John Cyr's photographs of traditional printing tools speak volumes to me. It also reminds me that I need to get back into the darkroom, but that probably won't be happening until August. He's been contacting photographers for their developer trays and photographing them:

...so that the photography community will remember specific, tangible printing tools that have been a seminal part of the photographic experience for the past hundred years. By titling each tray with its owner's name, [he] reference[s] the historical significance of these objects in a minimal manner that evokes thought and introspection about what images have passed through each individual tray.

There's something about looking at the tools used by these master photographers and printers that make their images resonate all the more. I think it's something about seeing the tangible artifacts upon which the images are created; it brings the craft of photography into focus. More of Cyr's work can be found at his website.

According to my facebook wall, yesterday was my birthday. I usually let it pass without occasion, spending the day by myself or with a close friend, but yesterday was different. Yesterday I hosted a dinner for a few friends at a restaurant in the Meatpacking district.

I spent the day alone, first eating breakfast in Chinatown at Bo Ky, then after a short shopping trip to buy linen pants, I went to the Met. I spent almost an hour on the roof with Doug + Mike Starn's Big Bambu before wandering aimlessly through the rest of the museum. I enjoyed the American Woman exhibit, but was disappointed to find that it ended just as I was getting into it (a companion exhibit that expands upon that at the Met can be found at the Brooklyn Museum). At the Met exhibition, I would also have liked to have seen examples of how men's fashions changed or didn't alongside the women's.

From there, I rediscovered Italian and Dutch paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries. I haven't spent much time in those galleries, but yesterday I was suddenly enraptured by the art contained therein. I wondered at the light these masters managed to capture, and the form and volume of their rendered subjects. I was astounded.

I ended the afternoon in the Egyptian galleries, resting by the Temple of Dendar before exiting through the remainder of the wing. I had gone to see the King Tut exhibit the night before, and was happy to balance that with the more rigorously presented work at the Met.

Dinner went smoothly, thanks to the restaurant staff, who were incredibly gracious and accomodating. After dinner, some friends pressured me to open gifts but, not wanting to turn the evening into a baby shower, I demurred. To appease them, they're posted above. If you suddenly hear the theme song to Il Postino (or the tune from Triplets of Belleville), that's me riding by. Ring! Ring!

Thanks to all my friends near and far, those who could make it last night and those who couldn't. "My life would be far poorer were not each of you in it."

Outside, a group is singing happy birthday.