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The Kaleidoscope series (Low tide evenings on the pier at Port Hueneme). Part II - Finding the inspiration.

In Part I of the Keleidoscope series I found, by accident, a beautiful place that produced 4 or 5 of, what I thought then, were nice pictures (as I type this I am ashamed to acknowledge that, yes, out of a few hundred pictures, I just finished 4 or 5 of them). 
And then what happened? Well, life happened.
Work and busy schedules and not enough time for everything and making inspiration one more task that somehow needs to fit in these busy schedules and transferring photos to a back up drive (taking the risk of never see them again) happened.

Among all this clutter, I want to believe that I actually managed to somehow grow as a photographer. Somehow, somewhere in the process my fascination with B&W won over color.  Which lead me to discover the Lenswork magazine. Which lead me to read Brook Jensen's editorials (and laugh with Bill Jay's end notes). Which lead me to see Photography in a whole different light. 

I love Brook's wisdom, if you have ever read any of his books or listened to any of his podcasts you know what I am talking about. He is so wise and such a great photographer and yet he writes about his experiences in Photography in a way that you can relate to completely.
Anyway.

I received last Christmas one of Brook's books, 'Letting go of the camera'. I was hooked up instantly. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. 
You can relate to every essay in the book, and every one of them makes you think about your approach to Photography. There is an essay that touched me specially. It is number 15 'Quod Erat Faciendum (It is finished)'. It describes the difference between photographing and Photography. It describes the importance of not just 'taking pictures', but actually finishing your photos. Brook's message is that when you finish your photos, you commit to transmit with that photo whatever your message (what made you take the photo in the first place) is. An unfinished photo transmits nothing.
Reading this made me jump off my chair. I suddenly thought of all my unfinished photos, sitting in the dark cyberspace of my backup hard drive, slowly falling into the black abyss of forgetfulness. Unfinished.

I started to revise them all, determined to find photos that I should have finished but never did, or photos that I did finish but didn't send the message they should. 
I stopped taking new photos and spent days and days (weeks really) going through archived photos, looking at them all and rescuing some eventual almost forgotten little treasure, like this one of the Stowe House in Sta Barbara.

 

And then I found the folder of the photos I took in Port Hueneme that fall day when I went to photograph the pier and (damn!) there was no light but found a beautiful low tide instead. And then I found this picture. 

And then inspiration happened and its B&W sibling was created and the Kaleidoscope series got started.

 

by AmilcarBarca on February 13, 2008, 9:58 pm Tags:

Comments:

by Juan Riera, Sat February 16, 2008, 02:44:28 , modified February 16, 2008, 04:41:53
I like that idea of finishing old unfinished photos. In the last months, I have been exploring my old so called "analogical" archive, scanning, recovering and processing old b&n negatives, transparencies and lately collecting and recovering old (more than 80 years) familiar photos that carries inside the life of past people in my family, people that in some way made me as I am now. Finishing old photos I had never seen in print is getting me in touch with myself as I was many years ago, my photographic interests but my inner life too, forgotten friends and girlfriends, places and celebrations, and this allows me to see how I was and which ways I took in my life. Getting in touch with the real faces of my ancient family is making me think about past lives, people unknown to me that I am discovering now, asking to my live relatives about his or her lives and interests, and making me just imagine how some day I will be and old yellowish image in a photo (maybe not, now we use pigment printing...). Both approaches are changing me. As you said, life is happening, I guess. By the way, Mamen, Brooks Jensen photos are wonderful and his writing is wise and interesting. And I have just learned he's the LensWork editor!!
by AmilcarBarca, Fri February 22, 2008, 17:05:10
Thank you for reading, Juan. You are lucky to have such collections and to get to rediscover people that mattered to you at some point and to see how you and them and your emotional response to the photos themselves has changed over the years.

Brook's book that I mentioned in the post has an essay on this topic where he suggests an interesting exercise. He suggests that you choose a photo, look at it, and write on a piece of paper what the photo makes you feel. He then asks that you put the photo away for some time, and then look at it again and compare the emotions you feel then with what you felt before.
I think it is a well worth it practice.

If you do read Brook's editorials you need to also read Bill Jay's ending notes as well - they are like the yin and yang.

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