a little bit of culture

Corinne and I are meeting at the Met.  When I weigh looking stylish against being comfortable, the latter usually wins.  I wear sneakers. 

We see the exhibit called Impressionism, Fashion and Modernity.  I’m glad I wasn’t dressing in the late 1800’s; wearing corsets and crinoline under skirts couldn’t have been too comfortable.  And I’d have to guess that whatever was worn on a woman’s foot, wasn’t as comfortable as my Nikes.

We like the exhibit, but the highlight for both of us is watching an hour video called Street.  It’s best described by the New York Times:

The 61-minute video consists entirely of long, slow-motion pans of people going about their business on the sidewalks and streets of New York City. Mr. Nares used a type of high-speed camera typically trained on subjects like hummingbirds and bullets. Shooting from a moving S.U.V., he recorded scenes in segments of six seconds, the longest stretch for which the camera can record while maintaining high resolution. He edited down 16 hours of recordings to around three minutes — that is, the running time if the video were to be shown at normal speed. Extended to over an hour, the video is a hypnotic, continuous flow of imagery.

While watching it, Corinne and I try to guess the neighborhoods.  The people and their attire provide unmistakable clues to location.  There are distinct differences in the people that pass through the various neighborhoods of New York.

I always find myself exhausted after a museum visit.  Maybe it’s the intense concentration.  The lack of windows.  Or the desire to absorb what I am  seeing and reading.  While Corinne stops at the ladies room, I use my iPhone to take this photo of a father and daughter, spent after a day museuming.