04-SEP-2015
Climber, Belmont Park, Mission Beach, California, 2015
A huge amusement park climbing wall, studded with stains, cracks, bulges and grips, provides an incongruous backdrop for this child, dressed all in pink. She is hanging on to a grip with one hand and reaching for a toehold on another grip at the same moment. Not only does this grim wall offer an incongruous sight – there are other incongruities as well. Colors clash, and the youth and gender of the subject may surprise us. We don’t expect to see young girls, dangling from a rope and wearing pink, casually threading their way up a menacing, disfigured gray wall. This image confounds our expectations, and triggers our imagination in the process.
04-SEP-2015
High Tech challenges, Belmont Park, Mission Beach, California, 2015
We confront a massive sculpted soccer goalie, while the man standing next to it is confronting his cell phone. The huge goalie is part of a confusing high tech coin-operated machine set up along this amusement park’s midway. The machine seems to urges us to kick a ball into the net at the bottom of the machine, while the impassive, larger-than-life goalie promises to track our accomplishments upon his illuminated torso. I contrast this incongruously baffling machine to the confused fellow standing next to it at this moment. His angled feet and arms echo the angled oversized arms and hands of the gloved goalie. We may not be sure how to actually score a goal here, while the man standing next to the machine seems just as uncertain about the high-tech challenge in his own hands.
11-SEP-2015
Mosaic, Belmont Park, Mission Beach, California, 2015
A mosaic of richly colored tiles provides an appropriate backdrop for this passing surfer who casually totes a large yellow board under his arm. Both the board and the mosaic have echoing curved edges. The yellow color of the board adds a primary color emphasis to the varied colors offered by the mosaic tiles.
25-SEP-2015
Taco Shop, Mission Beach, California, 2015
Ruriberto’s Taco Shop stands just across from the street from Belmont Park’s historic roller coaster. Its facade is awash in primary colors, and studded with tiny lights that set it ablaze when darkness falls. I composed this image by moving in on it from below with a 24mm wideangle lens. This image provides a study in deliberately clashing colors. At the base of this photo is a well-worn red umbrella, pointing upwards to the yellow sign just behind it. The taco shop sign sits just above it, featuring shingles and a red logo. The green and blue second story, offering a oversized mythological cup of refreshment, adds a touch of whimsy. The pair of windows within the structure appears as a pair of eyes, one open, and the other draped shut. The building seems to be winking at us. The deep blue sky in the upper right hand corner becomes an extension of the blue painted edge of the structure. This building is designed as an advertisement for itself, and my close-up study confirms its purpose
25-SEP-2015
Surf shop, Mission Beach, California, 2015
The early morning sun enriches the colors of the clothing and equipment being sold here. I use light and shadow to weave a beige and brown “California flag” beach towel, a red “San Diego” T-shirt, and two deep blue belly-boards, into a unified display. I frame them in shadow, and use the additional strong diagonal shadows that run through this image to bind the clothing to the surfing equipment. The image becomes cohesive because I have built it around the complimentary contrasting primary colors.
06-SEP-2015
Isolation, Mission Beach, California, 2015
The Mission Beach boardwalk becomes a mass of walkers, runners, bikers, and skaters on weekends. Yet I found this man completely alone, surveying the scene from his rooftop perch. I used geometric design to create a structure for his surroundings, and placed his figure to draw comparisons with his environment. This scene reminds me of how one of my favorite painters, Edward Hopper, worked. He used light, shadow, and saturated colors to create a mood, and often drew on the effect of bright sunlight, and the shadows it casts, to create story-telling symbolism. Very often, his paintings speak of isolation and loneliness. Many of Hoppers paintings also use powerful diagonal shadows to draw the eye of the viewer to the subject. My photograph also speaks of human isolation. The lone figure sitting atop this building is dwarfed by the surroundings. Late afternoon shadows create a quietly mysterious mood – the long diagonal shadow entering the frame from the upper left hand corner draws our eye directly the building. The sky and building are richly saturated in blue and brown, while the subject wears a deeply saturated red shirt and cap. The lone window echoes the man who sits alone, just above it.
25-SEP-2015
Back steps, Mission Beach, California, 2015
This cat, resting in the shadows, sits upon a flight of blue steps leading to the second floor of a local building. I photographed it through a window. The window next to it displays a stenciled picture of a surfer riding a wave, giving us a sense of location. I retain a vertical strip of red window molding at the left edge of the frame. It appears again as a dividing line between the cat and the surfer, and eventually becomes a horizontal line in the lower right corner, leading the eye out of the frame. The warm light, deep shadows, and primary colors tie the image together and help define both the cat and the surfer.
20-SEP-2015
Raft, Mission Beach, California, 2015
Someone had tucked an orange inflatable raft behind thek ornamental tropical palm growing in this front yard. The palm abstracts much of the raft, intensifying its vivid coloration. I found this pairing of raft and palm to be incongruous in color, form, relationship, and function. Both sit within a large planting box, bordered by a wooden frame. The bottom of this frame becomes the lower border of my photograph as well. Meanwhile, the right side of this frame creates a strong diagonal line, drawing the eye of the viewer directly towards the raft.
02-SEP-2015
Flight path, Mission Beach, California, 2015
Mission Beach lies directly below one of the San Diego airport's flight paths. I made this picture just after sunset. While the sun itself has dropped below the horizon, the overhead clouds still reflect its golden light. This cloud resembles an out-of-scale symbolic hand, reaching out to seemingly grab this passing plane. Because the plane is very small, we see the cloud first. And when we notice that the cloud holds a plane within its grasp, the image tells the story of how insignificant man and his machines become when they are compared to the work of nature itself.
27-SEP-2015
Coast Guard patrol, Mission Beach, California, 2015
Once again, I compare the might of man to the even greater power of nature. In this case, I contrast a relatively tiny Coast Guard helicopter on evening patrol under a vast orange sky and over a darkening sea. The image speaks of an incongruously beautiful emptiness. The difficult task of this patrol is to spot trouble amidst this vast space.
22-SEP-2015
Dangers, Mission Beach, California, 2015
This image features the same subject as in the previous photograph, yet it tells an entirely different story. This image is not about the vast spaces such Coast Guard patrols must encompass. Instead it is about the dangers they may be called upon to face. I made this photo nearly a week before the previous image. The helicopter is much closer, and therefore appears much larger in the frame. I caught it just as it passed over a series of very small rain clouds. Dark clouds often can be interpreted as symbols of impending danger. That is exactly why the Coast Guard flies helicopters up and down the San Diego area coast every night, just before darkness falls. They are on the lookout for possible trouble.
28-SEP-2015
Illusion, Mission Beach, California, 2015
This is the third in a series of images featuring Coast Guard helicopters in action over Mission Beach. This photograph speaks of dangers within the sky itself. Every evening, Coast Guard patrol helicopters would roar past our balcony, and often flights taking off from the nearby San Diego airport would be simultaneously soaring skyward towards them. I was able to time this shot so that the helicopter flying overhead seems to be aiming directly at a huge American Airlines plane gaining altitude over the ocean. I blur the helicopter, signifying its rapid movement. My shutter stops the plane – it seems to be standing still, hanging there in the sky waiting for the helicopter to catch up to it. The image speaks of our crowded skies, pointing out the always dangerous possibility of collision. In this case, there was no chance of an accident. These aircraft may seem to be flying right at each other, but that is only a photographic illusion. The helicopter appears significantly larger than the airliner because it is much closer to my camera. The space between the two aircraft is actually vast – the comparatively smaller plane is actually much larger -- it is flying a great distance from the helicopter and at a higher altitude. Such is the deceptive nature of photography, and its power of illusion.