Black and White

2008-11-02T18:33:18Z

Titled black and white because thats pretty much how ive been feeling lately...
Im back in the darkroom after an 18 year absense. Its been really rewarding and ultimately frustrating relearning how to do things photographically which has long dissappeared since the birth of digital cameras. Developing film is a pain in the ass, and ive messed up about 8 rolls this week already. The rolls i did manage to spool correctly (mostly with Heidi's help) have had really dissappointing self developing, which no amount of dodging or burning can really help. Expensive learning curve...

Digital is easy and effortless. Using a memory card, you get to have endless takes to get the image right. With film, its hit or miss. Frustrating ordeal.

Printmaking = cool, but trying on the body and nerves. I had to get a respirator because every time i leave the darkroom, my lungs feel like ive been breathing razor blades. Those chemicals, while magical, are harsh and unforgiving, and my headaches have been massive due to being around them. Yes, I am whining.

So, black and white. This is how i feel about Nashville right now. It's pretty and all, but I moved here to focus on photography and this town is so closed minded and dry, its easy for me to feel stagnant. I'm dry here. I dont think I can grow much more here as a photographer in this city, so I am honing my skills as a developer and printmaker, which are skills I can take with me elsewhere where there are more people to work with and models to shoot. Having two well known photographers as best friends and learning companions here is really the only benefit. Collin Rae and Joshua Black Wilkins have been teaching me alot from their respective fields and angles, especially in the darkroom. Besides that, I merely have a job thats just a job and no friend circle outside of work and shooting buddies. I havent seen my friends back home or my family in well over two years. Drunkfests and parties arent my scene, and i fear im growing into a really boring old man. I have garden state syndrome, where i am really missing a sense of family, but being around my own doesnt fullfill that longing. its alot different now than in the college days where your circle is solid and complete, and that sense of belonging and solidarity is stonger than any glue. Once you age and move out of that stage and finally somehow leave your comfort scene, its a really sore emotion that doesnt really heal, it merely scabs. Now im getting itchy and want to pick that scab. I want that sense of belonging again... If that exists in Nashville, I havent found it yet. I have amazing things that I do love here, with my amazing girlfriend and collection of pets, but its missing the part where you belong to a set of friends that love you like they are your own siblings and show support for you through thick and thin. I'm both thankful and lonely, if that makes any sense....?

Im sure this raining self sympathy thing will pass, and ive been trying to keep myself busy by reinvesting my time into things that i love. This darkroom thing is a challege i can contend with while i wait for neat and interesting people to shoot to pass through this town. i seem to have lost my original focus of what i want to shoot and am relearning new skills to have when i do figure out what i want to get good at shooting. moving here to a small town is a weird sort of shimmy from living in chicago where there are certainly alot more willing and abled bodies to work with, but it feels alot truer to me, being a small town boy from MA at heart. Nashville feels (or at least looks) like home used to feel in a weird way. its pretty and its warm and its always in a good mood, but its resources are yet to be found by me. Its easy to feel like this place is temporary and start warming yourself up to the idea of moving somewhere else. its a perfect halfway point in between where youve been and where you are going. Thats all i really seem to be doing here, time. Ill just keep trying to learn what i can while i have time, and figure the rest out as it comes.

now, i wonder whats on tv??

Greatest motivational video ever...

2008-10-02T20:28:17Z

this is seriously some serious shit....
Yes, thats the band New Edition dancing on the pier during the peer pressure segment. Bobby Brown probably could've learned something from this video if he actually watched it instead of being in it....

ALSO - the little kid not participating in drinking and smoking on the pier is Metallica's current bass player.

<embed id="VideoPlayback" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=4610575102642182602&hl=en&fs=true" style="width:400px;height:326px" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"> </embed>

My oh my!!!

.straniero.

2008-09-29T14:51:56Z

.straniero., originally uploaded by .SANCHEZ..

.SANCHEZ.

This guy has been an inspiration to me for a long time. I love his creative mind and how it gets reflected in a portrait. It's almost like the models he shoots are the props and the decorations or settings of the image are the real main focus.
I'm always a big fan of photographers who shoot simple portraits, but they aren't at all about the model. there is no smiling, no egos, no awkward and forced poses.
Lighting is another big love of mine, and Sanchez has a style that i really dig. He really nails that "spotlight" look, where it seems like a single light is focusing on the single point of interest in the image.
Hats off to this fella. To see more of his work, check out http://www.flickr.com/photos/threefourmedia/

ejholmes

Black and White

Greatest motivational video ever...

.straniero.