Water: A Thirsty Exhibit

One of the great parts about Los Angeles is that there is never a shortage of places to express artistic freedom. The Silverlake/Echo Park area alone could take months of observation to fully explore the tiny venues, artists, and shops available to view creativity in action. However, one of the greater locations in the city for the professional photography realm is a complex known as the Annenberg Space for Photography in Century City. Headed by the Annenberg Foundation, the Space has rotating exhibits that are changed out semi-annually, in addition to tons of seminars and special events related to the photography field. Even the building design itself is based on the inner workings of a camera. In short: it's a photographer lover's dream.

Today, I had to opportunity to check out the Space while my mom was in town for a visit. This particular display was National Geographic's Water: Our Thirsty World, an exhibit I had been excited about ever since flyers first began appearing on telephone poles throughout the city. We arrived and spent the next hour wandering the halls.

The displays were incredible, which was no less than to be expected. The Space was somewhat smaller than I had imagined, but the exhibit was well-distributed with tons to see. Not only were the prints themselves lovely, but they had touch-screen tables, a reading room, guestbooks, and an absolutely amazing theater rolling through interviews and displays regarding the special edition of the magazine released this month. Overall, I enjoyed the trip and look forward to coming back.

However, the special program did have one downside, which was portraying the realities of the water crisis we are quickly beginning to face. The brilliant, dazzling blues and greens captured in nearly every photograph were contrasted sharply with the grim message they relayed. Whether it was the image of an African woman shoveling meager rations of dirty water into a pan or dry, rusted landscapes of what remains of Owens Lake, California, the alert was clear.

With the world being caught up in the global warming craze and the subsequent flooding that is warned, we often forget that we have such little water readily able for us to consume. Only 1% of all the water in the world can be used for human use at the moment, and in many countries its supply is vastly smaller than the demand. It will only be a matter of time before the deadline has passed on preserving what is available.

I highly recommend roaming through the Space firsthand if you make it to LA. While you're at it, pick up a copy of National Geographic's special "Water" issue. Even for those who aren't photography fans, it may open a whole new perspective about our world.


Rushing Waves by =serphius on deviantART

Finding My Niche

So, as I try to gear up and prep to take this photography thing into the "professional" realm, one theme I keep running into in most forums, books, and blogs is finding your photographic specialty. There seems to be a running sentiment that a photographer needs to focus on one genre or area and keep everything else as nothing more than playthings to mess around with in our spare time. I've had a hard time dealing with this on several fronts.

I've always been keen to the idea that you should do what makes you happy and cut out things that only bring stress or drama. This is a philosophy that applies not just to photography, but to all aspects of my life, from relationships to work to simple hang-outs with friends. I'm not on that likes being told that an area I like being in won't be applicable due to economics, competition, or what-have-you. So, as you can guess, trying to narrow down only a few focuses out of the wide world of photography has been a bit of a challenge.

I guess in a business world, everything will click, and artists become much more willing to sacrifice things they enjoy once paychecks are rolling in. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be writing about trying to break into the art world if I had, well, all ready broken into the art world. So, those sacrifices don't mean much to me yet, and I continue searching. I have narrowed down a few key items, though.

1) I don't do weddings. They don't interest me creatively.
2) As such, I also don't do general "portrait studio" work ala Olan Mills.

There's a whole two items! Which isn't a lot to work with. Even number two is rather vague, since I still do portrait and headshot work, so long as it isn't repetitive. and then there are other factors, like being able to objectively look at my work and notice that, at the moment, I probably couldn't handle doing a lot of food photography on a commercial level due to inexperience. Or sports due to a lack of long lenses. Etc.

So where is my niche? What do I enjoy? And, most importantly, how can I make money out of doing what I love?

To start, my tagline for photography is "Bringing the World to You." I've been a reader of National Geographic since 2004, and it has quickly become less of a casual read and more of an obsession. I love the magazine, the Society, and all that it stands for in bringing readers aspects of our world that we may not be able to see otherwise. Whether it was the special report issue on China for May 2008 or an article in January this year on Scotland's Hebrides, I'm enthralled by learning all I can about this world. So, in point, I like taking pretty pictures of culture, landscape, and wildlife that breaks outside the realm of "normal." I love adventure.

Naturally, this is an area loved by many photographers and, to make matters more complicated, it's largely an area dominated by those that can afford the travel in the first place. Hello, Money, Crusher of Dreams. Now, I come from a family that has struggled pretty frequently on finances. I have an awesome job at Warner Bros., but it's also only slightly above minimum wage, which is immediately drained by that thing called "Rent." Travel is certainly a luxury, not a career. My future will have to involve finding a way to flip that around. Somehow.

A least I have my niche. Sort of. It's a start, a goal to work towards. I can't imagine that will be the only area I find some interest in as I journey through the optical world, but there's now some emphasis above everything else.

Anyone know of a research expedition that needs a photographer?


Gone Fishin' by =serphius on deviantART

The Fiery Prophecy

I was driving home from a party late one night when I still lived in Southeast Missouri. I remember that it was early Summer, and we had little to do but sit around and enjoy the company until our first year of college kicked in. Our town was small, filled mostly with farmland and minor industrial businesses. The time had to be at least Midnight, if not later, and our gathering place was in deep farming and woodland territory found only via careful navigation through several two-lane backroads and highways.

I had rounded a corner, blasting what could only have been the heaviest of Heavy Metal at the time when I came upon a burning field. Fire torched the sky from various scattered mounds across an otherwise flat, empty plain. I pulled over to the side of the road, in awe of what had to be no less than 50 bonfires set up. Only after a few moments did my mind register that this small City of Dis had been done on purpose to clear brush and reinvigorate the soil for new crops the next season. It was a common practice, but usually done with one wall of fire rather than patches of piled material.

My mind could only whisper "I wish I had a camera right now."

After saving through my job advertising for real estate for a couple of weeks, I bought a Canon A80 point and shoot, July 1st, 2004. Not long after, I bought my first subscription to National Geographic, which I have renewed every year since. I tried college, had several problems in relationships, eventually gave up on school, packed what little I had into my car, and moved to Los Angeles. Throughout it all, my little Canon stayed with me, and despite having a primary passion for acting, I knew that photography would be the true medium through which to define myself. Today, I still try acting when it's available, work for Warner Bros. Studios as a day job, and am happily with someone at the moment. However, beside me at all times is a Canon EOS 40D with 3 issues of National Geographic and a steel card holder filled with business cards saying "Photographer."

Now, along with several other makeshift pages, there is a blog to describe my life as seen through a viewfinder. I travel when I can, photograph what is willing, and share this all to you. It's hardly National Geographic (yet), but hopefully this will be an open window to exploration and bringing the world to you, the reader. With any luck, I'll even stumble upon another burning field, only I'll ready this time.


The Devil's Highway by =serphius on deviantART