Columbus Ave

Most photos are cliches; if you've seen one, you've seen all. All the visual effects, be it bokkeh or sunset, are nothing you can't photoshop in. And you've already seen those, millions of them. Which brings the question, what makes a good photo a good photo?

The answer shouldn't be any different from any  other art: it should bring something new to the table, be it a new thing or a different way of looking at the same thing, in different light, no pun intended. And you do that in your own style, in your own voice. The public approval is not required in that process. If the public approves, it simply becomes a popular art from a private one. That the public approves does not necessarily mean that it's a good art either. Andy Warhol or Richard Prince is the case in point.

That is not to say that other people's perspective doesn't matter. There is such a thing as a common human experience embodied in the reality, and art should be something that resonates through that commonality. And this is why it's important to hang out your work in the public and hear feedback and criticism, just to make sure that you are not lost just in your own imagination un-moored from that common experience.

Anyway, street photography is a good hobby for CFS patients. You need to walk anyway, and photography makes the walk more interesting. You have to scan for interesting things, so it slows you down too. And you end up taking longer rest because you can take interesting shots while resting on a bench.

Today's walk was on Columbus Ave. I took the usual M11 bus and  got off at 81st. The farmers market was on by the Museum of Natural History park. It appeared pretty much over when I got there around 3PM. I should get there next time around lunch time.

Columbus is generally less bustling than Broadway. 80s on Columbus looks more like 100s on Broadway or Morningside.  I walked to 94th, switched over to Amsterdam Ave and came back home on M11 again.