The Radio Copyright 2009 Bryan Moore
The Radio
By:Bryan Moore
The announcers voice cracked over the small speaker of the radio “Johnson steps…the pitcher…he swings…it’s a…”. Ray reaches up to adjust the tuning before he sits back down on his kitchen bar stool and he takes another puff on his tobacco filled pipe, spouting smoke like a locomotive. Only the sound of the ball game hangs heavier in the air. While Ray holds a hand close to his ear, still struggling to hear, he stares blankly into the swirls of smoke that emanate from the end of his pipe, envisioning the game and thinking about the great games he has heard over the years, starting when he used to listen with his dad. The home runs, diving catches, world series and the roar of the crowd. It was then that he realized that the room was silent. He rose slowly and reached up for the little radio that sat atop the refrigerator. He rattled and banged it in his hands in an attempt to get it to work but alas, it was the last out for his radio. He shut off the lights and went to bed. A few months later he tossed the radio on his yard sale table for someone else to instill some old fashion bonding with their children.
The Typewriter Copyright 2009 Bryan Moore
The Typewriter
by: Bryan Moore
The metallic click, click of the keys rang off the crowded book shelves like rain off a tin roof. The shelves were packed with row upon row of books that bore his name. Edward Clayton’s clouded mind poured onto the page, his life drifting
in front of him as he thought of the things collected in his life. Was anyone
deserving of the memories of a life that they had not lead? Burdened with the responsibility of three children and their numerous heirs, his mind wandered back to the carefree years with his wife. But alas, that time was past as was she. Many great words had been transferred from this ribbon to the printed page, but none impacted Edward as much as the ones he regrettably typed now, but it had to be done, for the sake of whatever sanity was left between his now feuding offspring. He carefully thought out and listed the new owners of his mortal life. His life trapped in items only to be ignored. His face soured at the thought as he took firm hold of the paper, ripped it from the typewriters mechanical grasp, squeezed the paper into a crumpled ball and hurled it towards the trash can that sat next to the desk. He smoothly slid another family crested letterhead into the contraption and typed with a furious burst of passion. The keys clicked and clacked as they struck the paper, in the end producing a document with which Edward was most proud. He gave it a good tug and it slipped off the reel. He folded it neatly into thirds and sealed it in an envelope for his lawyer. As he walked proudly from his study, his memories drifted back to his wife and how he longed to see her once again. As he strolled through the house, his knees grew weak at the thought of his lost love. He could see his beautiful young bride aglow with the radiance of complete
happiness. As time passed, the will was read. A jaw dropping awe fell over the children as the lawyer told them their inheritance was but a single typewriter with the message, “You can’t be given happiness, you have to write your own story.”
Graceful laughter Copyright 2009 Bryan Moore
It has been a busy last week I have been getting ready to Leave for Turkmenistan, Getting a new roommate, and Finishing my Freelance job. I think I have everything in order though I have packed dn repacked my bag to see how much I will have with me and if there is any thing else I would need. One thing I wanted to do was predate a few web blogs to be released while I was away. The next few post are a series of images I took at a weekly flea market while working on my collection The Faces of NY. The Images them self are fine but I felt they would benefit from writing.
I don’t consider my self a great writer although it is one of the talents I hope you work on in the future. the next few post are Images of items from the flea market with a small story of the past owner and reason for the item being at the flea market now. These back stories are all made up but are some of the best examples of how I would like to enhance my work further. I hope you enjoy them when I am away and when I get back I hope to have all new work to show.
Flower silhouette Copyright 2009 Bryan Moore
Up Hill Copyright 2009 Bryan Moore
Down Hill Copyright 2009 Bryan Moore
The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Cuban Street Sign Copyright 2009 Bryan Moore
Ever since I got back from Cuba I have been wanting to travel some where else, but where? While working on the book for my Cuba work I also took time of to apply for a number of grants to get the money to travel and document something. while thinking of projects to write about I had looked in to countries that had there borders closed at one point. I researched the history of countries day after day and then came to a country I had never heard of. My father had sent me an article on Turkmenistan, an ex-soviet country that in its entire 15 year history of Independence was ruled by one of the largest personal cults in the world.
With only 1500 visitors last year this seemed like the perfect country to visit for a photo project. The Idea that I could photograph something that most people have never seen is a huge thrill. It’s hard to tell what I will see when I get there in the research I have done there has not a vast amount out there about the country. One of the things I am looking forward to is the huge open air market located in the capital. The Market was originally a big stop on the travelers of the silk road. I am hopping this will provide alot of opportunities for great images. Beyond that there are many sites stretching throw the desert of past great empire that once ruled the land.
Twins by Diane Arbus
Babyrace by Diane Arbus
Tattooed man by Diane Arbus
Boy with grenade by Diane Arbus
Contact sheet by Diane Arbus
Diane Arbus is one of the photographers I feel I relate the most to(the other being Cartier-Bresson). Arbus was a magazine assignment photographer that choose to use a square format over the traditional 35mm camera. considered controversal in both her subject and the way she depicted them. I have often heard her work summed up in one word “Freaks”. Arbus was known for photographing alternative people, Twins & triplets, Tattooed people, Dwarfs and the mentally ill. When I look through her work now the people she photographed don’t seem to be the oddities of society as much as they would have in the 50’s. Seeing people with tattoos now is common place and people with alternative life styles have become much more main stream accepted. The thing that has not changed is the way she choose to show them to the world, which is also why some people are not fans of her work, saying she turns her subjects in to freaks. This point is probably the most clear in the two images directly above.
If you only see the final print of the kid boy holding the grenade you would think the boy was insane which is what I thought when I saw it. Years later I saw the contact sheet and you can see that the boy is like any other normal little boy and just for that one frame Arbus caught something totally different. She really knows how to show the world through Weather its showing you something freaky or making the every day I little odd, Her photos will captivate your imagination.
I try to take a similar approach to my work I love to walk around and show the world the way I see it as I assume must photographers do. I want to show people the ugly, freaky and common place parts of the world, but do it in a light that shows people what beauty they are missing when they are not looking. Although it is not evident in the contact sheet above when I have looked at her other released contact sheet I feel I share the view that you try and capture a subject in as few frames as possible. Other sheets I have seen, she would only take a few shots of each subject unless it appears to be ever changing like this little boy. The one negative aspect about Arbus work is print quality. As great as the work is I belive this is the one element that holds the work back in a way for me.
Last Week I said I would talk about editing: Editing to me is just as important as shooting. They seem like different rounds of editing to me in fact.
I go out with my camera and edit the world I see down in to single shots. Develope it and edit those 12 shots down in to just the usally 2-3 ( although my hope is always for 12 perfect ones) that really capture the world I saw. in Arbus’s example above I think she does an amazing job of editing, there are other shot on there where the boy has his hands on his hips that would also work as photographs but none would be as powerful as the one she choose.
Editing what you captured can often be the hardest part of photography because you rely on your own judgement of your self. Is what I photographed really good or could it have been better? What is really the best shot or is there even a best shot on the page?
When I Edit after I get the contact sheets I go through a number of times with different china markers. First I go through and just look at every image with out marking any thing I think it is really important to just look at every image and see what you have before deciding. The 2 or third time though I have a red china marker and circle every one that I know is a guaranteed winner, shots that I absolutely love. The next round I use a different color usually yellow and go through and circle all the ones that are good but have something in them that stops it from being an amazing shot. These ones might be fillers or transition shots to carry you through a collection to the high points. In the 3 or 4 days following I usually look at the sheets at least once or twice a day and really getting a feel for the images I choose and seeing what I like and don’t like about.
Last week I posted an Image of central park with the sun portioned right above a hill and it ended up drawing a huge response from all of you and going through my edit that shot had been one of my yellow selections. Now that i see the response that it has received it has made me reevaluate the way I look at the other images i took of the park and see what that shot has that people like so much so I can make better choices in the future.
Below you will find a group of images I took of a little girl dancing on a musical park element and you can see how I edited down from the shots I took of her. Although I like all the shots I took of her As a series but the larger one I think is the defiant pick.
Contact sheet of girl dancing Copyright 2009 Bryan Moore
The Joy of Dance Copyright 2009 Bryan Moore
The Room Next Door Copyright 2009 Bryan Moore
The Leaning Light Copyright 2009 Bryan Moore
Yesterday I was in a hurry to get out the door and just through a picture up on the blog real quick. The image was of the sun setting over the top of a hill in central park. The picture was nice but not one I would classify as one of my best, but yesterday’s post had the most hits and most comments in a single day I have had yet . Because of that I choose to put up another shot from Central park that I have been on the fence about. in the coming days when I have more time I will post about how I do my editing and some of the things I look for but this shot to me was interesting b/c of the bent over light post but when I got the film back the shot was really high contrast. I wish there was a little more detail in the trees although there is something to be said that all the shapes have a silhouetted form.
The Cresting of the Sun Copyright 2009 Bryan Moore
