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Thursday, July 29, 2010

Communing with Public Figures, in Midtown

Jan Karski Statue, NYC
Photo by myself, in Midtown.

Sitting outside the Polish Consulate in Midtown, a woman shared a bench with a polite dude. I caught her while doing her nails, and she caught me taking her photo. She does not look pleased.

The sculpture depicts Jan Karski, a Polish hero from the Second World War. Apparently he liked chess, so there's a chess board beside him. I assume he's winning the game.

Read more about the sculpture here, at a site dedicated to the public sculptures in New York City. There are over 150 statues listed within the five boroughs.

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When I showed this photo to Mark he groaned. It triggered his 'I-hate-when-people-do-their-nails-in-public' reflex.

Honestly though, we NYers have seen it all - guys shaving with battery-powered razors on the sidewalk, women applying make up on the subway, men clipping their fingernails, people brushing their teeth on the outside. Yeeeeeesh.

In a city, the line between personal and public space is blurred. You gotta put up with a lot, sometimes.

Related posts: Surprise, Surprise, Life in High Contrast and Village People, in Sheridan Square.

9 comments:

Olivier said...

cela fait tres photo souvenir ;) bien vu

biebkriebels said...

I like those sculptures very much. In Spain I have seen them to, sometimes standing direct on the pavement like human beings.

Olivier said...

en réponse a ta question, le dos de mon vieil holga est un dos polaroid (de type 100) et donc je peux utiliser des films polaroids (enfin certain, que la série 100). Sinon je pourrais travailler en argentique classique avec des films 120 ou 35.

Nori Katayama said...

Nice composition!

Joanne said...

great moment!

Ming the Merciless said...

I never knew there was a statue there. But then again I rarely hang out in midtown except in Bryant Park.

I like the posture of the statue -- he imparts an image of calmness and serenity.

Ken Mac said...

she could learn a thing or two about posture from the old metal geezer

Eve said...

I agree with Mark, people doing their nails in public bother me. It's personal grooming and should be done in the bathroom. :D Nice statue.

Andrea said...

I don't think personally that filing nails is on the same par with clipping nails... I think filing nails is OK in public, but all the other thing you liste are not so much.