Freedom Fighters, take 3

Music | Belonging (Lopsides Lullaby)by Joshua Redmond

I take huge pride in working with Roosevelt High School's Writing Program where incoming freshman work together and interview Portland Freedom Fighters, socially conscious individuals who make the world a better place to live. This is the 3rd year in a row where I was given the free reign to shoot portraits of these heroic figures who have given to the community. The students gather information from the Freedom Fighters and put together a book as well as a museum quality presentation documenting their stories, which travels around the Portland area as an exhibition.

Here are a few of the 16 portraits...







special thanks to Epson whose contribution allows for prints to be made

The Search for Meaning...

Music | Basique by Little People

Recently, I was setting up a shoot to photograph a few models wearing Françoise Weeks' wares. I had found a great out of the way location, set up my gear and wait for my subjects to come to be photographed. While waiting, I decided it would be smart to do a test shot to make sure my lighting was going to work. I used Françoise to test upon and shot 1 exposure. My judgement at that time was more about what I had planned to shoot, not what I had just shot. As a test, what I saw on the lcd screen was fine - nice balance, good contrast, separation from the background... so I commenced to wait for the main event. Complications with planning for the event turned out to be not so good and I was told I was not going to have the opportunity to shoot the models...

A bit dejected, I quickly packed up my gear and left. We fortunately shot most of Françoise's work as still lifes so it was not a loss. We ended up getting fantastic photos. When I got back to the office, I thought about the shot I took of Françoise. As I downloaded the files onto the computer, I pulled the file of her immediately to get a closer look. My attention suddenly shifted to what was in front of me. Quite excited, I worked the colour image to black and white, made minor adjustments and came out with a wonderful portrait of Françoise; one that I thought held profound truth within it. Most people as I imagine see her full of life, brilliance and always with a smile. Those qualities alone captured in a portrait often would be enough. However, in my eyes, there was that, but so much more held within the rectangle box captured by the image.


Françoise Weeks | 2014

Here she is, not in context to her usual persona of all things soft and with vibrant colours. The disassociation of how most people who know her or even just seeing her work makes this image all the more powerful to me. I love tension... contrast... the unexpected...  Here we see beyond the floral poet. Here, with her hands gesturing as a genius conjuring another amazing idea and the intensity in the eyes shows a side of Françoise people don't go far enough to see. This image takes you a step further.

floating...

Music | Stay by Rufus and Chaka Khan

As I had mentioned on my previous post, it has been a rather introspective evening. To facilitate that feeling even more so, I pulled out a bottle of Macallan and have been sipping a few glasses, which I thought it to be just the right thing to do. I'm glad I did... I don't often sustain this elusive feeling, which I enjoy being in, for as long as I have this evening.

I had rather profound thoughts on the idea of why photographs are so very important for memories...  I made made 2 prints that I would have love to have crafted by hand, but lo the digital printer would have to suffice... I contemplated  an image I created recently, of which I think is one of my great images, people will comment that they still would rather see the subject matter smile for the camera...

In all, as I start to retreat from my thoughtful introspections, while listening to my music from my youth, contemplating on having a smoke, I'm feeling peaceful, a little high and generally, good...

A Gift...

Music | The Fall by Gretchen Lieberum

It is an interesting evening for me tonite. The days events I don't think has led me into these thoughtful hours I have been experiencing. I think it started when I saw the package at the door just before dinner. I was expecting this box and knew of its contents, but it was when I opened it that I started feeling introspective. A gentleman on the other side of the country for whatever reason has stopped shooting analogue photography. I know from what he has sent, from the images I have seen that he has photographed and brief back and forth correspondence that he is skilled at what he does. A true fellow artist. We've never met in person... We somehow connected via a model we have both photographed and being a part of a community website that reaches internationally. Out of the blue, he wrote to me and we have been going back and forth ever since. We speak the same language, have similar interest in subject matter. Because of this, he has been sending me boxes with film in it. I think in most situations, I gladly would take the boxes and move forward. However in this case, I'm feeling I have to create special images, or at least make shooting a learning process that will put me in a more profound place.


Thank you Janusz