Man, I have got to get out and shoot some new material. Seems like all I've been doing lately are portraits with the odd Celtic football match thrown in. The portrait photos were taken in St. Louis but they are not really about St. Louis, so it's sort of off-topic. I'll put the portraits aside for now, unless you want to see some. Got a few good ones, if I do say so myself.
This picture is back at the Fourth of July fair in Webster Groves, the suburb where I live. I like the color and light.
TOMORROW: Theme Day - Breakfast
On Sunday afternoon, I was driving around Forest Park, St. Louis' great urban green space, looking for something to shoot. Bingo! I think this is Irish football. The ball was labeled Gaelic Gear and one team's jerseys had the name Kerry Patch. I'd appreciate verification from Celtic sports fans. The closest I've come to Irish football myself is buying a hat in Ennis, Ireland, for the County Clare side. That's the part of western Ireland my grandfather left in the late 19th Century to seek his fortune in New York.
Another example on the mosaics inside the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica. I wish that contemporary St. Louis would better follow the saint-king's example.
Lagniappe is a wonderful word in Louisiana Cajun French. It means a little something extra for free, and here's mine for today. There is a professional photo studio here, Studio Altius, that rents space and equipment photographers who do not have their own portrait lights and backdrops. Sometimes on Saturday afternoon they will bring in models for those of us still on our learner's permits. This is some work I did yesterday. These women are not professional models but were great to work with. Laura is completing her Ph.D. in American studies and Cookie is an executive with a corporate relocation firm.
More portraits of local artists from the studio open house last weekend.
Phil Jarvis is a painter with a wild imagination. His work is made up of fantastical images that seem to unfold in magic space. There are elements of surrealism, shot through with sharp humor. He is also a wood craftsman. His paintings are irregularly shaped and he makes his own frames to suit each work. I am sorry I can't show you any examples. Phil, your need a Web site!
Greg Barth is a photographer who works primarily with large format view cameras. They are technically demanding instruments. Each click of the shutter button is expensive, so photographers in this medium must be careful and precise. Greg told me this forced slowing down improves his vision, work and satisfaction. On occasion, he uses a Holga, a $20 camera with a plastic lens prized by some photographers for its beautiful yet unpredictable results. Check out some of Greg's work here.
I'm becoming more and more interested in portrait photography. We'll see where that takes me.
Last weekend, the Contemporary Art Museum of St. Louis sponsored Open Studio weekend, in which 83 local artists opened their workspaces to the public. I got to eight or ten on Sunday. It was fascinating to talk to the artists about their creative process and discuss their work. Several of them let me take quick portraits photos.
The first artist above is Pat Leigh, who does acrylic painting and collage with photography. She showed me a book she had crafted with photographs and text, documenting the length of Taylor Avenue in St. Louis. Taylor runs through both run-down and elegant neighborhoods, passing faded grandeur and urban rebirth. I found it quite moving.
Ron Flier is a painter who works in a variety of styles He showed me a parody of Caravaggio's David With the Head of Goliath in which a skinny, youthful George Bush holds the severed head of Saddam Hussein by the hair. He also paints abstracts using an unusual process: he starts with a concept, writes out what it means to him and them creates imagery to represent the idea. The painting behind him is about the expansion of the universe.
I got a few good portraits of other arists, which I may post over the weekend.
TOMORROW: Thursday Arch Series
Man, I have got to get out and shoot some new material. Seems like all I've been doing lately are portraits with the odd Celtic football match thrown in. The portrait photos were taken in St. Louis but they are not really about St. Louis, so it's sort of off-topic. I'll put the portraits aside for now, unless you want to see some. Got a few good ones, if I do say so myself.
