Hats that Uncover what They Hide

I was looking out of my window which faces a mountain chain in Prescott. The crown jewel of that chain is Granite Mountain which is 2,325 km in altitude. Sunsets are very colourful behind that mountain chain but sometimes sunrises are too.

On this morning, there was a large cloud upon the mountain. Actually it looked like a soft cover or a hat. I grabbed my camera, put the old Nikkor –P 180mm tele-lens on it and clicked. 

A second or so later the shape of the cloud changed. And a few minutes later it was gone.

It is all about timing. Interestingly, over the years photography has also taught me to follow that undeniable paradigm by making the most of any moment in my life. I know that, like that cloud, if not capture to the fullest at that moment, it will pass and never be the same.

But one has to also be patient to “click”, on a shutter or emotionally, when the moment is just right. Not only right. For example, I often take photos of wildlife in our backyard. I have not been able to capture the mountain lion (cougar) on film yet, but deer are much more curious and friendly. So, there were two fawns looking for food. I knew I had one chance to click as the sound of a 1969 Nikon’s slapping curtain scares them. So I waited. At some point I anticipated the positioning between the two fawns hoping to have a visual illusion.

Here is that illusion:

So, after printing the Granite mountain shots, I thought of hats. I suppose that is the first thing that comes to mind, especially when the hat is tilted to show mood or attitude. And I thought of a few hat shots I had taken.

This is a traditional head cover. A lot of history there and no real attitude. It belongs to a time, and a place, that we still see around the globe.

 This one has an attitude. It is also traditional to the South and South West of the US. Yet, I felt that this artist, while carving a horse out of wood, wanted to isolate himself from the surroundings. So it is an attitude of shielding.

 Well, this one has nothing to do with the hat but the posture of the artist. In the viewer of my camera I saw a bull charging this woman. The hat is really secondary here.

In this case, that hat is a sign of importance and rank. Nothing to do with covering your head or protecting it. The contrast in rank with the men surrounding this sword-carrying leader is what I wanted to get. Although, when I looked at the printed photo, I realized that he may not be a very expert in holding a sword while putting it back in the scabbard. I doubt it that one should hold it by the blade!

This woman and her hat were in perfect upright posture. But I took this photo because of the street lamp – I am not sure they are supposed to be bent like that…

 I like the harmony of this photo. In my mind that is the perfect head cover shape that man could have warn. A cowboy hat would have just destroyed the flow of the lines!

Finally, there is this photo. Everything in this man’s posture and surrounding is unassuming. But it is his candor, written on the cardboard he is holding that tells you his attitude.

Sometimes, a hat is much more than a cover.

December 23, 2017

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2017

Cowboy Painter Joe Beeler Statue in Sedona, Arizona

A friend gave me his 1970s Olympus OM-1 because it belongs to a different time. Few people can find film, and even fewer places would develop them.

I suppose I belong to a past time that has not yet passed for me. Working in my darkroom provides the same excitement as it did almost 50 years ago. When the picture starts taking shape in the developing tray, it is still magic.

So, I wanted to try the camera. I have 6 OM-1s in my collection and all have traveled the globe with me and carry scars from each trip. This one has been kept almost intact giving the feel of using a new camera.

On a sunny Friday, went to Sedona, Arizona to wander around the city getting ready for Christmas. Many were taking pictures of the red rock formations, the Christmas decorations, and of dogs dressed in holiday garments. Being a strictly Black & White film user, red rocks are always monochrome for me, Christmas decorations seem to be non-creative, and dogs wearing silly hats, well, kind of silly. 

So, wanted to find that street photography moment for which B&W photos give a special character.

On the main street of Sedona, there is a bronze statue of a local cowboy painter Joe Beeler. It is slightly larger than life and faces the mountain and red rock formations. It is a perfect tribute to the environment and its cowboy heritage. The statue has probably been photographed a million times, but when I was walking by there was a man in a cowboy hat sitting behind it reading a book.

I immediately saw the scene in B&W, and decided to find an angle that would make the man as “bronze-like” as the statue. In order to prove that he was a living soul, wanted to find an indicator while respecting the identity of the book reader.

At that very moment he turned around to show his white beard, and that was what I needed.

Technical details: I used a 50 mm Zuiko lens opened to f11. Since I use slow film, the speed was set to 1/125 second. With such small f-stop all corners of the frame will be in focus. So, to give the printed photo a bit of blur and movement I used a 1950’s Russian Jupiter -3 camera lens instead of an enlarger lens. My enlarger is from the 1950s as well and it has a Leica 39 mm lens mount so I can use camera lenses from that era instead of enlarger lenses. While an enlarger lens is flat-field (meaning it will not distort the photo when printed) using a camera lens provides distortions outside the center of the frame. Used as such each camera lens has its own distortion characteristics. The Jupiter lens not only distorts but also gives a swirling feel to the distorted areas. Only one other lens I have, the coveted 1948 Carl Zeiss Jenna 7,5 cm Biotar f1.5 gives such swirl to the actual photo! See the tree in the left upper quadrant for Jupiter’s effect.

Now my two “statues” were surrounded by movement!

December 9, 2017

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2017

Washington, DC

Healthcare is again at the center of debates in Washington, DC. I wanted to capture a description of the moment with symbolism rather than through photos of rallies or marches.

Here is my take. It was on the National Mall in Washington, DC when I saw this woman in a wheelchair with her dog wrapped in a blanket, on her knees. In the back you can see the almost symbolic and blurred Washington Monument.

She is looking at the Monument, as millions of other citizens are.

November 30, 2017

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2017

Armenian Diaspora: the “Salmon Syndrome”

There is a “salmon syndrome” concerning cultural inheritance. At some stage of life, many of us seek that inner river to go back to. Because through our lives we have pursued a path to where we were going but never forgot where we came from.

I came across a book of ethnophotography by Scout Tufenkjian, an Armenian photographer who traveled many of the 85 countries where 8 million Armenians constitute the Armenian Diaspora. The book was published in 2015 on the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.  Her photographs are about the spirit of survival and the dignity of an ancient people who never forgot where they came from (https://www.amazon.com/There-Is-Only-Earth-Armenian/dp/1595910832)

I have traveled the globe for more than four decades and sometimes explicitly, other times by accident, I have looked for that inner river to go back to. Reading Tufenkjian’s book brought back the joys of the “salmon syndrome” – not as the last stop in that river of identity but as a responsibility to swim in it.

Here are a few of my moments in that river.

Singapore. I have worked as a health care professional in Singapore for a decade. When I first visited this one-city country, I was asked about my cultural inheritance. The next day, I was escorted to the Armenian cemetery and chapel which are amazingly well preserved for almost two centuries.  I have written about my first visit here: https://liveingray.blogspot.com/2013/04/singapore.html

One of the statues in the cemetery remains my favorite. Time has not erased the pain depicted in sandstone.

I was also told that the national flower of Singapore, an orchid hybrid, was the world’s first cultivated orchid by a Singaporean woman of Armenian descent Ashkhen Hovakimian (Agnes Joaquim) (b. 7 April 1854, Singapore - d. 2 July 1899, Singapore). It is called Vanda 'Miss Joaquim'.

São Paulo, Brazil. Another big center for the Armenian Diaspora. There are many Armenian churches in Brazil, and the one on Santos Dumont Avenue is my favorite. It has the classic lines of Armenian churches one sees in the mother land and stands in stark contrast to the surrounding modern building. I wanted to capture its silhouette while driving by.

Buenos Aires, Argentina. This is another city I have visited many times. At every visit I take a few hours to walk around the Recoleta Cemetery. While Evita Perón’s humble resting place is what attracts many visitors, I looked for Armenian names…

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The first time I was there was in 1979 and it was a city in construction. Today, it is one of the most architecturally impressive cities in the region. The famous Bedouin  silhouetted 992 foot tower was designed by Richard Tenguerian, an Armenian from Syria. That was the first piece of information I was given by my host when visiting the tower! My view of the tower is shown here: https://liveingray.blogspot.com/2014/05/riyadh-new-york-and-architectural-musing.html

Armenopolis, Romania. This is probably my most memorable swim in that inner river. I wrote extensively about that experience here: https://vahezen.blogspot.com/2016/03/armenopolis-romania.html

In short, I was lecturing in Budapest when a woman from the audience approached me to ask if I had visited the Armenian church in Armenopolis (Gherla). When I said no, she convinced me that should. So the next day I drove 12 hours to see the church. I never regretted that long drive but hoped to have taken pictures of the empty church..

There are many other memories of moments when the “salmon syndrome” had expressed itself, often uninvited. Among them is the surprise celebration of my 50^th birthday in Vienna that my Austrian friend had organized. More than a dozen Armenians came to the church with homemade Armenian food. I did not know a single one of them! Details here: https://vahezen.blogspot.com/2014/02/birthday-in-vienna.html

So, Tufenkjian’s book may contain frozen-in-the moment photographs of the Armenian Diaspora, but it helped me leaf through the pages of my past decades with sounds, faces and feelings that are still very active and alive.

November 26, 2017

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2017

Veteran’s Day Parade through the Eye of a 1954 Canon Lens

Prescott is a small city in Arizona where many veterans have retired. While parades are relatively small, the respect and devotion shown to veterans is vast and continuous.

I took my 1954 Canon rangefinder and one roll of ASA 100 film to capture a few moments. While there were hundreds of digital cameras shooting non-stop at any moment of the parade, I looked for my usual “people moments” to describe an angle other than what was going on the main streets of town.

After all I had rolled less than 20 frames of film in the canister and I needed to use each frame with a purpose.

Also, this time I did not use a yellow filter on the Canon 1.8 lens. I wanted to let the off focus areas be less sharp and dreamy. I also took the shade hood off to allow old-fashioned flare do its trick -- this lens can provide unexpected bokeh on sunny days.

The Super Man was surely picturesque, especially for B&W photography. But I wanted to have all in the foreground and those in the background as blurred as possible. So, I set the aperture to 8 and the speed to 125.

This next frame was almost perfectly constructed for me to just click. The man in the wheelchair has a Chicago Cubs sticker, his face is solemn, and in the background is the City Hall as a rectangular and natural frame. The parade participants are just behind the man but the old lens did its magic in making them feel distant and in a fog.

Needless to say that on such a day, patriotism is front and center to all expressions, speeches, songs and parade programs. I found this man’s T-shirt perfectly describe the atmosphere in town.

But, there is no street photography without a facial expression of surprise! This time, I had two faces look at me as if wondering who still uses mechanical cameras and film! 

These two lap dogs actually seemed to express the surprise of quite a few people who stopped me to ask “Is that really a film camera?” A young woman came to me and asked to see the Canon rangefinder. “I have never seen a film camera” she started. “My father had told me about these.”

… That made me feel real happy, indeed.

So, these photos represent what I saw at the parade. Oh, of course there were marching bands, horses, WWII Jeeps, and other old cars. But I am a street photographer of people, and had less than 20 frames of film to shoot!

November 12, 2017

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2017

Joy of the Unexpected (Rare Arizona Dinosaur...)

I was walking downtown Prescott hoping for a moment to capture on film. Unfortunately nothing unusual was happening. After a few minutes I came across a band playing guitar and singing. The songs were good but there was nothing there for my lens.

As I was leaving, I decided to just take one frame of the guitars and the crowd surrounding the singers. At that very moment a dinosaur walked into the frame! Really, a 10 foot dino just walked by as if it was its usual path!

I could not tell if it was the kid of the woman in that attire or her husband. But I thought it was exactly why a street photographer has to be ready to click, even when you do not know what you are pressing the shutter for!!!

… And I thought I was the only dinosaur with my film camera!

October 3, 2017

©Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2017

New Blog

I wanted to let my visitors know that I started a new blog where I will be displaying some of my experimentations with painting and other modes of visual expressions. I am eager to hear comments!!

The blog can be seen at this link: https://vaheark.blogspot.com

October 1, 2017

©Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2017

Light and Shade from Mesopotamia to the Southwest Desert

A colleague from academia sent me a note from Leuven, the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in Belgium. He wrote:

“You have been dealing with light and shades since I have known you. I just read about a new study from Germany and thought about you. You should read it.”

Of course I did. It is a quite novel approach to archaeological “diggings” from the academic angle by Mary Shepperson entitled “Sunlight and Sade in the First Cities: a Sensory Archaeology of Early Iraq.”^(1). There are a number of theses to the publication, but the one that attracted me most was the study of how from ancient Mesopotamia to  the present, we have encroached upon the natural rhythm of existing creatures, humans included, by altering the natural cycles of light through technology. Building cities, their architecture and the impact of artificial light has impacted civilizations by modifying the behavior of people and animals.

.. Of course, to a photographer, especially one like me who does all his work in Black & White, it is all about shades. I like the concept of “sensory archaeology” as I think that it is a perfect description of what an artist does, even if the definition is never as elegant as Mary Shepperson puts it. Artists are about defining, capturing and transmitting the sensory in various forms of art. And, it is impossible not to be an “archaeologist” for we always learn from past works, and build upon the successes of the best practices in transmitting the sensory experience.

Art without the consciousness of archaeology is an empty vessel from which no one can drink.

.. Building a house, planning for the architecture of a neighborhood or that of a city is based both on the utilitarian concept of constructing a comfortable place to live, and the identity of the people who would inhabit these houses. Thus the inevitable imprint of the art and culture of the community upon the architecture of their dwellings and environment.

Regarding construction of a house, the author states:

“The salient process is the reciprocal relationship between architecture and human behavior; this sees architecture shaped to accommodate specific practices and meanings, while in return, the material architecture shapes meaning and mode of living for its inhabitants.”

This statement reminded me of a famous speech Winston Churchill gave in the House of Commons on October 28, 1944. He said:

      “We shape our buildings, and afterwards, our buildings shape us.”

Having lived in 3 continents, dozens of houses and countless transient dwellings, Churchill’s quote has always been on my mind. Because houses are identity in stone, concrete, wood or steel. The architecture of Amsterdam is more about the willingness of its people to live below sea level than about the parsimonious use of space. And the villages perched upon mountain sides around the Mediterranean is more about independence than bravado.

.. Back to my friend from Leuven. In his note he adds:

“Ancient Mesopotamia built its streets at a diagonal to have shade part of the day under the arc of the sun. We seem to have forgotten the usefulness of such geometry and instead, build at right angle.”

Here is a photo I took in Leuven. A rather typical European architecture. The stone buildings have thick walls to negotiate temperature and luminosity with the sun, the wind, and the seasons.

In contrast, the balconies of Barcelona have always attracted me as they reflect the people’s affinity to communication and perhaps the comfort in closeness.

Yet narrow streets can still provide enough personal space for dreaming. Here is a moment I captured in Ferrara, Italy.

Eventually, it is all about shades of light. A building or a street changes character with the position of the sun and the moon. Here is how I like to think about Amsterdam.

But the sun, rain and vastness of space can also be solemn. I took this photo in Oswiecim, Poland, of the Birkenau “Death Camp” part of the Auschwitz complex. The archaeology, the ending rail lines, the coldness of the rainy evening seemed to have frozen the conflicting identity of various groups of people in time. Or hopefully at one point in time. I tried to summarize the feeling in one frame on B&W film.

Yet that very identity is what makes us identify a group’s attitude behind the walls of structures they build. Take Cairo, Egypt. When I saw the carpets hanging from balconies, I knew I was in an environment when the sun is more than just a source of light and heat – it is part of the daily living process of the inhabitants of this over-crowded city where time has passed over countless generations.

Regarding the relationship of light and time, the author of this study concludes:

“Time is, of course, a major concern of architecture, but it is generally approached at the scale of decades, centuries or longer.”

Perhaps that is where a photographer does not have the luxury of an archeologist. I do not have decades or centuries to capture passing time. Tempus fugit and I have the urgency of seeing its ravages or blessings.

Here is a sequence of photos I took from Baltimore to Prague, showing attitude, architecture, and the relationship of light and the passing of time.

.. So, when I finished reading the study report, I thought about the few years left to my life under the scorching desert sun of the American Southwest. And my mind escaped to a Christmas evening next to a lake in snowy and cold New England. In that small village, all was silent and cold, yet my dog had that attitude of gratitude. He was old, but healthy. For him, time passed as a daily blessing.

September 23, 2017

©Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2017

⁽¹⁾Vandenhoeck & Rupercht Cmbh & co. KG. Göttingen ISBN Print: 978352554054 – ISBN E. Book: 9783647540535

What’s On a Man’s Mind

For more than 3 decades I traveled the globe as a health researcher and academic. I cannot even come close to counting in how many hotels, motels, pensions, and other sites I have slept in beds where many others had had their dreams.

This morning, as I was leafing through a poetry book, I found a piece of paper which I had carried with me during these decades. On it, I had handwritten verses from Boris Pasternak to remind me that one day I have to find a single bed to sleep in and a moment to myself.

It was a very selfish thought, in some ways. But that was on my mind.

The verses from Pasternak were from a poem titled “Out of Superstition” and read :

“The cubbyhole I lie in is a box

Of candied orange-peel.

Soiled by hotel rooms till I reach the morgue –

That’s not for me, I feel.”

Of course, it was Sigmund Freud (it is said) who sketched the optical illusion caricature and called it “What’s on a Man’s Mind”.  

Yet this morning I wonder if indeed that is the primary thought a man has.

However, I must have had that Freudian influence upon me when I took this picture in Barcelona. Like all street photography, it was the split second chance to have that man align with the banner behind him. What was written on the banner made this a Freudian moment when all came together in a frame.

… And the man saw me too!!!

September 17, 2017

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2017

U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the Arizona Rancher

A few years back, a group of us went into the Chesapeake Bay on a boat to watch the air show of the US Navy Blue Angels. Here is the background about the Blue Angels from Wikipedia:

“The Blue Angels is the United States Navy's flight demonstration squadron, with aviators from the Navy and Marines. The Blue Angels team was formed in 1946, making it the second oldest formal flying aerobatic team (under the same name) in the world, after the French Patrouille de France formed in 1931.

The Blue Angels' six demonstration pilots currently fly the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, typically in more than 70 shows at 34 locations throughout the United States each year, where they still employ many of the same practices and techniques used in their aerial displays in their inaugural 1946 season.”

The perspective from the water level is much different than from a high rise building. And, from the water one can capture parts of Baltimore and its port as background.

I had taken a few photos with my Nikon F3 and 1970’s Nikkor-P 180mm lens. Upon printing them I realized that there were droplets of water on the lens showing up as dark spots. So, in addition to not being true street photography of people, I threw the photos in a drawer and had forgotten about them.

… Last week, while horseback writing in the desert, I took a few photos of my riding companion, just for fun.  A couple of the moments I captured were unexpected, and after laughing a bit about them, a thought occurred to me:

“Even the most experienced professionals have rare moments of accidents.”

In this case, this rancher who had been on a horse since he was able to chew food (his statement…), dismounted the horse a bit too close to the beast and hurt himself (nothing serious, of course) . I captured that moment without planning, but because of the instinct a street photographer has of anticipating something to happen, unexpectedly.

All this made me think about the Blue Angels. Their “Pegasus” is much more powerful and fast. 

They fly closer than two horses can run together, and if an accident happens, it will be tragic.

So, I dug out my old photos.

This is the water level perspective. Notice the F/A-18 Hornet flying upside down.

This one is my favorite as I was able to align the Hornets with the edge of the silo.

Who said that two Hornets cannot fly along a seagull?

This is from the final moments of the show.

And this upside down Hornet has the tall masts of Baltimore as background.

And now, the contrast with the experienced horse rider who miss-judged the distance between him and the horse upon dismount…

And OUCH!

No worries. He felt fine in a few minutes and we resumed our ride. Although he was sitting gingerly upon his saddle for a while….

August 14, 2017

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2017

Reactions to a Street Photographer

 Street photography captures people (well, most of the time…) in their natural moment. That means the photographer should not alter the posture, action or behavior of the subject.

There are techniques one learns to achieve the above. How to be inconspicuous, how to predict a scene just about to happen and be ready for that one click, and how to avoid eye contact with the subject. Of course, the camera used is also of importance – a hug, loud and clumsy camera will certainly be noticed by all around. And when one puts a camera in front of his face and points it to a subject, the moment is often interfered with and changed. That is why a favorite camera remains a TLR (Twin Lens Reflex) when one looks down into the viewfinder and subjects do not know a picture is being taken. The TLR was built for film photography, although (for those who can financially afford it) Rolleiflex now makes digital versions of that camera.

Recently I have many wildlife representatives around my house. Deer, peccary (javelin) and cougar (mountain lion) pay daily visits and sometimes allow me to come close enough for “street photography”. I have to admit that I have not seen the cougar up close, and, I really do not want to!

So, I decided to capture the look these animals have when I get close to them with a 1950’s Rolleiflex!

… The deer was first. A young doe was crossing the street when I whistled a few times. She stopped and got curious. I slowly moved closer. When I printed the photo, after enlarging it quite a bit, I noticed the look. It was a curious yet surprised look. There was actually an expression that one can identify with as a human.

… Peccary look like wild boar, but they are a different species. They get large in neighborhood where food is easily available for minimal work. They destroy gardens and uproot many plants. They can also attack dogs to protect their young in the spring and summer.

This one was uprooting small tree saplings in my yard. I came close and she gave me that silly look. Then went back to being destructive!

Woman in Paris. I love taking photos of women wearing a beret. I find it nostalgic and am always amazed how personality of a woman can be discovered by the way she tilts, folds, wrinkles or plays with her beret. This woman was in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral and clearly a rebel in her clothing style. She saw me walking around with my Mamiya 645 and guessed that I would take a photo of her. Her reaction? She ignored me with a body language that said “ I am not going to look at you, but if you want a photo, here it is!”

Woman in Morocco. She also knew I was taking photos. Her reaction? She shut her eyes. It always amazes me that people try to “escape” a photographer by shutting their eyes. “If I do not see you, you do not exist”….

Woman in South Africa. She was aware that although I did not have a camera in front of my face, I was still taking photos with that strange looking and old camera. So, she played another evasive role: “I will be subtle in posing for you, without admitting that I know you are taking photos.”

…And so it goes.

July 27, 2017

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2017