Tag Archives: OLY Pen EP-5

Black & White, Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street, Street Photography

Streets of Philadelphia … A Visual Diary … Page 12 “On The Turning Away”

August 13, 2015 streetshooter 20 Comments

It is that every now and then I feel detached from my work, well, maybe from life itself. See, if I get detached from life, I always had my work to keep me in touch with things. Kinda like a life line. The scary thing for me is not being detached from life but when I start to detach from my work. It’s my thread to existence. It’s what I do in reality and it’s for life. So if I let myself detach, poof!

So in these times of the image wasteland I struggle to even find meaning in what I’m doing. I guess I push myself to the street and endeavor to persevere my journey. I walk around in a general feeling of apathy and I lose interest quickly. …and during all this self generated pity and lackadaisical attitude, I still go work. I still push myself to seek my next image. Am I a hero, fuck no I’m just an aware shooter that knows in time, things may pass.

When I was young I knew things would pass but now as a seasoned human, I don’t take the passing for granted anymore. I want it to pass but now know only I can make it do so. That or a great camera store… nah, I got all I need.

So maybe it’s nothing that will pass by itself this image wasteland I am traveling thru. Maybe it’s the Turning Away that is happening. The problem is to recognize where the Turning Away is happening.

Maybe it’s me doing the turning away from my work and efforts and just maybe I am complacent with my region I choose to work, or maybe it’s the vision of the lens, or maybe emotionally I am drained and weak and not up to the task, or maybe a million other things I may be Turning Away from.

What if it wasn’t totally me at all? I mean life is not just a 2 way street, it’s also a shared street. So what if I am punishing myself because I feel I am at fault completely but, maybe, just maybe life is playing a role in this dance thru the image wasteland with me. What if life is smarter then me, imagine that, and trying to mentor me to take things to the next level and because it’s the next level, I have no conscious awareness of it because I ain’t there yet so maybe that’s why I feel lost cause I am actually lost cause I am entering a new region unaware to me.

Well. I’m gonna take Walker the Olympus Pen-5 out again with the trusty 25mm 1.8. This is not my preferred focal length but in these times of uncertainty, I need to unload as many preconceptions as I can. ufff not easy.

I’ll be back in a day or so and I would appreciate some comments to share… thanks all…..

shooter and his mind…out……………………………………………………………………………

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street, Street Photography

Streets of Philadelphia … A Visual Diary … Page 11

August 8, 2015 streetshooter 14 Comments

I’m in the … it’s friggin hot outside what the hell you doing walking the streets with a camera mode shooter? Well, I guess I am a creature of habit. I mean where else would I be and what else should I be doing? Dunno, I don’t know either. Tanya does, oh yeah. She thinks I should be mowing the lawn, or fixing the hole on the wall, or doing the dishes, whatever. In a way she’s got the right idea. I mean making photos or any art form requires imagination and the struggle to create. Doing the dishes is a perfect example.

So, standing in the kitchen at the sink, washing dishes is supposed to be therapeutic. I don’t get it but I get really clean dishes. I guess it’s the mindless way of being that allows the imagination to spring forward and begin free thought. It’s at these moments that I get really focused on what I have in my collection and in my mind. I go over what’s been ticking in my brain and try to understand the meaning of it all. I never get an answer because I don’t like asking questions of myself and I don’t like having to come up with answers, especially because in time, they will change anyway.

Maybe it’s not just washing the dishes but allowing a time to reflect. At these times, I always think about very heavy important things about my photography like why do I keep buying camera bags and straps? It will take many dish washing sessions to get a true answer to that. The point I’m making in a round-a-bout shooter way is, that it’s all in the mind.

Reflecting, what an interesting concept. I remember Ding McNulty, telling me how to sort my work and make a map out of it. So I would go home and lay print out on the floor but couldn’t grasp the concept.My daughter was around 4 at the time and she comes over and she stands there looking. Alright, get this shit straight. I’m at the Museum and Ding is helping me. I come home and Bethany, the 4 year old curator is standing over my work.

Don’t laff, the story is not over. One of the things we did with our kisa was to teach them anything we could afford to. We had the kids version of Scrabble. Bethany is standing there with the Scrabble board in her hand because she wants me to play and I do always and so did my wife. She was most attentive as I was doing photography.

I look at the board and I look at the floor and all the sudden, I see the road map for my work. This entire process happened in a few minutes and it’s been with me forever.

The format. Take your prints and lay the out horizontally and make sure they are working together. You have to do that part. Then pay attention for an image the fits in the group but has other things going on. This image is a transition image. Place it in the group and fit it where it works best. Then as you look at your images try to see what goes in the horizontal row and then… find some that work with that transitional image and work a line vertically from that image. Keep grouping images like this and visualize a Scrabble Board After a while, you should see your body of work and what interest you.

There is always a catch right? Well, so far I have not been able to figure out how to do this on PC screen. There really is no better way to organize and because of that I have even lost my way for the past 3 or 4 weeks. It’s hard for me to see where I was, where I am and where I need to go. I can’t blame my loss of work energy to just this can I? Hell yeah I can and I am.

I’ll be back and it will be sooner or later. I’d like to thank all those that wrote me being concerned for my absence. I appreciate everything from everyone.

Thanks, be blessed on your journey………shooter out………

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street

Streets of Philadelphia … A Visual Diary … Page 10 … Dealing With the Mundane

July 2, 2015 streetshooter 7 Comments

There are more commonplaces then exotic places or at least it’s easier to get to the commonplaces. Yup, nice to get to some place different and feel visually invigorated and ready to make lots of good photos. We all love doing that and prolly would always do that if there were no restrictions placed upon us.

What happens when you get home? Well, you get to LR or whatever and process the images and the feelings of excitement are reborn. Memories are rekindled and we feel like Mother Light has blessed us again. Then we go to bed an dream of all the exciting things we just did and we wake up at home on the streets we work a million times.

We see it coming. Oh yeah, running right up our butt, Mr Complacency. He’s gonna get into our vision and thoughts really quick. He will rattle our cage and make us feel awful and not wanting to work much at all. He is very strong willed and forces his opinions on us at will and it’s in a way that we have to obey.

We go out to work and we see the same Mundane places and people that we see all the time. Jimi yells down from above…”ain”t no life nowhere”. He’s right to a degree. See, what I think is that I need to be strong enough to battle Mr Complacency. It doesn’t matter who wins, just the battle matters. During the battle I feel alive, my juices flowing. My enemy Mr Complacency watching my every move so he can cut me with the sword of boring complacent existence.

I stand at the battlefield and know that I will fight the good fight and find beauty and understanding on the path to Mother Light.

Most of us are taught to see the world as if we are seeing it for the first time. I like to see the world as if I’m seeing it for the last time. Here’s my thinking on this.

Seeing the world for the first time, for me, implies that I have Virgin Sight. I look at the world or the subject I want to make a photo of as if I am seeing it for the very first time. Fresh and excited. Seeing something as if I am seeing it for the last time, for me, means… that I can invest my memories of life into the scene and hopefully when some viewer sees the photo, they get to see a part of my life experiences in it. Maybe whats more important is that when I see the photo, I see some of my life in it.

So, the role of the shooter could be to make photos that pleases others. This is a very powerful role, no doubt. It is one that must be worn with caution. I think the real role is to make photos that have meaning to our Heart and Soul. Maybe is sounds self pleasing or selfish but life is not to be taken lightly. We all have a marked time for the exit procedure. We don’t have the knowledge of when or where the exit will happen but live with the idea that it will in time, hopefully a long time. no guarantee.

There once was a Psychiatrist named Dr Murray Banks. He recorded records back in the vinyl age and he had a statement on one album… “As you go through out your life, brother whatever be your goal, keep you eye upon the donut and not upon the hole”.

I’m heading out for some photo donuts…… be blessed on your journey my friends…………………………………

Color, Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Street Photography, Streetshooter

Streets of Philadelphia … A Visual Diary … Page 9 … a Chat with Mother Light

June 26, 2015 streetshooter 9 Comments

Have you ever been intoxicated and consumed by Mother Light? Let me tell you, it’s a feeling that is beyond compare. She graces us with the elixr of photography and allows us to taste her sweet rays of life and allows us to appreciate the places she does not shine upon. Some have been known to call those areas, Dark or Shadows. Together with the Light, a world is created that photographers live in. There are of course other elements in this world like, graphics, depth and many other things that all work together to provide shooters a platter to feast upon.

I talked with Mother Light a while ago and it was something like this. Knock knock. Yes, who is it? Momma, it’s me shooter from Philly. Oh yes. hmmmm. Then I could hear a man’s voice….Mother, who’s at the door? Father Dark, it’s that shooter guy from Philly. Oh my, not again. Tell him I went to Zone 1 and need to adjust levels down there. POOF! So Mother Light opened the door and came out side. The sun was shining, things were in a very cool placement. I was very sure I could make a great photo and then she asked me….. Shooter from Philly, why did you come to me today?

Momma, she stopped me right in my tracks. Listen shooter from Philly, we will do a lot better if you just call me Mother and not Momma. If not, My sister Rain will visit you everyday for a loooong time. Ok Mother, I said. Well, here’s the thing.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

See, I understand about you Mother Light and Father Dark and Aunt Rain and Uncle Snow and all of that. I understand about finding the elements to make my photo and how to see how things may look and later how things will look. Mother Light said, yes,yes Shooter from Philly….what’s the problem? I bowed my head and I asked, the question that men and woman have struggled with for millions and millions of frames…. Well, all these elements are great and necessary but what about Emotions?

Shooter from Philly, what ye seek is not to be found ever in plain view. What ye seek can only be found inside your own heart. If you are not connecting all the elements and subject matter with your heart, you fail as a human being, not just a photographer. I felt as if I had learned a lesson that I had dreamed about for a long time.

Mother Light said to me, go Shooter from Philly and be on your way. Listen carefully to these words…. The grass is greener on the other side because there’s more bullshit to fertilize it. So you do what you do for you and be pleased you have the gift of sight and the love of something in your life.

As I was walking away on LightRay 167, I looked back at Mother Light and asked her, Mother, can I write about this on my blog. Sure silly Shooter from Philly, who would believe you, everyone knows your crazy….

Well folks, there the story about how I spent part of my day. Maybe you don’t believe this and maybe you think I am crazy but I’ll tell you what. When your outside and making photos, I bet your looking for Mother Light and Father Dark. You don’t have to admit it, I will be the crazy one here, no problem but inside you know and I know that I’m right about what your looking for.

In the window above is Mother Light and Father Dark’s daughter, Color. For many, she’s the most beautiful but for me, I only see her sometimes. She spread her wings and her Red and Blue and his Red and Blue just vibrated and gave me a gift I treasure,. By the way, Color wears the flag of every country of the world, I just happen to catch here her in the USA. If you look around, maybe you’ll find Mother Light and Father Dark and Color and even Rain and Snow……..

Enjoy yourself out there… it’s work but not supposed to feel like work……………………………………………………………………..

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street

Streets of Philadelphia … A Visual Diary … Page 6 … Olympus Pen EP-5

June 19, 2015 streetshooter 8 Comments

I’m kinda stuck in yesterday because the above photo was made then and I just got around to posting it today and now the shooter time warp space continuum is all out of kilter. It’s not pretty I tellya, no…… not at all. See, now I’m under the gunn because the pressure is building to get this blog post out but it already has the flavor of yesterday and I have to keep it updated or I’ll fall behind and I have no idea what will happen if that occurs. I dare not want to find out either. I’m writing this damn post because I gotta meet the deadline and darn it, I will. My typewriter is getting oiled and I’m feeding paper to it at a fast rate. The hard part is waiting the Graphics and Images Dept to get me the photos. Who pays them anyway, they are always behind, sheeesh.

(stands, walks out the door, down the hall to the reporting and content department.)

So I have these thoughts and feelings, mostly feelings about metaphysical things. It’s not at all about depression, I mean I let the VA handle that shit. I don’t wanna address or bother with it. So I let my shrink do the depression stuff, I am just in thought about the CONNECTION that I have with the world and the thread that binds us together. I feel that it is the ZEN of life that binds me to it. I kinda do things my own way and it may not be right for anyone else but when I exit the planet, I’m going without fear or longing for the loss of things I never accomplished or worse yet, the things I never attempted to do. I plan on laying on that marble slab and when THE LORD comes in to check me out I will say…LORD I am ready to go. I was blessed by you to live a life worth living by me. I accomplished most of the things I set out to do, knowing that YOU were my source of inspiration and guiding force and that is a blessing never felt worthy of. I am ready LORD to go wherever you send me without reservation but… ya know, if you could maybe spare me some more time, I think I’d use it wisely. Just sayin’.

So if in fact that is how I feel about life, why would I wait until death to realize it? Of course silly, I wouldn’t. So there is the roadmap with the emotions and thoughts that drives me thru the world. What’s this have to do with photography? Well, maybe nothing for you but it is the foundation of which I live so that makes it relevant to life as I live it and that means, it’s really about photography and how I live that.

Winogrand has a book called, “Figments From The Real World”. That book is mandatory for anyone that desires to be a photographer.

FORGET STREET PHOTOGRAPHY! Winogrand was not a street shooter, he was a LIFE SHOOTER. He plugged his eyes into life and the way it was effecting him at the moment. May genre’s could be said to contribute to Life Shooting. It also is a know fact that Life Shooting gave birth to Street Shooting. Street is not an attitude as many claim that it is. Having a Street Attitude is about having a tilt or slant on the subject matter. I don’t mean the camera either. What ATTITUDE does is, hides and covers up emotions and feelings.

Street is about life and death. Having your emotions and thoughts in your hand with your camera makes you a street shooter. You have to be in touch with yourself and that’s the only way to be in touch with life and the world. It’s not easy because your basically balls azz naked out there. The ladies of course are more refined and they wear lingerie at the minimum. It is easier for woman to be great shooters because they have no place to put their heart other then right out in the open.

They do this with their work also because they can. Men have to work harder and desire a different kind of approval of their work. It’s all ok, there is nor right or wrong way that means anything. What matters is that you recognize and practice your way.

So finding and capturing your photos that are really YOU out there is not often easy. If you can keep tuned into yourself and your eyes awake, images will form and you need to be ready.

There’s just so much noise in our heads from Flickr, forums and the like that it’s difficult to get to a clean space with our selves. Maybe this friggin mess we cal life and reality is the meat of what we are looking for. I mean it’s easy to just fall in line and do as others do. Get the same cameras, computers, workshops, books, classes, chats, all the stuff pre-approved that will make us like everyone else. We get accepted easier, we hold up in conversations, we look like the others, we think like the others and ya know I bet that’s a damn fine comfy place to be. I bet it really is.

Look, we all have our own way of going to the toilet, getting a shower, choosing clothes, selecting food, eating it etc. We all are individuals in life. No 2 of us are the same. Even with multiple personality issues, they are not the same and the live with us in the same body.

So why on earth would anyone want to be judged by others that aren’t aware of themselves anyway? Even if they are aware, who cares about using their standards on our work? I don’t. I dont give a flying fuck.

There are a few fears out there. The big one is not working the street and getting close to people to mke photos. That’s the easy stuff cause it’s more physical then anything.

The one that kills is making photos and seeking judgement from others. Seeking approval, oh my The Horror!

BTW, the Olympus Pen EP-5 is a baad azz camera.

Seeya’s after the weekend…………………………..be blessed on your journey………………..

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

Philly Street Shots

May 13, 2015 streetshooter 8 Comments

It’s been said that I make strange photos. To me they aren’t as strange as they may be to you. I think the jury is out on this.

I’m walking around the streets that I am very familiar with and then something attracts me and I see something that triggers my thoughts and feelings. If this doesn’t happen, I don’t make the photo. I guess that’s why I have always been a light shooter. That means that I don’t make many photos in a day. I’m trying to SEE my photo and not just look for it. The upper right of this frame is a poster on the glass and I’ve been looking at it for 3 days. Today, I was walking to the Veterans fair at Municipal Services Plaza and I stopped dead in my tracks. I said, hey shooter, that poster is a block down the street, lets you and I go check it out and see if we can make it today. Well, I thought, who the hell are you anyway but it was a good idea. Si as I walked and got close to the poster all the sudden this woman sits down and I was shaking and then I saw this gy leaning against the wall and I was really getting excited. The woman was looking to the left for the bus and I raised the camera. I framed tight and then as if all things would be right in the universe, she turns to me and stares at my lens….click!

I have passed thru the center of City Hall countless times thru my life. I love the light under there and it always brings the feelings of going to the light or the hereafter. There’s just something about the light that grabs me. I like the photo. It’s not a real winner but it represents how and what I felt at the moment of exposure. For that reason, for me it works.

I’m going to be starting the One a Shoot thing again and Olivier and I are getting the Forum back up and running.

More tomorrow……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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

Messages From The Streets of Philadelphia

May 12, 2015 streetshooter 10 Comments

Messages may come at you in a number of ways and even in different forms. Like when I’m sitting on the couch sipping some ice cold lemonade, my wife looks at me and I get the message very fast and well. She kinda raises a brow, loses the smile that made me want to spend time with her and gets this cold air coming from her like an air conditioner. This message is, the dishes are dirty and you have to get them clean.

Like the woman in this photo, (points up). She had a message for me and I understood it really well. Well, see, Olivier doesn’t like me cursing on the blog but this woman was sending me a four letter word that starts with F and ends in K and has a uc in the middle. I was minding my business and then I walked to this window and saw this woman standing there and I could see the back of her head. I thought to my self, self, for this to work she needs to be sending you t F uc K yOU to my eyes and she needs to be in the center of that arm. Well, I looked at her and sent her a psychopathic shooter message with my street mind. She turned and looked me dead in the eyes and ya know, Ithink even youse alls can tell the message she’s sending to me.

This is the 8th street Elevated Stop. I see these lights for years and I know there’s a photo but I never make it cause I don’t see it. I had Walker the Oly Pen EP-5 and the Lumix 14mm that thinks it’s a 28mm, mounted. I looked at the lights and all the sudden I realized that I was falling prey to everything I teach about photography. I was seeing these light in a literal frame of mind for years and I couldn’t see a photo but knew it was there. Then I got a message from ET and it said make the photo stupid. So I new that I was to make a photo and make it so that the photo ived on it’s own without the actual reality to fall back on. I saw this guy walking and he had his arm up and well, that seemed normal for Philly.

I defocused Walker and he got nervous and I said, breathe Walker and he did. Then from out of nowhere, ET started to walk into the frame and… click I think ET was trying to take the El and go home. Imagine that.

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that if we are in the here and now and making photos, just remember that others like ET are in the here and now also. The messages you send are equal to the messages you receive. These messages are your connection to humanity and trust me, as bad as it may seem at times, it’s the only game in town so get into it and take your camera because while there are many in the here and now around you, you are part of a limited number of poets in out society, your a street shooter, is there anything better?

till tomorrow………………………………………..shooter out……………………………………………………

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street, Street Photography

Messages From The Street

May 8, 2015 streetshooter 8 Comments

So this streetshooter guy writes all this stuff and I read everything but don’t always agree with him. It’s a no a problem for all youse out there but for me it is cause he tells me I’m him but I don’t believe it cause if I look in the mirror I see me and not him. Then he tells me that I think like him but that’s not likely cause I try to think like me and not let him add to the confusion I’m in right now. Then of course my camera’s gotta get in to the mix and now I have a major conversation going on. I tell my shrink about this and he tells me he’s going to vacation and he will hell sort this out after I do so I don’t need to bother him with this, so I’ll just lay it on youse alls.

There’s something about a Pen camera that defies words for a definition. The Pen EP-5 takes the Pen to an entirely new level. They really nailed it with this version. I’m using the Lumix 20mm 1.7II and the Lumix 14mm. Not selling anything so that’s that.

There’s something about freedom on the street that I find to be an oxymoron. I mean, there’s a sense of freedom I experience to make photos and yet at times I feel self conscious about doing just that. How the hell is that freedom? Well I don’t know and on the other end of the spectrum, these freedoms granted and protected here in the USA by the Constitution are under scrutiny and attack. So Freedom under all definitions are becoming a thing of the past.

So for now., maybe we should just be aware of the freedoms we have and cherish them. This also means that with a camera out there, don’t be nervous about MAKING photos. Being disrespectful will have you TAKING photos and thus creating guilt for doing so.

Taking VS Making

Taking photos implies taking something from the environment or people that your pointing the camera at. There are cultures that believe that when you take a photo of them you capture the soul. Many of our fore fathers photographers didn’t believe this and well, they met an untimely demise. Street shooters back then were smarter. They went to tribes etc and used Leica’s and Nikon’s cause they could run away faster.

So taking implies that you are TAKING something from your subject. This will lead you to feel guilty and thus pass that energy to the subject and that creates the mental blocks that hinder your work. It’s because you’re taking something and usually without asking. So this is something to think about and ponder when you working but………

Making photos is kinda the same as taking except for the INTENT. Your heart and mind are working in a way that is more creative, without guilt and free to just breathe photography. There is no guilt involved because you are making photos and not taking anything. This may seem like a sill obvious point but rest assured, it is very intense and serious. Just try this for yourself and do it for a few trips out. You will feel a difference and see a difference in what your doing.

Attitude is what we wear and thus what we project. So if your out there and cop an attitude and are Taking photos, well your energy invites some sort of conflict. You don’t have to look hard or fa to find confrontation, it’s all over. I’m not saying that Making photos is a sure fire way to avoid confrontation but I am saying that you shouldn’t have guilt. As such if something happens, your more likely able to neutralize the situation.

Even if there is no confrontation, there is internally in our hearts and minds. Just the thought of the words Take and Make conjure up many different emotions. These things are important because they are devices that can and will take us from the here and now or the Decisive Moment. If we aren’t in the here and now, where the hell are we and what are we doing and why?

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Street, Street Photography

Streetshooter … Thoughts and Findings … Life From The Street

April 30, 2015 streetshooter 6 Comments

Sometimes it bothers me when people don’t get an image I post.

For me this is life on the street. I mean of course it’s not all life but a figment of life where she is and where I am at this here and now. I relate to this as being alone amongst the masses. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, just saying it’s a feeling. See, I respond to the street in the way I feel. I feel this image because I feel alone out there and this makes a statement that I felt. Sometimes a photo is poetic in the visual experience. Other time, the poetry may be inside us and not visually portrayed so easily. There is no right or wrong, there is just the work. So do I accept my photos because they are a part of my essence and ask nothing more from them then to simply exist? Maybe I should put them out to mass media like Flickr and let my Flickr friends take the responsibility on approving the photos or rejecting them and fucking up my mind?

I guess I’m as guilty as everyone else and I’ll do both. Of course doing this completely contradicts my intent as a photographer. Well, it doesn’t really but it puts my intent in front of the camera and my shrink for further analysis and discussion. Long ago I made photos because I just wanted to and was immune to output from anyone. I just was in a groove and loving what I was doing. Bliss I believe they call it.

Now I make photos because I need it more than breathing. I make photos because I must and have no choice and don’t want a choice either. Now I make photos because I want to.

Now I make photos because not from love of photography anymore but because I LIVE photography.

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography, Streetshooter

Philly Streets … More thoughts and Findings … Olympus Pen EP-5

April 27, 2015 streetshooter 8 Comments

I seem to get intoxicated with life on the streets and then it has a flavor of just life. See the streets are life but life is not only the street. Remember that. It means you can make photos of any damn thing you want and it’s legal and ok to do it with intent. I remember being in Nam and we were on a mission to check around Chu Lai base perimeter from the outside. I wanted a smoke, didn’t have a lighter so I asked Sgt Biggie for a light. He tosses me a Zippo. Listen, a grunt ain’t no grunt ain’t got a Zippo. So I lite my smoke and then look at the lighter. It was silver colored but tarnished with blood, sweat and tears. On the lighter was an inscription that read….“For those who fought for it, Life has a flavor the protected will never taste”. I instantly grokked that and I remember it as a memory for living.

Photography shooter, don’t drift off again….OK LET ME GET TOO THE POINT

Margaret Bourke White is quoted as saying…..“No eyes ever will, nor ever shall, see what I see now.” Well, She was a grunt in photography and all grunts grok her words. She was a warrior in life and her words equal for photographers what the grunts words mean for the Infantry. See, the point is that we must be warriors in life. As photographers we must do our work without fear of acceptance or rejection by others or by ourselves. We do our work because we must. We don’t define our work, it defines us. It makes us who we are and shows us the way to become who and what we strive to be.

Maybe you are the person that doesn’t take your photography serious. That’s fine and I hope you are satisfied with what you are doing. I see it kinda like this but it’s not a solid vision because it changes as time goes on. Who are we responsible to with our work. I don’t mean a job like weddings etc, I mean our real work, the work from the heart and soul, our personal work. When you release the shutter are you thinking about where the image will go and where and who will see it? Will they like it. Will they accept it and will they accept you. If they do accept you, will they always? The hardest part of our process is to see our own work. We have a tendency to want to please others and also want to be accepted. That’s all very nice but if it’s effecting your work, and it is, it becomes a problem quick. The thing is that we are effected by input and that in turn effects our output. The worse part of input is when it comes from inside us. That’s the stuff that has the strongest effect on us because it’s self generated and we have little control over it.

Here’s a quick thing I realize, I need to express more about this. I remember my Mother asking me why I did so much photography and how I loved it all my life. I told her that when I die and am on my deathbed and THE LORD comes to me, I will say that I lived the best life I could and that I am ready to go, I wouldn’t mind some more time but I’m ready. This moment can happen for me at any second and I feel that.

I think the fear in living is dying. The you get to the slab and lay there naked and you realize, OMG, I wasted my life. I should have done this, and that…………..

What this means in photography is that you come in alone and you go out alone. It’s your camera and your life. Make photos for you and if others like them along the way and maybe buy them or collect them, wonderful, but if that’s why you made them. That’s a waste of love and life.

Who Loves Ya Baby…………

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

Street Photography Chronicles by Don Springer