Yesterday I was hauling frames up to my office. 30 of them, to be exact. I’m getting reading for the 30 Strangers exhibit so that has meant making prints and getting everything framed. That’s all being done in-house. Which is to say, I’m doing it, which is really to say, our very capable employee Laura is doing it.
I was taking everything up the back stairs to the office and all the sudden I started thinking about our first 30 Strangers exhibit which took place in the studio adjacent to my office. We only kept it up for two days and on the night we took it down, Ashley and her then boyfriend, Alden came to the studio to help me take down the show. (They are married now, but this was back when things were just starting to heat up. I don’t even know if had the label “boyfriend” at this point). I’m sure there was a certain element where he wanted to impress her and show how helpful he was so he stuck around until the lights went out, but the truth is, the truth shined through because Alden is helpful whether he’s your boyfriend or your husband or a guy you just happen to know.
So there we were. 2009 in July, taking down the 30 Strangers exhibit, and the next day I left for Haiti. It was my second time being in Haiti. The first time I went there I ate goat for the first time, saw men betting on a cock fight, and I pulled a dead guy from the ocean. The first time I went to Haiti I saw a voodoo priest chant about this and that, and I drank milk straight from a coconut. The fist time I went to Haiti, I imagined it would be my last. I mean, who goes to Haiti?
And yesterday when I was taking frames up the stairs and remembering I left the night after Alden and Ashley helped me take everything down, I thought about Haiti again. I love that place and I would love to go back.
Haiti photographs taken on assignment for Partners of the Americas.
This could be one of my favorite photographs I’ve ever taken. It was taken in 1999 (1998?) just outside New Orleans on a cross-country trip with my friend Brooke. There’s a long story about what we were doing there in the first place and Brooke and I both count our lucky stars that we are alive to tell about it, and that’s part of why I connect emotionally to the picture. But the reason it just be my favorite picture of all time is because there’s some mystery in this picture. What is he pointing at? What could her expression mean and why is she looking at him like that? What happened in the few seconds before this picture was taken and what is going to happen after the shutter has clicked? And why is he wearing baseball pants? Those are the kind of questions that may instinctively run through your head when you look at this picture.
When I talk to people about ways to improve their photography, I suggest adding an element of mystery as one way to do that. By purposely not answering all the questions within the image, you add visual interest which causes the viewer to spend more time looking at the picture. For me, that’s what makes this image successful.
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Interesting side-note from 12 years later. Last month, Brooke, who was with me in the boat, was watching a show on the History Chanel called Swamp People about swamps in Louisiana, and this fellow, this exact same guy, was profiled in their piece. How fun, that she happened to come across that.
by justin on December 5, 2010
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by justin on October 28, 2010
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by justin on October 23, 2010
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Whidbey Island, Washington
by justin on October 6, 2010
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by justin on August 20, 2010
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I love New York City, and had such a great time walking around, soaking it all in. I love that first picture and I really like a lot of the pictures of people on the street. How about you? Any favorites?
by justin on August 19, 2010
in Travel
New York City, as photographed by a dude from Rexburg, Idaho. This is part one. Part two is the beautiful people of New York. That post comes tomorrow.
by justin on May 13, 2010
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La Jolla, California
by justin on May 13, 2010
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La Jolla, California
by justin on July 29, 2009
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by justin on October 31, 2008
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