An Oldie

Look!

Click that link to see an abstract photo I made 30 years ago.

I've been thinking of posting in this blog for a while now, so this is a good start. Nearly 2 years since I last posted. Not sure anyone is paying attention or will see this. Blogging in general seems to have given way to Instagram and other places where people can get instantaneous microdoses of dopamine. Maybe I'm old fashioned (or more likely, just old), but I think a little discussion, even a very brief one, can be valuable. Maybe that's why I prefer Flickr. It's image based, and generates more discussion and comments than anything I have ever posted on the better known social media. 

As for the link, it's to a photo I just posted to my Flickr account. An abstract photo shot in 1994, when I was a student studying photography. It was shot with a 4X5 view camera on transparency film.

Take a look, and if anyone sees this and wants to, leave a comment.

It's a Transition: Faculty Exhibition

Come see my work along with work made by my colleagues! 

The annual faculty exhibition at Moraine Valley Community College's Fine and Performing arts center.

 

Two Years

Little Village, Chicago

6/17/20

Little Village, Chicago

7/14/22

Here are two photos I shot in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood, just over 2 years apart. The first one was made during one of the weekly photo shoots I started during the pandemic, which were basically a way to keep me sane during the lockdowns and get me out of the house safely. The second was shot last week, when I returned to Little Village for another shoot.

June, 2020, when the first photo was made, in addition to being the height of the pandemic, was during the period of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations and incidents of looting. Little Village experienced some looting, and I saw several boarded up storefronts. In July, 2022, I only saw a couple boarded up storefronts, and those appeared to be due to building renovations. It also looked like some new businesses had opened, some streetwear stores with a youthful presence, a nice addition to the busy street full of markets, taquerias, dollar stores, and stores selling quinceañera dresses. 26th st., the main commercial strip in Little Village, has long been one of the busiest and highest grossing shopping areas in Chicago, and it was nice to see that it's still a vibrant area.

This summer, I find myself doing some much needed processing, as I sort out everything that's occurred over the past two years, and how that's changed my work life, personal life, and my creative work. I'll save the navel-gazing for my personal journal, and leave these photos as a visual example of change in a hopefully positive direction.

Three Pieces, One Source

 Here are three pieces made with various apps on my iPad which start from the same image. In this case, it's a photo shot from a girl's exercise book published in 1964.

Two Pieces, One Source

 Here are some pieces made on my iPad a couple months ago. Recently I've been playing with shooting images from old magazines, textbooks, etc. and making at least two different pieces from the same image. These are some of what I've made.

2 Versions

 Here are two different versions of a piece I made on my iPad a few months ago. Haven't posted them anywhere because I haven't titled them, and I thought they needed a title. Suggestions happily accepted.

Weekly Shooting Excursion XVII: Blue Island (Again)

For my seventeenth ‘keep me sane during the pandemic’ photo shoot, I returned to Blue Island, a suburb just south of Chicago I had already shot twice on these outings. My first of these weekly shoots was to the Olde Western area of Blue Island, and I returned a few days later to shoot on a rainy night. I shoot in Blue Island often because it’s close to home and easy to get to, and I find it kind of photogenic. It’s also good when time is short but I still want to get out and shoot, which was the case this time. With the Fall semester in full swing, I had to focus my attention on teaching, and any shooting trip would have to be a quick one. Also, I had hurt my knee, was painfully hobbling around wearing a brace, and didn’t want a longer outing with lots of walking (although I ended up walking for about 1.5 miles, until the knee hurt too much to continue). I chose the north end of Blue Island, which looks less like a small town than the areas I shot in earlier, and more like an aging suburban area, which, if I’m being honest, is exactly what it is. I love mid-century architecture, especially the low rise commercial buildings found on the edges of cities, and there’s a few of them in this area, so that made the shooting fun.

In case you’re wondering, I still don’t know what was up with my knee. I ended up braving a visit to a medical facility during the pandemic to see a doctor about it, but they didn’t think there was anything serious. X-rays revealed a completely normal knee. Wearing a brace for a while and icing it a couple times a day eventually took care of the issue. Guess I’m just getting old!

Here are my favorites from this shoot.