STRAND

My biggest staple obsession since arriving in New York is STRAND Bookstore.

Image courtesy of About.com

Located within Union Square, this mecca of book diving at reduced prices is beyond.  Beyond. Just take a look at my goodreads list (like a laundry, baby) and you'll realize just how many pages of goodies I've acquired.  Murakami for $4? Check.  Sartre's The Fall for $5? Check.  Hardcover Deluxe by Dana Thomas (originally $30) for $5.75 (blasphemous, really.)? Check.  And these are just the leaflets that satisfy my cravings.  There are four floors of old books, new books, used books, about American history, science fiction, mystery, romance, classics, architecture - they have everything.  They have everything at Costco prices, people.  COSTCO PRICES.  And there aren't any Costco's in Manhattan.

As if you needed more of a reason to check it out.. HA.

The Museum of Modern Art

Photo courtesy of TinaPicard.com

Last month I was fortunate enough to visit the Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art thanks to a lovely friend of mine from work.  The two of us tagged along on a surprisingly exhilarating tour through Bresson's breathtaking black and white photographs.  But what really brought the photos alive was learning about the rebellious photographer's history.  The bourgeois brat poo-pooed his family's lifestyle in his teen years to become a bohemian artist and capture the photo above.  This isn't your average denouement, notably so, as Bresson grew through his travels to bring a markedly critical eye to social causes.

Photo courtesy of metmuseum.org

  Photos like this one, where Bresson was sent to Shanghai to capture the ingression of communism.

Photo courtesy of smalltok.com

And this one which pictures a Gestapo informer.

Photo courtesy of fddreis.wordpress.com

And, of course, Gandhi.

Bresson's photographs evoke emotion beyond what you see on the faces in the four-wall frame.  There's history.  There's reason.  There's a story.  It's gut-wrenchingly beautiful.

Now I understand why he's known as "The Father of Journalism."