I am realizing that I am in my photographs and somehow having a strong feeling that this is only the beginning. The varied subject matter becomes more organized with time and I am beginning to do things with the camera more naturally [as opposed being all technical]. I am beginning to pursue what I have been bothering all those around me which is the aim of my work. The more I give up pursuing an answer the more it becomes clear that photography is a personal tool I can record and observe where I happen to find myself.

Tonight photograph is of NJ. I took this and few others few weeks ago from the window of a train ride home. Despite the motion blur I think this best defines [until I shoot some more] the Elizabeth area (15 mile radius around Newark Airport) which is cluttered with homes among industrial parks.

No matter where you came from you can blend into the everyday life here without much interference. You can exist from anywhere on the Web and make your voice heard to those who listen and if you look thoroughly you’ll find your clique. And from there you can go into the mainstream [media] if you choose to. But Artist is a broad term. I read an editorial in the Saturday’s Wall Street Journal of Mr. Kasparov’s (The famous Chess Champion) taking on Vladimir Putin from his NYC residence. Van Morrison speaks truth of the commercial weight that art is effected by in USA but still seeks out his influence in USA. If it’s not on the East Coast then it’s on the West Coast. The politics come and go and lives get better and worse. But at the end of the day you can probably find it easiest in the States.

The photograph today is from 3 weeks ago walking by WTC site that not is under construction of the new Freedom tower. I am including the second photograph because it moved me. The coins and a rose left behind remind all that pass by here though the PATH station that some 5 years ago this was a site of total devastation. I am more amazed that 6 years ago I walked out of the WTC twin towers where the PATH station stood. Religious fanaticism is another topic but by no way should it ever be a reason to destroy a human life.

Listening to Bob Dylan tonight along Pie De Palo (2005 Viognier). My attachment to Mr. Dylan’s is in the respect for the use of the language in his lyrics. It very well might be the fact I am bilingual that my respect for his wittiness makes me re-listen his songs in admiration. In any case I do love a good use of language I can find the break from the mundane.

Tonight photograph is about power. In Mr. Dyaln’s lyrics it is the message. In the photographs included it was the feeling I want before setting out to shoot. And the model here is among the brightest I have to shoot. She is a quick learner. She actually pursues to lean about the medium. I find that fascinating.

One photograph at a time. More comming... well, tommrow.

I have been neglecting the blog too frequently lately but day job has been the biggest factor in that. Bad planning is to blame I suppose but that of management. The company grows but concerned more on profits they neglect the basic principle that what enabled that growth was the stability from the operations side. Well, it does not matter much now because by March the work load should ease somewhat.

In a week I am flying out to Poland. I’d like to focus this time around on documenting what I know I can approach with connection. My trips to Poland are very personal in the fact that if my life would have been different I would live there in a very different climate. I go back to my neighborhood on each trip there to walk the same paths I did as a boy in grammar school. Not so much is different now except maybe only the fact that I can walk the distance relatively quicker now since I have longer legs. But I remember the details. I remember the summers where wild rose bush grew near the bus depot and a piece of the sidewalk where some asphalt would give under the feet to a soft step. I remember taking those busses or walking few kilometers with my mom and sister to my Uncle’s house stopping at different stores along the way. I remember this time because I have a very vivid memory for strange moments. In some strange way I look to live them again with some success. The difference today is that I continue to learn and understand how the past can be the future with the right set of eyes and thoughts. Being a boy I had nothing by dreams with little care or understanding. Now I have a set of decisions that can alter my life completely and need to make sure ones I make will somewhat give me some stability. All has changed but that’s because life is about seeing and learning.

No photograph tonight. I do not have anything that would fit here and satisfy my thoughts tonight. I will only try to take as much photographs as possible while on the trip and that of course will depend on the situations I will be in.

Tomorrow with a post less reflective I will post something recent.

Hoga! Cheap plastic medium format camera which is known to leak light and focus where it wants to. Completely unobtrusive and unpredictable camera. It looks like a plastic toy. But for one reason or another it serves as a true tool for creativity No seriousness not heavy tweaking with the camera before a picture is taken. It has two or 3 settings and that is pretty much it.
I got mine sometime late last year. I have only shot one roll though to see where my light leaks will come in. Every Holga is unique. But the leaks can me minimized with a little patience so somewhat consistent results are possible. The 3 images included tonight are random from one roll of walking down a random street in Manhattan. After I will duck tape my Holga from the stranded light I hope to post more with greater consistency for final photographs.

Poland. I’m going on a well deserved vacation in 2 weeks. In fact this time in less then two weeks I’ll be in Warsaw unpacking or getting up on a Sunday morning. There is something about going back that makes it better each time. And more then previous times this time is much more special. The photography part will enable me to cover Warsaw and southern Poland. I am very much debating the color choice but if I will concentrate on street photography then it will all be back and white.
Traveling with film is a chore. But hopefully Frankfurt won’t be much of a problem.
Photograph tonight is from a November walk on Princeton University’s campus.

Andrea has seen hers (and she likes em!!!) and Katie just got her a voice mail this evening that the photographs are up for review. Katie has gone though each one in the past and give me feedback back on each photograph but this time I hope she chooses her favorites. When I was developing the film I was a bit concerned with the fact of shooting two rolls in the same light and space. But despite the same setting I got enough variety on the two rolls that I am now satisfied with. There are certain technical details I need to work on but hopefully that will get resolved soon.
Tonight simply about posting more photos. Day job affecting my quiet (reflection time) but even that I am trying to work out toward time for photography.

I have neglected the Blog which was on my mind over the last few days. But the reason for it was that I was busy shooing. I did two shoots this weekend. One is Night photography, and the other a soft lit sitting with a model I have the pleasure of working with over a year. So tonight to start things off I am including the first of the two. First photograph is from Saturday evening and the second is from Sunday mid day. More coming soon.

Space and Architecture. I don't find Manhattan as a pleasing city. NYC is a rough industrial buildup that signifies fast paced lifestyle. People here talk faster, they curse quicker and by far make the most money here whether commercial photography or other industries. That is why so many lie here. The flip side is the high cost of living. There is some truth to the idea that if you make it here you'll make it anywhere. But the cost of this making 'it' has a price of quick and frequent adjusting to what comes in next which is never far off. I live roughly 35 miles from NYC and its somewhat of a safe city as any suburbs offer.

I do not consider NYC a cultural center of any sort. It is by far among the most prestigious centers for art collections and performances but take away the commercial drive of the city and you have a lot of dirty and abandoned concrete street blocks. Perhaps a dark way of looking at it but money seems to be the life here. I only wished it would not be this strong of a force around here. Life here is primarily about work.

The first photograph I am including is a quick snapshot of NYC skyline from the street level. Its chaotic and scattered. There is very little below that is different. NYC as for a walking city is huge. The difference down below varies by the immigrant neighborhoods or commercial interest defined by square blocks in most part. If for example you go to Chinatown you’ll see street signs in Chinese and all one could want from China. If you go the photo district you’ll find all the photo labs within close proximity of few blocks (although that has changed much with the property values[rent] and digital services. And this continues onto the surrounding area but perhaps less organized the neat city blocks of one way streets.

The second photograph is just a mere play of the word ‘Space’ in the advertisement below and how the figures in the photograph happen to be spaced apart.
Film is Kodak Tri-x at 400 in Rodinal 1:100. The second photograph is about a half of the original frame (if not a little less) because the 80mm lens included to much of the bright building above the street. This is a large cropping but the 6x7 negative makes its size shine in photographs like these.

Tonight I started scanning a roll I took earlier today. I spent the morning in NYC on a rainy Monday. I will most likely post few images from this roll simply for the context of some thoughts and less for the technical content of the negatives. This photograph tonight was handheld and bit blurry at 1/15th of a second balancing the camera and an umbrella in the other hand. But the Cross is built from beans of the World Trade Center. Its just a block away from the site itself. I'm going to re-shoot this in weeks ahead.

...And a sort of addition to the last post inspired by Don's post on Susan Sontag's On Photography. In the reference of the second chapter of the book and the tradition of Walker Evens the photograph here is from my ongoing project of American Suburbs. This photograph in particular is simply a commentary on sports and suburbia. The power lines serve as deeper divide of architecture and a neglected baseball field.

Books! I got an email the yesterday from someone dear to me and in a quick look at Borges's work she was able to depict exactly what I love about his wiring. I was very impressed how from a quick look at it she was able to see all that. Perhaps a description on him on a book jacket gave some of those clues but nonetheless how she wrote it described what draws me to the work.

Books other then some specific cameras and their accessories are among the things I collect. Photo books are part of it but history and selected fictions are part of it. Also classics that I find in hardcover and reasonably prices get added. I always have an attachment to books. In college I could never write in a book and found myself writing things down then underline words or paragraphs. Maybe I should have but there is something special about printed text that I want to read at a later time and not bring in the one way interpretation back to my more experienced outlook.

Tonight's photograph is another personal photograph but this time of my father. He was lost in thought on his commute to work one morning back in October. I like this photograph for reasons I don't wish to go much further here. It is a personal photograph.

Tonight's photograph is not an exciting one nor captivating but personal. I do not know why I like this row of lights but each night when I walk this way from my train home I see it from the distance and it has a certain affect on me. The immediate area to the left and right of this street is of little interest to me nor anyone but those who live there for that matter, but this straight of way from emerges out of nowhere.

Photography is personal. I learned from my assisting and working in NYC studios that I do not want to follow the trend setters. I do not want to imitate. I photograph for a meaning that sometimes even I won’t understand right away until later on I look back on it. Some of that process and the photographs get discarded and others treasured. Art follows this pattern.

I love the way Jackson Pollack was lost in his work. It was his world. But I have met artists (this title does not fit them in my opinion) who with enough connections and persistence think of their next piece in term of profit. I have not been able to respect that sort of art. Artist is a title that is earned. Sometimes this title is earned after one's death. It should not matter in any way how or for what purpose you'll create your next piece other then your own. Anything else is commerce.

See, I believe that true artists have all to share with their audience and fellow artists. The commercial photographers have nothing more then sheltering their secrets of trade.

I recently listened to an interview that mentioned the period from Edward Weston to the Ansel Adams where photographers had a great satisfaction of sharing their techniques. Ansel Adams even wrote 3 books on technique alone. They were working with equipment which has changed very little in the last 150 years. It was about sharing experiences. I believe in this sharing because it keeps me true to why I photograph.

(Technical Note: I had some trouble adjusting the exact color rendition from the beautiful Provia 400 pushed 2 stops - But I hope the color balance won't distract the simplicity of a night lit street)

Happy New Year! I rang in 2007 twice with the good ol' phone and a 6 hour time difference. I am still amazed how technology can so convenient these days. So I just hope it gets continues to get better in that direction.

I shot my Nikon D70 a little over Christmas and New Years but only for personal snapshots of family. I don’t shoot it the same way as film. I don't get that into it as with film. The process with this camera is not the same. I know it’s probably just me. But the fact I have limited amount of film, the quality of film itself, the fact I have to invest time in to scanning and dusting of the image on the screen, well some might call it annoyance but I think that adds a satisfaction of a truly great photograph. I am not trying to say that digital is bad or anything in that sense. Its just it’s not for me, yet. The older I get the more I go back into tools that put you there in the process. And the more I understand the demand of the tools to create a photograph my vision gets clearer.

When I look at 2006 I can appreciate my re-entry in shooting, finding my friends and having my balance in life back. Man, I learned a lot. And instead of having a grumpy attitude toward taking on change I realize its there to change you. There is no right or wrong but the reality of the engine of getting older. I for one am conquering my impatience into reflections and taking the best from it all. Friends guide me when I get weak. I truly am lucky to have the ones I do. Today I read some short stories of Jorge Luis Borges , looked at Helmut Newton's work and now just relaxing. I’m looking forward to create photographs this year.

A second photograph from Museum of Modern Art in New York City.