This is one more for Earl. Very strange image but I claim to be the maker or the whatever. It shows a collaboration between the here and now, photography and me plus some hot sauce and pepper. Truthfully when I made the photo, I did it by instinct and then when I processed it, I realized I wasn’t alone. So I tribute that to Earl and his shenanigans. For a young guy he had a way of looking at the world as an old guy would. I mean, if we take our place in time as the current center, we see our history behind us and our future in front of us. We always wish to see more future then history. This of course supports longer life. Well, at least as far as moving forward goes. Earl had a way of being in the place an elder is. Like seeing his history being longer then the future. That’s how elders see things me included. It’s oh for me cause of my age and life experiences, I shouldn’t be here anyway. But for a kids, in his early 20’s, very upsetting for him to have vision that way. Earl lived life as an elder even tho he was so young. He was a young black man that didn’t fit in this time and place, a young man with an old soul. But, we fit together, he was my friend and I miss him.

At a meet the other day, I was asked how I managed to find my way around my work. Good question. So this is the gist of what I replied. Your work will provide the direction you seek. The main thing about photography is that it only ever shows the past, or your history. It never shows the present or future. What it can do is provide direction for the heart by studying the photos and learn from our efforts that are now behind us. This is crucial and like a compass, aides in the choice of direction.

So, you never really stray from your eye, heart & mind. Maybe you feel your in uncharted territory but really, ideas and even preconceptions from the history are with you on your journey. You can’t shake them free but you don’t have to be at the mercy of repetition either.

For instance, working a series can be repetitions after repetition. This will be hard to break because we are working in a safe manner with ourselves. Usually the idea of a series or group of images comes from the mother shot. You are working and you make a photo and everyone in the world, even those not born yet want to love the photo and pay you for it. This is called the mother image. It’s called that because now you want to make many more photos that are inspired by momma shot.

The momma photo will be the original benchmark photo for the work you do that it inspired you to continue. As you journey along the map of your work, the photos you make will be the pins to mark the time and place of where you were and how you felt and thought. Well, I reckon that there be your history. Image that.

I feel it’s very important to recognize the repetition in your work. It’s also mandatory that you embrace this repetition. There’s something called, variation on a theme. I use this device all the time. What appears to be repetition is sometimes a variation on a theme. It’s like in my stuff, I have a theme of tones and grit and then subject matter. A variation is the offspring of the mother shot and has a linked presence to it that is recognizable. So, as the subject matter changes, the variations keep my interest and thus maybe the interest of the viewer.

I’m on the streets tomorrow and I’m sure I’ll have something to say. WTF, someone’s got to say it.