PROJECT: Scene Portraits


Resources:

2005 Image Gallery (requires flash)

2006 Image Gallery (requires flash)

Statement:

My profession as an educator allows for an odd schedule, one I've never fully adjusted to. Eight months out of a year, I struggle to stay afloat with academic responsibilities.   The remaining four months I adjust to having nothing pressing to do.   Sounds rough, right?   In my case, the old saying, ...idle hands are the devil's workshop..., is not far from the truth and I find myself fighting to restructure the day.   This year was different.   I decided to roll with it.   Much of my summer was spent drifting through public venues, seeking nothing more than good people and fun times, especially within the city's nightlife.   I hardly expected this to be fertile ground for my next project.

Occasionally I have a moment when reading a good book where my mind moves from being within the page to feeling 'external'.   I sit on my shoulder for a fraction of a second watching myself read.   Becoming external is just as likely to happen for me in a café or bar, shifting to a fly-on-the-wall vantage point.   A flash goes by where I see the entire scene unfold around me.   It was from here that I noticed a cultural peculiarity worth a closer look.   I began asking myself, where does a city's nightlife come from?   I see an incredible collection of individuals, but what are their motivations and why do they commune?   Is it for the rush of a few drinks?   Do they come to check out a cool band? Are they here to watch people and listening to their stories?   We could just as easily sit on the couch at home, beer in hand (at half the price) and watch Law and Order.   So what's the deal?

In varying states of psychology and inebriation, many, if not most people go out for the same reasons.   We implicitly seek the comfort of company in numbers, for the peripheral connection with a friend, a friend of a friend, or the cute girl/guy across the room.   Within this energized and dynamic environment exists a universal oddity during the evening where, not unlike the notion of being 'external', we break away and relocate ourselves.   Whether for a smoke, a moment of quiet, or to calm down the friend all worked up about their ex's new fling.   We step outside.

On any given night I explore the city between the hours of 10pm and 2am seeking evidence of nightlife, especially on weekends.   Sometimes I look for a crowd.   Other times I work on instinct and situate myself at a particular bar, observing the scene for a fascinating character or intriguing situations.   We participate in those groups through which we find identity.   We are drawn to locations of similar style, attitude or music.   Yet, in absence of friends, drinks, and the energy of being inside, people reveal themselves.   I choose to work exclusively outside for exactly this reason.   From the sidewalk I am allowed a unique view of a momentarily removed member of a specific social scene.

My tools are a tripod mounted 4x5 wooden box camera, a satchel stuffed with film, a very large flash in hand, and a work journal. The camera is a major curiosity and an icebreaker since most people have never seen an old box camera other than in movies.   As a result, it's not uncommon for me to go far into the night, having many conversations, before ever taking a photograph.   Eventually something catches my eye and I break away, I become external; time to get to work.   I usually engage my subject in conversation, or they've engaged me, before I even consider taking a photograph.   I want to know this person.   Their story defines the image and helps me determine how I want to portray their character.   In other cases I see something happening so fast before my eyes that I approach the subject and say, "hold that thought," and use their energy as a seed.   Each setup then takes upwards of 10 minutes to discuss and arrange, concluding in one or two images exposed onto film.   I finish by logging in my journal the date, time, location and the first names of my subjects.   I also make arrangements to send each person a copy of the image as a thank you.   In that span of interaction we become momentary confidants.   My photograph is hopefully a reflection of this brief mutual trust.   It serves as a marker of this person's contribution to their social scene.

At the end of the night I pack up my camera and visit one of my own favorite bars for a beer at last call.   I become a fellow participant with my own story, a contributing member in my own scene.   To me, the real beauty of this project is not in isolated character studies but in gathering individuals into a portrait of a larger community.   I carry one last item in my night travels, a small portfolio booklet of 30 or so images.   The number of people who recognize subjects photographed in very different locations continues to amaze me.   It makes me realize these are not isolated scenes in any way.   They are overlapping circles.

On its surface, people-watching is about curiosity.   We stroll through malls, eat in restaurants and sit at bars.   Congregating, watching, listening.   We quietly ask ourselves, Who are these fellow travelers and what is their story?  It's a universal pastime.   However, people-watching has value far more significant than mere entertainment.   It represents an effort in comparison and self-definition.   Truthfully, we are asking, Who am I and what is my purpose?

In my experience, I find we navigate through an equal number of positive role models as negative.   There are traits in people we strive to match and those we dare not, often we find both embodied in the same person.   As we cross paths with friends and strangers, an internalized view takes shape of who we desire to be.   We flesh out our personal tastes, selection of companions, and ethical bases in this matrix.   We begin to find our place in what is tenderly called the social fabric.

Unfortunately, our evaluations of one another are often established in the course of a glance.   There is potential danger in developing a fictional storyline and the false pretense people-watching so readily allows.   If this is true then not only are we guilty of incorrectly placing each other into neatly defined character types, but we are just as likely to misjudge ourselves.   It behooves use to reduce our artificial speculations and instead get down to honestly knowing one another.   A casual passerby may speculate on a person's character.   I've challenged myself to dig deeper, capturing these people and their stories in the most straightforward manner I know.

Medium: 4x5 postive color film, pigment inkjet prints