Philosophical Photography, Percontation, Prose, Poetry, Parables, Pottery & Politics… Phew!
If you are sane enough to be naughty (see #r2bcheerful23) you may end up enjoying some time at Her Majesty’s Pleasure in the chokey (prison). Getting out of chokey would then be a real Reason to be Cheerful!
This image is of one of the spur corridors at the now disused Easter State Penitentiary in the heart of Philadelphia. This is indeed a cold, grim place and one that any inmate would have been glad to get out of prior to its final closure in 1971…
I know we don’t want to get all lavatorial here, but there is something a little bit comforting about sitting on the potty, don’t you think? And as for using the rare Meyer Sniffen Co. Vortex Special from the 1920s, well – job well done, so to speak! And certainly a Reason to be Cheerful!
WEEK 43: Portrait: The Elderly – Tell the story of an elderly person through the power of your camera. Capture the lines of their life.
OK, I’m really stretching it for this one.
As I am not a Garry Winogrand style photographer and I do not relish sticking my lens in people’s faces, nor do I feel confident in snapping away at crowds, in the style of Martin Parr, I thought I’d need to very creative here. In the end I opted to use a photograph of the “old man of the woods,” or the Sumatran Orangutan, taken at Philly Zoo a few weeks back.
Sugiwara (Sugi) was 21 years old on New Year’s Eve 2016, which makes him middle-aged for an orangutan, rather than elderly, but I still think I meet the challenge due to the nickname for these wonderful primates and also because it shows him in a calm contemplative moment.
WEEK 49: Portrait: Dancing – Whether it’s a professional dancer, or just some kids in the street. Try experimenting with slow and fast shutter speed to both blur and freeze the subject.
To use British vernacular, this was a real bugger to do. The combined challenges of poor lighting (from a photography perspective) and the relatively small aperture of my zoom lens when fully extended meant that there was a fair bit of trial and error with getting this shot. Again, I opted for a black and white composition as there was a fair bit of noise caused by the stage lighting and high ISO setting.
WEEK 34: Portrait: Child – Candid or posed, capture an image of a child. Try getting down on their level for a unique perspective.
OK I’m cheating on this one a bit, but there is a reason why. At my age I don’t have any friends with young children and I am surely not going to start poking around a school or someplace trying to get a picture of a child. I value my liberty too much for that. My daughters will always be my children and as two of them are still under 18 that means they are children, at least in the legal sense. So, here goes:
We were walking through Boston’s Chinatown district this afternoon and saw this happy group of locals playing a very animated card game near the paifang (gate). As it says on the back of one of the player’s shirts – it’s wicked good fun!
~Richard
As I mentioned previously I am playing catch up with a few of these challenges. I finally got around to this exercise and also decided to make it a black and white image as I liked the subtle shadow.
WEEK 22: Portrait: Hands – Usually the face is the strongest element in the frame; with the hands being second. Make the hands the most important element in your image this week.
~Richard
Chennai is a bustling, modern city in many ways, with many well dressed locals walking with cellphones attached to their ears like any other urban scene. But there are also many locals who cannot hope to afford the western lifestyle and for whom the local stalls and stores are an essential part of life. It is quite odd to see bill boards advertising a new shopping mall that will contain GAP, and other corporate retail outlets alongside the more modest stores, many of them on carts or in the front of people’s houses. These stores have been giving service to the locals for generations and forming an essential part of the community – something that is lost by the corporate giants with their never-ending quest for growth.
The snowfall had been unexpected and fairly heavy. It was not unusual for a few inches to fall in a day but the blizzard had deposited nearly 2 feet of snow overnight, and it was even deeper where it had drifted or, to be more precise, had been blown by the wind.
He had been obliged to break his journey and find shelter in an abandoned barn during the storm. Now he was behind schedule and the deep snow that covered the track would make journeying onward much slower. However, he had no choice as he had a valuable cargo to deliver in his backpack. Many people were relying on him getting through to the outpost, and his return to his kinsfolk with the medicine would be eagerly watched for.
He kicked some snow into the morning fire to make sure it was extinguished, and placing a wad of tobacco into his cheek, he pulled on the heavy pack, tightened the straps and wearily headed West…
~ Richard
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