Inspiration within the I.M Pei Museum of Islamic Art in Doha

When architecture transports the soul
And creativity becomes the air I breath.
I pause in awe
Space defined by lines
Between the container and the contained
Opening my eyes to feel
Geometry as a sense
An extension and a connection
To all that is beautiful.



(Inspired and photographed in the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha designed by I.M Pei)

God is Beautiful; He loves Beauty Symposium in Doha

The main reason for my trip to Doha is to attend The fourth biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art, the fascinating symposium God is Beautiful; He loves Beauty, held at the Museum of Islamic Art and organised by Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom.
Last night was the opening ceremony. After being welcomed to the museum by Sheikha Al Mayassa Al Thani the keynote Speaker was Paul Goldberger who is the Architecture Critic for The New Yorker. He described the museum designed by I.M.Pei in its historical context and discussed the importance of the container and that which it contains.
I live in a world of images not words and so to be put in this beautiful space and to have it described by language that I understood at the same time was an exciting experience for me. He described the modern museum as a place that brings together like minded people and that it is an experience for the soul.
The building is a combination of circles squares and triangles and is located on an island connected to the Corniche.
After the talk everyone was invited to dinner in one of the wings of the Museum.
Today the Symposium starts at 9 am and I look forward to learning more about the works of art housed in this mighty structure.


To connect with the museum click on this link
The Museum of Islamic Art

The Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha and Katara

Yesterday was a very busy day. I was wisked off to the Arab Museum of Modern Art to catch the last day of the SWALIF show. It was a collection aptly called Qatari Art between memory and modernity. The space its self is stunning. Located 15 minutes from the center of town the structure maintains it feeling of newness with the permanent scaffolding that adorns the exterior. Upon entering one is met by the majestic portraits of the Emir and his wife Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned that stand over 30 feet high. I was told that they were secretly commissioned by their daughter Al Mayassa Al Thani and were painted by Yan Pei-Ming.
The exhibition was fascinating. It was comprised of locally made works of art dating from the 1960's to the present time. I love the interactive piece called "I want to Remember" where viewers were invited to write on a postcard and peg it to the strings. Now what I really want to remember is who made this living sculpture. I was so into writing a post card that I forgot to photograph the name of the artist.



To connect with the museum click on this linkhttp://www.mathaf.org.qa
The Arab Museum of Art

From the Museum I headed over to visit Hillary and her team at the Ruby Stone Productions office at Katara which is the amazing cultural Center where the Tribeca Film Festival has been held. She had suggested that I not miss stopping by to take in the waterside location that made a stunning backdrop for the buildings that occupy the location. Hillary was running around making sure everything was in place for the last day of the Red Carpet but I had a chance to say hello to the rest of her team.
I was blown away by the out door amphitheater. There were many beautiful building but another that stood out was covered in gold tiles and glistened in the sun light. There were also large bird house structures that fascinated me. The textures and materials used were beautiful everywhere I looked.

Qatar

My favorite travel camera has to be my iPhone. I never feel intrusive and I love the way it turns the images into little squares of color, capturing the essence of how I see the world around me.
Qatar has a fascination for me. The new is everywhere to see while the history is here to be felt. The people are kind and respectful towards each other and towards me as a tourist visiting this city as it transforms its self into a cutting edge modern city of the world embracing green technology, the digital age and the power of social networking.
Education, art and religion are the things that unite these people to themselves as they build bridges reaching out beyond their cultural, spiritual and artistic borders.

Qatar

I just arrived in Qatar and have a very busy few days ahead of me but tonight it was time to walk around the Souk followed by dinner at the W Hotel where i ran into Hillary Gutstein. She and her company Ruby Stone Productions are running the Red Carpet for the Doha Tribeca Film Festival.
I am here for the Symposium at the Art Gallery designed by I.M.Pei. This is a view of the old mosque from my hotel window located in Souq Waqif.

AFA Gala 2011

Last night was the American Federation of Art Gala at The Metropolitan Club in NY City. This year, the AFA honored renowned performance artist Marina Abramović and National Gallery of Art Director Earl A. Powell III at the annual gala. The evening included cocktails, dinner, the awards ceremony, dancing, and a raffle, with artworks generously donated by landscape painter April Gornik and Australian artist/activist Richard Bell (whose work is the subject of the AFA exhibition Richard Bell: Uz Vs. Them).
To view all the photos please click on this link The AFA Gala

BCRF Lunch

To view all the photos please click on this link The BCRF Lunch

Rita Hayworth Alzheimer's Association Gala 2011

Tuesday night was the Rita Hayworth Alzheimer's Association Gala 2011 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. I arrived and went straight to the Ball room in search of David Monn who was doing the decor.
The room looked great. I felt like I was on a movie set from the 1940's. Yes it was Hollywood Glamour at it's NY best.
David combined candles and large paper peonies with sheer black and white drapes to create the mood.
I found him making the final touches to a table and went to say hi.
It seems that everyone is effected by this terrible disease. David's mom has been suffering for the last 8 years and he was running off to see her as soon as he was done.
All the benefit committee women arrived and I managed to find some chairs so we could take a group photo.
Later during the dinner on stage Princess Jasmine Aga Khan looked amazing. Somers Farkas, in a silver sequined Naeem Khan spoke of how the disease has affected her loved ones. She was followed by Mindy Grossman, the powerhouse CEO of HSNi, who spoke of the tragic experience losing, her parents to Alzheimer's.



To view all the photos please click on this link The Rita Haywoth Gala

The Studio Museum in Harlem Fall Gala 2011

Last night was The Studio Museum in Harlem Fall Gala 2011 at Cipriani Wall Street. It was awesome.
Always the best dressed party of the season, this year was no exception.
Thelma Golden looked sensational in a dress designed by her very talented husband Duro Olowu who accompanied her to the event. As always the 3 gala co-Chairs, Kathryn Chenault, Joyce K. Haupt and Carol Sutton Lewis were stunning and the gala vice chairs Jacqueline L. Bradley, Amelia Ogunlesi and Teri Trotter were radiant.
Raymond McGuire was in full form and complimented the room and all the beautiful women joking that there was a guy in a neck brace still recovering from last year's head turning crowd.
The event raised over $1.600.000



To view all the photos please click on this link The Studio Museum of Harlem Gala

The Big Write Sanctuary for Families Event at Ellen Weldon Design

Last night wasThe Big Write Sanctuary for Families Event at Ellen Weldon Design. For a small donation Ellen and her fabulous team designed and made personal stationary. Guests choose their envelopes, fonts and color and Ellen hand wrote in her beautiful style the guests names. I also had some cards made for friends for holiday gifts. What a great way to help raise money for this fantastic organization. To learn more about the organisation you can visit


Sanctuary for Families

La Grenouille NYC

It has been a very busy couple of days with hardly any time to stop and think. Last night after photographing a family portrait I headed over to photograph a private dinner at La Grenouille.
Fall is in the air and I could not wait to see the private dinning room and the flowers. Charles, who took over the restaurant in 1975 from his father has carried on the family tradition of doing the flowers himself each day. They always reflects both his whimsey and the season.
I ran up the stairs and the first thing I saw was the wooden bowl with pumpkin and squash in it.
The tables were beautiful. There were lots of roses and orange ball like flowers. I asked their name and they are called Japanese lanterns.
The dinner was classic and elegant. There was a tiny taste of pea soup followed by Lobster and Tarragon Ravioli. Next came Roasted Lamb Chops with Rosemary and tiny vegetables.
To finish the dinner off there was a fabulous Ice cream treat. There was a gasp in the room when the waiters came in carrying La Bombe Glacee. After showing it off the Maitre'D flambéed the Macerated Fruits with Kirsch and poured it over the Milk Chocolate and Caramel Ice Cream.
No one left a morsel of food on their plates and every one left feeling happily restored.
Here is the link to the website for more info La Grenouille

The Hispanic Society of America Fall Gala 2011

Last night was the Hispanic Society of America Fall Gala 2011 held at 583 Park Avenue.
The 2 beautiful honorees were Liliana Godia and Soumaya Slim de Romero.
It was a fabulous group of people, beautifully dressed and wonderful dancers
I try not to have favorite people to photograph but sometime I just can not help it. There was a woman siting in the corner who was so captivating in her elegant gown. On the dance floor it was Marlene Hess and Jim Zirin who first danced with friends and then span around together. These 2 leave a trail of happy faces where ever they go.
Oscar de la Renta was there with his wife Annette. They seem to be at every party I go to. Yes their social calendar must be very busy at this time of the year.





To view all the photos please click on this link The Hispanic Society of America Gala Photos

Carnegie Hall Fall Gala 2011

Last night was the Carnegie Hall Fall Gala 2011. It was the 120 Anniversary of the hall and to celebrate they chose to celebrate Tchaikovsky who was the conductor on the official opening night of Carnegie Hall in New York in May 1891. Yo-Yo Ma and Valery Gergiev with his orchestra performed an all-Russian program.
During the dinner at The Waldof Astoria Clive Gillinson read a letter sent from Putin . It was a reminder that music transcends all borders.
The room looked amazing. The very talented David Stark had worked with Joan Weill and had used candles and votives to fill the space.

To view all the photos please click on this link The Carnegie Hall Fall Gala Photos

The Black Alumni of Pratt "Celebration of the Creative Spirit" benefit Gala 2011

Last Night was the Black Alumni of Pratt "Celebration of the Creative Spirit" Benefit Fall Gall at the Pierre Hotel. Also known as BAP they honored Jeff Koon, George Lois, John Parham and his wife Maruchi Santana and David Adjaye.
Thomas Schutte the President of Pratt was there as was the new President of The Black Alumni Gerri Brown. The Hon. David Dinkins was there and as always everyone was thrilled to see him.
Denise Wiggins who is the new Events Manager did a great job.


To view all the photos please click on this link The BAP Fall Gala