sugarcoating the underground

a month or so ago, we got two weeks in our picturemaking class to do a story on the NY underground. and underground in this case was anything that was happening...well UNDER ground:)
and then of course you get the feeling something very big and unexpected is what is expected of you. and you have all these grandiose ideas that are not even ideas really but just glimpses of imaginary photographs you think somebody much better and more experienced than you would make...and then you see the clock ticking away and you realize it's time to be realistic and find something where you will actually have free hands at doing what you do, where, hopefully, you will feel comfortable enough to do a good job while still having a subject that interests you and makes you want to take pictures. and THEN you spend four days trying to think of, find AND gain access to such a place. two weeks suddenly sounds like 5 minutes
well, I was lucky enough to have spotted Veniero's bakery and pastry shop/cafe my first month in NY when I was still living in East Village (ahhh, East Village...well, anyways:). I would pass it every day on my way to school and I would catch a glimpse of the baker's feet down in the basement through the basement shaft. I had thought even then of photographing there so...this assignment came just right (well, just right after I gave up on the idea of exploring secret hallways of the Met or spending a week in Bellevue's morgue...)
in any case, I was then more than lucky to get permission from the owner family (robert and his sisters) to visit the under ground bakery as many times as I needed plus I also got the guys that actually do the baking to get used to my presence and, I like to flatter myself, even like it (to a certain degree:)
it turned out to be a lot of fun so this is for Carlo, Erasto, Mike, Segundo, Teodoro, Sacramento, Jose Luis and Angelo (who actually had no business being downstairs but I think he just wanted to work his way into the final edit...and he did!)
and special thanks once again to Robert and his family










p.s.if any of you go and visit Veniero's on account of this post (hands down the best ITALIAN cheesecake in NY!), please mention my name casually so maybe I get a slice or two on the house...

and to prove how serious I am about this cheesecake, here's what cahrles got for his bday:


I never joke about dessert...