PoolSynergy -- 10 Pool Photographs

I'm pleased to participate in the August 2011 edition of PoolSynergy, a monthly collection of the best writing about pool on the internet. As longtime readers of this blog know, I lived in New York City from 2000 to 2010, and was an avid pool player the last five of those years. I lived in Lower Manhattan, which probably has the highest concentration of pool bars anywhere. I'm now teaching photography in my hometown of Wichita, Kansas. My wife and I are new parents so I've definitely cut down on my pool playing. So it's with great fondness that I look back on my time spent in the bars playing pool. My contribution to this month's PoolSynergy report is a selection of ten of my favorite pool photographs (click each image to enlarge).


Rivertown Lounge, 2001. This was taken with a Widelux camera, which has a lens that swings from left to right. So that's why my friend Aristide's pool cue looks like a flimsy rope as he's taking a shot. If you look closely you can see the cue ball is in the picture twice.

Soho, 2006. When your subject is to pool bars in NYC, your pictures quickly start to get a bit repetitive. So one afternoon as I was walking by this place called Milady's I noticed the reflections, and I thought it gave the picture some depth, a bit of an abstract dimension.

Grand Billiards and Cafe, 2006. This a pool hall that no longer exists. The funny thing is that I lived only a few blocks away and didn't know about it. I loved that I walked in there one day, told the owner what I was doing, and without hesitation he let me take pictures.

Edge Bar, 2008. This was during a fun Monday night league match at Edge Bar in the East Village. That's William Fuentes on the far right, who had set up his camera on a mini tripod to get a group shot with Jeanette Lee. I captured his flash by setting my camera on bulb, and anticipated his flash. I had a great chat with Jeanette, she even bought me a beer.

Doc Holliday's, 2007. Oh boy, Doc's. I would say that Doc's was my favorite "happy hour" bar. It's in the heart of the East Village, and I would go there and have couple half-price beers before heading over to Sophie's. This is a picture of a nice couple who wanted to play a quick game, even though I was next on the list. I said "Sure, but you have agree to let me take a few pictures." I think I ended up playing them doubles.

Welcome to the Johnson's, 2002. This is from a hole-in-the-wall bar called Welcome to the Johnson's, on Rivington Street in the Lower East Side. I wasn't playing pool back then, but I happened to be seated right next to the table and it just seemed to be a really photogenic scene. This picture is probably the first image that put the idea in my head that pool could be a subject in and of itself. This is a good example of capturing a moment despite it being a very, very dim scene.

Musical Box, 2007. I like this shot because the guy is standing in the doorway of the rear patio of this bar, having a smoke while watching his match.


Sophie's, 2006. This shot, to me, sums up the mystique of "A stranger walks into a bar." I feel like this picture could illustrate an essay about pool hustlers. This is actually a friend of mine, Ludo. I like the way his hat shields his face and gives the image a timeless, classic feel. There's no era-indicative information in the picture, such as the Buck Hunter video game or the juke box, that would hint as to when it was taken. It actually has kind of a 70s vibe.
Whiskey Ward, 2006. This was probably shot at 2 or 3 in the morning, on a night when I was out way later than I should've been. And actually, it was the one of the few times I actually played for money. I played in a doubles game where each player put up $5. My partner and I cleaned up, winning several games in a row.


Sophie's, 2005. This is one of my favorite shots of Sophie's, primarly because it shows the entire bar, or at least the back part. It was taken with a 4x5 camera, using big clunky tripod and everything. It was an intentionally long exposure, probably at least 10 seconds. I was going for a certain type of blur effect. I like all the ambiance around the table. This was taken long before I was a regular there, and I think the fact that I gave them a print of this picture meant something to the owner, Bobby. I grew to really love this bar, and eventually became captain of one of its teams.

RIP

Hiatus

I scanned this image recently and I wanted to share it with you. It's from my last match as Sophie's team captain (my last NYC match, period, for that matter). From left it's Arek Banasik, me, Adam Friedstein, Josh Vietze, Peter Leung and Grace Mangum. Missing from the picture is Freddy Molina and Giovanni Rivera.

I am now a proud father to a little boy, Julian Hites Conover, and my wife and I are moving to my hometown of Wichita, KS, where I will begin teaching photojournalism at Andover High School in early 2011. Hopefully I will resume blogging a bit from there, from time to time. But for the most part I am on a pool hiatus. However, I do suspect we'll be getting a much bigger apartment, one with plenty of room to spare for a pool table of my own. To be continued...

(Photo by William Fuentes, September 2010)

Runout to 2nd B&R in consecutive matches

Here's the end of a runout I had during my match this past Monday night–the second consecutive match in which I completed a Break and Run. It's pretty surprising, considering I've never had one before in my four years in the league. My B&R from two weeks ago was a lot more messy and flukier: after opening with a B&R I then went on to lose the next three games. But this past Monday's was part of a much stronger effort, and I convincingly beat my SL5 opponent 1-4. My only loss in the match was an S8 when I hit a kick shoot too hard and my cue ball followed a pocket-hanging 8-ball into the pocket. But after this runout I went over to where my team was sitting and I overheard an onlooker sitting at the bar complimenting me aloud, "Nice job, looks like you got outta there clean without moving any of the furniture."

Risque Billiards

In early April I discovered a new poolhall, Risque Billiards in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It's located at 213 McGuinness Blvd. So if you're in Long Island City, you're just a 10 minute walk away across the scenic Pulaski Bridge. If you're in Williamsburg it's between Calyer and Greenpoint Avenue. I'm embarrassed to admit that I only noticed the place because I was sitting in my car across the street eating Taco Bell when I saw the Risque awning with the word "billiards" on it. Alas, my visit to Risque was cut criminally short due to the fact that I needed to get back on the road. But I definitely want to get back and spend a proper hour or so on one of the tables. I counted nine or ten pool tables and about six ping pong tables. There was a nice lounge area up front for watching sports on television, and what looked like a staff of waitresses going around serving drinks. It's a nice and cavernous venue, unassuming, and the manager whose name escapes me (Mike? He's in the photo up top, to the far right) was terrific. He was wearing a necklace that had a golden racking triangle. A real look-you-in-the-eye kinda fellow, I want to thank him for letting me come in announced and allowing me to take some snaps.

Long Kicks

This is series of shots I made during a solo practice session several weeks ago at SoHo Billiards. For the most part, I'm going to let the diagrams speak for themselves (as always, click to enlarge). Whenever I go in to practice I always find myself practicing safeties. This time was no different, and getting out of this initial safety (shot #1) turned into a really interesting and challenging scenario. I would've loved to have been with another person to discuss this. In my opinion, shot #4 is the best shot of the series. Sure, #2 and #3 were nicely made kick shots (albeit at pocket hangers), but the aim and speed on #4 had to be just right. After #4 is where I went against my own rule that I always tell my teammates, which is "Don't try to be a hero." In #5 the angle on the kick was way too thin and I ended up hitting the 8 first and breaking up the cluster. Instead, before taking #5 would it have made more sense to just pick up the cue ball and hand it over (or, to take it back one step, doing the same after shot number #2)? Or how about about intentionally shooting the cue ball into the 8 and nudging it closer to the 2 ball? Lots of scenarios, lots of outcomes.

M1-5 Lounge

I would say there are three main kinds of pool bars. One is the kind of place that you try to frequent as often as possible, and perhaps might even do so without any desire to play pool. Those are very rare. Second is the kind of place that you hear about, visit once and never return. Those are pretty common, but still important. Then there's a third kind of place, the kind of venue that stays on your radar for a while, a place you might visit three times in four years. Down in Tribeca, at 52 Walker Street between Church and Broadway, is one such place. It's called M1-5 Lounge. I've been there three times. The first time was probably in 2006 or so to check the place out because I had seen it listed as a venue on an APA league schedule. The second time was soon thereafter when some friends of mine in a band were performing there. Then a few weeks ago I was at a nearby bar, Whiskey Tavern, with my friend Richard Khavkine, when we decided to have a nightcap and a game of pool there.

Walking by M1-5, you could easily pass it. From the sidewalk you can't really see inside because there's enclosed foyer/hallway area. The only thing that might give it away is people smoking outside, or the doorman checking IDs. Upon entering the space you quickly see that it is absolutely cavernous. I'm guessing it's in the range of 4,000 square feet, with super high ceilings to boot. During my recent visit, the place was not very busy. We had the pool table all to ourselves for several games but eventually it filled up and we began to get some challenges for the table, via quarters placed along the rail. Two women in their very early 20s wanted to play pool, but didn't want anything to do with playing doubles with two very old dudes. I did what any gentleman would do and gave them the table to let them deal with whose quarters were whose.

I definitely recommend a visit to M1-5 at lease once. The place is pretty dark but it's spacious and the seating around the pool table is very comfortable. I recommend it for a neighborhood pool tour, perhaps including other nearby bars such as Toad Hall and Tribeca Tavern. A nice review of M1-5 by Ethan Wolff's for NYMag can be read here.