street portraiture
A photographic investigator approaches her assignment with a beginner’s mind. Without plan, without preconceptions, without expectations, without knowledge, without having the slightest idea of what will happen. Than is the only way that a photographic investigation can be true. And that is not a rule, it is an observation.
Read MoreThe clue about my new subject came with the wind. It was expected through the mail, but after an unprecedented explosion in the post office -a product of overwhelming anticipation for the upcoming Chinese New Year, the year of the Dragon- the wind took over the deliveries that the fire failed to eliminate. Only a small piece of half burned paper had survived, with the words: “Eyes with neither artifice nor evasion”. It was one of the more clear clues that I had received for a long time. I knew exactly where to find this amazing subject. The Year of the Dragon was approaching promising not to disappoint…
Read MorePhotographing people drinking coffee or smoking is a routine for a photographic investigator… Photographing them eating cookies on the other hand is more challenging and a great deal more revealing. One way or the other, most photographic subjects have mastered the art of gesturing while enjoying a coffee or a smoke. Cookies are more unconventional. But I think much more enjoyable both for my subjects and me.
Read More“Too often man handles life as he does the bad weather;
he whiles away the time as he waits for it to stop”. – Alfred Polgar . Too often a photographic investigator does acts the same way…
Suddenly this fall everything was changing. A photographic investigator can -under extreme circumstances- manipulate planetary and galactic movements to maintain a situation that requires further investigating. And that was exactly what I was attempting this fall. Seven planets became retrograde in order to stop my subjects from moving into different realities. With no success so far. But a photographic investigator also can recognise when a full circle is complete and she surrenders her wants and needs to the wisdom of the universe.
Read MoreWhen a photographic investigator who discovers her subjects following clues that arrive at her doorstep by mysterious ways receives a note that says “Call off the search”, what is she supposed to do? Maybe stop looking and realise that her subject is closer to her than she could have ever imagined.
Read More“Sitting here in limbo, but I know it won’t be long”, sung Jimmy Cliff and that phrase was the clue for my next photographic investigation. My subject was Zenobia, the daughter of a wealthy family from Chicago who was taking a vacation on a tropical island of the Pacific with a suitcase full of golden coins for her expenses. It was a tradition in her family to pay only with gold, but in this island the authorities in the airport had never encountered a similar case -most of them had never seen golden coins before- so they confiscated her gold until a higher authority decided it was OK to give it back. Until then, Zenobia was living in limbo, spending her days in a coffee shop near the airport, waiting for a new development. I know that my powerful, mysterious employers had the power to arrange for her to have her gold back, but they wanted me to photographically investigate her. So I did it fast, because I don’t like for my subjects to be miserable…
Read More“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air” wrote Emerson and this quote was my clue for finding my new subject. My mysterious employers love to be… mysterious, so I received this quote written in a piece a paper that was attached to the collar of an abandoned cat that knew how to find me. I was immediately intrigued because I have always been inspired by Emerson’s words. Living in the sunshine of divine love that flows trough us and around us, swimming the sea of human emotions, drinking the wild air of inspiration, pure Spirit.
Read MoreA photographic investigator suspects from the beginning that she operates in a make believe world and tries to capture it’s aspects. But there comes a time when suspicions become an undeniable reality and the confinements of Disneyland seem to close in on all its characters. A photographic investigator knows then that it is time to make use of her freedom pass and leave Disneyland.
Read MoreA photographic investigator knows -after having watched numerous subjects- that Florence Scovel Shinn has been right all along: There is an immediate supply for every demand if you show active faith. That means, being sure that everything you desire or require is already on your pathway and giving thanks for this endless supply that is at your disposal at any time. Acting on faith, if a subjects needs money, she buys a bigger wallet, if she wants an adventurous travel she buys an amazing suitcase, if she wants success, she assumes the quality of a successful person. “I see clearly my inexhaustible supply” is her mantra.
Read MoreSometimes a photographic investigation takes place in the past but becomes what it is in the present. Which, of course, is all there is. In this case, the present was dominated by frustration and an urgent and desperate need for escape, which of course was a helpless situation - every form of restriction is an illusion and how can you escape an illusion that you have created? Especially when it contains horrific memories of the past and the fear that it is repeating itself… It’s a vicious circle really. In that context, trying to figure out what this photographic investigation was all about, I started browsing “The wisdom of insecurity” by Alan Watts. And the following passage made me stop. And all the desperation and need to escape just collapsed into their native nothingness: “…as a matter of fact, you cannot compare this present experience with a past experience. You can only compare it with a memory of the past, which is a part of the present experience. When you see clearly that memory is a form of present experience, it will be obvious that trying to separate yourself from this experience is as impossible as trying to make your teeth bite themselves. […]To understand this is to realize that life is entirely momentary, that there is neither permanence nor security, and that there is no “I” which can be protected”.
Read MoreThe soundtrack of this photographic investigation was F.R. David’s (you know, the guy who wrote “Words” -don’t come easy-) “Pick up the phone”. Avalanches of 80’s sound memories rushed in, leaving no room for anything else.
Read MoreI was revisiting a photographic investigation and then I heard a recording of a repeated affirmation by Dr Joseph Murphy: “I am the captain of my soul, I am the master of my fate. For my thoughts and feelings are my destiny”. It made sense. It makes sense.
Read MoreIt was the afternoon of a busy day and my photographic investigation was taking place without me being fully aware of it, surrounded by the beautiful sounds of blackbirds and the sounds of the birds that I could hear in Takashi Kokubo’s album “Jamaica” that was the soundtrack of this assignment. Zenobia was tired and lacked oxygen. I didn’t go to the Jamaica soundscape to investigate, but I did it anyway.
Read MoreThis photographic investigation took place 5 years ago in the einsteinian universe, but in the world of an inter-dimensional photographic investigator there is no time.
Read MoreA photographic investigator is mostly interested the renewing of their mind while observing the renewing of their subjects mind, emerging fresh and vibrant after every photographic investigation. Complete forgetfulness seems to have a lot to do with this renewing… Like Prentice Mulford, in his book “Your forces and how to use them”, says: “To learn to forget is as necessary and useful as to learn to remember. We think of many things every day which it would be more profitable not to think of at all. To be able to forget is to be able to drive away the unseen force (thought) which is injuring us, and change it for a force (or order of thought) to benefit us.”
Read MoreA photographic investigation very often looks like hunting or following appearances, the illusory world that we live in, but in reality is about standing still. A very powerful affirmation (by Florence Scovel Shinn) that I always use in the face of apparent adversity in my photographic investigations is: “I am unmoved by appearances, therefore appearances move”. And they always do.
Read MoreGenevieve Behrend said: “Do not be afraid to be your true self, for everything you want, wants you”. The Samba girls were fearless. It was Friday the 13th with a full moon when I decided to publish the results of this photographic investigation and as I was gazing upon them, I realised that I have never photographically investigated subjects that I did not love or admire, even though many times these subjects were strangers to me. The Samba girls I knew well, but in a strange way I found myself in the position to rediscover them again and again, after every photographic investigation. An amazing and extraordinary experience, every time.
Read MoreUsually I discover the objective of my photographic investigations while investigating my subjects. I have some clues and the general story, but the things I discover by myself (and about myself) are much more valuable. This investigation coincided with my study of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s works and his words "What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you" seemed to fit perfectly to the occasion.
Read MoreA carribean afternoon with me photographically investigating and Jimmy Cliff singing…
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