Put A Bird On It

Untitled (Roosevelt Island Series, 2012)

When I first got the invitation to exhibit two photos in a group show at the Blu Moon Gallery in Coconut Grove, I intuitively knew which would be the first but wasn't so sure about the second. The show, entitled Put A Bird On It, is themed around birds.  I knew I had to exhibit a photo of birds on power lines as it fit perfectly with the theme. Initially, my choice for the second image was one taken in Martha's Vineyard in 2012 but I discarded the thought as I considered it was too rural an image to pair with the first.  I knew I needed something grittier.  I then turned to my Roosevelt Island series.

Roosevelt Island is situated on the East River between Manhattan and Queens and is mostly accessible by cable cars.  It is a rather small, mostly residential island and really not too attractive at all.  Still, in November 2012 it proved to be one of the last areas of New York I hadn't explored.

I vaguely remembered that I had shot shot some sort of iron structure against a cloudless sky and that there might actually be birds in it somewhere. So I pulled the image and immediately knew I had to include it in this show. It's got just the right amount of grit and just enough birds to qualify for the show. Love it.

Put A Bird On It will run through May, 2014 with an opening reception on May 3, 2014 at the Blu Moon Gallery, 3444 Main Hwy, #7, Coconut Grove, Florida 33133.  The promo and photo of Untitled (Birds on a Wire) is shown below.

Self-Portrait

Self-Portrait

I have hardly any photos of myself. Those that I do have are generally of me with a camera in my hand shooting something else, oftentimes out of the frame, or self-portraits taken in something reflective, like this one shot at Art Wynwood in February of this year.

Leica ME, 50mm f/2.0 @ f/2.8, 1/125th sec, ISO 320

The Serendipity of Unlucky Events

Untitled, 2014

I really like this photo.  I like the way it's framed on the right by the two tables and how the edge of the pool cuts across the bottom demarcating the lighter brick from the dark water.  I really like how the subject is just standing there, looking off into the distance and that string of lights that just seems to hang there.  What I like most about it, though, is the strong contrast of light and dark hues.  It takes what would have been an OK shot, and adds an air of drama to it.  It's also plain luck. My flash didn't go off.

I was shooting an event in January and outshot the flash's ability to recycle.  I realized it when reviewing the photos at home.  A bit of boosting the ISO and some work with the sliders, convert to B&W and voila: an unlucky photo is turned into a noirish image.  Sometimes an unlucky event is actually serendipitous. Nice.

Canon 6D, ISO 400, 1/45 sec., Canon 24-105 @f/4, no flash.

Witness to Life

Untitled, 2013

In my Artist's Statement I write "that most of us will never write a great novel, but all of us will live one" and that I photograph these great novels and thereby "bear witness to life."  I can't think of a better photo to illustrate my point than the one above.

My parents and my maternal grandfather are buried in this cemetery.  I visit every now and then, but really not too frequently.  If there's an afterlife, then that is where they are and I hope they keep me in their thoughts.  If there isn't one, well, then they continue to exist in my thoughts and feelings, and occasionally in my dreams as well.  Visiting their graves will neither help them in any afterlife, nor bring them closer in this life, so I really don't visit often.

Obviously, though, as this photo shows I do visit occasionally, sometimes to take my elderly aunt who cannot drive herself there.  On this occasion, we encountered this gentlemen sitting under his umbrella in the blistering Miami sun, just staring at a grave.  I assume his wife is buried there, but perhaps that is too pat.  Perhaps it is life-partner, someone he couldn't marry, at least not under Florida law.  Perhaps it is actually worse, perhaps his child is buried there.  Now that would truly be horrible as parents should never have to bury their children.

Whoever it is, though, I'll never know.  All I know is that on this day I bore respectful witness to his grief, to his devotion, to his very life and for that I feel truly honored.

Happy Valentine's Day

Mystery Couple

Beverly & Ciro

On this Valentine's Day, two photos of my dear friends, Ciro and Beverly, taken at Flemings in Coral Gables.  At dinner with them I just squeezed off a few shots. It was dark outside and they were illuminated only by the window to the left and a spotlight above, perfect conditions to shoot in available darkness.

Leica ME, Voigtlander 35mm f/1.4 @ f/1.4, ISO 640, 1/30th sec.

Best of 2013

Drive Thru, POTY, 2013

This is my second Best-Of post, the first being from December, 2012.  This year's set contains 15 images, all but one shot in the first half of the year.  As with last year, the number could have been higher or lower, it just happened to be the number I truly liked.  Unlike last year, I won't post all of them, but will only comment on the POTY and the runner up.  The entire set is viewable in my Flickr feed by clicking here.

The POTY, Drive Thru, was shot in Wynwood on my return from my studio at the Bakehouse.  I was stopped at a light and just raised the camera and snapped off a shot.  Composition and tonality are the two things I like most in photography and the reason I shoot predominantly in black & white. This image has it all.  The sign on the extreme right third of the image tells you exactly where you are and acts as a counterpoint to the subjects on the left.  The left-side is lighted nearer the bottom whereas the right-side is lighted from where the left-side leave off all the way to the top.

The people in the image, though, complete the photo.  They are illuminated by the store and almost organically a part of the image.  Because of the tonality, the interplay between light and shadow and the presence of people engaged in ordinary tasks, this photo has always reminded me of an Edward Hopper painting, albeit in black & white.

15 Hoods, Redux

15 Hoods, ©2013

The premier of 15 Hoods went very well.  Despite the event coinciding with Yom Kippur, we seemed to have plenty of people in the studio and throughout the Bakehouse as well.  Both the photo and the installation drew favorable responses from visitors and three inquiries for possible future shows.  Not bad, I think.

The photo, shown above, is about 30x40 inches as currently displayed.  However, because each portrait is a distinct image ranging from 10 to 12 megapixels after cropping, the image should be indefinitely scalable.  Projection on the side of a building anyone?

The models in the photo range in age from toddler to middle age, male and female and yes, the guy second from the right in the lower row is me.  The idea of the piece was to render 15 nearly identical images in black & white, except the middle image which is clearly identifiable as a young African American male and is rendered in full color.  Essentially, each of us can look nefarious in a hoodie under the right conditions but society's attention is still drawn to the black male above all others.

Along with the piece, the installation also included out-takes and informal portraits of the models intended to show that they are really just people in hoods and that at heart we are all the same. Rounding out the installation is a series of images from the vigil for Trayvon Martin at the Torch of Friendship earlier this year.

The installation will remain on exhibit through October, 2013 in the Bakehouse Art Complex, Studio 3U and by private viewing by appointment.

15 Hoods

Background shot from the 15 Hoods photo shoot

Immediately after the story broke, I remember feeling a sense of surprise and indignation that the Sanford Police let George Zimmerman go without much thought based on Florida's "Stand Your Ground Law."  I felt that they, at least, ought to have asked the simple question, Which of these two actually stood his ground and confronted an attacker?  Was it the older man who acted against the direct instructions of a police dispatcher or the young man who was being stalked by a "creep" in an SUV?  At the very least, I thought the SPD should have referred the case to the State Attorney's Office, if for nothing else then just for CYA purposes.

That surprise, however, was nothing compared to the surprise I felt when the Special Prosecutor filed charges of second degree murder against Zimmerman in the absence of much supporting evidence and absolutely no witnesses or apparent motive.  Being legally trained, I felt the better charge, the sustainable and provable charge would have been manslaughter.  It also had the added benefit of comporting with the provable facts.

When the jury returned its verdict, I felt justice had not been served but that they had nonetheless rendered the legally correct decision.  In computing, there's an axiom: GIGO, garbage in, garbage out. You can't blame the computer if you ask it the wrong question or ask the right question but in the wrong manner. Similarly, you can't really blame the jury if you've asked it the wrong question and given it no option but to return a bad answer.

I wasn't surprised, but like many, I was disappointed.

I was, however, very surprised at the steps the right-wing corporate media took to legitimate the shooting by demonizing an article of clothing, the hoodie.  Most infamous in this regard is Geraldo Rivera who is quoted in The Huffington Post as saying that "hoodies reminded people of criminals like the Unabomber and thus put (the wearer) in danger".

I must confess, I have long since stopped watching or reading the right-wing corporate media.  While Faux News is the worst offender, in my opinion, the so-called mainstream media are little more than stenographers to power.  Still, using this article of clothing in order to legitimate the death of a young man who was doing little more than walking in a neighborhood that he had every right to be in was a new low, even by today's debased media standards.  It's as if none of the so-called reporters have children who wear hoodies.  Seriously, don't they know any seventeen-year-olds?

And so was born my idea of 15 Hoods.

15 Hoods is both an image and an installation.  The image, consisting of 15 portraits of people wearing hoods, will be shown for the first time on September 13, 2013 at the Bakehouse Art Complex, in my Studio, 3U on the second floor.  As an installation, it will also feature background images, outtakes and a separate set on the Vigil for Trayvon held at the Torch of Friendship in Miami.

If you find yourself in Miami that evening and do not have to attend Yom Kippur services, I hope you will consider attending.

The Mermaid Parade, 2013

FDNY truck sprays water on the Mermaid Parade

 So, I went to the Mermaid Parade and a police event broke out.  Sounds like a joke, but seriously, the whole thing was pretty whacked.  I've photographed the parade for years and have always had a great time.  The real point is to by-pass the parade itself and stroll down the boardwalk to meet the mermaids and photograph them.  Great fun, well, until this year.  The photo above was taken from the New York Aquarium's bridge to the boardwalk.  Unlike other years, this was the only way to get across, at least from this end of the parade.  If you look closely at the photo you'll see a row of police cruisers.  Behind that row they had set up a pen to funnel the parade-goers like cattle.  It was unbelievably and unnecessarily crowded.  [more below the fold]

Capture Coral Gables

Dancers Photographed During Carnaval on The Mile
On Exhibit in the Coral Gables Museum July 5, 2013

To the rest of the world, I live and work in Miami.  To residents of "Miami", that actually depends on where you stand.  Like the cities of London, Boston and Atlanta, "Miami" is a conurbation, "a region comprising a number of cities, large towns, and other urban areas that, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban and industrially developed area."  Wikipedia.  Miami is a conurbation of over 30 cities that have grown to the point that they abut in a nearly continuous manner, almost like a jigsaw puzzle, each with its own feel and vibe and even its own socio-economic demographic.  One of these is Coral Gables.

Known here simply as The Gables, Coral Gables offers a counterpoint to the region's hub, the City of Miami.  While the City of Miami is very urban, with many run-down neighborhoods next to beautiful high-rises, and many neighborhoods that seem to be in a state of perpetual gentrification, The Gables is the city that just seems to make everything work.  It is clean, relatively well-run, and close enough to the urban center that it defies the term "suburb".

Like everything in life, though, it does have its trade-offs.  While the City of Miami can seem at times like part of the developing world, it is a bustle of activity and unexpected experiences.  It is not uncommon to drive past a group of people protesting against the Castro regime, then encounter a group of hipsters strolling down Calle Ocho, bankers and lawyers on Brickell and finally pass some homeless-looking guy, on a bike, carrying his dog strapped across his back like a wounded soldier.  I'm not exaggerating; I've actually seen all this.

The Gables, though, seems to screen out any such unexpected encounters.  It is the embodiment of a mature and solid city, home to many doctors, lawyers and accountants.  An example of the differences is Carnaval.

Both the City of Miami and Coral Gables each has a Carnaval, but the two cannot be any more different.  Miami's is raucous, loud, jittery and crowded -- and I don't mean any of that in a bad way, either.  Carnaval on the Mile, as it's known in Coral Gables, is pleasant and well behaved.  I also don't mean that in a bad way, either.  It's essentially the difference between a Daddy Yankee concert and one by Gloria Estefan.  You can enjoy both or either, but just not the same way.

The photo above was taken during Carnaval on the Mile, on the last day actually, a beautiful Sunday afternoon.  The dancers look young, wholesome, and vibrant.  The street is clean, even after three days of Carnaval, and the event appears well-attended but not overcrowded.  That's The Gables.

The photo also will be on exhibit in the Coral Gables Museum this summer in their Capture Coral Gables show.  The opening is July 5, 2013 at 6PM.

Two Silhouettes and a Smile

Much of what passes for black & white photography nowadays actually looks like color photography that has been amped in Photoshop and converted to B&W.  I suppose this stems from most B&W originating in digital cameras, almost all of which are equipped with color sensors.  Most users have come to photography by converting to color and have never really developed a B&W aesthetic.  In their minds, I suppose, B&W is nothing other than color images without the color.  When I can see everything in a B&W image in a heightened, super-realistic sort of way, it just creeps me out because it simply doesn't look right.  Real B&W is as much about the shadows as it is about the lights, as much about what you can't see as what you can.

A few weeks ago I attended an outdoor party with friends.  The lighting was atrocious and, even more importantly, it illuminated the scene from the wrong direction.  Anyway, I managed to capture this image of a couple at the party and got just enough illumination on the woman's face to make the image useful.  I don't like that the highlight on her chin is clipped, but considering this was shot at ISO2500 and pushed two stops in Lightroom, I think it's the best that can be hoped for.

I really like the image anyway, though.  You can see in it a couple that appears genuinely happy with each other even though you can't actually make out much else in the image except two silhouettes and a smile.  IMHO, this is what B&W is all about.

Running With the Swift

It's been nearly a year since I got that call telling me I had been juried into the Bakehouse.  Just the day before, I had thought that I hadn't been accepted.  After all, it had been over a month since I had applied and I'd heard nothing at all.  I was feeling pretty down, actually, when the phone went off.  “You've been accepted”, the voice said.  That was it, I had passed the jury.  I was vetted.  People who know what they're doing said my work was good, that my photos were art.  I was in.  Wow.

It's been a great year, one with many lessons learned that will probably be the subject of other blog entries.  Still, the most important thing I've learned from this year is that I need to constantly strive to improve my work.  This doesn't mean buying new equipment or obsessing about sharpness like people do on the photography forums.  No, it means I must actually improve the work, strive to push the envelope, explore new subjects and techniques and do all that while remaining true to my style and to myself. I've learned this by looking at the work of other artists at the Bakehouse, but especially my incoming class.  These are some excellent artists that includes painters, sculptors, mixed media and several who also incorporate photography in their work.  I look at their work, especially the other new photographer, and am just wowed by the quality and the creativity.

All my life I've tried to surround myself with good people, to be inspired by them and to be motivated by them to excel.  Well, these people are excellent and I'm glad of it.  To strive for excellence you must run with the swift.

The photo in this blog entry is of the year's entering class at the Bakehouse.  It's the promo for our end-of-the-year show called Recently Acquired IV, curated by Ananda Demello.  The opening will be held on March 8, 2013 at 7PM in the Audrey Love Gallery in the Bakehouse.  I'll have three pieces in the show.

San Sebastian

Dancer in front of Brickell Irish Pub, Festival de San Sebastian

La Fiesta de la Calle San Sebastian (The Festival of San Sebastian Street) in Puerto Rico made its way to the Brickell area of Miami.  Click here for the rest on Flickr.

My Best of 2012

POTY: Big Bad Wolf

2012 saw many changes in my artistic life.  The single biggest change, of course, was my admission as a resident artist at the Bakehouse.  Being a resident artist means many things, not the least of which is that I've been vetted by other artists who have found something in my work worthwhile. For someone without the benefit of either a BFA or gallery representation, this is very significant. It has also meant much more exposure as my work has been on exhibit in various parts throughout Miami ever since.  It has also had an unanticipated side-effect: I now shoot much more than I used to.

In 2011 I took about 7,000 photos; in 2012 that number has climbed to over 15,000.  For over ten years now I've always tried to carry a camera wherever I go whenever possible. Only once, though, did I break 10,000 photos in one year.  What's also fascinating is that two-thirds of the photos are in the second half of the year, after I was accepted into the Bakehouse.  The lesson is clear: being in the Bakehouse has meant that I take many more photos because I'm always on the lookout for new material.  At least, well, that's the lesson I've drawn. [read more after the break]

Paris, Je T'Aime

When I was asked to do a solo show, I spent a good deal of time culling over my best work looking for some theme that I could turn into a show appropriate for the venue, The Stage Miami.  It was really a great exercise as it reacquainted me with some photos I had not seen in a while.  I had several themes lined up including shots of Wynwood, Coney Island, and, my personal favorite, New York.  Given my impending trip to London and Paris, I also thought of doing a selection from Barcelona, New York, Chicago, London and Paris and calling it "Great Cities".  I may still do that someday.

I then set everything aside, shut down my computer and boarded the Iberia flight to London.  Three days there, then the Chunnel to Paris for four days.  I'd heard London was exciting and Paris was magical.  Well, there's truth in the former, but as to the latter, that's a certainty.  Paris is truly magical.

London is a young lover, one who is exciting and to a great extent unpredictable, but Paris, well, that's on a whole other level.  Paris is the mature lover, the one who has seen life, who has seen the world, who might be a bit jaded for it, but you can chalk that up to character and experience.  The young lover may appeal for a while, but the mature lover gets under your skin and pulls you back time and again.  This is Paris.  London is the city you visit, but Paris is the one you love.

After four days in Paris, I had my theme: Paris, Je T'Aime.
 
My very first day back in Miami, still blurry-eyed and jet-lagged, I reviewed the photos of Paris and fell in love all over again.  There was the Seine, the Métropolitain, the Louvre, the Champs-Élysées, and the residents of this marvelous city.

The opening reception is November 10, 2012 at 8PM at The Stage Miami, coinciding with the Second Saturday Wynwood Art Walk.  Click here for directions.

Yo MOMMA Through the Looking Glass

Looking Glass, No. 1

Yo MOMMA . The Show, went off beautifully with 69 artists participating, each with a piece in their own medium and distinct style and over 400 people in attendance. My piece, yo MOMMA Smokes! was very well received and curiously, given that the 12345 Gallery is owned by photographers, one of the only works of photography on exhibit.  Most of the other pieces were in the form of painting or mixed media.

About half-way through the show, there were just so many people in the gallery that the crowd just spilled out into the street.  It was at this time that I captured three images of the crowd, on the street looking into the gallery through the gallery's main window.  The images of the people outside, illuminated by the light spilling out from inside the gallery and also by ambient street light, mixed with the reflection of the people inside the gallery makes for a surreal experience.  Looking Glass, No. 1 is my favorite of the three.  Click here to see the set of three on Flickr. 

Grand Opening

My studio "grand opening" is this Friday, September 14, 2012 at 7PM in Studio 10-U in the Bakehouse Art Complex, 561 NW 32nd Street  Miami, Florida 33127.  I'll be premiering the above-three pieces as well as four other new works and a few encore exhibitions from my "soft-opening" in May.  Hope to see you there.

The Definition of Luck

Friday the Thirteenth brings to mind the question: Is it better to be lucky than to be good?  That depends, I guess, on your definition of lucky. 

If you just hope good things will happen to you, if you hope you'll find a winning lottery ticket on the sidewalk for example, well, then that depends on what you actually get.  If the lottery ticket is for $1M, well, then, yeah, in that case luck trumps everything.  But what if the lottery ticket is for another free lottery ticket?  Well, I guess that's better than nothing, but really, what's the point?  Even still, how long will your luck last?  Eventually, every lucky streak comes to an end. [more after the break]

Summertime

The lazy days of summer are upon us now.  By the time this post is uploaded, I'll be somewhere in Massachusetts taking in the sites and marveling at how cool it is in June compared to Miami.

In Miami we sort of take for granted warm weather, but also tend to shy away from the open sun during the summer, except if actually at the beach.  The photo at right was taken in Barcelona, also during June, in 2009.  While it was warm, Spain is much farther north and so it wasn't as oppressively hot as summertime in Miami.  While strolling the port area on our second day we encountered these three young men (boys?) sunning themselves. 

The photo speaks of a languid idyl of summer and youth, a time when all our lives are ahead of us and the world seems warm and full of possibilities.  I love the photo of these three youths.  I love how the yacht and the building (a mansion?  a hotel?) lie beyond them with the mountain even beyond that and how they are separated from these things by a body of water, as if separated from their futures by a gulf of time.  The possibilities are out there, but they're just kicking back, reveling in their youth and enjoying the summer.  There will be time enough for those things someday.

Fiddler

This is really a great time to be an artist (or even just "into" the arts) in Miami because there is just so much going on.  What started as a simple art walk in Coral Gables and a few satellite shows in Wynwood during Art Basel has blossomed into a full-fledged micro economy with artist communities fairly much springing up across the entire county. The Bakehouse (where my studio is located) and ArtCenter/South Florida have been around for decades but the last ten years has brought us several new communities including ArtSouth, the Artisan Lounge and Ironside. 

Some artists I know have taken studios in Ironside, which of course has its own art-walk.  As with all the better venues, Ironside has a sort of youthful cool, artiste feel to it all set in an industrial park.  Tre chic.

As we were leaving, Ironside I came across this violinist and shot the image in near darkness.  I like the image, even if it's not terribly sharp, maybe because it's not terribly.  Still, considering the lighting, I'm lucky I got anything useful from it at.