NYC Ballet x Cartier

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This past week, Cartier reopened its historic mansion at 653 Fifth Avenue after a two and a half years of construction, bringing back to life this iconic piece of real estate the brand took hold of nearly 100 years ago. In 1917 in a deal over a double strand of natural pearls, Pierre Cartier exchanged his necklace for a Fifth Avenue mansion from the Plant family. At the time, the necklace was more valuable than the private home, and a great deal more desirable to Maisie Plant who coveted it.

To celebrate this four year long renovation project and the unveiling of this six story, 40,000 square foot retail mansion with 4 floors of shopping, a 5th floor workshop and 6th floor exhibition/event space, Cartier hosted a star studded “house warming” party where Hollywood rubbed elbows with musical performers who charmed powerful directors. But in the evening before the champagne and sparkling diamonds floated across Cartier’s red carpet, there was a late night dress rehearsal with the New York City Ballet.

It was this moment I chose to photograph. The intimacy of their art in the quiet empty rooms of this historic mansion the ballerinas glided around in graceful steps to a custom soundtrack by Nicolas Godin filling the rooms on dueling pianos and passionate embraces reflected in infinity mirrors and played back in the sparkles of chandeliers….

The Cartier Mansion opens to the public next week!… and let me say this: the second floor Princess Grace Salon currently displaying Grace Kelly’s magnificent engagement ring is what little girl’s dreams are made of (and even some grown ones as well.)

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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “My Lost City”

A look at Manhattan as it was from the window of an airplane

“From the ruins, lonely and inexplicable as the sphinx, rose the Empire State Building.

And just as it had been tradition of mine to climb to the Plaza roof to take leave of the beautiful city extending as far as the eyes could see, so now I went to the roof of that last and most magnificent of towers.
Then I understood. Everything was explained. I had discovered the crowning error of the city. Its Pandora’s box.

Full of vaunting pride, the New Yorker had climbed here, and seen with dismay what he had never suspected. That the city was not the endless sucession of canyons that he had supposed, but that it had limits, fading out into the country on all sides into an expanse of green and blue. That alone was limitless.

And with the awful realization that New York was a city after all and not a universe, the whole shining ediface that he had reared in his mind came crashing down.

That was the gift of Alfred Smith to the citizens of New York.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald, My Lost City: Personal Essays 1920-40

More New York HERE

 

Manhattan from Above

Jamie Beck photographs Manhattan from the view of a helicopter

Being a photographer means always finding yourself in interesting new places and having crazy new experiences. For the #TiffanyNYMinute we found ourselves literally on top of Manhattan in a helicopter to capture the opening aerial shots… and I was terrified. Though the view was so stunning and thrilling to see the city I know so well in a new intimate way I pretty much felt as if we would fall from the sky at any second. But then again, I have an over active imagination.

Though Kevin and I were mostly rolling video footage I did manage to snap a few stills with my Leica in-between the mini-panic attacks I was hiding on the inside. The ground never felt so good.

P.S.~ New York Helicopter allows you to charter a ride for photographic purposes where you can fly anywhere you want and direct the pilot to certain areas or buildings, angles, etc. They also have windows you can open to shoot out of so you’re not hanging out like these guys….

Jamie Beck photographs Manhattan from the view of a helicopter Jamie Beck photographs Manhattan from the view of a helicopter Jamie Beck photographs Manhattan from the view of a helicopter Jamie Beck photographs Manhattan from the view of a helicopter

 

Seeing New York *

New York in the Spring *

New York in the Fog *

New York in the Summer *

Fashion on the Streets of New York *

#TiffanyNYMinute

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When Tiffany & Co. approached us about shooting four influential New Yorkers to launch their new line of watches, Tiffany CT60, named after founder Charles Lewis Tiffany, we felt right away drawn to the project. First, we would get to know four inspiring, hardworking, visionaries that aid in the character this city is built upon. We would have intimate conversations about how we spend our time in this great city we call home and just what does a New York minute mean to them. Which each passing beat of time we measure into fleeting seconds, how much can you accomplish in a NY Minute? To celebrate the launch of Tiffany CT60, let’s spend some time together with these four astonishing New Yorkers.

Check out the video as we spend a day in each of these guy’s New York Minute…

Nick Wooster

free agent

“In my New York Minute I carry the trait of many New Yorkers by being able to do more in 60seconds here than in any other place in the planet. I pack so much into one min to make each second count.”

Nick_Wooster_01Nick wears Tiffany CT60 Calendar Watch in 18k rose gold on black alligator strap

Alexander Gilkes

Auctioneer and Paddle8 Co-founder

“In my New York Minute I leave my fear of failure and embrace New York’s entrepreneurial spirit that is so deeply entrenched into the fabric of New York and our desire for self improvement and betterment. Salvador Dali said: If it doesn’t exist in New York, it doesn’t exist.”

Alexander_Gilkes_02Alexander wears Tiffany CT60 3-Hand with white soliel dial on black alligator strap

Victor Cruz

wide receiver for the New York Football Giants

“In my New York Minute I bring the same drive and passion I put on the field to my time in New York. A true New Yorker pulls up their boots no matter what, you just do what you got to do.”

Victor_Cruz_03Victor wears Tiffany CT60 Chronograph in stainless steel with blue soleil dial

Marcus Samuelsson

Chef, Author and Restaurateur

“In my New York Minute I remember why I came here, to be at the center of the culinary world, to feel the energy and be inspired by the artistic communities and ultimately spend my time having everyday experiences you can only find in New York to reinterpret into what I create”

Marcus_Samuelsson_04Marcus wears Tiffany CT60 Chronograph in 18k rose gold with brown soleil dial on brown alligator strap

#TiffanyNYMinute

Behind the Scenes at SAB

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Last week was a really exciting one for us both creatively and culturally. The past month we have been working feverishly on a series of cinemagraphs we made with the School of American Ballet we shot back in February. It’s always been a dream of mine to shoot ballerinas as I so admire their lines, pose, discipline and beauty of dance. As you saw, the cinemagraphs were displayed in the David H. Koch theater of Lincoln Center’s Metropolitan Opera House. These cinemagraph portraits showed the art of ballet caught at it’s best eternally. The perfect pose, spin, point, there to study and be inspired by its beauty. In addition to the cinemagraphs, on this day we also shot the staged dance sequences for the video.

Just to give you some behind the scenes at SAB’s shoot, we kept the setup pretty simple. The inspiration was based on Eadweard Muybridge’s studies in motion from the history of photography. We wanted to study the ballerina, the form, the movement and motion. We decided to put them on two 12×12 Solid black backdrops and asked the dancers to wear all white. With two large Arri M18 HMI lights we pointed up bouncing the light off the white ceiling illuminating the dancers from above going for an effect of a large skylight for a classic and natural feeling. After tapping down a black rubber floor, the stage was set.

We shot six of SAB’s students in one of their dance studios at Lincoln Center. One of the great things about SAB is how they use live piano players, which we had for our shoot, and hire the most passionate teachers. On this day we worked closely with Suki Schorer who directed the dancers throughout the shoot and tweaked their hands or feet positions with every shot.

It was such a joy to create around a thing of incredible beauty like in ballet. After every dance sequence I would applaud and smile from sheer joy… until Suki told me to stop clapping because that tells the piano player to stop playing and nobody wants that.

Here is a peek behind the scenes shot by our assistant Diana Ola~

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IWC’s Timeless New York

IWC_Watches__02 IWC has launched a new Portofino Midsize watch for both men and women. When they reached out to me to show me the new line to see if I could come up with a creative idea inspired by it, I kept thinking about time, having time, making time, sharing time. So I thought – to me, time is the most valuable thing we’ve got- why don’t we take time together? So how do you do that with thousands of people and one small city girl? Well, yesterday we had an adventure together on Instagram– I let you decide how to spend my day in New York City, the perfect timeless backdrop to a timeless watch design, through a series of questions where time was of the essence. You chose what coffee we had, where we found inspiration, how we spent the afternoon and what to wear to dinner and I shared with you in real time what I saw. When I woke up yesterday morning I didn’t know where you would send me or what you guys most wanted to see in our city of dreams~ It was a thrilling experiment together…

but most all, thank you for your time.

{above~ four of the new IWC #Portofino Midsize watches I rotated between on our journey through Manhattan}

8:34am

I thought we’d spend some time together today, in my city, inspired by the new @IWCwatches #Portofino Midsize. Every minute counts… stayed tuned for a “choose your own adventure” journey with me in NYC! #TimelessNewYork

8:46am

Film or digital? What should I capture the day with? 📷❤️ #TimelessNewYork

A photo posted by Jamie Beck (@annstreetstudio) on

Film or digital? What should I capture the day with? #TimelessNewYork

10:09am

Ok! Film camera it is! According to my @iwcwatchesit’s time for coffee ☕️ Should I go uptown chic to #RalphsCoffee or downtown cool to @Shinola??? #TimelessNewYork

12:20pm

Here we go to the coffee place you all voted for! #TimelessNewYork

A video posted by Jamie Beck (@annstreetstudio) on

Here we go to the coffee place you all voted for! #TimelessNewYork

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5 Favorite Lunch Spots of Tribeca

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We’ve been living in Tribeca for a year now – not that long, but long enough to sample many of the neighborhood’s restaurants and make habits of where we like to go most often. Here are my current top 5 Favorite Lunch Spots of Tribeca

KAFFE 1668

coffee shop turned lunch spot

I’ve been coming to Kaffe 1668 for coffee and organic juices (the Brazil nut is my hangover cure) for months before I realized they have an extensive and amazing lunch menu with many of the ingredients coming from local farms. Their Alkalizing Salad with Quinoa is a weekly staple of mine but when I’m really feeling like an all-American treat I go for the Turkey Club which is TO DIE FOR. Bonus – your lunch items come with a complimentary tea. Yay.

Kaffe 1668, one of my 5 favorite Tribeca lunch places I'm currently loving

Below, outside Kaffe 1668 in Banana Republic’s recent collaboration with designer Roland Mouret which made the PERFECT high-waisted pant I’ve been living in! The collaboration is mostly sold out online but can still be found in-store.

Kaffe 1668, one of my 5 favorite Tribeca lunch places I'm currently loving

TINY’s

The little space that could…

First off, it’s pink. When you’re a building as old as the one Tiny’s hangs out in, you have to really make a splash to be seen. Even if the facade wasn’t pink though, we’d still know about it because the food is DELISH. Why I love it: Perfect lunch spot for business meetings or casual dates with a very ‘hip’ crowd…. and the burata salad with peach compote is on my list of “last meal” items. SO GOOD.

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Why do we look at photographs?

Looking up at Franklin Street in Tribeca

A photograph is a moment of our time in life, a brief slice of happening. It’s the capturing of a memory, holding far more detail than we can ever comprehend…the way the light looked, the way it felt to be there. Sometimes, if the photograph is good enough, you can smell the air, feel it along your skin.

You can look at a good photograph and feel it come alive, the image dancing into a mirage of your memories – are they real? are they fact? – blurring the lines between what is my remembering and what is yours, what is a dream and what is your own reality.

I’ve been here before…or have I? I look at this photograph and I hear my heels click on the cobblestone walkway. I am sure I was here. In heels? Perhaps not…that’s something I’ve only dreamt about.

“Photograph” a poem by Allan Andre

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One of the most amazing things about living in New York is the world of unknown possibility  that awaits outside your doorstep. You never know what you may find on a walk to a cafe, or what adventure awaits by taking a different commute home. You never know who you’re going to run into on Houston and Elizabeth st or what new thing you’ll discover by just being out in the world of Manhattan. I was running errands, walking through Union Square from Fishs Eddy to The Strand when I saw a darling man alone with his typewriter, very lost in thought. He asked me for a word, something with meaning, so I said “Photograph“, and this is what he wrote for me on that crisp fall day…

 

 a favorite photograph, 

                            to be shared again and again.

the light,   the texture,

                     give it strength.

  where is the eye?

             the shattered remnant of a

        perfect seeing, 

                                the ghost of a life well lived.

 the angles, the framing,

         give it context.

                 where is the absence?

  who has witnessed

               such a heart-rending deficit,

                                  such a need,

            an urgency to possess?

                               where is the photograph?

does anyone imagine

                               they are less than sacred?

           touch it up, then;

                                 show what you can.

 

 

 

– allan andre

    9/20/13

Central Park in the Fall

A day of giving thanks. I’ve been sitting in the studio all morning thinking about the things I am thankful for. There are so many, so many in fact I’ll keep it simple with just this one ~ a beautiful afternoon spent walking around Central Park in the fall. I am thankful for this simple memory and those few hours away from all the details of life.

I hope you have many things to be thankful for this holiday break and

may that list grow with each passing  year.

“Everything about autumn is perfect to me. Wooly jumpers, Wellington boots, scarves, thin first, then thick, socks. The low slanting light, the crisp mornings, the chill in my fingers, those last warm sunny days before the rain and the wind. Her moody hues and subdued palate punctuated every now and again by a brilliant orange, scarlet or copper goodbye. She is my true love.”

― Alys Fowler

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Seeing New York

As a photographer I show you the world through my lens on a daily basis. We all look at New York, she demands our focused attention. I’ve been thinking about the art of looking. The importance of focusing and what we see. This past March I bought a pair of Giorgio Armani frames in Geneva, classic per usual, and I decided to put them in front of the frame. To see what I see.

To show you a day in New York through my lens

 

 Giorgio Armani’s #FramesOfYou / my Giorgio Armani frames 

OTHER Armani beauties

Central Park Summer

Central Park (19)

Central Park (18)

Paddle boats gliding by, paths that wind around until you emerge upon a serene view, nature so lush in the middle of our busy city you would think you were miles away from it all. I love Central Park. For four years I lived on its edge, watching it through all the seasons and escaping into it on evening walks. I was so happy to see her again on this summer afternoon when the air was thick and laughter distant…

Central Park (17) Central Park (16)

I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes. – e. e. cummings 

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The Night Heron

Night Heron

It was a typical day at Ann Street Studio, we were in the middle of a shoot when a friend walked in… she said nothing, just stood there dangling a pocket watch with a mischievous look on her face. Kevin took the watch in bewilderment as she slipped back out the door. We opened the watch to discover a set of instructions:

“You may only attend the Night Heron once. Entrance strictly by presentation of this token. No shoes with open toes or tall heels. Be prepared for stairs and ladders. Experience runs two hours. No restrooms.”

Night Heron

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