It is 104 degree Fahrenheit (40 Celsius) outside and the Southwest is praying for rain. It is a good day to put some order in my studio.
One of my favorite activity is to ope a box written "rejects" on it. These are photos I actually printed under the old enlarger but did not like the result. Often because they do not tell a story or the story has been told in other photos I have taken. I like going back to decades-old photos because during that time the world has changed and even a technically imperfect photo now is a testimony or a testimonial of days irreversible. For a street photographer that is photojournalism at its best.
I chose four photos that now have a new meaning relative to the moment I had taken them. All four are from the 1990s or 2000, but I have not written the exact dates on them.
A. Taipei, Taiwan. I traveled often to Taiwan as an academic and researcher the entire decade of 2000. Before starting my work days, I used to take my camera and walk the streets just after sunrise. This photo is from the main square and the moment is the flag raising daily ceremony.
Since these days much has changed in the geo-politics of the region. I am not sure if the ceremony continues and which flag is now raised. But this washed-out photo is a frame in a time that has surely changed.
B. Porto, Portugal. An evening shot through the window of a charcuterie. I always used ASA 100 film, so the shadows and some of the focus are unappealing. But it was a time when crowded shops hardly had space for people as all the food was either hanging from the ceiling or piled out in the aisles. And no one wore a mask then....
C. Barcelona, Spain. This is an evening in Las Ramblas. The singers were there for the tourists, of course. As I looked at this underexposed photo, I recalled reading an article about this famous three-lane street in 2020. Residents were almost happy that there were no tourists because of the pandemic and they were quoted saying "Las Ramblas are ours again!". A silver lining in all that befalls upon us.
D. Ferrara, Italy. This photo has a haunting character to it. I took it in the court of the Ferrara Cathedral a magnificently Romanesque style cathedral dating from the 12th century. During all my trips to Ferrara I stayed in a pension across from the cathedral and recall the joy of having espresso on the minuscule balcony every morning.
This photo is of a man dressed as a woman and holding a doll en guise of a baby. "She" had a small pan to collect donations impersonating a homeless refugee. Of course everyone was generously donating till this young boy saw the face covering move and exposing a dark and full beard! I clicked just before "she" covered her face and was asked to leave.
Since that day, thousands and thousands refugees crossed the Mediterannean Sea for Italy, Spain and Greece.
.... I have thousands of reject photos and even more unprinted frames on miles of 35mm and medium format film negatives. I hope the heat and the drought in the Southwest break soon so I do not looking through these next.
June 16, 2021
© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2021
A. Kazandjian, 2021
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