Nycta Objects

The evolving design of New York subway ephemera: a collector's story New York City Transit Authority: Objects originated as a photography experiment. In 2011, New York photographer Brian Kelley began documenting collections of used MetroCards in his Brooklyn studio, arranging them in various grids with the goal of perfecting the lighting of an image. His brother suggested he make the grids more interesting by finding other types of cards. Having exhausted his search for discarded MetroCards in many of the city's 472 subway stations, Kelley turned to eBay for new finds. The online rabbit-hole gave him a crash course in the history of NYC transportation. He discovered tokens dating back to 1860, a ticket stub from 1885 when it cost three cents to take the train across the Brooklyn Bridge, as well as patches, matchbooks, tokens, timetables, pins and signs, posting his photographs of these finds on Tumblr and Instagram. Six years on, many MTA employees follow and advocate his project, sometimes contacting him with information and tips on rare items. As the collection grew, Kelley recognized that there were no comparable digital archives documenting the city's transportation evolution. New York City Transit Authority: Objects is a story told through the evolving design that spans decades of the city's history. Kelley's objects tell a greater story of New York's past. For him, The NYCTA Project remains a photography experiment and self-funded hobby, archiving the culture of his home city. For the reader, it's an intimate view of the city's history that merges design and infrastructure over the past 150 years.

The evolving design of New York subway ephemera: a collector's story New York City Transit Authority: Objects originated as a photography experiment. In 2011, New York photographer Brian Kelley began documenting collections of used MetroCards in his Brooklyn studio, arranging them in various grids with the goal of perfecting the lighting of an image. His brother suggested he make the grids more interesting by finding other types of cards. Having exhausted his search for discarded MetroCards in many of the city's 472 subway stations, Kelley turned to eBay for new finds. The online rabbit-hole gave him a crash course in the history of NYC transportation. He discovered tokens dating back to 1860, a ticket stub from 1885 when it cost three cents to take the train across the Brooklyn Bridge, as well as patches, matchbooks, tokens, timetables, pins and signs, posting his photographs of these finds on Tumblr and Instagram. Six years on, many MTA employees follow and advocate his project, sometimes contacting him with information and tips on rare items. As the collection grew, Kelley recognized that there were no comparable digital archives documenting the city's transportation evolution. New York City Transit Authority: Objects is a story told through the evolving design that spans decades of the city's history. Kelley's objects tell a greater story of New York's past. For him, The NYCTA Project remains a photography experiment and self-funded hobby, archiving the culture of his home city. For the reader, it's an intimate view of the city's history that merges design and infrastructure over the past 150 years.

In the middle of New York City lies a neighborhood where all secrets are valuable, all assets are liquid, and all deals are sealed with a blessing rather than a contract. Welcome to the diamond district. Ninety percent of all diamonds that enter America pass through these few blocks, but the inner workings of this mysterious world are known only to the people who inhabit it. In Precious Objects, twenty-six-year-old journalist Alicia Oltuski, the daughter and granddaughter of diamond dealers, seamlessly blends family narrative with literary reportage to reveal the fascinating secrets of the diamond industry and its madcap characters: an Elvis-impersonating dealer, a duo of diamond-detective brothers, and her own eccentric father. With insight and drama, Oltuski limns her family’s diamond-paved move from communist Siberia to a displaced persons camp in post–World War II Germany to New York’s diamond district, exploring the connections among Jews and the industry, the gem and its lore, and the exotic citizens of this secluded world. Entertaining and illuminating, Precious Objects offers an insider’s look at the history, business, and society behind one of the world’s most coveted natural resources, providing an unforgettable backstage pass to an extraordinary and timeless show.

The NASA Graphics Standards Manual, by Richard Danne and Bruce Blackburn, is a futuristic vision for an agency at the cutting edge of science and exploration. Housed in a special anti-static package, the book features a foreword by Richard Danne, an essay by Christopher Bonanos, scans of the original manual (from Danne's personal copy), reproductions of the original NASA 35mm slide presentation, and scans of the Managers Guide, a follow-up booklet distributed by NASA.

Lawrence had been his “slave” name; his “original” name is now Amir or Amr Ibn Abdel Aziz. Almost all his contemporaries and comrades call him that. His mom and dad continue to call him Sonny. Now a twenty-something-year-old African - American male from North Central Philadelphia, Amir plans to determine his own future, his path, his fate, not let it be decided by some “system” or accident of birth. He’d grown up in a golden era in America for blacks, relatively speaking. Hope, dreams, pride, and employment were at a zenith. Self-hatred and the internalization of white racist thoughts and assumptions were on the wane. And now he’s off to experience the world at large, following in his father’s footsteps he travels to Europe where his dad had served during World War II. Come along with Amir and his college friends Omar, SaRon, Yusef, .44 caliber, Fat Frank, Ahmed, and the rest of the crew as they navigate their way through the obstacle course of what constituted American society for young blacks in the 60s’ and 70s’ and still exists today for most African Americans.

Stroll through Central Park? Shop in Soho? Eat at Bubba Gump in Times Square? No. This book isn’t another phoned-in guide for befuddled tourists searching for T-shirts. It’s a detailed action plan for bon vivants and creatures of the night who want to be a part of the vibrancy and diversity that makes up the greatest city in the world. The fun comes in all shapes, sizes and price points—MoMA’s permanent collection, a pastrami sandwich at Katz’s Delicatessen, midnight gigs at the Bowery Ballroom, following Walt Whitman’s footsteps across the Brooklyn Bridge. Each “thing” is a singular experience and offers expert advice on how to get the most out of the very best of New York City.

Good Afternoon! This is an adventure to the critical places in the world by the COVID pandemic time: to the U.S. Southern border, and Mexico, illegal immigrants grounds; to Mali, Jihadists occupied land; to India, the drug business promised land. This is a story about searching for gold and giving a helping hand to those who need it. It is written like on the front between fights. Both Shakespear English & Brooklyn slang bounds it together. If you do not like gold already, after reading this book you surely do. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you very much.

This book contributes significantly to book, image and media studies from an interdisciplinary, comparative point of view. Its broad perspective spans medieval manuscripts to e-readers. Inventive methodology offers numerous insights into visual, manuscript and print culture: material objects relate to meaning and reading processes; images and texts are examined in varied associations; the symbolic, representational and cultural agency of books and prints is brought forward. An introduction substantiates methods and approaches, ten chapters follow along media lines: from manuscripts to prints, printed books, and e-readers. Eleven contributors from six countries challenge the idea of a unified field, revealing the role of books and prints in transformation and circulation between varying cultural trends, ‘high’ and ‘low’. Mostly Europe-based, the collection offers book and print professionals, academics and graduates, models for future research, imaginatively combining material culture with archival data, cultural and reading theories with historical patterns.