The students in the picture above came from the New Community for Children and had painted one of the new window murals decorating the Convention Center. They even got to help Mayor Fenty paint one of the murals before going on an arts walk to see all of the murals and meet the artists.

I noticed a couple of kids were interested in me and my camera and so I asked them if they wanted to take a picture. Of course, the answer was yes. So, that’s me showing Jordan the proper way to hold a camera – the photo is courtesy of Ruth Chan, director of the NCFC.

They’ve surprised us with sacks of free plums, occasional peaches, asparagus and rhubarb; taken in packages, helped with freecycling, and (this is the best part) invited us over for dinner.

Tonight’s menu was spinach salad with feta, red onion and cherry tomatoes with homemade vinaigrette, spanish tortilla (in the pic above – recipe forthcoming), and peach, blueberry & rhubarb pie (inspired by my own peach-blueberry recipe – whee!).

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Folks coming over to my house easily spot the parts that represent me – the massive Japan photographs on the wall in the kitchen, the collection of tiny, plastic toys overflowing the mantelpiece – and those that represent Wayne – the Red Ryder BB gun hanging over the fireplace or the chinup bar in the kitchen doorway. Our house is fairly sparse (one of the advantages of having a tiny place is the built-in resistance to acquiring stuff to fill it) but it is both ours and a representative of who we are, as defined by how we use & ornament its space.

Certainly, if people can look like their pets, why can’t they look like their home? You won’t find any comparison photos of spaces and homeowners here (I often meet the owners of a space I photograph for AirBnB but I rarely photograph them). But, what does a space tell you about its inhabitant?

In two days, I photographed nine apartments from the top of Manhattan in Harlem to Prospect Park in Brooklyn. What they all shared in common, whether a tiny studio in the Village or a spacious one bedroom on the Upper East Side, was a sofa (or something like a sofa). Some of them were big, wraparound affairs and several were futons but they all defined where the “living room” was and denoted a comfort zone for guests and friends. Is it fair to assume that folks looking to host other folks are likely to have company over often?

All but one of the sofas had cushions, as well. In tiny spaces, little accents like this are like that pinch of fresh mint, crumbled and dropped into iced tea. They are the final pieces that pull everything together.

I found candles in every apartment I visited. What is it about candles that we love? They sure don’t beat electricity for toasting bread or lighting a room. And yet…

And not just regular candles either – sometimes large pillar candles, small scented candles in lovely antique jars, even a family of color-matched candles suspended above a dining table on a sheet of glass.

The evening sky reflected in a huge mirror. In small spaces, mirrors magically make a room feel bigger. I found them everywhere and in all shapes and sizes.

Another mirror shot – this time in a bathroom rather artfully delineated in black, white and dark teal. Lots of color in nearly every place I shot (except one which was all white – do the people provide the color then?)

Even if they didn’t have a TV or stereo, every place I photographed had a collection of books.

I was really delighted to find this tiny collection of herbs and vegetables on a fire escape. It reminded me of home.

Plants were a running theme as well – I found them tucked away everywhere – flowers in windowsills, herbs on fire escapes, leafy greens on stair landings, even lovely red tomatoes on a rooftop patio.

A lot of places had a staging area by the front door – a small table, a plaque of wall hooks or just a simple keyhanger, like this one. The bottom ones were mine for an evening in the Financial District.

Camera notes: Canon EOS 5D with 28-80/2.8 zoom, 1/60-1/90th/f8.0 @ ISO800 with hotshoe-d 580EX II set at ETTL. Some shots with flash compensation. Some shots (herbs, stair landing, flowers, books) with no flash.