Singular Image

271 photographs, 30 minutes

Basic Idea: I wanted to look at the movement through a space (a studio in this case) - how the space is used over a period of time. I actually decided to start a series from this concept: looking at how different studio's are used; the interaction amongst the students; seeing how different classes, different setups evoke a certain mindset: how the students work, and how they think about their work.

This has been a pretty fun experience; I've been able to photograph a ceramics studio, painting studio, and a drawing class. I'll post some of the other images later.

Time to Celebrate!

My blog is no longer spam! So it's time for a celebration - sparkling cider all around. Plus a couple of pictures of two Tytonidae (Barn Owls) from early summer.


This was actually quite a creepy moment to photograph. I passed this small white church (that I've driven by hundreds of times), and saw these two wooden brown carved squirrels at the front of the church doors. At least thats what I thought I saw, it took me awhile to comprehend that they were Barn Owls. I didn't have my camera, so I went home to get it, drove back, and to my lucky surprise they were both still standing there.

I was able to get within 4 to 5 feet of them, shooting through this bush for cover to get some shots. What made this a creepy experience was one: the fact that these two owls were out in broad daylight; and two: there was this classical Beethoven music blaring from inside the church. I amusingly thought that these two were standing by the door so they could listen to the music.

Apparently these owls don't see too well during the day, which may explain why I was able to get so close, but also the outer most owl was protecting the other which seemed to be injured. An animal rescue service was called (its name escapes me), so I hope the two critters ended up okay.

Herd: Contact Sheets

Herd

|hərd|
noun
1. a large group of animals, esp. hoofed mammals, that live, feed, or migrate together or are kept together as livestock
2. a large group of people, typically with a shared characteristic: : I dodged herds of joggers and cyclists | he is not of the common herd.

verb [with adverbial of direction ]
1. move in a particular direction
2. keep or look after (livestock)

"Untitled"

"Coming & Going"

"Against the Flow"

After moving through this mass of students between classes for the past year, I got this amusing thought that I was moving through a gigantic herd. Visually I wanted to cram as many students into one shot as possible, to give a somewhat claustrophobic feeling - so it would seem as if everyone was shoulder to shoulder. I also didn't want there to be a single focus on any one individual - in part to keep the viewer lost in the crowd, but also to try and keep the viewer from identifying with anyone in the scene. I wanted their to be this lack of individuality so everyone in the shot just blends into this mass sea of people.

The one color shot I included to give context to where these students are. The two black and white photographs I wanted to capture nothing but the crowd, but with the color image I wanted to show the beauty of the scenery around these students, and to show that no one in the shots really seems to take notice of this beauty: their just looking ahead, moving forward, concerned with just getting to their destination.

Influence

Fritz Lang's Metropolis. (1927)
In 2026, the populace of this "metropolis" is divided into two groups: one of planners and thinkers, who live above ground in luxury, and another of workers who live underground running the machines to sustain the city for those who live above.

The imagery in this film is breathtaking, and not just with the special effects or the massive sets, but also with the emotionally exaggerated performances. The opening scene for this film is amazing: we see a shift change of workers, "the day shift," the movie explains - hundreds of workers begin trudging forward; their movements in sync with one another, rhythmic, almost machine like. Their heads down, shoulders slumped, a real sense of despair, and from this an understanding that these are broken men.

Videos are unfortunately no longer available

Metropolis Opening Scene "The Day Shift"

My interest in this movie stems partly from its shear visual power, but also its exploration of the human condition and social division of the worker and elite classes in the film. Though it's clearly a theatrical and fictitious piece of science fiction, the imagery (such as the workers) still holds quite an emotional punch. With my own work I've looked at various aspects of society, from things we ignore, to leftovers on a plate, to individual portraiture that explores who, or what a person is like. While I'm more interested in aspects of individuality, Metropolis looks more at an entire society and the conflict that stems from the social division within the city, but what I hope to take from Metropolis (in small doses) is the theatrics. I love portraiture that reveals something unique and truthful about a person, but sometimes a bit of theatrics, a bit of direction, can help someone loosen up and possibly in the end show more of who they really are, and create more powerful imagery.


More on Metropolis
This film is a marvel of technical achievements, it was astonishingly ahead of its time, I have to keep reminding myself that this movie was released in 1927 when admiring the visuals, and I keep asking myself "how the #&*!! did they do that!" For the opening sequence Director Fritz Lang got over 1,000 extras with shaved heads to play the workers. The whole movie employed over 37,000 extras. Below is a link to a trailer for the most recently restored version of the film.

Videos are unfortunately no longer available
Metropolis Trailer

Previous Work

After excruciating over what pictures to post I decided to start things off with some photographs from a tattoo portraiture series that I've been developing for a couple of years. I've photographed friends, family, some people I hardly knew, even the president of Clatsop Community College in Astoria. The idea is to look at how personality and attitude relate to the tattoos, and how the tattoo's define the person. I've even gone to a couple of tattoo parlors to photograph the process (Nine Lives, and Area 51 tattoo parlor below). It's been fun, and it's something I hope to continue to develop and evolve. Enjoy.

Caravanserai?

A Caravanserai was a roadside inn (Central Asia, North Africa, and South-Eastern Europe) along caravan trade routes where travelers, pilgrims, and traders could stop and rest from a long day of traveling.

photo: Kaveh Hosseini, Neyestanak, Iran.

A small stop for people to come relax, I liked that idea, so enjoy your stay, put on some mood music (mood music not provided), take in some pictures, and have some hot cocoa (again not provided).