Superstition
When luck leaves you high and dry… or in my case, soaking wet outside a Fairfield Inn…
“Hey! You dropped something!” the kind faced woman called out to me. Looking back, I see what she’s referring to… a torn strip of backing paper from the roll of film that had earlier torn inside my camera, wasting 40 minutes of golden hour light, and turning 12 lovingly framed and conceived squares into nothing.
Superstition is something that has been a part of my life since growing up playing baseball. Streaks were powerful things, that must be respected. Big Red gum before each game. Lucky socks. You know the drill.
Most people outgrow their superstitions. But for those of us whose “North Star” guiding principles on how to be a good human were forged on a baseball diamond, they never fully go away. Sure, logic informs my worldview more now, but “hot streaks” still catch my attention. So does “the Schneid.”
That is where I find myself, four days into a cross-country roadtrip that I’ve been planning for months, and dreaming of for even longer. Don’t get me wrong, the trip has had some of the wonderful parts of long drives: time to think, good music, and varied and interesting scenery. But it’s also had bad luck, especially photographically.
A dust storm south of Salt Lake City, Gale-Forced Fog outside of Laramie, Severe Thunderstorms the minute I get out of the car in Cheyenne… you can write those off as chance.
But when you leave early to avoid crazy desert temperatures, but still find yourself driving in 113 degree heat; when the road out from your hotel is, as it turns out, the parade route on the 4th; when forecasted cloudy skies become steady drizzle, killing any chance of photographing a lot of interesting things during your morning in Cheyenne; when you head out early only to find bad light; when you “fog” a roll of film by opening the door before it’s fully wound; and yes, when the leader paper on a roll of film tears when winding up to the first frame… you know you’ve hit a patch of bad luck.
“Turn right on State Street,” Siri says… not realizing State Street is otherwise occupied.
Rolling Thunder Prairie - some view, huh? I drove half a mile through gravel to get there. In a Prius.
A view down the hill into Cheyenne… trust me, it’s there… somewhere between the raindrops.
As legendary as the stories of bad luck are - so are the apocryphal tales of how curses were broken. Sacrifices and offerings, lucky antidotes… hell, even the gang from Ted Lasso lit a bunch of things on fire to purge their luck. The trouble is, you don’t really know what got you off the schneid until after it happens.
The offending film leader…
“Thank you!” I said to the woman, forcing a sheepish smile, “it’s been one of those days.” She smiled as she rounded a corner and walked down a side street. “It’s been a full week of Mondays this week!” she called back.
It certainly has.
Squares
Taking a “widescreen” world and boxing it in… creatively.
I’m in the final prep stages right now for what has become, for me, an annual photographic and, dare I say, spiritual journey. It’s time for another cross-country roadtrip. As I approach this trip, as with each trip, I’m in the process of determining what cameras to bring (contrary to popular local myth - I do not actually travel with all of them all the time) and how those choices will influence the images I make, and hopefully the stories they tell.
This has me thinking a lot about aspect ratios… the fancy-dan technical term for just what form of geometric shape my images will take on. For those of you old enough to remember Y2K - you’ll recall the most significant change relating to aspect ratio coming from when your television switched to High-Definition broadcasts. That switch brought on vast improvements in color and detail in the shows you watched… but it also made everything you watch more “wide-screen” in nature.
In the photographic world - the aspect ratio is one of a myriad of stylistic choices that you make every time you pick up a camera. Especially a film camera. Most of my assignment work exists in the 2x3 world commonly associated with 35mm. It’s what you generally associate with most photography. Even your smartphone defaults to this aspect ratio.
My film work tends to take on a less “wide” aspect. My two favorite cameras to photograph with, especially when traveling, create images that are 6x7 and 4x5 respectively. What does that mean? Not much really - just that my eye naturally composes in rectangles - but not really wide ones.
Two angles of the same building in Tucumcari, NM from last year’s roadtrip. 35mm (2x3) on the left, and 6x7 on the right. I prefer the one on the right.
Those cameras will be along on this trip to DC as well. But my primary focus will be to do something that quite frankly I struggled with last year… shooting in square format.
Two angles of the incredible scenery in Sedona from last year. There are a lot of reasons the 4x5 image on the right is better (use of a red filter, for one) - but the way my eye constructed this composition worked better in 4x5 than in square. The goal this year is to compose better in square format.
I’ve always been reasonably comfortable shooting portraits in a square format.
I suppose that comes from a life-long obsession with music and specifically, album covers. All of those years spent pouring over vinyl and cd’s rendered my eyes comfortable with seeing people in perfect squares.
Now the challenge I’ve set for myself is to be as comfortable documenting the world in square format as well.
In the past I’ve not done “here’s the challenge I’ve set for myself” posts, frankly, because I’m notorious for getting on the road and changing my mind entirely about everything. However, I’ve been working more and more in square format for the past few months - and getting more and more comfortable with it along the way. I feel reasonably confident that I will continue to do so on this trip.
I will have the 4x5 and 6x7, just in case, though.
More from the road next week…
When Women Lead
What happens when you gather a thousand strong women and labor leaders in Sacramento? I have a blast, that’s what. (And a myriad of more important things)
Back at the start of June, I was fortunate enough to be the official photographer for the “Stronger Together” Women’s Conference, expertly put on by the California State Building & Construction Trades Council and the California Federation of Labor.
Former California State Building & Construction Trades Council President Andrew Meredith (left) and California Federation of Labor Executive Secretary Lorena Gonzalez electrified the crowd on the opening day.
For me it was an incredible opportunity to document the incredible strength and leadership that women are building within organized labor. It was also an opportunity to exhibit my ongoing project “Woment At Work” to a wider audience.
The “Electricians Breakfast” — there were so many IBEW members in attendance - they had their own room for breakfast on Sunday.
Vision Boards!
…an opportunity made even more special by the attendance of many of the women featured in the project. Hopefully many other attendees will be open to participating in the project in the near future.
And as was so rightly pointed out throughout the weekend… “When Women Lead… Sh!t gets done!”
When you’re lucky enough to be “cool by association.” (Photo Courtesy Carol Kim)
So, March was a blur…
Back in January - Gretchen Newsom, one of the most savvy and innovative political organizers around, hatched a grand plan. It centered on a photo series I had been working on for about 9 months. The portraits I had been making of women electricians in IBEW should be showcased in an exhibit for Women’s History Month.
The project began in April 2022…
And then we put the idea into overdrive. Expanded it to other trade unions.
Including the Iron Workers from Local 229… who also opened up their training facility (awesomely named “The University of Iron”) for a huge photo session.
Photos Courtesy Carol Kim.
By the time we were done - 26 more women were a part of the project… and five more unions were represented.
Photos on left courtesy Jennifer Wilson.
Photo on right courtesy Carol Kim.
Which meant it was time to develop film. A lot of it. The first four days of March were spent Developing/Agitating/Stopping/Fixing/Rinsing/Repeating.
What came out of that beautiful soup of chemicals was an exhibit.
One that I knew I could be proud of… as long as I could get it matted and framed in time.
Reinforcements were called in. We learned about hinging tape. We lined up mattes and images. We ran out of hinging tape. Chaos ensued. We learned about gummed tape vs self-adhesive. We swore off gummed and found more self-adhesive. Chaos was averted.
And then…
With barely a day left - we finished.
And drove the prints down to San Diego.
Where the incredible folks at IBEW 569 turned a warehouse into a beautiful event space… and we celebrated the power of these women.
An amazing night. An amazing month. I’m looking forward to making the next set of images for this project.
Boom Lift Photos
“Elevating” my photography to chronicle the work of IBEW 569.
As chronicled last week… I spent a morning in a boom lift hovering over IBEW 569 members making cellular upgrades to the San Diego Sports Arena…
Thankfully we had a great morning for photos: good light, calm winds (mercifully from my perspective), and interesting subjects hard at work on a rooftop.
The most harrowing moment for me came when I realized my 24-70 lens was not going to allow me enough “throw” to isolate the members on the rooftop. So, in a decision that will haunt my “what if” dreams for years to come… I decided to change lenses… 40+ feet in the air… in a very small bucket.
Thankfully for me - my most expensive piece of glass made it safely into the lens holder on my belt… and the longer zoom made its way onto the D850 without any unnecessary excitement.
Special thanks to the members from Davies Electric for getting me up and down safely - and letting me chronicle their hard work!
More to come!
Quick Dispatch: New Heights
Quick Dispatch: On Boom Lifts, Perspective and Icons
My work with IBEW 569 takes me to some fun places. I love seeing these talented members electrify all corners of San Diego & Imperial Counties. Great big buildings going up, coming down, or being updated to meet the needs of tomorrow. Getting around in those really big structures (hopefully) means elevators. On less fortunate times, it means stairs. Sometimes lots of them.
But if you ride your luck long enough, sometimes you get hoisted up high in a boom lift.
A camera harness, safety harness, three cameras, five lenses, yours truly and the San Diego Sports Arena. (photo courtesy Jennifer Wilson)
The change of perspective had me downright giddy to start making photos.
courtesy Jennifer Wilson
Most photographers enter this world with dreams of making images akin to those of icons they revere. For me, one of those legends is Joe McNally, who has constantly used his encyclopedic knowledge of light and composition to make images in the least likely of places. Like helicopters… and The Empire State Building… and airplanes. Admittedly, I was much closer to the ground than him in any of these instances… but getting up there helped me feel closer to the lofty heights of one of the greats. (if you’ll pardon the pun).
More on this to come!
Shadows
“Painting with shadows” on my cross-country roadtrip.
During one of my most rewarding photography seminars - the instructor gave the usual routine about how the word photography comes from Greek roots, and means “to write with light.” Anyone who attends conventions or seminars on the regular, has heard that countless times. But then he took it a step farther, and said something that has stayed with me ever since. He said “you write with light… but you paint with shadow.”
Fort Stockton, TX
I love photographing shadows… I love including shadows in photographs that aren’t about shadows. They provide powerful contrasts to the light that illuminates the frame.
Birmingham, AL
But they also do something more… in some ways they represent how things impact the world around them.
Scottsdale, AZ
A lot of times I find the shadow of modernity on older subjects to be an interesting statement on the ways in which we progress.
Marfa, TX
Sometimes they represent ways in which we don’t.
Marfa, TX
While visiting Tulsa as part of my roadtrip, I came across a mural on the side of a building where the artist had clearly recognized the shadows and reflections that would be cast on their work. It made for a powerful ways of presenting a beautiful piece that incorporated the world around it.
Tulsa, OK
Whenever my own shadow appears within the frame - I’m usually annoyed at myself for not noticing it before tripping the shutter. But it’s also a good reminder to be cognizant of the impact I’m having on the world around me - not only as a photographer, but as a human being.
Marfa, TX
More to come!
Fall of 2022 Roadtrip
Roadtrip time!
It’s hard to find something to say about roadtrips that hasn’t already been written about, ad infinitum. A quintessentially American notion, hitting the open road captures the yearning for freedom in a way cannot translate to virtually any other mode of transportation. I can’t think of any great travel stories that start with making sure all of your 3 ounce liquids are in little baggies. (I’d detail my growing disdain for the deteriorating experience that the modern flying public endures… but I don’t want this to devolve into a bad 90’s standup routine… “I just flew in from Newark, and boy are my arms tired!”)
All of this is to say, it’s time to blog about my recent cross-country roadtrip. I’m going to try to change it up from the spring of last year… and spend less time with the “First I did this… and then I did this,” style of recap.
Hopefully spending more time on how I spent that time interacting with the world will provide a better narrative of the experience.
If you’re curious of the route - here you go!
Eastbound:
Westbound:
Broken into two maps (Google doesn’t like to stop as much as I do, apparently)
More to come!
Panhandle
Venturing out to the Western Reaches of Florida…
As you may recall my Florida trip deep into the heart of the Panhandle of Florida… an area I’ve not ventured into all that often.
With the first half of the day firmly committed to campus portrait work… it was time to find our way back to nature.
St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge is about thirty minutes south of the State Capitol… on the Gulf of Mexico.
Its beautiful salt and freshwater marshes create a lush landscape.
Spending most of my time in California means I am treated mostly to skies with minimal clouds. Or worse, pollution and haze.
Back in Florida, I was treated once again to the big booming cloud formations of my youth.
It was somehow comforting to see them again.
A Union Legacy
A look back at a vital influence on my life…
It would be easy to write about how my grandfather taught me important lessons and ingrained in me a work ethic that has made all the difference in my life. And that would be true, but it’s not what “Pop” was really about. He wasn’t really one to lecture. I learned from spending time and interacting with him - not from grand speeches about how the world works. That subtle touch was what made him so incredible to spend time with.
He may not have intoned often… but let me tell you, the man could tell a story. I can still picture the look on his face when he would start in on one of his favorite yarns… his eyes narrowed, a mischievous grin engulfing his face. If it was a real doozy - he’d slap his hand on the table and chuckle to himself as the rich and joyous details rushed back to him.
My grandfather was a plumber. He was a Union Plumber. It was from him that I learned the value of being in a labor union. I wasn’t alive for much of his working life, but I saw the imprint of his membership in a labor union. His comfortable retirement, where he and my grandmother traveled freely. His health coverage that never left him to worry about being able to afford to see a doctor. (He still complained about Doctors, mind you… just not the cost of them). These parts of his life after retiring are things that I’ve learned were only guaranteed because he was union member.
When I reached a point in my television career where I was able to join a union of my own, I remember how proud I was to share the news with him. When I changed jobs, and switched from NABET/CWA to IBEW, I’ll always remember his reply, “Oh, that’s great! The electricians have a really great union!” That endorsement meant the world to me. I’ve never wanted to leave IBEW since.
When my grandfather passed - the most important thing for me was to keep his union service pins. They are powerful reminders of his membership, and the incredible life he was able to live because of it.
This is why it is so important for me photographically to chronicle the important work the modern labor movement is doing on behalf of its members. I am exceedingly lucky that my photographic life has allowed me to work with the incredible members of IBEW Local 569.
Behind the scenes photos of me courtesy Gretchen Newsom.
It’s allowed me to make photos of my fellow members of Local 45.
It’s what drives me to make a difference with my photography. To honor my grandfather, who would have turned 108 today.
In Solidarity, Always. - B
