Good morning, it’s Tuesday.
A million years ago when I was a junior – or maybe a senior? – in high school, I took a photography class. This was a highly sought after elective, as I recall, and was located in an area of the school that was not terribly well traveled – down a hallway that also might have included the wood shop, if I remember right. (It was a long time ago).
Because I am older than the hills, photography at the time meant learning how to process your own film and print your photos – a process that required a highly specific chemical alchemy and spending time in the darkroom.
I found the whole thing a strange mix of tedious, fascinating, and frustrating. If you get anything wrong, the film is ruined and the prints don’t come out right. But when you’re successful, the results are amazing and extremely satisfying. Also, the darkroom, with its red lights and clotheslines for hanging prints to dry, is a very relaxing and meditative space.
I wasn’t terribly good at photography, but I did acquire a keen appreciation for the time and attention it takes for bringing a print to life. Around the time same, (this was the late 80s/early 90s), I acquired a Polaroid camera, which was extremely bulky and not at all conducive to carrying around for taking candids, but provided instant gratification of seeing ones photos in near real time.
I was actually late to the Polaroid party, since the instant camera was invented in the late 1940s. If you happen to be a purist, you might think that this was the beginning of the end when it comes to the art of photography. These days, of course, the world is literally flooded with images – from throwaway instant cameras to iPhones, pretty much everyone and their mother is an amateur photographer.
I recall pretty clearly the newspaper industry’s shift from film to digital photography, which occurred right around the time I started my journalism career in the late 1990s.
This was a pretty controversial moment, given the ability to more easily manipulate digital images pretty much at a touch of a button, while film is much harder – though certainly not impossible – to fudge. (If you care to go down an internet rabbit hole, click here to read about the Cottingley Fairies hoax that successfully snookered none other than Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle).
Luddites and purists will be happy to learn that film photography is reportedly experiencing a resurgence, especially among younger people who have never known much else other than the digital standard.
There isn’t any hard data to demonstrate this phenomenon that I can find, but anecdotal evidence compiled by members of the photography community suggest its driven by a number of factors – from a nostalgic yearning for a slower time to digital fatigue.
This is positive overall, from what I can tell, since creativity in all forms should (in my humble opinion) be celebrated, but photography isn’t exactly a cheap hobby – and the demand for “old school” equipment is driving prices still further out of reach for some.
How expensive is this hobby, really? Well, I may or may not have paid somewhere in the low four figures for some “glass” – photography slang for lenses – when my spouse went through a very active shooting phase. (In case you’re wondering, “shooting” in this case refers to the act of taking photos, not the standard definition one might assume given my husband’s former profession).
Today is World Photography Day, which was first observed on this day in 1991 – selected to commemorate the invention of the daguerreotype, an early photographic process that was developed in 1837 and purchased by the French government so everyone could use it without the nuisance of patents. (The announcement of the fact that the daguerrotype would be free to the world was made by the French on this day in 1839).
Another seasonably cool day is on tap, with temperatures topping out in the mid-70s. Skies will be cloudy, with showers developing at night.
In the headlines…
President Donald Trump, his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, and seven European leaders sounded optimistic after their meeting yesterday at the White House, in which they worked toward ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
European officials said the hastily arranged talks reflected the urgency many leaders feel in aligning with Trump on ending the war — but also their concern that they not be sidelined.
During the meeting, Zelensky, who wore a black ensemble and not his usual green military fatigues, presented Trump with a special golf club – a gift passed on to him by a wounded Ukrainian soldier.
There were few signs of progress made public, or specific details worked out. Any movement toward an end to the war would require follow-through from Trump, sweeping concessions from Zelensky and a willingness to stop attacking Ukraine by Russia.
A personal letter sent by Melania Trump to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia over the well-being of children has put the issue of child welfare at center stage in diplomatic efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump declared war on mail-in ballots and even voting machines, which he falsely claimed are part of a plot by Democrats to steal elections.
Proclaiming he wants to “bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections,” Trump vowed to sign an executive order forcing states to move to all paper ballots, which he asserts are more reliable and faster to tabulate.
The Trump administration has reportedly discussed taking a 10 percent stake in Intel as part of a government-backed effort to revive the troubled U.S. chipmaker and bolster domestic semiconductor manufacturing.
The Trump administration said that it had tapped the Missouri attorney general, Andrew Bailey, to be a deputy director of the F.B.I., in what many rank-and-file agents described as a surprising arrangement.
“The mail-in ballot hoax, using voting machines that are a complete and total disaster must end now,” the president declared on his social media site.
The chairman of the House’s chief investigative committee said the Justice Department would miss his panel’s subpoena deadline for providing files related to the accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein but would begin sharing some records starting Friday.
House Oversight Committee chair James Comer said the Justice Department would start to turn over Epstein-related materials less than two weeks after the Kentucky Republican transmitted a subpoena to the agency to demand access to the documents.
“There are many records in DOJ’s custody, and it will take the Department time to produce all the records and ensure the identification of victims and any child sexual abuse material are redacted,” Comer said.
Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr sat for a closed-door deposition yesterday as the first witness called in the House Oversight Committee’s bipartisan investigation into Epstein.
MSNBC will change its name to MS NOW and lose its peacock logo later this year as part of its split from parent company NBCUniversal. The new name stands for My Source News Opinion World.
The name is meant to reflect the channel’s mission to provide “breaking news and best-in-class opinion journalism,” Rebecca Kutler, MSNBC’s president, said in a memo to employees.
Comcast and NBCUniversal announced in November it is spinning off several of its cable channels, including CNBC, Golf Channel, USA, Oxygen, E! and SYFY into a new company called Versant. CNBC will retain its name, but also drop the peacock logo.
The state AG’s office initiated its 34th legal action of the year against Trump’s administration, joining AGs from 19 other states and DC in challenging a Justice Department policy to condition federal funding for crime victims on cooperation with ICE.
Republican Hudson Valley Rep. Mike Lawler is betting big on Trump’s controversial megalaw — embracing the tax-and-spend package with a series of five ads as he runs for reelection in a pivotal swing district.
Rep. Ritchie Torres has not been kind to Gov. Kathy Hochul – but it seems it’s all water under the bridge now. The pair appeared together yesterday in Torres’ South Bronx district to denounce federal cuts to health care.
Torres and Hochul are reportedly in active discussions about a potential endorsement of the governor. “Now is not the time for infighting; now is the time for unity under the leadership of our Gov. Kathy Hochul,” the congressman said.
“ Governor, I want you to know we stand with you,” he said from the lectern as Hochul watched from the front row. “The Bronx stands with Gov. Hochul. Gov. Hochul stands with the Bronx.”
Hochul demanded the “immediate return” of a 7-year-old New York City public school student grabbed last week by federal immigration authorities amid the Trump administration’s sweeping crackdown.
State lawmakers said they intend to investigate New York’s residential property insurance market as policy premiums continue to rise amid changing climate patterns that indicate more frequent and more severe natural disasters.
Several blue states are considering wealth taxes to close the budget holes worsened by Trump’s sweeping budget law. New York is not among them.
New York’s goal to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions is poised to become far more difficult to reach because of changes at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Republican Assemblyman John Lemondes, who retired from the Army to become a farmer, plans to launch a campaign to unseat Democratic Central New York Rep. John Mannion.
Western New York Democratic Assembly Member Pat Burke established an unspecified campaign committee, as state Sen. Sean Ryan’s neighboring district is set to open up.
A year after a judge found that New York State prisons were holding prisoners in solitary confinement illegally by failing to meet state requirements for doing so, the practice continues, according to a court filing.
Mayor Eric Adams is suing the city Campaign Finance Board for “arbitrarily, capriciously, and unconstitutionally” denying his re-election campaign nearly $5 million in matching taxpayer funds.
Adams’ latest salvo against the CFB over its refusal to give him public matching funds includes a filing that reveals new details about the panel’s belief he has engaged in criminal activity that should deprive him of the critical cash.
On the heels of another fatal shooting, Adams said that he isn’t worried about federal intervention in the New York City Police Department (NYPD).
Adams brought his quality of life push to Staten Island yesterday, hosting a press conference in the Park Hill section of Clifton to spotlight a new NYPD unit focused on everyday nuisances — from midnight noise to rogue scooters.
After Adams announced the NYPD’s Quality of Life Division expansion across Staten Island, some residents complained about their own quality of life.
How did the mayor end up so far behind the 8 ball that he’s polling in the single digits in his run for re-elction?
Zohran Mamdani still hasn’t landed endorsements from the state’s top Democrats, but the mayoral contender is getting warmer treatment from Hochul than House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Mamdani has been hard at work balancing his deep-dyed socialist beliefs with his need to show voters that he is at least a cousin to mainstream liberal Democrats.
Mamdani is the clear frontrunner in a new poll released yesterday on the race to be the city’s new mayor, leading his closest rival, Cuomo, 42-23.
“Cuomo and Adams are now engaged in an ego-fueled blinking contest to see who might exit the race first. That, or they secretly want Mamdani to win. Either way, it’s Mamdani with the Cheshire Cat-like smile.”
Jonathan Greenblatt, the Anti-Defamation League CEO, sharply criticized Mamdani for his refusal to outright condemn the ‘globalize the Intifada’ slogan and wrongly claimed he hasn’t visited a single synagogue or Jewish institution during the campaign.
Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer said that Mamdani has correctly identified affordability as the greatest threat to the city’s future, “but his answer may make the problem even worse.”
Spitzer — asked about voters being more forgiving after returning Trump to office and given the comeback candidacy of Cuomo — told Vanity Fair in a rare interview, “This will sound odd coming from me perhaps, but unfortunately, yes, probably.
It’s apparently “Prostitution Week” at the Andrew Cuomo mayoral campaign – but the former governor didn’t recall a landmark 2021 law he signed to prevent cops from arresting people for “loitering for the purpose of engaging in prostitution.”
Jay Clayton, Trump’s pick to be the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, will get to stay in the job, even though he hasn’t been confirmed by the US Senate, after a group of judges voted Monday to allow him to continue in the position.
The Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Central Harlem has been linked to a fifth death, the city health department said, equaling the toll from an outbreak at a nursing home in 2022.
The affordability crisis is fueling the digital divide in New York City’s poorest borough – the Bronx – where 1 in nearly 4 homes lack broadband internet and 1 in 3 don’t have computers, according to a recent report by the Center for an Urban Future.
Overall, the report finds, 19% of Bronx households rely on only on smartphones for home internet access.
Police said yesterday that they were looking for two suspects in the mass shooting at a hookah lounge in Crown Heights that killed three men and injured 11 other people early Sunday, and had yet to announce any arrests in the case.
The MTA board approved a contract to begin major construction on the Second Avenue Subway extension into East Harlem – a colossal payout that transit officials claimed was a solid investment even as the existing system crumbles.
Hochul appeared alongside MTA officials at a meeting of the transit agency’s board to tout the “transformational” plan to bring the Q line to 125th Street — more than 80 years after the elevated line that ran above Second Avenue went out of service.
Dozens of New Yorkers in 33 apartments across East Harlem are at risk of getting kicked out of their homes and businesses as the MTA forges ahead with the Second Avenue Subway’s next phase.
The widow of the NYPD cop killed in the Park Avenue mass shooting has given birth to the couple’s third son — naming him Arham, which means “Most Merciful’’ in Arabic, officials and sources said.
Great weather doesn’t always mean great beach days. As the city gets a break from the intense heat and humidity this week, Hurricane Erin is expected to bring dangerous coastal conditions to New York City shores.
Schenectady is asking residents and businesses to limit water use after a pipe ruptured near the city’s water treatment operation in Rotterdam.
State Supreme Court Justice James Walsh recused himself from presiding over a lawsuit filed by the Saratoga County Conservative Party chair that seeks to remove the Democratic district attorney candidate from November’s general election ballot.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
