Lost & Found

While retrieving an old hard drive featuring many of the negatives from my film camera days. I notice an image that was somewhat foreign to my eyes. One that captured my imagination while dialing back to my days of living in the storied NYC neighborhood, Hell’s Kitchen. At the time, I was going out to see bands two to three times a week. Although I went to clubs and bars throughout the tristate area. CBGB’s and The Continental were more or less, second and third homes for me.This particular image caught my eye, perhaps due to my often lamenting, wishing I had taken more time to photograph the attendees and personalities that often hung outside the clubs. Upon close investigation. I came to the conclusion that it was The Continental, a downtown, east village bar on 3rd avenue, just off St. Marks place. My other guess is, due to the ethnicity of the woman filming the action. That it might have been the Asian/Female fronted punk band Yellow Scab. As much as I’m guesstimating. Finding an image I don’t remember taking or seeing, was cooler than an eskimo sitting by a campfire. Though the picture was taken some twenty five years ago. Noticing it for the first time gave it a new shine.

Time Flies

As I wait for my Canon R6 Mark II to arrive and attempt to combat a cold I have unintentionally passed on to my wife. I am stuck with no camera and a whole lot of down time. I am filling some of that big empty by attempting to organize and delete many of my old files. As I scroll through endless amount of digital images. I am finding some keepers. Marking the stand outs with the handle “G.O.A.T.” Looking back, I’ve always had a healthy relationship with New York City’s east village Washington Square Park. From working at a nearby record store in my teens, to filling in my down time by finding inspirational scenery and fascinating people to photograph. All of this backtracking reminds me that, despite fighting a full on cold while the temperatures outside dance below and above freezing. The calendar shows that Spring and Summer are still on the horizon. For the time being, images like this one, will hopefully keep me warm.

Looking for inspiration.

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People have always been the inspiration for me wanting to become a photographer. It was my way of overcoming my shyness and insecurities when it came to meeting and talking to people. When I’m shooting portraits I am at my best both socially and artistically. As I went through the pictures I’d been taking over the last couple of weeks I felt very little inspiration or satisfaction. As I looked closer I realized the missing ingredient…..people. Sure I love landscapes and scenery. Even a flower or two. But the thing that brings photography to life the most for me is people. That is what I’ve been missing. I go through these down phases where I get social anxiety and I have trouble communicating. I kind of broke out of that today and got to introducing myself to some new people and getting some possible future shoots. Along the way I met a local named Ziggy and his dog Lu Lu. I also got to talking to this guitarist who upon putting a dollar in his guitar case played Alice in Chains “Rooster” for me. It was a beautiful day out weather wise. We haven’t been getting a whole lot of those around here these days. Maybe this is the beginning of a good stretch in both the weather and better pictures. One can only hope.