Photography Blog and Porfolio
Innocence
The loss of innocence is an unfortunate product of the social learning process. An inexperienced mind will feel no guilt for its actions unless it becomes familiar with social norms. If that mind, then, decides to do something that it knows or feels it shouldn’t it will produce guilt and, therefore, lose innocence. A child has no idea whether or not they are supposed to act on the curiosities their mind conjures up on a minute-by-minute basis until they are instructed by others. Innocence is a beautiful thing to those who can recognize it, but to those that hold it think nothing of it.
This girl had no idea that she wasn’t supposed to put her face in this tip jar, she just wanted to try and see what was down there. Telling her that she has done something inappropriate will teach her how she is supposed to interact and behave herself to the outside world, which is an important lesson, but that innocence will now be lost and she will question the next time she’s faced with her next curiosity and, ideally, she will think before acting in the same manner again.
Innocence is beautiful because it is fleeting. It is there for a specific period of time and eventually as we grow, it is lost. Capturing innocence in a photograph is capturing a moment in time that is completely unique to the situation and the people who make up the shot.
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Moonlight
When the sun goes down the parts of the world that we see are mostly those lit by some terrestrial light-emitting energy source. The places we frequent during the day are forgotten in our minds until the light returns, but even though we don’t acknowledge them at night, they still exist. I find that I’m drawn to observing these places. Empty town centers, office districts after commuters have gone home, and empty highways all have a sort of calming effect to me. Places that were once busy during the day with so much commotion that one can barely exist there without being in someone else’s way return to vacant spaces once the sun goes down and people return home. The cyclical pattern reminds me that everything ebbs and flows in a natural way.
Some nights, when the moon is full and the sky is clear, our world is illuminated by reflected light from the sun in a way that we can still see and navigate terrain without the assistance of another light source. This light is fundamentally different from the kind we are used to direct from the sun and produces shadows and glows that we associate with ghost stories. Not only are the once-busy places now empty, but the new source of light which they are lit by makes them appear different. An inanimate object doesn’t have a soul (probably) but our mind attaches various emotions to places in both the daytime and the nighttime giving them a different feel.
I walked along a familiar old path in the middle of the night to see what I would find. I don’t usually enjoy walking alone in the dark with nothing but a flashlight, but I wasn’t as unnerved as I expected I would be, probably thanks to the full moon. For most of the walk I didn’t turn the flashlight on as I could see well enough to place my feet on stable ground without tripping. I stopped by a ditch at the top of the hill made by some dirt bikers or ATV riders a long time ago, before I started biking. The pieces of garbage that were discarded there still laid on the ground. I don’t know what this mass of metal used to be, but it made for a great long exposure shot, I think.
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Communication
As a highly social species, humans have continually developed innovative methods of communication. We developed intricate speech patterns, language, writing, artwork, and with the advent of electricity we developed devices capable of allowing us to communicate across large distances. Today the internet is at the bleeding edge of our ability to send messages, thoughts, or ideas. There is now a venue for any person with a computer and internet access to write, create music, create artwork, and put it on display world-wide in minutes. Anyone can publish a blog (even me!) expressing their thoughts, musicians can generate a fanbase through Youtube without relying solely on record labels, and writers can use Amazon to self-publish their books in electronic and printed format with little financial risk. The opportunities we have available to express ourselves is unparalleled in history, and I believe we are coming out of our honeymoon period with the internet and finding that as it grows and becomes more prevalent in day-to-day life it is just as useful in the professional world as it is to distribute cute pictures of your cat. This is a double-edged sword, however, because as more useful content becomes available it is increasingly difficult to resist the use of the internet whenever it is available to us.
In the history of a developing society the time span between when cell phones first came onto the market and their prevalence today as almost a necessity is very short. Fifteen years ago if you wanted to meet up with a friend or family member your options were to meet at some predetermined time at a predetermined location, or call their house and hope that they were home and able to pick up the phone. Now you can send a text message in a few seconds, and if they don’t respond fast enough, you can give them a call a few minutes later. If they don’t pick up, then you can hop into your computer and see if they have any instant messaging programs active, or if they have posted something to Facebook about their whereabouts. When neither of those work you can try calling someone who you guess might be with them or might have been in contact with them recently all in the space of 10 minutes.
Furthermore with the influx of smartphones with internet capabilities we no longer have to guess at anything! Who starred in that movie about the guy with the thing? Pull out your phone and look it up on IMDB. When did Germany invade Poland? Wikipedia is only a few taps away. Where can we find some pizza around here? Google maps with GPS can not only find you a pizza place, but give you reviews on a few in the area.
These devices are new toys to us, and these toys, unlike the ones marketed with Sunday morning cartoons, appeal to people of all ages since it taps in to our human desire for communication. New features and new capabilities are being released before we can even get used to the previous iterations, so we are continually enthralled. The vast communication power these devices hold has distracted us, but, unlike a normal distraction, it does not dissipate quickly. Once distracted we are willing to let it hold the focus of our minds until the battery runs out. It should not be surprising to anyone that these portals have become as popular and widely used as they are.
This photo was taken at Waterfire in Providence, RI. As I wrote in a previous post, Waterfire is an event in Providence where a series of wood fires are lit along a series of canals through the city. People come to see the fires, sit, relax, eat, and enjoy the environment. However, since the streetlights are turned off and most walking areas are dim it is easy to notice the light glow of a smartphone reflected off of people’s faces. Do we miss out on the immediate world around us so that we can connect with the larger world on our devices? Is one more important than the other? Are we happier being connected than we are disconnected?
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Workforce
I strongly believe that, as humans, we have an obligation to observe what occurs around us. To open our eyes and find something, at least once a day, that we hadn’t noticed before. However, we’re tired. We work all day, struggle with relationships in and out of the workplace, and we fight to get from place to place on time. These daily trials take a toll on our bodies and our minds. One only needs to venture to any form of public transportation in the morning or after five at night to see the weight of our routines.
I arrived in the city in the early afternoon to walk around the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. As an aside, if you’re in the Boston area and you haven’t seen the new (as of November 2010) Art of the America’s Wing, or the brand new (renovations completed in September 2011) Contemporary Art wing, you should put that on your bucket list for the approaching winter months. I spent the afternoon there, met up with a friend afterward, and continued to explore the city. It was approaching the very end of summer and the first of New England’s notorious cold, rainy days loomed over the city, so most people had broken out their warmer attire for such an occasion.
I captured this image at Boston’s South Station sometime around 9PM. The last of the city’s workforce was shuffling through the station on their trek home. Most held a blank expression on their face, some were staring into the distance lost in thought, or the absence of thought after a long day, and a few were taking a short nap before their train arrived. My feet were tired from walking at that point, and after circling the waiting area twice I finally found a vacant seat. Across from me was this man slumped over his backpack-shaped pillow, using the hood of his large sweatshirt as a blanket to shut out the bright lights. He didn’t move for the duration of time that I sat there and he never noticed the camera I pointed at him.
I’m still uncomfortable taking pictures of people without their knowledge, surrounded by other people, so this image was taken “from the hip.” I feel that kneeling down and lifting the camera to my face brings too much attention to the fact that I am taking a picture and risks disturbing the subject. Doing this correctly is much more difficult than it seems, and I’ll admit I was surprised to find that the man was both in frame and in focus. Usually when I take pictures this way I only find an errant limb of the subject I sought to capture. If I had looked through the viewfinder to take this image I probably wouldn’t have composed it with the edge of the backpack as the center of the focus, but I’m pleased with how it turned out because it is not immediately clear to the viewer what they are looking at. Planting that question in the audience’s mind challenges them to observe more deeply and to discover something that isn’t immediately apparent.
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Waterfire
I was recently introduced to Waterfire by asilentsoapbox. Waterfire is a bi-weekly event held in Providence, RI during the warmer months where a series of wood fires are lit on a series of basins posted along rivers that run through the city. While the traffic to the event can be stressful if you don’t arrive early, the event itself is a well maintained relaxed atmosphere within the confines of a downtown urban environment. People are generally respectful and quiet while walking around the fires and viewing living statuary performance art, which fits well with the feel of the event, without much concern for where they will ultimately end up or what time they will get there. It is a direct contrast to the usual sights and sounds of a densely populated environment. Attendees are welcome to sit along the stone walkway, listen to the music playing, and watch the wood piles slowly disappear into heat and ashes.
Trying to capture this event in a photograph poses some interesting problems. The obvious way to document the event is to take a picture of the fire itself, but when looking at those pictures on the camera I found them bland and unsatisfying. It could have been any other picture of a fire, the only difference being that this one was poised over water. Trying to include the people viewing the fires and the fires themselves in one photograph didn’t produce a satisfying image either. Neither the fires or the people in those images were captured in much detail and the image as a whole felt too factual and impersonal to properly represent the overall experience of the event.
I came to realize that the fires were merely a catalyst for the event, and that the primary goal of burning fires above water wasn’t simply to ignite wood, but to get people to stop and enjoy something simple. When I recognized that I only needed to include the reflection of the fires on the people at the event I was able to find and take this image of four people relaxing, talking, and enjoying their time.
Hiking in Winter
Although the air will be cold and the path will be filled with snow, hiking in the winter is as beautiful as hiking during warmer seasons. If you decide to venture out during the winter to your favorite hiking spot, you’ll likely find that you aren’t the only one who had this idea, and that the path has already been packed down by many boots.
The sun doesn’t reach as high in the sky, which produces a type of light at noon and throughout the day that is unique to winter. Hiking while it is snowing has left me with amazing pictures in my head that I have yet to be able to translate through the lens of a camera. As I said before, don’t be afraid to take yourself, or your photography to somewhere you wouldn’t typically consider going with proper consideration given to preparation, of course. I once went out during a blizzard and while it was fun, I had a bit of trouble getting back home. Nevertheless, you’ll find the best things when you don’t know exactly what you are looking for.
During this particular outing I discovered the interesting formations ice takes in cold weather next to a half-frozen stream. I’m not exactly sure what circumstances caused these bells to form. They hung just below the root of a tree that was elevated about a foot from the ground. Since the sun doesn’t reach too high in the sky in the middle of winter the light cut through them and illuminated them. I was mostly taken by the refraction of the light through the ice, and the columns it forms within the bulb.
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Streams at Night
Experimentation pushes my abilities as a photographer by introducing me to new environments with unique lighting situations. I decided during a cold night in late fall on a spur of the moment that I wanted to go out and take pictures at night. Don’t be afraid of the cold or adverse weather conditions. You might be uncomfortable for an hour or two, but with proper thought to preparation such as appropriate attire and protection for your equipment you can produce some amazing photographs that you’ll be happy with for years. I remember, when walking out of my apartment, that I noticed how cold it was, but I didn’t quite realize the implications of the low temperature until I was standing still trying not to disturb the tripod for 30 seconds. Nevertheless, I’m glad I went out to take photos that night and wasn’t kept inside by the weather. Long exposure photography takes patience, persistence and willingness to be uncomfortable for periods of time.
A 30 second shutter, and the subsequent camera processing time means you’ll have a smaller margin for error than with shorter exposures (generally) where you can retake the photo 5 times with a different focus or angle within 10 seconds. With long exposures the setup time for each shot is longer. The tripod needs to be placed on a suitable surface, but that surface does not necessarily have to be flat. Remember that your tripod’s legs don’t have to be set up at the same length; you can get a tripod to sit on steps by shortening two of the legs. However, you must be mindful of your camera at all times when setting up a shot in this way. Two other tips: use your camera’s 2 second delay timer if you don’t have an off-camera release to reduce movement from pressing the shutter, and if it is particularly windy where you are working try to secure your camera strap so that it doesn’t get caught in the wind. Don’t be discouraged by the smaller number of photographs you end up taking. Its sort of disappointing to shoot for 2-3 hours and only have 15-30 images, but that’s normal, at least for me.
Setting out on this shoot I wasn’t exactly sure what types of images I was going to produce, or how they were going to look, but I knew that there was a stream nearby that I wanted to try to photograph at night. There are two others under Light in “Collections” from that same shoot, but this one is my favorite. Light from two streetlights, one with an orange glow, and another with a harsher, more fluorescent emission both hit the stream in this composition, producing the different colors. Water traveled over the rocks at a moderate rate which produced wisps of white, orange, and blue. The part of the image that I enjoy the most is the leaves that are stuck on the rock near the center of the photo. I think I’m drawn to that part of the image because its the one object in the composition that remained stationary throughout the exposure, showing little or no movement.
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Carnival
One of the most important things for me as a photographer is to remember that, when driving, it is important to pull off of the road when I see something that will likely produce a photograph. Here, I was on a long 14 hour drive and was passing through upstate New York southwest of Albany (I don’t remember the town’s name) when I saw the unmistakable bright lights of carnival rides. Excited, I took the next exit and followed the multicolored beacon until arriving at the parking lot. It was late in the night and the parking attendant let me in to park for free. I picked a spot, hopped out of the car and made my way over to the carnival. As carnivals go, it was the usual fare, with the exception of a dirt track that was holding a series of races. Everyone had abandoned the rides to watch the races. I can’t resist watching people wing around a small track at the same speed I would drive on the highway, so I headed towards the rumbling of cars with more horsepower than a Clydesdale. It was interesting watch for a few minutes, but honestly, left turns aren’t all that satisfying for a spectator.
After realizing that I would need a lens with a fairly significant zoom in order to get a picture of the cars I maundered my way towards the carnival part of the carnival. The rides were empty, the games were left almost entirely open, and the carnies were hanging around their stalls talking to one another or relaxing. Its not a side of the carnival you often see. I realized that this is home for someone who works at a carnival. If they have time to relax between events their attractions are one of the few places they can sit and think or converse. Their stations are packaged, placed on a truck, and transported for yearly events across America from city to town.
The image above I took while walking around. On top of the slide is the carnival worker who sat still atop his slide for as long as I was there. I’ll often find myself doing something similar, but I will have the pleasure of going on a walk or sitting by a stream. He didn’t have such a place and made do with what was available to him, a ladder to the top of a wavy plastic ramp. As a viewer I’m not asking you to woe the carnival worker. I want to share what I thought was a “human” moment in time. That is all.
There are a few more shots over in the “People” collection.
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New Site Redesign
Welcome to the new site! I decided a few months ago that in order to better share my work and generate interest in the site I should combine the blog and gallery into one location, as well as find an easier way to upload new works to the galleries. With the previous design the upload and management process was too cumbersome and needed to be streamlined. I’d like to send a thanks to the WordPress team for their incredibly versatile product.
Starting out with WordPress I had little knowledge of how the various parts worked together, but with some persistence and determination I was able to muscle a bare theme (another thanks to Starkers at www.starkerstheme.com) into the site you are currently viewing.
Take a look around and let me know what you think! On the right you can view my various works.
JMB
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