"commitment" is almost nobody’s favorite word….
"freedom", "fly", "space" seem to be more comfy life "key words"….easier for one thing…and whole supporting philosophies to go along with them….but, as we all know, at some point anyway, only through commitments do we get anything done at all either personally or professionally…
last sunday on a Carolina beach ,above, Amanda Pitts became Amanda Halladay…..she gave up her "freedom" to marry the ever elusive can’t pin me down vagabond of all vagabonds surfer boy Scott "Scooter" Halladay…you may read about Scooter in one of my chapters in Divided Soul and realize the extent of my long relationship with Scoot since he was a young boy living at the other end of Pinetree Road… my son Bryan’s best friend in Richmond and now in the wind whipped surfer community of the Outer Banks….
Amanda and Scooter announced their beach wedding less than 24 hours before it happened, therefore extending their reputations for non-conformists right up until the final "i do" here on Hatteras Island, the water burial ground of almost 300 storm related shipwrecks, and where even the crews of German U-boats, during WWII, used to sneak ashore and get a suntan right here on these long white beaches and just a few miles from where the Wright brothers launched the first powered airplane in 1903 and Blackbeard the pirate, in the early 1700’s, retired here to enjoy his loot from hijacking ships of commerce…
lots of history for a rather "out of the way" thin strip of land likely to be erased in any hurricane, but as far as we are concerned, the Amanda/Scooter wedding is at the top of the list of "important events"…everyone down here figures that if those two can make a commitment, then all things are possible..
speaking of relationships, we have one right here….because i happen to be on vacation right now, i let the last post hang a bit too long and yet the comments are getting close to 700…crazy…..conversation…online friends…chit chat…serious thinking and references….assignments coming to fruition….work to be shared and displayed….an internet phenomenon by any reckoning….
so, now what do we do?? stay as we are?? make a commitment for more?? by the end of September we will have all assignments finished i think and i will be ready to announce new grantees from EPF….there are other "awards" besides the cash grants to come, but i will announce those later…now, i just want to get a feel for what we should do next….
frankly, i cannot do more than i am doing right now…my personal photography just cannot take a back seat to managing this forum…..and i well know that none of you expect that nor suggest otherwise…however, if some of YOU were to volunteer your help , i think we could get better without getting bigger or losing our "personal touch"…. i have shunned advertising for our forum here because, well, i just think we should take our "popularity" and instead of advertising, have corporations and individuals sponsor your projects i.e. EPF …
so far, this has been an easy "sell" for me because it is just flat out a "worthy cause" at a time of shrinking photo budgets on every front..my only problem is that i just do not have the time go really go "out there" and sell it in the way that could really make it "fly"….we will have a permanent slot as part of Look3 and next year’s show will be "killer"..and i foresee we will do many more shows/exhibitions from the work generated here in 2008…a printed annual is an obvious possibility, but this will take some major fund raising which i , in theory could easily do, but if i did i am afraid i would lose momentum on my family project….
in the next few weeks my schedule will take me to Perpignan (Sept 3-9) where i will meet many of you..we should discuss this if you are around…also ,in September , i have two weeks of workshops in my New York loft….then i will be back on the road with my "families"… somewhere in there, i would like to meet as many of you in New York as i can…yes, a meeting at my place…..maybe between the two workshops…..maybe after….
your ideas on what we should do or what we can do are important…tell me, tell me….of course, we do not have to do anything different from what we already do….but, i would feel so proud if we could generate enough funding to have many of you working and with a nice publication as an end result…
again, getting "bigger" is not on my mind…..representing a growing and talented legion of photographers and writers who have made their online environment the very message itself, is potentially very interesting…it is what already happens here, but perhaps more of a commitment from some of us could push our collaborative efforts towards its own logical evolution…
Amanda and Scooter, i wish you love and happiness forever……
Audrey,
:-))))))))….
PANOS…
great new work from Venice Beach!!! 3 or 4 really strong…
damn my man, you are getting it, not giving up, even getting really “photographic”…don’t get “too good”…you will ruin the whole thing!!
i will be in Venice Beach soon enough for the Julie Dean gig in november…
time for us to edit…
so between now and then , just “pedal to the metal”…just because we are friends does not mean i will cut you any slack..quite the contrary …so you have two months to really really show us….
now pretend you have done nothing…zero…forget you have some good work..i mean forget it…start over…this is when it gets good…
now is the time…your time…go , go go…
well, i sound like a football coach or something….so forget the pep talk rah rah too…just do whatever you have to do to focus focus in a relaxed but purposeful way…get in the zone…no, not the end zone….THE ZONE
PATRICIA…
nice Obama photograph!! i agree…this man is the real thing…one last glimmer of hope for our fallen from grace country…but, can it really happen??? …can the American people actually rise to this occasion???
AUDREY…
well, i have a “must do” dinner at 7pm on wednesday…trying to set up something for the EPF for next year…so that some of you will have a “place at the table” at this festival…
maybe i meet Eric and you at Le Poste at 5pm on wednesday?? is there no chance for you later that evening???
cheers, david
ALL…
i have a new post in my head, but it is 2am…just back from a great shoot….or, should i say, a great experience….
gotta sleep…long day tomorrow and all night flight..maybe coffee tomorrow will let me write what i have in my head now..
peace, david
david, lassal, audrey & perpignan crew…
i might have found a flight (thanks lassal for the air france tip)… sat 6th till monday 8th… haven’t been following the conversations on the days that everyone will be there, so just checking: will anyone be there thos days? would be kinda silly otherwise :)
i’m completely unprepared, no idea what’s happening over there at the festival, i’m just there for meeting you all.. i hope i can get some prints done, but time is not on my side on that one.
audrey
oui, la plupart c’est de la “français avec des cheveux aux dessus”, mais ça doit aller…. j’aimerais bien parler avec toi de tes belles images… à toute à l’heure (j’espère)…
panos bro
you animal i can’t keep up with you… i still have to look at your previous chapter… will do as soon as i can!
gui
i haven’t had much of a chance to chat yet, but: glad you joined too! :)
love
David,
5 pm, it is perfect!! Thank you very much!!! I do not know, I think that we shall stay a little of time after the projections, it is Eric who drives and who will decide…
Panos
:)))))!!! I think that it is the language which I am going to use in Perpignan, seen my bad English!!
Anton, génial!! j’ai hâte de vous voir et de parler avec vous de vos images !!
Anton, le samedi, je travaille, je pense venir après si je ne suis pas trop fatiguée sinon je serai là sûr le dimanche et lundi pour vous rencontrer… à très bientôt!!
CHARLEY MAHONEY,
Yes, we all plan to meet in Perpignan. Some starting on wednesday and the rest on thursday. I definitely will make it for thursday evening/night at Cafe la Poste. Maybe on wednesday, but not sure as I will arrive from a long drive.
LASSAL,
so fantastic to know from you from Perpignan!!! Great that you got internet in that apartment so you can keep us informed, yeah!
And your first thoughts are very interesting as I’m deciding right now the number of pictures I will take. I’m thinking of bringing A3 prints. Maybe a 15 pictures portfolio (with random pictures from several series) and get the finished series too but only show them if someone asks for it. It is so difficult to edit tight!!
I’m still laughing about your search for Cafe le Poste. You should send us instructions of how to find it!! or at least the address ;-)
I’ll arrive on wednesday, still don’t know the time. If I don’t see you then, I for sure will go to Cafe le Poste on thursday.
Did you finally got the accreditation? is it worth it to have it? How does it work with the reviews? do you have to put ask for appointments?
Enjoy, have fun and take advantage of everything!
Hugs
Ana
audrey
très bien! à bientôt…
QUINCEANERA
EAST L.A.
ROXY…
http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/slideshow/14890
If anyone has any editing suggestions, I’m all ears…
Anna,
in my opion, 1 and 2 repeat themseves. 5 and 6 sort of do also. Theres a stretch where you have a coiple of photos of legs that for me repeat themselves (girl in white skirt walking). Im also curious why you have omne photo in color when everything else is in b/w…
P.S. the slideshow doesnt show every photo. I was happy to see that upon viewing manually there were more photos in the series.
Rafal,
I see you going to be very eshetic. Good for you. For me you are going to art part of photography. Keep going. Learn from the best.
Fenced off looks very inviting.
pozdrawiam
Rafal
Julian Faulhaber,
http://www.lagalerie.de/faulhaber.html
http://www.hastedhunt.com/photos.php?a=julian_faulhaber&i=57677
and maciej stępinski
http://www.stepinski.com/
Marcin,
very nice links. Good stuff. Im not sure I ant to go THAT far into it but its food for thought.
……so between now and then , just “pedal to the metal”….
….ok… done deal…
goodnight y’all..
peace
Thanks for looking, Rafal. This was an exercise for me in shooting looser than I usually do. I am well aware that there are a BUNCH of repeats (1/2, 5/6, all the legs, the tattoo lady…) — that’s why I am asking for editing suggestions. :) In each repeat situation, I wasn’t sure which to choose, and included options intentionally.
Regarding the color image, if it’s the only image standing at the end of the edit, I will keep it color. If it ends up with friends, I will convert it to b&w.
Interesting to know that the slideshow isn’t showing every image on your end…
PANOS
you are definitely “inside”! ;)
PS: spent some hours in Venice beach a couple of weeks ago, sort of hit-and-go in California. Crazy place! I looked around for your bandana, didn’t find it (sunset…was it too early? ;)). Maybe next time…
PANOS,
Great work! Some of the best I’ve seen so far from you. Love shot no. 6. A bit Nan Goldin’ish..
You are really pushing it and getting yuorself access. Impressing!
Cheers
Panos,
I agree with David’s words “don’t get “too good”
get close…
get own…
I am your fan.. I’ll be even more…
peace
PANOS
Powerful stuff, bro!!! You are REALLY doin’ it. Great work!!!
Patricia
RAFAL…
i have not seen your newest work…and i do not have time to see it this morning either…at least, i do not think so…i like to sit back relax and take a good look, so please be patient and i will peruse soonest…if i have an internet connect in France , then that will be a good time…
ANTON…PERPIGNAN CROWD
you will be missing a lot depending on what time you show up on saturday…the best evening shows are wednesday thru saturday…but, of course, all of the print shows are hanging all of this time…if you are just looking for a party, the big one (on top of all the other big ones!) is saturday night…i am around until monday, however by sunday i will have to go sit on the beach alone…
i would really like to see you…yet, i would think twice about just coming for a party…you will miss the time to see all of the agencies and most of the slide shows…on the other hand, you will get some idea of what you need to do next year…tough call…
ok, here is what i am thinking…if Anton makes this trip perhaps we could make it worth his time if somehow we could actually all meet at one time for an hour or so and discuss our forum a bit…the only time i can think that is practical is sunday at say noon…Cafe le Poste for coffee and breakfast etc??? that saturday night party is an “all nighter”, so that may be tough for some of you, but trying to get everyone together before that is not going to be easy…we will surely see each other all the time in small groups etc., but maybe this is the best time for a SERIOUS MEETING..any better ideas???
by the way, there are many other nice restaurants and cafes besides Le Poste!!!…however, this does seem to be the best meeting point overall…
AUDREY…ERIC
can we please change our meeting time to 5:30pm on wednesday?? and i think it also better if we meet at my hotel (Park Hotel) coffee bar…if i try to go to Cafe le Poste at that hour, i am just automatically going to run into so many people and i will not really have time to actually chat with you…getting a one on one conversation going at Perpignan is not easy, so i think this is the best plan…my mobile is 202 413-1137 (U.S.) but i cannot receive messages..
cheers, david
No problem, we shall find you at 5:30 pm to your hotel, still one thank you!
In tomorrow, audrey
Hi David, I’ve just found an hotel (next to the beach) as Perpignan was full… Would be nice to meet you and the crew on Sunday, I am looking forward for it…
david
great great idea… i would so like to be part of the blog discussion, i feel it’s oh so important (and a reason for coming too…) i’ll be arriving saturday around 7pm (ready for the all-nighter of course) and yes sunday the serious meeting would great… but please i don’t want to impose in any way… but i’d be honored of course :))
yes i am making a tough call i know, but i feel (photography-wise) i am too feeble right now to go “full on” and seriously edit and bring my work and try to show… i would much rather regard this as “scouting” for next time… and of course shaking hands with “Mistah Cigartex” himself, telling him to get ready for me, i’m coming next year :))))
David,
good…I just added new images to a few projects so you will be up to date when you see it. Enjoy the slideshows:)
Lassal, on Friday at 4 pm, PAOLO PELLEGRIN’s signature, au convent des Minimes!!
Abele,
You were in Venice?
I wish you would have called!
Martin B,
Patricia,
Marcin…. Thank you…
ALL.. Goodmorning… 6 am in LA.. A
Day after Labor Weekend…
Everybody’s still intoxicated..
I just woke up with Patricia’s OBAMA
on my mind… ( nice photo Pat…:-) )
You can DO it America!!!! ;-)
Anton..
Perp crew…
I wish I was there.. Speaking French
with all of You..,
Au Revoir
All:
I have uploaded more images to my racecourse project. No special order, just the ones I like more at present. Note that I seem to be twisting to what happens around the racecourse, rather than the racecourse itself.
All comments welcome.
http://www.lightstalkers.org/jorge-prat
Thanks for your support.
Jorge
Anna B.
4, 7, 15, 21
peace
Have just packed my bag, grabbing prints soon then travelling all of tomorrow and rocking up dead late wednesday night.
I’d love to listen to a discussion on the future of this place, a sobering breakfast sounds like an interesting time to do it. Especially after all the wild ideas on the night before!
Anton,
Scouting expedition? Thats my plan too! Love the colours + DOF in Brigit.
Panos,
Up at 6am? Now thats a pedal on the metal! Interesting stuff in those last shots!
Perpignan Crew,
To help recognise fellow bloggers I’ve got a collection of a few mugshots here:
http://www.iseepeople.co.uk/firemonkey/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=48010&
If you want to send me an email with a mugshot, tonight is the last chance before I’m all out of internet.
See y’all soon!
PANOS bro
i WILL call you when i see david, and when we are having a beer IN YOUR NAME bro (remember c’ville, remember paris)
had a chance to look at you images… they look good my man, will comment more later (gotta run go check if i can still get a train ticket)
Neil fellow scouter
just got your contact details from audrey… will send message when i get there on saturday… will try to bring some more of Birgit along to show, if i can get it printed in time…
peace
anton
PANOS
I have been there just a few hours, in the middle of a two weeks unplanned vacation driving around California. Next time (? quite far from Italy, indeed ;) I’ll call for sure…
Neil..
Love your bandana…!
;-)
Peace
Anton :-) ..
no worries… i owe you some feedback too…
i hope we meet in europe next time…
peace
Pour Mes Amis et Amies en Perpignan
J’espère que vous aurez une fois formidable et très amiable. Il me tarde de vous-tout voir, mais c’est impossible cette fois, je regrete. Il faut que vous faites la bombe!
PANOS
some of the photos from that set had me smiling from ear to ear.. high as when chemically aided in past days..
brilliant – really happy for that last set of photos..
you must have been feeling you were getting good stuff clicked as it happened.. what a buzz..
enjoy.. looking forward to seeing all.
1, 2, 6, 15.. depending what you are putting them with.. couple more too maybe.
David B…
THANK YOU for the precious feedback..
and encouraging words..
There are times I wanna give up,
Times of doubt, repetition, non motivation,
fear… but Everytime I post something
In this forum… The feedback makes
me gonna do more, bigger, better, stronger..
Because you guys RAISED THE BAR SO HIGH…
I value YOUR OPINION.. more than you think..
Thank you DAVID…
( now it’s time to throw all my pictures away..
and go get some new, new stuff …)
Tom Hyde..
Also thank you for your private words..
Peace..
ALL , let’s feed from each others motivation…!
PANOS MY MAN
I would love to see all this hot new work of yours that everybody is raving about, but I haven’t been able to see any of your work for months now. I realize I am living in the Stone Age with outdated software and hardware, but I manage to see almost everyone else’s work. You are using some kind of web program that comes out as an empty black page with a title in white but no images in Safari 1.2 or IE 6. Is there any way you can post images in a simpler and more straightforward way so us old codgers can see them?
Sidney,
Hmmmm… I see…
Unfortunately you are not the only one..
that has problem opening my links..!!???:-(((…
Time to call Ryan ( my beloved friend and
tech guru)… Maybe I should try posting through
Photo Mechanic’s “banana” or something similar..
Thank you for the feedback.. For letting me know..
I will email you soonest as soon as I have a
legit Tech answer …
Thank you again..
I’m starving for your opinion Sidney..
For real..
PANOS
on giving up.. there are sometimes tough times, no?
some tough come-downs.. reality verses the photographed world and paying rent, bills.. living rough.. eating crap.. but seeing some real treats..
carrot and donkey.. thats how it was for me.. for every good shoot, where i thought i was finally getting what i wanted, there was a hardship to overcome.. the continuity of it all ran like this for me, with incredible highs followed by low, low, lows.. with the photographs as the best friends i made along the way.
sound advice from DAH about giving up on the past photos.. you’re into the groove of it right now and to set yourself up on the work you have already shot could be prohibitive.. there is NO FORMULA to cling to.. just keep clicking at everything you are seeing because right now what you are seeing, over time, is a unique and precious thing..
keep on panos.. i’m going to visit LA again one day.. i’ve a mate called barry who runs a scate shop.. loves ‘girls girls girls’ and steak and eggs for breakfast on venice beach.
thanks David..
:-)) someday.. We will definitely meet..
Till that day we will keep paying our dues
to the “TOWER OF SONG..”
sorry ,
I meant photo.. or SONG..
Same thing…
Peace..