Traffic on a Friday out of NYC is bad. On a summer Friday it's terrible. On a summer Friday in August when there is a car fire on the Queensboro bridge that shuts the bridge for hours and locks up every intersection on the east side from the 60s to the 20s as heavy traffic is diverted to other already overtaxed east river crossings – well that's just brutal. It was this summer Friday in August of 2013 that I thought it would be a good idea to try to grab an extra bit of late summer sunshine and head out of the city early – as yet unaware of the unmoving mass of frustration that I was about to encounter. After progressing only a block and a half in 45 minutes, I decided that time was better spent elsewhere while the city unsnarled. I had read about but not yet seen the reinstallation of the Robert Irwin exhibit, "Scrim Veil – Black Rectangle – Natural Light, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York," (let's call it "Scrim Veil" (!!) ), so I decided that it would be better to spend two to three hours contentedly walking around the Whitney instead of inching ten blocks down Lex. I had no idea how profoundly the exhibit would resonate with me, or how lucky I was that I had brought my camera along. "Scrim Veil" is an installation piece by Light and Space artist Robert Irwin that was originally exhibited at the Whitney in 1977. The physical elements of the exhibit consist of a white scrim made of semitransparent polyester installed the length of the 117-foot room and suspended from the ceiling to a height five feet and six inches above the floor, a three inch thick black aluminum beam connected to and running along the bottom of the scrim, and a three inch thick black line painted along the perimeter wall of the room which constitutes the entire fourth floor of the building. The architecture of the building and the floor is also crucial. The trapezoid shaped window, the heavily textured slate tile floor, and the square-cell honeycombed ceiling of the Marcel Breuer building are all key aspects of the installation – so much so that Irwin gave the piece to the Whitney on the condition that it would only be installed in that specific space. With the move of the Whitney from the Breuer building to its new Meatpacking location (due to open May of this year) it is uncertain when or if the piece will ever be reinstalled. Walking around the room and observing/interacting with the piece was incredible. The aluminum beam and perimeter stripe created fantastic lines and angles, and the interplay between the structurally patterned ceiling and the opacity introduced by the scrim veil were so visually arresting as to be almost distracting. Of course I had to look at the room from all corners, sides, heights, directions. Introduced into all of this were the other visitors, who became a part of the installation as they moved around, showing in color while near the window, appearing as in black and white while further away. And then there were the security guards – one or two at all times, stoicly positioned in two locations along the scrim veil to discourage any testing of the veil or bar, providing a visual and physical constant as museum visitors wandered the space. After an initial round of the room I confirmed that photography was allowed, took out my camera, and tried to capture some of what I was fortunate enough to see. For over two hours I shot from different corners, down the line of the bar, along the wall; sometimes purposefully avoiding having other museum goers in the shot and catching only the abstract beauty of the lines and textures, but mostly recognizing that the unstaged inclusion of an individual or groups of people had fantastic results. I spent a considerable amount of time sitting in the dark corners of the room away from the window, taking shots with a thin book propped under my lens to get a consistent and good angle, earning me occasional puzzled glances from the closest security guard. It was a fun, indulgent, memorable few hours that yielded some of my favorite shots that I've taken. I'm happy that the positive reaction to these photos is not exclusively mine. The first time I showed a photo from the series in March 2014 it was awarded third place for photography. Last summer, another photo from the series was one of two of my photos accepted into the East End Arts annual national juried show. More recently, the shot above, "Scrim Veil Blush" was accepted into the Northeast Area Arts Council (NAAC) 27th Annual International juried visual arts exhibit featuring the work of female artists. It's a color photo that looks like a black and white shot with some color introduced. However, the photo is essentially untouched, with the brick building across the street visible through the window and reflecting a lovely wash of color onto the floor. The room was just amazing for the light and shade, and you can see the gorgeous textures of the floor and ceiling and the lines of the piece. The exhibit is held at the Old Courthouse Arts Center in Woodstock, IL through April 27th. Another photo from the series, "Scrim Veil Color Spot," was chosen for inclusion in theonline gallery for UniteWomen.org's second annual "Voices: An Artist's Perspective" exhibition. The gallery show opens April 2nd and will feature the work of 26 artists in the National Association of Women Artists (N.A.W.A.) Gallery at 80 Fifth Avenue, NYC at Union Square, and the work in the online gallery will be displayed electronically at the show. I'm proud to be included in an event that celebrates the work of women artists and to have my work chosen from over 800 entries. On a non "Scrim Veil" note, I'm happy to announce that I will be "curating" the newly established Instagram feed for Professional Women Photographers, a fantastic photography organization that I joined in August 2014. Posts will highlight current and upcoming photo exhibits at galleries and museums in NYC and elsewhere, feature the work of both established and emerging photographers, and highlight interesting photography events. Please follow!!! On Instagram @pwponline . Follow my personal feed on Instagram @michele_dragonetti . Thanks! As always, thanks for your interest in my photography and please always feel free to contact me with any comments or questions.

I love New York. Neighborhoods change over time with shifting demographics and development, and even areas that I frequently visit always seem to provide something new to see or experience and, of course, photograph. Despite living in Manhattan for over 20 years I am still exploring many neighborhoods for the first time while periodically reacquainting myself with others. The Lower East Side is a neighborhood that has undergone dramatic changes over the last several years, both welcome and not, but which continues to be one where I always seem to find something great to capture. I was walking past The Hole gallery on Bowery one afternoon when I saw this poor guy and knew that I had to capture the shot before he moved or came to or found his missing shoe. Of course I love that he's hunched over on the step of this gallery featuring a reflective privacy screen and bright red letters proclaiming "Nudity Today" - which is what I've titled the photo. I'm showing this photo this month in two annual shows that I've not participated in before. The Karyn Mannix Gallery has moved the annual "Love & Passion" show online this year, and "Love & Passion X: A Virtual Art Show" will be available for viewing through at least March 15th. I'm excited to participate in this show that always features great contemporary work in different media. Additionally, this is one of two photos that I'm showing in Ripe Art Gallery's "Peace, Love & Rock and Roll" show in Huntington, NY, running through March 5th. I was just notified this week that one of my photos was accepted by 1650 Gallery in Echo Park, Los Angeles, for their "Abstracts" juried photography exhibition, opening on February 28th. I took this photo (as well as another from a different perspective) of the Richard Serra sculpture, T.E.U.C.L.A. - the first of Serra's sculptures to be on permanent view in a public space - on the UCLA campus when I was in Los Angeles last June. This 42-ton work is one in a series of large scale steel "Torqued Ellipse" sculptures by Serra. I'm always fascinated by how these pieces seem to have subtle shifts in space and form, almost fluid movement as the base and top shift from concave to convex, expanding and confining space and allowing and limiting light - all despite being made out of large slabs of steel. I'm drawn to his work and love photographing the lines, curves and textures of his pieces. Finally, save-the-date: I'm organizing a small group exhibit with a few other photographers at Ashawagh Hall in Springs in East Hampton, NY this summer during the weekend of June 26 - 28. More info to come! As always, thanks for your interest in my photography and please always feel free to contact me with any comments or questions.

The shot shown here is one of my recent favorites and was taken on Mulberry and Broome in Little Italy, NYC. I'd passed these two lovely women on the sidewalk and caught a snippet of their conversation as they chatted in Italian. Wanting to take a candid shot, I crossed the street so as to go unnoticed while I ran ahead so that I could take a photo of them as they approached me. Luckily, the incredible work of street artist Tristan Eaton featuring Audrey Hepburn was just a little bit further up that same block, and once I saw it I knew I wanted it to be part of the shot. Eaton's work is part of the L.I.S.A (Little Italy Street Art) project which has brought prominent street artists to Manhattan's Little Italy in recent years (see lisaprojectnyc.org for more info on the L.I.S.A. project). The expressions on both women's faces, the obvious need to punctuate the conversation with hand gestures, the varied bundles and packages that they are carrying from the day's errands -- I can't help smiling when I look at this photo that glimpses the personalities of these women and a bit of the past and the present of the neighborhood in this ever-changing town - for me a classic NYC moment. I was just notified that this same photo was accepted for inclusion in the EAFA 39th Annual Open Juried Exhibition. The show opens on November 3rd, 2014 and runs through January 2nd, 2015 in Seattle, with a reception and Awards Ceremony at EAFA Gallery from 5pm - 9pm on November 20th. There will also be an additional reception on December 18th from 5pm - 9pm as part of the ART@SDC Third Thursday Open Galleries at Seattle Design Center. The Art@SDC Third Thursday Open Galleries nights provide the opportunity to visit the galleries located in The Seattle Design Center during evening hours with events and performances throughout the building. I'm excited to be part of this event - just wish it was a bit closer! Additionally, I'm looking forward to showing two of my photographs in the Artists Alliance of East Hampton Fall show this weekend at Ashawagh Hall at 780 Springs Fireplace Road in East Hampton, NY. Show hours are 10am - 7pm on Saturday, October 18th and 10am - 4pm on Sunday, October 19th, with a reception on Saturday from 4pm - 7pm. This is my first show with this group and I'm excited to see the work of talented artists across all fine art media. Finally, I've redesigned my website in the last month. The new layout features a full, larger display of each photo, rather than the prior version that cropped the images into square format thumbnails. Photos are more prominently displayed on the pages and arranged in a more dynamic format. As before, each photo can be clicked on to be shown on a larger scale. Take a look and let me know what you think - I'm really happy with the new format. As always, thanks for your interest in my site and my photos, and please contact me with any questions or comments. #littleitaly #newyorkcity #nyc #streetphotography #graffiti #streetart #tristaneaton #audreyhepburn #seattle #eafa #gallery #ashawaghhall #easthampton #websiteredesign