happy halloween!

when i look for something to photograph i usually try to find the extraordinary in the ordinary. things that you walk by every day and don't notice but when you actually stop and look at it you find that it is something special, something unique.

this picture was one of those instances but not one that i would have normally seen as an opportunity. i don't usually go for the creepy when it comes to subjects but i had to take advantage of this scene.

just about every day as i walked home from campus i would pass this sign:



i remember thinking just how creepy it was - rusted metal, creepy hand-painted lettering, and especially the "...." at the end. i think if they had had a little more room at the end they would have added "or else!" to top it off, the trees were cold and bare.

for my part to add to the creepiness i knew the picture had to be taken with my holga - out of focus and dark corners, lo-fi reproduction, and a low angle to get that creepy sign looming above the viewer - everything came together nicely on this one to make one creepy image.

the truth

"the camera never lies. the film sometimes does." - rodney smith, from the end.

depending on how you define truth, the camera (or film) rarely tells the truth. photographs are stylized moments in time, made visual. the camera by it's design actually modifies the truth of what it sees depending on various factors - shutter speed, aperture, focal length of the lens, film characteristics, grain, and camera movements (with view cameras), etc.

i've often heard people say that they want to capture exactly what is in front of them - the truth of what's there. but in my opinion it's the way that cameras distort the truth that makes photography so exciting.

despite what i've just said, i've discovered (for myself) an exciting way to show "truth" in photography - by photographing people when they don't expect to be photographed.

what do people (almost inevitably) do when someone's about to take a picture of them?

"smile!"

that's all good and fine but sometimes it's hard to really catch someone's personality if they're always putting their smile mask on when being photographed. sure it takes some guts to snap a picture of someone (even family) when they're not expecting it - but to capture them in that natural setting can be truly rewarding.

- unrehearsed subjects caught in a moment where the truth is subjective.

snapshot sunday!

i hope that even with all of my film-promoting, analog-loving, big camera-praising posts you don't think i'm an anti-digital photo-luddite. i would, in fact, love to get my hands on a nice dslr some day. the problem is that whenever i have some surplus cash in the photo budget it usually goes into buying film, chemicals, or - if i'm feeling ambitious - a new lens for my large format camera. seeing as how my current circumstances leave me without a digital slr, i rely on our digital point and shoot to get shots when i happen to have left my 30+ pounds of photo gear at home. here are a few shots that i've been able to snag with our dear little cyber-shot.

a king crab at the oregon coast aquarium in newport, oregon. dim light, show shutter, thanks for holding still mr. crab!


sam the giant!


sam and the seal.


navy pier, chicago.


flatiron building, nyc.


getting chased through the fall leaves in our yard.


chicago and the chicago river.

inspired

i find myself fascinated and inspired by scenes of ordinary life.

unlike pictures of notable monuments or famous locations, pictures of ordinary scenes usually don't grab your attention immediately - it usually takes some time to let the details soak in. i guess it's the idea of seeing through the mundane and plain and finding the extraordinary in it that really intrigues me.

here are a few of the pictures that i've stumbled upon lately that have inspired me.

stephen shore:

beverly boulevard and la brea avenue, los angeles, california, june 21, 1975

joel meyerowitz:


dairyland, provincetown

george tice:


strand theatre, keyport, n.j. 1973

next photo assignment: find and photograph an ordinary location and make it interesting. i'll report back in a while once i'm finished.

double whammy!

to make up for my lack of posting the last couple of weeks i'll give you a double whammy.

first: let's all give a warm welcome to the shen-hao.

oh yes, this is my new camera and boy is it a joy to behold. it's time to say goodbye to my graflex camera. it has served me well but an upgrade was definitely past due.

the beauty of this camera (aside from its beautiful construction) is that it folds down into a nice "little" box so i can now tote it around with my supplies in a backpack.



yesterday, to christen this camera, i packed up my stuff and headed up the connecticut coast for a one day photo excursion. this leads to the second part of my post...

ever since the third grade when i did a report on rhode island i've wanted to visit that little state. but, despite living in new york for a year and boston for a summer, we have never been there. so, for my trip yesterday, i planned to make newport rhode island my farthest destination before heading home.

here are some of the stops i made:

new haven, ct - home of yale university.

i had expected a lively college town but what i saw when i got there told a very different story. so that's what i shot. i wasn't really there for very long so maybe i didn't get a good representation of what new haven is actually all about.

sperry auto wholesale in new haven - the first picture taken with my new camera. it was a very blank looking warehouse, very worn. it's about to be torn down to make way for yale housing. glad i caught it when i did!

i found an empty plaza on the corner of an intersection in new haven. there were a lot of empty park benches, a lot of cigarette butts and trash on the ground, and plenty of grass growing between the tiles. i knew there was something in store for me there.

then it was off to rhode island.

newport is a beautiful town. it would be a great place to spend a week or so.

i visited the grounds of a couple of the famous rhode island mansions. wow. unlike anything you've ever seen.

i wish i could have spent more time there but i had one more stop to make before i headed home - stonington, connecticut - another place i'd like to spend a week.

i'll get pictures up as soon as i have them. thanks for visiting.