Red: A photo essay

Every so often when I get a chance to take a break from work to focus on making images for me I like to shoot what I see. That ideology is similar to the pervious post “Night Photography: Snow,” that I posted a few nights back. When I first started my career as a photographer I had a lot of these moments. These were the good ol days of just shooting purely for fun and for testing. Testing ideas, locations, types of work, and cameras. I could calculate out all the images I’ve made, all the time I’ve spent making them, but there is not real value in doing that because every time I make an image now, it is a reflection of those moments.

One seemingly colder than usually day in November I took a walk around Northampton, Ma with my Fuji X-Pro 2. This was before I discovered that I could just pop the lens back into place and make all right again with the planes of focus. When I parked the car I grabbed my camera and a spare battery and proceeded to take a walk. I had no plan in place. No set goal or idea of what I would like to photograph. I looked over my should just as the car door shut and I saw this image.

I didn’t see the bullet holes until I was processing the shoot. What I saw was the color red, brilliant and intense. The shadow stood out the most as a dark red image overlaid on the exterior of a defunct dinner. I decided in that moment I was going to shoot the color red. If I saw an object, person, or scene with red, it would be composed in my lens.

This was not an exercise in red. This was not a red car syndrome project. It was, however, an afternoon of walking around and identifying elements around me that I could tie into photographs I had just made. Had I stepped out of the car and saw the color blue or a old bicycle, they could have inspired me just as much as the red shadow crawling up the side of the Diner. When a photographer takes time to un-think and clear their minds to create work just for the purposes of creating, they are free to see, free to produce, free to re-think and see. I can’t say that every image I make inspires the next, but when I take time to make photographs like this, when I have a few hours or a day, or when I travel and shoot, I produce work that will in some way affect my future work. That is the nature of creativity.

Desaturated red brick with strong shadow of a lamp.

Man in red pants

Red awning

Tis the seasons, Mrs. Claus suit

Red books in a store front

Red bags

Red car

Red rugs in a store front

Red shadow on a car

A red prayer

Gumballs

Circles

Man in red walks dog

Man in red walks dog even more

A woman in red coat

Boy with red balloon

This Afternoon: Fleeting Moments

This afternoon I spent the last few moments of my cell phone's life, battery was dying, franticly capturing the sunset through the window of the restaurant. It was a frigid day. Not the kind of day you want to be outside walking around. I did spend a few brief moments outside, walking from store to store in Northampton, trying to find the right attire for an upcoming wedding. It was cold. The New England-ness could be felt in the air. If you arent from the area, you other wise do not know that the weather changes so frequently, that on a good day, we could see two different types of weather roll in. I wasnt interested in capturing the weather. Nor was I interested in making an image that conveyed the sense of cold. Instead, I was interested in capturing light. In a recent interview, I described how I see light and how light is a huge factor and motivator in my work. If it wasn't for light, we wouldn't be able to make photographs, let a lone see. I have formed a visual relationship with light and apply the qualities of that relationship to my photography. Without light, I wouldn't be able to see the compositions that I capture.

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