This is one of the photos for my studio lighting class drying in the racks in the photo studio at the Corcoran. It is a contemporary portrait, a well done mug shot. I'm happy that I've been in the photo lab developing 4x5 negatives and printing photos in the darkroom. This drying rack has a look and style that calls to mind the Zen feeling that comes from working in the darkroom. I hadn't recalled how simple and wonderful it was to watch an image appear on paper like magic in developer. I am happy that all of my prints are now finished. Now I start on the digital prints.
I had a lot more time to take a lot better pictures of tennis playing at Eastern Market today. After tennis Maris (above) made some awesome hot wings. There was other good stuff too, but I can only really remember the hot wings. On my way home I stopped to get a Slurpee. Fuad, the clerk, said, "It looks like you got that hat fighting in Baghdad." "No," I said. This hat brings up a lot of unique comments. A few days ago I was in line at a liquor store. There was a drunken homeless man in front of me. I was trying to hurry and he was gathering his cans and bags at the counter. I held up my drink and reached as politely as I could around him to pay the cashier. As I was paying I could feel the man staring at me. All of a sudden I heard the low grumble, "My buddy was in 'Nam." Then he turned and left. I love this digital cammo hat, but it attracts a lot of social heat.
The end of the semester is in a few days and things are getting down to the wire. The one break I got from the darkroom and the studio today was when I went to take photos of Andrew and Maris playing some tennis by Eastern Market on Capitol Hill. I'd say they had been playing less than five minutes before we got kicked out by the people locking the chainlink fence. On my walk back to the school I saw a group of young Marines. "Is that the digi-cover," said one of them. "Yeah," I replied. "That's not authorized for wear," he said. "I'm out," I explained. "Everything is authorized."
There was a reasonably-sized crowd at Rex's opening until it's closing. Rex, a writing professor at the Corcoran, had a unique party. Many of the art pieces displayed were made of broken bottles and broom sticks. As the night went on mixtures of diet soda, sherry, and gin infected the ability to make rational decisions. The art became a backdrop for a social evening that was awkwardly comfortable. As Rex kicked the last of the last out after 3 am I wondered where everyone went. Instead of getting a ride like a good goer I decided on the late-night pedestrian express.
First thing this morning I walked out the door and got a free Brita filter from the District of Columbia for having lead filled pipes. My sweetness of the day didn't stop there; I completed my last video class today. After class there were the all-senior show and the graphic design openings to visit. After the shows everyone hit the Corcoran Parking lot for the "Day-After Cinco De Mayo Party!" The last time I saw such skilled break dancing is a toss-up between mid-90s house parties in Pittsburgh and recess at any of several elementary school I attended in the mid-80s in Orange County. Seana and Alan weren't breaking but they had great time. Seana also won the hot pepper eating contest.
. . .
This is Chad and Sara. They are always sitting under these trees by the E St exit of the gallery. They are taking a little break from the party.
The sheer dullness of the day is reflected in this photo of the Geico Auto Insurance Building. I rode and waited for the bus approximately four hours trying to get to a basketball game I skipped class to shoot. The bad news is I never made it. The good news is I saved a lot of money on my car insurance.
I walk past City Bikes in Adams-Morgan just about everyday. I notice the light in the shop all the time but tonight I approached from a different angle and saw what reminded me of a stained-glass window. Due to a religion that only I follow, I haven't been riding my bike yet this year. In my faith we are not allowed to ride bicycles on sidewalks in urban areas. I can't guarantee that I will stay off the sidewalk so I haven't been using my bike. I was talking about it earlier with Ricardo, a Fine Arts Photography student who rides his bike with his camera bandoleered around him. I told him another reason I didn't ride my bike is because it is uncomfortable to carry my camera while doing so. I prefer walking the most because it's the easiest way to take pictures. And lastly, it seems I'm more prone to arguing and fighting if I ride my bike because I have Road Rage Plus.
*Mark Your Calendar*
Corcoran College Student Film Festival
This Friday, May 7, 2004 at 7p.m.
at the Corcoran Gallery's
Armand Hammer Auditorium
(I think I have some shorts in it.)
This is a test shot my friend Don took of me today. We were in the studio shooting the 4x5 camera for our studio lighting class all day. We were there today because the tension springs on the camera back are loose and cause light to leak ruining our previous weeks of shooting. We knew this day would be just as bad when we arrived at the studio and the key for the main gear locker was missing. We wasted an hour looking for keys and talking to maintenance until me and Don finally decided to use a hammer and awl to knock the pin out of the lock hinge. After we sorted out the equipment that worked from the equipment that didn't work we started shooting. We had to take proof shots with my digital camera because the 2 Polaroid back at school are malfunctioning. We had successfully taken two film shots when the strobe (or flash) we had placed above on the lighting boom popped, sparked, and smoked ... we had blown a strobe and the fuse for the studio. The lab technician, Antonio, let us work well past the normal hours of the studio. Because of that we finally got some work done after we used extension cords to conduct our power from neighboring rooms.
This is my friend and fellow classmate Don. This is another photo we took to test the lighting arrangement in the studio. In this photo I was trying to recreate a historical portrait that used a background pattern to create an "urban" effect. Out of hunger caused by frustration we eventually went "halves" on a pizza.
It rained all day. That didn't stop a lot of people from showing up at the World War II Monument that opened Friday. My friend Andrew read an article that said they were planning on having the "soft opening" earlier in the month. According to Andrew they postponed the soft opening because the monument wasn't yet handicap accessible. Being that the youngest WWII veterans are now about 74 years old, many of them use wheelchairs. The informant also mentioned that 1000 WWII vets die everyday. He said something about how once someone brought up the death statistics the project seemed to go faster.
My friend Seana from class asked if I was interested in freelance work. I went with her today. We helped make a Paralyzed Veterans of America television commercial. This photo is one of the gentelemen from the PVA going over his lines for the commercial. Thank you Seana ... what a unique opportunity.
