Book Fund at Packer Collegiate

Today there was a reception to view photography books purchased in Elizabeth's name for the library at Packer.

Books by Lisette Model, for instance.

And Meatyard

Kertesz

Erwin Olaf

And pictures of New York by

Ruth Orkin

And one by Klein of Tribeca, after snow

I felt very elegiac, and overwhelmed by the emotion of returning to the school, the first time since the memorial service over three years ago.  So many of her teachers were there, people who mattered deeply to Elizabeth's education, people who taught her what she should be.  People like Eric Baylin, who read this poem:

Elizabeth's Books

Through her eyes a photograph unfolded
Through her gaze surface grays and blacks began to breathe,
     gave way to stories.
Faces came alive
Through her careful looking.

And so these books - Elizabeth's - are filled with surfaces to be
    plumbed through quiet gazing.
For years beyond our own a string of curious minds will find in these
    new ways of looking, new ways of thinking
And through their eyes and in that trail of small epiphanies, lighted
     moments stretching past our view,

She will be gazing still.

Eric Baylin
April 22, 2010

This is one of my favorite pictures of Elizabeth's. I feel as if she is waving goodbye but lingering. Her presence is there in the disembodied arm. She knows we are looking for her through the darkened window as we glimpse what once was, and the wreath of leaves that continue to grow.

Photo by Helen Levitt, New York City circa 1940

I love this photo, and think she would have too. (Would she have said "Genius!"?)
I saw it in the New Yorker today. Lawrence Miller Gallery is having
a show of both Levitt's and Bresson's photographs. The NPR link
has an interview with Levitt who is still alive at 95 and
now photographs mostly farm animals.


NPR Interview with Helen Levitt

from Nicholas Alciati, Elizabeth's cousin

Photograph of Nick Alciati after production of Footloose, 2005






I started off middle school not sure where I was heading in life. Although I was playing football and running track, I felt as though something was missing in my life. I had always been active in the arts but had shut off the creative side of my brain during this time. Fortunately a golden haired, beautiful girl changed that for me.


I remember floating down the river in our tubes and just talking about everything from her blossoming interest in photography to how stupid she thought the band the Postal Service was. She was one of the only people in my life who I could be fully open with, unafraid of judgment. Elizabeth had an aura to her unlike anyone I have ever met in my 19 years of existence. Everytime I was around her I felt complete happiness and did not hold anything back. If it were not for her I am almost certain that I would not be heading down the path I am. I am now a second year art education major and have decided to concentrate in photography in Elizabeth’s honor. Although she is no longer with us, I still feel her presence every time I snap a picture.

It’s still hard to live life without Lizzy. She was my city mouse and I, her country mouse. I would go to the city and be amazed at the culture and action and she would come to Syracuse and be amazed at the cheap prices. She loved to go to target and the local art supply store just to buy some cheap lotion and pens. Our times playing videogames were also memorable. Although I had never really like playing them, when Elizabeth came to my house we could get lost in Mario Party. Patty never liked that being a librarian and all, but Lizzy packed in the reading as well.

She was a brilliant girl and an inspiration to all she knew. It’s been a hard year and a half, but we all must celebrate her life. If it were not for her I can completely say that I would not be the person I am today. I’m not afraid to break away from societal conformity because of my beautiful Elizabeth. I love you Elizabeth and think of you everyday. You are my angel, and the reason that I keep living my life carefree and creatively.

Gedney's photographs

I found a link to Gedney's pictures in Elizabeth's laptop. He was a photographer who lived in Brooklyn, and had a great feeling for people. What Gedney had to say about the city is how Elizabeth felt about it.

From his journal: The physical image of a city is said to mirror the soul of the people who built it.

"There are very legitimate reasons for including a walk along a street or through a particular area of a city to develop an idea in a film. Dr Siegfried Kracauer has defined it in his interesting "Theory of film": 'The Street in the extended sense of the word is not only the arena of fleeting impressions and chance encounters but a place where the flow of life is bound to assert itself... the kaleidoscopic sights mingle with unidentified shapes and fragmentary visual complexes....' For more pictures try this link.
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/gedney/thumbs/newyork/newyork2.html