Category — Authors

Frances Richey with son, Ben

Frances Richey is an author who writes poetry.  Her first book of poems was published for her father. The second book she promised to write to and for her son, Ben, who is in the army and who served two tours of duty in Iraq. He is an army captain and a Green Beret. Richey worked in business for two decades, and raised a child by herself, as a single mother. She started writing when she volunteered with people who had less than six months to live. This inspired her to write because these people told her to do what she wants to do, and not waste time, because in a single moment everything could disappear as if it was never there. [Read more →]

The Voices of Iraq Veterans

In Conflict is a play that gives voice to the stories of tragedy and triumph experienced by seventeen Iraq War veterans. They are the men and women from all over the country, of different backgrounds, various ranks, and different sexual orientations. These are the people that represent America. When I went to the play, I didn’t think I would be too interested since I thought I knew what war was like, from the action thrillers that get the top spots in box offices all across the world, and all the books that mention war.  I did not expect to be so moved by these real life stories of young men and women like me.  I also did not expect these stories to make me laugh or make me so sad. [Read more →]

Robert Oppenheimer in Dr. Atomic

The Manhattan Project was one of the most secretive projects in the history of the United States. It took place during World War II and its purpose was to create a bomb by splitting atoms apart. This project was a success and created one of the most devastating bombs ever used by mankind, the atomic bomb. John Adam’s Dr. Atomic at the Metropolitan Opera is an opera about the birth of the atomic bomb and the technology, science, power and responsibility of the whole world on the scientists’ shoulders. [Read more →]

Matt Sax in CLAY

CLAY is a one-man hip-hop musical written and performed by Matt Sax.  It is a story about a boy named Clifford whose mother kills herself and whose father finds another woman who Clifford gradually comes to have an affair with. He finally escapes the torments of his own home and finds a mentor in the back of a bookstore, Sir John, a man of words, a poetry slam. He teaches him how to use words, and how to express himself.  In one of the funniest scenes of the show, Sir John finds Clifford to be replicating the usual themes of rap songs rather than saying what’s really on his mind. “You ever met a prostitute before?” he asks after Clifford has ended a song.  “Um, no.” [Read more →]

Matt Sax in "Clay"

Emerging playwright Matt Sax: writer, composer, and one man star of the hip-hop stage performance “Clay,” breaks all the limits with “Clay” ‘s energized compilation of rap music and the coming of age story of a distressed boy running from the troubles at home. From crude humor to foul language, Sax is relentless with his portrayal of the amazing total of five different characters. [Read more →]

My collage project entitled “Eastern Cherub” focuses on religious ideology from different cultures. [Read more →]

Some “Street” Photography (click link to see video)

The biggest problem, and the only solution, to this assignment was the scope of the project. The fact that we were allowed total freedom in what to shoot meant that anything was available to be captured on film, something so unrestrictive as to become intimidating.  Despite this, however, I still advocate that art should never be restricted because, much like Einstein found the answers to physics hidden deep within calculus, so too can an artist find his final inspiration in an area he had previously ignored.  For me, art never meant deciding upon something and then following through with it until the end.  In my opinion, art is a constantly dynamic endeavor wherein the artist repeatedly shuffles ideas through his or her head.  The end result is that the original inspiration simply becomes a starting point and the final product is a formation of all the ideas that went through the artist’s mind in the creative process. [Read more →]

Susan Meiselas went places during times when I would have been constantly looking over my shoulder, not through my camera’s lens.  She saw terrible, radical things happen around her and instead of getting lost in the flurry, pulled back and took picture after picture, documenting rather then participating.  Though it’s not that simple.  There were a few photos that as I looked on, I tried to imagine the situation she was in, the immense emotions that she may have tried to keep at bay with her camera.  [Read more →]

           The International Center of Photography, one of the world’s premier exhibitors of photographic art, currently contains works from renowned photographer Susan Meiselas. Best known for her coverage of political conflicts in Central America, Meseilas explored “issues of nationalism and identity.” Organized by Kristen Lubben, Susan Meiselas: In History includes three of her main projects: Carnival Strippers (1972-76); Nicaragua (1978-present); and Kurdistan (1991-present). Meiselas sets herself apart through her exceptional ability to encompass her photographs with “larger contexts and deeper histories.” Her desire to capture and reveal the truths of the world places her as a “leading voice in the debate on contemporary documentary practice.”

           Walking down the stairs, we are immediately struck by an array of vibrant and powerful colors in Meiselas’ images. Although each project has a beauty and meaning of its own, Nicaragua, is perhaps her most controversial, gruesome, and disturbing work. [Read more →]

            Before an intimate group at the Macaulay Honors College on the Upper West Side, Frances Richey read from The Warrior, her second poetry collection.

           Beginning with a career in the corporate world, Richey saw that she lacked fulfillment and satisfaction in her life. This led her to volunteer at a hospice, where her relationships with patients brought her closer to “the reality of her mortality.” Business writing is permeated with “proposals, reports…you’re always making a case and asking for something. However, with poetry, “I could do something I love.”

[Read more →]