Repurposed
This time of year I tend to drift back in time and find my feet down on Main Street as singer and song writer Bob Seger would say. There is a certain fascinating relationship between old buildings in urban settings and the raking side lighting that is common at this time of year when the sun is at a low angle in the sky. Skies are incredibly blue and a high contrast situation exists that I find very pleasing. People in urban settings are used to sharing space unlike the rural areas where a get off of my property attitude often prevails. Yesterday as I was propping myself up with an old tow truck to steady my Nikon to take pictures of an old grungy back alley area in the warehouse district the owner of the truck came out of his abandoned looking shack to inquire what I was doing laying across his vehicle. Ellis McGowan is eighty nine years old and has been towing vehicles for the last forty three of them. As we exchanged information about each other I began to realize that Ellis himself was far more interesting than anything I could aim my camera at. He took out his wallet and showed me an old copy of his wedding picture from 1950 and yes, he has only been married once. Also shown were pictures of his three small dogs that ride with him everywhere he goes. A picture of Ellis in his baby blue ‘58 Cadillac convertible was the real topper. An hour later Mr. McGowan got a call for a tow and had to leave. The pleasure of his company was truly appreciated. Photography for me is a way of life. It is something that can be used to reach out to others and make us just that much more human and humane. It deals with objective realities, enabling you to get out of your own head for awhile and be involved with things outside of yourself. I would never want to be without a camera. It frees by enabling to see. Cheers everyone.
Repurposed
This time of year I tend to drift back in time and find my feet down on Main Street as singer and song writer Bob Seger would say. There is a certain fascinating relationship between old buildings in urban settings and the raking side lighting that is common at this time of year when the sun is at a low angle in the sky. Skies are incredibly blue and a high contrast situation exists that I find very pleasing. People in urban settings are used to sharing space unlike the rural areas where a get off of my property attitude often prevails. Yesterday as I was propping myself up with an old tow truck to steady my Nikon to take pictures of an old grungy back alley area in the warehouse district the owner of the truck came out of his abandoned looking shack to inquire what I was doing laying across his vehicle. Ellis McGowan is eighty nine years old and has been towing vehicles for the last forty three of them. As we exchanged information about each other I began to realize that Ellis himself was far more interesting than anything I could aim my camera at. He took out his wallet and showed me an old copy of his wedding picture from 1950 and yes, he has only been married once. Also shown were pictures of his three small dogs that ride with him everywhere he goes. A picture of Ellis in his baby blue ‘58 Cadillac convertible was the real topper. An hour later Mr. McGowan got a call for a tow and had to leave. The pleasure of his company was truly appreciated. Photography for me is a way of life. It is something that can be used to reach out to others and make us just that much more human and humane. It deals with objective realities, enabling you to get out of your own head for awhile and be involved with things outside of yourself. I would never want to be without a camera. It frees by enabling to see. Cheers everyone.