Blog 13

So I finally decided to publish my photography blog today.  I was aiming for my birthday January 3rd, but business and other miscellany kept me from doing such.  I decided that since I couldn’t publish on 1/3, I would use my next option; and that was the 13th day of this month instead.  It sometimes amazes me that for over 7 years I have been doing photography.  I began when I was 17 in my high school class, taking film photographs and developing in a darkroom using my grandfathers 1975 Pentax camera the entire time. Still have to check the date on that, so don’t quote me just yet.  So my photographic journey began in 2008 as a senior in high school and now I am 24 years old and still loving every minute I am taking pictures.

So long story short, I graduated in 2009 from Loyola Blakefield and attended Hampton University and obtained my degree in Electrical Engineering.  I know, I know photography may not have been the ideal choice, but you have to do what you love.

I still remember the first assignment given in my photo class, and that was to take a picture without using a camera.  Now you’re probably wondering how that is possible, it’s actually pretty simple: close your eyes and then open them! Now you have actually taken a mental picture of that exact moment in time, that won’t happen again.  But no the actual assignment was to go out and take some photographs of what interests you.  I have always been interested in portraits and photographing people, as well as capturing images that you don’t see to often.  So from my 3 photographs, my teacher and I selected Robert Frank.  It’s funny because I initially wanted Diane Arbus, not knowing my pictures were closers to the works of Mr. Frank’s.  One of Robert’s Franks most acclaimed works was The Americans, which we will discuss further in another post.  But seeing his work just inspired me to always catch the viewers eyes.

Each photograph I take I want the viewer to stop, stare and ask questions.  That is the goal of any photographer, that’s the goal of any artist.  Photography is about the moment: the moment that we can’t recreate, that feeling that happens in that instant, that one time we can freeze reality.  Henri Cartier-Bresson french photographer and photojournalist coined the term, “decisive moment”.  I could go on for days discussing Frank and Cartier Bresson, but this will happen a little later.  I am going to end with a quote from a third photographer, Ansel Adams once said “Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.”