January 28/ Wash Out

On the days that I plan to photograph the SufferJets, I become filled with anxiety.  A friend of mine asked me why and I could only inarticulately mumble an answer having to do with expectations, fear of failure, the cold dark night.  I think it's all of those things.  But mostly, it's just uncomfortable sticking your camera in someone else's face when they are going about their business.  And when I think about that too long and hard, like I do on the days I'm shooting, I have a little freak out.

Today, I packed my day with appointments and errands so as not to focus too much on my evening's shooting agenda.  It worked pretty well and I was calm and maybe even a little excited for my work.  Sparing you the details of why, the roller derby winter practice space is an hour away from Ithaca, and I traveled there solo, skipping the carpooling option.  It was a bitter cold night last night, 9 degrees on my car thermometer and I could feel the blustery wind even in my Saab wagon.

When I got to the rink, I found out that practice had been cancelled, travel advisory - cold temps and gusty winds!!!  So, here's my favorite picture from last night.

January 27/Bolt of Lightning

January 27/ Bolt of Lightning

Sometimes someone will say just the right thing at just the right time.  This happened to me today when I was listening to Brooks Jensen's insightful podcast, Photography and the Creative Process (broadcast through his company LensWork publishing).  I tune into these podcasts when I need to be understood, and it never fails.

Today, I was barely down the driveway when he said something that hit me like a bolt of lightning - that in the digital age, the skills photographers must possess have shifted from the technological to the editorial.  That is, a photographer's print making skills have become secondary to her editorial skills.  Portfolios of beautifully executed prints are not as important, today, as photographic projects with excellent content. 

I was struck by this comment because it precisely mirrors my personal photography trajectory as I've moved from analog to digital.  Without formal instruction, I taught myself how to digitally print, giving up the beloved darkroom for a more convenient desk by a sunny window.  As I gained confidence in manipulating curves and histograms, I found the process of printing not nearly as time consuming as printing from negatives.  Personal photographic websites, on-line art publications, virtual photo galleries are an exciting new way of showing work.  So, as I've been freed from the printing, I've developed a natural interest in pursuing the photographic story.

The beauty of Brooks Jensen's podcast (you can listen to it here LW0550) is that he describes and analizes discreet parts of the photographic process that you hadn't even recognized in your own journey.

I want to hug him for that.

January 25/The Reality

I was running errands on this particularly grey and rainy January day, listening to World Cafe with David Dye.  He was interviewing Jay Farrar (from one of my favorite bands, Son Volt) and Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie, not so much).  Anyway, they've collaborated on a new album based on the writings/life of Jack Kerouac and they played a few tracks and waxed rhapsodic about music writing, inspiration, Jack Kerouac and most importantly Big Sur.  I've visited Big Sur on several occasions so I could picture it.  And, particularly on a day like today, the conversation was evocative.  It certainly is a gorgeous place - one which can overpower with its dynamics of scale, color and texture.  When you're there, it can be hard to wrap your head around it.  It's that spectacular.  Jack Kerouac had a cabin in Big Sur in which one of the musicians, can't recall which, stayed for a few weeks to compose music for the album.  The stay was the culmination of logistical wrangling and hero-worship, and David Dye asked him to talk a bit about it...the experience of Kerouac's cabin, Big Sur, etc.  Ben or Jay paused and laughed and related as how the reality perhaps had not, could not, possibly live up to the expectation.

I thought that that was just right.  And I thought about it in relation to my photography:  it always comes down to just me and the work.  No matter where you travel or which muse is sitting on your shoulder, you still have to work out the lighting and the framing and the timing and the concept.  You have to dive in by yourself and practice your skills and work.  Sometimes, in the end you could just as well be in the grocery store as Kerouac's cabin.  

January 13/Derby Love

This is great; read it.  Here from the derby listserve is one gal writing to her teammates and another responding in kind:   

"Just a note to say "WHOO FREAKIN HOO"!!!!
> 
> Ya'll have come a long way fast and I'm really proud of you.
> 
> Ever yours,
xxx"

"I second that! Thanks so much for kicking my butt every week! I absolutely love it..although I may "cry" at practice, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else! It is great skating with a bunch of great women. I have met gals that I never would've had the opp to do. Again, I thank you with all the derby love, and my body thanks you too!
xxx"

This is why the women who participate in roller derby love it so.  They get hooked on the athleticism and then they get sucked into the whole culture of the roller derby enterprise.  It's like a really cool sorority where anyone is welcome.  No, it's the anti-sorority BECAUSE anyone is welcome.  And, it feels safe...despite the fact that you're slamming into one another.  There's a lot of reference made to "derby love" which feels as real as the blocking and whipping.

I'm pretty new to all of this, and I'm learning mostly by osmosis.  My plan is to photograph roller derby in all its facets.