alison.altman's photostream  

I am a classical musician with a degree in Music Education and I currently work for a major arts organization in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of my favorite symphonies is Mahler's 2nd and I like the piano and chamber music of Brahms. I also like the sound of a young student who has just learned how to cross the break with ease into the upper register of the clarinet. That's the point when they begin to have an even broader world opened up to them and the excitement in their widened eyes is delightful.

Photography is a hobby and I like artistic street photography the most. I like scenes that have a certain realistic and gritty nature and some sort of human element in them. W.Eugene Smith is a favorite photographer, likely in light of this and for the sake of his extended body of work surrounding the historically rich and visually interesting city of Pittsburgh. I also appreciate how and understand why he stood so strongly to his feelings on how his art should be displayed and wanted only himself to edit his images within publications. This caused him great difficulty, but he didn't waver on what he felt was right and stuck to his personal artistic vision. I admire that.