Tag Archives: Eye

Philosophy of Street, Photography, Street Photography

The Poison of Seeing

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It has been said that we should see things as if seeing them for the first time. This is crucial to photography. Example of futility. Uncle Birney and I went to his home after work. I mentioned to him the issue of seeing things for the first time, whenever you look at it.  He was not a photographer but very smart. This issue had been bugging me for a while and I found no reasonable solution.

There was a tree in front of the house on the lawn. We stopped walking. Birney told me, there is a million dollars buried under the tree. You can have it all, but…there is a teddy bear leaning against the tree. He said, open your mind and tell me if you see it. After a few seconds, I said, yeah I see it. Then Birney told me, you can have the money but if you see the teddy bear, the money vanishes. I said, that’s easy. Then I realized for all of my life, I would see the teddy bear before I ever got a chance to get the money.

His mother, my grandmother, once told me to never poison my mind. I didn’t really pay attention but later, when I needed visual rescue, it dawned on me that Birney and Nana taught me a lesson I will never take for granted. It’s the lesson of SEEING.

See, pun intended, when I was told to see things as if seeing them for the first time, in my mind, it was impossible. I already had the vision planted deep in me poor head. How is it possible to see things for the 1st time after I already saw them? Can’t be done. So, Nana was right about poisoning the mind. Seeing something is poison in your mind. We can’t escape that.  Trying to see past that is futility. BUT…There is a way to stay focused and attempt to have the original thought.  Birney gave me the path to this. See, every time we look at something again, we see the teddy bear. Trying to rid of that is impossible. The trick is to accept the teddy bear and see the tree differently. I tried, but never got the money… and of course, Birney told me no one else could help in any way.

So, seeing something different versus trying to see it for the first time, is completely different. As photographers, we simply must allow a different vision to the commonplace in our lives. Traveling to other countries, places, etc is nice but you can never run from yourself. The simple truth of this is…. no matter how hard you try, you can never make the same photo with 2 different exposures. Put the camera on the motor drive, it fails to duplicate the first frame. There is always some poison in the mind of the photo.

Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Streetshooter

Surviving The Carnage To Creativity, Pt 1

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It’s been some time since I wrote anything anywhere. It’s not that I don’t have the thoughts, energy, or ideas. It’s that I am tired of the battles. I am not tired of fighting the battles, just the battles. I am a warrior and will never surrender.  So, I had a conversation with my selves. We decided the best way to survive is to get cameras.

See, the attack upon my humanity I can get past someway. The attack on my creative essence is not so easy. After you survive, the residue is carnage. The carnage is what you have to work with to try and get whole again. It demands attention and perseverance to make it.

I address these issues with my cameras.  Even my camera cabinet has the presence of carnage. I sold many cameras in the last 2 years. They were Covid sell-offs. I acquired what I really felt a kinship with but alas, our relationship was not strong enough to last. I am kinda the same with wives, that’s why I have 3 exes.  It’s not easy to acquire cameras and even more difficult to unload them.

Anyway, I know I’m rambling but I need to clean out the dust in my poor brain. As photographers, we are editors and curators of our lives. With our photos, we shoot and then edit the ones we care about and then curate them to a place of recognition. Maybe not for others but for ourselves and that’s what matters.

So for me, editing is an ongoing process that works in most areas of life. Cameras for example. Have you ever shopped for a camera? Well, editing them lets you decide what you want to keep and what not to keep.  Curating is kinda like keeping them on a shelf or working with them.

Editing photos is an entirely different process. It has the way and means to cripple your creative energy and more. There should be ONE pure intent to process editing your work. That is, to satisfy the love and energy of your work for you. No other agenda need to apply.  That of course is an impossible task. There are so many internal as well as external pollutants that penetrate our eye, heart, and mind.

I will do my best to reborn the blog. Some have asked for a while and some don’t give a hoot. So I do it for the ones that asked and the ones that never knew about this and for me.

Be Blessed and don’t take any wooden nickles. No, I have no clue what that means but I’m sure it means something.

Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

Covid 19 … Embracing Our History … and It’s Variations Thru Time

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My idea when I go out to work is to think about the present and generate new ideas. Of course life enters rather quickly and all goes to pot. I suppose we have memories and we store them someplace but they are always active and effect the present. I think it was Dorothea Kehaya that said, “See things as if your seeing them for the first time”. I’m not saying she coined the phrase but I heard it from her ages ago. I find that an impossible task. I mean memories and info are pollutants. No matter what I do I can’t get them out of my head and heart. This unfortunately goes for my exes too. laffs. So many say to see things as if for the first time. I firmly believe this is  destructive to think and feel. that way.  I try to see the world in a frame, I mean I see the image frame and then get placement of the subject matter to where it feels right. I know that many times over 50 years, I have seen something many different ways but the memory of the last image of it pollutes the present moment.


The interesting thing is …. since the dawn of all time, the very first cave man photographer, no 1 second ever is repeated in the same way. Maybe,  just maybe, this means that time is a measuring device that reminds us of the all important Being In the Moment. Only shooters can ever be aware of the moment.

So instead of doing battle with our past images, perhaps we should embrace those moments and if they seem to present themselves in the here and now of the moment, they aren’t really. Maybe they are guides that we have established and set for our work.

The connection as I see it is the eye, mind and heart. Ideally, all three elements come together at the precise moment of exposure. This is a known fact among shooters…but, what about the start of seeing the image. How does that actually work? I call it a trigger mechanism. I get walking and my camera is in my hand and I’m kinda tuned in a place where I am letting the world seep in my mind. Then, all the sudden something or someone strikes a chord. My juices get flowing and my sensitivities and sensibilities are activated. I start to breathe and feel a new photo coming. The trigger is what stimulates the creative process. The camera gets ready and i start framing,,,, there are thoughts and opinions on framing.

It becomes a travesty to ignore or attempt to erase history. In photography, history lends direction either from the past or implied to the future. Looking for the next photo may or may not be an easy task but it certainly should be attainable by all in pursuit of it.  Our internal vision and our external vision needs to be awake and excited and connected whenever we work. What happens when a dry spell knocks on the door? Well, that’s an issue most of us have to deal with. Having a defined history of our work, allows us to research it and bring the gist of it to our present and help shape our future.

I know this seems like non photography but it’s all about your photography. Your living this regardless of your awareness of it or not. Making photos is personal only if we adopt and apply a perspective that is our own. Mind you, it’s impossible but we strive to work that way. There are 3 aspects of time that we need observe. The past, or history, the present that is history in the making  and the future that is to become history.

When we look at our archive of photos, we are seeing our history. These footprints pave the way for the future and we should not discount the life of these photos. Maybe many will say, seeing your history will make you repeat it over and over. That is pure rubbish. There are few places on the planet that are vacant of history. In photography, like it or not, we are treading on someone’s history all the time. Nothing wrong with that at all.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

So, how to relate this too our photography and make sense of it. For a long time I was working in series or groups of photos. I mean relative consciousness of the images. I would strive to make photos that fit together with others to be something more that the single frame. Long ago before my mind was even alive, I read a book on Gestalt Psychology.  It taught me that all the parts are greater then the whole. This idea has perplexed me for decades.

I always liked to take things apart and analyze them and see what and why things tick. Well I got to thinking in later years and understood the the parts of the sum have an intrinsic value on each part that the whole may encompass but shadow over due to the mass collection of the parts.

In photography, we can not escape history. More importantly, we can never nor should we try to erase the history of others. The path we travel with our camera can be guided if not directed by what has been done before. If we embrace the history of ours and others, we give birth to the present and the future. Now with lockdowns and eases of them, we can not be lost. The struggle to create and FEEL again is reborn. We can unleash an energy inside us craving to make photos.

We are at a point of rebirth and it’s gonna be special but only because we love the history of Mother Light and all she grants us and has granted our fellow shooters across time.

 

 

 

 

Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

Covid-19 … Exploring The Control In Our Photography

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Well, COVID is a spirit and creative killer. When this started, I was told maybe 2 months back to normal. That came and went. No-fault of anyone and this is not a political post by any means. Maybe it’s about control. Not political, racial or anything else. It’s about the control of the mind and the heart. Why is this important?  Well, ya asked so I will tell my feelings about this.

Seems like long ago I breathed a freedom that engulfed my essence. It was a fine breathing I tellya. Pure creative energy entered me and filled me and gave me life.  Oh, don’t get it wrong. I still breathe but thru an N95.

There are so many elements that want to control us. What really matters is how we respond and hold stance during all this. Then, then enters Mother Light. She provides inspiration for photography more than anyone or anything else in life. One of the interrupters of inspiration is control. We as shooters are accountable for the control or lack of it in our work. I’m not talking about our lives because our lives is our work. It’s one and the same.


If you know anything about the 60’s, you might remember a Doctor. His name was Dr. Timothy Leary. Anyway, he invented a medicine that made ya feel like there was no control, no control in the universe. There was a feeling of separation of reality and your essence. Well, I don’t really have any experience with that sorta stuff. I wouldn’t know how all that effected photography, after all I am a kinda sorta maybe stand up guy.  I am and I dang sure don’t need anyone to cover me or help.

Back to mission control. I found thru life that if we stop trying to get control, we actually get control. Well, for example. I can’t really go to a camera store, not in the physical sense, and not find a camera that I absolutely must have.

 

Sometimes I might be a little crazy. it’s true. My shrink at the VA will confirm. My doc always ask questions and expects me to answer. So he asked me if I ever talk to myself.  I said, Doc, it’s ok to talk with yourself. It’s even ok to answer yourself as long as you know it’s you doing the talking and answering. If you think it’s someone else talking and answering, then ya have a problem and you get a new patient.

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So I started to groove on the control thing. I wanted to explore this but only thru photography. We have cameras, lenses, processing things all sorts of things to aid my struggle for control. I started to realize that photos are the prime example of control. In a photo wee can see the elements and graphics and even emotions and the struggle for that control. Framing, tones, color, shapes. tonal values. subject matter etc all in focus and a direct result of control.

I stated at the onset of this, when we stop trying to get control, we actually get control. If our photos are a direct visual reflection of control… what happens if we stop trying to control our photography?

I’ll be back shortly and continue …

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

Covid 19 … History Of The World … Pt1

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There’s a stillness in the air. I am told if and when that happens, to be grateful that little or nothing is going on. Just relax and let the still waters take you. Y’all know me. I ain’t no huckleberry. I don’t usually take the path of least resistance. Not that I do battle with life every day but I don’t surrender to it either. I know there are many Zen followers out there and many tell me to just go with the flow. I always ask, go where, tell me huh?

Besides all that… when someone asks me my advice about this I always say… pick up your damn camera and get to work. I get kinda freaked out if I go too long without making photos. I think it’s a matter of surrendering. Harry Callahan told me as we were talking and making a portrait of him…when you feel it all slipping away and you feel like all is being lost, that’s when you stand tall and fight with life.

I am very unstable about stability. What I think I mean is … we need to have a stable stance thru life. Maybe we sway in the winds of life but like a strong old oak tree, we go with it and after the storm, we are still standing.  So, the reason the tree still stands is because it has the balls to carry on and the roots as a base for stability.

How does that apply to us? Well from my perspective and it’s usually 35mm, it gives us a path to find our balls and roots, I can only honestly talk about my life so I will. Odds are some parts of what I express, you may feel also. There is a law in physics that states,” For every action, there is a reaction”.  There is no reaction without an action. Remember that a reaction may in itself become an action.

Example: I order a camera from Amazon, an action. They deliver next day and Tanya gets the package at the door because I am not capable of cleaning the covid19 enemies from the package. She opens the package, looks and sees a new camera. What is this? Reaction procedure starts.  Let’s jump back in time and see where this all comes from.

See, the very first married couple on the planet were actually a wee bit different than how history describes.  Adan and Eve they got right. It’s all wrong from there. Eve was cooking soup for lunch and Adam went for a walk amongst the animals. Remember, there’s no other humans invented yet. So Adam went into the local cave hangout and turned on the TV to watch the animal kingdom. He popped open a cold beer and sat back and then…. a lion came in and said, Adam, Eve is coming this way.  Adam started to leave the Man Cave but a woman elephant named Esmeralda blocked the entrance. Adam was caught with his pants down and he didn’t even have pants cause Eve didn’t sew them yet. Well, Esmeralda the elephant moved away and the light of day spilled into the Man Cave and Eve was in the light. She had something in her hand and approached Adam.

Ya know how they told us that the cave men used to have a big club and they hit a women on the head and take her home and have their way with her.  What a load of crap that is. See, Eve came to Adam in the Man Cave and then whacked him on the head with a big club that they tell us men have. As Adam lay o the floor n dream land, Eve straightened up the Man Cave and told the men animals, I’m taking him home and he’s gonna do the dishes if I can figure out what that means. She made a look on her face that made the men animals cower and become kind of submissive and quiet.  As Eve was leaving the Man Cave pulling Adam by the hair .. the man lion said. Ma’am, can we keep this between us, my wife is Queen of the jungle and we don’t even have a jungle yet. I don’t like upsetting her cause she roars and everyone knows I’m in trouble. it don’t look good to the guys if i get roared at. Eve smirked, yeah sure.

Why am I writing this? because I am tired of the lies from the media. Here, is the truth of the matter as I believe it.   I will post again within 2 days.

 

 

 

Fujifilm, Sony

Covid-19 … Of Cameras and Photos

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See, the issue for me is … bonding with a camera. Yeah I know, I know. But on the calendar, it’s COVID something and that means …. we don’t need no isolation, doctors, leave us kids alone. Well, time passed….ohhh, Walt the Fuji X100V has bugged me since we got together in mid-March. C\He’s a great camera but has a sense of humor. If your camera doesn’t have a personality, that’s your problem, not mine. Ya got time now to explore the things in your life, so do it.

Anyway, Walt has been a good camera but he makes it impossible for me to use AFS on the shutter release. I press the release and it just fires a number of shots, on its own. Of course, my tremors are not helping a bit. All my other cameras do not have this issue.  So I decided to list the camera on eBay and sell it. The problem I have is… I name all my cameras and always dod for over 50 years. Because of that, it’s hard for me to let go of any friend. Si I procrastinate to the point that I simply must do it.

I picked up Walt the Fuju X100V and it was the first time in a while. He feels really solid and nice. I decided to make a few last shots before boxing procedures starts. I can feel him looking at me from his lens… kinda sad feeling. He knows its over and his family of camera friends will be gone forever, WE went out to the garden to make a few frames. I started making photos and things feel nice. Then, then slowly my mind woke to the experience and said… shooter Walt is not playing the multi termor release game. I said…shhhh to my mind said… let’s see what’s happening. Listen up ya’ll…my mind has been on vacation for a while and if it is waking up, there be something going on.

I thought, what a lucky camera the Fuji X100V is. 5 months of aggravation and now, now when I’m ready to sell him, he acts perfectly and no issues. I decided to chat with my camera shrink. Oh yeah, I got one. His name is Harry the 8×10 Deardorff. He’s the old man of the group. Shooter, I talked with the camera family and they said you passed the test of love for Walt the Fuji  X100V. See, they figured if I kept in in the family even tho I was not happy and had issues, that means that I love the Fuji X100V without reservations.

So, I was dreaming of being in the Independence Hall Park. The grass was green, nice clouds, kinda fresh air.. the sounds of tourists speaking every language but English. I like that, it’s exciting for me.  Anyway, I’m standing there and then a voice calls out, Yo Don, you ok? I open my eyes and standing there, right there with no social distance because we didn’t need it back then… I recognize Ray Sachs. We start talking and he has the Nikon X70 and i have the Ricoh GRII. That’s not what was exciting.

See Ray had this strap for his camera and it was an ACAM E25R. It’s a strap that adjust almost instantly and in many configurations. As he was showing me the strap, I noticed a camera on it that I was not familiar with. I believe it was a Sony RX1. It was compact with a big lens and then Ray told me it was a 35mm f2 and a full-frame sensor. He told me, no matter what I sell or buy, I will never seel this camera.

Well, that dream manifested in a reality just a wee short time ago. I sold a Nikon F2, 35mm f2, 50mm, 1.4, 105 2.5 outfit that was like new from the mid 70’s I believe. So, I was laying down and letting COVID take me to a place that I don’t give a hoot about. I was having terrible nightmares and woke many times. Cold sweat and I felt I wasn’t long to be above ground. I learned many years ago, when the shit hits the fan, don’t surrender, just turn the fan around.

I did that and recalled the dream of Ray and the Sony. I hadn’t thought about this for years but it pulled me out kinda. So, I hid from Tanya da Russian wifey and started a search on eBay and low and behold, a Sony RX1R in excellent condition and has a Buy It Now and I did. The good thing about staying in during this COVID crap is, I get to spend time learning cameras and things.

Most hate Sony’s menus but I rather like them a lot. They make the menus for ppl with mental issues so that puts me all in. I get the battery charged and start doing the menu. At this point I like the camera, it’s a nice build. It’s also as old as my Leica M9. That’s a plus for me. So I know I have to do some test shots and I bribe Barsik the Cat to sit for me as I make some snaps. Then out to the garden and some snaps. I am not overly excited but I am enjoying the camera. I sat and made so fresh Brita Water. THE BEST WATER, SHOVE YOUR BOTTLED WATER WHERE THE SUN DON’T SHINE.

Ok, time for LightRoom and the first viewing of what the camera is capable of. I load the card, import as DNG and then… gasp… OMG! I’m really like in shock…

to be cont’d……………

 

Garden, Inspired Eye, Off Street

The Grass Is Always Greener … Covid-19

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The Grass Is Always Greener on the other side, and it’s true. Now get this, ….I know why and I will tell you all right now. The grass nis greener over there because there’s more bullshit (pardon my profanity) over there to fertilize it.

Anyway I always thought that I’d love to have more time to work in Light Room. It’s been an unrealized dream.

I’m not a heavy shooter, just 186lbs…laffs. The thing is, I have time to process from a days shoot because ,I don’t burn a lot of pixels. The time I dreamt of was time to go thru decades of photos and re-shoot them and find the ones I let sleep in hopes of one day bringing them home. Well Mr Covid 19 has put the lid down on my thinking. Now I have the time  to do the editing and sorting I always wanted.

The time we desire is the time we waste and the time we live is the time worth dying for. Now I have time to edit and process and whatever. I even have time to discover the things in LR that Olivier shows me. What do I do, well the green green grass of home is with my cameras.  Lucky enough, We have a garden out back and big enough I can find things to make photos of.

So, having time to spare and waste, causes the brain to kinda turn to spaghetti. I said to my self,  don,, yes…. we need to do photography but spend time doing it. Hmmmm we both thinks me has a good idea. I will take the new Fuji X100V  out to the garden and make 1 frame Just 1. Ok, sooo where’s the magic? Well I go and make 1 frame and then come into the PC and do Light Room on that 1 frame.

The idea for me is, to use time productively and be aware of the process.  This method works. I have shot a fair amount of frames and processed a fair amount. This gives me the experiences that I no longer have till Mr Covid-19 let’s us breathe again.

This has been an ordeal for Tanya and me. I’ mean we all know I am easy to live with, get along with almost everyone, just a joy to be around. Well, sure we all know that, it’s a constant in the universe. The thing is, Tanya has her own ideas. Every time I go to the garden, she wants to know what I’m doing.

See, she knows when I have a camera in hand, I am in another plane of existence. I could walk on her seedlings or plants etc raspberry or strawberry plants and then not even know I destroyed things. But I get the photo I tellya, like she gives a hoot, no damn sure don’t  Even Barsik the cat is careful in the garden We have there bags and fill them with  good soil and she plants stuff in them. They are great because you can move them to where the sunlight is. Barsik thinks they are his litter bags.

Of course for me everything is camera food. I mean Mr Covid-19 has locked me in and as I write this, I am 33 dayz in.   I started to wonder what Tanya is doing in the yard. She’s smart and frugal as she’s digging a big rectangular hole. I guess she want’s fresh dirt cause it’s a deep hole.  She’s digging and the looks at me and has this kinda weird smile like a Hitchcock smile, Well, I won’t say anything we both need to have a way to spend our time.

Stay in, stay focused, stay safe and keep an eye out for others. We are all in this together so, be aware………….I’ll write again soon but Tanya just told me I don’t have to worry about that. She’s digging and a digging…..

Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

June 27th, 2019 … Stop Running Away … From Being You

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I remember back in 1975 I wanted a blad like crazy. Once I had the camera I was all proud and happy. I’d go to openings with my un-named blad on my shoulder, knowing I was someone. One day my friend Paul told me I wear the Blad like jewelry and don’t make photos with it. The truth was he was right. I had it at last but really didn’t use it. I was a street shooter and not a Blad dude. I felt that the camera would give me a signature or tone and it didn’t. I was really heartbroken.

Ya know, we can run like crazy from our gear, our PC’s, our thoughts and ideas but the important part is, you can’t run from yourself. It’s easy to think we can, just by ignoring the signals that come to us and yes, from us but the truth is, ya ain’t going nowhere. I remember the night I got my stage name. I was playing a gig at Cliff’s and we were heating it up. The audience was 90% black, don’t matter to me but I was the only white guy on stage. We cutting blues and everyone is really digging us. A woman halfway back in the seats stands up and says… that’s the Snowman, I know him he’s the Snowman. Gotta tell ya, I was on cloud 9. I mean people dancing and having a good time and I was driving them with my ax. I was the Snowman and would be forevermore. But, I was feeling things I wanted to say with my Strat that I didn’t know how to do it. Even tho the crowd was excited and loved us playing, I thought, there are 550 people out there loving all this, why can’t I love myself?

I had an opening at a MainStream Gallery in New Jersey. I had 50 prints of various sizes on the wall. As the evening progressed, may people cam to see the show. I was flattered that prints sold and was happy. It wasn’t about acceptance cause in photography, I am. We have like 60 people and the gallery director announces that I will be having a chat and question and answer in 10 min. Thanks for telling me. Her name is Diana and she’s an elderly lady with the elegance of a queen. Stunning and I am a working guy with a camera. She pulled me aside and in very clear words… Don, I adore you and I breathe your photos as well as but them. You must do this chat and do it well. I looked her in the eyes and I said, Diana, I got this, relax. I really was not uptight at all. I have my TONE intact and I can do this because I was placed on the earth to be a photographer. (if ya don’t pump yourself up, who will?)  There were many questions and even some discussions about gear. The press core was there and they threw a  question or 2 at me. I could look past the people and I saw Diana standing by herself in the white silk blouse. She had her hands clenched against her breast and I just looked at her and realized, she sees me clearer than I see myself. I answered many questions and explained many things the way I saw and felt them. I was not nervous not even 1 iota. For the first time in my life, I felt at one with myself. Ding had introduced me to Diana years before and now that his time had passed, I realized that Diana was my unspoken mentor and supporter.

Even today, when I visit Diana, she will take my face in her hands and kiss my eyes and tell me, the gift of humanity dwells inside you. Maybe she’s right, I mean I can’t understand all that I am or could be, no one can, right. It takes a gentle soul and a kindred spirit to recognize one another.

The key issue is to attempt at all cost to recognize oneself. It’s nice and even stimulating to be accepted into a community or group of other photographers. It’s flattering to know you are respected. There are keys to unlock those doors of acceptance. Such as Leica, many will acknowledge you because you have a Leica. Maybe it’s a Fuji or Nikon or Ricoh group. Maybe you are accepted because you shoot film and work in an analog manner. The list goes on and on. Let me tell you something. You can run away from many things in life, even death but you can never ever run away from yourself.

Time to man/woman up and face the facts, you are who you are and need to accept and love that person. If not, one day you’ll be playing a strat on stage and feel empty even as the crowd stands and calls your name.

 

Inspired Eye, Photography

June 24th, 2019 … Finding Your Way Thru The Mist of Your Creativity… Pt1

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Did ya’s ever kinda sorta, maybe feel like your out of place? You don’t have to say anything. We can keep it a secret. Myself, I been feeling like that for as long as I can remember and I’m sure it goes back further than that. There’s not much ado to make yourself feel more at ease so, just accept it and get on with things. That’s what I try to do. Ya know, this will apply to your photos also. I know it seems hard to believe, but ye olde shooter knows something about this. What ya can’t do is surrender. There’s an energy that we can tap into that gives us stamina during the down times and we need to feed on that.

To be honest, I never ever felt lost, or even a lack of energy to work. That’s not the point. The point is I know many who have been in this situation or are even in it now. The best advice I could give is to, close the box with your photos or just don’t look at any photos you made. Just don’t keep any images available for viewing. Of course, if your really a shooter, those photos are in your head anyway. Just don’t think of them. It’s not like you can have a fresh start but you can have a start that’s not jaded with your photos.

We are creatures of habit. We get very comfy doing things that work over and over. I have talked about trigger mechanisms many times and If you think about this, your photos are trigger mechanisms. Yeah sure. See, you have these photos you really like and they become platforms for your creative mind. The photos of the past will drive the photos yet to be borne from you.

This is not like breaking a barrier. It’s more like being comfy on this side of the fence and wondering what’s on the other side. Don’t get me wrong. I am not an optimist. Many have told me thru the years that the grass is greener on the other side. Oh yeah, ya know why… cause there more BS there to fertilize. I’m talking about finding your way thru the mist of images you already have and trying to find the ones out there you haven’t discovered yet. Maybe this doesn’t seem important to you. Dunno but sure is to me and many I know.

I’ll do a series of articles and am open to offer my opinion on the comments page. Each post will address a certain are of creativity and the Dreaded BLOCK. Be blessed all and have a sweet photographic experience that lasts your lifetime.

Inspired Eye, Street Photography, Streetshooter

June 11th, 2019 … Analyzing Intent … Soul Shooter … Pt 1

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…. aight, so then what about intent? Who the heck invented that anyway … and then makes everyone, well many everyone’s but not all everyone’s but enough= everyone’s to question the intent of the intent makers intent. I ain’t one to rock the boat, too much. Been married way too long and too many divorces to do that. So, I know how to escape and get outside and go make photos by myself. Ahhh, so maybe, just maybe it’s crazy but maybe that there being by myself is the issue of intent.

One of the residents in my mind talks about the here and now. I tried to find him but he’s hiding and watching me make a fool of myself. I know this. If you’re being a fool and being that unknowingly, you’re a fool. If you’re being a fool and your fool intent is working, you may appear to be a fool but your not.

Here’s what it has to do with photography.

I say it applies to photography but actually, it’s a life lesson. Let’s just deal with the photography part and maybe address the other parts later.

We all know about the here and now. If you’re just joining us, go back and find the there and then. Study it and when you feel you are ready, join us in the here and now. What exactly is in the here and now? I know, I know we all been taught that if you’re there in the here and now, your in tune with life within and without you. (GH) But what exactly is this element that we become aware of? It’s not the camera unless you connect to it in a most elegant manner. Your clothes are present, the air you breathe, etc. the YOUR is part of the key.

We might say it;’s our persona or perhaps it’s like awareness of all and also forgetting that all. I’m sure all that counts in the total of our life’s existence. Go to a funeral or flashback to the one you went to and remember the words….” May his soul rest in peace, this could also be, May her soul rest in peace.” That’s it, not kidding… it’s that soul guy I’m chasing after. Soul woman whatever.

THE SOUL

I think most get it wrong. We figure that a camera is a tool I never felt that way. I always felt my camera was a partner in my work and maybe a soul mate. I name my cameras. It keeps me in touch with what I am responsibly doing. The real tools are not the camera by any means, it’s the eye, heart, and mind. See those 3 tools are keeping you alive and able to continue. So then, if we all accept that and I’m sure you will, what becomes the driving factor of those tools. Two things. The medical profession sucking all your money to keep those tool working and the other is, your soul to use and love those tools.

 

So, my belief is kinda distorted because life always has it’s own opinions and sets them to my mind.  Perhaps, I’m talking about religion and spirituality.  Religion equates to the camera brand you use. It’s the part of you to operate within a guideline of life experience, past and yet to be realized. We may all differ on brands. Spirituality is the source of commonality between us all. It’s the SOUL of living and the SOUL of photography. This is an inescapable truth.

The essence of your images is a direct result of the experiences of living and making photos.

 

The reason I write this stuff is partly that I find that there needs to be a connect with the world. We are apart. like it or not and that very statement conjures up the notion that we are responsible and accountable for our photos. We are not politicians that get to keep the buck and not be accountable for any wrong doing. We are humans with a camera and that means we are accountable to our selves, our work, and our subject matter.

Getting tired again. I need to rest but will continue this tomorrow.

Be blessed, my friends

 

 

 

 

 

The Weeds and the Flowers