Visual Serendipity.

 
Serendip­ity: noun; the occur­rence and devel­op­ment of events by chance in a happy or ben­e­fi­cial way.

Both images were taken the same night, and at the same Brooklyn restaurant, Char #4. The place is nice, the service was good, and the food was decent, but the restaurant is definitively overpriced and overhyped. This was my third and most likely last visit.

Visual Serendipity.

 
Serendip­ity: noun; the occur­rence and devel­op­ment of events by chance in a happy or ben­e­fi­cial way.

The Flatiron Building was designed by Chicago’s Daniel Burnham as a steel-frame skyscraper in white terracotta, and intended as the headquarters of the Fuller Construction Company. The building was soon dubbed “Flatiron” after its unusual shape, caused by a triangular plot.

The building inspired unforgettable photographs by Edward Steichen and Alfred Stieglitz, and it is now one of the most photographed and recognizable landmarks in New York.  It is also frequently used on television commercials and documentaries, in the opening credits of the “David Letterman Show”, during scene transitions in “Friends”, and as the headquarters of the “Daily Bugle Newspaper” in Spider-Man.

 

Visual Serendipity.

 
Serendip­ity: noun; the occur­rence and devel­op­ment of events by chance in a happy or ben­e­fi­cial way.

The Radio City Music Hall, designed by architect Edward Durell Stone, and interior designer Donald Deskey in the Art Deco style, opened to the public on December 27, 1932.

Some people say that with a stage almost 150 feet wide, and 5,933 seats, it is the largest indoor theater in the world. The Hall includes the “Mighty Wurlitzer” that also happens to be, small wonder, the largest theater pipe organ built for a movie theater.

Radio City is part of the 12-acre (49,000 m²) commercial complex known as Rockefeller Center. Interesting fact: the complex was developed on land leased from Columbia University, and it is currently leased to and managed by Madison Square Garden, Inc.

Check this awesome “Popular Mechanics” article from August 1932 about the Music Hall and “the importance of chance in progress.”

I took this picture while attending a recent Cirque du Soleil performance.

Visual Serendipity.

 
Serendipity: noun; the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

“Chinatown at Dusk” is the second picture on our “Visual Serendipity” weekly series. The goal is to post a new cell phone image every week (click here to see last week’s pic).

For years I’ve been fascinated with Chinatown. So many things going on, so many colors, smells, and sounds at a somewhat isolated place in the hearts of very dense cities like New York, Chicago or San Francisco. What intrigues me the most about ethnic neighborhoods like Chinatown is to walk into a corner store (how do you say “bodega” in Chinese?), and see things that I can’t tell if are vegetables, animals, medicine, food, toys or decorations.

An added bonus the restaurants which are amazingly good and cheap! One of my favorite spots is Vanessa’s Dumpling House, what’s yours?

Visual Serendipity.

 
Serendipity: noun; the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

Starting today, I’ll do my best to post one new picture every week. The rule (there’s always a rule) is that it has to be taken with my trusty, yet dying, HTC Incredible cell phone.

This photograph was taken last week on my way to the White Plains train station after a great meeting at MAC Group. The kid is crying for some unknown reason, and I only had a couple of seconds to grab my phone and capture the moment. Out of the three images I took, this one has the best framing. The image, like 99.99% of my images, is unretouched.

Does the picture make you sad or happy? I’m curious.