San Francisco Honesty

… Where I am, most people sit on their balcony and watch the sailboats go by. I like to do that too, although having a book next to me does keep me from wondering when the next sailboat will fill its sails toward the harbor of Baltimore.

So, this morning I picked up a book I had read before. It was about uncertainty and truth. To be honest, I was not sure why I decided to read it again.

… The wind was just right, and the page I opened had a most telling example about ambient misconceptions and uncertainty. It read:

“While most of us believe that the sea “smells of sea” because of iodine in the sea weeds, the actual odor molecule is dimethylsulfide, DMS. “

Hmm, somehow that is not as romantic as iodine which I thought I smelled from the ocean under my balcony.

Then, I found the following statement about a certain law of contradiction-- quite obvious yet sometimes ignored:

”The Law of Contradiction tells us that a proposition cannot be both true and false.”

… I put the book down, waited for another sailboat, and then wanted to think of a simple example in daily life to represent this law.

And I recalled a picture I took in San Francisco. Voila! This man, in his honesty, had made it clear, with no uncertainty, what his truth was!

I did not need to read that book again.

May 17, 2014

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2014

Riyadh, New York, and Architectural Musing

On a recent trip to Saudi Arabia, I was told that street photography was not a national pastime.  Further, in a country where the latest and grandest of all products are actively sought, my 1960s Minolta Autocord Twin Lens Reflex camera would be an even more singular oddity than my interest in street photography. So I was told.

I had hardly time to find out, though. Teaching at the King Saud University and King Khaled University hospital in Riyadh, I did not have the time for any photography. Except one Saturday when in the middle of a scorching hot day, decided to see Riyadh.

Needless to say, there were very few people in the streets, as it is after sunset that the weather is more clement for being out. But I had a couple of ideas for my trip.

First, I wanted to see the Kingdom Center. I had seen images, and its architecture seemed most unusual. But most pictures I had seen were taken with a telephoto and I wondered how one would capture the tower with a 50mm lens.

Second, I wanted to visit the less-affluent sections of the city to have a feel of the diversity.

And I was able to do both.

…. According to Wikipedia, “the Kingdom tower is a 302.3 m (992 ft) skyscraper.  It is the world's third tallest building with a hole after the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Tuntex Sky Tower in Taiwan. The building is situated on 100,000 square metres site with car parking for 3,000 vehicles.^”

Of course, the “hole” is the intriguing part. What does it represent? The pictures I had seen did not help me decide.  So, I went to the bottom of this majestic structure and looked up.

And it hit me! From my angle, it looked like a male Bedouin without a face!! Possible?  Here is what I saw, and my 50mm lens did as well:

I was not sure if it was the intent of the architect Richard Tenguerian, and Armenian born in Aleppo, Syria, to depict the silhouette of a Bedouin via this 992 ft tower. But it sure looked as such to me.

… Then I went to the less-affluent parts around the city. Again there were very few people in the streets but these three ladies, next to a stroller and under the street sign gave me the opportunity to characterize what I saw.

Amazingly, a week later, when I developed the medium format film in my darkroom and looked at the wet negatives under the red studio light, I immediately saw the shapes of the tower in the posture of the first lady next to the stroller. Do you?

… But there was something else brewing in my mind.  I am not an architectural forms photographer, but years ago I had taken a picture of the Twin Towers in New York, and I realized that the Kingdom Center was the only other picture of a tower I had ever taken.  The Twin Towers picture I took, with a 1969 Nikon F and Nikkor-Q 200mm lens, was at sunset and had large birds flying by it. I took it from the top of Empire State Building, Midtown Manhattan in 1999. Thinking back about it, the birds seem to have a chilling prediction of the towers’ fate!!

So, I went back to find that picture. The 35mm negative showed scratches but I did not correct or eliminate. Here it is:

This picture of the Twin Towers was published (hence has a registered copyright) on page 92 of my book “Alla Prima” (2002) published by the American Literary Press. The ISBN is 1-56167-724-8 at The United States Library of Congress.

… I could not resist thinking what would have happened if the Twin Towers had a “hole” in their design like the Kingdom Center…

May 13, 2014

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2014

The following Wikipedia link gives more details and a picture of the Kingdom Center

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_Centre

Cairo, as I Remember

A few years back, I could not resist an invitation to go to Cairo. It had been a while since my last trip and the city, the Pyramids and the Valley of the Kings were calling me back.

Well, like many other trips, I ended up taking pictures of the people and streets and left the great shots of ancient sites to postcards and other photographers. After all, the Pyramids do not change much from trip to trip…

I wanted to post a few pictures, all taken in 35mm, as I suspect they may or may not represent the Cairo of today. So, these photos are more “historical” than artistic.

Cairo by night

From my hotel balcony, in the Zamalek area.  On this trip I took a 1981 Olympus OM-1 loaded with ASA 100 film. Needless to say long exposures are practically impossible to make with such slow film, but I do like this one. The Nile, the city are all there and the slight vibration of the camera’s mirror gave”coma-like” blurs of the city and cars' lights that somehow fit nicely with the Arabic calligraphy!

The Nile as home

I was looking for that angle each photographer searches. After all a river is a river, no matter how majestic.  At sunset, I saw this river boat’s silhouette and it represented the Nile for me.

 I was not sure who was on that boat, so waited a while for a closer shot (I do not use zooms…!). I then found out it was a house-boat, and the woman was doing the dishes using the Nile as her sink….

The Streets of Cairo

I assume it is still the same today, but somehow the vintage cars, the horse and buggy remain in my mind as the paradox of Cairo: tall, modern buildings surrounded by 4000 years of history, customs and architecture.

Talking about customs, this shot is among my favorites. Sure, it is not artistic, I could have come closer, perhaps used the light better, but still, it is a street photo capturing that split second. Here, the woman is drying cloths on a line she tied from her building to the street. I had a second only to get her in the right posture and not shielded by the cloths. Then, I passed under the cloths and got a few drops of water on my face. Yes, I could have walked on the left of the street pole, but I thought the boardwalk should be shared...

The Old and the New

Well, at least then, a few years ago.

It would be great if I could go back soon and retake pictures from each spot. It would not surprise me if the shots came out quite similar. After all, 4000 years of history and customs still surround those tall buildings, downtown Cairo.

April 17, 2014

©Vahé Kazandjian, 2014

Leuven, Ferrara, Kennebunkport, Baltimore and Kruger National Park: What do they have in common?

The long winter is over. The desolate scenes of empty streets, white of snow, frozen in sub-zero temperatures were not for a street photographer who often, like a treasure hunter, went from street to street looking for people! And when I found them, they all looked the same, bundled up in heavy coats and walking fast looking at their own feet, the shoulders caved in.

It is spring again, and I put a few drops of oil on the springs of my old cameras, took a few medium format film rolls out of the freezer, and I am getting the “street fever” again! Oh, for those of you who have never seen a roll of film, imagine that film is like fresh food—it has an expiration date! So, I keep my films in the freezer and they can last more than 10 years in cryo-existance. Then, I take them out, let them get used to the world again for about 6 hours, and they are ready to capture whatever my eyes are willing to notice.

So, as an initiation to spring and film photography, I wanted to organise a few unpublished shots. The theme of this series is “daily life, nothing extravagant”.  Sure, I always look for a special event, an unusual behavior, a story that stands out. But it is as interesting, and probably more challenging, to capture the daily routine and still find an angle making the picture worth keeping and sharing.

But you decide.

…. It was early morning in Leuven, Flanders when I took my 1969 Nikon F for a walk before my meetings at the university. The café trottoirs were just opening for coffee and yes, chocolate! I wanted to capture the slow pace of a city waking up. The stacked-up chairs were just right to describe the early morning.

I have written about Ferrara, Italy already.  It is one of my favorite cities as it seems to have just the right tempo for my character. And the untouched medieval city around which the more modern Ferrara is built is a time capsule and a respite from all rush and eagerness to compete. 

Again, I was enjoying a morning espresso when I saw this man arrive on his bicycle across the street. I could see his dog in the basket and by the time I focused, he was taking the dog out. I wanted to capture the mannequin looking at them...

Then he went for a walk with his dog. A daily routine, I assumed.

This one is from outside Kennebunkport, Maine. I was in the car behind this trolley and I could see young people all dressed up going to a party. Then, the woman near the rear window took out a make-up mirror and touched up her lips. I had to take a picture, even if from behind the front windshield.  It was such a nonchalant and charming scene.

The surprise was when I looked at the picture—there was a motorcyclist, perfectly framed in the shot, who was also looking at her!

I am always amazed how people pretzel themselves while taking a photo to be at the right level regarding their subject. This picture is from Baltimore, as I saw this mom trying to take a picture of her daughter. As I looked down onto the waist-level finder of my Mamiya 645, she had decided to hide between the legs of this man to frame the perfect shot! I assumed it was her husband….

No matter what, I was pleased with the grainy print and the little girl’s seemingly effortless stroll.

Finally, I cannot think about daily routine without remembering this moment in Kruger National Park, South Africa. We had seen elephants, but all from a distance. They seemed to ignore humans and safari trucks. Then, less than 50 meters away, I heard the breaking of branches and I could see movement in the trees. I pointed my Mamiya 645 toward the trees and waited. The elephant came out, but it had it head down, ears floppy, and looked just like others we had seen.

Then, as if it was surprised to see someone still using a film camera, looked straight at me and gave me the lovely pose of an elephant we see in paintings. It lasted just two seconds, and I clicked once. This picture always reminds me of the “decisive moment” every street photographer hopes to master.

There you have it—daily life in the jungle of cities of concrete and steel, or in the paths of natural trails and virgin forests. All it takes is to not look for the exceptional but celebrate the glorious daily life!

April 16, 2014

© Vahé Kazandjian, 2014

St. Patrick's Day in Baltimore

It was the day before St. Patrick’s Day parade in Baltimore and the gray skies opened up for a short time. Clouds moved in and I took my 1948 Rolleiflex for a “walk”. This time, I used a deep red filter to capture the clouds.

Well, it was cold and windy by the ocean, and the Fort McHenry Park was practically empty. Eager to click at least once, I decided to take a picture of Orpheus. On my way back, I decided to continue the “statue” theme the next day, during the St. Patrick’s Day. Could I capture “statue-like” people instead of taking relatively boring parade pictures?

… On April 16 the skies were gray again and a snow storm expected during the evening hours. A band was playing Irish music and the crowd was all red-head girls and men in kilts. Irish sausage, beer, and green hats were everywhere.

I was still looking for my “statues”.  Went behind the band’s stage and I thought that the bass player was photogenic enough for me to wait for the right pose. Then I thought “a halo above his head is appropriate for St. Patrick”. As if to help me with my “theme du jour”, he moved between the two cymbals for a double-halo, and even raised his guitar for a second to become my first statue.

Then, when the band stopped playing, two of its members were about to come down the stage. The waist-level view of my camera gave me a special angle to capture them along with a female member of the team (I assume). Focusing is slightly off, it was taken contre-jour, but gives an old-times' feel to the picture. The bass player is there again, this time in a rather dramatic statuesque posture.

On my way home I passed by the Inner Harbor and there was my last statue, this time including a dog watching the Harbor with a curiosity to match his masters’. Would this qualify as a statue representing the await of St. Patrick arriving by sea?
It was the last of 12 frames left on my film roll, and I was curious to see what my dark room would show when I develop the film.

..When I looked at the negatives, I smiled thinking that probably no one would take these pictures to represent St. Patrick’s Day Parade…!

March 17, 2014

© Vahé Kazandjian, 2014

Body Language and Environment

The interaction of people with their environment is always of interest to a curious observer. Do people have a different posture, body language or attitude when waiting for the bus in a cosmopolitan city than when they are in a rural town? Does the environment predispose to such postures? And, are there postures and body language generic to all people, no matter the culture or architecture within which they proceed with their lives?

I do not know the answer, but as a photographer I find it of special interest to capture people’s attitudes in moments when they become one with the environment or give added meaning to the context within which I aim to freeze the moment on film.

I think such curiosity is also what an artist needs to anticipate the coming together of a moment he needs to be ready to capture. I call it the anticipation of the ”promise of the moment” when one has to be just a split of a second ahead of what could happen and ready to capture it.

…I like to play a game when waiting endless hours in airports: I look at fellow passenger’s facial features in profile and try to imagine how they look as a “full-face portrait”. Then wait till they turn around and see how well I guessed their complete facial features. It is a silly game, but one that, mentally and visually, tests my ability to use a few data points to make projections.

Ok, back to photography and people’s self-contextualization.

This picture is from Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. The façade of the cathedral is made of statues and head sculptures dating back centuries. I often wonder if over centuries our facial features and body language have significantly changed. Do we still walk the same way folks in ancient Rome, Constantinople or Paris did? Do we laugh the same way? Do our eyes open as wide when we are surprised?

That day I decided to look for people’s attitudes that would correspond to those displayed by statues and carving around Notre Dame. Not an easy task, especially when using a medium format camera with a fixed lens.

Here is what I was looking for: notice the walking movement and body posture of the statue on the façade of the Cathédrale above the left shoulder of the woman—isn’t it exactly the same posture and movement?

I took this second picture in front of the National Palace Museum in Shilin, Taiwan, after seeing an amazing collection of ancient Chinese artifacts and artworks encompassing 8,000 years of Chinese history from the Neolithic age to the late Qing Dynasty. The National Palace Museum and the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City in Beijing, People's Republic of China, share the same roots. They split in two as a result of the Chinese Civil War.
“The Emperor Kangxi and the Sun King Louis XIV" was the exhibit. I knew little about the cultural exchanges between France and China, and my visual and history-based curiosity was delightfully satisfied.The artwork, especially the paintings were absolutely amazing. I was most attracted by the delicate facial features shown in those drawings and paintings. When I walked out of the Museum, I saw this young woman, in a perfect profile pose looking exactly like the painting I had just seen. The resemblance was anachronistically amazing and yet, it was the perfect contemporaneous posture: she was holding an iPhone!

It is always tricky to take B&W pictures when surrounded with snow and having a few structures to break the monotony. Except when there is a barren forest and a “mountain man” in the middle of it! This one is from a snowshoeing trip in Vermont. It is difficult to not think about the adage of “trees and forest”—in this case one wonders if sometimes it is not appropriate to look at both the trees and forest at the same time in order to find a meaning to the larger context or experience the sheer harmony of co-existence.

Perhaps this can be called the ecology of interpretation….

March 15, 2014

© Vahé Kazandjian, 2014

La Mort En Roses

A few weeks ago, on a very cold but sunny day I decided to take my bike out and see the city. The streets were mostly empty and a heavy layer of salt covered the roads.  Out of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, I went to Fells Point where I was hoping to find more people out and about, and perhaps take some pictures.

The piers were empty, except for a tugboat of sorts being tested for sound functioning. And then I saw a bouquet of flowers affixed to one of the light posts. Got off my bike, took my camera out and checked out the flowers.

It was in memoriam of Roberto G, who died at the age of 41.

Who was Roberto?

…I felt as an intruder, yet it was a public memorial and on that morning I was the only one there. I did not know Roberto, and the inscription on the wooden heart said nothing more. Was he a street inhabitant of Fells Point as there are many? Did he die at that very spot? Did he like the summer evening open-air concerts in this part of the city?

So, I took a picture feeling that I was taking a picture of Roberto in that street, on that pier. Just that he was not there anymore.

A few days passed and I was wondering about Roberto, the man I never met, yet that I took a picture of when he was not there anymore. I wondered if the flowers were still there, knowing that such displays in public places are not allowed for long. So, back on my bike for finding out.

… It was the first warm day since a while and it seemed like all of Baltimore (and all its dogs) were in the streets. I was tempted to park my car, take my camera and walk around among all these people, but something kept me on that pier, in Fells Point.

It was not the disappearance of the memorial, but all the life that was now around that street light pole and the pier. Roberto was not there, but life was in full bloom.

I therefore sat opposite the light pole and looked around. Then, two ladies came by with their lunch bags and sat near “Roberto’s light post”. As they were enjoying the sun and the sandwiches, I decided to take a picture to remind me that life goes on, but that sometimes strangers like me do take pictures (on film or in their memory) to remind them of those we never met or will meet, the places where they have been, and that somehow, on a cold day, their memory gives meaning to the streets.

Seneca wrote: 

"Dum differtur, vita transcurrit"  translating as: "While it is postponed, life goes on."

R.I.P Roberto.

March 9, 2014

© Vahé Kazandjian, 2014

Pictures taken with a 1973 Olympus OM-1 and a Zuiko 100mm 2.8 lens.