My photos and a short article on kids in Indonesia have been published on guney.org, you can see it by clicking: Kids in Indonesia

View of the mountains and the valley town below from Avoriaz.

Despite the Indian summer days we have been experiencing this week, winter is almost upon us, which means that the snowboarding season is too! In excited anticipation of the slopes, I am sharing these pics of Avoriaz where I spent a week snowboarding in 2008.

The Portes du Soleil ski area has 650 km of pistes located in France and Switzerland.

A purpose-built ski resort in the Portes du Soleil area of the French Alps, Avoriaz was constructed in the 1960s by three architects who put an emphasis on designing a resort that would blend in with the mountains and be environmentally friendly. In contrast to the concrete blockhouses typical of other ski areas, the buildings in Avoriaz are clad in wood and are without sharp angles to resemble the surrounding mountains.

The buildings were designed to blend in with the mountains.

To reduce noise and air pollution, as well as to allow a relaxing and quiet escape from urban life, the architects made Avoriaz a car-free village. Movement around the resort is by foot or skis and you can ski-in and ski-out of your accommodation (always great!). And finally, for those who dislike walking, or for the romantics amongst you, the horse-drawn sleighs, which act as taxis, make this picturesque resort a veritable winter wonderland. Unfortunately for me, it looks like I’ll only be hitting the US East coast “mountains” this year!

Horse-drawn sleighs are the only transport in the car-free ski resort of Avoriaz.

Views of the river from the gorge trail that connects the 66m high Taughannock Falls to Cayuga lake, one of the glacial Finger Lakes.

Binghamton University campus is home to a nature preserve. We arrived early in the morning when the trees were still shrouded in mist but left 2 hours later in brilliant sunshine!

I came across this old coffee grinder from Enterprise Mfg. Co Philadelphia in the local store in Bovina.

Some landscape pics on the scenic drive back from Binghamton to NYC.

Bring to Light is a free nighttime public festival of art in New York City that takes place simultaneously with “nuit blanche” events in cities around the world. Inviting emerging and established artists to make site-specific installations of light, sound, performance and projection art, the event creates an immersive spectacle for thousands of visitors to re-imagine public space and civic life. Bring to Light transforms streets, parks and the industrial waterfront of Greenpoint, Brooklyn set against dramatic views of the Manhattan skyline.

Morgan Ave subway exit, Bushwick, NY

On our recent photoshoot with Tribe NYC, we went to Bushwick, NY, which has fantastic street art. I took some pics of the murals at the Morgan Ave subway stop. They immediately strike you as you exit the subway although you have to be sure to get the correct exit!

Mural, Bushwick, NY

Mural, Bushwick, NY

tribe nyc, in bushwick NY

Last Saturday, we met up with members of Tribe NYC, a group of New York-based young artists who share a passion for the music and fashion of the 80s. We took their pictures and found out more about their retro lifestyle. The full story and photos can be seen on guney.org