I have a special penchant to the paintings of Andrew
Wyeth. While Christina’s World (1948)
is his most well-known painting, I have been attracted to the more common daily
life moments he noticed and celebrated. He is considered a realist painter and a
regionalist who painted people and their ways of life in various geographic
areas.
Very similar to a street photographer who captures
moments in different cities or countries. A street photographer is rarely
abstract – people are real and their behaviors realistic when captured on film.
… As I was hanging wet 8x10 photo paper on the drying
line across my darkroom, I smiled at the realization that, as I use wood clothpins to hang them, I was almost hanging laundry the old-fashion way. The
darkroom was my own backyard, my balcony, and my sun was a 20 watts red light!
Which made me think of a painting by A. Wyeth that I have always appreciated. It is the Light Wash he painted in Pennsylvania. It is a very visual scene and full of movement. Laundry is hanging on line to dry, there is a breeze, and a dog is sleeping in the shade of the laundry next to a wicker laundry basket. The latter is partly covered with sunshine depicting a warm and sunny day.
… So a theme developed in my mind, something like “hanging
laundry and street cleaning.” I searched for photos I had taken with that theme
consciously, or unconsciously, I had considered.
Neighborhood
under the São Jorge Castle in Lisbon. It was one of my
favorite walks going up the hill to the Moorish castle overlooking Lisbon and
the Tagus River. The neighborhoods on my path were typically Mediterranean with
their narrow streets, iron balconies, the aroma of fish frying all hours of the
day, and especially the laundry hanging from these balconies. Being born on the
Mediterranean, I have always kept a soft spot in my heart for balconies and
laundry hanging on line…
Street
renovation in Lisbon. Another moment from Portugal, equally nostalgic
as the above photo but this time due to the 19th century architecture of the
building. The sun was at its zenith when I was walking the streets in search
for a moment to capture with my 1980s Olympus OM. This worker was taking a
break from cleaning gravel in the construction area outside the building. He
was certainly feeling the heat and his attire was to shield him from the sun. Yet,
the moment was what my Olympus was hoping for – he stopped next to a street
advertizing board showing a lovely model in minimal attire. Who had the right
idea about clothing for noon time in Lisbon?
Taipei
before sunrise. Another of my routine practices was to
wake up an hour before sunrise and walk the streets of Taipei. Life never stops
in Taiwan’s largest city as street vendors start preparing breakfast food
almost around midnight. I loved being part of the sounds, smells and movement
of Taipei. Another activity before sunrise is to clean the streets, the
sidewalks and the entrance walkways of residences. I took this photo right
after someone had used mops to clean the house entrance and had placed the mops
in anthropomorphic postures. It looked like the mops, still wet and dripping
water, were taking a rest.
… The wet photography papers hanging in my darkroom
took me from Andrew Wyeth’s Light Wash
in the back of a Chadds Ford house in Pennsylvania to Lisbon and Taipei.
This time and space travel may not have happened if
I was downloading digital images on my laptop and manipulating them with
digital photography software….
June 26, 2016
© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2016
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