Category Archives: Dreamcatcher

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Street

September 23rd 2016 .. Happy Birthday John Coltrane

September 23, 2016 streetshooter 6 Comments

John Coltrane September 23rd, 1926 – July 17th, 1967 (90)

When I was young, I was into music that was outside the perimeter of my family. I loved jazz and bluez, especially. I would be playing records in my room and listening to Trane and Pharaoh Sanders etc. My brother was an amazing drummer and he listened to similar music and could play it but in the bands, mostly Rock.

For me, light and shadow and space and the absence of space is like music. The framing of the scene is like a piece of music. If you don’t believe this, it’s fine, turn your ears on and listen to Trane. If you do believe this but don’t practice it, go find another blog cause you don’t belong here. No, stay here and open your heart and mind and then close your eyes, turn on Trane and let him turn you on. When you finally open your eyes, go make photos and maybe you will hear them as well as see them. If you don’t see or feel changes, listen to more music then go out again.

Now I’m not only diggin’ Jazz, I really love some Classical. Ottorino Respighi and his Pines of Rome, will put me down in a heartbeat. Obviously I like the darker side of the arts. Hmmmm, maybe that’s where my feelings for light/shadow comes from or is inspired from. The point is that we can’t control the stimuli that comes from the streets or any outside source. So, by pre-programming our selves we can get a frame of heart and mind started. We don’t live in a vacuum but maybe we can plant some seeds that will nurture what we do while working.

When I’m working, with my camera…see, I’m always working even sleeping. Well, I see thoughts in my head. Not always images but sometimes, thoughts that dance in my mind. My shrink tells me that it’s probably not normal but maybe for me so he lets me out and doesn’t keep me inside. So the way I see it, well sometimes the way I see it but not always the way I see it I’m on the street and kinda walking thru a song.

There’s a mystery inside the mind. I guess most seek the mystery of life outside of themselves. I kinda learned that I like to find the mystery inside me outside of me. The difference is in the approach and the stance you take.

Not every photo we make is exciting but you made it for a reason. It is it’s own reality and we need to examine each one and find the secrets locked inside of it.

I’m tired and my meds are kicking in. I’ll post this and do another over the weekend.

…………………………………………………………………end transmission…………………………………………………….

Black & White, Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Street, Street Photography

September 22, 2016 … The Things in Me Head, I find on the Street … Ricoh GRII

September 22, 2016 streetshooter Leave a comment

….it’s true, it’s true I tellya. I have all these’s thoughts and feelin’s in me head and then I go out with my camera and the start to manifest out there on dem streets. That’s what I’m doing ya know, out there trying to find what’s locked up inside and find it outside. That’s my story and I’m sticking wit it, what’s yer excuse? See, it ain’t so crazy, this photo hunting process. I mean if your the kinda person that thinks, or maybe feels things, well maybe it’s a good thing to be a photographer. Ya don’t want to keep all that stuff inside ya and not share it right?

Here in Philly today, they made it the first day of fall. I much prefer to call it Autumn. The light just comes in at an angle that excites me. Of course that means the shadows do the same thing but opposite. I start to see all these things in the light and in the shadow and it’s not easy for me to just walk on by. I am compelled to find a photo. Well, maybe more then that, I am compelled to find my photo. I mean I need to be amazed or surprised by the new reality. The shot above does that for me. It shows me something different from the reality that gave it birth. Now it’s true that this happens with every single photo that was ever born once we realize the complexity of the very existence of photos. That in itself doesn’t bother me at all as I understand things photographically.

What gets me is that I see or feel these things in reality before I make the photo. So, what is going on out there, no, what is going on in me, no, what is going on in me that makes a photo from out there, that becomes the reality of what I felt or saw? I was walking on Market going East and as I approached the Marriott, I was just passing Star-bucks, well, I see this woman holding a coffe and I turn into the alcove to see what’t there. As I approach her, she doesn’t even look at me. First thought is, I’m nothing in all existence for her. Eh, dunno and don’t care. I see the light from the street and it has that over exposed glow I crave, Then she moves to the exact spot and …. CLICK!

There’s something about Public Transportation that I absolutely love. All forms and all places. People react in many different ways as they travel form point to point. I, as a shooter like to tune into these reactions and make and record my own. Usually we are in a confined space and that in itself sets up some conditions that effect everyone and me as the shooter. It’s like I’m at a stage show and all the people are actors doing their role in the play. There’s really no need for a director but as the cameraman, I get to choose lens and camera and how to work it all with the lighting. That guy a few years ago named Shakespeare, he invented the world as a stage and we are merely players. He kinda set the scene for all of us to see the world that way.

So I was looking out my window and my camera was in it’s belt case. It was Mom the Ricoh GRII. I saw a train approaching on the other track and had feeling tho bring her our to do her thing. Now, my train is stopped and the other is actually going backwards of mine. I know, I know, I don’t get it either. So, I hold Mom and all the sudden, I see this woman and the light……CLICK!

The same thing happened here, same act, different player…….

Be blessed all… seey’s soon

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street, Street Photography

September 20th, 2016 … Of Signals

September 20, 2016 streetshooter Leave a comment

I’m in town with Serendipity the Olympus Pen F and her 25mm lens that thinks it’s a 50mm. Anyway the light is bright and contrast is too. I walk on Market St and all the sudden, this woman get’s right in front of me with an umbrella. No rain, ain’t gonna rain and if and when it does, this corner won’t have rain anyway. No., it’s true I tellya it’s a dry corner…. oh hold on…yeah… really….oh my, silly me. Well, I stand corrected. It’s a dry corner cause there’s no alcohol permitted not because of rain, imagine that.

I raise the camera quickly and see some things that are cool….CLICK.

Ok, it’s obvious that the frame has a strength and energy that forces eye travel. What are signals? What are irritants? Show us in this image.

Lets start with Triangles. We look at her hand and we see a triangle with the fingers, then we see on her sweater, triangles….moving right along, we see the sigh behind her, triangles…..and then again, we see the 2 against the wall. These are signals that support the photo and also give eye travel a map to travel. We see the shaft of her umbrella and the cane from the man, more signals and more enjoyable eye travel. So, there are interrelationships in photos and maybe you don’t pay much attention to them. Maybe you don’t think they do anything or don’t work but let me tellya something. If you don’t pay attention to the syntax and language of what your doing, your viewers will do likewise. The need the direction to stay in the photo. Signals work mostly subconsciously but not always.

There is something called an irritant. I learned that from Peter Sheidt. It helps draw eye travel and usually is something not very important to the image. It’s like an activator or stimulator. The image does not depend on the irritant but the irritant keeps you in the image and that’s what it is about.

Polly and Susanna asked me to write about this because they feel that it’s good to know info. I suppose I agree but to tell the truth, writing this stuff is a bore for me on the blog. Put a camera in my hand, let me loose on the streets and I’ll write anything you want. I come to life out there and I need that energy to keep things going. People have told me i do a heck of a workshop and i appreciate that but on a stagnant blog, for me, it’s work.

So, in a day or two, I’ll be free to go out and work the streets again. Then I’ll feel like posting on the blog and get it more interesting.

Thanks for bearing with me during this rough time. Seeya’s in a day or two……shooter

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street, Street Photography

September 9th, 2016 … The Zombies Eating My Camera Post …Oly Pen F-12mm

September 9, 2016 streetshooter Leave a comment

….oh yeah, you mean those crazy horror movies with zombies and politicians looking to eat people are all over the place? Yeah sure, I think it’s because of the heat. Early September, 930pm and 92F. That’s seems normal, well for them there horror movies but not here in NE Philly.

Sorry folks, just a conversation I was having with a guy trying to eat my camera. See, it’s that hot here and the Zombies and Zombie wannabe’s are out in force. You may know these Zombies as Junkies, Druggies, Politicians, Lawyers, and all the rest of these creatures…ya get the point. So, Walker the Oly Pen F that used to be Serendipity and I hit the streets. The Fall vibe wants to come in but really, it’s too damn hot. So we walked around and I hadn’t been out with Walker in a while and it was a treat. The 12mm (24mm) on him is a dream to work with.

I be a juxtaposing this and a juxtaposing that and it’s nice to have open space to fill. The thing is for me and maybe cause I’m older but I like stimulation. I mean stimulation vs inspiration. Inspiration pushes the mind and eye and heart to want to work. It’s great but some times, I need stimulation. Stimulation is what wakes you when your walking around and maybe a street zombie. I mean, ya have inspiration to work but for some reason, not doing much. Stimulation gets you awake and allows your inspiration to focus on you and your work.

This shot happened in a matter of seconds. I was inspired because I’m 1/2 of the Inspired Eye but all the sudden, this bus gets in view coming up the street. I looked and saw a car right in front of my view between the bus and me. I quickly moved to the car and it drove away leaving me space to …….CLICK!

So I walked around a little more and stopped at PJ Moriarty’s and sat and had a ice cold beer. I had a real beer, Bud……I haven’t had a beer since I met Bill a few weeks ago. As I left the Pub, the sun was brutal, like 96F and climbing. I have shorts on and a Red Tee Shirt cause it’s Red Shirt Friday to show support for our Troops. I walk across the street and the guy in the BMW missed me and turned and then this man….CLICK! Remember, this is 24mm so you can see how close I was. I am feeling my Fall groove growing even with the heat.

CLICK! …no brainer.

There’s something about man and the man-made environment that really charges me up. I love the way we get lost in what we create. The search for humanity amongst the the future relics is stimulating. Then the way the environment makes us conform to it and relinquish control and we just go along the paths that allow access. Then we get programmed along the way with out walk mans and flashing signs and un-flashing signs. The stench of the underground caused by homeless people because the politicians don’t count homeless cause they don’t vote and don’t have money to get ripped off by the system.

Then, then I walk thru the turnstile and CLICK! Damn, I love the streets and all the shit it provides to inspire and stimulate.

….no, I’m not done bitchin’ and complaining about things…. ain’t gonna be either…………….

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography, Streetshooter

August 29th, 2016 Viet Nam Flashback, 1970 … Fuji X100T

August 29, 2016 streetshooter 29 Comments

I was on the train coming home when we stopped and I had Andre’ the Fuji X100T at the ready. All the sudden, a train going in the opposite direction stopped also. I looked but it’s not like the glass windows are clean, or clear. I saw a young woman sit and then draw back in the chair….CLICK! I myself was in deep thought and well…. I’m getting ahead of myself.

It’s 1970, Chu Lai Viet Nam. I was in country a while at this point. I had been assigned to Chu Lai Defense Command. We were a CAG unit. CAG = Combined Action Group. Navy, Marines, Army and even guys from OZ. Our daily mission was to secure the perimeter of our end of the base. This meant whatever was necessary we were to employ.

The Temp is now like 120F. My sweat is sweating. We got orders to go out around 5 clicks and do recon work but to bring back no prisoners should we find any enemy. We settled in like in a “V” ambush position. I was by the road and hotter the all FUC*** HE**> I was lying and had my M16 ready we all were. Then I was like really over heated and took my hard hat off, not a good idea but I did anyway. Up the road, just about 100M, I saw 2 girls walking towards me and I was nervous but ready. The closer they got, the more I was uptight. Then they got really close and I could see that they were like maybe 17-18 yo. They came closer and I heard the sound of M16s getting cocked. The squad was ready for shit.

The 2 girls stopped and looked at me. They turned to each other and said something I couldn’t understand. One girl smiles with a smile that the sun would be envious of. They both giggled and one came very close to me. I felt that time had stopped and that maybe she killed me and I was dead. I couldn’t move and I couldn’t hear, I just saw her face and that’s all that I lived for up to this moment. She knelled down to me and smiled. I took my finger off the trigger. I felt, if she killed me, it would be a warriors death by a princess and I wanted to be worthy of that death.

No, she didn’t kill me. She took a canteen and gently poured water over my head and rubbed the water on my face. She wet my neck and all the exposed skin area around my shoulders and head.

I was 20 yo and had never seen an angel before let alone be touched by one. Jock, the photographer from OZ came over to me and he talked to the girls. He smiled and they giggled and I just lay there in awe. The girls told him that they lived in the village outside the perimeter of our base. They were sent to another village carrying fish, veggies, and supplies for the people there. The one girl was name Sau, meaning six.

Anyway, Sau told Jock that she liked me because I seemed like a human being. She had a free tag to come and go on the base up until 2200hrs. I smiled at the girls and took her hand in mine and kissed it. She giggled.

A few days went by and I would see Sau and some other girl coming to and from the base. I always smiled at her and she looked at me with a look that a man prays to see before he dies. That smile above all else in the universe is what sets a man’s soul free in the after life. It provides the memory of humanity and more than that, it proves that if you got a smile like that, you are a worthy warrior of life as well as of death.

Months went by and Sau and I did sit sometimes at base and I would give her candy or soda. She liked it and wasn’t allowed to go into the PX = Post Exchange. She never asked me for anything. One sad day, I was on patrol around the North End and we had an alert from the Navy Seals that activity was expected. We called the unit together and started back to the bas to y=take defensive positions. On the way back in, we got incoming, small arms fire. The sound was from the AK47 and a few from the SKS. We got down low ready to unleash all the hell a man will ever confront in 100 lifetimes. I looked up and saw Sau and a few villagers running towards us for safety. I was panicked and held position yelling for Sau to drop but she doesn’t understand English.

We could see the VC getting closer and getting hotter and we unleashed the demon. I could see many VC fall, maybe to take cover, maybe to find a way to the other side. Sau was like 30yds from us and then all the sudden, I saw blood blow out from her chest. She fell and I wanted to low crawl to her but the LT, a Marine told me to stick my dick in the dirt and leave it there.

After things got quiet, around 20 min or so, we very carefully canvased the dead and check for explosives etc. I got to Sau and sure enough she was dead. Jock walked and made photos and looked at me and said, Jingles…. you had here what very few ever do. Don’t let this war destroy you and ruin you future life.

Fuck that Jock! Any way, we got a jeep and took Sau and a few others that died to their village. When I got to her Mother, she cried like the sound of a soul that has no home. Sau’s brother went in a hole and came back and handed me a bunch of paper. I looked at it and there was like 30 portraits of me that Sau made. I did cry, could now but I know when the time comes, She will be waiting for me. If she’s not, I have eternity to find her and I will.

So, Andre’ and I set out to make photos today. As I waited for the bus, a woman walked near me and she had 4 huge bags of cans on her shoulder. She looked at me and smiled. As she walked by me she turned her head and smiled again. I made a photo but don’t remember doing it.

After 46 years, I still smell Sau’s scent, feel her touch, taste the water she poured over me as if to Baptise me to give me life…….

Have a good one my friends….. be blessed

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Streetshooter

August 26th, 2016 … Time With Andre’

August 27, 2016 streetshooter 9 Comments

The change of seasons is starting to happen here in NE Philly. I hear tell, it’s like this in many places but I don’t believe it cause I can’t see it. So there are elements to deal with besides the cold air I love. The light will start to be magical in a new way and I love the cold harsh light and the deep shadows and dark tones that Fall & Winter bring. That light I find intoxicating and seek it even in warmer weather.

I was on my way back from the VA, not great results and I can’t walk like I used to, but my eyes are still tuned into what I feel about things. I saw they opened a pathway thru Market East. The light was shining in such a way that I had no choice but to go towards it. It appeared many others felt the same way. As I was walking, I felt there was too much space in the foreground and as I looked thru Andre’ the Fuji X100T, a man passed me on the right…..CLICK! I never get tired of seeing people going to the light.

Maybe I’m an old man or maybe an old man with a kids heart but I love the beauty of seeing light and how I respond to it. That’s what photography is about right? Capturing the beauty of light and life and present the illusion in two dimensions. Well, Andre’ the Fuji X100T is my friend and my Portal to my images.

I noticed decades ago that there were different experiences in seeing and making photos. I’ve tried to explain this many, many times, and yet I fall off the side when I do it for myself. Not always but many. There are times that I want to make a photo for a reason I don’t question and I am aware of being in the here and now. There are other times that I feel the same but there’s a certain presence that is like hanging over me and usually these photos are the ones I cling to most. The thing is, that looking back at my history, it’s a blur and I can’t remember anything. I can feel but not remember. It’s like when you give birth to a photo, you have to set it free and let it stand on it’s own. That doesn’t release you from accountability nor does it let you forget the experience of it.

It’s what we forget in life that catches up and torments us in the future. It’s what we remember in life that adds the flavor and elegance and desire to breathe. Same with photos. The ones that resonate thru the halls of your heart and mind are the ones that create the driving force to continue the quest.

When I was young, we would drive to Atlantic City, NJ to visit my Grand Parents. We took rt 30 East and I would look out the window of the car and I was making photos, but without a camera and not recognizing myself as a photographer. I would see all the passing glimpses of things and I recorded them all in my memory banks. Back then they were reel to reel tape.

The, we would pass the White Horse Farm and I would be jumping inside and never told anyone how excited it made me. Years would pass and turn into decades. On RT 30 East I still see The White Horse Farm. I made many photos of it but this time I felt different. I was with Tanya and as we made the approach to the farm, I started to feel that time was slowing down, maybe almost at a standstill. I can’t explain it but I felt kinda sad because looking at the farm, I could feel the years slip by of my life. I saw the young boy who was making photos without a camera but more than that, I felt a passing breeze of life and it’s history.

The recording of memories and experiences is what makes us photographers. All that history, memories, thoughts and feelings surfaces in the present to guide us gently into the future. Our photos are what makes us and what we make are our photos.

The thing to never ever forget, even tho you do one genre’ or another, nothing will live as long with meaning to others as the photos you make to record your life.

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Street, Street Photography, Streetshooter

August 21st, 2016 … Dealing With Rejection & Acceptance … The MUSE & The Mentor … Ricoh GR II

August 21, 2016 streetshooter 25 Comments

Again, I have been asked why I name my cameras and also suggest others to do likewise. Here’s the best reason I know. I hope you understand this and accept what maybe appear to be crazy delusional thoughts. I’m not waiting for a Greek Goddess to come to me and provide inspiration. They are all busy battling politicians around the world.

My thoughts altho many are shared amongst others. The Muse is a source of inspiration. Some think without a Muse, there is no creativity. Others believe that if you don’t provide a Muse with gifts, the Muse will stop inspiring you. So, there are millions of artist, painters, writers, poets, photographers etc all around the world. I thing the Muse support service is full and backed up so we need to find a way to inspire our efforts.

The Mentor is a source of information and energy that helps you handle what The Muse gives you. They are not the same. When you have an issue, you seek advice or support from the Mentor. So, really, the Muse is the Inspiration and the Mentor is the way to following the energy The Muse gives you. A mentor can offer feelings, words, whatever and help you get a grip on what you are doing. We can have a friend or whatever as a Mentor and it is very rewarding. The Mentor can help you edit work, suggest paths to follow, how to spend money on gear and a million other things.

Ding McNulty was a mentor for me. I mentor some people and we have a strong bond. So find someone with a good mind and understanding about your work and efforts and talk about them being a Mentor for you.

I have a very strong suggestion for a Muse. I feel that inspiration best comes from the internal energy in us. You can ask your Mentor about a group of images or exposures etc. The Inspiration, should be for the source of you. It’s not crazy. This demands that you see the work you do and that the Muse you need and have is your Camera.

I go out with Andre’ the Fuji X100T and work and he is the source of inspiration. I don’t want it any other way. I am accountable for my work and my energy I put into it. So, by naming my camera, I have placed my energy and the wonder of it all, into my camera. What this means is, when I go out to work, I am in touch with everything I need to be able to work. Essentially, my camera is a trigger mechanism when I work that is independent of any exterior forces. When I hold the camera, my psyche is linked to the creative forces and I get focused on the here and now.

Here’s the thing, we all do this even if unconsciously unaware of it. So, the sweetness of all this is, the reward of making your photos and being conscious of the magic you are living. When you view your work, you are connected because you were and are present during the process…..

Sure you can go out and hold a dead cold piece of metal in your hand and work, but for me, I’m holding Andre’ the Fuji X100T and I feel inspired because we are one with the process and the world while we are in it.

Tomorrow, back about Rejection & Acceptance.

Peace to all…………….

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street, Street Photography

August 13th, 2016 … Seen & Unseen … Fuji X100T

August 13, 2016 streetshooter 17 Comments

Sometimes I feel like a hawk out there and I just move thru life and capture the fleeting moment. Then there are the moments when all grace and poise just falls to the toilet. The photo above is one of those times. I was walking up 11th Street as I have done many more times than I can remember. I love the windows and doors on this side of the street. As I approached, not planning on a photo, this man moves to the closest point of the window and is gazing all around. I have Andre’ the Fuji X100T and he’s always ready to work. Andre’ and I are at the ready and I’ see the guy looking at the young girl’s legs just ahead of me. Then I am ready and he looks dead at me…CLICK!

No, hell no, we ain’t over this yet. He comes out the the foyer and approaches me, says….”Man, WTF you taking a picture of?” I said, Dude, I’m working for your wife and I made a photo of you looking at that young girl’s legs. Well, he starts laff’n beyond his capacity to breathe. He said, “Man, if da bitch divorce me, I’ll buy you a new car”. Ya know, in a way, i understood him, not that there’s anything wrong with that. So after we did the Philly hug, I continued on my way and her went back in the foyer to look at pretty girls.

So this a prime Philly style example of being seen and making a photo. There is another Philly style of making a photo and that’s just down below… see it…yup, that’s it….

This is the Unseen Philly style of making a photo. Well, perhaps it’s an seen, unseen photo. I have to write this because a number of people have been wanting my views about different types of shooting. I promised I would start to address this and here we have the start. First off is INTENT. I can’t stress enough how important this is.

Anyway, there seems to be a time and space when I’m out that something clicks and I know to make a photo. All these things go floating thru me and it’s an energy feeling that charges my instinct and vision. At this precise moment, I want to be as clean as possible. I want to be the virgin shooter. He, we all have our wants right. Anyway, recognizing my photos is important to me. I’m not making these for anyone or any recognition. I’m making these as my last will and testament. The residue of my life and what I held to with love, trust and accountability. There is no standard that has to be met, no goal that has to be achieved, nothing but to be answered to by myself and for myself.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not an island or egomaniac. I am just placing the importance where I feel it needs to be and allow it to expand and regenerate if it has the will by me or others.

I gotta tellya….I been doing photography since I was 13 and I’m 67 and there’s never been 1 moment of regret being a shooter. I know and know of many shooters that make photos but I don’t feel the passion from them. The work might be great but the person is kinda professional if you get that. Shooting for a purpose they feel is more important then photography or themselves for that matter. That’s fine for them but not me. I have a quest or lust or passion that will not extinguish no matter what happens. The spark reignites and I am all over it again.

When Olivier and I met, I wanted to instill this passion into him and our project. I think we have managed to keep the love and energy in what we produce. This also is important to me.

Anyway, I’m rambling again and need to regroup and will continue on Monday.

Have a blessed journey my friends and remember, where your going maybe beautiful but where you are now….. see it as all the beauty there is because that’s all there is….

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street

Aug 9th, 2016 Birth of the Dreamcatcher

August 9, 2016 streetshooter 12 Comments

It is that feelings and or thoughts awaken inside me and sometimes without warning. When this happens, and it happens more in recent days, I get to a place where I am content and feel that I am ready. I mentioned before about being clean and working without influence from anyone but yourself. Let me clarify. There exist nothing CLEAN. So what we as shooters need to do is to recognize the dirt that permeates our heart and our vision. There will always be residue left over and that is where we need to address our state of awareness and self being. If we recognize the dirt, we need not go crazy trying to CLEAN ourselves, just accept the dirt and work around it. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with having a reference point to check on with what and why we do what we do. If you are working and when you see your work you think, wow, so close to Bresson…well, my friend, you have a problem. If when you see your work and you feel that it’s a …wow, I really like this, exactly what I feel, well… you got it. If like me, many times, I see my stuff and think, this is strange and I don’t fully recognize it, but it turns me on. That’s really ideal sometimes.

If you have that all the time, well, Dr G can fit you in for some sessions. Please bring all the people in your head with you.

My biggest collection of the most satisfying work, for me is my Dreamcatcher series. I first discovered it in the early 70’s and I was reluctant to work that way. Remember, that was Leica Film daze. So I had a roll that I shot in NYC and my shutter speed was like 1/30. I would go up or down as required. No meter, just breathing the light. The film was Tri-X 640, developed by me. So in a week later, I had more film to run and I processed 5 rolls. When I made contacts, I looked at everything and then the roll under discussion came to the top. I looked thru my Loupe and at first I was upset because there was so much movement in the frames. A few days later I went down to the darkroom and looked at the contacts again. There were certain photos, no images, if you please, that were etched in my mind. I couldn’t delete them as they were bouncing around like crazy in my head. I didn’t say my crazy head.

After a undetermined amount of time, I notice the same thing happening but different images and what seemed to be a different vision. This has repeated over and over again thru my 50 years of being a shooter. The importance of this, is to be able to see your vision with some clarity.

See, what we shooters do is to search for our photographic identity on a daily basis. This search drives us to do things normal humans dare not attempt. We search for the best film/developer combo, the best software, camera. lenses and most importantly, the search for the best excuse to the wife for buying that new camera. Don’t laff, if you have a wife, if you are a wife, if you are just a couple together or any combination of the above and/or more, a great excuse is always handy.

So, the lessons we learn and adopt from our life, are the lessons that can save us in many more ways then anticipated. Those lessons are the lessons of our life and if we maintain a thread of humanity, we might share some of that knowledge with others.

Ultimately, we each are accountable for the life we live. We each are accountable for the photos we make and what they do. We don’t get to go to the marble Slab and bullshit our way out with THE LORD. So, maybe dealing with our history is enough to keep us going. Maybe not. We get one life to live. We can waste it trying to be Bresson or anyone else or we can stand tall and strong and make our work, then stand and say, I am the author of this work. You decide if you like or understand it, I will make more because I have to.

Be blessed my friends and remember, Bresson never tried to make photos like you………

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street

August 6th, 2016 … Fuji X100T … READ THIS … INTENT

August 6, 2016 streetshooter 13 Comments

The streets are different now and I don’t really have an answer why. It’s almost like everyone is walking around and feeling the difference between Dems & Reps. It’s like I get looked at and maybe the person thinks I’m a member of that other party, you know the one that is backing that person for the election. The there’s the smug person on the corner waiting for the traffic light and we all know that person is an Indy. They couldn’t care about the him or her running cause they got their own Hymn to deal with.

What does this have to do with photography? Well, life shapes the street. We want to capture the essence of the street as we see it. So when things are in an unstable way, so is our images.

I had a chat with a few shooters, of different ages and skill levels. They wanted to direct the conversation to Bresson, Winogrand, Kertesz and all the famous shooters from back in the day. Well, that raises a flag for me about the size of Philly. I was asked who my Favorite shooters were. I replied, anyone contemporary turns me on. Then I said, let me explain.

I feel it’s best to divorce from the past and use your own work as a guide to what you should be doing. Going after Kertesz for example, and expecting to get it as your own, is insanity. Lithium will not help. If you need a reference point, maybe pick someone you like alive and working in a similar genre’ as you are. You will be cleaner, more relaxed and certainly much more inspired.

One of the dangerous things is, when someone or you, comment on someone’s photos and say something like, reminds me of Bresson, very dangerous. What will happen is that the shooter at first is delighted to hear that. Now they are stimulated cause you say they made a photo that was like Bresson’s and everyone read the comment and that shooter gets a shot in the ego.

The, the shooter realizes that they aren’t like Bresson and there is a Gold Ring they have been chasing and it’s all stored away and done with mirrors. They simply can’t continue to keep up with the illusion and or pressure that they have had planted on them.

If that shooter gets comments like, really like this dude or dudess….I check your stuff a lot and I relate to it.

Let me tellya, that will do more for both, than any Kertesz or Bresson or any, dare I say…yes yes…. I dare any master before us. The reason is, we are programmable. We can’t stop that procedure. All we can do is to Give Peace a Chance….opppps sorry John…..

We need to filter as much garbage entering our minds and brains as possible. Then we need to determine what garbage we allow to influence us while we are here on the planet.

If you wanna make photos and rest assured that what you are doing, regardless of what the asses of the masses are doing, heed my warning and advice, if you wanna run around with a camera and pretend to be some Master, then be alone at the end because you lived as someone else and not true to you…..well, that’s cool but…well you’ll find out…

next post Monday…. well, hopefully……

Street Photography Chronicles by Don Springer