Category — In the Spotlight

Sometimes bubbles can completely end a bad mood.

Random Bubbles on Broadway? Well, that’s a definite.

I wonder if Bubble Man got the memo.

“Just Wen Bo chillin with his boys.”

Oh the irony…

I think the photo speaks for itself. Some people find very creative ways to protect their bicycles from this harsh world.

In black and white, our present and the past are captured on a plain sheet of paper. Swirls of nostalgias, memories, and moments are all blended into a mixture of life in a photograph. Last Tuesday, I attended a seminar called “Meeting the Artist” at Macaulay Honors College. From there, Howard Greenberg, a freelance photographer and an owner of the famous photo gallery in Manhattan, opened my eyes to see the new world of photography. From his passionate speech, I was able to see how meaningful my life can be by pursuing my own dreams.

Howard Greenberg’s life has been dramatically changed since he took his first look of the world through the lens. With the rhythmic shutter sounds made by thousands of snapshots that he has taken in his life, he was constantly driven by his own motivation and passion. “I was hungry,” he said. Because he was hungry, he did not hesitate when the time of making decisions came. After his first encounter with photography, Mr. Greenberg instantly changed his dream to become a photographer. After finding his own interest in business, he decided to run a photo gallery. His life was full of risks, but he was a man of action. I was inspired by his determination and confidence the most.

I always thought photography was obscure. Whenever my photographer friends started to talk about angles, light exposure, and contrast, I simply wanted to escape from these professional, heavy terms. I was more drawn to painting because I thought it allowed me to directly convey my thought and express my imagination or fantasy on canvas. From that perspective, photography had a limit: I had to use existing objects, people and places to express my own self and thoughts. However, Mr. Greenberg redefined and even broke my initial definition of photography.  While I was hearing all the behind stories about each photograph that he brought, I felt taking a photo means more than just documenting an idea or a moment. Through each person’s facial expression, the contrast of light and irony of the setting, an excellent photograph can make us relive that very moment in our lives. “Capturing the moment, that’s all what it is, really.” After listening to Mr. Greenberg’s handy tip, now photography isn’t that intimidating to me. To be honest with you, I’m little hungry to learn more about it.

Howard Greenberg, who was once a student studying psychology, was one of the many people who were influenced by the emergence of photography. He had a few friends who were involved in it and they convinced him to join the circle. His parents brought him his first camera from Japan and he began snapping away.

Before cameras, when one stumbled across something of genuine beauty, he or she would stop and stare, admiring it until it was time to move on. If one was a skilled artist, he or she would perhaps dedicate months, if not years, to capturing the sight. Still photography changed the way artists would capture the world and the way people began to see it. Suddenly, beautiful scenes became a part of history through film.

The way Howard Greenberg passionately talked about his career as a gallery curator revealed how much he really loved what he did. The stories he told us about the photographs and their history wasn’t foreign to me – I am very passionate about photography myself and I could relate to much of what he said. What shocked me the most was how suddenly his life turned around – from the medical world to the world of photography.

Listening to Mr. Greenberg speak about his life and how he was pulled into the world of photography made me realize how we’re all only a picture, painting, book, or movie away from changing our entire career path and understand what we really want to do in life. I, personally, relate to his story quite a bit because just yesterday I decided to change my major from finance to engineering – all because of one story I read on the internet. The butterfly effect: how a butterfly can flap its wings at one end of an open field and cause a storm on the other side due to wind exponentiation.

This post is, obviously, about Howard Greenberg, and his successes in his chosen field of photography. Instead of writing a summary about his achievements and résumé, though, I would like to focus on what stood out to me the most during his talk: his utter enthusiasm.

Sure, Howard Greenberg has over 20,000 photos in his collection—and sure, he is largely responsible for the beginning of marketing in the world of photography—but it seems that to him, what means the most is to be around what he loves. He said it himself: “Follow the dream; do what you love, not what you think you’re supposed to do.” But what makes that statement so important, to students like us just beginning to find our way? The answer is this: many hear this kind of “inspirational saying” from friends, family, teachers—but in this case, it was a complete stranger whose reality is a true embodiment of that dream. To see someone as successful as Howard Greenberg being able to attribute his accomplishments largely to enthusiasm gives hope that the advice we so often hear can be an attainable reality. Take, for example, his story behind the photo “Smoke and Veil.” This photo brought him considerable success, even though it was not his own work—because the person who actually took the shot saw that Greenberg was “hungry” to be a part of the art that brought him so much joy.  Through his own experiences, Howard Greenberg was able to reach a realization that changed his life forever: no matter the confines that one feels placed around them (by friends, family, personal expectations, and society as a whole) it may be one moment that will change your life forever–and that you should grab hold of that moment with everything you have and never let go.

As Howard Greenberg gave us a quick snapshot of his life, I was able to glimpse the sheer joy and love within the frame—and I now have even further desire to pursue my dream as wholeheartedly as he pursued his.

Before meeting Howard Greenberg, my concept of photography was  limited to merely my family’s red point-and-shoot Kodak digital camera; yet as I left in search of a bus stop on Tuesday night, I realized that my knowledge of the art hadn’t increased as much as I  thought it would, rather it was my appreciation of it that certainly did.

If anything that night caught my attention the most, it was Mr. Greenberg’s explanation of his enjoyment of ‘historical photography.’ Maybe it was the whole process, or labor that the photographers back in the day put into printing their work, but one cannot help but to admire the genuine effort filled procedure that went into each initial print and final product. Mr. Greenberg is of course not the only dealer or collector of such art, but his enthusiasm and love for his work are both admirable, and forced me to realize that the photographs surrounding the room all shared a single quality: they were all real.

In an age in which any part of a photo can be photo-shopped, cropped, re-colored, re-sized, or removed, it is comforting to find fantastic photographs that are authentic and were no doubt painstakingly planned and produced from start to finish by the photographers themselves.