Leica M-E

Leica M-E, getting some love.  Couldn't resist.  Can't tell if the lens is a 50 Summicron, but sure looks just like mine.

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.

Coney Island, After Sandy

Danger, Beach Closed

We traveled to New York for Thanksgiving, a little apprehensive given that it was only about three weeks since Hurricane Sandy struck the Northeast.  We had heard about the devastation, how the Subway was flooded, and how the Boardwalk had been washed out to sea.  When we got there, we saw that the City had actually weathered the storm fairly well and that the Subway, for the most part, was fine.  We also heard that the Atlantic City Boardwalk had been blown out to sea, but not the one in Coney Island.  Still, we made the trek out to Coney Island to survey the damage.

The damage, it turns out, was pretty extensive.  Famous Nathans, along with many other merchants, was closed and apparently being refitted because of flood damage.  The most impressive sight, though, was the sand: it was everywhere.  As you approach the Boardwalk from the landward side, you see the sand as far away as Stillwell Avenue.  Even more impressive, though, is how high the sand was piled.

The photo above shows the Boardwalk in the foreground and the beach in the background divided in the lower third by a railing curving into the sand.  The railing is actually part of the steps leading down the the beach, which ordinarily is about four feet below the Boardwalk.  The photo clearly shows the sand rising above the Boardwalk.  Although you can't see it from any photo, the gaps between the planks showed sand underneath.  Essentially, the sand had blown completely over and under the Boardwalk.

Selected photos of the series After Sandy will be on display in Studio 10-U at the Bakehouse Art Complex, Friday, January 11, 2013 beginning at 7.00 PM.  Click here to see the series After Sandy in my Flickr feed.

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]

Happy Holidays

Radio City Music Hall decked out for Christmas

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Festive Festivus, Feliz Navidad, Feliz Natal, Joyeux Noel, Good Kwanza, Happy New Year.  Did I leave anyone out?

Seriously, enjoy the holidays (and yes, there are more than just the one), keep your loved ones close, and look to what unites us rather than what divides us.  We are all one people, one race, one species and stewards of one world.

Peace.

Update on Paris, Je T'Aime

Well, the show went of smoothly and beautifully.  Sasha and the staff at The Stage Miami were extremely helpful and professional.  I lucked out that evening as there were two other events happening at the same time so there were plenty of people in attendance and a really great band playing as well.

I had eleven images printed by Sam at MiamiMetalPrints.com.  He does the printing himself and it definitely shows as each print was stunningly beautiful, IMHO.  They were printed on 30x20 inch sheets of aluminum without a white base coat so that anything that was white in the image would appear aluminum colored.  They were just great even though I could only hang seven owing to space.  As an aside, I will have two from this series exhibited this coming Wednesday at the Gallery at Southpointe and then six at a Christmas Event on Friday.

The images, along with six others, are also included in my gallery Paris, Je T'Aime on my website and are available for purchase in true black and white paper prints in sizes ranging from 8x12 to 20x30 inches and prices from $75 to $325.  For readers of my blog and people on my mailing list, though, these prints are available for a limited time only with a 15% discount by inputing the coupon code 20121208 when prompted at time of purchase.

It's remarkable that I'm still dwelling on Paris given that my trip to Europe also involved three days in London and also that I've been to New York (again) since then.  Still, as I said in the previous post, Paris gets under your skin and stays with you like a lover.

Click here to go to the gallery and order prints and don't for get the coupon code for your discount.

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.

Respect Dik

R4 Recycled, Reclaimed, Reused, and Reinterpreted

I have this piece in the show.  This BAC exhibition focuses on the everyday object and its transformation and manipulation into contemporary art.  This photo was taken during the Wynwood Art Walk.  J and I were walking back from a gallery when I saw this image and shot a snap of it.  The bright triangle near the top is sky behind the wall. 

I was intrigued by the recycling of the wall as art, then as profanity, and, by me, as art again.  Seems to fit right into the R4 Exhibition.  The image is printed on recycled plywood and measures 20x30 inches.  Never printed that way before, but it came out very cool.  If you can, please come and see it.

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. 

yo MOMMA Smokes!

yo MOMMA Smokes!

My opening was a huge success, well attended and lots of fun both for me and, I hope, everyone who attended.  My studio was swamped on many occasions that night and the photos were well-received.  Well, on to the next show . . .

yo MOMMA . the SHOW

 Hmmmm, should I characterize this?  Myra Wexler aka yo MOMMA has gotten 50 artists to make portraits of her, each in their own medium and distinctive style.  yo MOMMA Smokes! is my submission.  This promises to be a great evening.  I'm looking forward to it.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012 at 6PM
12345 West Dixie Hwy
North Miami, Floirda

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.