location unknown

I tried and I tried to find this building on Google Earth and Google Maps...no such luck.  I know it exists though, I mean I didn't photoshop an entire building; it stands where I say it stands off of Lancaster just past downtown-heading East.  It is charming and lonely, much like I suppose most older vets are, and therefore the building also stands represented as a metaphor and not merely a photograph.  I wonder what it used to be.  I wonder what stories it could tell if it could talk.  A photograph speaks a thousand words...but I think I'll just stop here and let you think of the rest.

820 & 30 :: crossroads II

I really think I may have been an urban landscape shooter in a former life.  Why do I love to photograph interstates so much?  Wasn't it Andy Warhol who said, "I like boring things." apparently so do I.

crossroads

I'm just a little obsessed with the huge concrete structures that make up the design of our modern ways of travel.  Underneath them, looking up, I get a real feeling of scope and magnitude of how each one of us are ant-like among a thousand other ants and yet still have a pivotal part to play in the grand scheme of all things.  I don't know, it just helps me keep things in perspective.

sunrise over cowtown

During our recent spring break I was able to take some time out and capture a few images I've been dreaming about, one particular image involving a nearby neighborhood and the morning sun; more on that image when I get it back from the lab.  But, while prepping for that shot another one greeted me unexpectedly:  Good morning Fort Worth.

convenience

The working title to a new series of photos I am working on is "convenience".  Obviously dubbed so because of the subject matter, the series really is a more personal project based on my favorite pop artist Edward Rusha and his iconic paintings of gas stations, as well as my ongoing love of things old and forgotten.  Most of the photos in the series are shot in the same way and in the same manor, low angle looking up letting the structure loom overhead.  I think the photos are more dramatic this way and I like stressing the low-fi architecture of structures that exist literally on every corner that become almost dismissive until we need lighter fluid, toilet paper, motor oil, or cotton swabs.  Then they become invaluable.  They are like debit cards and ATMs, what did we do ten years ago...write checks?!  Now that the local 7-Eleven is just down the road, how did we ever do without?

monoliths

I am, and have been, attracted to these huge silos that spread out across Fort Worth. Been eyeing them for a few years now. They're massive structures, nothing of any monumental architectural wonder but they still cast some sort of aesthetic upon me. I think they are awesome. I've been trying to dig up a little history on them lately and really can't find anything that quenches my thirst. They are mysteries to me. What are each of them used for? Are they still in use today? I'm pretty sure they play a part in the story of Fort Worth and it's rise to Western Cowboy Fame, but what part is that? Some of this attraction is that I find wonder and beauty in the simplest of things. A lot of architecture that is applauded can be found on Catholic churches, modern art museums, and the like. I tend to focus on those little known structures that not many people stop to think about: gas stations, grain elevators, flour mills. I don't know why I find beauty in the plain. Maybe it is just the minimalist in me.

cowtown christmas

Christmas is in full swing. That is an understatement I realize, it having been "Christmas" since probably October. I am not the one to complain to though, because I love it. Being the sentimental sap that I am, instilled in me diligently by my Mother who we decorated our tree with every year to Bing Crosby and the claymation Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on the television, I totally enjoy the holiday. I'm not one of those over the top Christmas fans like the neighbors and their extravagant light show set to music, you just dial in the station in front of their house and watch the show...no I celebrate the quieter moments: the tree lit up alone in the living room, a fire going in the fireplace, a cup of hot chocolate, and making and wrapping gifts. Just a fraction of the holiday that I love. Anyway, here are a few festive shots from downtown cow town to help usher in the blog to Christmas and all that I love about it.

old school

If you don't know me at all let me just say that every day I grow just a little more disenchanted with digital photography and find myself longing for analog. I don't know if it's the artist in me, or that I didn't fall in love with just photography, but the medium of film itself. The actual material, the physical light-sensitive, ultra cool, (what's now thought of as) cumbersome, beautiful, film. Or whatever your fancy is, be it photographic paper, tintypes, glass, Polaroid transfers, the list could go on-which is why it continues to fascinate me. The list really could go on. I won't delve into that fascinating and magical world, though. I'll save that for another time. Today, I'll just post some photos I did take with my digital camera *looks down at feet in embarrassment* *shuffles from one foot to the other* but was originally shot in black and white then later cropped as a shout out to my original medium format camera, the Mamiya C330-which I must say is already loaded with another film that is being used for another project altogether and was unavailable for today's shoot. So, I had to use what was available. Regardless, though, I brought home some interesting shots taken from the ghost of a horse farm that I once knew.

snow dayz II

Another shot from the recent frigid storm that passed through Fort Worth. One day, antsy and slowly succumbing to cabin fever, I packed up the kids and we just went on a drive/slide down the road to see the snowy sights. I took my camera along and brought this back.

snow dayz

Been quite a week here in the DFW: below freezing days turned into an entire week of staying in, drinking hot coffee, building fires, and scraping windshields when we had to get out. I know it's nothing compared to the storms of the north, but for north Texans, we just aren't used to it. Anyway, here's an image that helps capture the frigid temps. It hearkens back to when I first started blogging, I posted a pic similar to this one that people just loved, well, that image got lost in the folds of archived folders of images, so here's a recreation.

polaroid series II

Another initial shot taken with the ol' Land Camera. The film expired in the eighties, but sometimes things like that work for a photograph and not against it.

christ chapel

An old photograph of a new church. This is one of my very first polaroids taken with a vintage polaroid 100 land camera. Scanned, photoshopped the contrast, gave it the sepia tone, posted it on my blog. Wa-la.

used, like new

Down the road is a used appliance store that keeps their merchandise outside their building, even when they're closed. I took a little time one morning and composed this shot. Only after, looking at it on the compy, did it seem to me like old men gathered together on a front porch; grumpy, old, out dated, and content enough to just stand there on the porch and watch the cars pass by.

snapshots

I believe in art forms of all kinds...and I believe with the right presentation virtually anything can be an art form. Just walk through your local modern art museum and notice that florescent light bulb just stuck there on the wall at a perfect forty five degree angle. Ah. Art! The great Dan Flavin! Well, often up for debate these modern artists are, and I am not here today to get into that debate, but a lot of things I find are mini art masterpieces in and of themselves. Such as the snapshot. The quick click of a shutter at a scene-whether intended or not-that captures mood, light, atmosphere, or even an unintended look, a wry smile, a cutting of the eyes, all meaning one thing or another, intentional or not. I eat this stuff up! Well, the two shots below were taken on uneventful days from my car window. One shot represents a motel sign that I will always associate with this great city, it's underexposure is appealing to me, reflecting the gritty residence that is typical of this certain motel. The other, a great contrast of color, a warm sun set glow against a hot concrete building downtown and a great charcoal storm looming in the sky right on the edge of bursting! And just because I can, I haven't touched these at all from camera to blog, these photos are untouched by perfectionist programs such as the great photoshop. In my eyes these photos are perfect, surviving on their own.

catch daddy o

Recently did some promo work for a jazz/blues band (correct me if I'm wrong Karen!) named Catch Daddy O. We shot on location at a little venue called Mambos in downtown Fort Worth. Great atmosphere, great lighting, great artwork on the wall, great food, but go for the music!

downtown

Quick post: Just got some Holga prints back from the lab. This shot I took in downtown Fort Worth. Sweet.

main street arts festival

Every year Main Street hosts this big huge arts festival for local and traveling artists. Tents are raised and the street is blocked off in it's entirety to make room for the festivities. Bands play. There are street performers. A kid's section for face painting (as you'll see). Here are a few fun shots from there.

Cool shot of the street view.

The greatest kids there! Forrest Gump once said, "You can learn a lot by looking at a person's shoes. Where they goin'. Where they been..." Well, I had to edit this shot a bit so as not to offend anyone, but these shoes say a lot.

rallycats

Taking a break from New York, let's come home to Fort Worth for a little while. This past weekend me and a friend of mine photographed the Fort Worth Rallycats. It began eight in the morning and was freezing, but these girls were awesome...Miley!!

shannon and jennifer

Jennifer wanted to surprise her girlfriend Shannon with an evening spent with yours truly and my lovely assistant for some wonderful and amazing photos of them living it up down town. And even though Shannon guessed what her surprise was before I could coax out their cheesy smiles I'd say all in all we had a pretty good time. I hope you love your pics!
This last photo I couldn't resist posting...I love Shannon's expression here. Greatness!

rick and misty

Rick and Misty just celebrated their anniversary! So, to mark the occasion they let me follow them around for a night on the town. Rick and Misty are good friends of mine as well, so it was less work and more play, but shouldn't it always feel like that? Anyway, you guys made the blog!! Yesss!