Disruption of Design

Photography students are often told to search for patterns and repetition in creating images with good design, but sometimes, disruption of the patterns and/or the repetition can be just as interesting, as seen in this image of a fence that has fallen over on the lawn of a residence in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas.

I do wonder how the mailman works around the precarious position of the mailbox.

Texas Flood

I was perusing some images from a few years back while listening to some old vinyl LPs, when I came across this image which just seemed to fit the lyrics of "Texas Flood" by Stevie Ray Vaughn.

"Texas Flood"

Well, there's floodin' down in Texas,
All of the telephone lines are down.
Well, there's floodin' down in Texas,
All of the telephone lines are down.
And, I've been tryin' to call my baby,
Lord, and I can't get a single sound...

The Ubiquitous Quonset Hut

At one time, the quonset hut was a ubiquitous sight across America, used in a multitude of purposes from storage facilities, to living quarters, to recording studios (like the famous Columbia Records' Studio B in Nashville, TN), and many more applications.

Based upon the design of the Nissen hut which was developed by the British during World War I, the 'quonset' in the name comes from Quonset Point at the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center in Davisville, Rhode Island, their first manufacture site. The first quonset huts were developed in 1941 for the U.S. Navy, which needed a lightweight, all-purpose building that could be shipped anywhere and built by virtually any unskilled laborer.

This particular quonset hut is located in Rice, Texas, and was captured on film just as the sun illuminated its gleaming metal side.

Heartland - Farm, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

This scene in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was just a few blocks from my hotel and seemed to be begging to be photographed and added to my Heartland series. An early morning sun, a nice Midwestern sky, along with some judicious framing produced this image on Ilford Delta 100 film.

I used my Hasselblad X-pan on the normal 35mm frame ratio setting, rather than the panoramic ratio setting. The ability to switch between two different capture ratios makes it a quite versatile camera for me.

Heartland - Texas Hill Country

I spent a few months in Austin and wandered a bit through the Texas Hill Country. The terrain is quite a bit different from that of the areas I have called 'home' which have always been near large bodies of water; the Pacific, the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic.

The waves in this image of the Hill Country were created by a sea of tall grasses and the horizon was cut by the branches of a lone tree instead of sails on a tall mast. For those who have wondered if I ever use a palette containing anything beyond monochrome.

Peaches + Pecans - New Heartland Image

I'm rather partial to small towns, having grown up with cornfields bordering my backyard, and love to explore the backroads and byways.

This image of a peaches and pecans farmer's shed during the off-season was created close to sundown on a wintery day, as evidenced by the grey wisps of clouds in the sky.

A New Image for the Heartland Series

North Carolina offers hundreds of winding back country roads through small towns that are filled with photographs waiting to be created; just like this one of an old sharecroppers cabin.

New 'Heartland' Image for the New Year

I love the panoramic view of the Hasselblad X-pan camera; the ratio reminds me of shooting a PanaVision movie camera with all of the compositional idiosyncrasies and nuances.

This image from the 'Heartland' series was captured on a side street in Raleigh, North Carolina.

At Galerie Jenner for the 10th Art Basel Miami

It's quite exciting to be a part of the 10th Anniversary of of Art Basel Miami at Galerie Jenner where three of my prints will be a part of the 'Chromatic Resonance' exhibit featuring photography of several Florida-based photographers. Included in the exhibit is the image above titled 'State Road 60' from my 'Heartland' series, as well as two images from my 'River of Grass' series.

I've so enjoyed capturing images using film for both of these series as I find it very liberating as compared to digital capture. There is no 'chimping' at the back of the camera; simply the reassurance of years of knowledge, experience, and the confidence of the pre-visualization of the final print.

Click the following link to see all of the featured photographers in the show:

http://www.galeriejenner.com