Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Fall 2013 - (Page 34)
CONTRIBUTORS
WALTER CHIN
Photography is the natural medium of New York. From
the stark photojournalism of Weegee to the ravishing
architectural images of Berenice Abbott, the city’s
history is a photomontage of Kodak moments. In more
recent decades, it has been fashion photography that
has most vividly documented the city’s changing faces,
from glamorous uptown society to trendy downtown
street life. For this issue (“Spin City,” page 118), the
renowned fashion photographer Walter Chin seized
on the city’s most recent visual addition: the smart blue
bicycles that are now available to rent from stands all
over town. Shooting inside The Ritz-Carlton New York,
Central Park, and then on the streets and in the park, he
was able to create a fresh new fairy tale of Manhattan
glamour. Chin is no stranger to shooting on the fly. In
a career that stretches 30 years, he has photographed
fashion all over the world, for magazines such as Vogue,
Allure, Glamour and GQ. “But there is nowhere quite
like New York,” he says. “It’s the only city where the
chic and the gritty live so closely and comfortably.” He
recalls shooting his first story on the city’s streets 25
STREET-SHOOTING MAN
Above: On location at Sixth Avenue
and Central Park South, Chin creates
a New York story amid midtown
traffic. Right: An outtake from
the final shot, in Central Park, of
eveningwear on the go.
Shopping
outdoors
CAKE-OFF!
CR EATIN G A WOR LD -CH AMPION CH OCOLATE CAKE
R EQU IR ES 20 CH EFS, A G R AN D JU RY
AN D A STR OKE OF G EN IU S
CHOCKABLOCK
Opposite: Chef
Frederic Barasse
pours, then sculpts
ganache, slices
portions and offers
a sneak preview to a
taster.
This page: The final
contestants on the
podium.
PhotograPhs by rebecca greenfield
New York CitY
It’s hard not to be overwhelmed when shoppIng In manhattan,
an Island teemIng wIth stores featurIng the best fashIon and
desIgn on earth. JamIe rosen sImplIfIes the task
BY LAUREN SANDLER
2
PHOTOGRAPHS BY DANIEL BEDELL
Uncharted
territory
In s ear c h of u n Iqu e
u n der water th rI lls ,
s eas on ed d Iver rob ert
b aldwI n takes a plu n g e
I n oman ’s ar ab Ian s eas
Photogra P hs by robert baldwin
SIGHTS TO BEHOLD
From left: The critically
endangered hawksbill sea
turtle, spotted among soft
coral at a dive site called
Wall Street; two of the
writer ’s fellow divers looking
out onto the series of islands
off Oman’s mainland known
as Bandar Khayran.
98
WRITERS AND
PHOTOGRAPHERS
34
WALTER CHIN
years ago, having just arrived from Paris. “I was terrified.
People had told me I had to be very careful, because
I’d likely get all my cameras stolen,” he laughs. “But that
turned out to be an exaggeration. New Yorkers love a
photo shoot, and that always adds an energy to what
Ancient PleAsures
Chengdu is the rare Chinese City where everything
moves a little slower and life’s age-old delights —
inCluding good food, elegant arChiteCture and
natural beauty — are always Close at hand
M
Much of my life has been spent underwater. As
a writer and photographer of marine-life books,
I’ve spent 25 years as a tourist of the ocean’s major
metropolises: Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, remote
parts of Papua New Guinea, the world’s largest lagoon
in the Solomon Islands, the crystal clear waters of the
Maldives, and Canada’s current-swept Gulf Islands,
among others. I have seen my share of creatures so
alien that scientists struggle to classify them.
But today I have come to a location that, after all
these years and all those dives, intrigues me more than
most: the Sultanate of Oman. Only a handful of documented dive sites currently exist here, and the abundant marine life is still largely unstudied. It’s a part of
the Indian Ocean still waiting to be discovered.
Earlier this morning, after a traditional breakfast of
ful medames (mashed fava beans), fresh Arabic bread,
hummus and local fruit at our resort — Al Bustan
Palace, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel — my wife and regular dive buddy, Annabelle, and I set out for Bandar
Khayran, a series of lagoons and sun-drenched sand
islands framed by turquoise waters that are studded with vibrant coral reefs. It takes us a mere 20
minutes by boat from Marina Bandar Al Rowdha,
in the heart of Oman’s capital city of Muscat, to get
here. And yet, when I look around, I see that we are
isolated; there is not another dive boat in sight. Nor
can I spot any buildings or roads on the stark, mountainous shore — not a single sign of modern development. This alone is a shocking sight in today’s
construction-happy Middle Eastern capitals. But it
turns out to be the day’s least surprising visual.
w w w. r i t z c a r lt o n . c o m
ROBERT BALDWIN
(“Uncharted Territory,”
page 98) is a British-born
marine research scientist
who spent most of his
childhood in landlocked
Johannesburg, South
Africa. His passion for
ocean life developed when
he first encountered
wild dolphins off the
coast of Oman. He has
written several books
and his environmental
work has been featured
on BBC and in National
Geographic.
W W W. R I T Z C A R LT O N . C O M
B y M at t G r o s s
P h o t o G r a P h s B y a n d r e w r o w at
1
1.
m e at pa C k i N g / w e s t v i l l a g e
This hyperdeveloped pocket of downtown New York still
attracts the fashionable masses with its cobblestone streets
and destination boutiques.
i was told there’d be cake.
But I’m not sure I understood quite how much
cake I was in for, for just how significant the
cake would be, when I was invited to a tasting to
determine what confection would represent The
Ritz-Carlton as the signature dessert. I arrive in
the pastry kitchen of the The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons
Corner near Washington, D.C., which is helmed
by the incontestably handsome and fearless
French pâtissier Frederic Barasse. He had to be
fearless with the task ahead of him (good looks
weren’t going to help). Barasse had been given
128
20 recipes from chefs around the world. His
mission: to take a few common ingredients and
execute each chef’s vision to the letter as an entry
in a competition to determine the signature cake.
A cake worthy of presentation at every birthday
or anniversary. A cake that could travel home as
a delightful and still-fresh boxed gift. And a cake
that carries the history of The Ritz-Carlton itself
on its sugared shoulders.
Let me tell you a story: In 1880, a Frenchman
invented a new liqueur, flavored boldly with
orange. Parisian fashion at the time favored the
W W W. R I T Z C A R LT O N . C O M
DANIEL BEDELL (“CakeOff!” page 128) had the
pleasure of photographing The Ritz-Carlton’s
cake testing process to
find its new signature
dessert. Originally
from Florida, educated
in Michigan and now
based in Washington,
D.C., Bedell works for a
diverse group of editorial
and commercial clients,
including DuPont, ESPN,
Exxon, Washingtonian
and Capitol File.
2
2. C a stor & Pollux
2 3 8 W. 1 0 t h S t.
212- 6 45 - 6572
c a S tor andpollux S tore.
com
This store epitomizes daily
downtown dressing for girls:
slouchy sweaters, artfully
voluminous black dresses
and simple gold jewelry from
lesser-known labels that are
always in style and never overexposed. It’s worth a visit just
to pet owner Kerrilynn Pamer ’s
precious pups, Otto and Beba,
who can be found lounging
under the racks.
54
M arC JaCobs
3 8 2 , 3 8 5 , 4 0 0, 4 0 3 B l e e c k e r
S t. & 2 9 8 & 3 0 1 W. F o u r t h S t.
m a rcjacoBS.com
The king of Bleecker Street,
Marc Jacobs, was a pioneer
on this once-quiet block,
which is now teeming with
tourists lining up outside
Magnolia Bakery and crowding
the designer ’s six boutiques.
There’s the two Marc by Marc
Jacobs shops, plus Bookmarc,
for the trendiest coffee table
tomes; Little Marc, for offbeat
children’s wear; a men’s shop
and an accessories shop.
w w w. r i t z c a r lt o n . c o m
Brooklyn-based photographer REBECCA
GREENFIELD (“New
York Shopping,” page
54) grew up in Virginia
and graduated from the
Rhode Island School of
Design. She has photographed for such clients
as Bloomberg Business
Week, Details, Elle, Elle
Decor, Fast Company, GQ
and W. Her work has been
included in the American
Photography collections
of best photography for
2008, 2010 and 2011.
104
w w w. r i t z c a r lt o n . c o m
EVERY T HING IS
ILLUMINAT ED
the lang Qiao, known
as the Passageway
bridge in english,
spans the city’s Qingyi
river and casts a romantic light on nearby
teahouses at night.
A devotee of extraordinarily spicy food,
MATT GROSS (“Ancient
Pleasures,” page 104)
spent many happy days
eating his way through
Chengdu. Now the editor
of BonAppetit.com, he
was for several years The
New York Times’ “Frugal
Traveler” columnist; his
travel memoir, “The Turk
Who Loved Apples: And
Other Tales of Losing My
Way Around the World,”
was published in May. He
lives in Brooklyn with his
wife and two daughters.
http://www.BonAppetit.com
http://WWW.RITZCARLTON.COM
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Fall 2013
Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Fall 2013
Contents
Contributors
Editor’s Letter
President’s Letter
Falling in Love With ... Barcelona
Design
Shopping
Beauty
Gifts
Jewelry
Watches
Behind the Scenes
Family
Local Knowledge
Outdoors
As It Was
Culinary
Let Us Stay With You
Heritage
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