grandfathers camera

i was compelled to do a simple test the other day of my grandfathers camera which i keep displayed in the studio. i have found myself doing a lot of these lately, they are mainly exercises in composition and simple experiments with the new camera.

be inspired.

i recently came across the work of ernst hass and i will admit; i was blown away. his work really took me off guard. i guess i was just having one of those days where i didn't expect to be surprised, and then BOOM. although i guess that's how surprises work, right? his work was really solid as was his career...to say the very least. but what i really responded to was reading his philosophies. there are ten total on his website but one in particular that i would like to share. for those that are interested, it's #9 of his 10 total:

"vision and taste

i looked at an apple for such a long time until it became the first apple i had ever seen. i was so excited that i called a friend to tell him my experience. but how could i find the right words for what i had experienced? how could i describe my visual sensations with such literary words as red, yellow, green, shining, round? after this movement of nuances and counteractions in form and color, even in touch and smell. anyhow, i did not find the right words, and my friend did not believe me. so, i ate the apple, as i have eaten many an apple before. it was a fairly good apple.

i called my friend again, telling him i just ate a fairly good apple, and he understood me immediately. conclusion: in visions we are alone, in taste we can be together. all i try is to find the inside images in the outside reality."

those two paragraphs kept me smiling the rest of the day. to read more of haas's philosophies or to check out some of his amazing work be sure to check out his website:

http://www.ernst-haas.com/index.html

the images below are a direct response to being inspired.

textures of st. lucia

check out some of the textures i found inspiring on our recent trip to st. lucia. cinder blocks and dead leaves aren't the first things to comes to mind when exploring and island paradise but i just couldn't help myself. the light was great down there and the below subject matter lent itself to make some fun imagery.

iphone imagery

i still find myself taking plenty of pictures with the iphone. they are pictures i would not normally be taking and are always a product of circumstance. regardless, it is still a fun medium and my blog is a perfect place to share them with you.

the architecture of design

a while ago i recorded a documentary on one of my favorite architects, i.m. pei. one of my favorite parts of the film was when he was comparing his work to that of bach's, there was a specific quote that stuck in my head: "constant variations of a simple theme". that got me thinking about what a great principle of design that really is. just look at natures design, everything is a slight variation of itself. i've always been fascinated by the rate of growth and how its repetitive nature creates pattern. the control over repetitious design principals is one of the things i love about graphic design, but how can i achieve it in photography? the answer was in the documentary. the answer is architecture! staying within a specific theme or subject matter and building a set that would slowly grow in incremental amounts allowed me to find the repetition i was looking for. easy right? i found myself reminiscing of the game jenga as we began to build our stair stepping set.

below is picture i snapped with my phone while we were working and one of the finished image. yes, i know i already blogged this image but i thought it would be fun to show the inspiration and process behind it. i am also including an excerpt from the documentary. this does not include the inspiring quote that i mentioned but is definitely worth a look.