Validity

Race, 2009

When we are looking at a photograph, we are looking at history. The same is true for a painting, a sculpture, or even a memory. We see things as they were, what was meant. I guess I have a running curiosity behind this because of moments I wish to capture in my life. I am constantly looking at images as still lifes, what makes my everyday, and what contributes to another. Each action we take, creates a shadow to another.... I guess that is a good thing to remember.

When someone creates art, bad or good to anothers eye, its theirs for the keeping. That's what I love about art. The creation, the process, the thinking behind it. When someone tells me they are not an artist, I deny. We all are, whether it be science, math, business, etc....our daily actions our the art. Maybe we can start to see it that way. By capturing this in photo, it becomes archived as our everyday, and valid of what was.

Try to start looking, seeing things as they are accustomed to your eye. You will see more colors, more shadows, and see what you as the viewer create. It is the basics that we are made up of, and it is the basics that make us whole.

Wash, 2009

Wind Storm, 2009

 

Tunnel Vision, 2009

Truths

I have continued to experiment with my photos of nothing. I've realized why I enjoy these photos so much....they leave all interpretations valid. Each viewer has the opportunity to be disappointed, to question, or to simply disregard. To me, that is what art is all about.

Artist Gabriel Orozco put it brilliantly in a recent article on his art, " Art is not for entertainment, and it’s not for pleasure. It’s about something else altogether. Art is a tool. If someone, after looking at the work, can see things they never saw before in reality, that is one of the most important accomplishments for me.”

He did these installations of yogurt caps at MoMA NY which illustrates my similar interests. It shows the balance between art and life, and how we complete the circumference of the balance. It's not beautiful, it's not breathtaking, it's his truth. To me, this disappointment of an art piece is pure brilliance. Think about what you start to question when you see this.... "this is not art, this is not worthy... " It is those thoughts that make you think...yes, we live it. Our consumption, our society, our art is in front of us everyday, here he displays just that.

Yogurt Cap, Gabriel Orozco

Yogurt Caps, MoMA NY, Gabriel Orozco

I find myself after looking at his work, searching for it in my everyday. What do we see everyday and take for granted. What images pass us by that we are accustomed to that we choose to not stop and look at. Attached are the photos of my nothings..... my disappointments turned into silent triumphs. It creates my reality, and determines what I look towards. The simplicity makes our everyday, and it is that I look to capture. Absence speaks more than presence.

Validity, 2009

Wander, 2009

Symmetry, 2009

Perspectives

Eraser, 2009

I recently wrote a short essay on obsession for a photo contest. I related it to the idea of the horizon line. It is a contant in our perspective, that no matter where you look, it creates your presence and measures your distance from point A to point B. I like this comparison. I think it is true. It has made me now readdress my own perspective. Is a horizon line just present in a landscape, or is it something that can be found no matter where you look. And is it real, or just a mirage.

A horizon line is defined as a line that gives depth, space, and the apparent line that separates the earth from the sky. I believe this line can be found in the everyday. What makes our horizon line. When looking at a landscape, we can measure our distance from this line. Because of the horizon line, it was believed that the world was flat. Even though we proved this to be false, is our own world we live in really flat. Our depth is developed by shadows, lines, tones….these factors tell us what something is made up of.  Take away our other senses, and rely on sight, how do we know what we are seeing. I guess being a photographer, I am always in search of images that challenge me in thought, an idea that makes me see something new. When I look for a photo, I look for a flat space that has variations. I see photography as a science, a math. It can deliver the truth, challenge the rules, and uncover something that develops into fact and reason.

Attached are photos with no seen horizon line. Look at what makes the depth, creates the picture. Where would the horizon line be drawn, if any at all. These images are the flat images that were projected to me. If the lines, shadows were not there, or the negative/ positive spaces were switched, how would the photo be different.

Air, 2009

Circles and Squares, 2009

Lines 1, 2009

Still Life, 2009

Composition 22, 2009 

Something

Nothing, 2009

Many times I try to take photos of nothing. I challenge myself to what a photo can function as. It is a learning tool, an emotion, a thought, a history. It is a language outside the written word. I believe a photo has the ability to change its meaning over time.

I have always been inspired by Gerhard Richter...not only for his physical art, but the meanings behind it. He did not paint purity. His work had a psychological background that I find interesting. The most ordinary is many times the most fascinating. His blank white canvas can be more thought provoking than his abstractions. Things fluctuate over time, change and return, but his ideas have always been a constant in my own process.

On that note, here I have attached my attempts of photos of nothing, the ordinary. What may have meaning to one, may not to another. The beauty of art is not always in the image itself, but it is the thought, the idea, that changes the nothing into something.

Blue and Yellow, 2009

Traffic, 2009

Street Scape, 2009

Today Passing, 2009

Dinner Party, 2009

Big Man, Small Chair, 2009

Duplicity

Self Portrait, 2009

To reflect can mean an introspection as well as a transformation of space. Shadows and reflections have an interesting interplay as subject matter. They can show the presence of something, deliver its makeup, and question its permanence. This is shown in my photo, Self Portrait. The permanence of my shadow can determine that I was there, but in fact, does it play a role in creating the ground.

When we are looking at a reflection, what is it that we are exactly seeing. I guess being a mirror image identical twin, I was meant to have an interest in the duality of things. I wonder if the shadow is always a true reflection of its opposite. And if so, are we then the shadow of something else?

Attached are photos illustrating this idea. If the shadows/ reflections were not present, then what would take up this space. How does the shadow deliver its meaning, and in fact does the matter it suggests, really matter.

Reflections 1, 2009

Reflections 2,  2009

Stagnant times: Is water the new education?

Rising Tides, Uganda 2009

This morning my shower drain was clogged. The water began to build up around me, it wasn't horrible, but it was enough for me to get out and do something about it. I reached down, pulled out the build up, and got back in. I will later go get my permanent solution, which would be draino.

Water is a part of our everyday, it is a necessity, a given. In developing countries, stagnant water is the curator of disease, failed crops, and a struggling society. I was in Guatemala 2 years ago, and that was when this became so apparent to me. In northern Guatemala, as in all developing countries, diseases and disorders run rampant. It is the normalcy to see children with tumors, ADD, scabies, etc. I believe that this has to do with the water source. If fish die in Lake Atitlan due to unnecessary compounds every year, who says we as well are not living in a fish bowl?

I am a strong believer in education. However, I now believe that this is not at the top of the pyramid. If you do not have access to clean water, then how will you get to school? Water is the new education. It has the power to bring down houses, to wipe out structures. It also has the ability to bring life, it is something we crave. This simple compound is the backbone of what we are made up of.

Scientists just discovered a significant amount of water on the moon. This mission cost us 79 million dollars. According to the World Health Organization, disease due to unsafe water accounts for approximately 2.5 million deaths a year. I think this is a really neat product, http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_pritchard_invents_a_water_filter.html. If we put 1 million of that 79 million dollar mission towards this.... imagine what that would do. Hm...maybe we should take care of ourselves first, before going to get a drink on the moon.

Health Clinic: Water Source for people, crops, and livestock. northern Guatemala, 2008

Uncharted waters, Lake Victoria, 2008

Disappearing lands, Tambopata River, Amazon, Peru

Compliments

Love, San Francisco 2009

I want to come back to my thoughts on negative vs. positive space. I am beginning to wonder if there is even such a thing as negative space. A place that is void, can speak more of a space that is filled. I was looking through photos tonight, and it occurred to me that this is what I try to capture. I'm searching for these spaces, these actions, the unseen moments of the everyday.

Capturing this through photography is difficult. I think that a lot of times, we disregard something because it is ordinary. We walk by things a hundred times, but if we really look, is it ever the same? Maybe we are desensitized to our own images. Some photographers, or even tourists, look to capture monuments, spectacular things that they think creates glory. I find myself searching for in fact the opposite.

Movements, glances, the simplicity of the everyday. Its what we are made up of....... What we hold close and what we choose to keep afar. The negative space holds this answer, and there it is made a positive.

I am attaching some photos of mine that display this thought. Take a close look at the picture, the movements between the people, their interactions with the space. Find the weight, importance and compliments these spaces play for the other.

Portraits, San Francisco 2009






Hope, Xela Guatemala 2008






Sunday, Kikaya Village, Uganda 2008

Family still life, San Francisco 2009

Liz, Uganda, 2008


Sisters, Uganda 2008

blank spaces

My photo of the day is of Heathrow Airport. I like airports, but I hate flying. I can probably sleep better there than I do my own bed. It has a calming pace. I enjoy this photo, I think it has a good compostion. Even though it is void of subjects, the blankness of it makes me happy. I took this when I had to spend 15 hours in Heathrow on a layover. Did you know that you cant actually spend the night in Heathrow? Yeah, they kick you out, but they have coffee shops in arrivals that stay open 24 hours.

Counterparts

Life Story, San Francisco, 2009

I am currently fascinated with the negative spaces between people, the distance that we allow and let in. Recently I have been attempting to capture this with the camera. This space, to me, supports the frame of the picture. The negative holds the weight, the underlying story. It can create tension, movement, and question what is or is not present. If you think about it, the negative is in a sense the most positive aspect of the picture.

I guess as in anything, we must rely on its counterpart to tell the entire truth of the story. For example, my photo, Life Story, was taken at the Dia de los Muertos parade in SF. I think about this space between the subjects. The negative here, is really showing the solidness of the family, and the positive of being a whole.

Pace, San Francisco, 2009

Frosting

I recently became aware that I may have a thought disorder, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_disorder. I had always thought of myself as an inventor,.....a rapid thinker....but now I sadly know it may just be a damn disorder.

If this in fact is true, this photo essay blog shall be interesting. Subjects may range from spirituality to my strong dislike of cheese.

Claiming thought disorder....come check out an event I'm helping put on tomorrow night. RayKo Photo Center, San Francisco. DJ, wine, and really good times. http://www.engeye.org/, great cause, check it out.

Cheerios

Welcome to my new blog, Heaven in a Wild Place. Here I am hoping to discuss world views, create weekly photo essays, and tell some funny stories in between. I have an absolute love for photojournalism, travel, and learning about new cultures and ideas. This excites me, moves me, and inspires my work.

A man recently wrote about me on mixx.com, and said there is nothing beautiful about one of my photos... http://www.mixx.com/stories/8881479/travel_photo_of_the_day. The truth be told, I agree that many times I look at this photo and think, what a crazy messed up place we live in! How, and when, are we going to solve these problems...is there ever an answer? So, i hope that here we can generate discussions around this, create a mind map, and have a couple Cheerios.

A photo that keeps me going, everyday, is my favorite girl in the whole world, Vikki...I was her nurse in Guatemala, and I think of her everyday. I remember this day as if it was yesterday, and I always wish I was there tomorrow. She is my heaven in this wild place.


Vikki, Xela Guatemala, Feb 2009