The Wondering Breast – The Stranger Juxtaposition #1
The Wondering Breast – The Stranger Juxtaposition #1
Something On Her Mind – The Stranger Juxtaposition #2
Something On Her Mind – The Stranger Juxtaposition #2
‘She had something she had seen while on the cruise afixed in her mind. It was in keeping with her loneliness and she felt it was obvious to all around her as if it was an adornment atop her head. She wanted desperately to take off the accouterment but was unwilling in the end because she knew it would never be amongst her charms unless she let in shrink in place and migrate to her bracelet on its own accord so she let it exist, remaining slightly melancholy for the duration of the voyage.’
The Color Opera – The Stranger Juxtaposition #3
The Color Opera – The Stranger Juxtaposition #3
The light coming through the salon door was luminescent and the blue jewelry and eyes popped. I left, went south and found an abandoned ranch, finding similar colors. It was an opera of color.
I Wish – The Stranger Juxtaposition #4
I Wish – The Stranger Juxtaposition #4
The gallery was airy and the assistant had great eyebrows and there was an interesting painting with the word penis in it and there was a colorful potted tree outside and a wall of tile.
The Healing – The Stranger Juxtaposition #5
The Healing – The Stranger Juxtaposition #5
‘The woman who didn’t want to look but found the courage to face the light and thus was healed in the Vietnamese nail salon.’
Love Like Jesus – The Stranger Juxtaposition #6
Love Like Jesus – The Stranger Juxtaposition #6
‘She had yet to understand how she could love too much. Not because it was bad but because people would be like lesser mortals and she would end up being like Jesus, without people who understood her and perhaps crucified.’
The Cake Seller – The Stranger Juxtaposition #7
The Cake Seller – The Stranger Juxtaposition #7
‘Her dream was to be a dancer from the time she saw her father enthralled by the flamenco troupe that came through her small town in Mexio when she was 7 and a half years old and her sone had not even been aseen in her far eye. And now her love is so deep and true that she sells her cake at the mall and dances for him, not her father anymore.’
Maybe Yes No – The Stranger Juxtaposition #8
Maybe Yes No – Stranger Juxtaposition #8
The eye doctor’s eyes, pearls and shoes said 3 different things.
The Separation Anxiety – The Stranger Juxtaposition #10
The Separation Anxiety – Stranger Juxtaposition #10
She took our family photo and we had done the same for her. I didn’t notice her separation anxiety until I got home.
The Dreamer – The Stranger Juxtaposition #11
The Stranger Juxtaposition #11
‘I witnessed her dreaming, day and otherwise, while on the ferry in the bay next to the island with the tree and the blue sky on vacation.’
The Listener – The Stranger Juxtaposition #12
The Listener – The Stranger Juxtaposition #12
‘The woman at the table next to me at the conference listening while I did not but instead had my camera in my lap and took photos of interesting beauty because in the end that is what will remain and I like that.’
The Lookers – The Stranger Juxtaposition #13
The Stranger Juxtaposition #13
‘Something about the way they looked at me persuaded me to give them my money.’
With certain projects I know when I photograph the person I want more than just a portrait of their face because they are more than their face. I want to college more about who they are, including often their clothings, other parts of their bodies, surroundings, backgrounds, homes, and more. It is a collection of images that tell their story.
With Visual Poems I collected the images without knowing I was going to do this series. I was working on other series at the time that also had me collecting diverse images from the shoots and it wasn’t until afterwards that I started to see the possibilities in design and content that led in this direction.
I would love to know if you have a favorite and why so don’t be shy about leaving a comment.
I have two websites, this one and ‘martycoleman.com’. That one is moribund and I no longer post to it. But I did in the past and there are many posts and galleries there that aren’t on this website, especially in the area of photo-collage, which I have done extensively since the 1990s.
I am posting those series at ‘The Napkin’ over the next few months.
The first is called ‘Truths and Things I Made Up About These Women’. The germination of this idea started when I was photographing friends. I was in conversation with them as they posed and came to learn certain things about them. Later, as I was doing the collages I would think about how the viewer would see them. They would nothing about these people but they would have some impression from the image. But what if I put some verbal hints of who she is, how would that affect how the viewer saw the person?
That led to me laying out a list of true things about the person, things they had told me, and then adding in one (or more) things I made up. Why not just say true things? Because I like the idea of the viewer having to think about their own perception and to engage with that perception to think deeper about how we judge and come to conclusions about people.
The text is small in many cases as they were originally created to be seen in large format in a gallery setting.
Here is a selection from that series. Let me know what you think in the comments.
Ever since I started using an iphone for photography instead of my old dslr camera I have done much less street photography. But recently I took trips to Los Angeles and Las Vegas and I was inspired to entertain that genre again. Here are some of the images I came up with.
We often talk about getting lost in the landscape. The idea is to go out and lose oneself, and I get that. You lose all those society-laden elements that burden you. But losing is only half the story. The other is about what you find out about yourself when you are away from all that.
Here are a selection of photos I have taken over the years that visualize the lost and the found.
Yesterday I posted a drawing and 2 photos from my foray into the Dallas Museum of Art’s ‘Bouquet’ exhibition over the Thanksgiving weekend, 2014.
There were other temporary exhibitions as well. One was a retrospective of Modernist Jewelry created by Art Smith. I honestly was more interested in the photographs of the models wearing the jewelry, most seeming to be from the 50s and 60s. The photographers were listed as ‘Unknown Photographer’ in all the photos, though one actually did have a last name written on it. It’s a relatively rare occurrence when something on a museum wall from the last 100 years is attributed to ‘Anonymous’ . The names of models in old paintings are often lost in time, but that is usually not the case with more contemporary portrait muses. But these were photos focused on the jewelry, not the photographer or model, and at least the Jewelry designer was known, right? Still, I felt bad for the photographer and models lost in time. I did however like the word play that immediately appeared in my head; I was taking photographs of photographs taken by unknown photographers of anonymous models.
I took a few pics with my regular camera then decided to take one with my cell phone so I could post it if I later wanted to. When I did that I happened to catch a reflected light in the eye of one of the model photos. That led me on a search for more reflected lights in the eyes. I spent minutes at a time trying to get the reflection to be just right. It was a fun and exacting effort. The other people in the gallery definitely were wondering why I was holding up a little old cell phone so long in one position, that was obvious!
Here are a few of my favorites from my effort.
Museum Composition – Anonymous Eyes #1
Museum Composition – Anonymous Eyes #2
Museum Composition – Anonymous Eyes #3
Museum Composition – Anonymous Eyes #4
After I took the pics I wandered around looking at the actual jewelry in the cases and, as you can see from the photos, they were incredible.
Over the Thanksgiving weekend we were down in Dallas visiting our daughter, Caitlin. We went to see the Dallas Cowboys play on Thursday, had Thanksgiving dinner after that and then spent the rest of the weekend just enjoying ourselves. On Friday Linda and Caitlin went shopping and I went to one of my favorite museums, the Dallas Museum of Art. I’ve been there 3 times now I think. It’s a large museum with an extensive permanent collection in all the major areas of art. It also has rotating exhibitions, usually at least 3-4 at a time. This time the major show was ‘Bouquets’. That means it was paintings of flowers. Not my favorite genre. It could even be my least favorite genre actually.
I knew this in advance and was thinking of going to the outdoor Sculpture Museum across the street instead but for some reason I forget now, maybe it was cold or rainy, I opted to go to the Museum anyway. I had my camera with me and figured at least I would be able to work on my ongoing ‘Museum Compositions’ series. I also knew that the exhibition had at least one Matisse painting in it so it couldn’t be all bad.
One of the good things about the DMA is they allow photography (without flash) everywhere, even special exhibitions. Most museums allow photography but not in the temporary exhibitions. Some, like the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, don’t allow any photography at all. So, I went traipsing around the museum and took some photos.
Drawing
I also did a drawing while I was there. It wasn’t in my sketchbook but rather in a gallery in the Bouquet’ exhibition where they had an actual bouquet of flowers for people to draw. They had paper and pencils and places to sit. I had a pen with me, the type I use in my sketchbook, so I used that on one of their pieces of paper to capture the scene. There was a place to put up your art work once you were finished but I didn’t want to let go of mine. I rolled it up and brought it home thinking I might color it later on. It got hidden in a bag I brought home and I didn’t find it again until last week right before my road trip to Virginia.
One of my goals for 2015 is to follow through on more of my artwork so I figured I needed to scan the drawing and put it out there before it got forgotten.
A drawing of someone drawing flowers in an exhibition of paintings of flowers at the Dallas Museum of Art.
Photographs
I didn’t capture many shots I liked but here are two I think stood out.
Museum Composition – Bouquet #1
This is one of the favorite ‘Museum Compositions’ images I’ve taken. The pose this woman unconsciously struck as she looked at the painting was exquisite and I quickly got off 3-4 photos of her standing there. I later went up to her and asked her if she was a dancer since the pose looks so much like one a dancer would strike. She said she wasn’t and I told her she sure had the posture of one. She took it as a very nice compliment and I was happy about that.
Museum Composition – Bouquet #2
I like the color combinations in this one and I especially like the interaction between the two people.
Earlier during my cemetery walkabout, right as the sun went down, I happened upon a lone superhero starting her overnight vigil overlooking the city. She was strong and disciplined. I asked her how she got to be a superhero. She said she always wanted to be one and found that the local university had it as a major. She graduated in 3 years with a major in SuperHero Studies and a minor in Civil Engineering. Her day job is with the Army Corp of Engineers.
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The Zombie Pirate Queen
During my cemetery visit I also met the Zombie Pirate Queen. She was desperately looking for something more to eat. I pointed her in the direction of downtown, telling her the bar scene was hopping there and she should find someone to her liking. She thanked me and ran off, but not before giving me her business card, telling me to let my wife know she sold Avon on the side and could give her a free makeover.
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The Night Ninja
I was taking a leisurely midnight stroll around the cemetery when I saw Jack and the Night Ninja doing a bit of competitive grave robbing. I told them they could get a lot more work done if they worked cooperatively instead, which they did. In the end they made their deadline and planned to meet later at IHOP for breakfast.
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The Night Ninja skulked around me for a while after she was done grave robbing. She wanted to know why I was taking photographs and if I worked for the NSA. I told her no, but I was lying. I finally got her off my back when I gave her a coupon I had to Ulta and told her they had a 50% off sale on eyeliner.
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Unfortunately for the Night Ninja she never did get to have breakfast at IHOP with Jack. She instead met her demise at the hands of the Corpse bride who, in spite of being all in white, surprised the Night Ninja while she was checking her Snapchat. The Bride had just been left at the alter and hadn’t eaten all day so Night Ninja had an unfortunate end.
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Sally and Jack
I met Sally in a corner of the cemetery where she was waiting for her blind date. She had been set up by her Sorority sister, Drusilla, with her younger brother. She was quite scared of being alone in the cemetery and was happy to know there were others around. When her date, Jack, showed up out of the dark, hand first, she got so scared she peed a little.
Later in the evening I saw Sally and Jack enjoying a romantic moment sitting on a tomb. Jack had a big smile but Sally was worried about finding a bathroom.
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The Lady in Black
When I arrived at the cemetery she was the first person I came across. But she said nothing, she just looked watched me as I passed. Wherever I went, she was nearby, ever silent, ever watching. After the night was over I finally got up the nerve to talk to her. I asked her what she was doing in the cemetery. She stared at me intently, never blinking and said, “I am your eternal witness that these events were real.”
How did The Napkin Dad end up being such a sexy hunk modeling a ‘Don’t Hate the 918’ t-shirt?
This is a photo of me taken by Steve Cluck, a Tulsa artist and entrepreneur. One element of his business is producing and selling the famous ‘Don’t Hat the 918’ t-shirts (for those of you out of the state or the country, 918 is Tulsa’s telephone area code). He is doing a photography project that consists of 918 people from the Tulsa area wearing his ‘Don’t Hate the 918’ shirt.
Beth
A few months ago a friend of mine, Beth Hawkins of Beth Hawkins Video and Photography, posted a request on Facebook looking for some people to be in a promotional video she was shooting downtown. It was on a day I had to be in Tulsa to coach so it would be easy to just go a few hours early and take part, which I did.
Beth Hawkins
Steve
One of the other people acting in the video was Steve Cluck, who I had never met. We had to wait while shots were set up and got to talking about his t-shirt business and my Napkin Dad endeavors. He told me about his project to photograph 918 people from Tulsa in his ‘Don’t Hate the 918’ t-shirt. When I explained who I was he recognized my moniker and invited me to participate.
That was enough for me and a few months later Linda and I went over to his studio and took the shots.
Steve Cluck
Showing Up
Have you ever heard the old saying “90% of success is just showing up.”? Well, it’s true. I answered Beth’s call because I like her and want to support her in her work. I also thought it would be fun. She also promised free pizza so there’s that too. Showing up is not just about showing up for things you are obligated to show up for, that should be a given. It’s also about being proactive and grabbing hold of things to show up for. Using your own initiative to go do something, to help, to participate, to explore your world. The results are usually unexpected and positive, as in meeting and networking with people who are good for your business, your social life, and your friendships.
First off, my apologies if you tried to get to my site yesterday. It was hacked and down for most of the day. With the help of a great PHP coder, Jim Gillispie, I was able to get it back up and running just in time for a momentous week ahead. Thanks Jim!
SXSW
I am headed to the SXSW (South by Southwest) Interactive Conference in Austin, TX tomorrow. I am leading a workshop called, ‘The Compelling Image in the Age of Social Media‘ on Friday. I wanted one more napkin for my presentation so I drew this one.
If you are headed to SXSW and would like to attend my ‘workshop‘, get your name on the waiting list as soon as you can and hopefully a spot will open up. The best and quickest way to contact me there will be via twitter. My handle is @thenapkindad.
Seeing With a Camera
One of the best quotes about photography is this if/then proposition: “If you want to take a beautiful photograph, then stand in front of something beautiful and press the button.” This proposition is true but there is a variable within it. That variable is what you consider to be beautiful. For me, a series of questions follow from that variable: Is my mind open to seeing beauty that isn’t readily apparent? Can I see beauty in details, in unexpected and hidden places, within something larger that may not be beautiful? Can I escape judgment long enough to explore an alternative appreciation for something?
I believe my camera can often be a gateway to that freedom, both for me as the photographer in the moment of discovery and later for the viewer of the image in the moment of revelation.
