I've blogged about this interesting project before:
Now, CBS Ch2 in New York has featured a short interview with Floating Pool Lady architect Jonathan Kirschenfeld. The piece uses some of the B-roll footage and photos I shot in Louisiana of the pool/barge under construction, as well as upon its arrival in New York City, after the long journey up the East Coast by tugboat.
The Floating Pool Lady passes under the Verrazano-Narrows on its way to NYC
Sadly, the link seems to be broken on CBS2, but you can still see a rather low-res YouTube version of the "CBS Eye on NY" piece here:
Moon and sky view through the roof of the Floating Pool
I had the pleasure of shooting for an HD documentary a couple years ago, produced by Doug Cabot, about a unique project, the Floating Pool.
The documentary follows the conversion of an old barge in Louisiana into a floating pool to serve the residents of the New York City area during the summer months.
Imagine being able to swim "in" the East River with the skyline of Manhattan as a backdrop. Well now you can! Find out where the Floating Pool Lady will be docked next summer and plan a visit. (PS-it's free!)
The Floating Pool under construction in Louisiana
In the course of spending time with the project, in Louisiana and New York, I also took some still photos. Some of these and others are being featured as part of a slideshow and article on the Floating Pool on the just-launched website, UrbanOmnibus.
UrbanOmnibus is a project of the Architectural League of New York and hopes to highlight interesting projects and create conversation about design and the future of sustainable architecture in New York City.
The Urban Omnibus interview with Pool architect Jonathan Kirschenfeld features a slideshow with images of the pool at various stages of planning and construction. I've also added more of my photos to a set on my Flickr, if you're interested.
Believe it or not, the floating pool is not really a new idea. New York city once had 15 of them a hundred or so years ago. The Omnibus interview with Ann Buttenwieser, the person most responsible for the floating pool project, explains some of the history of the floating "baths" (as they were then called) as well as the torturous path the project took from when Ann first proposed it in 1980.
You can also listen to a WNYC produced conversation between Ann and Leonard Lopate below:
Robert Elfstrom's 1969 documentary on Johnny Cash airs tonight at 10pm on PBS's P.O.V. series.
From the P.O.V. website: In this classic 1969 documentary, the Man in Black is captured at his peak, the first of many in a looming roller-coaster career. Fresh on the heels of his Folsom Prison album, Cash reveals the dark intensity and raw talent that made him a country music star and cultural icon. Director Robert Elfstrom got closer than any other filmmaker to Cash, who is seen performing with his new bride June Carter Cash, in a rare duet with Bob Dylan, and behind the scenes with friends, family and aspiring young musicians. Johnny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music paints an unforgettable portrait that endures beyond the singer’s 2003 death.
“Elfstrom’s film is a book of quiet revelations.” — Matt Zoller Seitz, Time Out New York
“Robert Elfstrom’s magnificent 1969 documentary Johnny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music ranks among the most comprehensive and effective cinematic presentations of the late Cash’s persona and impact.” —Ron Wynn, Nashville City Paper
The P.O.V. site has a great excerpt of Johnny and June Carter Cash singing a sweaty version of "Jackson," but since they don't seem to allow their videos to be embedded, here's Mark Romanek's masterful video of the Man in Black in his final year, covering NIN's "Hurt."
It was a really special night in a great space, despite a West Michigan Spring snowstorm. BVA managed to get the Airstream on stage by some miracle of driving prowess. Bill and Lisi Szymczyk made it in for the show and the band was kickin'. "Karma Generator" played on a huge screen and the audience really seemed to enjoy it, laughing at all the right moments.
My brother snapped this photo of the action.
We filmed the set with five cameras. Look for the DVD release hopefully later this Spring.
The latest word is that there are less than 50 tickets remaining for Saturday's inaugural showing of our short documentary film "Karma Generator." (Oh, and there's also some guy named Brian Vander Ark playing afterwards, too.) So if you were thinking of getting them at the door, I'd hate to see you disappointed. So get your TICKETS now.
We're really happy with how the film turned out. My brother Brian came from Grand Rapids to Somerville recently and we worked on the editing and I think we've shaped a pretty interesting look at what goes on behind-the-scenes during the recording process. It's a lot harder than most people realize. And if you're a Brian Vander Ark fan, it's absolute catnip.
LOOK OUT! I think it's an East Grand Rapids gang sign.
Oh, and we're filming Brian's show Saturday with his full band for a DVD release. I'm DP-ing it with five cameras (maybe six!), plus a ProTools rig for stellar sound. Be there and be a part of big screen history!
In November, I spent some time in North Carolina, shooting a documentary I'm doing with my brother through our redBrick media venture. My brother is a commercial photographer and stunning fine art photographer (who favors moody nocturnal B&W images) -- and he's blogged about this project here.
We've combined our love of images and stories (and music) into several short documentaries over the last couple years -- and this latest one is called "Karma Generator."
"Karma Generator" goes behind the scenes as talented singer/songwriter and former multi-platinum Top 40/MTV Flavor-O-The-Month (while fronting the Verve Pipe) Brian Vander Ark records his new self-titled solo album with legendary record producer Bill Szymczyk (The Who, Eagles, B.B. King, Bob Seger).
It was a treat to watch the creative interplay as these two hashed out the songs in Bill's home studio (although much of the instrumentation was recorded at Mitch Easter's Fidelitorium).
The album is due any day now and some of the songs are up already at Vander Ark's myspace page. I'm partial to "I Went With The Road."
"Karma Generator," the short film documentary, will premier March 22, 2008 in Grand Rapids, MI prior to a Brian Vander Ark show (with full band). Tickets are available here.
(production action photos courtesy of Lisi Szymczyk)
