We were listening to Donald Byrd's version of "I'm a fool to want you" and the shadows were very inspiring... So I decided to photographically investigate what would happen if we were shooting an hypothetical cover for the song, as a single. It was one of these autumn afternoons where everyone has a different version of what is going on. But don't they ever... My subject was impeccable, although she preferred Tom Jones' version. Oh well...
Kanella means "cinnamon" in greek and as I am sure you have guessed by now, the word was the only clue I was given about this particular assignment. But nothing can beat an assignment on a greek beach so, I went, I investigated and the only thing I can reveal about my subject is that she gave me the opportunity to taste the best lamb stew in the galaxy. Kanella made it spicy, just like her name and her personality... To be continued...
I had 2 major assignments for the summer of 2017... Pink flamingos and beach vamps... I was lucky in both photographic investigations. You'll have to wait a little longer for the pink flamingo extravaganza though...
She was a fellow photographic investigator. It was obvious from the way she was trying to avoid my lens. Of course this is impossible. But she didn't know... I met her in the airport, as I was waiting my delayed Honolulu flight. Alohe oe, the beautiful song that the hawaiian queen Lili'uokalani had composed a long time ago, was in my ears and in my heart. Another unplanned photographic investigation... Until we meet again...
That morning I woke up in Venice and, the thought that I had received bad news the night before, didn't appear in my mind immediately. Those precious 10 seconds of freedom from the past gave me a kind of optimism... Maybe tomorrow they would be 15 or 20... My first impression was a song from my youth - from those years that for some reason always bring a feeling of carelessness and happiness, although you know that they weren't that careless nor that happy... But it was a good start. Another day in paradise was about to begin... All I had to do was to photographically investigate a beautiful young pianist who belonged to the mysterious Il Mister circle. And mysterious and reserved she was... I had to take extra precautions as I was warned about her extraordinary ability to manipulate everything and everyone while she was playing Chopin. I cannot reveal these precautions. They obviously worked though, because all that she played was Chopin...
My subject had all the makes of Billy Wilder 1944 film's femme fatale... Better even than Barbara Stanwyck, in my photographic investigator's opinion.. "How could I have known that murder can sometimes smell like honeysuckle?" wondered Walter Neff in the film... Maybe my subject's partner did too, but to me he looked like he hadn't seen the film... Maybe I was wrong, who knows?
Light can disrupt the darkest shot, whereas dark can't do the opposite. Another great truth an experienced photographic investigator inevitably finds out...
A photographic investigator creates consciously her reality. So, it was a sunny spring Sunday, these guys were there, I wished we were all in LA, J Lo's "My love don't cost a thing" was playing on the radio... You get my point...
A relatively new field of philosophy that comprises Zen, positive thinking and stoicism, that photographic investigators, such as I, just can't get enough of... The secret to engage one's subjects of the investigation in coffeelosophic chatter is to present them with a problem of the human existence or situation. And then shoot, trying to be a part of the chatter. It's not easy, subjects tend to get frustrated when the realise it's just a trick. An experienced photographic investigator always participates convincingly!
There is something in common between Mona Lisa and my subjects: no matter how many times they have been "investigated" they never lost their essence. After infinite variations and approaches, they remain their beautiful, amazing, unique self... Always different, always unchanged.
Something that stayed with me since I first read George Mc Donald's beautiful story, "The Day Boy and the Night Girl"(The Romance of Photogen and Nycteris). I quote: "She followed the firefly, which, like herself, was seeking the way out. If it did not know the way, it was yet light; and, because all light is one, any light may serve to guide to more light. If she was mistaken in thinking it the spirit of her lamp, it was of the same spirit as her lamp and had wings". An excellent weekend reading that I strongly recommend especially now that light works it's way to gaining more ground every day...
Living in a tropical, exotic haven has serious implications for a photographic investigator who needs to be constantly on the move in order to be sharp and alert... makes her want to find refuge at all times to the nearest beach, while the truth is that there is no real refuge in any place of the earth -just occasional comfort... Some thoughts that crossed my mind while I was reflecting on the possibility to accept a long term engagement for a series of photographic investigations in Europe which, let's face it, is not an exotic place... My horoscope encouraged me to embrace change, so, I'm thinking about it...
MM had secret powers. Powers one would call magical or supernatural. When extremely pressured, she could see -simultaneously- visions of 8 different versions (or "parallel realities") of the life of the person that was sitting in front of her. My job was to investigate her thoroughly -therefore to put great pressure on her, psychological or otherwise. I didn't have much time to prepare, so I had to improvise with what I had handy that day. I locked myself in an empty room with her and started to sing all my favourite bluegrass songs -with vigor! (These first shots were taken at the beginning of my performance, which is why she looks so courageous and cool...) Of course she cracked after 25 minutes, while I was in the middle of one my Alison Krauss and the Union Station's favourites: "Oh My Lord"... It's true I was merciless but at the same time merciful and kinda compassionate... I released her after she revealed to me that in one of my parallel lives I was working as a photographic investigator -and a surf teacher- in the beautiful Caribbean island of Guadeloupe... I needed no more. I released her, knowing that I had to concentrate immediately to my next project: "Switching realities". More about that on a future blog post...
Magazines rime with routines mostly because you read a magazine whilst you get on with your usual routine... Having coffee, smoking, laying on the beach or in bed, commuting on a bus or train... Simple things that a keen photographic investigator notices...
A good year to achieve photographic investigation goals and to investigate interesting, mysterious people... But this is also a year that a photographic investigator like me, who is born under the sign of the Rooster, is supposed to wear always something red -with the option of red underwear that someone gave her as a present- to avoid bad luck. What can I say... I don't like to wear red, so it must be the underwear option. Life was unbelievably much easier when I thought that this would be my lucky year. Now I must ask someone to give me my birthday present in advance. Red underwear...
