Fashion myself a reinvention

I have been frustrated lately.

Creatively, I’m not going anywhere; my photographs are stale, they say little about myself or humanity. So, for the next two months, I will shoot with disposable film cameras.

The inspiration for this project comes from Torsten Kjellstrand’s Cycle Oregon 2010 iPhone pictures. He writes:

[B]ecause the camera is so simple, so limited, I had to MAKE these photos…I had to look a little harder and think a little harder and live with a little more failure.

In form with this, my idea is to forget about trivial matters like shutter speed, f-stop, ISO, color balance. The goal is to embrace a simple tool, accept the uncontrolled, and re-learn photography as a medium of communication.

I have no clear subject or content at the moment, no vision. I plan on always having a camera by my side, to shoot what’s most interesting, most important, to find visual evidence of self and others in the everyday.

More to come.

Old Material, Pt. 7

Old Material, Pt. 6

Inspiration, Pt. 1

Driftless: Stories From Iowa

by Danny Wilcox Frazier

Great use of multimedia. Beautiful black & whites. Strong narratives. All-around, good.

US Troops in Wardak

by Adam Ferguson

Ferguson shows the quiet, everyday as well as the violent moments. Very strong story, and well shot at that. He has a removed, observant style that gives the viewer a good sense of what’s happening without over-complicating things.

Patagonian Cowboys

by Mustafah Abdulaziz

Short and sweet, Abdulaziz’s Patagonian Cowboys tells the viewer all they need to know without superfluous images. Very lovely black and whites, the contrast and edits are always perfect.

Fault Lines: Turkey East West

by George Georgiou

Looking here and there, Georgiou effortlessly moves through Turkey, providing physical evidence of important social issues.

Three

by Ed Kashi

Kashi cleverly pairs three of his images. It’s fun to see little stories play across the frames.

Pets On Parade

by Landon Nordeman

Nordeman has a unique way of seeing: his subjects are telling, his compositions layered interesting and layered.

Old Material, Pt. 5

Old Material, Pt. 4

Old Material, Pt. 3

Inksie Shop Launch!

You may not know this, but I work as a Creative Director at the design and culture brand Inksie. We’re launching our online shop in the next few days, so be sure to check it out.

In the meantime, you can see our landing page with some content and info on the brand and a countdown to the site launch (designed by yours truly).

Old Material, Pt. 2

All My Favorite Frames…

Are trash.

I’m sorting, sorting, sorting last summer’s project. It goes like this:

1. Drop 600 frames in a folder.
2. Find the best ones.
3. Put ’em in a contact sheet in InDesign.
4. Decide the “best” ones really don’t tell any story at all.
5. Throw them away.
6. Repeat.

Take this picture, for instance. I find it poetic, an allusion to work, time and humanity – notice the faint boot-prints. (The serpentine curves are from a electric cable that sat in one spot long enough to show gathered dust.) The color isn’t too bad, either. It’s a nice stand-alone, but doesn’t work with any other frames from the story.

This is the most bothersome thing, I’m finding, when trying to get pictures to speak in unison, tell a story, do something together. It’s frustrating to no end, because all my favorite frames won’t make the cut.

Editing for story is a grand adventure. You paint characters, you are cinematographer and screenwriter. You can’t get too attached to anything, your story will be better for it. But, be an artist: create, find something good. Run with it.

I say this not knowing what, exactly, I’m doing. Ah, but, isn’t it fun?

Annex Sort.

Sorting through some old material.

Old material.

No Idea Who This Is…

Editing material from last summer, I came upon this bloke. No idea who this is, where this was taken.

I don’t care much for the frame, our smoker’s slit eyes don’t say much, except, perhaps, that he’s enjoying his smoke. He’s cheeky about it, too: “Look at how cool I am, smoking.”

But, it demonstrates a point. A good friend told me I need get closer to subjects. “I want to see pores.” I’m always so removed. This is a step in the right direction, but closer – closer still. Something to work on.

Art Direction

Working on some art direction for Inksie. I like to write out thoughts before moving to the computer. Hand-drawn type is also fun. (Click for a larger, better view.)

Print Shop

From a shoot at a print shop. More here.

Not Your Mom’s Pictures

Sorting through some old stuff.

PDX by Night

Impromptu Fútbol Match

Geese V. Car

Seattle, Briefly

The Good Light

Inksie’s Juice

I helped make this piece for Inksie’s Juice, a free playlist available online. I’ve never worked with texture, so it was interesting to experiment with digital and analog means.

Recent Images

Back-logged

I think it’s been a month since I’ve edited a single picture. Here are some not-so-recent images from when my brother visited. Cheers.