Last summer I visited Prospect Park in Brooklyn for the first time in decades, photographing its zoo’s animals and walking through neighboring areas, Grand Army Plaza and Park Slope. I also visited the Brooklyn Museum of Art to finally see a pair of statues flanking its entrance: Manhattan and Brooklyn, by my favorite American sculptor, Daniel Chester French (1850-1931). Capturing these allegorical female figures had long been on my bucket list.
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Swann Memorial Fountain is located in Logan Square, midway between City Hall—with its tall spire crowned by a statue of William Penn—and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, on Benjamin Franklin Parkway. (Photos Joseph Kellard)
Spontaneous Splendor: How Swann Fountain Hijacked My Philadelphia Itinerary
“Take me to that large fountain in the middle of the city,” I told a cab driver parked outside my hotel during a weekend trip to Philadelphia last summer.
The day before, I spotted the fountain from a taxi, my refuge from the unforgiving June sun, humidity and temps flirting with triple digits, enroute from the Philadelphia Museum of Art to a Marriott downtown.
Read MoreAutumn Top Shots: Choicest Central Park Fall Photos 2024
My favorite 16 photos I snapped in Central Park last fall capture diverse scenes and people: a geisha posing gracefully for pictures, Schiller's bust framed by blazing autumn leaves, sleek Billionaires Row skyscrapers looming above Wollman ice rink, a woman crafting poems on her vintage typewriter, and musicians making melodies on wind and string instruments.
Read MoreCandid Readers
My original idea for this photo blog was to capture people reading hardcover and paperback books, particularly young people who grew up in our ever growing digitized world.
Read MoreV&A’s Revamped Raphael Court and Cartoons are One
On entering the Raphael Court, I immediately understood that I was stepping into a special venue at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London.
Read MoreFather Lends Son Helping Hand on Reedy River
A father and son ventured onto rocks where the Reedy River runs through Falls Park in Greenville, South Carolina, and I caught a short sequence of their travels on camera.
My photo of the right hand of Michelangelo’s David holding a stone appears on page 41 of the book “Michael Bockemühl, Kunst Sehen, Michelangelo.”
My First Photo Printed in a Book
The Frankfurt-based Info3 Verlag recently published“Michael Bockemühl, Kunst Sehen, Michelangelo,” which features my first photo printed in a book, an image of a hand of Michelangelo’s David.
The Castle of Tomar and Convent of Christ is among the most historically rich and spectacular sites in Portugal. (All photos by Joseph Kellard)
History Lives at Castle of Tomar and Convent of Christ
The Castle of Tomar and Convent of Christ shine atop a summit in central Portugal as one of the nation’s most historically significant sites.
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Salisbury 4 Ring in Holidays with Centuries-Old Songs
The Salisbury 4 quartet summoned sounds from the medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods, bringing seasonal spirit to East Meadow Library on Sunday.
Read MoreJiji Returns to Long Island with Diverse Classical Guitar Program
In her post-pandemic return to the East Meadow Library on Long Island, classical guitarist Jiji showed why she’s known for performing wide-ranging compositions.
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Michelangelo’s David: From Mountain to Masterpiece
During the fifteenth century, a tall, multi-ton block of marble lay abandoned for decades in a courtyard at the Florence Cathedral. It has since become one of the world’s most celebrated pieces of stone, and I got to photograph it in intimate detail.
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~ To Maureen, my sister, who made my trip to Italy possible in more ways than one.
In September 2019, I fulfilled my teenage promise to one day travel to Italy to see Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, a mural that the quintessential Renaissance man painted from 1494 to 1498 in the refectory of the Dominican convent-church Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan.
Through these photo captions, I tell my tale of flying across the Atlantic to finally view this world-renowned masterpiece during the 500th anniversary of da Vinci’s death in 1519. Alongside the photos and captions here, I’ve gathered some quotes—from the master himself, fellow artists, historians, scholars and biographers—about his revolutionary painting. (Photo: Joseph Kellard)
Seeing Leonardo’s Last Supper in the Flesh: A Promise Fulfilled
In September 2019, I fulfilled my teenage promise to one day travel to Italy to see Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, a mural that the quintessential Renaissance man painted from 1494 to 1498 in the refectory of the Dominican convent-church Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. Through the photo captions, I tell my tale of flying across the Atlantic to finally view this world-renowned masterpiece during the 500th anniversary of da Vinci’s death in 1519.
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Exploring the Grounds of Riccardi-Medici Palace
As I roamed Florence’s rain-soaked streets with my cameras early one morning, I chanced upon an imposing centuries-old building with a rocky facade nestled in the heart of the city.
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The Value of Creative Solo Projects
Producing a solo work of art that beautifies your home can leave you with a wonderful daily reminder of your abilities. I learned this after arranging photos I’d taken over my couch to create an esthetically pleasing corner of my humble abode.
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Faces of the Ponte Vecchio
My sister searched for gold; I seized a golden opportunity for candid photos. While she browsed the jewelry shops that line the Ponte Vecchio, the iconic bridge crossing the Arno River in Florence, I stood on its bustling walkway, firing my Nikon at any pedestrian within clear sight of my long lens.
Miami Beach’s Art Deco Answer to the Great Depression
Miami Beach boasts the world’s greatest concentration of art deco buildings, which reflect a distinct era in American history—along with the can-do attitude that has defined the nation. From the Great Depression years through the 1940s, architects in the Miami area designed dominantly within the umbrella of styles now known as art deco, and some nine hundred structures in this genre remain. They rose amid economic hard times and evoked technological modernity, resilience, and optimism.
Read MoreArt That Calls My Name at the Met
Some paintings and sculptures that caught my eye during a few strolls through the Metropolitan Museum of Art earlier this year:
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A panoramic of the Brooklyn Bridge, Lower Manhattan and Jane’s Carousel in Empire Fulton Ferry Park that edges the East River. I snapped this shot from a new vantage point atop a terrace of the Empire Stores.
Brooklyn Bridge Perspectives: New, Old and Better
Do I revisit a place or should I explore somewhere new? My decision-making in answer to this question about my next photo shoot is made easier when I remember that the old can also be new.
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Portraits of Woodstock 50th Anniversary Revelers
There were tie-dye shirts and bandanas, peace signs and love beads, and the sounds of Santana and Country Joe & the Fish.
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Advice to Novice Photographer: Look Before You Shoot
A Facebook friend and Instagram follower from France asks: “Tell me, what would you say to a beginner in photography? Do you have any advice to share?” My short answer: put your camera down until you start to develop a strong eye for photography.
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