The Rorschach Test: Inkblot or Photoblog?

A friend told me that he had taken the Rorschach Test and discovered that he is among the 36% of the population in his outlook to things. “You could have just asked me,” I replied, “I would have told you that you have always been an outlier!”

We laughed, then we both wondered why people still believe that such a test can give insights into a personality.

“When you see a scene, do you see beyond the familiar shapes before you take a picture?” he asked.

Now that made me wonder!

… So I sent him these two pictures I had taken and asked him what he sees. The first is a sunrise on the Atlantic Ocean. What I saw there was the fluidity of the setting contrasted with structures of concrete and steel. Before I clicked I thought “predictability within metamorphosis”. 

I think that when rotated 180 degrees, this picture resembles a Rorschach inkblot given its symmetry.

This second picture comes even closer to a Rorschach inkblot. It started with a kiss but when I developed the picture what I first noticed was a “smiling baby between the lips”. 

And when I rotated the picture, the surprised father-in-law's face appeared at the top left with my name on his forehaead! Now I had an entire story....

Here is my friend’s response:

“The first picture tells me that you get up too early in the morning to walk your dog. The second is about a kiss.”

Hmm… Now I wonder if he is a true outlier or in fact an inlier. But knowing that he was worried that I would psychoanalyze him, I think in this instance he was just a “lier”!!!!!

July 27, 2015

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2015

In the Shade of the High Desert Sun

The bright sun of the high desert allows me to use slow lenses. Over the years I have collected fast lenses (aperture 1.4 or smaller) hoping to use film cameras without a flash or to be able to isolate the picture’s subject by blurring the background at full aperture. Nowadays even an aperture of 3.5 is fast enough given the sun and the light reflections from stones and sand.

What the desert environment has also brought to me is a certain pace in daily life. One learns to be patient, take things as they come. After all, most afternoons are best spent in the shade, with a book or good company. I think my photography is increasingly reflecting that pace.

Here are a few examples of street photography where people do take life as it comes, and where I can use “slow” old lenses and get the shades I always look for.

This man sitting at the balcony of a local café and having a drink of Tequila gives a sense of non urgency. His large cowboy hat adds to the ambient flavor and ecology, even if he is sitting in the shade.

I noticed a young woman cradling a baby under the shade of a tall oak tree. It was very peaceful, and wanted to capture the harmony of the moment. This time I focused on the feet of baby and mom as they seem to represent both a phase of life and the respite from the constant attention a baby asks for.

A few yards away, a man was playing the violin and many were listening. Again, my goal was to capture the harmony people in the high desert have found through the daily changes of temperatures. 

But a crowd has to tell a story, and in this case it was the Yorkshire dog who noticed my inquiry. After printing the picture I realized that he was not very happy with my intrusion into the peacefulness of his moment!

To contrast the calm with action, I wanted a picture about “movement”. This one I took with a Nikkor-P 180mm at 1/30^th speed and aperture of 2.8. I like the various shades that found their way into the frame along with the sense of movement and youth.

… After walking around town with a heavy, 30 year old camera around my neck I secretively envied the man sitting on the balcony of the café with his large hat to isolate himself from the environment!

July 24, 2015

©  Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2015

Mural Paintings in Flagstaff, Arizona and Albuquerque, New Mexico

My street photography is about people, but this time I was interested in mural paintings of people. I think when such paintings are incorporated into the character of a city or neighborhood, it is about the actual people who live there and their identities.

I found two such paintings that covered the entire side of a building. To show their relative sizes, I incorporated references (a street light and a handicap parking sign) for comparison.  Both paintings are in colour but I also think that their 3-dimensional presentation gets depth with the more pronounced tonal transitions a B&W picture can provide.

The woodsman in Flagstaff:

The nebulous human body (human condition?) of Albuquerque:

July 12, 2015

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2015

Street Photography Revisited on the 4th of July

There were thousands of people in the small town making it a perfect environment for some candid photography. Being a Western town, there were a lot of horses and riders. In my previous posting I had shared some pictures from the Rodeo in Prescott, and some of the riders, their horses and the Rodeo clowns were also in the parade.

After a few minutes of looking around, I decided to focus on the theme of “Horses and Riders” but all was very methodically organized and I did not find an unusual or unexpected event to photograph. Instead, decided to focus on shapes and forms of the interaction between horses and humans.

… Well-worn cowboy boots contrast well with horses’ hoofs. So, as a cowboy was taking the saddles off the horses, I hoped to compose a few scenes.

This one seems like a dance..

It often takes patience to compose that one shot that not only fits a theme I have in mind but is affected by variables I cannot control. Such as a sudden shading in part of the scene due to a passing cloud. This picture got affected by the uneven lighting but helped the picture to stress the shape of the woman handling the horses.

Then, a group of ladies, of a certain age, arrived dressed as Rodeo Clowns. This picture was not composed intentionally, but as I looked at the printed image I could not resist smiling: A clown of the World’s Oldest Rodeo seemed to taking her own pulse to make sure all is ok!

Finally, I noticed another photographer who was taking candid pictures but using a large tripod! I was thinking that it was the anti-thesis of street photography techniques to be noticeable, as it becomes interference in the natural flow of human behavior hence makes the end product, the photograph, biased.  As I was revisiting the basic principles of what Henry Cartier-Bresson had made so popular (using a pocket size 1954 Leica IIIF for his most famous pictures), the perfect composition present itself: the photographer , on his knees behind his most noticeable tripod, was taking a picture of a woman who in turn was taking a “selfie” with her phone! The woman was perfectly in line between me and the other photographer allowing me to make the point that street photographers should be stealth and unnoticed.

But who knows? Perhaps his pictures are perfectly framed and not affected by hand movements I often have to keep in mind when I shoot handheld while trying to continuously focus my 50 or 60 year old lenses…

July 4, 2015

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2015

The Oldest Rodeo in the World

The Rodeo, or “Cowboy Tournament” as it was originally called, is said to have started in Prescott, Arizona on July 4^th, 1888. Influenced by the Spanish cowboy lifestyle known as Vaquero, the purpose of the 1888 rodeo was to bring all the skills and lifestyle of cowboys into a structured tournament, hence there were prizes for winners. The success of this show made the rodeo most popular in North America. Indeed, in Canada, the Calgary Stampede Rodeo, which started in 1912, today incorporates more competitive programs such as Junior Steer Riding, Ladies Barrel Riding and Bull Riding.  The one in Prescott stays within the original spirit of Bareback Bronco Riding, Saddle Bronco, Steer Wrestling and Tie-Down Roping, to reflect the true working cowboy’s lifestyle on the farm.

So it was very tempting to go to the World’s Oldest Rodeo in Prescott on opening day, June the 29^th.

I was looking forward to taking pictures, although the show started after sunset, challenging the functional limits of any photography tool I have. But I was most disappointed when I learned that telephoto lenses were not allowed! Knowing that I could not be in a crowd without a camera hanging from my neck, I took a fixed lens camera just for fun. The pictures that follow have therefore been enlarged to various extents as I took them from at least 50 meters away with an 85mm lens.

… The rodeo grounds are simple and without fanfare. The show started with cowgirls parading around with flags, then national anthem was sang, and a series of galloping demonstrations followed.

The central structure of the arena is historic and this is where the announcers have their booths, and from under which the broncos enter the arena. It was already dark when the show started.

My favorite was the riding of the broncos. These beautiful horses did everything to throw the rider off their backs and some did so more spectacularly than others.

When the rider was down, some of the horses seemed to celebrate their achievement by continuing their bucking.  I learned that these horses have a “flank strap” put on which causes discomfort and encourages them to kick out. When the rider is down, other riders reach out to the bronco and take the strap out. At that point the horse calms down and in a 180 degree volte-face, walks to the gates under the main structure in a nonchalant way!

Sometimes, when the steer wrestler misses the lassoing and falls from his horse, the steer does the same thing as the previously bucking bronco. This steer came closer to the stands and gave me that look that says “See, sometimes the steer wins!” The light shining in his eyes makes him especially memorable.

When a cowboy falls, his peers make sure that he is ok. This is a competition but not at any cost. The camaraderie among cowboys is most charming to see.

… Summer rainstorms and thunder arrived at the end of the rodeo show. I was pleased that this was not a hi-tech event with huge screens, fancy singers or dancers. It was what I was hoping for: a historical event that is kept as close as possible to its original raison d’être.

In the car, as the rain was forcing all drivers to go slow in the streets that are very dimly lit, I kept on thinking about the symbolism of a lasso. Eventually we capture ideas, hopes and even others with both visible and invisible lassos. Perhaps the lasso of idealism is the most far-reaching and the skill of the user most demanding.

And then, I remembered a photo I had taken a few days before. The posture of this young woman using a hula hoop was so similar to the cowboys and their lasso! I secretly smiled thinking that perhaps the young lady was more skillful with her lassoing techniques than some of the cowboys!

July 2, 2015

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2015