So, as a follow up to my early blogpost I somehow got into Magnum Photography workshop in SF this last weekend. The workshop was mainly a day of lectures with Q&A from few professionals of various types, a day of portfolio reviews and no photo taking. Afterward we had drinks at a local bar. Being the old man I am, I had a drink mainly talked with everyone I could find with an accent. I can always listen to someone with an accent for hours over anyone who sounds like me. 8-) A few folks showed off equipment on both day one and two. While I generally like camera equipment speak, I really tried to avoid it for the weekend as I really wanted to focus (pun intended) on review. I did bring the m7 along, but opted to take on single photo Sunday morning on the walk between BART and event venue.
Day 2 was photo reviews with two different groups, in both cases I was later half of the reviews so it was great to see other folks work and hear their reviews first. So first, my work was definitely in the lower third of all the material I had seen. No one needed to tell me that. But one of the main reasons for me taking this class wasn't to compare my work directly with anyone else's, but was learn and push my own work. So, in a nutshell I learned the following: I'm a good technician, but I lack focus and emotion in my work. Now I kind of knew that, but having folks bring it forth and central was something I needed to hear. But I did get some idea's based on my own review and others on where I can work. So I've been devising three to four projects to get me moving forward. Here they are in a nutshell
Scooter Rally photography: So most people I know already know that I've documented various scooter rallies on the west coast for close to 20 years. Most of these read on surface as event photography, but if you look across all of them you really see my develop as photographer, but in their current form they do lack direction, story and focus. I did show 3 photos form the last year that showed some of my work here as such I am no taking some time to hone in story within them. What I mean by this is that I'll be taking segments of this archive and finding stories within them and then developing (or finishing) storys based on these. The first of these is on a friend of mine up in Portland who I have documented his work as mechanic for the last decade or so. I want to focus in on his carrier, his relationship to Portland and where he's going. I have much of the backstory, but I'll need to do a proper interview and then figure out what photos I have that cover his story and what I'll need to finish the story.
The next project of sorts is based on some exploring I did last summer at Donner pass. I'm still in early stages of what really explore, but I want see about documenting the graffiti art that is strewn up that way. Right now I need a clear weekend to go and revisit the place and see about contacting some of the graffiti artists too.
Now the third project is really the big one and I guess I should do some explaining here. The project kind of comes from 3 idea's I heard during my reviews. So, one of the things that's been really missing in my work has been emotion. For the last few years I've really felt disconnected from life. I'm not really emotionally engaged much these days and in turn it shows in my work. For these same few years while I've been exploring I've been mostly shooting landscapes of various sorts and kind of avoiding people. The second part of the idea came when one of the reviews complained (in general) about how the homeless were treated in San Fransisco. She was really taken back about people here culturally seem to ignore the homeless and treat them like they do not exists. I have to say, I do this but my experience is a of a mixed bag here too. So I do this, I ignore on the surface, but I do feel for the folks I come into contact with who are on the streets. But it is defensive mechanism none the less. Anyway, this got me thinking about my work, my home, how I've been feeling and thinking about how to combine them into a longer range project. My idea in nut shell I have titled "Disconnected in Berkeley." I've hit my immidate archives of work and found several images that capture and help tell this tail and am adding more every week. This one actually excites me and I hope this project can really grow, not just photographically but also emotionally. So, more to come here
I guess, more to come. Thanks
