Tag Archives: Personal Work

Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

September 22nd, 2017 … More About The Anatomy of the Creative Block

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So we get the idea about how the brain makes preconceptions and I suppose forces us to live by them. Thin of it as like Presets for Light Room. Your working and then something tells you to click a preset. See, using presets is a safe way to achieve a desired starting point for the photo. The brain make presets too and when you work, the presets from the brain kinda guide your work. If after a period of time goes by and you are letting the brain use presets, what will happen is you will feel that you aren’t seeing anything interesting and if you do, it’s boring because for some reason, it just seems like canned laughter. This is a true situation that most of us will have to deal with. Ok, what we need to do is first recognize that we have a brain that’s working. Hey don’t laugh. I see countless people working and doing things and their brain is not working. Don’t believe me? Just look at Washington DC and Congress to start. ….and they get paid the big bucks and benefits.

Ya know how like a title detracts from the photo for the viewer. A descriptive title like, man on beach creates a preconception for the viewers brain and the first thing the viewer does, is looks for the man on the beach. There probably are other  elements in the photo and maybe the viewer will discover some but at this point, it’s a battle of eye travel. Well, that’s what the brain does.

So, we are out shooting and feeling a creative block. This is a scary time and there are a few ways to get past it. The problem is that there is no set time for a creative block to start and worse, stop. Seems to me thru the decades, I have been in a block many times. I talked with writers, painters, photographers and never really got the perfect solution to find my way out of the woods. There’s no set formula for dissolving the block. See, if your in a creative block, your going to have to fight the brain and it’s a hard fight.

The brain likes a creative block because it’s comfy and no challenges are happening. That there is our solution. What I find to work in a matter of fashion, is to challenge the brain. Make the preconceptions and presets get nervous and for the brain to work again. This may not be pretty but is necessary. Some say if you do street, then go do portraits as an example. There’s a problem with that. What needs to happen is to retrain the brain of what it already knows but teach it to think again. We need to teach the brain to think about what it knows but to seek a different result. If the brain keeps doing the same things over and over but thinks it’s gonna find a different result, I’m told by my shrink that is insanity. So, how to et the brain to rethink what it knows and allow something new to be borne?

There is another entity that we have and this entity has a symbiotic relationship with the brain.

I will tell about this next post over the weekend. For now, I am going on autopilot and letting my brain take a few vacation days.

end transmission…………………………………………………………………………….

Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

September 16th, 2017 … The Anatomy of The Creative Block … The Struggle To Continue

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Here’s something I deal with. It is said to look at something as if your seeing it for the first time. On the other hand, I always practiced….look at something as if your seeing it for the last time. Both ways are correct and wrong at the same time. Each of these trains of thought creates an approach to your work. In the land of preconceptions, these are two of the biggest demons to get past.

Preconceptions are tools for the brain. What happens if your working and after a while, you feel that you are bored, not satisfied etc. Well, what’s happening is…you brain is setting up judgements about what you do. Then it passes judgement and this directs your energy to continue. Good or bad.

Here’s where your creative block gets born. You go to work and make photos and you feel pleased because just the act of making photos is satisfying. Then you look at the collection of photos and this sick feeling gets in your gut like…. I lost it. I don’t see anything to make photos of. It’s not exactly true but it’s not exactly wrong either.

What is a creative block? It’s exactly what I said it is. It’s the battle of preconceptions in the Brain. It’s because the photos are judged by the preconceptions the brain has established as truths. Of course many photos pass the judging stage and is allowed to satisfy the operating systems. Those accepted photos are fuel for the continuing journey. We deal with them later. The sad photos pile up and create hurt feelings, doubt, anguish, anger etc. The brain looks at the failed photos and stifles growth, work, love etc.

We are creatures of habit. So if we continue to do something, right or wrong, in time it’s accepted because it becomes a habit. The brain forces us to work to it’s preconceived habits. So if we make photos that are technically good, framed good and everything looks right…..except…..

There is a spark of magic or life not present. We are kinda put off and think we lost the edge. I mean it’s all there, eye, heart and mind and intent but no life. The brain in all it’s habitual glory gets satisfied because most preconceptions are met to achieve satisfaction. Yet, there exist a yearning for more. Something that reaches into our depths and drags the eye, heart, mind and intent to try to be more alive.

I’m sure that all of us can look at our photos and ask ourselves, “what is missing”? On the other hand, we may ask…”why is this so wonderful”?  Now to the real issue. The what is missing and the what is wonderful is not easy to recognize. Perhaps we never get to see it at all. We just know when something is right or something is wrong. We understand this because our brain sends info to us and we are satisfied and trust our brain.

This is where our problems are born. We go to work and walk around looking for photos and feel kinda content but apprehensive because we are nervous that we lost the edge. You didn’t lose the edge. The brain is just keeping everything in check so that you don’t get too happy or too upset about what your doing. It’s called Brain Complacency Illness. Here’s where we need to step up the energy and move forward with our heart guiding us.

To be cont’d…………… don’t worry, I’ll be back before ya know it…………..

Inspired Eye, Leica, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

September 13th, 2017 … The Unseen Seen Scene or, The Struggle To Continue

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One question that comes up a lot and I hate to answer it but I do anyway. How do I tackle complacency and the obvious overstated, overseen, overworked, over-walked? It’s a question I answer but it goes into my gut to get it. This is also something every shooter will experience. There are countless ways to get past it but we should each try to understand our own block. For me and I’m not sure it’s a block, it’s hitting the streets and being in the same general area for ummmm decades. I love walking and usually do about 5 or so miles an outing. Sometimes I change cameras or lenses or both. I find that just changing  a camera or lens will make me see the obvious in a different manner. I respond different. Maybe the subject matter is very similar but seeing and thinking about it will create a new outlook or experience.

The Changing Here and now

So, if it’s true that we live in the here and now and we do. Photographers are blessed with the ability to appreciate the here and now and to make a photo in and of it.  The problem is that the here and now seems to have a sense of humor sometimes. I mean we are in the here and now and there ain’t nothing happening. I mean sometimes I’m  groovin and walking and hearing the horns honk and the dudes on the corner cursing, buses moving, homeless people begging for a bite to eat, (most know me and know I’ll give them something cause I want to)… all kinds of life going on and man, I mean to tellya, I’m in the here and now and it’s happening. We are all just living and doing what we do. I have my camera in my hand or on a strap. ( I can’t emphasize how much the ACAM 25 has changed my life. Ray Sachs showed me a few years ago and it’s the best thing going. I can wear my M on the strap cross shoulder and go all day, no aches.)

Then, all the sudden a cold shiver comes across me. I realize that I’m on the corner of 13th & Market and I know how much spit is on the street. I know about everything there is for a shooter to know at 13th & market. I been here making photos since 1971. Not like a few times a year either. I mean I been here a gazillion times. Then I pool around at all the familiar sites, all the people I see walking around.

Then a feeling of warmth overcomes me. I feel like I am where I know and where I belong. I don’t really fall prey to the “I need a new place to work syndrome”. Here I am and been here for decades and I feel stimulated. I mean I am looking for photos. Photos are looking for me that want to get borne. I gotta tellya…of course I get tired of seeing the same things and places day after day. Then what happens is, Mother light sends a photo fairy to me and says…”Look stupid, great shot”. Of course I make the photo because a photo fairy can help you find a photo but they aren’t allowed to make it. Maybe I am a romantic. Maybe I believe in magic and the love of life and photography. What does this have to do with a dry spell or creative block….?

It has to do with INTENT. If you focus on your intent then no matter how much stuff clutters it or how mush negative energy surrounds you, you maintain CLARITY of INTENT. We always have the issue of getting lost in the here and now. We get sidetracked and kinda feel alone and useless. We lose interest because we can’t find stimulation and energy to uplift our souls and feed our intent.

We all go through this. Everyone suffers the cloudy love of intent. The masters you see in books and museums went thru this. The bloggers on the net go thru this. All the shooters all over the world have or will have the struggle to continue. It is not a disease, not an affliction that can’t be over come.

 

c’mon, ya ain’t getting everything in one post. Ya know what Arnold said….”I’ll be back”…..

Leica, One Shot, Street Photography

September 8th, 2017 … One Shot Per Shoot … Leica M

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Andre’ and I set out for a walk-a-bout in town. Now, just bear with me ok. Andre’ and I communicate telepathically and as we are walking around, we have conversations about making photos. See, I used to just walk with Andre’ and talk openly. See, I live in Philly and that behavior is kinda accepted. Now I have a doctor that tells me I can talk to anything just don’t let others and especially him know I’m doing it. So now I just talk with Andre’ telepathically and we get along fine.

I find it interesting how things off camera seem to effect me on camera. We were strolling thru Jeweler’s Row and I’ve seen this corner so many time over the past decades. I don’t really look at jewelry but I like to see people looking at jewelry. I don’t deliberately go and work on any particular theme or series. I like to just be free to make photos. Way back in early 70’s, I had a friend that told me I was good at social commentary. He called me the man on the street, the Philly photographer. Well, I searched in libraries and talked with people cause I hadn’t a clue what social commentary even was.

The point is, that we have things in our head and at times they will activate. When they do, you may or may not be receptive to the input. I learned thru the ages to pay attention to these things growing inside. What you learn is a part of what you are. What you are is a part of what you make photos of.

I’m not explaining the photo above. You either get it or you don’t.

Leica, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

September 6th, 2017 … One Shot Per Shoot … Leica M

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So Andre’ the Leica M 240 and I decided to hit the streets and make some photos. We are walking all over and making a few snaps. See, I wrote about one shot per shoot and it seems I am misunderstood by some. I do not mean to just make 1 frame for the day or shoot. The idea is to concentrate on the here and now and allow the eye, heart and mind to come together and make the photo that makes you happy.

See, if you go out there and just blast away without conscious intent, then the majority of the frames will just be so so. Listen, I love making photos. I need it like air. I love using my camera, cameras. So many times I make photos just to make photos because I love it and because I can. I am old enough that I don’t answer to anyone and that’s comforting. This may not apply to you so just get what I’m saying.

The act of making photos for me and I hope many, is like an experience that equals breathing and feeding life. It is also a highly educational and experimental process. So I urge you to do it as much as you can but!!!!!!! …..absolutely without a doubt, you must be aware of your intent. See, that’s the connecting life line between you and your work. If you ignore, use, abuse, shatter, or any other thing to or against your intent, it’s over.

So back to one shot per shoot. Make as many as you want but your intent should be to get ONE SHOT PER SHOOT that makes you realize the reasons you are a shooter. This process should get you to be more focused and aware of your self as a photographer. This is not one shot per day. You may have some shoots that nothing stirs you, so what. Look at the work and the ones you were on with, check and learn what is going on. Learn, learn, focus, breathe and mak your photos.

Ya know how ya see something and you instantly know there’s a photo there waiting for you…. well…..the photo above…..I walked past, looked at here and lost my breath. I have not seen an Angel since Sau in Vietnam in 1970. (tear in eyes…. heart cracked still) Well I saw this woman and just gazed upon the glow of the angel. I swear she danced for me and then………Andre’ said…..click

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Streetshooter

September 4th, 2017 … One Shot per Shoot … Rekindled

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Ya’all know I’m a normal guy. Seriously, my shrink tells me that, well not 3 or 4 times a week but maybe like once a month sometimes maybe. See, I got this issue with always taxing myself. Not like the IRS taxing but the kind that makes my brain hurted and then go on vacation …. but I’m used to this and it’s not normal or anything to think about. It’s just my way of keeping the inspiration going. Go on, laff… have a good chuckle. Yeah, yeah, old shooter is going off again. Youin’s be right. Ok, see we can all go out and shoot many photos in the course of an outing. I call these outings, shoots. Comes from my daze when I did some of this for money.

The thing is, without discipline, we don’t tax ourselves and maybe we even stifle ourselves. Not good and what’s worse, is that it happens and we don’t know it is or did happen. Here’s an observation. There’s a principle in photography called, The Inverse Square Law. This states that Less is More and More is Less. so if we apply this to making photos, we could see it as, making a lot of photos on a shoot,  probably gives less satisfaction or…. the shot that makes you breathe. Well, my brain couldn’t think this way, here’s why. If that’s the case that more is less, then less is more… wait, wait. So, I see it as, if I shoot less, maybe I get more satisfaction and possibly the shot that makes me breathe.

I started to think about this cause I wanted a conclusion I could not only live with, but to apply and  teach. Obviously going out and burning many exposures in hopes of a good frame is not a brilliant but very popular method of operation. Same token says, I could just shoot less and try for that shot that makes me breathe, ya know the shot that is more than anything you anticipated.

Hmmm I thought. If this Mr Inverse guy made this Square Law and we have to live by it, maybe there’s something I need to uncover. See, here it is. If your out there burning many exposures and hoping to catch the magic frame, there’s a good chance your INTENT is confused. On the other hand, if your out there looking for just one shot per shoot, well…seems to reason your INTENT is more focused. What happens with the later method is….you develop a sense of timing, framing, selection, and being in the here and now without confusing yourself. You get to feel, think, see, breathe your frame. I’m not saying to go out and just make one exposure. I have done that for years with my 8 X10 Deardorff. I am saying that by slowing down and being alert and tuned into everything, you get a ZEN sense of the moment. Instead of going out and machine gunning with you camera  hoping to catch something, you go and just try to catch just one. If you know you got it, go back and process it and start over next cycle. Do not succumb to the fascination of making many exposures.

Remember, all the gear and stuff you acquire and use is for one single purpose….to make a photo that when you view it….makes you feel that you made a part of the portrait of you and your life. So, maybe just focus on a single frame for each shoot. This will allow your eye, heart and mind to work together with your camera and help you on your journey.

Be blessed my friends and even in this time of mass fear thru the world, stay focused on yourself and your loved ones.

seeya soon………shooter out…………………………………………..

 

Leica, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

August 27th, 2017 … The Shroud of Mystery of Our Work … Leica M

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It is said that a photo speaks 1000 words. I remember being at opening receptions for my work. I would walk around and listen to people talking about the photos. Sometimes I heard very interesting comments. Sometimes someone would ask me why I made a photo and others asked how I made a photo. Still others asked what the body of work was about. Maybe I am just not educated enough to answer in a very elegant manner. I’m not being Fa cesious at all but honest.

 

After the opening and I spent time thinking and feeling about the experience, I would reflect back at the comments I heard or was asked. Not because I wanted to remember the comments but because of how they made me think. I would continue to work and just be intense doing so but inside, I was searching for answers. Remembering the answers I gave to the people that asked me questions at the event but really struggling to find a resolution for myself. Perhaps these answers would only dwell inside me and never find the light of day.  I wondered if that was even an acceptable solution.

 

So if a photo speaks 1000 words, maybe there is no reason for any words after it. I disagree. I believe that the value and intent of a photo changes with time. We like to think that when we make a photo, it is like an anchor for our thoughts, feelings and intent. Well, perhaps this is true but like it or not, the value and intent of the photo will change. It is not nor ever an anchor. It it just a catalyst to launch feelings, thoughts etc in the here and now and as that here and now changes thru time and life. This challenged every belief and thought about photography. I wondered if I was wrong but in due time, I realized I was right. Let me say this. What is right for me may not be for you.

 

So I realize that my duty is to make photos. It’s what my life is about. Nothing less. My deceased friend Peter told me….”you make the photos and let others talk about them”. Well, I listen to Peter but that doesn’t dissolve the thoughts I keep inside. I was anxious to know what I was doing and why. I also knew and know that the pursuit of the answers I sought would and will detract from the work I do.

 

What I noticed mostly with collectors and curators etc. They look at the photos and say very few words. Then I see that I made the photos but longed for the words. I felt that if there was 1000 words living in the photos, I wanted to know those words. I felt outside of what I was doing. They became the connection to the work I was and am responsible for.

Not so quickly and maybe not even yet, I realized that photos are more personal then I believe. The catalyst called the photo allows and supports different feelings and thoughts from each individual viewer. Even then, that can and all will change with the passing of time.

 

I do know somethings. I know that many people comment and understand my work. I don’t. I don’t act like I do either. All I can do is follow my instincts and make the next photo. I long to understand what and why I’m doing it but I can’t grasp it. All I can do is make the photos and love them as a part of me. Others can talk if they choose but the words spoken or thoughts will have little or no effect on my continuing. I make photos because I have to. I make photos because it’s my life’s work.

I make photos for the moment of the memory and the memory of the moment. Do I understand why and what I’m doing. Maybe in part but not in full. Do I want to have such a strong understanding of what and why I am doing it? Well, I think not. I feel some kind of satisfying completeness making photos. I don’t understand them too much. I guess if I did, I’d have no more reason to make them and that scares the crap out of me. There are a million reasons to make photos and not one single good reason to stop.

………………..end transmission……………………………………………………….

 

Philosophy of Street, Photography, Street Photography, Streetshooter

August 13th, 2017 … Memory or The Decisive Moment … Cont’d

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Ya know, I gotta tellya’s…. it’s summer time here in Philly and my brain is on vacation. So maybe I am writing about memory for a reason. The thing that I get from photography is the realization that I love the process and I need the catalyst that photos present. Pete and Andrey wrote some very profound comments on my last post and I urge toy to read them. You don’t have to comment but you should read them. I am basically a streetshooter. I used to do other things but for the last 30+ years, mostly street. For me, street = life. So as a life shooter, what is it I am after? I kinda think that it filters down to a residue of intent.

When I’m out shooting, I am not thinking about memories,. Sometimes but not a priority. So, I make photos with the purpose of getting them into Light Room and then making the photo represent my vision. Of course I rely on memory but truthfully, I am totally aware that there is a new reality being borne. This is my intent, well part of it. So I make photos to serve something different than memories. Any memory cast forward from the photo is really from the photo and not so much the scene or subject where I was when I released the shutter. This is very important to grasp.

The memory of the photo or making the photo is secondary to the actual photo. The experience is not as important as the end result. Don’t get me wrong. I adore, no…I breathe photography. It’s not something I do as a pastime or hobby or as an art form. I do it because I have no choice. A heroine junkie has an easier time detoxing from junk then I ever could from making photos. I don’t define photography, it defines me.  Ok, enuff of that.

The Clarity of Intent

Shhhhh, don’t spread this around. I hear tell and I know for a fact that some people are very serious about this photography thing. Seems crazy right? Well, let’s explore this serious side of this photo making thing. There comes a point in time that is marked as a moment of recognition of the self. This moment for the photographer is an awareness of intent. This is the continuing culmination of the gathering of info, thoughts and feelings. This is our supply feed for our work.

Lets assume that we are out working and something kinda captures out attention. At that moment, our supply feed and the exterior catylist join together and present us with the birth or death of the photo.

We are then faced with the option to make the photo or not.  Many things will happen quickly to come to the conclusion of the unborn photo. This is not yet intent but rather the decision to develop intent or not. Things happen and you may or may not make a photo.

You need to be alert and sensitive to this moment. All that you are is present and needs to be at the ready. What if you decide to make the photo? Well, try this for size. If you are aware that all of you is in the moment and you have accepted the responsibility to yourself and the unborn photo, then the intent of all is showing the way.

The moment and the decisive moment are working together but not the same. Being in the moment or the here and now leads to the release of the shutter. The release of the shutter is the decisive moment.

At that exact moment in your life is the realization that you either satisfied your intent or not. If you feel that you got it, then the rest is a very tuned, aware process of giving birth to the photo. If not, then the decision to move on is necessary. Just remember that not every photo is whats considered a keeper. The thing is, even if the photo is not a keeper, does not mean it fails at intent. Lets say that you were doing a street scene. Here’s the thing about The Moment and Memory. In the moment making a street photo, that satisfies your intent, provides a photo that is more about the making and satisfying yourself. This is the dividing factor of the Moment and INTENT.

 

I need another post to get the point across.

I will post in a day or so…………..be blessed my friends……………………………………shooter out…………………………………..

Philosophy of Street, Street Photography, Streetshooter

August 7th, 2017 … Memory or The Decisive Moment

11 Comments

Sorry about being absent for a while and I know youse all need my stuff in your head. Well, here’s something. I been reflecting on my self for a while and the past few weeks really getting critical. See, I have this nice mirror in my office and I sit and look into it for a spell and reflect.

No, not that self indulgent kind of reflecting. The important kind. The kind that says, dude, ya need to lose a few pounds. So I started to think about the importance photographs have for us as shooters and the motives and intent for making them and the end result of the photos life.  Probably the most important purpose for a photo is the making of a memory. This in itself is an oxymoron to the intent of photography. If a photo is a 2 dimensional image, then it should be viewed as it’s own reality. The reality of the photograph. This concept was initialized and taught by Stieglitz.  He was the one conscious of the phenomenon of photography and the one whom discovered the true nature of a photograph. The idea was that when a photo is viewed it should stand on it’s own merit and not need the crutch of the reality it was captured from. This has been passed down from generation to generation of shooters.

The idea of titling a photo supports the crutch of reality and serves to destroy or shatter the illusion of the image. We see a photo of a person and it’s titled, “Grandma, New York 1936.” The title supports the memory but what about the innate existence of photography? If we practice that a photo needs only itself to be recognized as itself, what then about Grandma? What about this memory thing? Does this mean that photos really are not what they appear to be? Does it mean the the concrete illusion of a photo being on it’s own in our reality is not a truth at all?

Stieglitz said that photos were the truth of the moment. Bresson coined the phrase, “The Decisive Moment”.  I lived my life adopting these truths and practicing them and teaching them. So why now at 67yo do I question the basis of a life in photography and stumble uon the very essence of my belief system? Perhaps I am not. Perhaps it’s an awakening of a dormant concept that is now coming to life and trying to create a new path.

I tend to believe that this memory thing is inherit in all of us. Photographs are not an island of tranquility at all. They rock the very foundation of their own existence. Street photography as important and loving as it is, is also the antithesis of memory. When I work the streets, I am not thinking about memories. I am thinking and feeling …. what?    Damn, ain’t the the $64,000.00  question.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I have learned and taught that the photograph exist due to the shooter making it. End result, Fine Art, whatever ya  wanna call it. No not a pretentious intent and result. We look at our work and try to feel and see the reason for making it. It’s not a lost soul, it’s just photography. The real idea is that we had another reason for clicking the shutter than the memory of the moment.

The division between intent is where the problem lies (correct spelling), if there is a problem. If we make a photo and memory is a secondary intent, then post it on Flickr or any place at all and get responses, that serves to justify the  intent and process to get the photo there. While you are looking at the photo, the phone rings and you are told that Grandma has passed away. Well, let me tell ya something, you will be looking for photos of her quickly. It’s the memory of her and the experience you shared making the photo that you long for.

I will continue this in a few days. I’m interested in reading your thoughts if you care to share.

shooter out………………………………………………………………….

 

Photography, Street Photography

July 12th, 2017 … The Photographer’s Toolbox … Juxtaposition

9 Comments

It’s common knowledge to know that juxtaposition is the most important element in photos. I won’t speak about other art forms, just photography. If you look in the dictionary, you will see a definition stating it’s about contrasting elements.

  1. :  the act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side often to compare or contrast or to create an interesting effect an unusual juxtaposition of colors; also :  the state of being so placed contrasting shapes placed in juxtaposition to each other

In part that is true but in whole, it leaks and desires to be more. Juxtaposition is the single most creative device at our disposal as photographers. In the photo above, we have Jefferson’s face and his riveting eyes and layered behind, people walking in unison. Maybe, just maybe that’s not the only juxtaposition. What if juxtaposition is based on contrast. They say it is. If that’s so, is the contrast of black & white a juxtaposition?

How about the contrast of dark and light and also movement? The shot above has the dark and light and movement but just a faint glimpse of stillness. Then there is the blur and is the fact that there is nothing not blurred an issue. What if we have juxtaposition implied and not stated perfectly in the frame. Is the concept of an image and the reality it comes from, is that also a juxtaposition?

The reason I write about this is, because out there working, we need to understand the devices and trigger mechanisms that we have and then to be aware of them. Oh yeah, then use them. During the course of me teaching workshops, certain questions were brought more than others.  Trigger mechanisms, juxtaposition are just a few. Many say to keep a toolkit. That’s right but the toolkit is not your camera or lens or any gear. That’s your camera. Your toolkit is what you have at the ready in your mind.

Perhaps you won’t want to accept this but it’s right anyway. When you work, your toolkit gets activated and aides you in the making of the photo. This is not the camera etc. That’s your friend. Your toolkit is the knowledge you have acquired and the way you use that. Photography for most of us is a process of inside/outside. What you have inside is what influences you on the outside. Of course, the outside also influences your inside. That’s where your toolkit comes into play.

So this becomes a major juxtaposition. Seeing the inside image and playing it against the outside, is the basis of making photos. Ansel and Minor called this, Pre-visualization. I suppose we should call it that also. The main difference is that with a stand camera, it’s easier to find the image inside you on the outside. Once the camera is planted, it’s a question of framing, light, movement etc. Same as for us with handheld cameras but we move thru life instead of standing in it. Ansel’s juxtapositions were more literal whereas Minor was more cerebral and emotional.

Life is a potpourri of thoughts and feelings. Speaking for myself, I travel thru life and smell the roses even tho most around don’t even see them. Not that I’m special, even tho I read my own writings. I remember being with Harry Bertoia. We were talking about art and photography. I was amazed by his works but what got me was his thoughts and emotions. He told me that he felt that we have a certain amount of energy. We use this energy to do our work. As we get older, the works become that much more special and personal because they see the finality. I asked him why he did his work. He told me…”Because I can”.

I’m not a kid and I don’t get excited about hearing something I have heard a million times. I must tell you. When Harry said that to me, it was like hearing it for the first time. It resonated in the fiber of my being. It still is vibrating. Harry asked me if I understood juxtaposition. Well, cocky ass me said, of course I do but I sure would like to know what it means to you. Harry laff’d with a refrained chuckle. He took me to one of his sculptures for the Sound of Sculpture. Then he said breathe. Harry took his hand and arm and drew it thru the rods. I saw a wave that was magical and I could hear the sounds. I realized immediately that all things are open to each of us to draw our own conclusion.

The beauty of photography is the beauty of life. The toolbox of life fills the toolbox of photography. Our experiences and our thoughts and emotions, installs the tools we need to work and survive. We all she the air and the planet while we are alive on it. What we do with our life is the juxtaposition that we make for ourselves. It may be nice to have a following and make money if that’s your thing. The important concept to realize and use, is that in your toolbox is the makings of your work.

Your toolbox is your tools, your camera is your friend, life is your journey, go make photos and find out there what’s inside you.