Years Pass Uneventfully By

So another year has passed, but I would hardly say that they have been uneventful. It started with things that one wouldn’t call events as they happened, but certainly turned into them in their happening and stories are still told, though not often. The first such happening: taking a 4x5 camera and a studio/location lighting kit out to work on some interior architecture shots. Imagine me, with several very large cases, only one of which had wheels, two of which had to be lung over the shoulders, and one with an uncomfortable little handle, trundling down the street over to the bus stop. Everyone kept asking me if I was in a band.

Some events, were actually events, such as the Vedros show, if you recall, was fantastic, especially in building the box around the idea. It was great to learn that you can’t just think out of the box, but think without a box. Let the ideas flow freely and unrestrained, and when you are happy and ready to move forward, build the box to suit the idea, to allow it to become what it was meant to be. There was also the Jay Kinghorn and Jay Dickman show and book signing, which was not only a wonderful opportunity to meet two wonderful and knowledge people in my field, but to have a friend mention to these masters that my own work is up to snuff (she actually made it sound much more impressive, but I still think my work needs a bit more polish). Then there was meeting Martha Madigan, a wonderful woman with a vision all her own, and seeing her work in person, not behind glass or on a page.

And then of course there were THE events: the decision to follow the decisive moment, to capture life as it happens, and the realization that that’s what I’ve been doing all along. From photographing for Angels in Action, Circle K International, the Astor House Museum, Relay for Life, Golden Kiwanis, Thomas the Tank Engine, Race for the Cure, March for Babies, Romeo and Juliet, Guys and Dolls, K9’s for the Cure, Engineering Days, Dragon Boats, and the Chinese New Year, it has been a very eventful year.

So what’s next? What will be happening this coming year? Maybe I’ll learn the steel drum and join a band. Maybe I’ll get a drivers license (yep, don’t have one, haven’t needed one, thinking that I should have one just in case). What events will I be at? What moments will I capture? In short, I don’t know, but isn’t that the point? Sometimes the destination is a surprise to the destined.

Well another year older and none the wiser, but I did manage to burn through 1-power supply, 1-video card, 1- 500G hard drive, numerous recordable CDs and DVDs (Ha! Burn!), and surprisingly enough, I’ve still got fuel in a cigarette lighter I bought just about 4 years ago (I don’t smoke, but on occasion, I need to: shrink heat shrink tubing, light incense, set dinosaurs on fire, attempt to plastically deform small sheets of plexiglass (bend them, but I like saying “plastically deform” and I ended up throwing it in the oven. It looks nice.).

Oh by the way, you should definitely check out Anabret. They have been one of my favorite bands for years now (the Coming Night is one of my all time favorite songs) and their music has always given me inspiration, Years Pass Uneventfully By in particular and not just for this post.

Here’s to another trip around the sun. I’m making waffles.

I Can Never Think of a Clever Title, Let Alone One Representative of the Following Post.

So it looks like I was right and have new pictures up, in just about a week. It's like I'm posting regularly. Whodathunkit?

So here is my favorite shot off of this months Holga.


And here is March of Dimes March for Babies, which was once called Walk America. There was a really good turn out, and thankfully it didn't start snowing until immediately after the event ended. Yep, we had a Colorado Ice Cream sandwhich that week. Both the day before and the day after were quite nice, warm and sunny.



Here is the story wall, about those helped by March of Dimes and what still needs to be done.


This is the shot I knew I wanted, though I hadn't quite imagined the dog giving me the stink eye. I felt this was an important shot because March of Dimes holds this event all around the country. I wanted there to be some shot that specifically identified it as being the one in Denver. The Bear isn't exactly the Denver Art Museum, but it's at least iconic.

Everywhere and All the Time

I had the wonderful opportunity today to see the exhibit On the Road: Photography of the Soviet Empire. I don't often have the opportunity to see many exhibits, but this one was remarkable. Growing up, as was probably the case with many, though to a much greater extent, the Soviet Union was "the Enemy" and any reference, whether in word or image, made it seem like a very unpleasant place. Semon Fridlyand, the sole artist of this exhibition, showed exactly how much the Soviet Union was like western world. It sounds odd to say that because why wouldn't things be the same there as they were here. I don't feel his work can be considered "propaganda," though I'm sure in some ways that is what it was. (In case you were wondering, I don't consider Norman Rockwell's work as propaganda either, though if you think about it, hasn't it been used in that way at times?) His work is about life and if anything, it is a remarkable example of the "decisive moment," of which I am so fond of. If there is one piece that was exhibited that I would consider my favorite, it would be the image of the crew of a battleship, gathered beneath the massive navel guns, tower silhouetted behind them, and a spot light shining down on a sailor playing the violin (or perhaps a fiddle). At once it showed these men as being men, while maintaining a sense of an industrial nation poised for a war waiting in the wings. I apologize for not being able to proved the image for you, but in some ways maybe that is better. It was one of the images featured in the book "On the Road in the Soviet Empire - Semyon Fridlyand Photographs" and I am disappointed in its reproduction. The reproduction was quite a bit darker than the print, and by that I mean the blacks were much "blacker." This not only sharpened the image by an increase in contrast, but made the tower disappear against the night sky. The atmosphere of the image had changed. Did the meaning change? Maybe not. But for me the image felt wrong. Still, if you have the chance to see the exhibition, I highly recommend it. I caught it on the tail end of the show, so maybe you'll just check out the book.

In other news, while I was out and about, we had gorgeous spring weather, which led me to pull out the ol' Holga and some color film. I'm hoping to getting around to develop the film later this week, and getting some picture up probably next. Also, March of Dimes went well. I want to make sure that they get the pictures before I start showing them around, so maybe those will go up sometime next week as well.

And finally, I bought some wood glue today. I didn't have any and it turns out I needed some. Nice how that works out. Why wood glue, you say? Well, I'm propping a new toy shot and I'm having to construct more of it than all the others. That one will not likely debut within the next week, but who knows?

Ok, so this is the final bit. While out at the exhibit, I had lunch at Jerusalem's, a great little Mediterranean restaurant near the gallery. I hadn't eaten there in just about four years and was very excited to see it, since I had no clue were it was since I did not drive there (I still don't drive, but that's another story, that is apparently very short) . I remembered the food being great, so throwing caution to the wind, I pretty much ordered the first thing I saw on the menu ( the Chicken Shawarmah) and it was delicious. Four years gone and the food is still the best. On the Road may no longer be exhibited, but definitely stop here for some great food!