looking to progress
by daisydavid

Comment:
You got me here completely. Marvelous elusiveness. Rewarding laziness. And a man with a camera. Great!

Be On The Watch
by insteps

Comment:
I never got to leave comments on the February essays. Yours intrigued me a lot since it's about the place where I live, the city that I love the most.
I am always interested how other people see NYC. It's always a matter of chance; how many days you stay in a place, in what season, which neighborhood, with whom you travel, where you stay or if the pillow in the hotel was comfy enough to let you sleep in spite of the sirens and noise of the streets.

You looked at one aspect and you saw (or was attracted to) the empty, wet streets and therefore the title. The grit of NY. One facet. How can we do justice to a place that has so many facets?!
Needless to say, I loved your images and, as other commenters noted, the long shadows that are a characteristic of this place.

on the face of the earth
by mitalapo

Comment:
Ha! Mita you discovered that the Earth was once spheric but something had happened and, although it still revolves surrounded by a sliver of oxygen, it became inhabited at its edges only. Something happened, there are still footprints and some colorful cans, one stray airplane, a still tall lighthouse, a dog, a child on a bicycle and a man with a camera. There are also some confused and indifferent people at the edge of a flat planet.
This is my reading. I might be wrong and perhaps I am oblivious to a message of hope.

Donggang
by insteps

Comment:
Terrific essay Henry.
I looked first at the images without reading the text and the tension is palpable. This first image that does not seem to have been included to the essay is an excellent cover; one immediately feels that it's about life and death and sharp knives as if the fish tails becomes the weapon of choice.
The first image of the essay where you placed your action is a bit of a let down but then you follow with the tremendous profile of a man ready to be consumed by a wild beast. The fish (profile also) is like a totemic figure as if carved in wood but then, bang, comes the next image and we are in Moby Dick territory!
In rapid succession the other images tell of more horror stories and one gets obsessed with shapes that could be humongous fish or small boats of fishermen that disappeared in horrible storms or bloody battles, and this in a cold like permafrost.
And then the last picture of people looking? witnessing? almost smiling? - I wish you could end with a more forceful image but I feel that there is a continuation of this story.

Do not take a break from creating these essays Henry. You have in me a faithful and curious follower.

DSCF0209
by primabarbara

Comment:
I completely agree with Henry's comment. You have here a serie of photos that will become within a year part of the changing history of Cuba.

TH-(2)
by primabarbara

Comment:
I love the subject of your collection, the choice of B&W and the restraint processing.

If you were to publish a booklet you could rearrange them the way you like and size them accordingly. For the purpose of an essay I would first separate them in two collections: one that are vertical so for the portrait orientation I would select # 4, 5, 10, 12, 18, 19, 25, 26, 29, and 33 (I eliminated some) and the other collection in the landscape orientation. Pictures #7 and 26 could be good for first and last image in this second collection.

Very interesting "cast of characters".

Hipster Doofus
by skewsme

Comment:
loving portrait
bump

Woman and Skull
by SEG

Comment:
totemic
bump

“The cat is the beautiful devil.” ― Charles Bukowski,
by tate

Comment:
It sure is and you got it - Bukowski also
bump

Blackberries
by susanh

Comment:
Excellent stillness bathed in a subtle light and subdued color palette. 8 from me