NYC Accommodation and must-do's..

Also, I’m worried I may have to take film in my check-in luggage rather than my carry-on luggage, because the paranoid yanks are worried I’ll blow something up with it. Does anyone know if the scanners used on luggage are safe for film? Does anyone know if I post (unexposed new cheap) film home will it also be scanned?

Jon

As far as I follow, you would be best making a quick B&H stop for the film and avoid all the hassels. My understanding is that it is safe to mail or Intl. Fed EX. anyone? I used to write, “Film, don’t X-ray”, and that was supposed to give clearance for them to hand check if they needed. Now? I don’t know.
There isn’t a ton of nice hotel accomodation in Brooklyn as far as I know. There is a Holiday Inn near my neighborhood. The exact location isn’t great but in 5 minutes you’d be in an interesting area. http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/ex/1/en/hotel/bxyln Holiday Inn Express New York-Brooklyn 4th Avenue And Union Street, Brooklyn, New York 11232 (718) 797-1133
If you stayed here, there is a lovely park in walking distance, Prospect Park, and the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, shopping, restaurants, etc. The area is called Park Slope. Coney is a good outing.
There will be a Walker Evans show up..

Walker Evans: Silver and Carbon
Organized by Yale University School of Art
August 24 – November 17, 2006

The UBS Art Gallery

UBS has a longstanding and ongoing commitment to the support of the arts and culture. UBS sponsors four exhibitions each year in The UBS Art Gallery, located in the lobby of its building at 1285 Avenue of the Americas, New York City. Through its exhibition program, the Gallery offers non-profit New York-area arts and cultural organizations a midtown Manhattan exhibition space and the opportunity to introduce their programs to a new audience. The UBS Art Gallery enables many institutions to organize and mount exhibitions that might not otherwise be seen. These exhibitions encourage interest in the arts among the hundreds of employees, clients and members of the general public who pass through the UBS building each day.

Hours and Admission

The UBS Art Gallery is located in the UBS Building at 1285 Avenue of the Americas (between 51st and 52nd Streets) in New York City. The B D F V trains stop at 47-50 Street/Rockefeller Center, one block away. The Gallery is on the ground floor of the building and exhibition hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Admission is free.

Hey Jon. If I were ever to visit NYC (just moved away after living there for a year) I would look for a place to stay on Craigslist. Go to their sublets/temporary board and you’ll find a ton of apartments for rent for a week or by the night from people who are out of town on business. You’ll have a better location, better price, and better kitchen most any cheap hotel, and it’ll feel a bit more like a home to come back to at the end of each night. It might be tough finding a place like this from such a distance, can’t hurt to try though. I also know that people frequently set up housing swaps through craigslist on the swap board i.e., you take my place in Sydney for a week, I take your place in Manhattan. That’ll probably be harder to work out, but it might just make things perfect for you. Hope this helps.

Thanks Erica and M. Scott,

Good to hear about the Walker Evans show, that’ll be a definite…

Have emailed a few people from craigslist, so we’ll see how that goes…
Any others?
Really keen to know if anyone has definite yay/nay advice on film in luggage…

Jon

OK, just googled some stuff about film in check-in luggage and it seems to be a definite nay on that front. Regardless of speed and exposed status film will more than likely be screwed by luggage scanners…..

Jon

In another thread we were talking about the possiblity of carrying 120 in your pockets, without the aluminum wrapper..a thought to get you a few rolls if that’s what you shoot.

check your private email I mentioned some places in NYC to check out…...I really think you should experience b&h it is worth the visit, still confused does this mean you can’t take film on the plane with you??

Are you getting here in early September. There’s currently a photographic tribute to Susan Sontag (ending Sep 4) at the MET.

On Photography: A Tribute to Susan Sontag On Photography: A Tribute to Susan Sontag
June 6, 2006–September 4, 2006
The Howard Gilman Gallery A major force in New York intellectual life for over 40 years, the novelist, essayist, and critic Susan Sontag (1933–2004) was renowned for her brilliant and impassioned writing on photography. This exhibition of some 40 photographs drawn from the Metropolitan’s collection pays tribute to Sontag’s extraordinary contribution to the history of the medium. Nearly all the text in the exhibition is drawn from Sontag’s own vividly aphoristic prose. In some cases, the photographs relate directly to her discussions of individual works or photographers, among them August Sander, Edward Weston, Diane Arbus, and Robert Mapplethorpe. In other cases, small groupings of photographs provide a visual complement to broader insights and ideas about the medium and the ways in which it has shaped our world.

Thanks Wayne but I won’t be arriving until the 19th…
Does anyone know of some good ‘underground’ (hate that expression) or more ‘grassroots’ art or photo galleries I might check out… you know, tip of the spear stuff…
Jon

Don’t know what will be there, but there is ‘emerging artist’ work of all media at http://www.whitecolumns.org/info.html. They reopen Sept.15. Also check the upper floors in Chelsea for some lesser known artists. There is a photo guide you can buy at most any photo gallery..but here is the online version. http://www.photography-guide.com/l_ex_nyc_frame.html

Jon Two things: Magnum I dont think accepts portfolio drop offs during the year; In May they ask people who wish to join to prepare a Quicktime movie to present their work and that is first vetted by the local office then if approved forwarded to the Full members at the annual meeting.

Dont waste your time carrying film with you on the return trip. You might have them hand inspect it; they are still supposed to be doing that, and regulations might be more lax depending on the airline, I dont know. but if you put it in your luggage it will be ruined. Check with shipping companies and even with B and H to see what they have to say about shipping it safely. However, if you ship it, it will cost money, and you might be better off just buying the film when you get back home.

Even if you ship film from the states it is still cheaper than buying it in Australia. I have done this several times and I have saved myself hundreds of dollars…..Every year Magnum has a portfolio review, they are a bit funny about drop offs, at least that is what I remember when I interned there, it may have changed but I imagine otherwise they would get bombarded with portfolios

china town.

http://www.tsa.dot.gov/public/interapp/editorial/editorial_1035.xml

A friend just sent this link to me…......print it out and take it with you….

definitley chinatown

this seems to come up a lot on lightstalkers…
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TSA WILL HAND INSPECT ALL FILM, exposed or unexposed, at US airports, as part of your carry-on luggage.
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let’s put that down again:
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TSA WILL HAND INSPECT ALL FILM, exposed or unexposed, at US airports, as part of your carry-on luggage.
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frankly, they are a lot better with this now than they used to be, when they would tell you it’s safe to X-ray, etc. etc. Now, they all follow standard protocol.
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to make it easy on yourself, get several see-through LARGE ZIPLOCK BAGS.
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remove and throw out all the paper and plastic packaging. You want to do this anyway to save space. OK to leave 120/220 in the foil; 35mm should be just the cartridge.
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To make it easier to justify throw in 10 rolls of high speed 3200 film. there. now you’re going to feel better arguing, if you actually have to argue, which you won’t.
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Tell the TSA security screener that you want hand inspection. Chances are you have to pull your laptop out of your bag, explain what all those cameras and hard drives are for, and take off and put on your shoes, while one of them inspects your film.
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And that’s it. The more you go through this (i do all the time) the more used to it you’ll get. no problem carrying 200 rolls of film.

Wow, can’t believe people took me seriously re: dropping off a folio at Magnum !
Thanks Erica re the tip on the White Columns project and the photo guide…

Jon