November 2013

The World Family

Over at the Fier Institute in Australia (Fotographic Initiatives in Education and Research) I’m one of 22 photographers shedding light on the ‘World Family’. My images feature the bunk -bed- kids of East 100th Street, New York City. Twins, triplets, brothers, sisters and twins with an older brother.

http://theworldfamily.photium.com/portfolio332158p2.html

Ahmed_T_Twin_Brothers_East_100th_St

Ahmed_T_Triplet_Sisters_East_100th_St

Ahmed_T_Brothers_East_100th_St

Ahmed_T_Sisters_East_100th_St

Ahmed_T_Twins_and_older_Brother_East_100th_St

 

ˈfōtō ˈfôrtˌnīt frīdē

A new photograph this week of the Patio from the Castle of Velez Blanco, 1506-15, of carved marble at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

TanyaAhmedMet

ˈfōtō ˈfôrtˌnīt frīdē

ˈfōtō ˈfôrtˌnīt frīdē

Morris-Jumel Mansion, 65 Jumel Terrace, New York, NY 10032

For this Friday’s photo I am going to step back in time, very recent photographs but an old subject…

A couple of days ago I headed to the West Side for a soiree at The Morris-Jumel Mansion in Washington Heights. Enjoying top billing as “Washington slept here” the mansion house is also Manhattan’s oldest, having been built built in 1765, the Colonial Era.

As I approached, the afternoon sun was just catching the top of the house but had made the surrounding trees, with their autumn leaves, a luminous ring around it. I’m not sure if the trees actually hid the city beyond or whether the glow of the leaves was just so mesmerizing that it was hard to look past them. It was very odd to get out of the subway, walk past the bustling C-Town supermarket and then barely a blink of the eye later to be so transported to a different time and place through the effects of light, architecture and nature.

TanyaAhmedMJMansion

Entering the building I was faced with decorous after decorous room, all sized to make even a wealthy New Yorker jealous, and I ended up drawn to Madame Jumel’s bedchamber. A room that she had occupied from 1810 onwards, 203 years ago from today and 45 years after it was built!

TanyaAhmedmorrisjumelM

I have to say though that the Colonial Kitchen piqued my interest even more than the classical rooms. With its rough brick and industrial sized pots I found it hard to equate the elegant upstairs with the primitive cooking arrangements. It make me pause to consider just how much time and activity this house has stood through.

KitchenTanyaAhmedMorris_Jumel

 

8th Annual Black and White Spider Awards

 

8th Annual Black and White Spider Awards

For the 4th year in a row I am pleased to announce that my work has been nominated. This year I went minimal…

TanyaAhmed8thSpider

 

Doorway, East Harlem

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East 100th Street, East Harlem- 7th Annual Nominee

Tanya Ahmed spider 7 roof

East Harlem – 6th Annual Nominee

Tanya Ahmed spider 6th

 

Midtown Manhattan – 5th Annual Nominee

Tanya Ahmed spider 5