Mundane Zona Rosa

Mundane Zona Rosa

I was poking around my pictures folder when I noticed this Mundane diptych that I'd forgotten to post while I was in Colombia. It was taken early in the morning after a night of Ayahuasca adventures.

It doesn't show up in the photo but the green chair was smoldering slightly thus giving it a surreal air. Who knows how the thing got there and why it was on fire? It made me smile.

Just a few feet up the road the image on the right seemed like a nice compliment. Bricks, trees, strange scale. Good stuff.

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Posted at 11:49 AM 1 comments  

Batay Kids

Batay Kids

The color in this one is wild. It's not perfect but I've gotten some nice feedback from those that have seen it.

I was trying to shoot the girl on the right when some other kids managed to pop in frame. They do that. Rather than fight it, I just racked the focus to the little guy in the foreground.

I have no idea what the strange light source is hitting his face. I wasn't using a flash and I don't recall any direct sun. It might have been bouncing off the ground behind me.

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Posted at 8:04 PM 0 comments  

Harvest?

Sugarcane Harvest

"Harvest" seems like a bad word for something that seems to grow all year long. It also seems to romanticize it. But that could just be me seeing through city-slicker eyes. I won't get into it.

I just thought I'd share another from yesterday morning's time in the sugarcane fields of the Dominican Republic.

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Posted at 6:16 AM 1 comments  

Good Work If You Can Get It

Sugarcane Workers

And I'm not talking about fieldwork either. I'm talking about photography gigs that send you to tropical islands during cold spells back home. Fieldwork, especially sugarcane fields, is rough work. Back-straining, sweaty, brutal toil.

It's bad enough they are harvesting what quickly becomes processed poison but then they're paid little and fed less. If there wasn't sugarcane everywhere to munch on, these guys would have wasted away long ago.

This shot was made on the line that formed to get a free, instant HIV test. I'm a sucker for the back-face-sharp shot.

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Posted at 3:28 PM 1 comments  

There and Here

Mundane Assignment

These are two cropped iPhone shots made about a month apart. The left side was made while waiting at the MAC Cosmetics reception desk. That purple stripe was slowly changing colors while I sat there waiting for a meeting. I liked purple best so I pulled out my iPhone, waited for the shift, and snapped a shot. I didn't think much of it at the time.

Last night wandering around just outside the colonial section of Santo Domingo I stumbled upon the scene on the left. I was struck by the gathering on two levels. First, it was man and dog reclining but more so, the light and color of the sidewalk, guys shirt, and the seemingly neon glow cast over the scene forced me to whip out my phone.

Then, moments ago, poking around the thumbnails of my images in iPhoto, I could see the colors of these two shots were eerily similar. Sure enough, they work pretty well under the formalist rules of my Mundane series.

It's a little bit of there, here.

Make pix.

Posted at 12:55 PM 0 comments  

Batay Lecheria

Santo Domingo, DR

I could feel it as we pulled into this little part of town. They call them Batays and as I understand it, they are little, poor, self-contained, villages that dot the landscape of the Dominican Republic. As far I could tell it was just a poor part of town. Wood shacks, little commerce, kids everywhere.

Immediately my photo sensibilities were in overdrive. For the first time in days of working I was filled with that overwhelming sense that there are good pictures everywhere in this town. Not only that but the entire population didn't give a crap about me or my cameras. The children, of course, were playful as ever, but the whole vibe was welcoming. The light was falling between big trees or bouncing off wonderfully painted but worn wooden buildings. A little girl, thin and sick wanted her photo taken. And for a moment she stood still as I clicked my camera.

Make pictures.