Sunday in Salem

Some days you go out with your camera and nothing comes to you. Other days, you get overwhelmed by the compositions that unfold before you. Sunday was one of the latter. A cloudless, perfect day in Salem. The following is only a very small selection of the pictures I took...

The first two are among the shots of the Boise Cascade Mill that is in the process of being demolished. Visit http://www.oregonlink.com/then_and_now/paper_mill.html to see how it looked in 1924 and in 1996.

It is being torn down and will become a "mixed use" space. For now, it has all the charm of a victim of a German Blitzkrieg. The company doing the tear-down has a number of signs on the sight, referring to themselves as purveyors of "the art of demolishing."

The two photos above were taken on Commercial Street, next to the Oregon Tattoo Company. Garry Larson, the owner was outside, having a conversation when he saw me crouch before the wall and pop some snaps. "It's art, isn't it? I mean... people walk by and they don't think it's art or anything, but it's art." Garry said. Astute fellow, Garry is. The point of fact is that most people who walk by don't see it at all, let alone think of it as art. I took the series in black and white mode, but the RAW file of the top image caught me and I just had to go with it. I named it "Wallflowers."

Window. Treasure Island Antiques & Gallery. State Street. Single exposure.

From a parking lot, State Street.

The Capitol Building.

Steve Anchell, contributing writer to Shutterbug and The Rangefinder magazines. Mezzanine of the Capitol Building. Sometimes breaking most of the rules yields some very interesting results.

Oregon State Hospital, Salem. Another historic landmark that is being demolished. In another part of the hospital, patients still live and are treated. The hospital was the location for the filming of Milos Forman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Brown Street, Silverton

New Camera/Dying Rose

I got a new camera a couple weeks ago. A Canon EOS 450D. It's called a Rebel XSi here in the US, which I suppose it could be worse. It's called a Kiss something or other in Japan. I haven't had a chance to use it much*. The day before yesterday I went to the Oregon State Hospital (location for the film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) I may post some of those images. But today I took some snaps of some roses our neighbor grew that were on their last leg (or petals). This is one of them. I processed this one from the RAW file, converted it to grayscale and did minimal correction. More to follow.

*As for why I decided on the Rebel XSi-- I had a 30D for a while and was just intimidated by it. Too much camera, at the time. I sold it on eBay and bought the Canon G9, which is a great camera and I expect I will continue to use it for its ease and size. I had to get over the stigma of buying something called a Rebel. There really is no reason for me to have purchased a 50D other than the name. It, again, is too much camera for me. Neither did I need the latest incarnation of the Rebel-- although it offers more mpx, it also has the video capability and a built-in microphone, neither of which I need. The reviews indicated that the XSi has many of the same components of the 40D, with a plastic body instead of the titanium. My anal retentive traits will ensure no undue wear and tear. It fits comfortably in the hand, seems intuitive--not very different in controls, etc than the G9, with the benefit of interchangeable lenses, etc. As for why Canon-- that was a no-brainer. I can use my film camera lenses, and, with the exception of owning a Nikon F3 set-up for a few years, I have always owned and used Canon.

The Waldo Middle School Project

These photos were taken while I participated in the art & poetry project at the Waldo Middle School in Salem (OR) in conjunction with the Salem Art Association this past April. I taught collage making while Carlos Reyes taught poetry. The results were collages containing poems the students wrote. It was kind of a primitive Facebook, in that the students were instructed to create a piece (on foam core) that showed how they would like to be seen. Some of the finished products were fairly incredible. While Carlos taught or when they worked on their collages, I took photos. These are just a handful of the literally hundreds I shot.  If you've gone to my website, you know, I rarely shoot people. But this was a rare opportunity and these are rare – and very special – kids. 

This is Alma. It was difficult to take a bad picture of her. She has a beaming, infectious smile. I caught her off-guard here, though you'd never know.

Brenda is another of the kids that seemed to light up for the camera. Her shyness and awkwardness doesn't come across in this image. Instead, she lights up with confidence and woman-knowledge.

Stephanie, on the other hand, was full of confidence. She looks much older than her 14 years as was the fact that she is much more articulate. The more I spoke with her and got to know her a little, the more amazed and impressed I was. She plays cello in the school orchestra. As I was leaving the school one day, I noticed her picture in the glass case in the lobby, singled out as a teacher's assistant. 

Ashley – petite and quiet. And more complex than what shows on the surface. The wonderful thing about this experience was having a rapport with these kids at 13 and 14, a very impressionable age. I love the fact that Ashley just stared at me the way she did – not shying away nor concealing herself.

Taylor and Ashley. Taylor exuded confidence and poise. She was proud to tell me about her Normandy V-shaped Aluminum guitar and Mesa Boogie Amp. Rock on, Little Queenie...

Ally, Alma & Stephanie. Waldo has a dress code. The T-shirt that Stephanie is wearing is one of the options. At first, I didn't know that and just thought it was a cool shirt. In her case, it just might be very appropriate. I hope so, anyway.

Sarah. I don't think she knew I was taking this picture. Maybe the girl behind her did. This is where the term "woman child" was born...

Cody. A class clown. Bright as can be. Personable. And, if allowed, destined for good and great things.

Tiasha. I just love this picture. The kids were supposed to pair up and take one another's portrait. Tiasha didn't have a partner, nor wanted one, for that matter. She knew when to say cheese, to smile for the camera...