gabriel biderman ~ fine art photography

Scott Kelby is hosting a Worldwide Photo Walk to celebrate the release of the Lightroom 2.0, probably the best image editing software out there. These Walks are taking place all over the world on August 23rd and I will be leading one in NYC! The Photo Walks are a social photography event to get you out from in front of your computer and behind your camera with a group of like minded folk. Each walk is limited to 50 people, my walk will take us over the Brooklyn Bridge where amazing views of the city and for now, the NYC waterfalls, surround you. We will then meander around DUMBO and end the adventure at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory where we can share our work and have a scoop or three! The Photo Walks are 2 hours long and if you don’t see one in your city why not sign up and lead one? All the images will be uploaded and judged by Scott Kelby, with the winning image earning the photographer thousands of dollars in cool prizes! Again space is limited; so click here to sign up and find out more info on Brooklyn Bridge walk.

The International Guild of Pinhole Photographers just released Dark Chambers Volume 2, which features 3 of my images in it! These beautiful textured fine art books are each hand stamped and the produced in England. The name Dark Chamber originates from the Latin, Camera Obscura. This latest volume is over 175 pages and features 200+ inspiring pinhole images by 28 artists from all over the world. The book will be limited and produced in a small run. Dark Chamber volume 2 costs approximately $25 plus shipping and can be ordered from the Urban Fox Press website. or by contacting them directly at info@urbanfoxpress.com.

Also pictured is our newly decorated living room. The coffee table is an amazing wedding gift from my brotherman/groomsman, Angus. He created, crated, and accompanied this work of art out to us in April and assembled it in our house… now that’s what we call service! It features a hidden compartment which flips and reveals a ready to play cribbage board! Anyone game? Behind the table is Nancy’s chaise lounge that she has been transporting across the country for 10 years. 3 years ago she finally reupholstered the chaise with the luscious blue velvet fabric. Prior to the chaise, that same blue velvet covered Sandy on the Frozen Hudson seen below.

Pictured on the wall above the table and chaise is “Sleepless” by France Scully Osterman. Nancy and I fell in love with this image at the f/295 exhibit in Pittsburgh. It was a gift for Nancy for her Birthday and our 2 year anniversary. Sleepless is a 44×50 waxed salt print and was limited to a production of nine. This image is beautifully printed using the 150+ year collodion process. This gives it a lush and tonal depth that you can’t keep your eyes off.

Our Gallery Living Room in Brooklyn is open to the public by appointment only, and you better brush up on your cribbage game!

photo by: matt hill

photo by: gabriel biderman

You know when you meet someone and right away it seems like you have been friends for years??
Are you sure we haven’t met before? You’re waiting for the deja vu to happen as you’ve chosen the same paths but were maybe a few steps to the left or to the right.
I knew I liked Matt Hill the first time we met a year ago, but when we finally sat down for some damn good bbq at Dinosaur before a night shoot, it all fell into place. In between bites of scrumpdiddlyumptious brisket and chicken that we washed down with dark beer, we bonded. Matt and I are both Photo Industry dudes who share a strong passion for being creative, especially at night. Matt had already blown both Nancy and I away with his Cut Paper Art, which starts out as a blank piece of white paper that he slices into amazing voyages of creativity. It is truly a complete process of discovery for him and yet very accessible for us. You can check him out “in action” here. His website showcases his weekly cut paper art journeys as well as his “On Creativity” podcasts in which he interviews other artists regarding their creative process. For some of us, it comes naturally, others struggle for inspiration. However, listening to Matt’s podcasts On Creativity have made me think and focus more on my photography; the patterns, the inspirations, and the desire that fuels me.
So after feeding our stomachs with bbq and souls with good conversation, we took our tripods and cameras out for a nightshoot. We started out at Ulysses S. Grant’s tomb at Riverside Park on the Upper West Side and then worked our way down to the familiar 69th St Transfer Bridge. Everything was fairly accessible on this May full moon and we had to stop ourselves from shooting by 1am. Matt got some pretty amazing B&W images using his Mamiya 7 camera with the beautiful 43mm lens. I really like the B&W image featured here, the movement of the clouds on top and the calm reflections of the water on the bottom of the image bring a moving calmness to the image.
I was using a Baby Graflex 2×3 camera for the first time at night and had film backs loaded up with color and black and white. My Baby G camera is a miniature version, using medium format film, of the famous Graflex Press cameras that Weegee and all the newsies used back in the 30′s-60′s.
These beautifully utilitarian cameras use 4×5 film and have very basic swing and tilt movements. The baby Graflex uses 6×7 and 6×9 medium format backs and mine is custom fit with an amazingly fast and sharp Rodenstock 90mm 2.8 lens. I hadn’t used it for a while and I was worried about focusing the camera in the dark of the night. In order to selectively focus with this camera you look through the graflok back, which is a 6×9 piece of glass surrounded by a pop up hood. I brought a loupe along to aid in viewing but I didn’t really need it. All I needed to do was use a bright flashlight to light up the area I wanted to focus on and then switch out the glass back for a b&w or color film back and voila! Image created! I was also using my ricoh grd which produced my winning picture of the night featured here, and a Voigtlander Bessa R with a 60 year old leica lens. Matt and I were also testing out our latest gear acquisitions, our Induro carbon fiber c214 tripods with the dm01 ballheads. Though not as silky smooth as a Gitzo, I do highly recommend the Induro line, which offers great value for the price. I especially like the DM01 ballhead, which is rated to hold 17lbs and is very simple and smooth to use.
To see more of Matt’s photos from the nightshoot click here
And more of mine can be seen here
See you in the night!

“We gotta do a night shoot!”

These were words I spoke to my good friend, awesome photographer, and fellow industry man Andre Costantini, over the last 6 months. You see, we’re neighbors here in Brooklyn, but we also travel so much that it’s sometimes easier coordinating on the road than it is seeing each other in Brooklyn!
However, in early October, we finally got our schedules straightened out and went out for a 4+ hour night photo shoot in the nearby neighborhood of Red Hook.

Founded by the Dutch in 1636, Red Hook still remains one of the most unique and isolated neighborhoods that Brooklyn has to offer. The Waterfront days of the Longshoreman, when Red Hook boasted 21,000 people, were starting to decline when Robert Moses finished building the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and the Battery Tunnel in the early 1950’s – effectively cutting off Red Hook from the rest of Brooklyn. Along with the loss of the dock jobs to New Jersey soon after, Brooklynites began to disappear from the Hook. Red Hook now harbors 11,000 residents, most of whom are activists and artists drawn to the old world charm and astounding waterfront views. Because of its isolation, Red Hook has remained relatively unchanged. It is home to the largest concentration of Civil War warehouses in New York and offers the closest full frontal views of Lady Liberty herself as she faces Red Hook and looks towards the statue of Minerva at Greenwood Cemetery.
Al Capone got his start as a small time criminal in Red Hook, along with his wound that led to his nickname “Scarface”. Red Hook also has been a literary inspiration to: “On the Waterfront” by Budd Shulberg, “A View from the Bridge” by Arthur Miller, “Last Exit to Brooklyn” by Hubert Selby Jr, and “The Horror at Red Hook” by H.P. Lovecraft.

Looking for photographic inspiration, Andre and I started out around 8pm with tripods and cameras in hand. Andre was shooting with the Nikon D200 and a variety of Tamron lenses and I had my trusty Mamiya 7 with the 65mm lens loaded with black and white TriX 400 film. Knowing that it was going to be a busy night we decided to energize up with some excellent burgers at the scrumpdiddlyumptious restaurant/diner named Hope and Anchor. With burgers and Brooklyn beers in our bellies, we set forth!
The first shot of the night was Andre’s “Visitation St” sign with what seemed to be a rebar cane hanging from it! The cobblestone streets led us to the recently refurbished and “gallerized” Beard St Warehouses, which can be seen in the second photo. Behind the Warehouses lie the remains of the Sugar Refinery as well as a small dock where some of the locals anchor their boats, as seen in photo number 3.
The second row of photos leads off with the old trolley tracks that lay between the Beard Warehouses. In the distance you can see the pillars where the water taxi drops off tourists as well as Lady Liberty dressed in white light. The tracks actually lead to two abandoned trolleys cars that were once owned by Bob Diamond. A modern day Don Quixote, Bob discovered one of the world’s oldest subway stations under Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn in 1980. Built in 1844 by the Long Island Railroad, it was quickly abandoned, sealed, and forgotten by 1861. Bob had hoped to reopen the station and connect it with a trolley service to Red Hook as there’s no subway line that comes close to the neighborhood. It was never funded and Bob’s trolleys lie in a beautiful state of ruinism behind the Fairway Market that moved into the Van Brunt warehouse. This beautifully revitalized pre Civil War coffee warehouse now holds a vast amount of fresh food and veggies as well as killer lofts above. The middle two shots are Andre’s take on the trolley as well as documenting me demonstrating my night shooting techniques!
The first image on the last row is a Michael Kenna inspired shot of the Water Taxi docks in Red Hook. 26 Reed St is the next photo. This original Red Hook house is Ralph Balzano’s car shop and Men’s club for the locals. Speaking of locals, Ralph’s brother Sunny owns the bar in the last photo. Sunny’s great-great-grandfather opened this bar in 1890 and I can only assume that is Sunny’s car parked in front!
It was a great shoot that ended around 2:30am with a little nightcap at The Bait and Tackle Bar.

For further reading on Red Hook History check out:
http://www.redhookwaterfront.com/_hi.main/index.html
For further info on Bob Diamond’s abandoned subway discovery:
http://www.forgotten-ny.com/TROLLEYS/redhook/redhook.html
http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/tunnel/tunnel.html
And to learn more Night Photography shooting techniques follow my man Joe Reifer’s inspiring nightshots and super informative blog at:
http://www.joereifer.com/words/?cat=9
To see more of Andre’s work click here.

To Jamie and Christy ~

A Toast, or as I like to call it,
a Blessing.

A blessing
on Christy and Jamie,
a blessing
on their love,
a blessing
on those of us gathered here,
a blessing
on those who are not.

It is Love we are celebrating
take a look around -
Christy and Jamie
have created this world called
Jamelot
with love, laughter, and a lot of hard work.

On 7 – 7 – 7,
the luckiest day of the century,
we are all truly blessed to celebrate you and your love!

Everyone please raise your glass as Jamie and Christy kiss 7 times!