25-NOV-2011
Trumpeter, St. John’s Cathedral, Valletta, Malta, 2011
A detail from one of the gilded arches supporting the central nave of this spectacular cathedral features a “putti” (a figure of an infant depicted as a young male) blowing on a huge trumpet. He is surrounded by Baroque embellishments. I fill the frame with gold, symbolizing wealth, power, and most of all, triumph. The cathedral was built by the Order of the Knights Hospitaller of St. John in 1577. This group of 700 European nobles, along with 5,000 soldiers, had defeated an invading Turkish force of 48,000 just twelve years earlier, earning the city of Valletta its reputation as an impregnable fortress. This trumpeter may well have been commemorating this victory.
18-SEP-2011
Marketplace, Paute, Ecuador, 2011
These women, selling the products of their farms at a Sunday market in Ecuador’s Andean highlands, wear the primary colors of their culture – vivid red, blue, and yellow skirts, offset by the pristine monochromatic Panama hats on their heads. I also liked the variation in expression and hand positions as they change from person to person. The variation in costume underscores not only their cultural background, but their varying personalities as well.
22-SEP-2011
Taxi stand, Sayausi, Ecuador, 2011
The bright yellow colors of the taxis dominate the image, but the large stone wall in the background draws the eye as well. Even when the taxis are away, the huge yellow stones, interspersed with blue, white, red, and green ones, call attention to the nature of the service. I liked the relaxed poses of the drivers as well. I did not even speak to them – they simply stood by their taxis in a relaxed and natural manner.
18-SEP-2011
Sweet treats, Chordeleg, Ecuador, 2011
They may look like ice cream cones, but they are not. These colorful confections are cones packed with sugary white, pink and yellow frosting. I photographed a tray of them from the side, bringing into play the colorful plastic spoons inserted into each of them. The vivid red, orange, green and brown cones form the basis of the image, arrayed neatly upon the well-worn blue tray. Chordeleg is a destination favored by Ecuadorian tourists, primarily for its jewelry. When shopper’s fatigue sets in, many indulge in such sweet treats as this.
26-JUL-2011
Wall drawings by Sol LeWitt, MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts, 2011
I juxtaposed two of LeWitt’s wall drawings featured in a semi-permanent retrospective exhibit at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. The drawing are in separate rooms, but my frame and vantage point makes the two into a powerful expression of color, perspective, pattern, and rhythm. The color bands at left are muted and earthy, while the vividly colored steps at right feature the primary colors of red, blue and yellow. Yet both seem to hang together, linked by a band of black and the gray end of the wall that divides them.
16-APR-2011
“Wooden Indian,” Scottsdale, Arizona, 2011
This “Wooden Indian” currently functions as an advertisement in front of an antique shop. It represents an early version of the genre, which originally was developed by European tobacconists in the 17th century, long before such advertisements became stereotypical portrayals of Native Americans. Because European carvers had never seen a Native American, these early “cigar store Indians” looked more like black slaves with feathered headdresses. They were known in the trade as “Virginians,” and used to advertise tobacco and cigars, first in Europe and later in the US, continuing well into the 20th century. I built this image around the brilliant primary colors of the feathers, which create striking tension when played against the sculpture’s upturned eyeballs and white necklace.
18-DEC-2010
Favela pool hall, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2010
Rio’s notorious “favelas,” with their makeshift homes, and drug related businesses, house twenty per cent of Rio’s population. Yet they also remain colorful communities where people live and work. I poked my head into a tiny pool hall tucked into a warren of homes, and made this image built around the green pool table, with its cues neatly awaiting the next game. The hall (or more accurately, a room) also seems to support a soft drink concession. Its boxes and machines offer a context rich in primary colors – blue, red, yellow, along with a smattering of vivid orange soda.
19-DEC-2010
Mailbox, Buzios, Brazil, 2010
This ornate 19th century mailbox has been painted many times over the years. Its most recent incarnation is blue on blue – the fence that supports it was probably most recently painted along with it. The bird carrying the letter is quite charming in itself – it seems trapped under the layers of paint that have muted its flight over the decades.
01-JAN-2011
Dawn of a new year, St. Barts, French West Indies, 2011
As our cruise ship arrived at the Caribbean island of St. Barts early on New Year’s day, the rising sun seemed to celebrate the event by coloring the scene in various shadings of golds, oranges, pinks, and blues. The island itself offers a contrasting silhouetted counterpoint to nature’s colorful extravagance.
15-JUL-2010
Courier, New York City, New York, 2010
Two layers of vivid blue color bring this image together. The courier on the bike in the foreground of the image wears a blue shirt and blue cap, nearly the same hue as on the peeling plywood construction site wall that makes up the entire background. In between them, I use a framing device -- two white vehicles parked so as to leave a space between them. I freeze the courier within that space to create maximum tension. Between the cars and the wall, a woman walks in the opposite direction. Neither the courier nor the woman acknowledges each other’s presence. Such is the nature of New York City.
04-JUN-2010
Street of many colors, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2010
I was photographing shreds of morning light illuminating the storefronts of Santa Fe when this man appeared. He appears to exercising his upper body. His shirt is yellow, and it plays well against the blue windows in the right hand portion of the image. The various shades of tan, a Santa Fe mandate, flow between them, creating a rainbow of soft colors. (Appropriately, a sign tells us that a photography shop apparently operates here – it seems to have cleverly based its name on that of a well-known digital imaging tool.)
12-MAY-2010
Seeing red, Civic Center Plaza, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2010
One of the most important works of public art within the Scottsdale Civic Center Plaza is Robert Indiana’s popular “Love” sculpture. I have often photographed it with my tutorial students, and always related its oversized letters to some kind of human behavior. (See
http://www.pbase.com/image/23370265 ) The most powerful aspect of this sculpture is its brilliant primary color: red. On my most recent visit with a tutorial student, we were fortunate to find a man repainting the sculpture. I include only the upper portions of the letters “L” and “O” here, and link the brilliant red coloration to a roller loaded with red paint that hangs in mid-air after a decisive thrust. It is the nature of color itself, particularly primary colors such as red and blue, that makes the image work. Without this man’s red roller, frozen in time as it is raised against the deep blue sky, this image could not function as expression.