Shifting Gears

As anybody who follows my work knows, I go through cycles with what I like to shoot. I would imagine this is not uncommon. However, due to the emotional investment connected with shooting images in Detroit, in some of the nastiest sections, I find myself totally drained emotionally with camera in hand when I face to prospect of driving into Detroit. Shooting Detroit is definitely an adventure but I wouldn't say it is 'fun.'

I try posting other types of photography in Flickr, I mean, other than my staple cemetery work, and usually it doesn't work so well at all, view-wise. So I post a few and quit for a while. I love to photograph a certain type of Nature, abstract Nature, street shots, and probably my favorite, vernacular style photography, especially when I turn off my thoughts and just focus on color and form. I love color photography and only resort to B&W in rare occasions when I think an image was custom-made for that style. Anyway, I'm really into a vernacular state of mind lately, and totally enjoying it. However, if you are following my work, YOU are definitely not as enamored as I am. Does it matter? I suppose because what I post in my gallery is really for you. I have thousands of images I just wouldn't put up on Flickr, my private stash of images I like. I like a lot of my Detroit stuff, too, but it is like having a secret life away from the public.

I do not like shooting people, with a camera anyway. I avoid people in my daily life so why would I want to waste my precious shooting time on that? To paraphrase Charles Bukowski from "Bar Fly,"...it's not that I don't like people, but I just feel better when they're not around."

Sure, I'll take some shots at people once in a while, but when I do find myself drawn to shooting someone, I bet that person would fit nicely into an Edward Hopper painting.

Enough words for now.