On Credible Images of Humanity

STRANGER a DAY : 2004 is a series of black and white photographs, allegedly (although there is no reason to doubt this) of strangers. Via Unsettled. Normally, I do not publish links to other sites out of a desire to celebrate those sites in the central body of Unbillable Hours. I leave those links in the Obiter Dicta section. However, it's captain's perogative, as they say, and I think this site is worth the attention.

In the opening caption to Stranger A Day: 2004, the author, Roark Johnson [FN1] states

Since January 1st, 2004 Roark Johnson has been photographing strangers, people he doesn't know, once a day, every day. He's using an 8X10 Deardorff. Unlike Roark, it's a camera that commands attention, respect and awe. Join him and come back often as he risks being rejected by those faces he wants so much to photograph.

A Deardorff 8 x 10 large format camera

A Deardorff is a remarkable camera. It basically follows the same principles of optics and film that have been used since the days of Weegee (note bene: Weegee's photos, while brilliant, are graphic; please use your discretion), the master of violent photography [FN2].

I envy Johnson's ability to capture the dynamic nature of humanity. A person, even in a single image, seems to have so many qualities captured. The person's face reveals pride, fear, suffering, and hope. And yet, it is rare that I feel satisfied with my ability to capture people in pictures. I have only a few pictures that I feel capture people well.

Cal and A. at the Memorial Fundraiser for Stephen The Dublin House, Red Bank, NJ(August 2003).

Untitled No. 3, Ocean Grove, NJ, (August 2003).

Carnivale No. 1 Oranjstad, Aruba, NA (March 2003).

These are pictures that I am particularly fond of, especially Carnivale No. 1. In order to take that shot, I had to slither into a crowd of performers at the Fat Tuesday/Carnivale/Mardi Gras parade in the capital of Aruba, Oranjstad. It was the first time I had felt sufficiently comfortable with my camera to let it justify my actions. To let it guide me. I was covered in confetti and spray string debris by the bystanders of the parade as I wandered through the groups of dancing performers. As I snapped shots of various dancers - and slipped around floats in order to avoid the Aruban police - I came to an opening, and saw the woman in blue finish what can, politely speaking, be called a suggestive dance. When she saw me with the camera, the woman was still out of breath from the dance, but she burst into a grin.

I love that she did so.

I can imagine this woman's life - probably horribly inaccurately - in Aruba. I can imagine her as being a mother, perhaps an office worker in one of the many tax shelters that do business in Aruba or as an owner of a tourist gift shop in the duty free section of Oranjstad. She's got the wear and tear of someone who has raised children (look at her arms; those are the arms of someone who has carried a child without second thought), who has worked in the office or commercial world of Western life. Yet, she still has the original, native traditions of the Caribbean island. She's still got the pride, much like, today, there will be American-born men and women celebrating their Gaelic heritage with pride.

These are my imaginings, though, and they could be wrong. For all I know, she could be an arbitrage broker from White Plains who has returned to Aruba to live it up with her family.

These are people. They are vibrant, changing things, captured in a still, unchanging moment. For that reason, it is so rare that I feel that I have served a person well by taking his or her photograph. I want it to unveil them. Instead, I find myself most comfortable with taking pictures of things. We all notice patterns in our lives, those unconscious or subconscious acts that eventually become representative. I've noticed a pattern, on my part, of photographing statues and paintings of people. Light and shadow, bouncing off of wood, stone, or canvas, seem to give the statue or painting a bit of life and depth that I can't seem to give to people. Yet.

The Archangel Michael Defeating Lucifer, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (June 2002).

Blue Boy, Le Petit Jardin Restaurant, Red Bank, NJ (September 2003).

Life Which He Spendeth As A Shadow, The Cloisters (Metropolitan Museum of Art), the Bronx, New York (July 2003).

These Wounds I Had On Crispin's Day, The Cloisters (Metropolitan Museum of Art), The Bronx, New York (July 2003).

Footnotes

1. Johnson's main blog appears to be private, so I cannot really say much about him other than what is posted above Stranger A Day. Hopefully, Johnson will consider making public his blog.

2. In fact, Weegee used a smaller, lighter camera than the Deardorff 8 x 10. He used a higher speed 4 x 5 format camera, which would have been easier to use while on a ladder, shooting down, as Weegee often did to get unique, God's-eye views. See, e.g., Human Head, Cake Box Murder (1940). Note bene: Again, as mentioned above, while Weegee's photography is art, and is for a particular, non-objectionable purpose (although I suppose some could debate this), please use discretion in viewing these pictures. While some are images of children playing by fire hydrants and matrons at Lincoln Center, others are post-mortem shots at crime scenes.

Comments

[j-a]

those are great photos. i really like the one inside the cloisters. i may even try to find that restaurant in new jersey some day!

the 'strangers' thing reminds me of a series of photographs that were taken by a (famous but cannot remember his name) photographer in the streets of new york. they were black and white too, but they were taken unbeknownst to the subjects themselves. the subject would trigger the camera when they walked over a specially placed trigger on the pavement! very interesting closeups of people going about their lives...

[The Prop]

I can only assume that these digital copies are a pale shadow of the real prints. An 8x10 camera can capture huge amounts of detail when properly used. An 8x10 print can be made by direct contact, you don't even need a projector! Weegee used the old SpeedGraphic 4x5. The Deardorf could capture 4 times the detail of that.

Of course, format isn't everything. Cartier-Bresson worked with one of the earliest 35 mm cameras to great effect.

[TPB, Esq.]

Yeah, format isn't everything, but I love toys.