Tag Archives: Dreams

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

Missing Edmund Bacon Pt 2

June 24, 2016 streetshooter 8 Comments

On our adventures, Ed would always make a remark if I made a photo on the street. Of course, where else would I make a photo if I’m on the street? Dare I ask Mr Bacon that….NO! He liked me to make photos of life and the awareness of it. I felt that we had an understanding of each other, like decades ago but we didn’t know each other then.

So, when I’m on the street working, sometimes, I feel like I’m not in sync or not present with others or myself. It’s not an add feeling or a feeling of loneliness at all. It’s like the clock is ticking and I am aware of it, maybe more than others. That I can’t swear to as I have enough troubles being in my own head let alone trying to be in some one else’s. I went out today with Mom, the Ricoh GRII and my intent was to get a few images not for effect, but for emotions. See the man above, the center of the photo? Well that could be Edmund Bacon. It’s not in that reality but in the new reality, it is.

It’s like once you become aware of yourself, then others become aware of you and yet, you adopt the energy of the others. It’s a cycle of circular motion, that energy passes by and thru us. Photographically, we can get lost because we hold fast to the belief that Light alone is the source of energy. The true energy that we deal with is not light, even tho’ it’s the cornerstone, it’s EMOTIONS.

Tapping into the emotions of the street allows the juices to flow along with the energy of thought and vision. There are many times that I am out there and all the sudden I change the settings on my camera because a wave of emotions is being transmitted by and to me. I’m sorry gang, I don’t question that at all. I just go for it. It’s the natural awareness of photographic energy.

So, what’s all this shit have to do with anything including photography? Well, maybe if you are just a friggin knucklehead, nothing. If you are a empty shooter, nothing either. If you are a human with a camera, well….now we are getting it.

I didn’t have the money to go to Collage. I guess for the most part, I am self taught in life. I was really envious of many people that I knew that had collage degrees. I thought, how lucky they were. So I thought that if I am to gain knowledge, I must seek that knowledge from those that have it. I started to do portraits and as I made them, I engaged my subject in conversation and learned from the conversation. This worked well and I got great photos also.

I did this for many years and still do in different ways, but still do. I am guilty of living my life trying to learn the value of life. I am guilty of trying to understand people and their lives, ( except my ex’s)… Most of all, I am guilty of living a life as a shooter and applying all that I am into my work.

This is what Edmund Bacon kinda shoved in my head. He gave me the awareness that the world and it’s in habitants are all anyone needs to survive and continue. That’s a big statement but it’s a big world. So when I’m out there, I’m feeling thee life and the movement of living energy and the way I fit in with it.

I gotta tellya…. it’s a damn sure beautiful thing this life is……It’s a great journey and one I personally carry my friends, my cameras with me. Maybe photography keeps me in touch with things and then maybe photography keeps things and people in touch with me….

There’s plenty of knuckleheads out there writing…. like 1/250 f16, or this camera is better than that camera…..

Ya ain’t gonna get too much of that here…. I can only give you my heart and well, parts of my mind but my shrink keeps most of it…..

Philosophy of Street, Street Photography, Streetshooter

Missing Edmund Bacon

June 22, 2016 streetshooter 12 Comments

There is an elegance to breathing. It’s the one thing that keeps us above ground. It’s the common denominator to all human beings, even those that may not be as human as others, breathing.

There is a musician that said, “Love is the Seventh Wave”…I think his name is Sting, some Bass player or something. What he said tho, is very important because it establishes the rhythm of life. So then if there is a rhythm to life then breathing is the elegance of the living and hence, the Elegance of Life.

Well, that simple enough to digest so why am I writing this stuff now? Because photography has a rhythm to it. Making…(we doin’ need no takin; ’round here)… photos somehow has to have a rhythm to and we need to explore that. I been aware of this maybe phenomenon, for a long time and I just been going over things I learned thru my life.

I find that sometimes I feel like Coltrane, just going along with my internal rhythm and flowing. Other times I feel like Muddy Waters and other times like Respighi.

I spent time with Edmund Bacon. We did a book together called..”Murder of the Little Stream”. Basically, it’s about how the City of Philadelphia wanted to expand the Northeast section of the city. They all smoked their cigars and sat back in leather chairs and decided that they would fill the Neshaminy Creek and PennyPack Creek. The engineers and city planners and architects and Mayor and the whole gang were convinced that was what should be done. Then they would make many, many boxes for the residents to live in. It was a plan without Rhythm or Heart.

Then riding in on his Magic Unicorn waving the Flag of Humanity, Sir Edmund Bacon smashed the door down to the dungeon where all bad and stupid people and thoughts were in hiding. . He said, open your minds, open your eyes and open your hearts and let me shine the light of history future for you.

One day Ed had a task for me. He always had a task and I always looked forward to them because I loved the guy and thought he was an Angel of Mercy on the earth. Ed said, I need a photo of an egg with the red veins in it. I didn’t want to ask why even tho I was very curious.

My wife at the time and I drove about 50 miles to a place that had such eggs. (I think they are called fertile but don’t hold me to that)…We bought a dozen eggs. I was very excited because I knew there was a good life lesson coming soon.

So we got home and I set the View Camera up. The camera was an 8×10 Deardorff named Margaret. So, my wife made a plate with a clear background and together we started making the photos. I didn’t exactly know what Ed wanted but i was sure the he would tell me what he didn’t want.

So, I shot the whole dozed eggs individually. I made silver contact prints on Azo. We went to Ed’s and we all sat down and I handed the prints to Edmund. He flipped thru the prints rather fast and I was upset but waited. Then, then the 10th print, the one I prayed was right, the 10th magical image caught Ed and I noticed a tear in his eye.

He looked at me and said, stand up Don. We both looked at the print and he told me the story how when he was a little boy, he cracked an egg open and saw the veins like this one. He starred at it and immediately know that the cities we live in are like an egg or a cell.

He explained to me that the yoke is the center of the city and thus, the center of life. The clear white was the surrounding areas and the veins are the roads and highways that transport life to all in and around the city.

He looked at me and said, I know you understand. Yes, Ed, I do.

Ed and I used to walk Market Street and I mean walk. He could walk miles without tiring.He would tell me about how he designed Market East and show me things and then he asked me, “Don, why do you make photos in Center City all the time?”.

I explained to him that Life has a rhythm and it’s not always in time with others but I feel and breathe this rhythm and it gives me life. Center City is the yolk of the egg and I live on the clear white part and I take public transportation everyday to get here like the veins in the egg.

The moral of this story, the moral of this song, is that one should never be where one does not belong. (Bob Dylan)

So I suppose the point I’m making is that, we all have a place in the world. It is your duty to your soul and your essence to discover yourself and where you belong. Your camera will do the work asked of it and make the photos you desire. …but if your not in sync, or rhythm with yourself then you can’t be with the world.

So, my friends. Don’t let things get you out of place. If you feel that maybe you don’t fit in with those around you, hat your work isn’t up to par, well…. just sit back and imagine that they are all wrong because you are your own person and you need to be right for you, if you fit in with others, good if not….. as long as you recognize you and what you do….nuff said

Street Photography

A Lesson I Really Learned From Minor White

June 21, 2016 streetshooter 11 Comments

Sometimes I wonder what on The Lords Green Earth am I thinking about. Maybe that’s a problem we all share.. yeah, damn right …you too. See, I kinda get on auto pilot and let my feelings and eyes do the work. Of course they are not independent of my whole, but I let them have guidance on the creative end. Also, nothing get’s the camera to work unless the mind is in it too. See, that’s the Eye, heart and mind I learned from Minor White.

From what I could take in, it was….don’t work looking for answers, but just be content with the questions your work presents to you. If you do this and don’t expect anything but more questions, you will live with your work as one and have peace thru it. If you force the issue of discovery and fight the battle for answers, you will live in turmoil and never be content with your work because you don’t know what it means to have peace.

Now I ain’t saying Minor was always right but I don’t think he was ever wrong. He further explained that there is contrast in everything we do. (later expressed as the inverse square law by me) He went on to explain that every single photo has the right to life. Every single photo is unique and it’s existence is justified by the fact that you created it. So, of course we all want and seek that special photo that we consider a Self Masterpiece. The point is, like children, not all are that special above the others. We strive for the special i,age but many are just a fragment of our life as it was when we made the photo.

I remember Seeing Paul Strand’s work countless time at the Museum. I think I mentioned this before, Ding showed me a box of Strand’s unseen works. Stuff he made but didn’t push or feel was worthy of exhibiting. Ding vowed to respect Strand’s request to never show the work to anyone. Luckily, I am no one so I saw the photos a few times. I realized back then that photography was not a labor of love as is taught. It is a way of life.

What echoed in my soul was that Paul made photos just like everyone and his well known masterpieces were what was always see. The fact that he made regular snaps, made me feel the connection to him stronger then I ever could have hoped for.

It’s like this, you go to a restaurant in Paris. Nice place, good wine excellent food. The you have to use the toilet, (I think that’s what it’s called, fee free to correct me)…you walk in and you see feet sticking out of a stall where someone is sitting doing his business.

You are taking a leak and you hear the familiar sound of gas escaping…(NE Philly it’s called a fart)… the stall door opens and out comes, in front of you a hero beyond all heroes the enigma that we call Henri’ Cartier Bresson.

You are in panic mode, I mean it’s true Bresson is a man, a man amongst shooters but a man. You think, wow, I can sit on the toilet like Bresson did…. your right.

Let me tell you something, all the world and all the planet recycles energy and love and hate. Don’t let anyone every tell you that you can’t do what Bresson did.

Do you see the hunger people have for heroes? Vivian, Bresson, Strand, Winogrand. It’s up to you what you do with you work and your life. If in fact energy recycles over and over, maybe you are the next Hero. Maybe just maybe, you might know the next hero. Maybe just maybe you will buy a book by that hero or maybe name your camera after that hero…..

see you all tomorrow…….oh… if in fact some of youse become the next here, I want a discount on your stuff….

shooter out………end transmission……………………….

Philosophy of Street

The World ain’t What Ya Want it to Be …

June 20, 2016 streetshooter 10 Comments

….but it just might be what you need….

There’s a heck of a lot of things out there in Philly Land….The tourist are here in mega numbers. Ya know, I get a kick out of seeing what camera’s the tourist shooters use. So I’m checking out the tourist and many of them are checking me out. They are all wearing Phillie’s hats or Eagles, or USA hats and jerseys, all kinda of Americana. I usually wear a POW/MIA or Viet Nam Veteran hat so, that’s an attraction. Now as far as cameras go, they mostly have it down. I see Leica’s Film and Digital, many M-43 cameras and the most popular seems to be Sony.

I met a guy from Germany. I was making the above photo and when I turned around, this man was standing right in front of me. I think he was like 9′ tall and weighed about 500lbs. He said to me in a heavy accent, RICOH……..I said yes, GRII. He said, is good camera? I looked him square in the eyes like I was looking to the sky cause that’s how big he was. I said, Great camera. He smiled and pulled out a GRD4 and showed it to me. He said, this is Tilly. (ok, so here’s the thing. It’s a well know fact that on all the earth and other planets, if someone reads my blog, maybe they will name a camera. If they don’t, it will never happen)….so I smiled at the guy and his Ricoh GRD4 named Tilly. Ya don’t not smile to a man that eats elephants for snacks.

So he introduced himself as Horst and I said my name was Don. All the sudden, right in front of me own eyes, Horst started shrinking in height and weight. I thought to meself, meself, what’s going on. I did ya know? I couldn’t answer in a proper answer cause my Dr at the VA wasn’t in me head cause he just wasn’t.

The point is and should be well takes, is that many of our fears in life aren’t as bad or scary as we imagine them to be.

I’ve heard from many out there that they are afraid to approach people to make photos. This is common and maybe it’s something that one addresses and overcomes in time. So, that’s cool but it shouldn’t stop one from making photos other then portraits on the street or whatever.

We carry baggage with us and it’s not your tooth brush and undies either. It’s your emotional state and that is baggage that should be dealt with carefully.

Years ago, I was talking to my mom about why I make photos. She asked me as she had no clue of what I was doing any why and I answered her something like this….

I don’t want to lay on that marble slab at my death and have THE LORD ask me why I did my life the way I did. I want to be able to say, I lived my life as I felt my heart directed me and I wouldn’t mind more time if YOU could spare me some but if not. I’m ready as I didn’t waste my life wondering what could be.

Be blessed everyone and to those worrying, I am not kinda ok and will be posting again more regularly……….

shooter out……………………………………………………………..

Philosophy of Street

In Search Of Pt 1

June 12, 2016 streetshooter 4 Comments

In life, I think that we search for things to complete our identity. What I mean is, we gather and assemble things that we feel will add to us as a person. In photography, we search for the best camera we can get, maybe not afford but the best we can get. We want the best way to process our work and get the best results from it. All these things are important to our identity and we are all Brand conscious.

There are paths along the way to becoming at one with yourself that will either guide you on the journey or detract you from it. How do we know which to take, well sometimes we listen to others and maybe that’s good and maybe it’s not so good. At some point, we get confronted with ourselves and we stand naked in front of ourself and just see the gist of who and what we are or strive to be.

We can hide behind our PC’s, behind our cameras, lenses, locations, thoughts, experiences but in the end, we look at OUR work and the’s the truth of us. It seems like it should be the easiest part of being but in fact, it’s the most challenging. Checking our work is the one part of the process that we don’t get to hide behind.

Our work is our brand. Our brand is created by everything we assemble and put into the image.

There is a process of activation. We do all these things to make the photo but the most important are a few things not everyone recognizes. Eye, heart, and mind. When you look at your work, maybe you think, Leica M9 50mm, or Ricoh GRII, or Olympus Pen F 14mm etc. Maybe you think, Light Room and Nik, many, many combinations.

What does the viewer see? Well, many will search for the Brands that are in the photo. The most sensitive viewer will seek to see and feel YOU!

The real Brand of your work, is you. Once you accept this, you stand maybe by yourself but in an uncomfortable position by yourself but, with the knowledge that you are and will continue to produce your Brand.

I have have to hit the street but will keep things going, I hope. Have a blessed day regardless of where you are….

shooter out………………………………………………………………………

Street Photography

Thinking Color … RICOH GRII

June 3, 2016 streetshooter 6 Comments

Well, I suppose that I ain’t all cleared in my mind yet. Oh, my brain is not on vacation so that’s not the issue.I don’t know that there is an issue and if there is an issue is it an issue I need to be concerned about?

I been enjoying roaming the streets of Center City Philadelphia with Mom the Ricoh GRII. It’s tourist season so I am feeling my oats, so to speak. Something that has been gnawing at my back is the reading of photos of B&W vs Color. I have been critiquing photos from some friends here in Philly so they can submit to various things. This is some shooters that have taken a workshop with me. I offer never ending support and most take advantage of that. The word I use, never ending, may be a mistake at times.

One of the most difficult things to work on is the way the print is assembled. I say assembled because that’s really what happens and always did happen. Every step from holding the camera to presentation is apart of the assembly procedure. So if that’s the case, and it is, any given point may add to or detract from the finished print. There are 2 main considerations that will control the eye travel of the viewer. The first is, Aspect ratio. This is the rectangle or square that you compose your frame in. The most common are 3:2 and 4:3. This is not so say that others aren’t important, just that these 2 are the most popular. In fact I have a natural affinity for 16:9 but haven’t perused it for long time.

So, the visual Dynamic of the box or frame has an enormous impact on eye travel and the final image. It behooves us to at least understand the frame we choose to work in.

Another very key element that really is taken for granted is B&W vs Color. This seemingly simple decision can and will make or break the image. I remember at the Museum with Ding, he showed me some prints and they were in color. I can’t recall the photographer but just the experience. See, this is KEY! I remember almost every photo I saw there in B&W but this group was in color and I can’t remember the shooter. Back then I was a Leica shooter and just used B&W films. I never cared for color. Now, I don’t distinguish between the 2 to the point that it mandates my thinking or feeling. Now, my only concerns are breathing and really spending time till the end of my life breathing.

I have the tendency to find my own tonal scale in B&W. I always did that in my darkroom and I’m told that i have a palate that is mine. Now it seems I have something similar in digital. I admit it’s a shared palate. So, me brain is thinking, maybe, just maybe we need to understand color in our own palate. So I am analyzing my thoughts and feelings towards color and the effect if has on my prints and more importantly, my vision.

Now, lets clear the air. I have done color in the past even with serious intent. Now with this new life cycle, I decided to do color with a new set of thoughts. I was asked a short while ago, why I write this stuff? Well, I guess because I have to and someone has to do it. I replied, if you need to ask why I write this stuff, you don’t belong here.

I suppose I’ll continue this but for now, I need to rest again.

Street Photography

Fuji X100T

May 14, 2016 streetshooter 8 Comments

See, Andre’ the Fuji X100s was passed on to Olivier. Then I started missing him instantly. When we took Olivier and Andre’ the Fuji X100s to the airport, I had a sick feeling and a feeling of loneliness inside me. I felt empty.

Then as Olivier jumped out of the car, I felt a presence inside my soul. I knew who it was. Quickly I ordered a Fuji X100T and in a day, it was here. I loaded it with a fresh charged battery and turned it on…..

Then, then by the grace of Mother Light, I felt the presence do kinda like Astral Travel from my soul to the Fuji X100T and it gave life to the empty camera.

I watched as Andre’ did his magic to the camera. Now here’s the thing. Fuji cameras are wonderful and do a great job but they come alive when working with a shooter that gives them a name and creates a synergism with them. I did that, well Andre’ and I did that.

Clarification

Part of the idea of naming a camera is to:Unite the eye, heart and mind with the process of photography. Sure, you can be a knucklehead and just meander thru life and just not be so attached to everything. That’s called, it’s your life so do as you please and just leave me alone. procedure.

I see it like this. Andre’ is not just a camera. He’s a metaphor for my existence as a photographer. So, when I say Andre’, it means every facet of my photographic life. Why do I do that? Why shouldn’t I and why don’t you. When there is an attachment like this, for me, it’s let’s me become at one with what I’m doing. It is a conscious awareness of the eye, heart and mind in the here and now.

I have had many cameras in my life but never kept a single one that didn’t allow me to name it.

Besides, we all need a place to put the guilt or blame for things, right? When a shot don’t turn me on, it’s not my fault, it’s Andre’s or another camera I was out with. See, not so stupid, huh, huh?

I hope you all have a blessed weekend, and life but really just this weekend and it becomes very productive cause I only get so many blessings to give out and can’t keep them so I pass them on to all youse and yes I may be crazy butt it’s all about life and being awake while you live it cause when we are dead I don’t think there’s battery chargers up there or down there so let’s keep things together here……

Inspired Eye, Street Photography

Unheard Voices

May 6, 2016 streetshooter 8 Comments

Well, apparently I’m not the only one thinking about my work. I got some nice emails from readers here and even some post about the situation. Oh yeah. it’s a situation alright. It’s bi-partisan also.

I happen to really like the above photo. No matter what others think and or feel….I like it, I feel it and glad that I made it. Enter the Flickr crowd. No I am a Flickr-ite so it’s ok for me to comment about the madness there cause, I’m maybe the most madneser guy there.

It’s not easy to stand up for yourself amongst the crowd. We all want to be accepted and appreciated.To let that influence what and how and why we do things is a problem. Actually it’s many problems on a multitude of levels.

Ok ok… check this stuff out…… your looking at someones work. You check the meta data out and see that person is working with a Fuji X100T You don’t have that camera BUT YOU KNOW YOU NEED IT!

That shooter was in Paris and you can’t walk there….BUT YOU HAVE TO GET THERE! That shooter is very sensitive to the darkness and you always do bright sunny or overcast light…BUT YOU KNOW YOU NEED TO SHOOT IN THE DARKNESS.

C’mon, I’m the worst of the lot of us. I have 1400 cameras, airline tickets to every city in the world and a guide in each city to show me the streets cause I’m too fucked up to know ANYTHING ANYMORE!

Ok, so here’s something for youse to chew on. In my interviews for the Inspired Eye Magazine, I ask a question about going out to work alone of with others.

99% of the interviewed answer, alone. Now I find that a very interesting question and the answer seems so simple but it’s the most crucial question you will ever be asked. Your answer to that determines how in touch with what your doing you are.

Here’s what I mean. Photography is a 2 dimensional art form. I rather think it’s really a 3 dimensional art form and the 3rd dimension is not space but the mind. Of course those with a spaced out mind, are ok and this applies to them also.

When you go out to work and your alone, just you and your NAMED camera and your in a place you like to work, are you alone? Most of course will say yeah, I like to work alone.

You are not alone. You are out there with all the things people say about your work, all the things you see in other peoples work, all the stuff that you want to improve upon, all the energy that is churning around in your mind and much of it is placed there by others.

It’s the unheard voices in your head that will overcome you and make you surrender your self to them. Those voices dictate what you see and how you see and why you see it and what you use to capture it.. They do not have your best interest at heart. They are there and they force their will upon us in many ways, location, camera, processing, everything.

Ever hear the expression….”Misery loves company.” It’s true. Why do you think we all get married?

It’s the weekend. Olivier and I have the presses going strong to get the new issue out to everybody. I will seeya all very soon…

chew on this stuff and don’t be afraid to let me know your thoughts…..

….to be cont’d………

Street Photography Chronicles by Don Springer