An Art-Filled Day
There are those moments when a photographer searches for perfect light. Observing as life moves through the spray of shadows and highlights that shape depth and density. Looking for the eternal 1/500th of a second that registers alignment, placement, and intensity, and creates a visual record that inspires awe.
Moving from the sidewalk onto someone’s private property. Standing in their garden having found a place to step to not damage the well-tended ground. Finding that spot where the view of the primary subject, sitting in a chair on his front porch, is not obscured by the railing on the open porch.
Telling yourself that if the man on the porch has to be in the railing’s open area that the flag, limp in the slight breeze of the early evening, might be partially obscured. But the stripes and a hint of the star field identify it and its importance.
Then, off in the distance, down the receding path of the sidewalk, too far to be important in the photograph, the flash of a young boy riding his scooter up a driveway. A perfect subject if only he’d been closer. Best if he’d been riding the scooter up the sidewalk toward me, moving through shadows and light, unaware of my hopes for him to appear in perfect stride at a very specific spot on the sidewalk. The spot that balances the man on the porch and flag. The spot that makes him the primary subject instead of the man on the porch.
That’s my prayer, and wish, and desire, and hope, and anticipated moment of awe, a moment out of my control but I’ve measured will happen because there’s an art fair behind me, he’s a kid out for adventure on a perfect late spring Sunday afternoon on a tree-lined narrow residential 25-mph street in a suburban neighborhood idyllic in the moment. There will be joy in my life when it happens and I can offer thanks for being the one who was there to see it.
My Nikon Z5’s rapid advance is slower than most mirrorless cameras. To me, it’s perfect, matching the fastest old Nikon F motor-drive film cameras where timing the moment of exposure was important. An importance that many modern mirrorless cameras ignore by firing the shutter at the same rate as shooting video so there is little chance of missing a shot. I like to wait and watch.
I shoot several frames as he approaches. Insurance frames. Just in case the photo I’m waiting for doesn’t happen, that might not happen. But it will. Not always. But this time it will.
Both subjects are unaware of me. I’m so aware of them that they are the only realities in my life. The only part of the universe through all of time, the only animated collections of stardust with importance. Importance so demanding that they are singular.
Scooter Boy thrusts himself into that narrow patch of light cutting diagonally across the sidewalk. Subtle in its requirement but important for this moment to be complete. The perfect alignment.
A single frame. 1/400th of a second, f5, ISO400, -0.3 exposure, 14-30mm set to 26mm.
Then I’m off to my car, cameras turned off, a moment of awe and appreciation complete. “Thanks.”
The Vine Street Art Walk
My primary reason for being on East Broadway to make the photo above was the 4th Vine Street Art Walk where I made a few photos and made a few observations.
My two favorite pieces of art.
Congratulations to this award-winning piece of performance art by a homeowner whose dedication to and appreciation for art inspired her to complete her garden during the art walk where awards were given to participants, including the “Most Artistic Garden.” Like any great artist this performance might have been misunderstood and not included in the competition. It was my winner.
Second on my list of artful objects was a lawnmower seemingly abandoned on the berm in front of a home. I wondered if Maurizio Cattelan was this inspiration for this dynamic expression of the pressure of required participation in a society of well-groomed yards. I especially liked that the artist refused to add a strip of duct tape to mimic Cattelan’s installation. Was that an act of defiance by a renegade artist or the requirement for a piece of motorized industrial equipment?
I love art!
Below are the rest of the photos I made at the Vine Street Art Walk. They are available to paid subscribers to my newsletter. I appreciate those of you who choose to support my efforts. Without your help I might still be using the bakelite Spartus twin-lens camera of my youth.