So instead of sitting all night in a bar on a friday night, we (Esther, Roma and I ) decided to do some ‘Night Photography’.

After dinner at Cowgirl (which had amazing pulled pork but horrible BBQ ribs) on Hudson st, we spent the next hour or so walking down Bleeker, 8 th Avenue, and ultimately finishing up at 6th and 14th.

Here are some of the pics below… and yes, I did take a picture of a man peeing into a telephone booth. Unbelievable, but i guess its a ‘new yorkish’ thing to do

Now while B&W photography is considered “classic, timeless, arty, etc etc”, i just love the amount of colour all around us, hence this attempt to capture the ‘colour’

Take a look at some more on Flickr here.

To see a slideshow, click the image below.

One of the listings that caught my eye was an exhibition of art photography prints by Edward Fausty.

Pretty normal you would think, right ?

Well, this ‘exhibition’ was at a restaurant. The Sawadee Thai restaurant on Newark Av, in Jersey City. (With pretty rave reviews )

It didnt really strike me as an odd venue for an exhibition and i thought we could also ‘grab a bite’ while checking out the prints.

What followed was quite a disappointment

The food was good, the waiters polite(rude ones really tend to get my goat) and a black/chic decor with live orchids on every table.

What was disappointing was the way, the photographs were arranged. They were on on the 2 side walls with no focussed lighting and no information beside them to indicate that they were ‘Art Prints’ and available for sale for $800 to $1200.

The waitress vaguely knew something about the photographs being available for sale and asked me to talk to the manager at the bar for more details. She also very helpfully pointed out that i could see more prints if i went down the corridor on my way to the loo.

I did go to use the restroom, but only because i wanted to see the additional prints. It was even more irritating.

The corridor lead to the kitchen and was even more dimly lit than the restaurant and i could barely see the pictures. At the end of the corridor in front of the restroom, there were even a couple of paintings from the previous exhibition.

Ok, enough of the cribbing.

What was fantastic was the idea of having an exhibition in a restaurant…I know its been done before by the more expensive / high class joints, but this is the first time i have seen it done by a more regular joint..

Ordinarily, i wouldnt have been able to break the clutter and choose Sawadee. It was the exhibition which got me in. I am sure, there must have been others who come there for the exhibitions, which change on a regular basis by showcasing local artists.

Agreed, it may not be very beneficial for the artist (since neither the waiters nor the manager were well informed nor very motivated to make a sale and the info placard kept on the table looked like a ’special of the day’)…but then again, any publicity is good publicity for the artist.

And ofcourse, the restaurant builds a regular tribe (quoting Seth Godin here ) of patrons.

So if you are a restaurateur or planning a new one, consider using art as a medium to market yourself.

And while i am at it, i would ensure some of the following:
1.) Ensure dimmed lighting in the restaurant with focused lighting on the prints
2.) Conduct a preliminary ‘training session’ for the waiters and staff so that they atleast know the artist’s name
3.) Display the list of past, current and upcoming exhibitions on your website
4.) Develop a subscription list so that regulars can be ‘informed’

Ok. A very long post, so go have fun feeding the 5 senses

Very few things will make you think if the current recession(read decreased consumption) is a good thing !!

Chris Jordan’s photos are one of them. The picture (or rather half the pic) above represents the amount of oil (28,000 42-gallon barrels) consumed in the US every 2 minutes…

Check out some more his ‘works of art’ here to get a sense of perspective on how much the United States ‘consumes’…Wonder what the pictures will be on a global level.

If you have the time, also check out his excellent presentation below

Chris Jordan at Gel 2007 from Gel Conference on Vimeo.