Tag Archives: Dreamcatcher

Black & White, Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Streetshooter

October 30th, 2016

October 30, 2016 streetshooter 9 Comments

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Pen F

The beauty here in Philly with the change of seasons has many facets to it. Perhaps most notably is the light. I just love how the light sometimes blows out the mid-tones and leaves us with light and shadows, deep and long. It’s also how people respond to the color temperature and the intensity of the light. I’ll be seeking those magical glows in the highs and when I find them, wait for the world to respond and then Click! I was walking breathing in the cool stinky air. You know the kind. It has buses, cars, garbage and garbage trucks, ladies perfume, mens cologne, other things we need not go into. I crossed Chestnut St going North on the West side of Broad Street and stopped for a break. My knee is acting up and I rest once in a while to get my mind to jump over the pain. Then, all the sudden, I mean I had an awareness, then when all was right in the stellar universe, I saw shadows but not anything or anyone to make them and thought, It’s Doc time at the VA and then, now get this, I see a man enter from my right and CLICK!

I was walking South on Broad Street and near the, um..near some bldgs. I stopped and leaned against the wall of one and tried to get my knee to behave but it said…FghweoruhtughK you shooter. A woman came down the street, stopped dead in front of me and looked out upon the streets. I knew if I gave her $10.00 she’d pose for me but I didn’t have $10.00 and didn’t need her to pose cause I hate that shit anyway. I have the camera at the ready and then she….CLICK!

I wonder how is it possible to have so many homeless on the streets. It’s starting to get cold again and I don’t think the city, state or federal govt’s do anything to really make a difference. They say they do and drive around in their pretty cars and live in their nice homes with heat and things like that. I imagine it’s a fact that many homeless are junkies or other druggie or some kind of addicted person. But this is the life on the street. We as photographers do our work and sometimes make photos of the forgotten. It’s a responsibility of all humans to care for all humans. So, I guess nothing will change on the streets once we have a new President in the USA,

The silence amongst us is deafening. We all take solace in the escape from the injustices placed upon us and all. It feels so much easier to be a part of the nothingness and let all go by us and not thru us. I think shooters are plagued by the realization that there is no nothingness because we are out there searching for the something, the something that matters and the something that makes us matter. And that something makes our photos matter regardless of what style or genre’ we work.

I talked about baggage before. It means your sensitivities and sensibilities are filled with all sorts of things and when you go out and seek photos, they pollute the clean vision we all hope for and work for. For me, maybe the weather is kicking in but I can’t deal with the fact that people, kids for shits sake are living day to day on the streets. Then these fuckers that call themselves candidates for the White House spend over $400 million to try to get elected. They send $1.7 Billion to a country that hates us passionately.

I need some sort of emotional ideas that make these things possible all the while, people are homeless with no bight shining light in the future.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Sometimes I need to get this shit off my chest cause it weighs me down and never lets me breathe freely. I walk the streets of life and see the progress man has made and the injustices that are legal and accepted by one and all. I am not a champion of anything anymore. I still make my photos of street people and slip the a few bucks. That doesn’t relieve me of responsibility I feel for my fellow members of mankind regardless of any stature.

We are all trapped in the cloud that perceive as real and yet, we all know that the upcoming election, who the fuck cares who wins…. won’t make a fucking bit of a difference to anyone but the assholes that forget.

Those fuckers forget about the POW/MIA issues also. Makes me sick that I want to write about photography and this is what comes out.

Well, like it or not, this is about photography.

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, 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.

Black & White, Color, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street

August 18th, 2016 … Dealing With Rejection & Acceptance … Fuji X100T

August 18, 2016 streetshooter 5 Comments

To start, I am not a know – it-all. If anything, I am a know – it- partly – all. One of the things I know is how to accept myself even at times of punishing adversity. It’s very easy to cave in and do all that others expect of you or worse, what you think others expect of you. That is being punished and also, punishing yourself. It’s like you show some photos to some people and they look and comment like, “Your a master, the maestro, lovely, beautiful, so talented” and you eat that shit up until you get home and sit and think. Geeze, it’s nice people like my work, I just wish that I liked that selection better then my favorites. You think, people like my stuff and that’s great. Unfortunately, maybe they are greasing you up, or patronizing you or maybe they really like the work.

So to me, it looks like that way of thinking is the way to punishment from others and yourself. The question on hand is, who do you trust and who do you allow to guide you.? See, it’s easy to have others call the shots for you and we all do that at times. If there are issues, the hell with it, blame the people that guided you. Certainly easier then to accept the blame for yourself. Let them be the scapegoat for the failure of love you need and want for your work.

The recognition that we seek, doesn’t come from others, it’s born inside us. I’m not saying it’s not nice or important to have recognition. I’m saying that if you allow that to guide you and not your heart, your doomed to failure and you let failure be the benchmark for your photos of the future. This happens to many and they can’t see that they have a problem because the ones they seek help from are the ones that they allow to perpetuate the problem. This may not be an intentional act but the effect is the same.

I remember years ago, around 1979, that I hadn’t shown any work to anyone in a bout a year. I was nervous because I was busting my butt to get a body of work together. I was already Streetshooter at this time. My friend Paul was coming down and I was excited cause he was also a photographer. He was and is an excellent shooter but he has a gift for seeing other shooters photos and getting it right away. When he arrived, we sat back and I showed him a box of prints. I had maybe 80 6×9 photos on 8×10 paper. Well, I knew the ones that reall meant something to me. Paul looked at the photos and he would say… Don, this is great. I felt relieved especially if it was one of my chosen.

Then, then when everything was going well… Paul would say, tilting his head back slight;y….”Ya know….” I knew that was the kiss of death. I mean, I’m selling my figgin cameras…..well, I didn’t and really, this is what I needed at the time. After we did the “Edit”, I would have a box of prints that was the selection we did together.

After a period of time, Paul would head home and I would lay out the photos as I saw groups, or things like that. I can not tell you the value of this experience. We did the countless times thru the years, editing each others work. It gave me confidence and a sense of visual direction. In time I learned how to relate to my work and how to defend myself against negative energy.

See, negative energy isn’t about acceptance of the work, it’s about a bad critique, or getting hammered by someone, or feeling bad because you think your work isn’t up to par. This is all common and we all suffer from it but there is a way to deal with this and my next post will be about that.

Be blessed my friends and remember, … sorry I forgot what I was supposed to remember……….

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………

Inspired Eye, Street, Streetshooter

08/04/16 … Fuji X100T … RIP G.

August 4, 2016 streetshooter 10 Comments

Wasn’t such a great meeting at the VA Group. Another Vet committed Suicide. I knew the guy for a few years and we are all troubled when this happens. I guess Trump & Clinton will fix things and all will be well. RIGHT!

So I was going home and then I saw the doors and the light on the other side and I envisioned passing thru. All the sudden, Andre’ the Fuji X100T started vibrating in my hand a a man passed by me and was now mostly in the blackness of oblivion going to the light of never ending Peace. CLICK! … Rest in Peace G. Statistics show about 22 Vets a day take their own lives.

Better to send $400 Million to Iran so they can fund terrorist groups than to add support for Veterans.

As I walked thru the Historic Park to catch the train home, I saw Polly. She waved and gave me a hug and told me she has friends in from Japan. She said she was taking them on a bus ride to see the city. Anyway, I moved around a little and then out of nowhere, I saw the bus and sure nuff…Polly was in view. I quickly made a photo and smiled. She didn’t see me. She will see the photo when she reads this post.

This is not a heavy post, it is a lite post. If it was a heavy post youse would have more to read and more photos to see. The fact is it’s a lite post and youse reached the end……

seeyas tomorrow………

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography, Streetshooter

Tuesday, August 2nd 2016

August 2, 2016 streetshooter 5 Comments

Andre’ the Fuji X100T and I hit the streets for a walk-a-bout. I hear tell that we as shooters should seek the fleeting moment. I dunno, I mean isn’t every moment a fleeting moment? So how to distinguish between a fleeting moment of time and a fleeting moment of time worth making a photo of? Well I guess it depends on your frame of mind and your emotional state at the moment of exposure. So, maybe we kinda get in the zone that I always talk about. Maybe that zone creates a preconceived set of emotions and thoughts that will influence the subject of your photos. I know a few shooters that say they shoot clean. They don’t let anything get into the mix of what they are doing. How is that possible? I mean, is it really possible to be clean, to shoot clean.

For me, it’s impossible to be clean to the point they say. I have emotions and thoughts and they have the freedom of existence. I don’t stifle either or more either. So, what is this clean they talk about? If in fact there is a clean state to work, does that imply that without that state, we work dirty? Perhaps a dirty state is one which has baggage in it. I’m not a virgin shooter. I like to work and have my thoughts and emotions working with me. I like the movement from frame to frame that comes from working this way. I like when I get to Light Room, seeing the image and how it conjures up what I was thinking and feeling at the moment of exposure. So at this late age, I am learning that there are those amongst us that try to shoot clean and that it’s fine with me but it ain’t my style.

Do our photos reflect any kind of truth? I know that they don’t really reflect the truth that many think or expect them to do. There is a difference in the photo if the viewer is the viewer or if the viewer is the shooter. As a viewer, the photo holds the truth of it’s own special existence, no more, no less. All that lives in the image is gazed upon and brought to life for the viewer, no questions answered and no lies become truths. The shooter as viewer has a much more interactive position because they remember the moment leading up to and exposure. The have locked in their memory banks in the brain, the experience of making the photo.

So the shooter is the problem in viewing photos because they may have made the photo with a so called Clean plate but when they view it, they are filled with the baggage that was at the moment of exposure. It it very hard to disengage the brain or mind from process to viewing.

More tomorrow………….

Street Photography Chronicles by Don Springer