Hey everyone,
I have created a new site for posting my latest stories, photos and clips. I will not be posting to Next Stop Go anymore. Check out the new site and my brand new portfolio page.
Thanks for the continued support,
Filed under: New York, News, Special, Writing | Tags: Art, library, Madison Ave., Manuscripts, Maurice Sendak, Museum, New York, Sketches, The Morgan, Where the Wild Things Are
Wild Things Days kicked off in New York today with the unveiling of original drawings and manuscripts by the author of Where The Wild Things Are.
By Dean Stattmann
When Maurice Sendak sat down in 1955 to put the final touches on his illustrated book, Where the Wild Horses Are, he completed but a framework for the story it would later become. Now, over a half-century later, with Sendak’s award-winning children’s book just days away from its international film debut, Where the Wild Things Are is about to enter the next stage of its evolution. To celebrate, The Morgan Library and Museum in New York City is hosting an exhibition of Sendak’s original illustrations and manuscripts to highlight the creative process that gave birth to the 1963 best-seller.
Beneath the lofty stained-glass and fresco-clad ceiling of The Morgan’s majestic East Room, surrounded by three-tiered antique bookshelves bearing historic titles by Charles Darwin and Mark Twain, art lovers and Wild Things fanatics alike converged this morning to browse early drafts and preliminary sketches from Maurice Sendak’s 1963 children’s book, Where the Wild Things Are in an exhibition entitled Where the Wild Things Are: Original Drawings by Maurice Sendak.
Where the Wild Things Are uses minimal prose and compelling illustrations to tell the story of Max, an imaginative young boy, who is sent to his bedroom without dinner and consequently creates a magical world filled with fantastic creatures, or Wild Things, by simply setting his imagination free.
Of the 15 artifacts put on display, three seemed to garner particular attention. The first, a drawing of Max sailing away from a ferocious sea monster, reveals Sendak’s process of developing his characters from early tracing paper sketches to the images found in the book today. Another piece, a pencil-drawn scene excluded from the final published version, shows Max, having discarded his utensils, tucking into a bowl of spaghetti, poised on all fours atop the dinner table. But perhaps the most insightful of all the items on display is a two-page excerpt from Sendak’s notebook, which reveals profound details about his artistic process.
“Not only do we see Sendak’s work, we see him giving instructions to himself,” says curator Christine Nelson. One page bears the ballpoint scribbles of a later Where The Wild Horses Are manuscript, with a note from the author, “Drop this story for time being – I’m forcing it and it won’t be forced.” On the adjacent page, after attempting the current title in verse form, Sendak simply writes, “ALL BAD.”
The exhibition, organized in cooperation with Philadelphia’s Rosenbach Museum and Library, the official home of Sendak’s artifacts, is part of Wild Things Days, a two-month-long, Philadelphia-based series of events, exhibitions and activities based around Sendak’s work. The exhibition at The Morgan is the only event to take place in New York and will remain open until the end of Wild Things Days on Nov. 1.
Image: Preliminary drawing of dust jacket for Where the Wild Things Are. Pen and ink, watercolor. Copyright Maurice Sendak, 1963. All rights reserved. Courtesy of The Morgan Library and Museum.
Filed under: Fashion, Lifestyle, New York, News, Photography, Special | Tags: Dean Stattmann, Fashion, Fashion Business Association, FBA, Kimmel Center, NYU, Spring
On April 4, New York University’s Fashion Business Association threw its first show of 2009 at the university’s Kimmel Center on Washington Square South. I wanted something a little more engaging than just photos this time so I hope this works…
Graphic by Dean Stattmann
Filed under: New York, Special, Writing | Tags: Author, Esquire, Journalism, Journalist, Knowledge, New York, Pete Hamill, Tips, What I've Learned, Wisdom
By Dean Stattmann
In Esquire’s “Meaning of Life” issue, published in January of this year, the magazine invited one representative from each state to share pieces of what they had learned over the course of their lives. The feature was made up entirely of their responses and interviewees ranged from Clint Eastwood (78, California) to Evander Hollyfield (46, Georgia), making for a insightful and diverse collection. But with just Shepard Smith (44, Mississippi) and Esquire’s Chuck Klosterman (36, North Dakota) holding it down on the writers’ front, I thought that the feature could have used another word man (and anyone other than Paris Hilton to represent New York). So who better to have share his wisdom than famed author and newspaperman, Pete Hamill (73, New York).
Memory is crucial to the writing game.
My brain had been shaped by comic books, and with writing I was able to deal with sequence, with narrative. I was able to tell a story.
I love talking to musicians, because music to me is the highest art.
In my experience, generally if you try to do too much, you’re going to be ordinary at all of it. It’s about being honest with yourself about the thing you’re really good at. Give it every God damn thing you have.
When you’re first starting, you’re under the influence of the writers you admire the most.
I’d take a paragraph from Joseph Conrad about a storm at sea and I’d convert it to a winter storm on land. And I’d change it, sentence by sentence. You’re learning how to structure that paragraph.
You’re not a prisoner of where you were born. You’re not trapped in your childhood. You can make yourself in a city like this.
The Irish were trained by the Brits to eat food as a sort of punishment.
Every immigrant wave brings something new to the conversation – what I call the common language.
I went to Mexico City College, where they supported G.I.s. I went there wanting to be a painter.
I wanted to be a writer after nine months.
You have to make mistakes.
I was wandering around Brooklyn last summer and I didn’t see any kids playing in the streets. I worry that they’re having virtual childhoods instead of childhoods.
Work will come first because it’s the engine of your life.
I was never happier than during those three or four years as a newspaperman.
It’s sometimes hard to separate the lifestyle from the work. I had a sort of discipline. I never drank when I was writing or reporting. I drank in celebration, when the day was over.
In my case I was able to always squeeze enough out of my talent.
The key is, if you go out for a good time and you don’t learn anything, don’t do it again.
One of the problems with alcohol is it’s a lot of fun.
I haven’t had a drink in 36 years.
I don’t know the Bronx very well because I hated the Yankees growing up as a child.
I liked the 50s. I was young in the 50s.
When you come to Manhattan from Brooklyn, you think you know everything. The truth is you don’t know a damn thing.
When I’m on the subway and there’s a 75-year-old lady, I try imagine her when she was 12. I look at her and try see what’s left of her childhood on her face.
You don’t know if you can write a novel until you write one.
I think that the New York of the last 10 years has been a great version of itself.
Don’t get married. wait until you’re 30, wait until you have 3,000 bylines, wait until you’ve covered a war.
You have to make sure you’re falling in love with the person, and not the notion of falling in love.
Check out Pete Hamill’s latest novel, North River.
“Hamill is at his best when he writes about his city. He knows New York present and past, and he is able to make us taste the early-20th-century time frame of North River.”
- The New York Times Sunday Book Review
Pete Hamill was interviewed on April 9, 2009
Filed under: College, NYU, New York, Special, Writing | Tags: Career, Editor-In-Chief, Jerry Portwood, Jobs, Journalism, Media, Newspapers, NYU, Oglethorpe, Print, Students, Writers
By Dean Stattmann
On Thursday March 26, New York Press editor-in-chief Jerry Portwood stopped by Betty Ming Liu’s beat reporting class at New York University to discuss the state of print journalism, the future of the neighborhood weekly and most importantly, what today’s journalism students can do to grab a thread in this business.
Portwood, a graduate of Oglethorpe University, came to the New York Press in February 2006. He has since served as managing editor and arts and entertainment editor at the Manhattan Media publication, and in 2008 he took over as editor-in-chief.
But today, with print journalism in its current state, it’s becoming more and more of a challenge to put out the weekly paper with a minimal staff and freelancers whose voices often don’t match that of the publication. “It’s a difficult time in journalism,” he says.
Portwood, who admits to only taking one five day vacation in the last three years, is one of just two staffers on the paper’s masthead, and relies on freelancers for 90 percent of the paper’s content. But when asked about the future of the publication, he’s confident that we’ll be seeing a lot more of the New York Press.
And better yet, he’s confident that journalism students can hold off on changing their majors for a little longer. It’s a demoralizing time for seniors, with papers and magazines falling around them like graduation confetti, but Portwood believes that the freelance gigs are still out there. Here are Jerry’s tips for bagging a byline:
- Have realistic expectations
- Be passionate about your work
- Don’t feel entitled
- Pitch stories via email (wait a week to follow up)
- Include your nut graf in the email. Make them want it.
Filed under: Clips, College, Fashion, Music, NYU, New York, News, Photography, Special, Travel, Writing | Tags: Blog, Dean, Direction, Magazine, Next Stop Go, Photography, Stattmann, Writing
First of all, I want to thank everyone who has kept this blog alive by checking back to see what’s new every day. I have been a lot better about posting recently and you can expect far more frequent posting as of now. I’ve received some great feedback and criticism and that is precisely what keeps me motivated and inspired so please keep it up. And leave comments!
While I am a photographer, and this blog was originally set up as a photography blog, I want to start posting written stories too (The response to And the Interns Shall Inherit the Earth was unbelievable). One thing I want people to understand is that these will not be your stereotypical “today I saw a plastic bag floating carelessly in the wind” blog posts. I am a journalist and I intend to put my skills to use right here, on Next Stop Go. That said, while you will see some newsy pieces, I am going to try take a more magazine-oriented approach from now on. That’s my focus and I will be posting a lot to get as much practice as possible.
However, photography will not depart from this blog in any way, shape or form and I intend to up the volume in that area as well. I take photos at least five days a week and there will be a constant stream of new material right here.
Also, WordPress.com blogs make it virtually impossible to customize stuff but there is always some room for improvement. So, if you ever have a thought or idea on how this blog could be better, please dont hesitate to let me know.
I currently have several projects in motion and they will all appear here on Next Stop Go over the next couple days so watch this space!
That is all.
Next stop go!
Dean Stattmann
Filed under: Clips, NYU, New York, News, Photography, Special | Tags: Con Ed, Cooper Square, Dean, Firefighters, Manhole, NYFD, Smoking, Stattman, Stattmann, Washington Square News, WSN
After yesterday’s photojournalism class, I left NYU’s journalism department to find two firetrucks and an emergency Con Ed vehicle cluttered around a smoking manhole. Camera already in hand, I started snapping. Minutes later, a Washington Square News reporter is on the scene. “Are you with WSN?,” she asked. “Nope,” I replied. “Any idea who I could talk to around here?” “Yeah there are a couple NYPD guys the other side. They’d probably know what’s going on.”
As she turned to leave, I figured I may as well try get something out of my shots. “Hey, I mean, if you need any photos to go with your article, here’s my email adress…
Later that night, I got an email from WSN’s continuous news editor asking if he could see the frames. An hour later they were on flickr and I heard nothing more.
This morning I arrived at the journalism department at 9 a.m. once more for another reporting class. Eyes blurry, I rounded the corner past the camp of administrators and glanced down upon a fresh stack of papers and noticed two familiar photos. That was easy.
Filed under: New York, Special, Writing | Tags: College, Crisis, Downturn, Economic, Intern, Internship, Lay-offs, Magazine, Men's Fitness, NYU, Student
By Dean Stattmann
Every internship, no matter the field, involves a certain degree of tedious labor. Making coffee, running deliveries across town, transcribing 20 minute interviews – these are not the things that convince hundreds of thousands of college students every semester to engage in a relationship of blissful deference and unpaid shenanigans. But following recent months of economic turmoil, complete with abused bailouts and fancy pyramid schemes, it’s easy to remember why we put ourselves through the grinder again and again, only to come back asking for more.
Over the Winter break I took a couple days off work to fly to Zurich for my 21st birthday. I had intended to stay in New York, but after a last minute decision from the home front, I was off to Switzerland to celebrate legal alcohol consumption with my parents.
I had interned at Men’s Fitness magazine the previous semester, and after making the decision to stay on with the publication for a full year, I went ahead and committed myself to working through the Winter break as well (I can literally hear the seconds ticking away on my student visa). Thanks to my intern status, taking off for a week at the last minute was no problem. After all, if someone wanted to cut my paycheck, they’d have to write it first.
When I got to Zurich, I unplugged myself from the frenetic demands of life and work in New York City and felt my heart rate slow down like the hands of an old clock reaching its final hour. It’s a strange thing, turning off your iPhone. You hit the sleep button every day. That’s not new. But to hold it down for that unnatural length of time, those quiet five seconds when you get the feeling something terrible is about to happen. It’s chilling.
For any college student, there’s nothing like returning to your old stomping grounds – the friends, the family, the fridge! It’s the universal comfort zone. A lot of memories here too; lazy summer days grilling lakeside with the guys, the excitement leading up to a house party, walking home from the club at 5am, eyes blurry, shirt un-tucked, birds chirping. As humans, we cozy up to our nostalgia and take comfort in the familiar, because we cherish these memories. Filed under miscellaneous, they define us.
A week later and I’m back in the city. I open my eyes to a strange sound coming from an unknown source and an icy Friday morning with the kind of haze that makes leaving the apartment an absolute last resort. Good thing I have work today. Thanks for reminding me, iPhone. Your gentle Marimba wake up call isn’t fooling anyone though. You’re enjoying this, aren’t you, you smug bastard.
I experienced something new that Friday. I had been following the economic crisis on the news and in the papers, but it had never affected me personally. As a South African resident of Switzerland on a student visa in the United States, I simply felt like it was somebody else’s problem.
I thought about the absurdity of my situation as I crossed 25th Street and walked up Park Avenue towards the Men’s Fitness offices. When I got to 26th street I had bigger problems. Would I part with three dollars for a bacon, egg and cheese from the deli, or could I get by on the sachets of Swiss Miss hot chocolate in the office. Marshmallows are food, right? I kept walking. Up the street, through the revolving door, in the elevator, past the receptionist, into the pit.
When I entered the office, the first thing I noticed was the empty desks. Usually when someone leaves their desk, they leave some sort of evidence that they were there – a book with a dog-eared page, a glass with lipstick on the brim, anything. These desks were empty. It had finally happened. The formerly abstract economic downturn had let its bristly reality loose in this office, and the beast’s muddy tracks were everywhere. The horror.
A colleague, seeing the confusion on my face, explained to me what had happened, using that “times are tough” tone that has become a little too familiar. I listened to his account of the situation, about the prior cuts in benefits, the increased workload, and finally, the lay-offs. And then it hit me. How the hell was I still here? Youngest, least experienced, asks the most questions, first to go, yes? No.
I took a couple minutes after that to sit at my desk and reflect on what had just happened. I thought about the editors I wouldn’t see again. I worked with these people, pitched ideas to them, discussed stories, made jokes, didn’t get to say good-bye… Their eulogy was cut short when an editor called me into his office. He had assignments for me. A lot of them. And just like that, I had forgotten about the lay-offs. At this point, I had contributed a decent amount of material to the magazine for publication, and seeing the first of these on glossy paper for the first time was an unreal experience. And now, right in front of me, lay a smorgasbord of potential bylines atop a silver platter with my name on it. In this twisted game of poker I had somehow emerged with the winning hand, while everyone else went all in. I hadn’t intended win. I didn’t even know I was playing. But I wasn’t about to return the chips.
Photo by Dean Stattmann
Filed under: Photography, Special, Travel | Tags: Arizona, California, Colorado, Cross-Country, Jeep, Nevada, Road Trip, Scenery, Utah, Wrangler
“These forgotten pockets of the road, they wait here while the world carries on.”
Filed under: Fashion, New York, Special | Tags: College, Designers, Fashion, Fashion Business Association, Fashion Show, FBA, Kimmel Center, NYU
The Fashion Business Association at New York University hosted their fall fashion show Tuesday night. The show, which took place on the fourth floor of NYU’s Kimmel Center, hosted an array of designers hailing mostly from NYU and Parsons.
Designers’ themes varied from traditional African housewife, to morning-after cocaine chic, all the while communicating unique perspectives on the industry.
This was my first fashion show shoot, but after this you can be sure there will be more.
