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While visiting the art gallery at Baruch, I learned about the works of Marcel Sternberger during the 20th century. During his career, his notable technique included his style of taking pictures. He used a smaller and portable 35mm camera which allowed him to be able to move freely and take pictures through different angles. In this exhibit, there were many well known people that Sternberger photographed, including Albert Einstein, George Bernard Shaw, President Roosevelt among others. I noticed that the personalities among Sternberger’s photographs varied and the woman giving the tour explained how Sternberger would take the pictures while having a conversation with the people. The most interesting person he photographed to me was George Bernard Shaw. Shaw declined having interviews at first but eventually agreed after being convinced. He had even told Sternberger that his photos would not impress him and he is not even interested in seeing any of it. However, he ended up requesting fifty copies of the same photograph without providing payment. He eventually sent very small checks explaining that his autographs were worth more than each check, and so selling the checks would gain Sternberger more money than the photographs. While taking pictures of Albert Einstein, Sternberg wanted to have the suspenders off since it made him look less professional, but ended up letting Einstein keep it on to show a compassionate side. I liked Sternberger’s technique of taking photos since it was not just to take them, but also to show a more personal aspect of his interviewees. It gave me a new perspective on how photographers take pictures because I did not realize there was more to it than just clicking a button. It is always fascinating to me to learn about new people and information, and this trip allowed me to learn about not just Sternberger, but also a little bit on the people he interviewed.

   

Last week, I attended a field trip to the Mishkin Gallery at Baruch College with my English 2100 class. I got a chance to actually see some really amazing photographs, all taken by the photographer Marcel Sternberger, who work was actually curated by Jacob Loewentheil after Sternberger’s death in a fatal car accident in 1952. From this visit, I was able to take a glance at photographs of very famous and well-known world figures from different perspectives due to Sternberger’s photographic style of trying to capture his models’ personality.

I learned a lot about Sternberger’s determination for getting historically famous people to agree to model for him. One important example was George Bernard Shaw, who wasn’t the least interested in having his picture taken and was very condescending towards Sternberger. After many failed attempts, Shaw finally agreed to model for him, portraying a very serious attitude throughout the entire session as he saw this as futile. Sternberger was also able to photograph two iconic figures of Spanish history, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, who were married artists. It was nice to see them being portrayed as a loving couple instead of just having them pose unemotionally in front of the camera. He was also an acquaintance of famed physicist Albert Einstein, engaging in a friendly conversation with him throughout the session and ending up with pictures of the genius Einstein as an amusing and lovable average guy.

What was really amazing to learn about Sternberger’s photographs is the amount of equipment he used- or rather the lack of equipment he used. While other photographers used super professional cameras, he relied on his Leica flagship 35mm model camera. This allowed him to have his pictures being taken at different angles and to move more freely when doing so., allowing his portraits to reflect that unique style that has been displayed for years to come.

 

 

On my daily commute from Penn Station to Baruch I always pass by FIT, a college that specializes in fashion, I never paid to much attention to it until I realized there was a museum. I decided to walk in there and knock out a freshmen blog for attending an NYC museum. Little did I know that I would be only guy there and that I would be surrounded by middle aged women.

Although, boring the exhibits displayed were very informative, it discussed the relations nature has with textiles. For example, during the Renaissance period flowers were commonly found on dresses this was mainly attributed to exotic flowers that were flourishing in Europe-boring. However, there was a section I found interesting, Charles Darwin’s son draws a comparison of dresses to natural selection and how it changes throughout the years, the good ones stay and bad ones go producing new dresses every year.

The exhibition didn’t only focus on fashion but, also textiles, FIT students developed a textile called “AlgiKnit” a biodegradable product that can knitted like yarn. It didn’t go into full detail about how long material would last until it would degrade but, biodegradable clothes a interesting concept.

I also didn’t realize how much inspiration people take from nature and apply it into clothing. For example the latest swimsuits such as Fastskin II developed by Speedo was inspired by sharkskin. The surface design of the suit held similarities to the surface of a shark’s skin which allows reduced drag, allowing swimmers to PR and cut through water. Another, similar cloth is the “Black Magic suit” a recently developed suit which imitates the way water rolls off of leaves and duck feathers.

Before, visiting this museum I always thought that fashion was considered wearing weird outfits and calling it “fashion” . But, the development of cloth is really interesting and I realized its what Nike does with drifit, adidas  does with ultraboost, and what under armour does with its sweat wick fabric.

The Rubin Museum of Art is located in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. The museum specializes in artwork from the Himalayas and its surrounding neighbors, like India. Their mission is to promote understanding, stimulate learning, and to spark personal connections to the culture and ideas of Himalayan Asia.

I had to go to the Rubin Museum of Art for a homework assignment I had to do for my art history class. I am not the type of person who chooses to go to museums and usually would never go unless it is required of me to. I was not expecting to enjoy myself at all as I am not a big fan of museums, much less for ones specializing in art.

When I got to museum, I was surprised that it was so small. When I think about museums, I think of huge building with massive amounts of rooms and high ceilings. The Rubin Museum of Art, however, threw me off. If anything, it looks like a regular building you can find anywhere in that neighborhood. The museum has a total of five floors, each with its own different exhibit on each floor. People can have the option of being lazy and taking the elevators, or they can walk up the big, winding spiral staircase located conveniently at the center of the building. I chose to use the stairs.

Museums always have special exhibits going on, and The Rubin was the same. Right now, there is a special exhibit going on focusing on sounds. It is called “The World is Sound” and it was a pretty cool experience. There were parts where I had to touch the wall in order to hear what was playing over the speaker. I found it interesting how none of the different displays were overlapping and disrupting each other. It was as if each display was in their own little room. The sounds played ranged from religious mantras to sounds found in the nature to traditional instruments used in the Buddhist and Hindu culture. Out of my entire experience there, I’d say the sound exhibit was my favorite. You should definitely check the exhibit out before it closes in January.