Joe Curry – Photography

Open Heart

365.45

The human heart functions with four valves, which both open and close. As I climbed the stairs in my building, the fire hose valve (of all things) jumped out at me. Amid the rush of Godiva sales, picking the perfect card or present, or enjoying a memorable meal, I was reminded that Valentine’s Day marks just one moment. One moment, one day to open up and express your feelings and celebrate your renewed appreciation for that special someone. Yet hopefully, your year is marked by many such moments.

If you’re single, the day is not meant to be a reminder of what may be missing in your life, but a reminder to keep an open mind. To lead with your truest self. To be discriminating about the qualities in relationships that matter most & how you spend your time. To lead with your gifts, which can be as unique as your fingerprints, in order to find a relationship of inspiration.

Above all, Valentine’s Day is a reminder to give your best self, to feed the relationships that matter most to you, and live life with an open heart.

February 14th, 2012|Photography|Comments Off

Hostas

365.34

This winter has been unlike any other winter I can remember. I was braced for a bone chilling bout this year after living at a lower latitude the past six years. Instead, it’s been a pleasant surprise. Today’s image is from a photowalk last spring at McDonald’s (HQ campus not your local restaurant). It felt like spring this morning, and hostas were on my mind. I was tempted to shout out “Hosta” la Vista, winter. But I know better.

February 3rd, 2012|Nature, Photography|Comments Off

Violin Maker

365.31

It was like spring today, with birds singing and a sky that was actually this blue. Sometimes taking new routes has its rewards. Like walking down an alley in Minneapolis and finding this gem. Flanked by WCCO-TV on one side and surrounded by modern skyscrapers, finding a shop here that makes old world instruments was unexpected. Considering my modern instruments are manufactured in Japan (Yamaha alto and soprano saxophones), I’m fascinated by instruments that are not only pleasing to the ear, but an example of fine craftsmanship and art in itself.

January 31st, 2012|Minneapolis, Music, Photography|Comments Off

Linked In

365.30

The more people I meet, the more surprised I am by how connected we actually are. Linked in. Like a chain fence.

January 30th, 2012|Photography|Comments Off

Hidden Dragon

365.29

The St. Paul Winter Carnival kicked off this past weekend, and although the snow sculptures were canceled for obvious reasons, the show went on for icy art. While temperatures last!

In February 1886, the inaugural carnival was held to showcase St. Paul as well as disprove a New York newspaper reporter who had described the city as “another Siberia, unfit for human habitation in the winter.” But in 2004, the last year St. Paul featured an ice palace, it might as well have been Siberia. You know it’s cold when the 2004 Ice Palace closed for several hours due to cold weather. It was a palatial, 27,000 blocks of ice (each weighing 400 lbs.) covering a steel frame and wired for a sound and light show.

This year’s carnival was much simpler. As I surveyed the sculptures, I heeded some recent photography advice to not just take the picture, but make the picture. After all, nearly everyone takes the same photo on the first approach. But if you study the scene, you can find more. And that’s when, while crouching like a tiger, I found my “hidden dragon.”

January 29th, 2012|Photography, St. Paul|6 Comments

Classical Mural

Footsteps from my front door are music venues galore. This afternoon, I traveled ’round the globe during a free one-hour concert at Orchestra Hall. I heard Gershwin’s Caribbean rhythms in Cuban Overture, the festive music of An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise (including a finale with bagpipes!), the Spanish-infused Boléro, and a new concerto from India for violin and tabla drum. The tabla player was amazing. I’ve never seen such fast working phalanges. (See an example below the jump.)
.

Listen to the tabla:

January 28th, 2012|Minneapolis, Music, Photography|Comments Off

Minnesota Hoodie

365.27

After a long but productive week, some Fridays all I want to do is come home, make dinner (roast chicken with butternut squash risotto) and throw on a Minnesota hoodie. And that’s what I did.

January 27th, 2012|Photography|Comments Off

Skyline Aquarium

365.26

You don’t have to look too closely at the Minneapolis skyline at night to notice something distinctly different. Not all bulbs are created equal. Atop the Target building is something bolder: a digital light art display featuring 700,000 LED lights. Tonight, I captured an aquarium with schools of fish, a shark, and the comical but shy orange Puffer fish. A couple new designs are featured every month. As I leaned against a wall snapping photos, smiling passersby shared:

Are you taking photos? (Um, yes.)
Make sure you get the Puffer! He moves fast. (I know, right?!)
Cool, huh? It’s like my personal aquarium outside my condo living room. (Yes indeed.)

Learn more: Top of the Target Building Glows

January 27th, 2012|Minneapolis, Photography|Comments Off

Support Group

365.25

Hi, my name is @JoeJCurry, and I have a social media #addiction. Depending on who you ask, that may not be far from the truth! However, considering social media is part of my job, it’s no different than other folks’ curiosity for their careers. Today in Dallas was a reunion of sorts for people like me–people who work in a converging space of communications, marketing and technology.

Every couple months, my pioneering peers and I turn off our digital devices and meet face-to-face to talk ideas, swap solutions & success stories, and rally each other in our goals. It’s energizing. It’s humbling. It’s even a bit therapeutic. Over the past three years, I’ve not only been fortunate to attend 8 sessions with these extended colleagues; I can count many of them as friends.

Old Red Museum in Dallas, TX

January 27th, 2012|People, Photography|Comments Off

Step Up

365.24

My day began with my worst nightmare: I overslept the morning of a flight.

Something I’ve never done before. And by a whopping 105 minutes! I woke up at 7:45am for my 9:15am flight; I didn’t need a 5th alarm, no, I needed a low voltage electric shock to get out of bed today. It was questionable whether I’d make it, but I stepped up to the challenge. Luckily, I was already packed and my clothes were selected for the day. A sprinkle in the shower (literally), a stick of gum & a bottle of water, in under five minutes, I was out the door. I drove like a Chicagoan, rode the elevators like a New Yorker (waited for no one), and hopped on airport trams like a local Minnesotan.

May the Force be with me, I prayed. And it was. Miraculously, at the airport security checkpoint, there were only 2 people there, and I arrived at my gate with 30 minutes to spare.

Something I never want to do again.

January 27th, 2012|Photography|Comments Off

Photography

Open Heart

Hostas

Violin Maker

Linked In

Hidden Dragon

Classical Mural

Minnesota Hoodie

Skyline Aquarium

Support Group

Step Up

Recent Posts

Photos from Flickr

RSS Feed for Middle C

Categories

Archives