Mae In the Window

Beca

At this minute, I'm supposed to be boarding a plane to Pocasmello. Instead, I'm lounged in my bed editing some images from some recent shoots. Delays and rescheduled flights means Pocasmello will have to wait another day.

Portraiture is quickly becoming my favorite thing to do, especially when I get to work with wonderful people like Beca. This is her first baby but won't her first delivery.  She's a local OB/GYN, and a very good one at that. I love talking to people while we're shooting, and Beca was no exception.  Charming as ever and totally comfortable in front of the camera, we talked about how exciting it is to be on the other side of pregnancy. She's watched a million laboring women, and now she gets to be one.

On the making of art, again

I've been thinking about my take on art and congruence again, and I can't stop thinking about emotion. My favorite pieces (and the ones I get the most comments on) are the ones where the image crystallizes a moment.  There's definitely some skill involved, but it's also about the artist harnessing the emotion in the moment.

The image above was taken four years ago in Harlem after a great weekend spent with my sister-in-law, Lindsay. We were happy, exhausted, and having a nice conversation as we waited for the next train. Ferris and I had been trying to get pregnant for a year so I was feeling sort of dark and restless for the next chapter. Lindsay and I talked a lot about that...she listened and held my hand.  She was also nearing several crossroads in her personal and professional life.  Turns out, she was on the cusp of great opportunities.  It also turns out, I was pregnant and didn't know it yet. In a way, I think the image captures that looming, dark-to-light, kinetic feeling that something is about to happen...someone is about to go somewhere.

Most of the time, we look at good art and can't put our finger on exactly why it moves us.  Sometimes we can identify how it makes us feel, but sometimes we're left just feeling...something...anything.  I'm certain it's the same for the artist.  They were feeling something...anything and were able to capture it with congruence.

On the making of art

I'm Amy's biggest fan.  No joke, I'd be willing to fight someone for the official position as president of her fan club. So, when she asks a question, I answer.

What moves you in art?

I think there's no difference between making and consuming art. I look for congruence. Nothing else matters except the feeling you get when you've seen, experienced, or read something that is totally and completely in line with the person who made it and the person who is consuming it.  It's a direct line...an intimate interaction.

When I first started shooting, my process was mainly about composition and light.  I took good pictures from my point of view, but I didn't really understand what it meant to produce art until after my first few shows.  Creating an image is only the first step, and to that end you could argue that I made good art. With some experience, though, I've learned that my best pieces (from my perspective as well as critical review) are the ones where all the elements come together...light, composition, subject, technical clarity, printing, and presentation. When all of those elements are aligned, something happens that can't be forced.  And believe me when I say, I've tried to force it.

Good art has to be appealing and it has to mean something, but it can't be pushed beyond it's own merits. That's part of the congruence...not too much, not too little, just enough to say what needs to be said and not a whisper more.

New digs

You're looking at the swatch of space where Mile's crib once lived. It's now the awesomest room ever (aka, my new studio). It's a room with nothing but a desk, some equipment, and a whole lot of happy. I'm still not in there as much as I'd like to be, but I smile every single time I pass by.  I need to futz with the light a bit...maybe add an external flash, but everything else is perfect.  Perfect, I tell you.

And I couldn't be happier about my first shoot in the space with my dear friends, Papis, Vic, and baby Boobakar. We met Papis and Vic a bunch of years ago.  I thought they were great, but Ferris had an immediate 'Dream Weaver' reaction to Papis, like long lost soul mates.  Papis is from Senegal, Vic is from Michigan, and Boobakar was born here in Maine.  Needless to say, we've all fallen in love with them and will miss them desperately when they move back to Senegal in a few weeks.

It's devastation central...the kind of devastation that can only be fixed by saving our pennies for a trip across the Atlantic.