Night Photography: Snow
It is a quiet night. There is a mix of snow and rain falling upon us. The sound creates a soft texture as it bounces off our jackets and collects on the surfaces around us. Every step we take is a soft crunch as we pack the snow below our shoes. On occasion a car passes, music up just high enough to hear the beats inside. Seldom do we see a lone figure navigating the cold ground, carefully stepping to avoid the hidden ice. Our conversation ranges from our businesses, life, family, how busy we are, and the reasons for why we make images. I can not count how many times I have wandered around the city late at night making photos. It is refreshing to have my friend and colleague Aleksandr present as we explore. Aleksandr is an incredible photographer. One of the best wedding photographers I know. His style is something you don’t see often, unless you’re looking to have the best of the best photograph your wedding. He is not prone to street photography and was very curious as to what motivates me to make an image, rather, what I see that inspires me to press the shutter.
Every couple of images I would point out some element in the scene that I saw, something that interested me or I found visually appealing. I would make the image and share with him. I explained to him that the process, for me, is about seeing. Its not about blindly running around hoping I will get an image, it is about seeing and capturing. I spend so much of my day seeing compositions. Some days I feel like I am a director navigation a film set.
While our vision differs, both of us have a very profound ability to see, read, and utilize light to produce images. This evening though, Aleksandr was making images on a Nikon D850 in black and white. He was shooting wide on a 35mm. I had a Fuji xPro2 tucked into my jacket, where it stayed there the entire time we walked around. I had my Canon 5Ds with a Sigma 50mm in my gloved hands. I have only used my 50mm a handful of times in studio on one or twice on a commercial shoot. It is such a great lens that I wanted to try this evening on a different type of shoot. The subject matter wasn’t as important as it was to take the time to be in the moment, have a few moments to be creative outside of our daily business, and just get out and shoot. When you take the time to create for yourself it is almost always therapeutic.
Editorial Photography: Feature
In October I received a request for photographs of Holyoke to be featured in Land Lines, a publication put out quarterly by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. I have a studio in Holyoke, a post-industrial city with a sea of mill buildings. My studio is situated almost directly in the middle of Boston and New York City. I have spent a lot of time making photographs in Holyoke. While I have featured the tear sheets on my website, I wanted to also post them here.
Bottom image, view of canal, mill buildings, river.
All the photographs that are featured in the article are aerial images of the city. I flew in a helicopter to produce the images. It was my second time flying in a helicopter for an aerial shoot. I would jump into a helicopter any given chance. On this particular shoot I had a friend accompany me. It was a lot of fun because our pilot was very skillful at flying. At one point she turned the machine at almost a 90 degree angle to give me a complete downward view over a landmark. Fun times.
Business Portraits: Less than 15 minutes
I have read countless articles and blog posts about those super famous, super high end photographers that shoot executives, CEO's, Celebrities, and the likes of famous and ultra busy professionals. While I am not shooting Fortune 500 CEO's yet, everyone I photograph is as equally important.
This afternoon I stepped out of the studio and went to the rest room for a hot 20 seconds. I came back and found I had a missed call. Before I had a chance to call back, I received a text. I thought it was life or death. "Call me ASAP," a phrase that usually means someone needs something in a hurry. So I did. It was Bob, my assistant and second shooter for some work. His day job is shlepping paint on walls of homes and other buildings. The owner of the company, a serial entrepreneur, need some new head shots for some PR and Marketing purposes. I had a miss communication in my schedule and told Bob I only had a specific time I could fit him in today. They were set to arrive at 4 pm. Will, CEO, Owner, Important person, had a 5pm meeting or something and needed to drive to the location from the studio. I knew I would have a mere few minutes to capture him.
After realizing I fahcked up my schedule, glitch with cell phone calendar, I didnt have to worry about setting up the studio, lighting for head shots, while he was there. I pre set the studio with two different setups. Both set ups required two very different lighting set ups. I whipped that together in a jiff and was ready for them to arrive. Will was in studio for about 10 minutes. It took him longer to adjust his wardrobe than it did to make the photographs. Within an hour of the shoot, the images were processed, retouched, and in the dropbox folder. I may not be shooting the worlds most important people at the moment, but everyone I shoot for is treated as if they are the most important person whom has walked through my door, or sat in front of my camera.
Photography: The Silhouette of Industry
Those who know me best, or at least know my work by sight, can describe my images well. Often times people get confused and think my first choice of subject matter is abandoned buildings and cityscapes. This is entirely incorrect as my interests in capturing cities, both with people and without is to document what fascinates me. The objects left behind from the era of industry are relics. A building that once used to house factory workers is as equally interesting as the mill building itself. It is likely that I will never figure out what compels me to study them. I am in no way driven to study the workings and history of the era of industry. I am however fascinated at its existence. It sounds odd to say that I am not interested in the history, yet I have extensively photographed one of the greatest contributions to the era of Industry, the Queen of Industrial Cities, Holyoke.
I grew up across the river. I grew up hearing stories of what Holyoke used to be. Today, I am part of conversations of what Holyoke is going to be. A city that was founded on innovation and creativity is in a liminal stage. I often say that we are so far from Industrialism that the labeling of a "post-industrial" city should be forgotten. Cities that once relied on manufacturing and the production of goods no longer do. To move forward is to embrace the past and understand ones roots, but look beyond the horizon.
I made this photograph in passing today. I have shot this same image dozens of times over. Today it seemed fitting though. I have been engaging in conversations recently that have discussed the fabric of the cities beginning. While it is true that I do not read much about the history of industrialism, never-the-less I am at times so immersed in it. For me, the roads, buildings, and images that I construct are all based on vision. Both the literal sight of the object as well as the mental capacity to visualize what is no longer there. Countless times I have stood facing an object, door, room, machine, and section of a mill building just wondering. Wondering what it was like to be in that environment as it was thriving, living, breathing the intended life it was meant to live.
Many buildings stand today. Problematic for the city. Eye sores for the community. Un-answerable questions exist for the municipality that aspires to have the city flourish with life life once again. The challenges that face Holyoke are uniquely different than the neighboring once, former, post-industrial city. Other cities have begun to answer their questions and are on a fast track to a new life, some, some have long days ahead of them.
Stock Photography: Photographs of City for new website
Quite a few months ago I received a request for use of my photographs, (Holyoke Flickr Gallery) for a website redevelopment of a local insurance company. Yesterday I recieve an email expressing the site was done and the photos were up. I made a few screen shots to show how the photographs were integrated into the website.
Sandy Hook Elementary School: A Candlelight Vigil
The world was introduced to a small New England Community of Newtown, Connecticut this past week as an act of violence took 27 lives, 18 of which were children, in an elementary school. Holyoke Mass, a community I am a part of had a candle light vigil this past evening. When Mayor Alex Morse began reading the names of those who lost their lives, they went from victims to people. Real people with real names. Until that point I had not heard the names of those who were killed, they became not just a number, but a person. My uncle is a volunteer fire fighter in a town just around the corner from there. Through the degrees of separation, it could be a small margin in which I might have a connection to the people of Newtown. The community of Holyoke came out in the cold, held candles and each other. Sang in song and paid respects to the people of Newtown. If we can shed tears for people whom we do not know, we are more human than we thought. My camera is a device of preserving the memorial and the light of the candles that put out an ambient glow of memory.
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