Nodding (off)

01.31.2008 Nodding (off)


This 5:30 am business is kicking my ass. It's not even 8 and I'm ready to sleep for the day. I'm so off schedule. Now the advantage of having a set precedent of doing this every night is that for the sake of tradition I'll suck it up and get my photo out of the way.

Sometimes I'll come up with something good on the spot. This one isn't too bad, is it? I really like the light on my fingers, probably my favorite part.

Dorsal

01.30.2008 Dorsal

What a long, boring and unfulfilling day. No work due to a snowless snow day and plenty of other bull to deal with.

On the brightside and sad, Y the Last Man reached its conclusion and the series is at an end. If there is anything I respect about Brian K. Vaughn's created storylines, it that they have a beginning, middle and end. Who would guess that simple storytelling could be so difficult?

Anyway, it was a fantastic series. Certainly one that I will read again and recommend to everyone. My girlfriend is halfway through, she likes it but she's not a comic book fan, which explains why she doesn't love it.

Anyway, the above picture is inspired by the last cover of Y the Last Man. The lighting needs work, but all I've got to work with are the bathroom, hall and parent's bedroom lights. I wish the wall was blank, but pictures looked better than nails. If and when I get a place of my own, every room is going to be able to be converted to a studio in less than five minutes. I'm so sick of having to deal with my whole family's surroundings.

So anyway, school tomorrow unless there is a another snowless snow day. I'll see you tomorrow.

It's a Matter of Perspective

01.29.2008 It's a Matter of Perspective


Long day. I certainly have more respect for my mother's job. Watching kids and teaching them is definitely harder than it looks. And to think, I have it all to do again tomorrow. That's ok, 2nd day is much easier than the first. I'm kind of looking forward to it.

Mother and Son

01.28.2008 Mother and Son


There's plenty to write about today, but little time. I've been called in to Sub for my mother and cover her class while she deals with sickness. This will be my first day substitute teaching and I'm quite nervous, but confident. The past hour or so has been a crash course in teaching and this picture, taken in the midst of it all, reflects that.

My initial reaction once I saw it cropped and in gray scale was "Whoa." There's a ton of nice gradients here and the shadows at both of our backs just give everything a moody feeling. I love the vertical stripes on the wall, its the first time in years that I've appreciated them. I really want to use them in the future of Twenty Three.

Anyway, enjoy the photo, I've got work to prepare.

I Have but Two Faces

01.27.2008 I Have but Two Faces


"Forgive me
I have but two faces
One for the world
One for God
Save me."
-Tuomas Holopainen

Since I've heard this song by Nightwish, I've been thinking "Oh, that would be good for a self- portrait." It's a pretty meaningful quote, take from it what you will. From what I understand, the quote reflects a anxious and depressing time for its writer. It's actually from a larger work titled The Poet and the Pendulum located within their latest album, Dark Passion Play.

The Poet and the Pendulum is quite dark, even tragic in a number of ways. Above all, it is incredibly well written and composed in the style that defines Nightwish. That being full orchestra, choir and metal band. The basic premise is that of the Poet lying upon an altar with the swing blade above, a la Edgar Allen Poe style. Personally, I found it interesting and moving to walk through all 13 minutes and 55 seconds of the piece to witness a man self analyzed, criticized and wandering for solace and peace. For me, there is in this song quite a bit to relate to and to recognize.

I chose the quote for its truth and mystery, not to mention the melody that you may not have heard, and the momentum of the song as a whole. Again, I find myself playing with shutter speed, which I'm still getting the hang of. For today's photography, I more than anything wanted a studio in which I could change backgrounds and lighting with relative ease.

I'm going to have to arrange something.

Headache

01.26.2008 Headache

Ooch. I've got a headache. I think its the light and the colors.

Another playing with shutter speed photo. This one was a little less intentional. But that's how it comes. Half intention, half luck. C'est le vie.

Speed Reading

01.25.2008 Speed Reading


Sometime I get in these reading funks where I can't stop. I've been working in Akron, about 60-70 miles from home on occasion and I ride in with my Uncle Carl. I brought a book to knock the bore out of the ride and it sparked a frenzy. I suppose it makes sense, I've been out of my 'read an hour a day' loop since December. The book I was reading, A Roman Revolution, was just so dense that I barely made any headway at all. Anyway, my reading frenzy began with a less academic book: Long Way Down. Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman motorcycle from Scotland to South Africa, a real life adventure that just dances in my mind. Now, I can't read while I work but its like my head is still in the book. The world has such a surreal sensation to it and everything happens without words.

Not to mention the subject matter storms through my head. I wonder if I could embark on such a journey. I don't even know how to ride a motorcycle. I don't even know the first things about mechanics and engines and what not. Well if my Dad can learn all about Alpacas in his 50th year, I can learn something about motorcycles in my 23rd.

I'd have to start small, maybe tour Ohio in two days. Civil War battlegrounds in three days. Cross country riding in mysterious Canada? One day, maybe, I could do Ohio to Cape Horn in South America. My head has been a hurricane of lust for adventure today. I suppose reading helps to fuel that. Keep my ambition up, you know?

Anyway, I've been reading comics during the night. I try to avoid this, but I usually end up reading more than one thing at a time. I don't worry about confusing things though. The X-Men are a little difficult to reconcile with motorcycling in the desert.

The ultimate conclusion is: I need to get off the bed and away from the books to go out and find something worthwhile. That is what this picture is. What I'm doing and why I need to not be doing it.

Old Friend

01.24.2008 Old Friend

I've been cleaning up my belongings and selling things on ebay. My old Cello turned up and my first impulse was to sell it off, I haven't played it in years. I haven't even looked at it in years. My mom fortunately topped me from selling it off, as tempting as it may be. She said "Maybe one day you'll pick it up and wonder if you can still play."

Instead of playing it, I took a picture of it and got reacquainted with an old friend. It felt a bit shameful to go B&W with it, the wood is simply brilliant in the right lights. However, my background and dress are better without color. Also, I should note, this is the first photo in which my face is not shown.

A while back, at St. Mary's Central Catholic, we had a visiting artist who was a Photographer named Susan. I didn't learn much from the two week experience, but it did leave a lasting impression. The woman told us about how she'd done a portrait series of her deceased father based on what he left behind. For example, his shoes. It struck me then, still does, how empty the photo felt yet still had the sense of a portrait. It captured the deceased subject and the artist mourning him all too well.

How this all relates me and this photo. Basically, I used the above example as a reason to cut my face out. The subject, I feel, is still about me but more as an extension of my life both past and present. Here's this really elegant instrument left unattended to, I'd cut it out long ago and the grayness of the image attests to that. Then this urge to see it again and become familiarized. I think there is also a hint of regret in this photo...

I ended up putting it back in the case but the thought it further to the front of my mind now. I'd like to play again, I just need to figure out how to get started.

As ZZ Top Once Said...

01.23.2008 As ZZ Top once said...


"...every girl crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man." Had another interview today. Well, it was more like 5 questions and "fill out these forms." Not a big deal, but a step in the right direction none-the-less.

Also, this is my first color photo. Mainly because its more interesting in color than B&W. The plaster white sculpture and my shirt look nice. The browns in the chest and my sweatshirt. The wine bottles and the plant, the wallpaper and the painting... Just a lot going on but still a sense of direction as I tie my yellow tie.

Baby it's Cold Outside

01.22.2008 Baby it's Cold Outside


Oh how I hate the cold. I love snow, but I wish it wasn't so cold. I'll have to live it. Winter is part of life and it will probably be with my until the day I die. Unless global warming works out for the better.

Overall, I'm happy with the composition. But my mastery over light leaves something to be desired. Interesting patterns in the leafless bushes as well. Maybe I'll play with that tomorrow.

Unkempt

1-21-2008: Unkempt


As it is said, I've been burning the candle at both ends this weekend. Work in Akron started at 8. I'm beat, tired and unkempt.

I tried a variety of things and wound up with this photo. There's some emotion in the look on my face, but most of all I think it looks a little silly. Looking at this, I feel like the villain Two-Face with the lighting, in particular the dark patch over my left eye. It seems like a hurricane of dark forming. Quite satisfied.

One and Another

1.20.2008 One and Another

Long drive today to Hillsdale and back. Saw the new student center, it is fantastic. Unfortunately I've graduated. Anyway, more tomorrow. Sleep for now.

Indentured to the Road

Day 1 01-19-2008 Indentured to the Road


I've been anticipating the start of this project since I conceived it. I was thinking that for the start of it I would do a lit candle on a birthday cake to really send it off. Then I got called to Washington D.C. for a job interview and my whole weekend was thrown into disarray. Washington is around 7 hours away but it comes to 8 when you factor in stops for the toilet, coffee and food.

The roadwork in Washington is overly complex as well. It certainly adds more stress to my trip on top of the interviewing to begin with. I also met 'benefactor' for the first real time. He's a real great guy and he's letting me use his house as a forward base into Washington. Needless to say, its been an uncertain and stressful weekend.

But that's where I think this photo project really shines. It depicts the chaos and unexpected as it happens. Not everything goes as planned and you can see that by this photo. I went from a carefully choreographed photo to photographing myself somewhere in the middle of the state of William Penn. Photographing at 70 mph? Already, I'm wondering what I was thinking.

I really enjoy the fuzzy dice at the top left and I regret not including more of them. They are a victim of the haphazard planning of this photo. If photographing on the turnpike is dangerous, than editing at 70 is suicidal. Much like this weekend, I had take what I could get in this photo and make something with it. Not too shabby, eh?

Twenty Three countdown -10 Days

Twenty Three...

It's interesting what meaning we associate with numbers. They can be lucky, fatal, memorable, tragic, stoic, mathematic, milestones... ect. For each set of ten numerals different people assign different meanings. For example, 4 stands as my lucky number. Not for any good reason, it was my number in kindergarten soccer and my Dad told me it was lucky. I don't know if he had a good reason for that logic, I was 5 and what my Dad said was universal truth. To this day it is my lucky number. Whether or not it has brought luck I do not know. But it serves as an example of how 4 meant luck to me for 18 years as well as identified the curly haired kid putzing along the sidelines to the referee.

Sometimes numbers span whole cultures. For example, the symbols 1 and 3, in succession, signify misfortune to Western Culture. 9 slash 11 signifies a historical event in American culture. While these numbers signify concepts and events, they still have a personalized meaning to each person. I know 9 slash 11, while signifying an event, means something different to George W. Bush than it does to me.

Is it not amazing how Hindu-Arabic numerals, outside of mathematics, designate to a person an individual meaning?

So the numerals 2 and 3 in that succession form the number 23. To me and my family it marks the twenty-third anniversary of my birth at Shorham-by-the-Sea, England. Through the lens of a camera and the electronics of my computer it will mean a little bit more. Three hundred and sixty-six self-portraits, each for every day in 2008, beginning on January 19th, 2008 and ending on January 19th, 2009. This is what the numerals 23 mean to me, and maybe to you as well.