Posts Tagged ‘Zygmunt Malinowski’

A post from our New York City-based (but frequently world travelling) photographer Zygmunt Malinowski. We’ve written about him here and here and here, among other places.

“Right across the Rockefeller center Christmas tree at Promenade angels herald the holiday season overlooking Christian Dior colorful display – several stories high, on the Saks 5th Ave building facade. In the evening this magical display comes alive with dazzling lights when the astrology clock spins accompanied by holiday music. On hand are two girls – they could be Rockettes – decked out in holiday best. They give out fliers inviting visitors to see Christmas Spectacular /Starring the Radio City Rockettes at ‘iconic’ Radio City Music Hall.

Zygmunt is a pro, but he wasn’t the only one taking photos of the season. Farther afield in France, Maria Adle Besson, who heads Think Tank Ivy Plus European Leaders in Paris, celebrated the season at the Hôtel National des Invalides, a prominent Paris landmark, with its famous gilded Dome. (Her friend is Kerry Halferty Hardy.) Visitors can explore the history of France, through the Musée de l’Armée’s collections and the Tomb of Napoleon I in particular, though right now, its theme is Christmas.

And a few quick shots from an overcast Christmas in Avignon…

Zygmunt Malinowski, the Book Haven’s New York-based roving photographer, reports on Christmas in the Big Apple:

“Hudson Yards is the new go-to place in NYC The main attraction is ‘the Vessel,’ an impressive spiral sculpture situated in the main square. Adjacent is a super modern high-rise residence which offers “exquisite service, unique shopping and dining with the city’s most breathtaking views,” and a new separate center for the innovative arts. This year the holiday decor is radiant with two million lights – and documented in ‘The Most Instagrammable Moments.‘ Here is one spot overlooking hot air-balloon with flying Christmas trees on Levels 3 and 4. You can see ‘the Vessel’ outside. Grab a hot chocolate or coffee in one of the cafés and celebrate the season.

‘To get the city’s fuller Christmas experience, visit the celebrated Rockefeller Christmas tree, walk 5th Ave to  see window displays and at Herald Square, Macy’s widow displays are always popular with children.’

You can see a few hundred of the two million lights below.

(Photos copyright Zygmunt Malinowski – see more of his work here and here and here and here.)

---

Easter celebrations have an additional layer of meaning this year, and the public fête on Fifth Avenue had an exuberant post-COVID feel. Zygmunt Malinowski, the Book Haven’s roving photographer, sent us a couple photos to share with California and the world, and yes, it looks like the pandemic is winding to an infamous close. So happy Easter to all of us!

What were the NYC festivities like? The street was closed to traffic, and very crowded, he said. Except for public transportation, masks are optional now. However, they are rarely worn as you can see. Party animals in front of St. Patrick’s were maskless, as well Cardinal Dolan celebrating mass within the cathedral. Woo hoo!

The women in the top photos remind us of the wreathed young women on St. John’s Day in Kraków, but that’s in June. We won’t ask what that guy in the bottom photo is chewing on. A burnt carrot? A cigar? Only Zgymunt Malinowski knows. “Yes, parades can be repetitive but still nice to be there,” he said. Outdoors in the springtime? What could be better.

(All photos  ⒸZygmunt Malinowski)

The Book Haven’s roving photographer Zygmunt Malinowski has photographed a New York City Covid Christmas for us – since we can’t be there in person during a time of plague. He shares his observations below, as well as his photographs.

On the Sunday before Christmas, Rockefeller Center as well as the surrounding streets were crowded, despite repeated dire news reports that Omicron was rapidly spreading in New York.  Locals and visitors – mostly masked, with children in tow – came to see the lit-up Christmas tree and holiday window displays on 5^th Avenue, yet the usual high energy of the event this year was subdued.  

“Rockettes Christmas Spectacular” closed after a short run. Other Broadway shows cancelled performances and several sports events shut down. This year the giant snowflake overhanging 57^th Street and 5^th Avenue was missing, instead the image of a Christmas tree, several stories high, stood out on a nearby Vuitton building corner. On several 5^th Avenue sidewalks several holiday trees glistening with gold, were placed alongside a large yellow toy taxi and oversized gift wrapped boxes.

The promenade of Rockefeller Center, a pedestrian favorite because of its spectacular view of the tree and ice rink, was unusually crowded considering pandemic warnings, while the back area closest to the standing tree was completely closed off for security reasons after a decorated tree a few blocks away was set aflame by a vandal. Opposite the plaza across the street by Saks Fifth Avenue holiday windows, children were happy to meet visiting Mini-Mouse and Grinch (who normally roam Times Square), as they viewed “city children-inspired theme” featuring their dreams of games, getaway and carnival.  

A few blocks up, the theme for the extravagant Bonwit Teller windows was “The Present Moment.” Around the corner at “Playfulness Moment” window, life-like cats and a few mice (some on fire escapes), seemed to be exploring a colorful city wonderland  as amused passers-by watched, while several others bought hats and scarves from a street vendor to ward off the chilly breeze.

Among the hustle and bustle, there was a missing holiday presence – not so obvious to all but noticed by some New Yorkers: the absence of Salvation Army next to their red kettles, ringing bells for donations to the needy. The city Santas spreading holiday cheer were also missing, reportedly due to a Santa shortage. 

According to the experts the pandemic won’t be over anytime soon. It will stay with us for several years, and we must learn to live with it. A short distance away, a “Rapid Covid Test” van was standing trailed by a long line as a reminder. 

The Book Haven’s roving journalist-photographer Zygmunt Malinowski sees signs of hope in New York City, “a return to what remains.” It couldn’t come too soon: “I just read part of Daniel Defoe‘s description of London during the plague – how similar to desolation of New York City!”

It’s a hard time for our footloose photographer – he can’t hop on a plane as he’s done here and here and here. However, he writes: “During this time when travel options are limited one can always take advantage of visiting local places. It is said that many New York city’s apartments are half empty with its residents moving to the suburbs and surrounding countryside, some even permanently. Not that surprising since small towns offer many benefits including a sense of community, safer environment and closeness to nature.”

In a stroll through New York’s Greenport Village, a historic site on Long Island’s North Fork, he found puppeteers in protective facial masks entertaining passers-by – including a curious photographer.”Greenport is a popular Long Island summer getaway, easily reached by car or train. Even though a lot less crowded as expected during this time of pandemic, the mood in this town seemed to be more cheerful as individuals, families and small groups of folks enjoyed a summer day.”

Our New York City based reporter/photographer Zygmunt Malinowski reports on literary events from Sopot, a city on the Baltic Coast. (Czesław Miłosz lived there at war’s end – Zygmunt documented that history here.) Our correspondent wrote to us earlier this fall, so we’re late getting this summertime post up. But on the brink of winter now, maybe it’s time to imagine yourself in the warm summer breezes off the sea… listening to a conversation with a writer not much discussed on this side of the Atlantic. (All photographs copyright Zygmunt Malinowski, of course.)

Summer on the Baltic is much cooler than in the States, and it’s very relaxing to spend a couple of hours with feet in the sand, in the shade with a light alcoholic drink, pleasant music, and a view of the beach and the sea in the background.

On the way to an open-air beach café in the Polish city of Sopot, I stopped to take a look at a gazette that I picked up at a kiosk. Literacki Sopot (Literary Sopot) featured a cover story about Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, a very popular European writer who lives in Belgium. Schmitt has written over fifty novels, short stories, and plays in French that have been translated into forty-six languages. He has been awarded the prestigious Prix Goncord.

He was scheduled for an onstage conversation that very day, within about half an hour. I immediately changed my plans. When I got to the town square and the National Gallery of Art where the interview was to take place, there was already a line of people waiting to get in. By the time I walked up the stairs, the spacious hall was filled.

His most famous book, Oscar and the Lady in Pink,  is part of his Cycle de l’invisble series, about a terminally ill boy who is encouraged by a hospital volunteer to live out his last twelve days as if each day were ten years long, is part of school curricula and has been adapted into a film. Among French readers, some place Oscar and the Pink Lady among the influential works, along with the Bible, Three Musketeers, and The Little Prince.

His latest book, Madame Pylinska and the Secret of Chopin is partly autobiographical. When Schmitt was nine years old, he discovered Chopin, fell in love with his music, and took piano lessons.

In later years,  an eccentric Madame Pylinska (a fictitious name based on a real person) tried to enlighten him about the mystery of Chopin. In one of the lessons, she instructed Schmitt to go to Luxemburg Park in the morning and pick flowers in such a way that the dewdrops would not fall off the petals. Chopin’s “own performances were know for their nuance and sensitivity,” she said. Schmitt’s pursuit and struggle of how to play Chopin did not make him the musician he envisioned but he learned instead how to be a better writer.

After a short introduction at the National Gallery, the interview turned to the obvious question about the author’s new book, although on a broader terms: What is the secret of art and where is its mystery?

Said Schmitt,  who has a PhD in philosophy: “Philosophy tries to explain life, art celebrates life. Paintings teach us how to observe the world; music how to listen to the world. Literature teaches us how elaborate and intricate the human heart is – our soul.

“In general, art does not help us to understand our world because there are matters that do not need to be understood. We need to learn how to interpret this life.”

Then he circled back to his book: “When I ask Madame Pylinska at the end of the book what is the secret of Chopin, she replies that it’s not possible to explain all of the secrets. We need to experience them because they are capable of enriching our lives. A beautiful life is a life where there are mysteries, and we need to live with these mysteries. We cannot resolve them all. It’s a bit dangerous for us, for interpretation of our life. Life is a mystery, every person is a mystery, to love is a mystery. We should live with these mysteries, be with them. Whenever we live in the illusion, the desire that we should understand all, than our life becomes very flat. If we accept its mysteries then life is full, people are full.”

“The beautiful life is not a life where there is no sadness,” he said.