There have been several people to compare my portrait work with that of Yousef Karsh and I am greatly flattered. Recently I had to edit through a host of other images and I came upon this of my old friend, Marcel. In my usual A.D.D. manor, I got lost in his image and forgot the original intent of my search. Cropping so closely into the chiseled old face of this Master seemed a bit harsh, but it's oh so dramatic. Now I find myself feeling a little guilty because I haven't been to visit Marcel of late and I'm sure he could use some company. Maybe this is the motivation I need.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Karsh_Harsh
There have been several people to compare my portrait work with that of Yousef Karsh and I am greatly flattered. Recently I had to edit through a host of other images and I came upon this of my old friend, Marcel. In my usual A.D.D. manor, I got lost in his image and forgot the original intent of my search. Cropping so closely into the chiseled old face of this Master seemed a bit harsh, but it's oh so dramatic. Now I find myself feeling a little guilty because I haven't been to visit Marcel of late and I'm sure he could use some company. Maybe this is the motivation I need.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Watizit?
Last year when we went to visit friends in Florida, we were walking on the beach and came upon this vibrant yet mysterious object, creature, sculpture or artifact. I had no ideawhat we were looking at. It's color was stunning, especially in comparison to most things that wash up on shore. I sent the image to a host of knowing friends and none were able to identify it until at last a young student at the local Juniorversity pegged it as a Portuguese Man O' War. It looked almost like a glass sculpture and I would have never guessed just how dangerous it could be.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Man_o'_War
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
It's so true
Lengthy parable worth reading.A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning.. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried on to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again.. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people.
The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour:
Do we perceive beauty?
Do we stop to appreciate it?
Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried on to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again.. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people.
The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour:
Do we perceive beauty?
Do we stop to appreciate it?
Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
Monday, January 5, 2009
Kelsea for real
Some viewer who know Kelsea loved the portrait but thought it misleading as to how one might normally think of her. Well, here she is the cute little 6 year old that she is.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Bloodline
The daughter of my oldest son, Kelsea, came with me to the studio on New Years Eve day. I had some organizing to do and she was anxious to tag along. When my kids were younger they were the perfect little photographer's children. They would spend hours letting me pose and photograph them, so patient with their dad and all his lighting experiments. Kelsea on the other hand had not been so inclined, until very recently. She was ready now and it was a great experience to see her open up a bit. Frankly though, I think being on the other side of the camera was more to her liking. Unfortunatley she didn't have much to work with since I was the only subject available. We took turns until I could pose no more. Maybe someday I'll post the shots she took. I have to say she is very intuitive when it comes to shooting using the big studio camera. I plan to engourage her even more as she grows older. Who knows maybe someday my input will provide her with some success of her own.
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