Photographic Kinship

A few photographers really capture my attention/imagination, incl. Winogrand, Friedlander, Kertesz, Frank, Mark, and Arbus. I am doing a life study of Arbus right now, first watching a warped movie that really distorts her life quite a bit ("Fur") and then I went to read the biography from which the movie was inspired, even though the script writers took HUGE liberties. I've known of Arbus for years and even have a the famous Aperture monograph of her work, plus the monstrous Revelations, a book of unpublished Arbus photos, text, and even some of her own writing, a book for the real Arbus aficionados. That comes next, as soon as I finish her biography, which is coming to its tragic conclusion.

I don't care to take portraits and that is really want Arbus was all about. But I find a certain kinship with her fascination with offbeat subject matter. When I started reading the book, I thought perhaps that her fascination with freaks was manufactured, but now I am pondering the possibility that she was really a freak herself, something I can relate to a bit, a person who just doesn't quite fit in with the rest of 'you.' And on that plane, I totally identify with this woman. She talked to her subjects quite a bit before snapping photos, and probably let her subjects in a bit to her secret world.

She is such a complex person that I am finding her biography quite intriguing.

Besides that, I am trying to make sense of 'art' and photography. My tastes are rapidly changing, or rather I am allowing them to surface after more or less allowing my watchers to determine what I shoot. I am not happy going into Detroit for photos because I am expected to, in the sense that if I don't post such photos, people won't stop by and look at my stuff. They aren't and I'm growing apathetic. The idea of dropping off from Flickr is more appealing each day I look at some of the photos I've shot that I really liked getting just a few page views.

I'm looking.

Rethinking Things

My Flickr Pro account is up for renewal and quite frankly, I am not pleased with where it is going. I seem to be interested in a totally different style of photography than the people who view my stuff. I was hoping my twisted way of seeing things would interest people, but what 'sells' (page views) are sex-related and Detroit.

Ah...Detroit. The city of my birth. And where I grew up. Well, sort of.

I know I'm in quite a spot, that I have an opportunity to photograph subject matter that others would love to document, the streets of a deeply wounded city. And I have the courage/stupidity to drive through areas I probably should avoid. I've been doing that since 1 January 2004. That's when I made my first serious plunge into the city. And what a shocking scene I found!

We want different things.

Flickr is not my first choice of places to show my work. I don't have a first choice. I've tried a few but they do not appeal. My first choice WAS DeviantArt. My type of crowd hung out there and I really enjoyed putting up new work, all kinds of new work, not just Detroit. Then I learned that DA sneaked in some fine print in the user agreement that they have the right to sell our work. That really doesn't lay right with me. I don't want my photos, as bad as they are, showing up on stock photo sites. I may not be a big shot artist, but I am what I am and my work is mine.

I still stop in at DA to see the work. A new tread there is the presence of viruses and other malware which a subscriber can have, free of charge! What's up with THAT?

Photonet. The almighty CRITIQUE! Screw that.

So here I am, feeling very discombobulated, not really having the audience (and community) for my work. It's not that I want to be adored for my strange photos, but that I want to be in a community of like beings. Early DA was SO MUCH FUN. It was like blazing a way in uncharted territory. Flickr is cold to my touch.

So...I'll probably renew my Flickr account just to have some social networking. And I'll still post photos, but I'm on the prowl for something new, something different. I have a few photo projects going on, things I don't waste my time exposing on Flickr. Why? Unless there is destruction in my shots, many do not bother to look. I will subscribe to a community-fueled zine called SHOTS. Subscribers get four issues a year plus they can submit a few photos of their own. That might open a few doors if a few of my photos are accepted. I also may erect my own site so I can show my work the way I want.

If anybody knows of some good opportunities for photo communities, offbeat places with fringe people, contact me through my Flickr account.

Lawn Museums

I'm taking a little break from Detroit. It gets to me, roaming around the city, spying on people's lives. I decided to seek out strangeness in the 'burbs. I want to explore the deeper recesses of the suburban mind and find lost souls wandering in the sea of humanity who have strange visions.

Lawn museums fascinate me. A land owner/renter has a small chunk of land to use and is more or less free to do whatever s/he wants with that parcel of land. The conventional thing is a nice green lawn, some shrubs, a few flowers for color (and bees), maybe a stone rabbit, a chair to sit and watch cars drive by, and of course an American flag. We wouldn't want any aliens running around the area unaware of what country they are invading!

But some people don't want to fit into that cookie-cutter mold. Those are the people I want to find.

Overly zealous patriotism is always interesting, where just a flag isn't enough. Now that I think back, maybe I got this fascination by visiting cemeteries and observing the garish decorations I sometimes find. Missing someone who died is understandable, even to me, but obsessing is something I also understand!

I love a good obsession.

One statue caught my eye a few years ago in an old cemetery in Detroit. A woman's face and upper body was carved out of stone.



And what hard, erect nipples! I'm figuring the husband visits that grave and when nobody is around, copes a feel and gets a thrill, since it does look like the woman he loved.

Maybe he breaks in at night and does unimaginable things right there in the cemetery!

I have found a few brave souls who decide to do something a little out of the ordinary with their lawns, with what the world sees of their external lives.

My newly found friend, Stickman Wilson of Berkley, is really quite fascinating and friendly as hell, in a good way. I visit his grounds for pictures to post in my gallery and also have the treat of visiting him. We talk and he doesn't seem to mind me snapping away while we do so. I especially like that because I like to be in a loose "Zen" mind when I take pictures and talking/shooting seems to do that. Stickman gives new life to old discarded tree branches, giving them the opportunity for a while to live as humans, right on his front lawn. Life-size, too. He has them engaged in all sorts of activities and it's always a treat to see what's new. We see the world through similar sets of eyeballs, so it's great fun just talking to Larry as well. He has an amazing back yard, a double lot, that looks like a real piece of a forest, with many trees, wildflowers, a newly installed pond (equipped with a nice supply of mosquitoes), handmade birdhouses nailed to the larger trees, a few bird feeders, and even chandeliers hanging from a tree. Amazing. He lives over on Morgensen north of Catalpa, if you're ever over that way.

Stickman Wilson

Mr. M-80 of Madison Heights had an interesting exhibit of modern/found outsider art, much with discarded parts of dolls, on display in his backyard. I had a really excellent time viewing his gallery, and meeting with him, talking about his art, taking photos, which can be found in my set of lawn museums.

Lawn Museums.

Mr. M-80 has moved. Sigh.

There is another man who lives (or lived) in the Big Beaver and Ryan area of Sterling Heights who has/had a double lot with a great deal of grass area and cement statues everywhere, many Greek/Roman style statues. He had little scenes set up and it made for a most interesting photo shoot. I recall they had something to do with memories of his wife. He wasn't especially friendly with me, but did allow me to go back there and photograph. I've removed photos of his land from my gallery, for the most part, though this one, a wheel shed he decorated, still remains. It really isn't a good representation of what I saw there, but lack of interest in my photos of that topic earned them the right to be retired.

Statue Land.

There is a man in the northwest area of Detroit, the Brightmoor district, who has a bit of a lawn museum going on. I always check out his offerings when I'm over there. Nice man, too. I spoke with him and he was unaware of others in the area who decorate their grounds.

Right now I seem to be fascinated with Virgin Mary statues. I'm seeing these ladies in a William Eggleston "Democratic Forest" type way. We have a huge Christian Chaldean population and I've been meaning to explore their turf and see what kind of VM displays I can find. Culturally, they seem to like to display their fondness for the goddess.

Zen Photography

It should be obvious to anybody viewing my photostream that I have returned to the streets of Detroit. But with mixed feelings. For one thing, as I keep mentioning, the city is much cleaner, cosmetically, than when I started shooting there over six years ago. The devastation has been covered up with boards, and many buildings have been ripped down. I gave up last autumn for three reasons: 1) the cosmetic clean-up, 2) feeling overwhelmed with the situation in the city, and 3) too many other people flitting around the city armed with cameras.

My cameras went back on the shelf, that part of my existence ceased.

There are still bad sections that I'm exploring and documenting. And the city seems to be erupting with danger again. Shootings, arson, etc. I have been lucky so far not to be on the scene, or an integral part of, that.

Funny story...the other day I spotted to very attractive Asian women standing in front of a church in a rather bad part of the city. I thought they might be tourists and did not realize that they might be endangering themselves by walking around. I drove around the neighborhood a bit, as I usually do, exploring streets and a while later saw them walking together down a side street, heading into an area that is not only unsafe but that has largely been blocked off and closed down for construction. I pulled up to them and told them they might not realize how dangerous it was for them to be strolling down the street as they were. They politely thanked me and continued on.

Either they were really tourists determined to see the sights, or, as it dawned on me later, prostitutes trolling ass. I'll never know. But I do regret that I did not take their photo.

I'm looking to expand my photo horizons, and find something new to explore. I'm also trying to return to that state of mind I used to have of no-thought photography, just look and shoot and check it out when I got home. That's one main reason I can't take others with me as talking and chitter-chatter just destroy that mood.

Boarded Up

I guess it was just a matter of time before I started dipping back into Detroit for pictures. I've been nibbling on the corners, making a few short treks through certain areas. And I can definitely report now that the city has changed. The wreckage has largely been cleared and while 'clean up' is not appropriate, cover-up might. Those smashed windows and dangling door frames are now shielded by sheets of plywood. The grime is gone. Many homes are gone, ripped down, replaced by fields of grass. Or better yet, weeds.

I don't know how the city survives.

It looks better, but that means the photo ops are not as good for me. I'd love to see the city bounce back and become respectable again.

Last week I went to visit one area, was stopped in the road (no traffic behind me) and a pick-up truck with two men slowly pulled up next to me. The passenger shot me the evil eye, and they hung back near me while the light was red. It changed, and they moved, a mere crawl. The passenger throw some paper out of the window and shot me another look. I was in the right lane and as we passed under the light, I took a turn and left the area.

I wonder, if I lived in that area, how I would like strangers coming and gawking at my hood. Since Detroit is largely populated by blacks, my presence as a honky stands out loud and clear. There are whites in Detroit and I think they live in relative peace, but then they don't have a camera up to their eye, taking in the scenery.

For excitement, there was a massive fire in Highland Park. I was miles away and saw pillowing black smoke pumping up into the air. It seemed like forever getting there, with all the stop lights, which I think are timed to the 'annoying' setting. Drive a few blocks. Stop. Wait. Start. Stop. Wait. Running reds in abandoned areas (and often in not so abandoned areas) is pretty common in the city. I guess the police will often look the other way as they have more important matters to attended to.

The fire was huge and lasted hours. I learned later a man died, jumping from the smoke. And it was not exactly an accidental fire. Police report that one of the non-official residents (squatters) had tossed some sort of fire bomb after a dispute.

Then later a major auto accident on the street. I heard the car wrap around a telephone pole. The front end was demolished and it looked like the driver 'should' have died, but the air bag saved him and he was walking around. The debris fanned out across the pavement. I did not take any shots of it because traffic was snarled and I just didn't see anything I wanted to capture.

I had a good outing yesterday but the pickings were slim and I don't expect that it will be 'business as usual' for me in Detroit.

In Limbo

More equipment problems. The Canon is going back to the factory this week for repairs not performed on its last factory-warranty visit just weeks ago.

And at a time where I'm really feeling an itchy trigger finger.

Shoot!

However, I do have back-up and can still shoot sans the Canon.

But WHAT to shoot! Of course I can't ignore my love of Detroit. However, the city has changed - drastically. Sure, there is still some devastation to be viewed, but quite a bit of that has been cleaned up, if only cosmetically. Store fronts are boarded up, covering broken plate glass windows. The same with houses. Many questionably sound buildings have been leveled. And life is still very hard in the city abandoned by the auto industry.

I haven't explored every neighborhood in the city. I'm sure I could find interesting subject matter if I explored. The troubled economy impacts me heavily, and gas is a major expense in my ventures. And repairs. Tires. Suspension. It's not cheap prowling the streets of Detroit.

However, the major deterrent for me is the popularity of urban photography now. I see carloads of folks, cameras in hand, tooling around the city. A major fire will bring them out like cockroaches after the lights are turned off. Or vultures, circling over head. I experienced that last summer when I saw black smoke rising over the horizon in the city. I was perhaps five miles away and by the time I got there, there was a crowd of camera folk.

Seeing so many others doing what I've been doing for six-seven years really diminishes my desire to go out shooting Detroit.

I sometimes wonder how 'useful' my photos are, showing sides of the city that the media skims over. That was my motivational reason these past years, to expose.

My nature photography doesn't attract much interest on Flickr. Either I have the wrong crowd looking, or it's just not that interesting. It's interesting to me, though, and for that reason I will continue to shoot, and post a few. However, I don't think of Flickr as MY site, but rather a gathering place for we who are drawn into the world of photography.

Another detriment, but one that I will not allow to restrict me, is the heavy emphasis on surveillance these days, ever since that day in September eight-and-a-half years ago that totally changed the course of my country. I wonder if people see it that way, how so many things changed that day. And one that is close to home for me, is our loss of personal freedom. I had my own encounter with the law this past summer when I was reported as engaged in 'suspicious activity' that resulted in lengthy interviews on the phone. And I was asked to send in the photos I had taken. Abandoned warehouses in Detroit are hardly 'rich targets' for terrorists, I'd say. Unfortunately for me, there was also a power station within a block, which held absolutely no interest for me.

So now I'm probably on government watch lists. The saddest thing is I did not even get a decent photo for all my later-developing trouble.

I think people are really fooling themselves about what's REALLY going on. Enough said.

Taking on the Big Guy

The other day, while walking through woods in the area, I saw a magnificent long wing span hawk gliding over the tree tops, probably looking for some lunch. And near the pond where I was standing, was a rather noisy red-winged blackbird, yacking away as blackbirds do. I guess the blackbird spotted the circling hawk and took off. I thought it did not want to be lunch. Instead of dashing off into the woods, that blackbird ascended in the direction of the hawk and, to my amazement, started attacking it. All told I think that blackbird pecked at the hawk a good dozen times, and the hawk showed no signs of mixing it up with that little blackbird.

I say it's time to really go after our friends on Wall Street and toss some of them in jail. I hope they're not too big to serve time.