Shooting STARS

July_16__201105.jpg, originally uploaded by regi metcalf.

I recently joined a meetup group called Shooting STARS. The purpose of the group is to get emerging artists (make-up, dressers, designers, models, photographers) together to promote themselves. We had our first shoot at a lodge in Bear Mountain State Park a couple of weeks ago. It was the first time I'd done anything like it and I think my inexperience with models, fashion, etc. shows. Still, it was a great experience in a lot of ways. For one thing, the people were all cooperative and patient but, more importantly, I learned a lot. I learned that I have a lot to learn. I'm looking forward to the next one, the logistics of which may be even more challenging: The High Line on the west side of Manhattan.

Adjust to Software

July_10__201102.jpg, originally uploaded by regi metcalf.

No, I don't play hockey. I don't even watch hockey. I didn't watch these guys with much interest in the competition. But it was nice to come across them in Bryant Park on a very cold winter morning.
I had forgotten about these pics, like I have about hundreds of others I have on my hard drive and decided to play around with some software I also have installed and basically forgotten about and that I basically have no idea what to do with. In this case, it's Topaz Adjust 4. Apparently, it's mostly used to make HDR-like adjustments to landscapes and interiors. I liked the way it made these photos a little more interesting than they were out of the camera. So, there you go: one program I know a little better and many more to go... And, please don't even mention Photoshop CS5. Sheesh!

Shyness, rudeness and the ethics of street photography

Buddhist monks in Seoul, South Korea

May_16__201004.jpg, originally uploaded by regi metcalf.

Whenever I shoot on the street (my second favorite kind of photography, after landscapes), I have to overcome my native shyness to ask people if I can take their picture. I bat about 60%, which I consider a rather low average. I'm sure it has to do with my approach, but I keep working on it. At any rate, the problem is elided when trying to take candid shots where I want people as they are before they might lose the thing that made me want to take the picture in the first place. But that raises an ethical problem: what if they don't want their picture taken? The problem is complicated for me further by the fact that I usually share that feeling: I generally don't like to have MY picture taken, esp. without my knowledge (the absence of self-portraits in my work is not incidental). Obviously, at least two of the monks did not want to be photographed (probably none of them did, but the middle guy was just too slow to object). The irony here is that THAT is what makes the photograph. If I had asked them in advance, they would have politely refused and I would have walked away or they would have posed and the photo wouldn't have been half as good as I think it is. I had no idea what they would do (or even if they were aware) when I set myself to photograph them: they looked interesting, but not as interesting as they became. Of course, we all have to reconcile ourselves (or do we?) to the fact that we live in an age when walking in public is to tacitly consent to being photographed (either by civilians or the authorities). I wonder if I've violated these guys in some way (the way in which I might feel violated) by displaying this picture (let alone selling it, as I would LOVE to do someday). As I say, they (nor I) can have any expectation of privacy on a public street and the photo is MINE. But their image is THEIRS and although it's unlikely they would ever know what happened with the image after that day, it is out there in the world utterly free of their control. There's something a little scary about that and yet, perhaps, in the final analysis, that is the thing we all must learn to overcome: the illusion that we have much, if any, control. Indeed, that is something I might (erroneously?) expect Buddhist monks, of all people, to understand.

We're Rallying

Really enjoyed shooting at the pro union and planned parenthood rallies with my g11. Here are more shots from that day.

CAA 2011 SAIC Alumni Reception in New York

the reception at the cue foundation gallery in chelsea was, for me, an unexpectedly good time: reconnecting with people i hadn't seen since graduating from the school some fifteen years ago. just one among many pleasant surprises was seeing kate hers (above, and presently of berlin, germany), a working artist whose done tons of interesting stuff since she was an undergrad and i was a teaching assistant for an introduction to performance class.