i am not always proud of my country…..well, let’s just say that i am not always pleased with the "official side" of things….but, of course, it is my right to not always approve of decisions made by those who have been elected to high office….so, i have my vote and i use my vote…but, the one thing of which i have always had a sincere appreciation for is most of the folks who live here….the 99% who just want to take care of their personal lives, support their families, and live as good and simple a life as possible…
the Mississippi River Delta is flat country….not a hill in sight…often way too cold or way too hot….there is a beauty to it, but it is subtle…..large plantation owners used to rule this delta country…..having often hundreds of slaves to pick cotton which was barged down river to New Orleans and then shipped all over the world….people all over the world wore shirts made from the cotton coming from the fields all around the small house where i am now staying…sitting here, i can feel the history….my fantasy for "time travel" would be to go back in time…..i try to imagine now what it may have been like 100 years ago in the spot where i now sit…..i can almost "smell" the history as a thunder storm rolls loud and black across the flats, creating waves in the wheat fields resembling now a green tumultuous sea….
from these former cotton fields and cotton pickers came art….out of commerce, out of slavery, out of greed, out of necessity, out of Africa, came art…yes, the one pure contribution from my country of which i am very proud is the MUSIC….yes, the music; blues, jazz, rock n’roll and , yes, rap , came from these cotton fields…..in all of the arts , music, sculpture, painting, photography, filmmaking, opera, ballet etc. no one country or culture "owns" all of it….but, out of these cotton fields and out of these little one room churches came the voice of an enslaved people….and the voice of the music that came from the fields where i now write to you, is…yes, the BLUES…. this art, this voice, is still heard around the world….and an art form no other country can claim…think Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker….
i am here to photograph families on my cross country project…..and it is all about the "blues"….i almost feel like never leaving here….i would like to meet more families…the folks i have photographed this week have been so so gracious…way way beyond the cliché "southern hospitality"…..i will deliver quickie prints today to the family i photographed yesterday…the family of 84 yr. old blues singer T Model Ford…my pictures have him in front of his humble home …but in this modest house is a photo gallery….T Model’s wife Stella has curated this "show" and has lined the walls with snapshots of his life and performing travels bringing these "cotton fields back home" to his international fans…
often here we discuss a multitude of factors that make up a "life in photography"….most of you are young ,and the rest of you young at heart, but every once in awhile someone on this forum mentions their age…..says something like "well, at my age it is probably too late to start a career in photography"…….yesterday, T Model told his story… took another sip out of his ever present bottle of Jack Daniels…sang a bit…just for fun…he always has fun….grinning he told me that he did not even pick up a guitar until he was 58 years old…T Model said " yes, my fifth wife brought home a guitar one day and ordered , you gonna be a blues man…well, i was born in a ditch…i been shot, stabbed and poisoned…i cannot read or write… but i picked up that guitar she brought and taught myself how to play"…..now, people from all over the world come to hear T Model……he is one of the most popular singers on the blues circuit …so, listen up…any live performance now by the likes of B.B.King, Jimmy Burns, Mississippi Slim ,Honey Boy Edwards, Willie King, and T Model should be savored….there ain’t gonna be any more comin’ quite like these boys….
so, my question to you today should be obvious…do you let your age (either "too young" or "too old") influence how you think about your work, or are you oblivious (as i am) to your "calendar age" and move forward with gusto???
T Model photographed by Michael Lloyd Young
David is busy, I have boring awful rainy day… so who want to talk about struggles?
BOB,
If I recall correctly, Sunday was your birthday so, HAPPY BIRHDAY MAN!!!! Hope this year that you will share a lot of pictures and words with us all and that you and David will eventually meet this year!!!! I cannot believe that the two of you have not got together yet….
MARCIN,
I have traveled to Marocco a couple of times. At first, going there I thought it would be a great place to photograph but actually I found it to be a very difficult place. Unless, you really know the people there, it is kind of difficult to get close to them for photography… What’s more, there are many great images that everyone has in mind and therefore it is tough to do something new and different. I am sure that you must have seen the Marocco book from Bruno Barbey… Net, do not be too harsh on yourself…it is really challenging to photograph there something really unique, staing there just a few days. I did have a quick look at your images and there are some very nice ones…the ones I prefered were more the ones that seem to be your “own” style/ vision, the beach with the red chair, the picture of the mean with reflection of his face…Some of the more “classical” Marrocan pictures are not my favourites as they remind me of Barbey…In a way this may be good but at the same time seems less “you”….
ERICA,
I have gone back to you site several times this week. I really like your style, the humanity of your portraits…I love th last picture of the little girl in your 40 days essay. Some many great images also in your New York porttaits, the girl with the dress in front of the gaz station. I have been wondering how you work. Are these persons that you know or simply meet on the streets? In any case, great work Erica!
DAVID,
While waiting to hear from you (you are rightly having some good time with your suns…), I decided to start taking a few more shots for this BUS stop idea that I shared. If anything, I find it amusing to try to produce an essay by staying in just one spot and not move more than 20-30 meters from that spot….May not be the best “diverse” topic but it is so easy to start so I did spend a couple of hours yesterday on the spot and did a few more pictures that I have posted.
Cheers,
ERIC
DAVID, ALL…
Concerning my project, I went to Balattou yesterday night. Without a bag, just my M6, and TRI-X full my pockets. Two and a half rollers at 1/15, 2 beers, and they friendly asked me to not photograph. Owner of the Ballatou is OK, but some customers, whom I did not even shooted, complained. I am going to process today. I do not hope to have more than 2 or 3 good photos. Just a bad day.
Marcin…
I don’t think Herve was trying to “pat you on the back.” He was telling others they should stop “patting you on the back.” He wants us to offer better critiques.
I hope you don’t think I was just making happy talk. Your images move me. There are good images and not so good images. Like most others in here.
I don’t think you complain. I think you struggle and strive and shoot and shoot more. That will only make you/us a better photographer.
If it’s a rainy gloomy day where you are, maybe you should go out and shoot! It might gives us more insight into your mind, your mood! ;^}
Peace,
MK
its sunday , at last…
soooo…
BOB , HAPPY BIRTHDAY….
…and hmmmmmmm…..
HERVE IS RIGHT…. we are not helping Marcin much this way..
“…Marcin is pouring out his doubts, his heart, and we’d just pat him on the shoulder…Friends, we can do better, can’t we?…”
Herve, of couse WE can do better…. soooooo,
Marcin… YOU SUCK… YOU DONT BELONG…. YOU ARE A BIG COMPLAINER….
your question should be…
“Where is the nearest CLIFF… to jump………………………..????? instead of if you qualify to be an art or whatever photographer…
Thank you Herve for YOUR honesty…
Herve , you liberated my soul by tearing down that hypocritical blanket…
thank you…
HERVE, MARCIN…
this one for both of you…
happy Sunday..
Eric
I had many opportunity to shoot pictures like Barbey, but then I even not put my camera to eye. and yes, morocco is very hard but I was focused not on place but on my vision of my images. Maybe it was main mistake.
Herve
I am always full open for any hard critiques…
I think I have to be shaken sometimes…
if I get you wrong I’m sorry.
michael
We have in my towny not only rainy day buy first of all it is just “bad” or “evil” day. everyone fighing with others. Sometings depresser is in air. We don’t fight with my wife but we don’t speak also (ha, when I write that my wife yelled for me with some stiupid reason :)
I just want to say that in day like today I should’nt breathe even.
Panos
I love you… it is tru love… :)
BOB
HAPPY BIRTHDAY my friend!!!…. but it was yesterday if I’m not wrong
Panos…it is pouring rain where I am (DC), I’m about to go move my niece from her dorm…in the rain! Yet, I’m in a suprisingly good mood! Do you have a youtube clip for this peculiar moment?
Sure Michael …, sure
this is for the kid:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=sEFZxYNu-IA&feature=related
and this version for you:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=vD0xBE-4J_g
peace
Efcharisto poli!
You rock.
Parakalo, monsieur….
…and now a song for ALL…
in the memory of George…, from the Boss…
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=1C4ZRllwC-U&feature=related
Hola David,
I wrote a little article about “calle 25 de enero” in Ponce, Puerto Rico with some of my images….if you have a chance, please take a look..
http://www.jpgmag.com/stories/page2
saludo.
Carlos Rubín
Sorry…the name of the artcicle is “Magic Town”
http://www.jpgmag.com/stories/page2
Thanks!
Carlos Rubín
PEOPLE…
LOOK WHAT I DISCOVERED… I FOUND DAH’S LOST DOG…
CLICK BELOW…
also, last night in Venice, i found the “Insider” Steven The Con Artist… with another lady…. check those two photos…
and honestly… if you HAVE TO EDIT, down to 5 (five),
how would you edit…?
Anyways, kidding…!
Two photos from last night-this morning….
After my meeting with STEVEN THE CON MAN,and the “other” girl,
I wanna ask everyone….
WHY DO MEN CHEAT ????
anyways, click below:
http://blog.panosfotografia.com/2008_05_18_archive.html
ERIC..
you are all ready off and running with Bus Stop? This is new new, right?
thank you..Working ‘method’..these are people I don’t know, but it only takes a moment to get close..and there is something special in not knowing someone, but intuiting the common ground..like you say..the humanity..we are all one, it’s right there, it’s just a matter of openness/trust and connection. Maybe it comes down to being able to read who is willing to collaborate for a moment in time..which is all that most of these are, I shoot very little film/spend very little time with an individual. It becomes something different when you know ‘things’ or ‘facts’ about someone..what they do, what they think..that’s the stuff that can start to create the appearance of division, that then has to be worked through to come back to the place of oneness where we started..
BOB
happy happy birthday man! hope the mosquitoes keep on stinging and finding lot of youngness and LIFE :))))
i have the same feeling developing negs as you describe… just had it today as a matter of fact…. went to a play the day before yesterday… a bunch of young actors playing important stuff incredibly intensely… well it seemed that way to me at least…. it SWEPT me… so i went up to them after the show and asked if i could do some pics before the next show…
…i mean, even WHILE i was doing the portraits of them preparing for their next performance i could FEEL the intensity through the lens, the electricity, the story that was going to be told… and i was so happy i captured that with ten portraits…. and then today i develop AND IT’S NOT THERE… where is it… i wonder if it’s me looking at my own images…
…it’s like it always needs a lot of time… time as in getting my head cleared for a while… detaching myself and then re-attaching…
and DESPITE ALL THAT i get up every morning acheing to make more and more
and more
and enjoying every second of it…
so i’m a happy camper after all :))
maybe we should all have an EMPTY camera without any TRI-X in it… and taking the best memories you can imagine…
peace
anton
BOB…
AND AGAIN:….
“do you let your age (either “too young” or “too old”) influence how you think about your work, or are you oblivious (as i am) to your “calendar age” and move forward with gusto???”
The older I get (still a young 41), the less I feel encumbered by my age.
It’s partly psychological: with successful experiences comes increased self confidence. I know how I learn, I know how I tend to solve problems, and I know my work ethic. I know that if I believe in an idea, I can make it happen. I didn’t always feel that way.
It’s partly practical: with time, comes some freedoms. I am essentially my own boss. If I’ve found that elusive inspiration, I can work all night if I want to. If I want to spend some of my “spare time” playing bass in a jazz group or expanding my photographic skills, I know if and when I can or cannot do it. Sometimes I’ll just do it anyway.
That is, as long as my wife approves, of course…
Eric,
I just spent a good deal of time on your site.
In your “About Me” section you state “Clearly I am NOT a professional photographer….”
I would like to say that in my opinion, THAT IS CRAP.
I don’t think the definition of a professional photographer is dependent on the photographer earning a living from their work, or photography being their “Job”.
You are talented, and there is a lot of wonderful work on your site. I think by any other professional photographer’s measure, you would most definitely be considered a professional.
Nice work, and I love the bus stop images.
PEOPLE,
I AM happy to say that i fixed the problem ( laziness ),
and i started compressing the little “movie graphs” the correct H.264 way…
so, enjoy below , my new little “recording”… around a Venice RESTROOM…
DESPERATE TO PEE… ME & HUNDRED OTHER BEER LOVERS…
Anyways… ( only 3 & something minutes from your life- thank you for your generous sacrifice of your precious time… I want to thank you in advance…)
“Waiting for the restroom,
in Venice Beach”
… Safety and love rarely mix…
but , purity and stupidity…
always come and go together…
vote for diversity… vote for Venice…
please enjoy…
http://web.mac.com/innerspacecowpanos/%22MOVIES%22/%22BEER_IN,_BEER_OUT%22.html
does anyone have experience with leica m3 and 35mm goggle lens ?
i’m experiencing difficulties attaining sharpness with this lens and the attachment ? any advice out there for clarity ? i never used a range finder before and to my knowledge you focus primarily by lining up the ghost images..
it’s HARD TO FIND a RESTROOM when you need it in Venice…!
A political, cultural talk between VENICE INSIDERS….
click that YouTube shit below:
I think I need a beer now!
Panos…comin’ to Look3?
Hey it’s Sunday — a/k/a Bob Day. Happy birthday! You’ve given me a lot to ponder and appreciate, so thanks and I hope you had a great day.
Joan
ERICA,
Off and running with BUS STOP may be an overstatement :):)… Let’s say that I am trying to establish some contacts/ links for the other two proposals (Boxing and Somalia Refugees) and it will take me a bit more time to get these stories going…so, I started with the easy one… Bus stop is indeed such an easy topic to at least get started….One place where you can easily stop for one hour during the week-end, or break from work…..Difficulty will be to do something that does not all look the same stuff at the end (this is how it looks a bit right now so I will need some creativity here to do different views and get different interesting characters into the story or, more likely I will stop and will move on to one of the other 2 ideas… Currently, half of the pictures are hot from the press (one hour shooting this week-end) and the others are somewhat older and were shot few months ago… If David likes the idea of such an essay in a single confined space, I might carry on although my guess is that he may want something more diverse…Having attended a workshop with him, I would guess that he would rather pick a single shot in this location and then do something somewhere else so that it is not too repititive..Anyway, just having fun really to see what I could do with this….
PETE,
Thanks for your kind comments and I am glad you have enjoyed the site. I guess professional or NOT, we are all going after getting a few interesting images…I happen to not do this for a living….By the way, I tried to connect to your own site and it would not allow it. You may want to check your link.
Cheers, Eric
MARCIN
No hard critique for you, also you did not tell us what you were after when you went to Morocco, and did not tell us where you think you failed. I do not think it’s about missing this or that shot, reading you, and I sense that your disappointment is not just about that trip.
And I don’t say that we should exchange pats in the back with hard critique, just relate to what you are really saying.
I’d be surprised if all of us do not have doubts and self-questionning about what we do. And should! So… We can relate ;-)
PANOS
Not sure what is wrong with the link on typekey. The correct link is http://www.petemarovichimages.com
That is what in in the profile, For some reason the link is putting my name and a / in front.
If anyone has any ideas why, please let me know.
Pete,
On this page underneath “post a comment” there is a place for your name then email address then URL…in the URL space what do you have?
Mine is simply http://www.michaelkircher.com. No http:// or anything else. It takes you right to my web page. Doesn’t go to a Typepad page of any kind.
Pete,
the reason your name and a “/” are still there is probably because you haven’t included a “http://” at the beginning of your website address (in your TypeKey account)
Michael is correct if you’re NOT using TypeKey or TypePad… then there is no http:// necessary (but even so, it should not break anything if you do).
maybe check if you did or did not include the “http://”… that’ll most likely be the culprit here…
hope this helps
hello david,
i’ll be 49 on june 1st and i feel just as youthful as i did when i was a teenager!
i really think it has everything to do with having a positive outlook – an EXUBERANCE for life. whatever age i may be, i would never let that stop me for one second in pursuing whatever passion might ignite in me. age is really just a state of mind, yes?
i read a quote from a photographer (can’t recall who) and he said, “the older i get, the more innocent i get.” and that’s exactly how i feel. i become MORE childlike as time passes. Life is miraculous to me.
on a side-note, did you receive my enthusiastic reply to your suggested assignment for me? i’ll be free of school in one month (mid-june) and will be ready and oh-so-willing to tackle your assignment with gusto!
katia
oh, and will you be showing any of my work at look3? (wish i could be there!!) if you need anything in higher-res, let me know.
iamkatia@gmail.com
be well you..
Hi David (and All),
Speaking of the Blues and Mississippi Delta…Thought you might enjoy this site/project called American Diversity Project …(http://www.americandiversityproject.org/2007/multimedia)
Last year, the group spent a week in the Delta area making a collective documentary. Every year we try and capture the heart and soul of a different rural area.
saludos!