I had a great meeting with a commercial photographer near where I live the other day. he is a real pro and his work is lovely. So far no call back and he promised to introduce me to a small round-table of photographers in the area who meet occasionally. So far nix on that as well. So will I or won’t I be working with him? I have no idea.
I am writing up my evaluation forms for SUNY ESC so I can get credit for my work at the Aegean Center for the FIne Arts, on Paros. We’ll see. I have had very little luck with the ESC people since they changed their tune and became a place for adults moving up the management ladder. When I first went there, it was all about learning. Now it seems to be about increasing the global cache of the place while taking in the dough. Maybe I’m wrong, but the level of bureaucracy has grown and that almost always means more administration who need to put things in neat little pigeon-holes and fewer teachers who can think outside the box.
We shall see…
JDCM
Wedding photography takes a special personality and I don’t have it. Sure, I know my way around the camera, but my skills are best used elsewhere. I guess you really have to like weddings in general, and I’m not the biggest fan. This understanding comes on the heels of my first wedding shoot last night down in Connecticut. I was the second camera, so the really good shots were taken by a pro who loves her work and does a spectacular job. I was responsible for the pre-wedding groom’s pictures (dressing, etc…) and some other things. I was, I hope, able to get those shots.
To be honest I was not comfortable in this situation. It reminded me too much of street photography-that sneaky, candid spying style that I am also not fond of doing. Other people can, and the best to them, but not me. I was told that as the drinks flowed people would loosen up. That didn’t cheer me either. I wasn’t looking forward to seeing or even documenting that experience. Still, it is better to know than not to, and now I have that knowledge. Plus, the event reminded me that I left the service industry for specific reasons, not just because I didn’t like the business.
Still, experience is experience and I am glad I was able to work with Stephanie. She’s a real professional and offers a wonderful service to her clients. She knows her way around the machine, has a wonderful eye and a charming personality. She is an asset to any couple’s wedding day. Please check the link on my site, or go here.
Next up…More adventures in commercial photography.
More will be revealed…
JDCM
The student show at the Aegean Center went beautifully. A few of us almost sold pieces, but people can be so fickle. I left the island with a lovely dual portfolio of silver and digital work and feel complete in that way. I was able to spend a few days in Athens with my friend Kristina, and just generally chill out before I flew home. Now I am back and my first wedding shoot is this afternoon. This is pretty new to me, but I have done some portraiture and some candid work, so I think I’ll combine them both and be happy with the results. I am the second camera, so it really isn’t my shoot, but I’ll pretend it is and do the best that I can. Also, tomorrow I have an interview with a local pro who needs a studio/post-production assistant. This looks promising as well and could open many doors to me in many ways.
I am bringing my Canon 50D with both 50mm and 35mm lenses. I am also using a flash, which I do not usually use. I’ll be judicious. We begin at 2PM and finish at 10PM. My boss doesn’t want hundreds of images, so I’ll be editing as I go along. The weather is lovely, the skies are clear. All is right with the world.
More to come…
JDCM
The student show went up today. It is a lovely group of paintings, photographs and prints. I am trying to post this and speak to three people at once. Impossible. I’ll post later…
JDCM
I had toned all of my silver prints with selenium. This brings out the blacks and whites and makes them pop as well as extending the grey-scale throughout the image. Unfortunately something happened and I eneded up having fingerprints all over them. Disaster. Calamity. I was all set to re-print 10 pieces in one week, a job that has taken me all term to accomplish. Then an excellent fellow photographer told me to take a small step first. Bathe the images in water for 5 minutes and them rub off the prints with my fingers. She’s an ace that one. Worth emulating if only for her humility and modesty.
Success! Now all I have to do is spot my images, matte them and I’m done. My digital work is finished as well.
There is bad news, however. A fellow student’s family member has died in America and he has to leave to attend the funeral. This is a big blow to our small community and it is more of a shock coming as it does so close to the end of the term. He’s an excellent sort–a poet–young, full of piss and vinegar and a devotee of Jean-Paul Belmondo…that he knows French New Wave cinema at his age is a credit to him. I wish him god-speed, safe travels. May he write dangerous poetry forever. Write when you get a chance Johnny. I’ll keep an eye for your name in the press.
More to come…
JDCM
As I have already written, my digital work here as undergone a profound fundamental change. Gone are the days of treating travel snapshots with the contrived gravity that only my own mind could grasp. Although my film work has changed as well, it remains more within the traditional scope of photography. The other has become more abstract and modern. The example I am posting is a close-up of the ground. It is from the seaport of Piraeus on a sunny day. The only manipulations I have performed are exposure and curve controls and some selective colors that augment rather than alter the reality of the image. It was taken with my old Canon Digital Rebel XT with a fixed 50mm lens. I tell you all these things because I do not believe that abstract art should be thought of as a riddle to unravel, but rather a representation of color and light. Be aware that the actual image is 250 x 400cm and fits on an A3 piece of paper. Also, the colors are much more vibrant. The yellow is brighter with more orange rather than the mustardy color on the screen. I apologize for that.
More to come,
JDCM
Tomorrow begins the final push to the end of the term. I was thinking today on the beach how this is similar to a birth. The contractions have been slowly increasing as the weeks have passed and now, as the end nears, we are all pushing more to get that baby out. Alright, I have no idea what birth is like, after all I was very little at the time, but the pressure is on. I have been working in the Digilab at night, cranking out the prints and in the darkroom exposing test strip after test strip and getting that portfolio finished. This week I begin the selenium toning process and spotting. Next week I matte the 22 pieces I will have for both courses. Then the show…If all goes well I will have what I need to finish up this BA and move along onto something new for the summer and fall of 2010.
Speaking of that I am looking into an MA program in art history. I am avoiding MFAs. SUNY Purchase and SUNY Albany both have what I need and combined with two more terms at the Aegean Center the ticket I will end up holding would be First Class, round-trip. My goal is set and it is only a matter of walking the walk, doing the footwork, to make it happen. My goal is to apply to some programs, as well as the Aegean Center for spring and fall of 2011. The spring would be another term here on Paros but the fall would be split between Italy and Greece. The fall work is primarily art history so I could transfer massive credits towards the 30 I need for my MA. This could be a great thing but so far it is still on the drawing board. It seems as if I am on track for the big goal…my Ph.D by 50. Stranger things have happened in my life.
As this is a personal blog as well as photographic I might as well mention that my bisexual tendencies have been rising to the surface. Odd, since I haven’t even thought of men in many years that way. Have I been so consumed with work at home and abroad that I had forgotten? Oh well…old memories, some quite fond, steal into my thinking. Maybe it’s the light here in Greece. I had a long talk with my friend K in Athens about it and she and I both agreed that labels of any sort can be damaging in many ways. Let’s just say that I am open to many of life’s experiences. You never know what door love (or sex, for that matter) will walk through. Take it before it slips away.
More to come…
JDCM
There is a little over 4 weeks until I leave Paros and head back to America. As I wrote before, my digital work has undergone an enormous transformation. My film work has shifted as well, but more in terms of process and technical skill than any real artistic sense. Socially I am still a 45-year old man in a school of predominantly women under the age of 25. They are at that odd place in life when although society considers them adults, they have yet to suffer Hamlet’s slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Their emotional forms are soft and romantic, unsullied by the realities of daily life in the cold, dark world. Granted, there will be joys and pains immeasurable in their future, but for now they are safely nurtured in their own cocoons. The winds of inevitable winter will toughen their skins, as it always does.
In regards to that, my age and gender have kept me from being a part of their youthful gaggle. My own work is more focused, my own energy more economized to slog through the next 28 days until the school show. I have had some technical setbacks in the darkroom and unfortunately I am feeling the social disconnect there as well. Much of this is in my head. I will shake it out and get back to work.
More to come…
JDCM
by John on April 27, 2010
As I said last time, I had become blind to the obvious around me and had lost my artistic sense. To be honest I was angry and self-absorbed by this conundrum, thinking that the logical solution was to just pack it in and split-take the boat off the island. That is the easier, softer way and has no reward other than glum arrogance.
I received my assignment from the director. He sent me out to take pictures of ‘negative space’. Now, I figured this was a trick, and it was, but it got me out of the rut and onto a path worth following. We looked at my results and he pointed out that I should be taking pictures of what I wanted to take pictures of, i.e. the specific elements of the image, not the meta. which has been my MO all these years. So I am now taking pictures s close as I can with my 50mm lens (abut a foot away) and discovering abstract landscapes and textures in the peeling paint and gritty asphalt of Athens and other places. I have discovered a hidden spring in the dark forest and am being nourished by its life-giving water.
What a relief. This makes my portfolios possible. I’ll post an image when I can. God, I am so much happier than I was.
More to come…
JDCM
by John on April 11, 2010
I am still enjoying being here. This comes on the heels of a crisis of artistic faith in which I find myself seeing novelty and light in all things film and dull same-old-same-old in the digital realm. The solution is simple. Since I cannot see the forest for the trees I will be given an assignment by the director–actually we all will. I hope it is soon because I am running out of time to complete my portfolio. This is not entirely true. I have almost 60 days until the term ends which is plenty of space. The director, John Pack, said that I take great pictures of many things but that they are all very comfortable and secure for me to photograph. His challenge is to push me out of my comfort zone and see what comes of it. I agree with his ideas but I am waiting for the assignment to arrive. I am enthusiastic. I was told by my other photography teacher that if it seems too agreeable to ask for something else. That’ll work for me.
Our spring break begins next week. I’ll be heading off to Paris for a few days to visit my father who is there for the spring on sabbatical from school. He is there with his wife until June and they have a nice place in the 4th Arrondisement. My goal is to shoot at least one roll of film per day while I am there and a lot of digital to work on when I get back. Of course if I need more film I’m pretty sure I can get some there. I’ll check on-line and find out.
Just a side note…How lucky am I to be living this life? What blessed stars shine down upon me and guide me through the wilderness and into the light!
JDCM
