The photography class is nearing it's end and I am fee (6:32am and one kid's now up) ling, I'm feeling, oh I forgot now but I'm definitely not feeling finished. Interruptions are the story of my life. I was telling my friend yesterday that I am amazed by the ideas I come up with in the shower or in the car when there aren't any kids in it. That's nothing new except that these complete quiet moments are much farther and fewer in between than they were when I was in college. However, I do think I played it right. Study mathematics, chemistry, biology as a single undergraduate, environmental science which is less technical as a graduate with babies in my belly (and out), and photography which is even less technical with two toddlers at my feet ("I'm hungry," he says). Photography is just a little easier to grasp. In fact, I think anyone can do it. And I don't mean that anyone who is doing it can do it, but I mean really anyone who takes the time to learn how to do it properly and has some patience can and will take photos as well as or better than those who do it professionally.
I am supposed to find inspiration in online galleries for my class and for a journal entry and let's just say I've had quite some trouble. The fact is that I am not inspired by many of the black and white photos in the Yancey Richardson, Catherine Edelman, Fraenkel, Yossi Milo online galleries. I looked at all of the galleries for plenty of time and without knowing the stories behind the photos I find few I like and that could very well be because I don't have much training in art appreciation. In fact, I have found myself becoming more and more critical of visual arts. Photographers whose work has mesmerized me in the past I now page through uninterested. There is one photographer Hellen Van Meene whose work is now in the Yancey Richardson Gallery who caught my eye . She is one of the more contempory photographers in all of the galleries displaying photos as recent as 2010. The images are colorful portraits that in my opinion develop the soul of the individual subject through their eyes. The light is natural, usually from a window, and it is visible in the scene somewhere but not usually on the subject itself. This is exactly how I like to frame my images. Although I can appreciate photos taken in complete shade or on overcast days or just after the sun has gone down, for they sometimes allow for brilliant color and glistening eyes, this type of photography with less direct light is much easier, I think, and also less dramatic.
My problem this week is that it's almost December; the sunlight outside is so amazing but it is almost invincible. The amount of time each clear day that the rays touch my front yard is about an hour. It doesn't any longer hit the floor of my home, but rather only a couple walls and only for a matter of minutes. I drive into town four afternoons a week for my class and to bring my son to preschool and I can tell in these short daily drives that the sky changes dramatically in a matter of 20 minutes in interior Alaska. It's quite powerful, but it is something I have decided to just sit back and let myself observe rather than try to capture with kids at my side. It's been cold and when it's been 30 degrees warmer at -10, it's been cloudy. There might have been a good day or two in there where it was -10 and clear but if there was I missed it because I was spending time with my ("I really really really want raisins and peanuts, mom") family. I'm thankful that my younger toddler knows the value of sleep as much as I wouldn't trade these sweet interruptions for anything else in the world. It's nice to have time to sit and write like this. My classmates are fighting for studio time, but for my final I am still hoping for some natural light. Unfortunately, a series of chinooks are scheduled to arrive which probably means the skies will be less grand. Stay tuned for my final project ... although this will hardly be the end of my dance with digital photography with all its lovely interruptions that sometimes seem to meet in the middle. I have to remember to keep taking photos and videos of these happy little moments.
