The Amish and Allergies

For some reason I find it hard to keep my blog updates coming regularly. I apologize for this!

Anyways, here is a hybrid media piece that I have been working on for quite a while. I shot the images for the German magazine Spiegel Wissen; for the allergy issue of this popular science publication...

The process was a bit demanding as the Amish generally don't like to be photographed, but had agreed to participate as they felt the issue at hand was worthy and as a favor to the doctor involved. Dr. Marc Holbreich helped us tremendously to get the access we needed... There was a "no posing" rule in place, but it turned out that most adults were actively avoiding the camera as soon as it was pointed at them... At least the kids were curious enough to allow me to get engaging material...

As I hadn't planned on creating a hybrid media piece right then and there was only a very limited amount of time on location I hadn't recorded any original audio... (Neither background soundscapes nor interviews!) So, I decided to compose a minimalist soundtrack and employ the wonderful talent of voice over artist (& poet & woodworker) Bryan Marx. Still it took me quite a while to move the elements around to make it a coherent and strong piece. The wonderful Saki Sato helped me fine tune my edit. Thank you to all involved!

Constant dropping wears away a stone

Back to present on of my most labor intensive and dearest hybrid media pieces yet... It started with an assignment to cover our sensei & dojo for a German magazine a while back... You can read about that here.

Now I had some great images of Imaizumi Sensei and our dojo. And I was getting more involved in the multi media aspect of things as well... So I tried to figure out what other ingredients the piece was still missing... I wanted a narrator who was somehow personally connected with the piece. After sensei declined I approached some of our more senior students until I ended up asking Warren Wynshaw for his input. It wasn't that he was low on my list, but I didn't want to bother him with what I felt "unimportant" stuff... Not that it was unimportant to me, but not necessarily important for other people... To my huge surprise he immediately agreed to participate and we ended up recording his voice over just a few weeks later...

The last obstacle was - as usual - in my mind. I started writing the soundtrack early on and there were only minor changes to it over time... One thing that bothered me was the "fake guitar" that I had used to create a measure of grit and earthiness... It was fine, but lacked the authenticity I was looking for... I approached two of my friends (Christian Wilkes and John F. Richards), who after a series of delays delivered their tracks to me within days of each other... So, I ended up with two distinctly different, but cool guitar tracks that I really liked... An embarrassment of riches... It took me quite a while to figure out what to do. Fellow aikidoist, jazz alto saxphonist and friend Richard Tabnik came to the rescue and suggested using both of them in different sections of the piece...

In the end it came together quite beautifully me thinks. And it comes to show that persistence does have its merits after all... I guess the trick is to figure out if there is a message with projects that get stuck... And what that message could be...

Next one up...

Not sure what to make of the quite limited amount of resonance these days... Must be the holidays or the heat / humidity... In any case... Showing the next batch from my stash...

I feel that the top image is one of the ones I like best from this selection... The glasses and the suit together with his expression make the shot... Tension...

Faces in a crowd... Small crowd though...

Expressive...

Surprised?

Nice... Patterns and more patterns...

Bright eyes...

In the Times Square tunnels... Take # 235... 

Pop culture references galore: iPad, Marilyn and Elmo... What a combo!

 
Impacted...
 

In repose?

Concerned?

Don't tell me there is no fun in the subway!

Introverted.

Man in front of hat art...

Doing the smart thing: Staying hydrated!

A hard day's work...

Confident...

Playing ball... Or carrying it around?

Ready for something...

Still Hot & Humid...

It's a little less warm now... But still hot and humid... Here's another selection of images on that topic...

Love the top image... Great back and it shows how warm it is in the system... Tried to get him from the front as well, but this was the shot...

Party time!

 Sleepy time...

Life...

Rush hour at Columbus Circle...

Take #2...

Characterful...

 Profile...

Impressive trust...

Love this one too...

With a smirk...

 Going down...

Not unhappy!

 Alert...

Suspicious, maybe?

Serious bicep-action...

What's happening?

 On to happier places... I hope...

There you go... That's a good laugh at the end!

Down in the subway again...

Inspired by the people pix from the last entry I decided to give the "People in the Subway" series another shot... I need to go places and might as well bring the camera... ;)

I love the image on top... Her being still with all the motion around her... And wearing a brightly colored shirt...

Focus is funky, but I still decided to keep this one...

The image grew on me... 

Love the expression...

Determined...

Lovely face...

Looking on...

Surprised?

 Yes, the train is finally there...

What a neat end to my day and trip...

"Dirkie goes Tourist" on the Staten Island Ferry

While completing more outside images for my ongoing subway project I went to Staten Island numerous times in recent weeks... I always enjoyed that trip... And decided even to take some pictures while I was there... There was was still light... And still room on my memory cards... So why not?

Well, the light was just too good on this trip, so I decided to throw my fears of only taking tourist style (or -quality) images over board... Enjoy! ;)

Before departure...



Maybe I should continue my people on the subway project after all? :)



On the way...

Lady Liberty... While stormy clouds collect...

Everybody is a photographer...

How pretty New York City can be!

From a more recent trip...

I like how the docks are warmly lit up... Like fire... ;) Welcome back!