Blogs

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Sometimes You Can

So much of my photography is travel or Street Photography that I am far more likely to be attracted to some light, shape, face, or moment that I need to quickly compose and capture before it is gone; than to have the time to compose in reality the image I am visualizing. Yes, I did say compose, because I still cannot look through a lens without composing in the camera. Even in a "grab" or "drive by shooting" situation, I am trying to compose in camera the old fashioned film way.

Traveling for My Art

I use my itchy feet to make my art.  For as long as I can remember, I’ve been in love with seeing new places, meeting new people, and encountering different cultures.  Many of my images have been, and continue to be, created during my travels.

Like all travelers, there have been some personal “achievements”:  being tear gassed in 3 countries (USA, Malaysia, & the Philippines), seeing all 3 enshrined dictators (Ho, Mao, & Vladimir).  There have been myriads of great experiences and a few disturbing ones.

Location Location Location

Well, I have in my portfolio many portraits. They are travel related rather than formal; however, I have developed a habit I would like to share.  I keep a little pocket notebook and pen with me all the time. When I notice some place which just seems like an especially interesting background for a portrait, I write down the location & details. I find it also helpful to note the light direction, and what it is I find special about the place or why I have noted it.

The Artist as Businessman

I belong to a couple of artist co-ops. As part of my responsibilities in one, I find myself in charge of the gallery today. Foremost, that means I am the "salesperson" of the day. I am reminded why I dropped out of showing my work in street fairs, festivals, or such events. I do have friends who are wonderful salespeople, have the gift of gab, and are good businessmen. Not me. Actually, I should say: not me for my own work; because I am fine with another artist's work.

What kind of photography do you do?

One of the questions I dread most about my work is "What kind of photography do you do? I know one is supposed to have a 25 word or less reply to a question like this, or else be able to say landscapes or flowers or weddings or portraits or travel or, or , or. But when I try that I either have to discount much of what I do or use uncommunicative esoteric terms that prompt a Shakespearean quotation.

At first I often said my work was travel based, and much of my work is stimulated by my travels and certainly works as "travel photography", but that does not tell the whole story.

As I Remember It

I think I first fell in love with a camera during one of my families annual trips back East to visit the family. It was a Brownie box camera, late to be replaced by a Starmite. It certainly was the camera which I recalled later in life when I purchased my first medium format professional camera. The film loaded almost the same way. I was back to no cartridges.

A Word about Titles

My name is not Adam, nor am I on any National Academy of Language. I do not like to put names on things. If possible I would simply call each image Untitled #1, #2, and so on.