Steve the walker

 

I was driving down the road a couple of days ago on my way to photograph in a nearby swamp when I spotted this guy walking.  I quickly did a u-turn and went back to talk with him. His name is Steve Fugate and he has been walking non stop for over twenty years.  He has crossed the country six times and has logged more than 46.000 miles on foot.  His journey started with the tragic lost of his son and then his daughter.  He takes his message of Enjoy Life by foot across the country.  His story can be found with a google search of his name.  Here is a video about him that was made over 12 years ago. https://vimeo.com/10692512

No time for the old

I spent this morning rummaging through some over looked images from my days in Mexico.  I came across this image and immediately I wanted to work on it.  What struck me was the old lady sitting with a worried and lonely look on her face, while the younger people sit with their backs towards her.  The contrast in the human condition of this scene makes the image.  Photography has the unique ability to capture a moment time time and freeze it.  That is what makes street photography so rewarding.  

Street Buddies in Cuba

I enjoy street photography but it can be a challenge to deal with the fast working style that it requires.  Most of my photography deals with landscapes where I am usually in a quiet setting working with my camera on a tripod.  When I travel and find myself in a busy city with plenty of action it can be difficult to switch from my nature photography to action.  The digital camera has made it a bit more difficult with the many settings of the camera that has to be considered.  It seems that the newer cameras are over engineered for the simple act of making an image.  I preferred the mechanical camera of the film years that required very little programming to go out an take photographs.  I could focus on the subject and much less on the use of the camera.  With each camera upgrade I now spend countless hours learning and programming the camera to function in a certain way for a particular style of photography I choose to do.  Keeping all these settings in my memory for fast recall can be difficult especially if haven't used my camera in awhile. I have found myself writing down the various custom setting on a card that I carry along in my camera bag so I can remember how I programmed the camera for use.  I am certain that this is probably not a problem for the younger photographer that has only worked with digital equipment.  While in Cuba I came across many interesting street scenes and it was a very fast pace type of photography.  I always find it rewarding to be able to wonder around aimlessly in a city and see what subject matter is around the next corner.

Father and Son

I made this image back in 2009 in central Mexico.  I was a film photographer at the time but had just purchased a small point and shoot digital camera.  We were in a rural mountain town wondering around and I found my way into an old church in the center of town.  In the back of the church there were people that lived in a small room that apparently had no home.  I spend some time there and made a few images but the people were quiet and subdued.  Just for a few moments I was in their daily world and felt the struggle of their existence.  Whenever I start to feel self pity and grumble I look back at some of these images and realized how blessed my life has been.  The human condition varies  all over the world and sometimes it is easy to forget that most of the world lives with far less than myself.  Being grateful for what you have should begin with the start of every new day. 

Cuba

I recently spend some time in Cuba photographing.  Most of my of my days were spent walking the streets of Havana doing street photography.  Havana is an extremely busy city filled with diesel fumes from the many old 50's automobile that have been converted to diesel engines.  For a street photographer Cuba has it all.  The thing I enjoyed the most about Cuba was the friendly people.  They live a hard life but maintain a joyful and enthusiastic outlook.  Cuba has some wonderful artist and I was able to meet a few of them in their studios.  Even though we had some language barriers we could still communicate about the creative process and the focus of their work. I used my Sony mirrorless camera with a couple prime lenses for most of my work in Havana.  The Sony is a small and very easy camera to carry around all day.