All Kinds of Wonderful: 09/01/2010

I know it's been a while since you've seen me around..it's not really for lack of things to talk about...but happily I have been working and haven't had all that much time to DISCUSS all the cool things I have seen and done in the last few months. But I know you miss me, so who am I to disappoint my 3 fans? ;)

Last night I was on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art having a glass of wine under the Big Bambu sculpture, which is a whole other blog post waiting to happen..that thing is amazing so go run to see it if you haven't already. The wine's a little pricey, but thankfully they fill those glasses to the brim, which is why I only had one...either way, on my way back down to civilization the sign for the Leon Levinstein exhibit caught my eye, so I dragged my companion clear to the other side of the museum to have a look.

Leon Levinstein is best known for his candids of New Yorkers, although I was not familiar with him or his work prior to seeing this exhibit. I guess he was also a graphic designer who did not do a lot of assignment work, but shot in his spare time and mainly for his own enjoyment. Well now you can enjoy his work as well, as it is on display through 10/17. It was amazing to see his perspective of the characters of NYC from the '50s, '60's and 70's..the subjects ran the gamut from prostitutes to old neighborhood ladies to sun-bathers on Coney Island. I loved the life that he breathed into each of his subjects and seeing a grittier New York City. Some of the images we saw:

©Leon Levinstein (via Metropolitan Museum of Art)
My favorite shot; I especially liked that behind the passionate makeout display is a shopping bag from the "Meat Store".