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.
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.
posted by Cary at 8/15/2011
1 Comments:
Great post and amazing collection of pool hall photographs!
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