The Sledding Hill (Dusk) by Joseph O. Holmes

Happy holiday weekend collectors! On this Black Friday, it's Sara, tucked into the woods of Virginia, warm and cozy with family, still full from yesterday's feast. There is not one part of me that wishes to leave this nest and there are probably a few of you who share this sentiment and also won't be venturing out to brave the deal-seeking masses. For all of you, I have one more thing to add to your list of things to be thankful for: The Sledding Hill (Dusk) by Joseph O. Holmes. Considering that Alec Baldwin dropped a cool $10K for one of Joe's photographs, his 20x200 editions are a better steal than most anything you'll find out of doors today anyway. So, you can stay in and still get your gift-shopping started.

Joe's ever-popular photographs of Brooklyn's Prospect Park are also the subject of his upcoming solo show, The Urban Wilderness, opening at Jen Bekman Gallery on Friday, December 10th. We're so excited to bring this work to all of you, in person and online. Like so many of Joe's photographs, these capture the cinematic version of New York that lives in our hearts, scenes that come and go too quickly for most of us who are wrapped up in our busy, always-on-the-go, working day in and out lives.

Of making the images, he writes: When I walk deep into Brooklyn's Prospect Park on the first snowfall each year, I find myself transported to the winter meadows and hills of my childhood and to the hikes and backpacking trips around the tiny Pennsylvania factory town where I grew up. My town was surrounded by Christmas tree farms, apple orchards, corn fields and forested hills...

At first glance, many of the snowy spaces in The Urban Wilderness might be mistaken for those rural scenes: stark white meadows rimmed by low hills and bare trees. But upon closer inspection, street lamps come into focus, hints of park benches appear and backpackers are revealed to be dog walkers. The wilderness and the urban details are an incongruous mix: the juxtaposition of pristine emptiness with hints of the immense human presence lurking just outside the frame. But a hike through Prospect Park in the winter is the closest thing I can manage these days to those walks through the snowy hills of my childhood.

While Jen's about as city girl as you can get, I was raised in a small town like Joe, nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with wide-open spaces to let your eyes roam, rolling hills for walking, creeks for dipping toes, trees for climbing and lots and lots of snow for skiing and sledding. The Sledding Hill (Dusk) might be taken from when I was small and snowstorms swallowed up backyards and made the whole world soft. It is when it snows and the city is smoothed in a silent white that I feel most at home in New York. Wherever you are, home or far from, hope you're warm and cozy, full and happy. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and we'll see you on Monday!