a copy of a photograph I took of him at Alumapalooza two years ago.  Last year at Alumapalooza, he decided to quit drinking. He knew that I didn't drink and said to me, "if you can do it, I can do it!"  He did just that.  June 1st was his year anniversary of not drinking!  He told me that I was his inspiration to quit.  What an honor it is to be an inspiration to someone just by trying to live the best life that I can.  I share my story here (good and bad) so that other people can relate and understand that they are not alone in whatever it is that they are going through.  Congratulations Kirk!

Needless to say, this year was a memorable one.  Thank you to Airstream, Inc. for having me back another year to capture the faces of the people who love Airstream. If you have an airstream, be sure to tell your story on the newly launched LiveRiveted.com website!  I'm excited to be a part of it...even though I don't own an Airstream, I know a thing or two about living on the road.  In fact, we are back in the van for another go around.

Popular Photography Backstory

What a thrill it was to be contacted by Popular Photography Magazine to feature "Brothers" in the June edition of the magazine.  The story around taking the photograph is on the last page, in their "Backstory" feature.  I took this image of the magazine on a news stand in the airport as I was traveling home from South Carolina.  It's always a thrill to see your image in print.  Thank you, Popular Photography!

Honor Flight of South Carolina

I was asked to document 100 WW2 and Korea War Veterans flying from South Carolina to Washington DC to tour all of the war memorials.  It didn't take long for me to say yes to this amazing opportunity.  What an honor it was to be able to join in on the experience of these men and one woman from South Carolina who served our country.  I knew it would be an intense experience full of emotion and it certainly didn't disappoint. 

I haven't been to Washington DC since I was an 8th grader.  I was fortunate to have been able to make that trip as I was this week to experience this one.  We all met early in the morning to depart from the Columbia airport.  Old friends and new ones spent the morning chatting and catching up while walking through the airport while people cheered and clapped for them.  

As we arrived at the Washington DC airport, they were greeted with more cheers and hand shakes from strangers.  It was hard to not get emotional at the welcome they received.  Looking at their eyes, you know these men were touched by what they were seeing.  The emotions ran strong all day long as they were again greeted with a parade of people in line to thank them for their service.  

The day of touring, remembrance, and celebration ended with the grand finale of greeters back at the Columbia airport cheering, complete with a band, banners and what seemed to be the entire town of Columbia waiting to greet their arrival home.  For some of them, it was the homecoming they never had.  For me, it will be an experience I will never forget.

This memorial day, take the time to thank the men and women who have served this country so we are able to live a life of our choosing. 

Here are some moments of the day.

Reflected Identities at the Palm Springs Photo Festival

For the past few months, I have been working on a new series.  I started taking portraits of my friends in the Southern California area with an idea in mind. As with a lot of projects I start, they tend to change and take on a life of its own by the time I am ready to show it.  That was the case with "Reflected Identities".  I began the series (I didn't have a title or direction) by photographing my friends for an androgynous series but the more I shot, the more I realized that the portraits were molding into a reflection of me.

Last week, I learned that I was a finalist in the slide show competition at the Palm Springs Photo festival so I attended the festival and spent a few days there.  I was in disbelief when it was announced on Thursday night that I won the grand prize!  There were so many beautiful and powerful slideshows included and I was just thrilled that I was selected to be among the finalists.  When I submitted the show, I had less images than what you see here but ultimately, this is what won the competition.

I want to thank all of the amazing women who have stepped outside of their comfort zone to be completely vulnerable with me.  This has been such a beautiful learning and growing experience... I just can't thank you enough. Many of you have expressed the same so for that, I am grateful. 

I debated on if I should keep the images private and not roll it out to the public, partly because it's so vulnerable to throw it out there.  If my friends can be this open and vulnerable with me, it's only fitting that I do the same with the series.

On a side note... 

A little over four years ago in Palm Springs, I was sitting on a small patch of grass in front of a hotel completely hung over, crying and lost in my life.  That day I stopped drinking alcohol and the months to come I painted and picked up a camera and started shooting.  Last Thursday, I walked on stage in front of hundreds of photographers and people in the industry, to accept the grand prize award. Just a few blocks away sits that patch of grass where I made the decision to change my life.  Anything is possible.

Click to watch below or you can see it directly on VIMEO by clicking HERE

Reflected Identities from Alison Turner on Vimeo.

The Candid Frame Interview

Recently, I was asked to be interviewed about my photography and life on the road for the photography podcast blog, The Candid Frame.  At first I was hesitant to talk about myself, but agreed to be taped live during an interview to be saved into a podcast for anyone to hear.  Ibarionex Perello was such a pleasure to talk with during the interview.  He made it very conversational and made me feel at ease with each question.  If you are interested, you can listen to the 45 minute conversation HERE. Thank you Ibarionex!