If you have been following me for a bit you know I love portraiture and a good face. A good face is not necessarily a beautiful face in the classic sense. And my definition of a good face, or a bella faccia as they say in Italian may be different for other photographers. Oddly enough, many of my belle facce are men. Why you ask? Hello? Have you met me? The image of the gentleman above , whom I call the Dude at the Guggenheim, caught my eye because of the great light and the good face.
Museums
True confession: I do not like to spend more than one hour in any museum. It may be my attention span or just that my legs get tired from all that standing. I can walk eight miles at a crack when I take my grandkids to NYC for a weekend. But one hour in a museum is my limit. When we spent four nights in Paris a few years back we did not visit one museum. Sacrebleu you say? Damn straight! Instead we did guided neighborhood walking tours. That strategy gave us more of the taste of Paris than waiting hours to stand 10 deep to take a photo of the minuscule Mona Lisa. Nope. Not my idea of a good time.
Confession #2: Sometimes I find the outside of a museum more interesting than the inside. I guess that would depend on the museum, of course. Take the Milwaukee Art Museum. Please! Amazing architecture by the Spanish architect, Santiago Calatrava. (do yourself a favor and follow that last link. You’re welcome) I also find it interesting that The Milwaukee Art Museum was designed by a Spaniard and the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain was designed by an American, Frank Gehry. Perhaps my fascination with the outside has more to do with my passion for photography. I love to shoot a beautiful building. An exception would be the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. I was fascinated by his early work, especially his still life. Those works inspired me to try still life photography. Such a pleasure, especially when trapped inside with Covid. Thanks, Vinnie.
N.B. If you received this through my email, make sure you click on the title to take you to the website where you can see the images full size.
About the Dude
When I take a photo of a stranger, if at all possible, I ask for permission ahead of time. I didn’t in this case because it would have spoiled the moment of the light hitting his face so well. But afterwards, I did approach him, showed him the image on the back of my camera. I offered to send him the image and he accepted by giving his email. When I got back to the States I sent Tim , aka the Dude, the image plus offered a full size digital so he could frame it, if desired. He ended up printing it and giving it to his parents which pleased me immensely. He also revealed that he was a ‘roadie” for Guns and Roses and he generously offered to get me backstage at the next concert in Chicago. Now, I wouldn’t know Guns and Roses if I tripped over them. But photograph any famous band backstage? Dude! In a heartbeat! Unfortunately, I was off traveling again while they were in town. But Tim, if it were Adam Levine of Maroon 5, I might have canceled my trip.
Cuz I LOVE a bella faccia.
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