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