@GavinWassung: an inspiration

I've had the pleasure of working with Gavin Wassung (whose portfolio is available here) and been amazed by how his designs capture the essence of commercial messages. I recommended the portfolio for anyone looking for commercial design, or inspiration for commercial design.

Not so long ago, when I was looking at Gavin's artwork via his blog I was inspired to make something similar. Gavin makes me want to be a better artist. Since these types of works have no name, I shall henceforth refer to them as "Gavins." Making a Gavin involves using a circular rotation in the center of an image. I've added reflection (as opposed to rotation) to this technique, but rest assured that all of these images are Gavins.

Gavin the first: Stack

Gavin the second: Rocker

Gavin the third: Cycle

Gavin the fourth: Tree

The real me?

Whenever I look at a picture I've taken with a group, my eyes dart immediately to myself. I'm not sure why this happens; I suppose it has to do with checking to make sure I approve of the way I look (I have no clue what I'd do if I didn't approve... snatch the photo from its owner and tear it to shreds?). But the thing is, I always look exactly the same. In my many years of experience being photographed, I've perfected the artificial smile that is guaranteed to convince my future self that I was indeed having a joyful time at whatever event some person had decided to document.

Or maybe I'm intrigued by photos of myself because they're different from the way I usually see myself. When I normally look at myself, I see a mirror image. This isn't what the camera sees. And my face, like most people's, is not perfectly symmetrical; hence the very cheerful Henry I see in the photo is different from the groggy and disoriented Henry whom I see staring at me every morning. The photographed Henry is the one that the world sees, the one they know. But they're deluded; they aren't seeing the real me, rather a very slighted tweaked version of me.

Only by staring at my reflection can you learn who I really am.

Buenos Aires

In March 2010 I took a two week break from financial services consulting to visit the country from which my mother immigrated in 1974. Buenos Aires, Argentina is only two hours ahead of the east coast of the United States, but is the opposite season. The toilets also flush in a direction opposite to that of the northern hemisphere. My work in Argentina, perhaps influenced by these factors, took a somewhat different turn.

While introspection usually inspires me to make images, in Argentina I made observational photos. In Argentina I was an outsider. Could it be that when outside their element people are more likely to look outward? It makes sense. Outsiders need to observe if they ever have a hope of getting “in.”

Not to mention, I was on assignment for Ali Van, who asked that I bring her back pictures of great architecture. In fact, this request was what first inspired me to make vertical panoramic photos. Well that and the fact that it can be difficult to make a convincing depiction of a WHOLE building using a 50mm fixed lens.
Was I really an outsider in Argentina? My Spanish leaves something to be desired. But my mother lived there for her first fourteen years. Does that mean that I belong there in some way? Buenos Aires is part of my family’s history. As for the rest I’m not so sure.

For those of you interested in seeing more, I have a whole facebook album dedicated to my trip. See it here! And finally, for truly dedicated fans, I am having a show in Greenwich, CT on December 8th. Details to follow soon.

This is a Mistake

Just as soon as Ken Baldwin jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge, he realized that he had made a mistake. He didn't want to die. Baldwin was rescued by construction workers who witnessed his jump, and later that night, he was slipping in and out of consciousness in a hospital bed. The doctor told his wife that he had a 50/50 chance of surviving, "depending on whether he wanted to live." He's now one of the eight million living Americans who have attempted suicide.

Only about one in forty people survive the 220-foot fall into the San Francisco Bay. Most of those folks report having an experience similar to Ken's, in which they regretted the decision immediately after leaping over the rail.

I learned about Ken's story when listening to an episode of Radiolab. Also see this story from the San Francisco Gate.

Vertical Panorama

Lois Conner carved her niche in photography by using a banquet camera to create amazing panoramic pictures of landscapes. The majority of her work is horizontal panorama, but there are some very beautiful vertical works. Her work inspired me to go out and give it a try.

Of course, a banquet camera, which Conner uses, is a very specialized piece of equipment. I aimed to make a similar product using some digital tech. I started out with the images below.

So now for the technical part: In Photoshop, hit Alt, then F, and then U. (Yes, it's very amusing.) In the Automate menu that opens, select "Photomerge," and there you have it: a menu that allows you to select the pictures that will become your panoramic image. Select them, hit OK, and you're rolling! This process in memory-intensive, so please be patient.

Photoshop, like a banquet camera, is complicated and expensive. I suggest trying out the free version of Photoshop, Autostitch -- a great tool for making panos. Should any of you need help with this, or Mac panorama software, I'll be happy to help out; just leave a comment.

No matter which piece of software you use, your results will probably have some distortion. What I usually do is crop the final product to a vertical rectangle shape that I like. Again, if you need help with cropping, please let me know and I can make a suggestion. Now, for the final product!

I encourage readers interested in this process to make images! I would be happy to post them and share in some reflected glory. But if you have questions, please leave a comment and I'll get back to you.

Central Park

For a long while I've wanted to make images that contained two different times of day. The white figure in this image is lit by ambient evening light and the colorful figure is lit by direct sunset light. Looks pretty slick in black and white as well. What's the theme? I'd say it's about protecting one's self from cute, transparent contamination.