Photographs and articles by A. Cemal Ekin
Arcadia is Rhode Island’s largest public recreation area with over 14,000 acres of land, lakes, ponds, and trails. Jim, Dennis, and I took another trip to Arcadia, which included a stop at Stepstone Falls, also part of the Arcadia. I was at first hesitant because of the difficulty of going down and coming back up …
A week ago Sunday, Jan and I decided to go out and see the new public art on Weybossett Street in Providence. It was on the parking lot side of the facade kept mainly to hide the lot. It now provides public art space on the street side as well as on the inside. The …
Steve asked me to join him for a photo shoot at the Newport Car Museum studio a week ago Sunday. It was a very nice offer and I slowly climbed to the second floor that morning. He was already at work photographing a 1956 Porsche 356A Speedster 1600. It has been a rich learning experience …
My friend Steve Szydlowski has been photographing exotic cars for the Newport Car Museum and recently complained about the excessive reflections he got on the cars. This happened even though they had a large space with smooth walls, wall-to-floor transitions, a large light diffuser above, and even polarizing filters. Brush Work Would Be Difficult Against …
Whenever I get a notice of an upcoming photo auction from Heritage Auctions, I make a beeline to the site and spend one or two hours browsing through the collection. Not that I can afford to bid on those masterpieces but because I truly enjoy looking at, and seeing photographs. Especially the works of many …
I was talking about the public parks in Rhode Island and presented views from two of them in the previous post. This is a continuation of the same theme. Let’s go … This post is dedicated to the memory of our dear neighbor Rick Denoncour who passed away a week ago Monday. His funeral service …
The availability of public parks is a great service provided by the state or the cities. Since Rhode Island has a very long shoreline, some parks offer beach access and great scenery. We have been visiting them in good weather to enjoy the breeze and open vistas. Rocky Point State Park What used to be …
We got the tip from our neighbor that he had finished priming a new wall and a new mural could start in a few days. By the time we made it to 40 Snow Street in Providence, the artist, Lauren YS (Instagram) were more than twenty-five percent into the mural. Already very colorful, it would …
Public art comes in many forms. We experienced an impressive collection of elephant sculptures on the grounds of Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. They were part of a traveling exhibit of one hundred elephants sculpted by 200 artisans in the Nilgiri Hills of South India. In addition to the 52 sculptures on the Salve …
No, not the one in Newport. That is Audrain, I am talking about the Newport Car Museum in Portsmouth, RI! I have wanted to visit it for quite some time but was unsure how much walking would be involved. My friend Steve, who has been photographing the cars for the museum for the last year, …
I started writing this article about the Gaspee Day Parade, a local tradition; the beautiful and beautiful smelling wild roses; our garden; and a Memorial Day visit after I returned from watching the parade for about fifteen minutes on June 8, 2024. The Gaspee Day Parade Today was the Gaspee Day Parade, I returned from …
The weather has been a bit strange this year and delayed the emergence of spring color. We had unexpectedly warm days in February-March, and now we have cool and rainy days in May. Partly due to the weather, and partly the tulip-loving bunnies, the large number of bulbs we planted last year had a weak …
May 14, 2024, the day began without a hint that we would go to see the Independent Man at the Rhode Island State House. A regular morning, but a little less goofing around, because Jan had a hair appointment at 11:00 AM. We decided to leave a little early to stop at the dry cleaners …
The weather has been different this year. After a relatively mild winter with little snow, the spring has been rainy and cooler. Our sump pump worked overtime and prevented a flood in the basement. Heavy rains made the Pawtuxet River rise, flood low areas around it, and rushed over the boulders in the river bed. …
Until recently, I enjoyed visiting the LensCulture site and exploring the new collections, writings, and other materials. I even entered their calls to support the organization and willingly paid extra submission fees to receive reviews. I shared three such reviews earlier with the same intentions to support their work. Photographic Sensibilities Change In the last …
Although we had a mild winter, the weather was not good enough to go out and take photographs. Our health has not been the best lately. But, both the weather and our health have been getting better. We finally found two nice days at the end of March to venture out and enjoy the weather. …
While visiting Elif and Mina in Salt Lake City this past Christmas, we learned that there were over 250 murals in the city and its immediate surroundings. Elif had a printed list of them, and we visited as many public art pieces as possible in two weeks. There is an organization similar to The Avenue …
We have had a couple of fun days as we approach our return to Rhode Island. I want to share a few more photographs before we leave on Wednesday morning. December 30, 2023 As they previously arranged, Mina went to spend a couple of weeks with her father on Saturday afternoon. That morning, she drove …
Since the last post introducing Kahve Cafe, we have enjoyed our time with Elif and Mina and even managed to have an adventure that now looks funny. Keep reading … Of course, we revisited Kahve Cafe and chatted with some customers as they too were enjoying Christmas with their families. They were surprised and pleased …
It has been over five years since we last came to Salt Lake City to be with Elif and Mina. We decided to fly to see them as it would have been almost impossible for them to close shop, Kahve Cafe, to visit us. For easier traveling, we decided to fly directly from Boston to …
We Wish You Happy Holidays and a Happy, Healthy New Year. This is a post that essentially summarizes our 2023 in words and photographs. There are many photographs; feel free to skip any. We wanted to share our year with you all. Since we have not had snow yet this year, Jan’s ice abstract welcomes …
In general, photographers like it when their work is sharp and crisp, showing all the leaves on the trees and highlighting the details of the feathers on a bird. The search for sharpness applies to street photography, architecture, still life, and many others. But, there may be room for blurry results to convey different ideas. …
After my last trip, I hesitated to visit Stepstone Falls because of difficulty navigating the high steps. But I ended up going again, even twice in one week! For these trips, I did not carry my tripod, which made going up and down the steps a little easier. The First Stepstone Falls Trip Jim wanted …
There are still water-powered mills in Rhode Island. And one of their main products is cornmeal, the core ingredient in johnnycake mixes. Johnnycakes are claimed to have originated in Rhode Island, although they are made and consumed on the East Coast of the US. Kenyon’s Grist Mill has been making cornmeal for their johnnycake mix …
