Night Swimming

May 31st, 2009 § 2

IMG_1219
Poolside, Night Swimming,
Austin, TX, May 22, 2009

We convened on Austin for a second go-round, once again taking over the generic corporate suite hotel conveniently located to where we needed to be. The occasion was a right of a passage, full of song and prayer, but for the kids it’s a few days of swimming, catching up, hanging out, and spending as much time together as is humanly possible.

I think of my father who was here last time, holding court by the pool with friends and family. My brother Phil who missed out on both occasions. Ruth and Bob who should be here and would have enjoyed it so. My Grandpa Jesse who would doze off by the pool at Uncle Barry’s on a hot summer day. Grandma Bertha who would sit at Barry’s, watching the swimming, close enough to get wet, dressed to the nines, shaded by a multi-colored beach umbrella.

When the kids were first born others would tell us about the phases they would go through – crawling, walking, understanding but not speaking, one word thoughts, and then sentences. What they didn’t tell us was how quickly these phases would happen. Some only lasted a few days or a week. When you are young and you see the older generations at gatherings there is a sense that change at that end of the scale happens slowly, that time is stretched. But what they don’t tell you is how quickly it, too, occurs.

My father would hold court but I’m not a court holder. I watch and observe. The kids want to swim the moment they arrive. We indulge them and I am happy to do it. There’s a lot to think about while you sit poolside on a late spring night.

ShareLink:  EmailTwitterFacebook

There Goes…

May 28th, 2009 § 0

ps_01

ps_02

ps_03

ps_04

ps_05

Paul Simon, photographed May 6, 2009, in New York City. All images are © Jon Roemer.

ShareLink:  EmailTwitterFacebook

Justices, One and All

May 27th, 2009 § 0

From the Justices in the News Department:

Judge Sonia Sotomayor was nominated yesterday to the Supreme Court by President Obama. I photographed her in 2007 for Columbia Law School while she presided over their annual moot court finals. One of the judges she shared the bench with that day was Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito. I trust they enjoyed their time together, they’ll be seeing more of each other.

jrp0714_0046
Judge Sonia Sotomayor
New York, New York, April 11, 2007
jrp0714_0188
Judge Sonia Sotomayor
New York, New York, April 11, 2007

The Hon. Arthur Gonzalez is a United States Bankruptcy Court Judge. He presided over the Enron and Worldcom bankruptcies. Worldcom had been the largest U.S. bankruptcy case prior to Lehman Brothers’ collapse. Judge Gonzalez is now overseeing Chrysler’s bankruptcy. I photographed him for a magazine article, also, in 2007.

16a
Judge Arthur Gonzalez
New York, NY, March 9, 2007
16b
Judge Arthur Gonzalez
New York, NY, March 9, 2007
ShareLink:  EmailTwitterFacebook

More Tex

May 27th, 2009 § 0

One more image from my quick trip to Texas this past weekend. Like the Gruene Hall photo, this too is a composite of multiple frames created in raw format on a Canon G10.

lake_travis_sm
Lake Travis, Austin, TX
May 23, 2009
Click Here for Larger Version
ShareLink:  EmailTwitterFacebook

Gruene Hall

May 25th, 2009 § 0

gruene_hall_sm
Gruene Hall, Gruene, TX
Oldest Dance Hall in Texas
May 24, 2009, Canon G10 Composite
Click Here for a Larger Version
ShareLink:  EmailTwitterFacebook

New Portrait & Home Page Image

May 13th, 2009 § 0

Portraits from this winter are starting to run so I can begin posting them. Here’s another take on the ad posted in a previous blog entry.

jrp0907_0019
New York, NY, March 05, 2009
ShareLink:  EmailTwitterFacebook

On His Highness’ Architectural Service

May 12th, 2009 § 0

My photos of Demetri Porphyrios Whitman College at Princeton University are now running as the cover story in The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment’s spring magazine.

PFBE_sm
PFBE_spread_sm

The Prince’s Foundation

The Whitman College Gallery at JonRoemer.com

Porphyrios Associates

ShareLink:  EmailTwitterFacebook

Booker Prize

May 8th, 2009 § 0

I photographed Newark Mayor Cory Booker this past Monday night at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. If you ever wondered what it takes to bring the ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria to its feet then go listen to Cory speak.

jrp0914_0418sm
The Crowd Works Cory, Newark Mayor Cory Booker
The Waldorf-Astoria, NY, NY, May 4, 2009
ShareLink:  EmailTwitterFacebook