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.