Tag Archives: Intent

April 28th, 2017 … Philly Street … Fuji X-Pro2

April 28, 2017 streetshooter 13 Comments

So after a long deliberation I decided to sell off some stuff and get the X-Pro2. I had the X-Pro 1 and an XE2 and other things. Fuji didn’t see fit to make me an X shooter so I did it myself and I answer to no one. The X-Pro2 is now my interchangeable camera. The job was taken from Serendipity the Olympus PenF. I love buying cameras and gear but hate to part with them. This is not GAS, it’s DSG. Oh, DSG = don’t sell gear. Truth be told, it’s important to shake the cage some and rotate cameras regardless of how you feel for them.

I think the Mother Processing Computer at USA Central Headquarters, Weather Control Unit has also made changes. In a few days we went from rain and chilly to sunny and 84F.

See, sunlight is necessary for shooters because, well I think we all have our own reasons so I will let that one go. What I been going thru is validation. I mean I have to accept what and why i am doing with photography. So, like I go out and make photos and I need to validate everything. It’s about commitment and acceptance. Those elements are not active without intent. So I been examining my intent and the after work of it.

I had breakfast with a small group last week, also the reason for no post in a week), and we were discussing things like intent. One guy had an attitude and was riviting a youg woman about her work.

She was getting upset and almost in tears and I jumped in and tried to rescue her from despair. So, I said…..leave her alone as you are no authority. Right away he lashed out to me. (now I must admit, I am not good at holding back but there was 3 woman at the table so I didn’t curse but invented words that meant those curse words.) He said, Don, I don’t care for much of your work. I think you are wasting time doing photography. I smiled. So I leaned back and said, ****. listen, I will put orders in to the international congress of photographic rules and guidelines. I will state that every shooter and every one that will be a shooter or that will be born and become a shooter, learn your guidelines and rules and esthetics and all, every single one get your stamp of approval for their work. The the whole FUC**** world can be to your satisfaction. Will that satisfy your ego?

After he stood up and left, the crowd clapped and we had a much better time without him. (note, I called him a day later and we talked and he didn’t apologize but kinda backed off. The call was tense and I could feel it. So, to break the tension, I said… I know the issues for you. You haven’t figured out how to check every ones work in a good manner. We both laffed and I expect him to return to breakfast next trip.) So this hit home base for me and I realized that …. to quote Dylan…”One should never be where one does not belong.” What that means at the moment for me is, that if your working for something other then your own satisfaction, it’s issues that will arise.

What makes a good client shooter is not the gear so much. It’s discovering your client’s wants and needs and then finding a way to satisfy them. So in a way that could mean that you are a formula shooter. You have recipes that work and then decide which one or mix gets the job done. Then you get paid. The reason you got the job was because you understand your client’s needs and wants.

It’s the same but even more intense when you are your own client. So we need to discover motivation, obstacles and intent to start. It sounds simple for real but the underlying reasons and motivators could be very intense. When I was doing many workshops, it was a period of complacent satisfaction. UI was teaching what my students wanted to learn. One day long time ago, I realized that my ability to help my student uncover the obstacles that created blocks is what was really appreciated. This certainly isn’t an easy task. It requires drowning in ones emotions and intent and swimming to the surface and seek solid ground to build upon.

….gotta go but will continuw this on the weekend………………………………………………………

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Photography, Street Photography

December 29th, 2016 … Finding Your Place Amongst The Masses

December 29, 2016 streetshooter 9 Comments

When we look over our work, it starts to become obvious about how we approach photography. I think it’s maybe time to rip into what we did for the year and seek a solution for our spot in the grand scheme of things. The masses I’m referring to are the masses of photos you made and fell in love with. I suppose this could be thought of as a way to organize ones work. Years ago I used to lay out my work and get answers to the riddle of my photography.

I would lay out about 12 prints on the floor in a horizontal line. Then try to make sense of what they were saying to me. Maybe take one out, add one whatever. The scrabble system. I would look at photos and try to find a belonging to one on the line. Then add this photo horizontally up or down in line where they fit together.after a while, it starts to become clear where my efforts were at.

We can’t do that digitally unless you make many prints. There is no software that does this either. So I needed to find another method. Ok, this is the hard core method and if you need less of strong result, by all means change the numbers I lay out.

Here we go. Look in your catalog for the year and very carefully, select the very best images and just 1 per week. If you worked every week, you should have between 48-52 photos. If you worked less, just take one from every week as long as you feel it’s your best work. Open a collection in LR or whatever you use. Move the photos around to get them in a sequence that makes you happy and it makes sense. What you are looking for is the common denominator between photos. It may at first seem very random but trust me, and trust yourself, it’s not random at all.

Don’t remove anything from the catalog yet. In fact, go back over everything and pull one shot from each month and work them on the collection. By now you should be seeing photos that work together or look like a series, group, no matter hat you call it, just look and feel the photos.

Lets say you have 8 photos of the rain and umbrellas etc. Gather them together and open a new collection named “Rain” and put them in there. Ohhh you just discovered 9 photos of low light, so make a collection “Low Light” and put them in there. You get the idea. Now go back again and pull 1 photo for every other month. Sort them and place them in a collection.

After you feel you have all the really good photos that resonate with your eye, heart and mind…….close LR or whatever and forget about the stuff for at least a week. Go make photos and do not look at your collections. The reason is that the collections are looking at you.

After a week or so passes, open LR and look at the collections, 1 at a time. Do not edit anything out. Every image has the potential to push you against yourself and lead to a new direction or lay a solid foundation with what your doing now. When you study this work, you are studying all that you are as a human with a camera. Your thoughts, feelings, sensitivities and everything you are is here in front of you. It is said that every photo is part of a mosaic of the portrait of yourself. So, your looking at yourself. You also can see what attracts you, what trigger mechanisms etc are working with you.

Life is a passing dream but it doesn’t mean you have o be asleep to dream. The best dreams are the ones we have while we are awake in the here and now.

The point here for this method is to get you organized in the here and now and to understand how and why you work.

Be Blessed Everybody and have a Lovely Romantic Happy New Years.

shooter out……………………………………………………………………..

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

December 6th, 2016 … Reflections of a Shooter … Harry Callahan

December 6, 2016 streetshooter 31 Comments

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What I do have is over 50 years as a shooter. Uh oh, didn’t realize youse alls was here. Anyway, to get ya’s caught up….we are discussing the reflections of my reflecting inner self. Oh, scuse me again. I should introduce who be having this chat. There’s yours truly, there’s my reflection and we are both reflecting on my inner self that comes out for photography.

It is said and I do believe that every photo is a self portrait of the shooter. It does not imply a selfie only as a self portrait. What i mean is that if we are awake and in touch with ourselves at exposure, then all that we were or all that we are is present at exposure and thus the photo is a reflection of the self. Whatever your thinking or feeling is present in the photo. Of course the old adage of …There are none so blind as those that will not see, applies always.

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We were heading to the McDowell Colony to see Harry Callahan. I was invited to make a Portrait of Harry. So Harry & I talked a little and I asked him to sit on the steps leading to the entrance to the house. I set up my 8×10 Deardorff with the 420mm Red Dot Artar. I frame and focus, lock the camera, put in a film holder and start chatting with Harry. He looks at me and smiles holding fast in position as a shooter would. CLICK! I pull the holder out ant put it in my bag. All the sudden a voice of the Photography Angel, Anne Tucker says, Don your going to make a few more exposures aren’t you?

Immediately Harry says, He’s got it, he knows what he’s doing. I pack the bag and Harry comes over to me, puts a hand on my shoulder and says, let’s walk and talk a little. We walk a little and Harry says, your a cocky fucker aren’t you? I said, you really think so? He smiles and says, nah… I’m the same fucking way. Harry says, if your not in it 100%, where are ya.

We go back to the porch and harrygoes into rest. In a minute, Barbara comes to me. Don, as you know, Dad always made portraits of Mom and me. He says he’s to old to do it with that camera and ask if you would make it for him? It’s an honor to meet, chat & do a portrait of Harry. The to make a portrait of Elizabeth and Barbara is beyond comprehension. Ya see, only Harry ever made a photo of his beloved Elizabeth and daughter Barbara. I make the photo with all that I am, all the attention and spirit I have.

Barbara gives me their address and ask me to send prints. Elizabeth comes to me and holds both my hands between hers. She says thank you. My Harry has never asked anyone to make this photo and please respect his wishes and not send them all over. I looked her in the eyes and said, it was never an issue my lady.

I made some portraits of Anne Tucker, Robin McNeil and some I may not mention. The platinum prints went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Houston Museum of Fine Arts.

As we were walking, Harry said some things. Don, I watched you work, make the photos, even pack Margaret away. ( My Deardorff is named Margaret) You have a focus that is all of you at once and that’s what’s required. Don, as serious as you are there is a mission you must undertake. Making photos is great but teaching is all the more important. You have to carry on the love and chart of being a photographer.

Harry and I looked at each other and both knew we would never be in each other’s company again. Harry turned around and lowered his head and walked to the house. I got in the car and everyone was excited but I was so sad. I felt I lost my dad again.

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Life without photography for me is suicide daily. Life with photography keeps me here. Photography & Life go hand in hand. Without one, the other ceases to exist.

Dreamcatcher, Street Photography

December 4th, 2016 … The Distance Between Us Is Growing … or Learning Your Notebook

December 4, 2016 streetshooter 1 Comment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Philosophy of Street, Street, Street Photography, Streetshooter

November 12, 2016 … Un-Mastering Your Mind … a Path to Satisfaction

November 12, 2016 streetshooter 3 Comments

For decades, I would read books by other shooters and try to find the key to unlocking my creative self. Many times I would get inspired by something I read and then feel like I was close to the Magic I sought. After a time, I would feel something off or missing. It was like a loneliness taking over. This went on for years. I collected and read more books then I care to mention. Of course I discovered many thoughts to inspire me. But yet unsatisfied.

I remember walking with Winogrand and he was fascinated by my being a combat vet. We talked and walked and made photos. One day I asked him what I thought to be a profound question.

“Garry, what do you feel is the key to life?” Garry stopped, turned to me and said …”Breathing, as long as your doing that, there is a chance for everything.”

So I decided to meet artist, shooters and people and continue my quest for the magic. I went to lectures that were free cause I couldn’t afford it otherwise. After more time doing this, I felt empty again. So I started compiling info from all these people and try to figure what is missing for me. It took a few decades but I eventually found what I sought.

Many will state that they are never satisfied by their work and always strive to improve. Ok, ok… I’m trying to get this but for the life of me, well it ain’t working. My thoughts on this and then back at ya.

I live by the simple concept that I want to experience love from my work while I am doing it. I work hard and I want some satisfaction from it. Not every photo but the ones I love, I want to be satisfied. This sets up standards to work with but the satisfaction must be present.

If you live by what many say, never satisfied and always strive to do better, well why the hell are you doing something that Doesn’t Satisfy you? We are not kids. So forget that shit about Steve to be better. We all do that by natural instinct anyway. No one need wait to be told to strive to be better, you will anyway.

That is not the issue is it? The issue is being satisfied enough to want to continue the journey of your work. Not to create blockades in the mind to stumble upon. You must be able to look at your work and see the love you have for it and the love your work gives back to you.

I hope this makes sense. It maybe goes against what many masters and others say and teach. I tell you this my friends, your life will be more fulfilling in a satisfaction that will keep you going. You will live the reason to strive to do better because your work loves you like you love it. If you think about mot being satisfied and striving to do better, what are you striving to…. more un-satisfying work. It’s time to cut it loose. Get off the bandwagon set before you and take control of the ride. We all strive to do better but it’s more important in there here and now to love what your doing and love whet it’s doing for you.

Like Garry said “Breathing….as long as your doing that, there is a chance for everything.”

Black & White, Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Streetshooter

October 30th, 2016

October 30, 2016 streetshooter 9 Comments

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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.

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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, Philosophy of Street, Street, Street Photography, Streetshooter

October 12th, 2016 … The Energy of Seeing … vs … The Seeing of Energy

October 12, 2016 streetshooter 4 Comments

I’m wearing a jacket, at last, jacket weather. See, jackets are wearable camera bags without straps and my new trusty POW/MIA black hat. I love this time of the year, very special for me and I get in a frame of mind that interest me and directs me to a new shape of my photos. I guess I’m lucky to live in a place that has the change of seasons. Well, the point of the story is, energy changes also with the seasonal change. Maybe it’s the change of energy that is so appealing. Then again, we are programmed to fear change. Anyway. I get in front of the US Court House and I see the light dancing on the bldg and the people there. So, I decide to make a photo and …CLICK! Suddenly there is a woman looking at me like she isn’t happy at all. I smile and then see her arm and decide to get the hell out of there quickly. I know a few of the guards there and they were keeping distance from her also.

So maybe change makes us slow down or break the preconceived ideas we have and try to redo the thought process. Maybe it also tampers with the expectations. I mean if we can jar the thinking out of complacency or the comfort zone, it seems reasonable to assume that the gathered expectations will change also.

I remember talking with Winogrand as we walked around Times Square. He told me that he liked the idea of getting a groove going and working it without seeing what was on the film. I gathered from him that, the idea of seeing your results all the time will and does alter the groove you set out to do. If you don’t see the work, then not much gets in the way of the groove. I suppose we all have our madness and the way we think about the same things, changes from shooter to shooter.

Well, change is in order here in Philadelphia, because they give us a change of seasons 4 times a year. I hear other places get the similar season changes but I ain’t seen it and I don’t believe it either. Well, I tried this change thing idea with Tanya about cameras. I mean, maybe changing cameras and lenses is good for the art and for the heart and mind. So I said, Tanya, maybe I should get the Fuji XP-2 for a change of whatever. She changed from not caring what the heck I do and having zero knowledge about cameras to:

What lens you gonna get with the XP-2? Well, I want a 35mm FOV….and what sensor is in the XP-2? Well, it’s got an ASP-C sensor. She said so it’s essentially a bigger clunky X100T, right?

So I changed my diet to try to keep her and my Doc’s at the VA off my ass. Well, I am not getting the Fuji XP-2 but I am finding that the weather is changing and so is my approach to my life’s work. It’s been a few weeks since I did the blog and I didn’t like that change. I will get back on some kind of schedule and get the blog out more often.

To all those that sent messages about missing me, well, I’m back and it’s gonna be a pretty site out there on the streets.

shooter out……………………………………………………………………………..

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….

Street Photography Chronicles by Don Springer