Category Archives: Street Photography

Philosophy of Street, Photography, Street Photography, Streetshooter

August 13th, 2017 … Memory or The Decisive Moment … Cont’d

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Ya know, I gotta tellya’s…. it’s summer time here in Philly and my brain is on vacation. So maybe I am writing about memory for a reason. The thing that I get from photography is the realization that I love the process and I need the catalyst that photos present. Pete and Andrey wrote some very profound comments on my last post and I urge toy to read them. You don’t have to comment but you should read them. I am basically a streetshooter. I used to do other things but for the last 30+ years, mostly street. For me, street = life. So as a life shooter, what is it I am after? I kinda think that it filters down to a residue of intent.

When I’m out shooting, I am not thinking about memories,. Sometimes but not a priority. So, I make photos with the purpose of getting them into Light Room and then making the photo represent my vision. Of course I rely on memory but truthfully, I am totally aware that there is a new reality being borne. This is my intent, well part of it. So I make photos to serve something different than memories. Any memory cast forward from the photo is really from the photo and not so much the scene or subject where I was when I released the shutter. This is very important to grasp.

The memory of the photo or making the photo is secondary to the actual photo. The experience is not as important as the end result. Don’t get me wrong. I adore, no…I breathe photography. It’s not something I do as a pastime or hobby or as an art form. I do it because I have no choice. A heroine junkie has an easier time detoxing from junk then I ever could from making photos. I don’t define photography, it defines me.  Ok, enuff of that.

The Clarity of Intent

Shhhhh, don’t spread this around. I hear tell and I know for a fact that some people are very serious about this photography thing. Seems crazy right? Well, let’s explore this serious side of this photo making thing. There comes a point in time that is marked as a moment of recognition of the self. This moment for the photographer is an awareness of intent. This is the continuing culmination of the gathering of info, thoughts and feelings. This is our supply feed for our work.

Lets assume that we are out working and something kinda captures out attention. At that moment, our supply feed and the exterior catylist join together and present us with the birth or death of the photo.

We are then faced with the option to make the photo or not.  Many things will happen quickly to come to the conclusion of the unborn photo. This is not yet intent but rather the decision to develop intent or not. Things happen and you may or may not make a photo.

You need to be alert and sensitive to this moment. All that you are is present and needs to be at the ready. What if you decide to make the photo? Well, try this for size. If you are aware that all of you is in the moment and you have accepted the responsibility to yourself and the unborn photo, then the intent of all is showing the way.

The moment and the decisive moment are working together but not the same. Being in the moment or the here and now leads to the release of the shutter. The release of the shutter is the decisive moment.

At that exact moment in your life is the realization that you either satisfied your intent or not. If you feel that you got it, then the rest is a very tuned, aware process of giving birth to the photo. If not, then the decision to move on is necessary. Just remember that not every photo is whats considered a keeper. The thing is, even if the photo is not a keeper, does not mean it fails at intent. Lets say that you were doing a street scene. Here’s the thing about The Moment and Memory. In the moment making a street photo, that satisfies your intent, provides a photo that is more about the making and satisfying yourself. This is the dividing factor of the Moment and INTENT.

 

I need another post to get the point across.

I will post in a day or so…………..be blessed my friends……………………………………shooter out…………………………………..

Philosophy of Street, Street Photography, Streetshooter

August 7th, 2017 … Memory or The Decisive Moment

11 Comments

Sorry about being absent for a while and I know youse all need my stuff in your head. Well, here’s something. I been reflecting on my self for a while and the past few weeks really getting critical. See, I have this nice mirror in my office and I sit and look into it for a spell and reflect.

No, not that self indulgent kind of reflecting. The important kind. The kind that says, dude, ya need to lose a few pounds. So I started to think about the importance photographs have for us as shooters and the motives and intent for making them and the end result of the photos life.  Probably the most important purpose for a photo is the making of a memory. This in itself is an oxymoron to the intent of photography. If a photo is a 2 dimensional image, then it should be viewed as it’s own reality. The reality of the photograph. This concept was initialized and taught by Stieglitz.  He was the one conscious of the phenomenon of photography and the one whom discovered the true nature of a photograph. The idea was that when a photo is viewed it should stand on it’s own merit and not need the crutch of the reality it was captured from. This has been passed down from generation to generation of shooters.

The idea of titling a photo supports the crutch of reality and serves to destroy or shatter the illusion of the image. We see a photo of a person and it’s titled, “Grandma, New York 1936.” The title supports the memory but what about the innate existence of photography? If we practice that a photo needs only itself to be recognized as itself, what then about Grandma? What about this memory thing? Does this mean that photos really are not what they appear to be? Does it mean the the concrete illusion of a photo being on it’s own in our reality is not a truth at all?

Stieglitz said that photos were the truth of the moment. Bresson coined the phrase, “The Decisive Moment”.  I lived my life adopting these truths and practicing them and teaching them. So why now at 67yo do I question the basis of a life in photography and stumble uon the very essence of my belief system? Perhaps I am not. Perhaps it’s an awakening of a dormant concept that is now coming to life and trying to create a new path.

I tend to believe that this memory thing is inherit in all of us. Photographs are not an island of tranquility at all. They rock the very foundation of their own existence. Street photography as important and loving as it is, is also the antithesis of memory. When I work the streets, I am not thinking about memories. I am thinking and feeling …. what?    Damn, ain’t the the $64,000.00  question.

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I have learned and taught that the photograph exist due to the shooter making it. End result, Fine Art, whatever ya  wanna call it. No not a pretentious intent and result. We look at our work and try to feel and see the reason for making it. It’s not a lost soul, it’s just photography. The real idea is that we had another reason for clicking the shutter than the memory of the moment.

The division between intent is where the problem lies (correct spelling), if there is a problem. If we make a photo and memory is a secondary intent, then post it on Flickr or any place at all and get responses, that serves to justify the  intent and process to get the photo there. While you are looking at the photo, the phone rings and you are told that Grandma has passed away. Well, let me tell ya something, you will be looking for photos of her quickly. It’s the memory of her and the experience you shared making the photo that you long for.

I will continue this in a few days. I’m interested in reading your thoughts if you care to share.

shooter out………………………………………………………………….

 

Photography, Street Photography

July 12th, 2017 … The Photographer’s Toolbox … Juxtaposition

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It’s common knowledge to know that juxtaposition is the most important element in photos. I won’t speak about other art forms, just photography. If you look in the dictionary, you will see a definition stating it’s about contrasting elements.

  1. :  the act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side often to compare or contrast or to create an interesting effect an unusual juxtaposition of colors; also :  the state of being so placed contrasting shapes placed in juxtaposition to each other

In part that is true but in whole, it leaks and desires to be more. Juxtaposition is the single most creative device at our disposal as photographers. In the photo above, we have Jefferson’s face and his riveting eyes and layered behind, people walking in unison. Maybe, just maybe that’s not the only juxtaposition. What if juxtaposition is based on contrast. They say it is. If that’s so, is the contrast of black & white a juxtaposition?

How about the contrast of dark and light and also movement? The shot above has the dark and light and movement but just a faint glimpse of stillness. Then there is the blur and is the fact that there is nothing not blurred an issue. What if we have juxtaposition implied and not stated perfectly in the frame. Is the concept of an image and the reality it comes from, is that also a juxtaposition?

The reason I write about this is, because out there working, we need to understand the devices and trigger mechanisms that we have and then to be aware of them. Oh yeah, then use them. During the course of me teaching workshops, certain questions were brought more than others.  Trigger mechanisms, juxtaposition are just a few. Many say to keep a toolkit. That’s right but the toolkit is not your camera or lens or any gear. That’s your camera. Your toolkit is what you have at the ready in your mind.

Perhaps you won’t want to accept this but it’s right anyway. When you work, your toolkit gets activated and aides you in the making of the photo. This is not the camera etc. That’s your friend. Your toolkit is the knowledge you have acquired and the way you use that. Photography for most of us is a process of inside/outside. What you have inside is what influences you on the outside. Of course, the outside also influences your inside. That’s where your toolkit comes into play.

So this becomes a major juxtaposition. Seeing the inside image and playing it against the outside, is the basis of making photos. Ansel and Minor called this, Pre-visualization. I suppose we should call it that also. The main difference is that with a stand camera, it’s easier to find the image inside you on the outside. Once the camera is planted, it’s a question of framing, light, movement etc. Same as for us with handheld cameras but we move thru life instead of standing in it. Ansel’s juxtapositions were more literal whereas Minor was more cerebral and emotional.

Life is a potpourri of thoughts and feelings. Speaking for myself, I travel thru life and smell the roses even tho most around don’t even see them. Not that I’m special, even tho I read my own writings. I remember being with Harry Bertoia. We were talking about art and photography. I was amazed by his works but what got me was his thoughts and emotions. He told me that he felt that we have a certain amount of energy. We use this energy to do our work. As we get older, the works become that much more special and personal because they see the finality. I asked him why he did his work. He told me…”Because I can”.

I’m not a kid and I don’t get excited about hearing something I have heard a million times. I must tell you. When Harry said that to me, it was like hearing it for the first time. It resonated in the fiber of my being. It still is vibrating. Harry asked me if I understood juxtaposition. Well, cocky ass me said, of course I do but I sure would like to know what it means to you. Harry laff’d with a refrained chuckle. He took me to one of his sculptures for the Sound of Sculpture. Then he said breathe. Harry took his hand and arm and drew it thru the rods. I saw a wave that was magical and I could hear the sounds. I realized immediately that all things are open to each of us to draw our own conclusion.

The beauty of photography is the beauty of life. The toolbox of life fills the toolbox of photography. Our experiences and our thoughts and emotions, installs the tools we need to work and survive. We all she the air and the planet while we are alive on it. What we do with our life is the juxtaposition that we make for ourselves. It may be nice to have a following and make money if that’s your thing. The important concept to realize and use, is that in your toolbox is the makings of your work.

Your toolbox is your tools, your camera is your friend, life is your journey, go make photos and find out there what’s inside you.

Photography, Street Photography, Streetshooter

July 1st, 2017 … An Old Friend Comes Home … Leica X-E

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….. Roger and I are standing at the counter at B&H. I think it’s like 2012 of 2013. The salesman is working with another customer when he sees Roger and says I’ll be right there. Sure enough in 15 seconds, he’s shaking Roger’s hand.  He doesn’t acknowledge me and that’s fine.  Roger looks at me and does that silly thing with his eye. I’m supposed to know what it means but after decades, I still don’t. He tells the guy I’m his partner and all the sudden the salesman wants to  give me his firstborn son.

Roger gives the salesman an order number. The guy goes to the back of the store an in 5 minutes returns with a look of curiouosity on his face. He says, “there seems to be a mixup with the order, they didn’t specify which camera and lens you wanted”. Roger looks in the box,  picking up the Monochrome, the M24o. There around 7 lenses in the box. Roger says to the guy, yes a mistake has been made. Where is the Canon 5D and 24-70 and the 35 1.4? The salesman says, “can we get the Leica that you want first”? Roger immediately says, this box is part of my order.  It all goes with me.

I think the salesman is like 27 yo but he needs to wear a diaper. I think he dropped a load.

He says Yes sir, be right back. On his return Roger says he wants to see the Leica X-E. Well the salesman runs and comes back with a new X-E. he opens the box and loads a batter in it. He hands it to Roger who in turn hands it to me. I start checking it out. They finalize the bill and for some things ordered a few weeks ago. I figure it’s around $80,000.00. A man walks over to Roger and thanks him, shakes his hand and says’ “We want you to have the X-E as a gift to a loyal customer”. Of course Roger is very gracious and thanks all concerned.


We carry the two boxes out to Roger’s Jag and put them in and we head back to Philly. We get to the first rest stop and of course I need to go. So, we pull in and Roger waits in the car as I go in. After a few minutes I come back to the car and get in. Roger starts the car and hands me a box. He says, I want you to have the X-E. I tell him thanks but no thanks. That cmera goes against everything I have going on. I like to set my camera on M mode, auto iso and then choose f/stop and shutter speed. This way I can control my exposure and the camera works with me selecting the ISO.

The Leica X2 and X-E do not do this. They will not allow auto ISO in M mode. I tell him forget it. Then as we are driving along, he’s telling me that I am too comfy in the way I work and with the cameras I work with. He tells me that I don’t think anymore but just respond to the scene kinda like a very open minded auto mode. Inside, I am getting pissed. Not because of what he’s telling me but because it’s all true. He reminds me that in my film daze, I would have a fixed ISO, sorta of maybe but I ain’t sayin’ nuttin about that stuff. I smile and admit he’s right but I don’t want to fix something that’s not broken. He tells me keep the X-E and just enjoy it. I used his X2 many times before so I know the work involved in un-taking-for -granted and adapting-what-I-know-but-don’t-use -properly.

So I used the X-E for almost a year along side other cameras but it doesn’t like to share experiences and knowledge with any other camera. Leica’s are greedy with time and love. They do not like to be with a ny other camera out working. So after a while I stop using the X-E. All my other cameras are ok with each other. So, why rattle cages when it’s not necessary. Roger is in India and Pakistan working on a case and I take some things out to his home and put the X-E on the shelf. Life goes on. Time passes and here we are. Weekend before last Roger and Mary come to Philly from Hong Kong for a visit. He wants me to come out to his home on the main line and check things out. I do the inventory for his acquisitions. This at times is a task but I do it because he’s my friend. So we are in the vault and looking at some nice Leica’s. He picked up a 250FF I think it’s called. Nice stuff. Then I see on shelf where I placed it years ago, the Leica X-E. I smiled.

Roger said once again….”take the X-E and use it. Don’t return it, it belongs to you and it will help you discover your inner self again.I shrug my shoulders because I know the camera pretty well and I know it will do what it wants and not what I want. There is a compromise with it but I need to just let go and open my mind and heart. I tell Roger, ya know something, I will take it and use it. I need to be on a screen camera again. Even the GRII is very fast and intuitive but the X-E makes me slow down and live and feel the moment.

The Leica X-E will not give you Auto ISO  in M Mode. The screen is the pits. It takes a while to turn on and it goes to sleep in a minute. It focuses ok and manual focus is very good. The lens is a Leica Lens and any Leica shooter will be happy. It’s an outstanding lens. You can make an exposure and it’s slow to write to the card.

So why use this age old camera? Ok, first off, it is ELEGANT. Even tho it’s not fast it’s very Elegant. What it does it does well and what it doesn’t do, I don’t need with this camera. There is a cerebral connection that this camera offers and supports and all I need to do is stop having pre-conceptions about what I want it to do. So, I am back to the raw elegant basics and I have a companion with me that is an old friend. I will not take any other camera out with the  X-E. If I did it would be Mom the Ricoh GRII because she’s a screen camera also. You all have a fine weekend and HAPPY JULY 4th to one and all. I’ll be working with Dad the Leica X-E for a while.

Black & White, Inspired Eye, Street Photography, Streetshooter

June 18th, 2017 … Father’s Day … Some Observations … Pen-F

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Happy Father’s Day.  I’m an observer. Not just a photography observer but a life observer. What I notice and find most interesting is the search for identity. It seems to that everyone struggles with identity. Brands are all over everyone and everyplace. Racial identity, gender, religious, education, city, state, country, camera, lens…. the list goes on and on. We form groups of like minded people so our search for identity is not a lonely one.

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So as photographers, what are we really searching for and how do we know if we find it? Let me say this: I don’t have an identity issue. I know who I am and the others inside my head know me also. So there!

Lets cut the search to bare bones. We all have cameras, lenses, dark rooms, computers etc. We all fit in our gear and lives neatly and perfectly. We have our vision, our stance and everything we as individuals deem necessary to travel our quest. Nice feeling. Nice to be equipped with stuff and more importantly, emotionally stable.

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So what in our inventory is missing or worse, there but quiet? What do we have to hold stock of our life and our struggle to find our selves?  What is it that we produce, protect, promote?  Perhaps, maybe just maybe our photographs. Is it even possible that an image we produce has the ability to justify all that we are or hope to be? Is it possible that our images are or could be the catylist for conversation, criticism or self exploration and even self discovery? Well, believe this, it’s totally true. Your identity is visible in your images.

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Think about this. No 2 photos can ever be the same. Don’t get cute and think about copies. “No eyes ever will nor ever shall see what I see now”. MBW

So then if we are lost in a world that swallows up our identity, it is the simple fact that our photos are our identity. They are the artifacts and DNA of us as individuals. They are the evidence that we are alive and here and working. So, if it’s just this photograph that is a record of our individual existence, maybe we need to take it more serious than we do. Well, I don’t know about youse but for me, it’s over 50 years as a photographer and my awareness of myself, makes me happy. It’s time to stand tall if you can and be proud and happy with the life you live and the work you produce.

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We need to understand that whatever our work does, it represents our existence. If it is a truth and it is that Margaret Bourke White, (I pretty sure this is hers….) “No eyes ever will nor ever shall see what I see now”, then that means that your work is unique and you should be proud of it. You also may feel the need at times to defend it but I wouldn’t. I don’t think anyone serious about photography would give bad words and thoughts to another’s work. The ones the do are obviously lost in the world of confused identity and that is the reason they do such horrible things. Those that love photography must and should bear in mind that when they see your work, they see you.

The only bad photos are the ones that don’t get made………

Peace and be blessed all…………………………………………..

Street Photography

June 9th, 2017 … Thoughts and Photos … Garry … the Olympus Pen-F is Home

12 Comments

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We all have experience buyers remorse. Ya know, your dying to get a camera or lens whatever, and finally you drop the bucks and for 97 seconds you are like happy. The problem is, that at second 98, you start to wonder if you really needed that camera or even wanted to spend the money. Ya start thinking ya made a mistake and your gut is twisting and turning and there just ain’t no peace of mind. Eventually in time ya get settled and the remorse goes away. Well, let me tellya about sellers remorse. Oh yeah, it’s a true and ugly thing it is.

See, the Ladies got me the Fuji X-Pro2 and I have the Fuji X100F. Sweet. oooops, photo time….

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Well, I have other cameras also but the Fuji’s are demanding and it’s a quality demand so I go with it. There, there on the shelf where the cameras live… is Serendipity the Olympus Pen-F. She’s sitting still and quiet. A few months pass and she’s still sitting still and quiet. So I get to thinking and it’s not always a good thing when I think. Sometimes I just need to act and not think. This becomes one of those times. I get to figuring that the Oly Pen-F is not getting used and is replaced by the Fuji cameras. Make sense to me and I start to get the idea of selling the Pen-F. I am not using names of the cameras now because it’s easier to detach without an identity.

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So, to make a long story shorter, I plan on selling my M-43 gear off again for the umteenth time.  Ok, I don’t have Alzheimers yet but i do have Partheimers. I forget some of the things some of the time. No joke, I have a memory issue getting worse. A few years ago I met Ray Sachs in town. We were at the Independence Park and Ray had a m-43 camera and the 12mm on it. He showed me the lens and I fell in love quickly. A few days later I had the 12mm. Ray told me he was selling off his M-43 gear but would always keep the 12mm. I mounted my copy on the Oly EP-5. That’s one heck of a screen camera. I loved it. So flash back is ended and now we are in the here and now. I decided eBay was hungry for my M-43 gear and was ready to list it all. I told a friend of my plan and he immediately wanted the Pen-5 and the 12mm-40mm 2.8 Zoom. I’m like real happy and know that everything will sell quickly.

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So I pack the Pen-F and zoom lens and get ready to ship. Ok, here’s the sentimental ole’ shooter in gear. I take the package to USPS near my home. I ship it to XXX and kinda happy. All I have to do is list the lenses. As I get in my car to drive home, I notice a sick feeling in my gut. I kinda try to ignore it. See, elders know that if you ignore things, most of the time they go away. So I get home and I go to my office and I look at my lenses to get ready to sell. I pickup the 12mm to make sure it’s clean to I can make a photo and then list it. As I look at it in my hand, I get a tremor thru my body. I’m kinda freaking out man. I have essential tremors anyway but this is different, it’s like my heart and soul are upset and making waves thru my body.

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All the sudden this cloak of emotional darkness is covering me and won’t let any light in. Now I really am sick and upset. I look at my cameras on the shelf for comfort. Everyone is looking at me like I’m a bad father or a prick or some damn thing. I realized that all things have a place in the world. It’s not important if you grok that or accept that at all. What matters is that when you see your place, you recognize what is missing. I now am a victim of my own doing and I need to rectify the situation immediately. I realize that Serendipity the Olympus Pen-F is gone and never to return. I felt a loss that I never had with a camera before and don’t want again.

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I knew I made a crucial mistake. I took the Pen-F for granted because I have the Fuji cameras and the Ricoh’s. The 12mm lens was just here on the shelf and I knew I needed that magic again. It’s now 4 hours since I shipped the camera. I called a friend that has the Pen-F on my say and does not use it. I make a deal and the next day I have the Pen-F in my hand. She needs a cleaning and has a cracked screen protector. So I take it to town today and the repair man says 2 hrs and $150.00 and it’s like new. I sat at the Liberty Bell waiting for him to call. Then, he calls and says it’s ready. I made it to his shop in 10 minutes flat, paid him and put my 12mm on. I felt a sense of well being that no camera has ever given me.

The moral of this story is that there exist a place for everything in life. The most important place is your heart and what you allow to live in it. Everything in the universe has a mission and we need to accept that we are not always in control and that maybe cameras are tools. Maybe they don’t talk. Maybe they just serve the shooter.

….but maybe, just maybe… a camera has a name and a place in your heart and souls. If you accept that and welcome that, you no longer question what value a camera has. You just know that it’s your partner in doing your life’s work and brings you the most satisfaction, more than any inanimate tool.

Here ye here ye one and all. Garry the Olympus Pen-F is home.

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

June 2nd, 2017 … a Matter of Perspective … True Confession … Fuji X-Pro2

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Ok, first off I will explain that I do things in a semi deliberate manner. That also means that I do things in a semi un-deliberate manner.

Flashback to 1970. I have my M-4 with a 35mm Cron on it. My M-16 at the ready. WE are going thru a small village near Chu Lai and I’m snapping away making photos. There’s some press corp guys with us cause they wanna see where theB52’s dropped their load and how close it was to the village. Click, click….yup, I’m working. Jock is about 25′ away from me. Jock is a tall guy thin stature and from OZ. OZ = Australia. He works for the Press Corp for France and OZ. We became friends and I looked forward to him being around because it gave me the illusion that I might survive this shit hole.

Jock comes over to me and  says “Jingles, why don’t you use your 50mm more?” Eureka! I replied that I wasn’t comfortable with the compression and the crop of the frame. I wanted to portray the scene the best I could and a 35mm was perfect. … it dawned on me at that moment that I should try the 50mm and be serious with it. With all the film I shot over there, I don’t think I used 2 rolls with the 50mm. It just didn’t click with me.

Inside me, I had this nagging feeling that Jock was implanting in me to use the 50mm. Flash forward to the mid 70’s and I shooting the street with my 35mm Cron and of course my trusty 50mm Cron in the waste pack. it’s been years since Jock mentioned the 50mm to me. I still have that nagging feeling that I need to get the 50mm and use it.

Yeah sure, sometimes I’d use the 50mm just to do it and prove to myself I can. Then another year would pass and I’d have it with me but not use it. If I did use it, I didn’t have a sense of being with it.

So, the issue for me is to adapt my aspect and frame to the 50mm FOV. Let’s get something straight from the get go. PERSPECTIVE.  There are 2 perspectives that we deal with in photography. The first is, stance. Where you stand sets your perspective….but really the position of the camer is setting perspective. Set your camera on a tripod and then move all around but leave the camera where it is and the perspective changes for you but not the camera. When the camera moves, the perspective changes. If you hold your stance and then change the lens on the camera, the perspective stays the same but the Field of View changes. If you change aspect ratio, perspective stays the same.

So, the reason for me to wrestle with the 50mm is not perspective but the FOV crop. I guess most take it for granted that just changing lenses is an easy thing and requires not much thought or practice. Lucky for them, for me it’s like a new set of eyes and a new way to think. It challenges me to see the world thru different eyes and to think and work differently all the while protecting my 35mm FOV.

So I’ve had many cameras and many lenses that wore the 50mm crop. I was not comfy with any of them until the Fuji X-Pro2. When my lady friends gave me the camera and the 35mm = 50mm lens, they knew what they were doing. They knew I would love working with the camera and they also knew that at last, I’d be able to use the long lost love, 50mm FOV.

So, it seems that it took decades for me to find mt stance with this lens and I did. I have to telly youse that for me, the Fuji X-Pro2 is the finest camera I could ever with to work with.

Whenever I get a brain fart, I can always use the Fuji X100F.

seeyas after the weekend my friends…… peace

Street Photography, Streetshooter

May 27th. 2017 … Working thru GAS … NOT the Tums Kind … Fuji X-Pro2

18 Comments

We all know what GAS is. Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Most address this a a detriment to your character and work and you are to feel inefficient if you have GAS. You are maybe hiding behind your gear because you don’t have it enough to make good photos. You are to feel that if you get THAT camera or THAT lens, all will be well in the world. Damn right your right. Go for it. I do and stand proud to say I am a Gas-aholic, well… tums usually cures my gas but I have no issues acquiring new gear if I feel it will open me up some.

I have posted countless times, well at least a few about standing on your own and making your photos the way you want them to be and don’t give a hoot who likes it or not.  Well, here’s something against the grain of most shooters and bloggers.  Gear does make a difference to your work. Like it or not, every single shooter and every single person on the planet, planted or walking around, needs INSPIRATION.

I will expose my GAS and you will see that I’m nuts and you are rather not as nuts or maybe more nuts than me but we doin’ care anyway.  Recently I acquired the Fuji X100F. Great camera and I had no choice, nor wanted one because I had every version of the X100 series and loved them all. The X100F is a very capable camera that can do most things. The camera is named Andre’ after Kertesz. all is well so far but then Serendipity the Olympus PenF wanted to go out and work.

I see things this way. I get an item or camera, lens etc to inspire not direct my energy. Scenario….: I’m laying in bed and relaxing and letting myself fall asleep. Well, a few hours of that and my mind starts to wander. I get maybe a vision or thought train about walking around with my Ricoh GRII. It’s an omen I tellya. In the morning I’ll take Mom the Ricoh GRII out to work. Like it or not, that’s inspiration and the moment is inspired. Usually when this happens, I’m on a very inspired session. Maybe I saw a vision of the PenF with the 12mm. Perhaps I just saw the Ricoh GRII and the Fuji X100F.

This is normal GAS and it is not dangerous at this point. I have gone thru this for decades. I’m a GAS survivor. See, getting gas is normal and how you approach it it the all important thing.

I had a session with some students/friends and we were at the diner and Suzanne and Polly handed me a box and insisted I open it immediately.  I opened the box and low and behold, there was a new Fuji X-Pro2. There also was a 35mm F2WR lens. I asked them why and Polly answered, you have the Fuji X100 so this gives you 35mm & 50mm, your favorite combination.

Ok, no GAS there but inspiration. Ever hear of buyers remorse? Yeah, yeah, we all get it at one point or another. Usually for me it comes when I am tired of a camera and it no longer inspires me. Then I get remorse like, WTF is this stupid camera here for anyway.

So if you don’t have a justification for something, then it’s not inspiring you. Little did the ladies know that the Fuji X-Pro2 would be the camera that lites a fire with me that hasn’t been a flame in a long time. Is this GAS I ask you?  I did not buy the camera. It inspires me more then I thought because it’s a gift from 2 student/friends. I can’t imagine falling out of love with this camera.

It’s impossible to not think about a camera you have or want to have. To be slammed into a corner because someone says you have GAS is self defeating. We all need inspiration and we all need to allow our creativity to flourish. Taking the heat from others and implanting it into ourselves is extremely self destructive and eventually we do as others say and do and not captain our own ride. THE HORROR! We talked about how this scenario is similar to your photos but we doin’ need no more talk about that. Youse are all Life Warriors with a Camera.

So, this is like Rolaids for GAS. If something calls out to you and you feel that it will inspire you, then go for it. ( note ) GAS is an issue that is widely discussed but, in no case should you allow GAS to take funds from your families needs etc. We must always follow a prioritized structure of acquiring things.

So, I hope you get the message that you need to satisfy your creativity without guilt or remorse. Remember that no matter what you feel or think about GAS, it’s true that it can control your expenditures and have a drive that seems to take over. It’s also true that GAS can provide inspiration that feeds your soul. The way you deal with this is like a stance that you take as if your making photos. You are you and how you do and present things is the beauty of you. If you need a camera to satisfy a need, by all means get it.

I need to write about GAS for camera bags and I will try to confess my illness.

next post…..Have a Blessed Memorial Day and even if your in another Country…….

Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Photography, Street Photography

May 21st, 2017 …The Hot Sauce of Photography

14 Comments

Hot sauce is a great metaphor for your individual photography. I mention this because it rekindles the emotional state that can over come us about intent and acceptance of our work. You can get all the cameras, lenses, pc’s, software etc but the final residue of emotional stance is in the photos.

Once you make the photos and then put them out there, well hot sauce starts to cook. Why Hot Sauce? Well, here’s my take on it. There are countless variations of Hot Sauce. Some are mild, some hot, some hotter and even some that require a stretch to the definition of the word HOT. Then we have many labels, sizes, colors scent etc. oh, don’t forget some are just hot and too hot to really taste and others have hot but a distinct flavor.

Then there are the users of the sauces and people vary in an undefinable number. So many variables. I suppose after spending time going thru what you like and don’t like, you choose what best suites you.  At that point it’s about taste and it becomes a personal taste and you have to support it regardless of what others feel about your sauces. Some will like your choice of sauces and others may not. You may even feel intimidated from some who claim to be very skilled and knowledgeable about sauces.

Believe me, there are those among us that are professional Hot Sauce appraisers. Some of these people can tell you the vintage of the Sauce. Some are gear oriented and can discuss the bottle, cap, label etc. The thing is that everyone has an opinion and many like to express it to others about others hot sauce. Of course usually they become defensive about their own sauce and maybe that’s why they go on the offensive, because it protects their sauce from open opinion and critique from others.

So, as I said in the start, Hot Sauce is a metaphor for photography. If you just think about the hot sauce metaphor and then apply it to your photography, maybe, just maybe, you can realize that your have your own bottle of sauce and like it or not, not all with like the look or flavor or aroma. You have to accept the fact that a photograph that you make and love is your hot sauce and has a right to be on it’s own.

Your life is a competition. Don’t believe it’s not. You are competing against yourself. No matter how you bet, it’s always against yourself. We will not survive the end of the competition. What does that mean? For me it means, I do my work because I have to. I would lose a reason to breathe without it. If I meet others that are as serious as me, don’t I have the responsibility to accept them and their work? No one should pass judgement upon another’s sauce.

What hurts me if I see someone with potential doing beautiful work, and that person gets criticism and then they sloe=w down or stop, that’s F***ed up stuff.

Do your thing and find your vision and don’t get sidetracked by the the so called negative energy users. You will never make too many photos and you’ll never have too much time to do it.

Enjoy your hot sauce my friends…….I’ll be around……peace

Street Photography

May 16th, 2017 … Your Work Is Your Tree of Life … Fuji X-Pro 2

6 Comments

 

We had a meeting of the workshop members. I like the meetings because it’s nice to see progress within each member and within myself. One of the biggest request I get is editing and sequencing. Most approach that on a project basis and I don’t disagree with that but I feel the project is ones life, not a certain defined mission. Of course your mileage will vary but. During the course of your life, and hopefully a long one, if you see your work and what it means and turns int, can and will feed you always. Taking the approach of a mission or project, dissects a certain portion and kinda ignores that work before or after. So we were kicking this around and a few members are getting ready to make an exhibition. I am very excited and supportive about anything the members set out to do and do.

I bring all this up because having a plan for your work and exhibitions is all important. You need to be focused at all times and if not, when you meet the gallery director or curator or whomever will be checking out your work, will not check out your work. Being focused requires being organized. So I used to suggest that we layout our work and see it as a map. I felt this way for decades. Then Suzanne mentioned to me that it seems like a map is implying that it starts someplace and goes someplace. Well, yeah, isn’t that the purpose? Well, I am not one to argue with one that is so clearly defined that she can convince me to go off the map and see things as live and the journey it presents us and not flat with a known end in sight.

So, Suzanne is correct and I change my way of thinking and perhaps living.

See, your work is like a tree. It’s like a tree because you start at the trunk and as you learn and love and produce your work and your life, the branches start to come out and in a 3 dimensional manner. you can see direction and progress and even the fruits of your efforts. A map will eventually demand a final destination. A tree will outlive us and that is the same as our work. Maybe I am a hopeless romantic and maybe I believe in magic and maybe I believe in love. truth is I do and stand proud to admit it. If I think about my tree of life and work, I can easily start to see branches about different interest and methods and desires and finished projects all over. I see things growing and living and surviving and I see and feel that this tree will outlive me and I want  to pay respect to it as it shows the love and respect we share together.

So, organizing your work becomes less tedious and more fruitful because you now have direction, means, results that are mandatory  for after process presentation. When I am charged with the duty to sort out peoples work, the first thing I ask is to have the work in a chronological order. If you think about this, makes perfect sense. Start at the trunk and see how thoughts and INTENT has grown in a manner that reflects the shooters state of mind thru a period of time. This isn’t the only way to work but it’s the best way to get started on another method.

So next week this small group will meet and each will sort ot the 2 people work that are working on an exhibition. This is where it gets interesting.

See’ there will be 9 members and 2 will present the work. There should be about 30 prints from each of the two. So, the 2 are eliminated from the first draft. I am eliminated from it also. That leaves 6 different POV, (point of views) for the work. Each member will edit and select the prints and then sequence the edit and… then explain the reasoning behind the process they just did.  If you don’t think this opens up a conversation about vision and intent, well my friends…..

One of the best and most productive means of finding your photos out there is to see and understand from where they came from. Seeing your tree of life and being able to understand the roots and trunk and limbs, shows you the path to self discovery. The the next part of the process is the part of standing for your work.

“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”

I’ll be back in a few daze and the story of the Fuji X-Pro2 vs the X100F is being sorted out.