Its Only 365 Days
298/366: TELL ME ABOUT YOU AND MICHAEL
24 OCT 12
1. Why is Photography important to you?
It is important to me because it tells the story of our universe, of my world, my friends, my family, my life. It tells others what I see even if sometimes I don't have the words to express it.
2. Who or what influenced you to become a photographer?
I can't really say it was a specific person, because I got in to photography on my own. My family has no real interest above just doing standard family and vacation style snap shots. My friends though were the catalyst to this little adventure because they were the ones that surprised me one Christmas with my first ever digital camera. From there, the rest, is you know, cliche.
3. Do you believe in the expression “A picture is worth 1,000 words”?
I think this question is like asking a model if she believes in dieting and stilettos. Of course! I can no longer count how many times I have seen a picture and my very breath has caught in my throat. It's an experience that can't be explained away in a couple of paragraphs. It's the way I imagine a first time parent sees their child being born. It's overwhelming, it tugs at some deep rooted strings inside you, when you see an image that is beyond the verbal.
4. Do you have a favorite photograph?
These are often difficult to answer because I think everyone has a lot of favorites, but I have a favorite that I didn't take. Due to world chaos, I don't have many baby pictures. I can count on one hand how many are actually in existence, so each is extremely precious to me. There is this picture taken by my mother I believe of my brother and I lying on the bed. He is a dusty 3 year old giggling uncontrollably at what I don't know, and I am a one year old next to him with this look on my face that I swear says, "I just farted." I like to think that's why he's laughing. I love that photo and it remains in my office. When hurricane Katrina, at the time, was baring down on us, and I had to flee, I made sure that photo was in my suitcase. As far as photos I've taken, I like a lot of them, sorry I can't quite nail one down as the 'it' one, but usually they involve a moment of stillness and concentration on the subject frozen in time with not a lot of fuss in the image.
5. Do you think that society would be different if photography was never invented?
Would society be different without the internet and cell phones. Photography has changed our lives, the way we live, think, see, exist. I often think of WWII and the first images of the absolute horror of seeing piles and piles of dead bodies frozen in the snow fuzed together in the concentration camps. Images like those, that shook people's consciousness and made them think about what is right and wrong in the world. Images of black men and women's backs with lash marks from being whipped half to death during slavery. Hiroshima, and what we, as American's signed off on. Photography isn't just about capturing a Happy Christmas on film, it can go beyond to the heart of the human condition.
6. Do you think that a person must possess talent to capture emotion and expression in a picture?
I would like to think that oh, we photographers are so skilled and brilliant that we are the true brandishes of such skill, but there is a photography exhibit held in a museum each year. The photographers are all elementary students who are given little inexpensive throw away cameras and told to capture their life and what's important to them. Sometimes you'll see an image and forget that a)this was a throwaway camera, and b) this was taken by a six year old. The camera is a tool. It is an extension of the person who uses it. Their emotions, their lives, all of that bleeds on the film whether they have a degree in Photography or not.
7. Does the price of a camera matter in ways that it affects the quality of the picture?
I would say only in regards to probably shooting night photography. Point and shoots are so advanced these days that one can churn out a pretty decent pic. Can it rival that of a professional 1,000$+ camera...well, let's just say, if I had to bet on the thousand dollar camera shot, I wouldn't bet my life savings!
8. Do you have a special style in your photographs that can single you out like strokes in a painting?
I think there is this emphasis in photography and on photographers on needing to have a specific style. Perhaps professionally, I can see this as being a thing one needs in their arsenal to identify them to clients, but in my personal works, I am a dabbler. One does not only read books about chairs, one reads for the knowledge of the world. I don't see how I can find that same attribute if I only ever shot say black and white or did PS works.
9. Was photography just considered as a hobby to you in the past?
My first real experience with a camera was a trip I took in the 4th or 5th grade with girl scouts. My parents gave me spending money for the trip, and I ended up spending almost half of it on disposable cameras alone. I think they fully expected me to come back from the trip with souvenirs, but I came back with over 15 disposable cameras in my arms. I remember wanting to capture every moment of the trip and from the rolls of film, you can almost see the entire trip! It wasn't my first trip away from home, but I think that was the first time I was aware of it.
10. What makes a good photographer in your opinion?
A good photographer is one that can understand a subject in some way. You talk to wild life photographers and they will tell you they have learned to be extremely patient and to anticipate an animals moves and know when to be ready. You talk to a portraitist, and they will tell you, they have almost a deep psychological understanding of how people work, their fears, their insecurities, how to make them laugh or be stoic in order to get a photo. I think you have to know something beyond the pure technical aspects of photography to truly be successful.
11. What do you enjoy most photographing?
There is a path that runs from end to end in the city. It follows the bayou line, runs through the freeway system, and through residential neighborhoods. I am obsessed with it. I think to others, it wouldn't be that exciting, but for me, the path is where I have learned a lot of things about photography. It is where I have learned to open my eyes and see the things that other people wouldn't even give a second thought to. Here I have seen with my own lens, the seasons change, part of the ugly truth about my city, and learned to anticipate.
12. In your opinion, what makes photography an art?
Photography expresses something about a subject that would be forgotten or missed in time. It captures the beauty, the horror, the smile, the frown, the bear, the whatever and relays a message to the viewer--it allows them to see a moment and interpret a feeling, and an emotion on their own terms.
13. Do you believe that film photography will in the end be totally replaced by digital photography?
There are still people who use the printing press, or the rotrary phone, or who drive cars from the early 20th century. As hard has the push has been for digital to take over, there will always be those that have a passion for it, who understand it, who grew up with it, who have a desire to teach others about it and to preserve it, so digital may be top dog in the mainstream, but film will always be there, if only in secret.
14. Do you prefer using film cameras over digital?
I wish I had some kind of love affair with film, but I'm going to be very honest and say I find it to be tedious. For me, I like it as much as I like the idea of being forced to hand wash all of my clothes each week. Sure it can be done, but digital is my friend and I like it.
15. What motivates you to do what you do?
Desire! Pure desire. I have gotten up at 3 in the morning in order to photograph. I have stayed out in the pitch black, walked 4 hours in the pouring rain, baked in the hot hot sun, all because I have this unwavering desire to capture some moment, some thing out there in the universe which speaks to me louder then any words ever can.
16. If you had $3,000 right now to spend on new photography equipment, what would you buy?
More lenses. I say that without hestitation and of course another camera. For me its like the way others obsesses over I-products. I think about this stuff and what I would buy all the time.
17. Would you say you're obsessed with photography?
Yes. Yeah, I would. Literally, in the last 3 years, there is not one day that I have not taken at least 10 photographs. Not one. It's all documented in the thousands of files stored on my computers. I don't text in my car, I photograph!
18. Is there one photo that you have seen that spoke to you.
I have two, neither all that recent, but the Afghan Girl on the cover of 1985's National Geographic. I've seen that image so many times. Her eyes just stare out from under her head scarf and pierce some part of me. The other is Thich Quang Duc setting himself on fire in 1963. To sit there and light yourself on fire to protest something you believe so strongly in, and to see the images of him so calm literally burning to death and all these people just watching. It's surreal, but so real, very powerful.
19. In ten years what direction do you see photography going in?
Well cameras are a technology and each year, there are those that will try to improve "the eye" until it can capture far beyond perhaps our understanding of what color and light are.
20. What is the craziest thing you've ever done to take a photo?
Well, not really crazy, per se, but I lie ALL THE TIME when I want to get an image. I was busted one time for trespassing, and the owner of the building was pissed and pointing at the probably 20 signs indicating the area was only for those authorized to be there. Well, I profusely apologized, said I meant no harm, said I just loved the building, and I was a student working on a project, lies, and his building spoke to me, blah, blah, blah, long story, the guy ends up letting me into the building and gives me a grand tour and we end up exchanging cards. I've since been yelled at by police on numerous occasions, store personnel, angry individuals, you name it, but I turn on the "I'm totally innocent" smile, usually lie about being a student or working for some very obscure paper, and usually it works and people let their guard down.
Michael is the name I call my camera. I named it Michael in honor of my cousin, an avid photographer, who passed away in the early 90s.
298/366: TELL ME ABOUT YOU AND MICHAEL
24 OCT 12
1. Why is Photography important to you?
It is important to me because it tells the story of our universe, of my world, my friends, my family, my life. It tells others what I see even if sometimes I don't have the words to express it.
2. Who or what influenced you to become a photographer?
I can't really say it was a specific person, because I got in to photography on my own. My family has no real interest above just doing standard family and vacation style snap shots. My friends though were the catalyst to this little adventure because they were the ones that surprised me one Christmas with my first ever digital camera. From there, the rest, is you know, cliche.
3. Do you believe in the expression “A picture is worth 1,000 words”?
I think this question is like asking a model if she believes in dieting and stilettos. Of course! I can no longer count how many times I have seen a picture and my very breath has caught in my throat. It's an experience that can't be explained away in a couple of paragraphs. It's the way I imagine a first time parent sees their child being born. It's overwhelming, it tugs at some deep rooted strings inside you, when you see an image that is beyond the verbal.
4. Do you have a favorite photograph?
These are often difficult to answer because I think everyone has a lot of favorites, but I have a favorite that I didn't take. Due to world chaos, I don't have many baby pictures. I can count on one hand how many are actually in existence, so each is extremely precious to me. There is this picture taken by my mother I believe of my brother and I lying on the bed. He is a dusty 3 year old giggling uncontrollably at what I don't know, and I am a one year old next to him with this look on my face that I swear says, "I just farted." I like to think that's why he's laughing. I love that photo and it remains in my office. When hurricane Katrina, at the time, was baring down on us, and I had to flee, I made sure that photo was in my suitcase. As far as photos I've taken, I like a lot of them, sorry I can't quite nail one down as the 'it' one, but usually they involve a moment of stillness and concentration on the subject frozen in time with not a lot of fuss in the image.
5. Do you think that society would be different if photography was never invented?
Would society be different without the internet and cell phones. Photography has changed our lives, the way we live, think, see, exist. I often think of WWII and the first images of the absolute horror of seeing piles and piles of dead bodies frozen in the snow fuzed together in the concentration camps. Images like those, that shook people's consciousness and made them think about what is right and wrong in the world. Images of black men and women's backs with lash marks from being whipped half to death during slavery. Hiroshima, and what we, as American's signed off on. Photography isn't just about capturing a Happy Christmas on film, it can go beyond to the heart of the human condition.
6. Do you think that a person must possess talent to capture emotion and expression in a picture?
I would like to think that oh, we photographers are so skilled and brilliant that we are the true brandishes of such skill, but there is a photography exhibit held in a museum each year. The photographers are all elementary students who are given little inexpensive throw away cameras and told to capture their life and what's important to them. Sometimes you'll see an image and forget that a)this was a throwaway camera, and b) this was taken by a six year old. The camera is a tool. It is an extension of the person who uses it. Their emotions, their lives, all of that bleeds on the film whether they have a degree in Photography or not.
7. Does the price of a camera matter in ways that it affects the quality of the picture?
I would say only in regards to probably shooting night photography. Point and shoots are so advanced these days that one can churn out a pretty decent pic. Can it rival that of a professional 1,000$+ camera...well, let's just say, if I had to bet on the thousand dollar camera shot, I wouldn't bet my life savings!
8. Do you have a special style in your photographs that can single you out like strokes in a painting?
I think there is this emphasis in photography and on photographers on needing to have a specific style. Perhaps professionally, I can see this as being a thing one needs in their arsenal to identify them to clients, but in my personal works, I am a dabbler. One does not only read books about chairs, one reads for the knowledge of the world. I don't see how I can find that same attribute if I only ever shot say black and white or did PS works.
9. Was photography just considered as a hobby to you in the past?
My first real experience with a camera was a trip I took in the 4th or 5th grade with girl scouts. My parents gave me spending money for the trip, and I ended up spending almost half of it on disposable cameras alone. I think they fully expected me to come back from the trip with souvenirs, but I came back with over 15 disposable cameras in my arms. I remember wanting to capture every moment of the trip and from the rolls of film, you can almost see the entire trip! It wasn't my first trip away from home, but I think that was the first time I was aware of it.
10. What makes a good photographer in your opinion?
A good photographer is one that can understand a subject in some way. You talk to wild life photographers and they will tell you they have learned to be extremely patient and to anticipate an animals moves and know when to be ready. You talk to a portraitist, and they will tell you, they have almost a deep psychological understanding of how people work, their fears, their insecurities, how to make them laugh or be stoic in order to get a photo. I think you have to know something beyond the pure technical aspects of photography to truly be successful.
11. What do you enjoy most photographing?
There is a path that runs from end to end in the city. It follows the bayou line, runs through the freeway system, and through residential neighborhoods. I am obsessed with it. I think to others, it wouldn't be that exciting, but for me, the path is where I have learned a lot of things about photography. It is where I have learned to open my eyes and see the things that other people wouldn't even give a second thought to. Here I have seen with my own lens, the seasons change, part of the ugly truth about my city, and learned to anticipate.
12. In your opinion, what makes photography an art?
Photography expresses something about a subject that would be forgotten or missed in time. It captures the beauty, the horror, the smile, the frown, the bear, the whatever and relays a message to the viewer--it allows them to see a moment and interpret a feeling, and an emotion on their own terms.
13. Do you believe that film photography will in the end be totally replaced by digital photography?
There are still people who use the printing press, or the rotrary phone, or who drive cars from the early 20th century. As hard has the push has been for digital to take over, there will always be those that have a passion for it, who understand it, who grew up with it, who have a desire to teach others about it and to preserve it, so digital may be top dog in the mainstream, but film will always be there, if only in secret.
14. Do you prefer using film cameras over digital?
I wish I had some kind of love affair with film, but I'm going to be very honest and say I find it to be tedious. For me, I like it as much as I like the idea of being forced to hand wash all of my clothes each week. Sure it can be done, but digital is my friend and I like it.
15. What motivates you to do what you do?
Desire! Pure desire. I have gotten up at 3 in the morning in order to photograph. I have stayed out in the pitch black, walked 4 hours in the pouring rain, baked in the hot hot sun, all because I have this unwavering desire to capture some moment, some thing out there in the universe which speaks to me louder then any words ever can.
16. If you had $3,000 right now to spend on new photography equipment, what would you buy?
More lenses. I say that without hestitation and of course another camera. For me its like the way others obsesses over I-products. I think about this stuff and what I would buy all the time.
17. Would you say you're obsessed with photography?
Yes. Yeah, I would. Literally, in the last 3 years, there is not one day that I have not taken at least 10 photographs. Not one. It's all documented in the thousands of files stored on my computers. I don't text in my car, I photograph!
18. Is there one photo that you have seen that spoke to you.
I have two, neither all that recent, but the Afghan Girl on the cover of 1985's National Geographic. I've seen that image so many times. Her eyes just stare out from under her head scarf and pierce some part of me. The other is Thich Quang Duc setting himself on fire in 1963. To sit there and light yourself on fire to protest something you believe so strongly in, and to see the images of him so calm literally burning to death and all these people just watching. It's surreal, but so real, very powerful.
19. In ten years what direction do you see photography going in?
Well cameras are a technology and each year, there are those that will try to improve "the eye" until it can capture far beyond perhaps our understanding of what color and light are.
20. What is the craziest thing you've ever done to take a photo?
Well, not really crazy, per se, but I lie ALL THE TIME when I want to get an image. I was busted one time for trespassing, and the owner of the building was pissed and pointing at the probably 20 signs indicating the area was only for those authorized to be there. Well, I profusely apologized, said I meant no harm, said I just loved the building, and I was a student working on a project, lies, and his building spoke to me, blah, blah, blah, long story, the guy ends up letting me into the building and gives me a grand tour and we end up exchanging cards. I've since been yelled at by police on numerous occasions, store personnel, angry individuals, you name it, but I turn on the "I'm totally innocent" smile, usually lie about being a student or working for some very obscure paper, and usually it works and people let their guard down.
Michael is the name I call my camera. I named it Michael in honor of my cousin, an avid photographer, who passed away in the early 90s.