" the undoing of being bashful "

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today the weather was a beautiful sun-dappled light-breeze sort of day. people were out on the streets in full force, and everything in the city glowed and expanded.

today was the day to step out and interact. people looked into your eyes and you could see the joy in their hearts. i saw multi-colored toenails, a battalion of the fluffiest puppies, and everyone seemed like they were open.

taking all of that into account, i chose today to be a day where i would talk to anyone who wanted to talk to me. i found the opportunity to photograph one person who turned out to be a very interesting person. you just never know what you'll be able to do, until you open up.

this afternoon, i talked to a ticket sales person for the NY city ballet, a cinephile from mississippi, an indian tourist looking to find the right train to W. 4th, and a tunesian taxi diver keen to purchase a DSLR of his own one day so that he may pursue a dream of being a photographer. it was quite the day.

in your photography, you must do the same. these aren't secrets that only a select few understand and utilize. the ability to open up and be honest with the world around you, is one that people can sense, and then your stock multiplies exponentially.

i've heard this said to me, and i believed it fully, and it's been fruitful in it's implementation and follow-through..."be bold and courageous." be it, take a risk, take a chance. take a chance on yourself, and believe in the openness of others.

oh yeah, and to Mr. Danny Glover, of whom i interacted with very briefly today at the NY film festival...sir, you are a gentleman and i salute you as well as your stellar career (insert the image of tipping one's chapeau, and a bent knee here).



tonight's homework:

when you're out there in the world, choose one person (if the occasion so arises) to take a portrait of. make sure that the permission is granted, and then actually spend some time learning about who that person is. sometimes you just need to be aware of your surroundings, and so many great conversations can arise from simple situations.

remember to exchange information or have a pen and paper handy. you never know what treasures you'll find in those few moments.

email me your best stranger portrait all throughout next week, and i'll post the five (5) choice ones at the end of next week.

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" photowalks and the art of daily glee "

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tonight i participated in a special edition photowalk, with the incoming students of the Masters of Digital Photography @ SVA. a big ups to my alma mater, and chair katrin eismann.

big ups to those students and good luck in your burgeoning next year of your life/education.

if you go on a photowalk every day, you'll start to see the world differently. you noticed in your photographic infancy, that you began to see shapes in the shadows. you started to notice how the light falls on certain buildings, or on grasses, or faces and people in different ways, dependent on the time of day or seasons.

when you were in your photographic adolescence, you started to apply the concepts you learned, whether on your own or in an arena of instruction. you balanced out the formula of shutter speed, ISO, and f-stop, then messed with it to accord with your personal vision.

you started to dabble in still life portraiture, nudes, time lapse, pinhole, medium format. you started to expand.

you started to evolve and hone your sensibility.

and now you're here. in the present moment, filled with all of the experience and experiences you've accumulated to this point. and how does it feel?

hopefully hungry for more, and good for you.

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tonight's homework:

explore the area immediately in the 5 block radius of your home or work. take a photo of all the objects that are red or blue or yellow. when you get all of your photos back, see which ones catch your fancy, and think about why. is it the color of the object? the shape? the way the light falls on it?

email to me [bay(at)cbaymilin(dot)com] your favorite photo of this assignment, and 1-3 sentences of why.

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" photowalk homework results "

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this past tuesday i gave out a homework assignment that asked you to show me something new. congratulations to the two of you that had something for me to look at.

i can only think that one of two things happened:

01. you don't know of this blog, thus you never read the post, and subsequently you never read the homework assignment and most obviously didn't do it or send it to me.

or

02. you are a lazy photographer that couldn't do what your heart, hands, and brain wanted to do, but for some reason felt as if it was too labored a task.

both of which are fine excuses. in the end, who cares what i have to say about the work itself. it is in the act of taking the photographs, that we validate our craft and ever-become the photographers that we are.

if you didn't have the time due to some certain circumstance that was more important, respect. i am always available for discussion and critique. so with all that said and done, onward to the images.

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lafcadio:

comment:

there is something both comforting and eerie about this image. for me, it touches upon the passage of time, and the wilting of hopes. the ochre-mustard of the windshield frame cries out amongst the rusting veneer of the hood and chassis. it is a somber photo and one that i imagine hides a person in the backseat, sleeping soundly while clutching a jacket around them, not their own.

geoff scott:

comment:

a snapshot yes, but one that encapsulates the experience of road travel and the permanence of curiosity. i like how the sign is also rusted (a theme perhaps of this week?), and how it's shape juts forth, away from the side of the building and is announced, bold and against the blue sky overhead. indeed we are in parts unknown, and where do we go from here?

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" photo contests & the wrath of mediocrity "

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just off the bat, here are links to two photography contests whose submission period is about to end:

01. capture brooklyn

02. viewbook photostory

there is something inside of you as a photographer, that must be sated. you have a unique eye for the world, that much is a given. we're about as varied of visual artists as we are cell-based organisms.

we have bodies that are comprised of matter and have weight in the world; we displace the absence of space. we are here, and we exist.

your photographs too must embody a space. there is a place that your images displace the absence of not a thing, in which it will reside and flourish.

contests, and specifically photography contests, are sort of a gray area that photographers meander in and out of at times.

- should i enter?

- will i even have a chance at winning or placing, or am i just funding the contest itself.

- am i the $35.00 that will allow a higher budget for that banner on the site?

- will i feed some web designer's kid for 5.73 minutes?

- is it worth it?

these are questions that we all must ask ourselves when faced with an opportunity of a contest, whether or not there is an entry fee or not. one this is certain; someone, and perhaps there is a possibility of only one "someone" will see your work.

that promise is an intoxicating one. even in the age of self-publication, facebook-edness, emails to grandma, and other methods of imagery-based bombardment, it at times matters who will see it, rather than how many of faceless/nameless individuals will happen upon your specific image, like so many "next-blog-clicked-buttons" of discovery.

so i say go for it.

stick your toes into the waters and see how soothing the shallows are, or how mysterious the depths can be. you'll never know if you don't try. you'll never broaden your palate unless you give it a taste.

you'll never have a chance, if you don't take that risk.

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" twenty-three days have passed, and the world has changed "

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been upstate, and now that i return to the city, it's turned cold and rain-gloomy on me.

despite my dislike of the change of seasons, i still have to remember that there are images out there in the world begging to be experienced.

for a while now, i've been taking long photowalks from various point A's to different point B's, and sometimes stopping at point C's and D's along the way. you have to be in the street to do street photography. you need to be near people to for people portraiture. there's just no way around plain facts.

something that i always learn on these walks, is that i'm never going to stop seeing something that catches my eye or piques my interest. the exploration of a place, theme, or person is one of the more interesting things you could do with your day.

and it's all out there, waiting for you to click, click, click.

tonight's homework:

get your camera out, take a lot of photos, and by friday, edit it down to one image that represents your best image of the week. email it to me. i'll choose three of the most interesting photos, and give my comments as well. you may or may not agree with my choices or what i have to say, but you'll at least have given it a go. show me something new.

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" something has got to give "

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nothing is getting in the way of you and your artwork. i mean really getting in the way.

you could have no computer for a time, or film, or your memory card is full. but you mind is still reeling and flexing in the interim.

despite the inherent lack of tools at times, what artist are you? are you bound to these items in order to create and express?

i believe that in light of our perceived limitations, we must allow ourselves the self-respect enough to know that we bring our talents and vision to these tools, and that without them, you are still whole. you are still intact, and you are still valid.

if you are in a pseudo-rut, as i seem to find myself in, don't take it out on yourself, or others. it's just circumstance. it's just life happening, and you should feel confident and secure in the fact that your input makes just as much a ripple as the output.

take risks and long strides in unknown directions. be bold, be bright, be honest and true. remain true to your craft, and remember that without your attempt, there is no successes.

tonight's homework:

take a photowalk around an unfamiliar (but of course safe) area on your way home. make at least thirty (30) new images that define something about that area, then edit those images down to ten. have someone you trust look at these ten edited images, and ask for their feedback on your sequencing. be open and brave enough to hear the criticism.

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