22-JAN-2005
Golden Nagas, Luang Prabang, Laos, 2005
Using the frame to express meaning does not always involve all four outside edges of an image. We can also frame or enclose a subject within a picture itself by creating an internal boundary, which can guide the eye to the subject as well as express an idea. For example, in this image of two monks passing through a temple compound, I created an additional two-sided frame within the four edges of the image itself. I placed a long white wall, topped by a long row of fearsome golden Nagas – Buddhist Serpent Gods – deeply stacked along the left side of the picture. At the end of that wall is a small building with a triangular gable. I moved the camera to align the outside edge of that long wall with the left edge of the building. The monks were walking back and forth along a pathway between the end of the long wall and the small building, as they worked on maintenance chores. I photographed numerous monks as they moved along this path, and finally was able to relate two of them within a single instant of time. The towering golden wall of Nagas complements the vivid colors of the monk’s robes, yet also dwarfs them, creating scale incongruity. The tall frame echoes the upright posture of the monk at right. More importantly, the frame within the frame pulls the eye into the picture to effectively express the glory and scale of the setting these simple monks inhabit.
29-JAN-2005
Mekong Taxi, Khone Island, Laos, 2005
There are precious few bridges over the Mekong River in rural Laos. Yet villagers must often cross it. If they don’t have their own boat, an inexpensive taxi ride will get them across. This one holds seven. The taxi has become their bridge. I turn this image into a bridge as well, making the thrust of the boat, the lean of the passengers, and the ripples in the water seem to move even faster by cropping this image into a long horizontal frame. The shape of this frame because part of my story – a metaphor for the bridge this taxi has become. I also abstracted the image with shadow, removing the identities and creating more symbolic picture in the process. The color tells us it is dusk, time to catch a taxi and go home.
22-JAN-2005
Cloister, Luang Prabang, Laos, 2005
A monk examines my world from his cloister in Luang Prabang. I use his open window to symbolize the connection between his world and mine. The window is a frame in itself, a device that allows light into the darkness of his cloister and also allows him to look out beyond the walls that confine him and study life on the outside. This window, a frame working within the frame of the image itself, serves both this symbolic function and a structural purpose. A black hole always pulls the eye to a picture. And the window frames a back hole, creating a focal point. Strong colors draw the eye as well, and few subjects are as vividly colored as the orange robes of a Buddhist monk. The colored robes are bounded by both the frame of the window and the blackness beyond, multiplying the power of the focal point. The window also sits within a white wall, and is bounded by a reddish brown frame of its own, and green shutters. The wall provides strong contrast for these elements as well. I also placed the window off center, so that the monk, whose body faces to the right, has more space to lean into. He looks over his shoulder at us as he leans, one hand on the window ledge, as if to ask us what we are looking at.
15-OCT-2004
Half Dome from Tunnel View, Yosemite National Park, California, 2004
The familiar profile of Half Dome is over eight miles from this viewpoint, located just beyond a tunnel cutting through the middle of a granite cliff. I create a frame within a frame by shooting through some pine branches in the foreground. The branches are in sharp focus; the panoramic view beyond them is suggested in softer focus. In treating this famous view in this manner, I am implying that Yosemite can be looked at as an idea, as well as a reality.
17-OCT-2004
Thunderbird and Dead Deer, Bridgeport, California, 2004
This old yellow Thunderbird parked along Bridgeport’s Main Street, is looking for a buyer in front of the town’s “deer processing” facility. During our three-day visit, neither plant nor car was attracting much attention. Bridgeport is a rural Sierra town that looks back with pride at its past. I use my frame to abstract the image, linking these two symbols of vintage Americana without distraction and in an incongruous manner.
25-AUG-2004
Double take, Kinsale, Ireland, 2004
I was attracted to this Kinsale pub by its striking dark mustard color and maroon trim, and waited for someone to walk past it on that side of the street. I soon got my wish when a mother and her young son appeared, both pushing the stroller of a younger family member. But the key to this image is the framing. I imply that this building is actually longer than it is by cropping out the beginning and the end of its long sign in my frame. Meanwhile, the distorting effect of my 24mm wideangle converter lens makes the double yellow line running along the street next to the curb curve slightly upwards while the sign curves slightly downwards. These curves, juxtaposed with the incomplete names on the sign, add a sense of energy to this picture. Pushing the stroller along this route no longer looks as easy as it actually was – even with a double energy source.
03-JUL-2004
Dual flags, Hong Kong, China, 2004
Since July, 1997, Hong Kong has been part of China under a special "One Country, Two Systems" arrangement. It is free to pursue its capitalist lifestyle and its own political, economic and social systems. It only submits to Chinese authority in foreign and defense affairs. In this photo, both the Hong Kong and Chinese Flags fly from Hong Kong's City Hall, against a backdrop of I.M. Pei's Bank of China skyscraper. I used my frame to contain eight thrusting diagonal lines and three strong vertical lines, creating a dynamic display of energy that complements the fluttering flags and hanging palm frond. The frame here is an editing device, unifying both the new building and the old, and creating a field for the elements that flow within it.
18-JUN-2004
Card Game, Summer Palace, Beijing, China, 2004
I found this card game between this young man and woman on the grounds of the Chinese Imperial Court to be a refreshing counterpoint to the legends of graft, corruption, intrigue and murder that still cling to this place. They had actually framed themselves by sitting on the railing of a delicately carved pavilion not far from the palace where the Empress Cixi was once entertained by chorus of 384 eunuchs. I was able to make a “frame within a frame” shot of this little card game, humanizing a vast and at times intimidating palace complex.
17-JUN-2004
Doubling up, Beijing, China, 2004
I saw the corrugated metal fence first, with its great red arrow directing pedestrians around a major construction site. Then I noticed a tree spreading its leafy canopy over the sidewalk. And finally, I saw how the stairs, curb, and sidewalk pattern complemented the thrust of the arrow. I photographed a number of different people walking through this frame, but none of them told a story until this man and woman came along, each of them carrying a child. China, now the world’s most populous country, has had a “one-child per family” policy in effect for over 20 years now, particularly in its urban areas, yet this couple had two kids in hand (assuming of course, that they were actually their parents, and not just friends out for a walk with their children.) In any event, it makes a provocative picture because it focuses on China’s family planning policies, and it’s the nature of my framing that makes the picture work.
15-APR-2004
Conversation, Heritage Park, San Diego, California, 2004
The huge porch at the corner of a historic Bed & Breakfast Inn in San Diego makes a perfect setting for a picture about sharing. This porch is framed in the decorative woodwork of another time – embracing two people who face each other across a table. I do not know if words or silence is passing between them at this moment. But they certainly were sharing the wonders of a San Diego sunset amidst surroundings that have seen many of them. I shot this picture from the corner of the house because of the symmetry created by the woodwork, the hanging baskets, and the people sitting opposite each other. The porch itself creates a frame within a frame – it is as if we are in the audience, and watching a performance on an ornate and historic stage.
11-JAN-2004
Old Jail, Ushuaia, Argentina, 2004
We can feel the walls pressing in upon us in Ushuaia’s old jail, now a prison museum in the world’s southernmost city. A jail is designed as a series of oppressive frames or rectangles, and I frame this wooden prison guard to intensify this feeling. His body defiantly takes its stand within a steel pen. A doorframe wraps around him from behind. To each side of him is a series of receding cell doors. A long row of steel pens lead the eye down the middle of the photo. We don’t see the prisoners, but we can imagine their presence in this stifling place. This image uses frames within frames as subject matter, a perfect metaphor for a picture from an old jailhouse.
15-DEC-2003
Queen Emma Bridge, Willemstad, Curacao, 2003
The world’s largest floating pedestrian bridge connects one side of Willemstad to another. Built in 1888, the bridge originally charged tolls to only those who wore shoes. But poor people were too proud to admit to poverty and borrowed shoes to cross in. Many wealthy citizens were too stingy to pay the toll and crossed barefoot. The 700 foot long bridge is now free for all, closed to cars, and swings open thirty times each day to allow ships to enter the city’s port. My photo of it stresses the flow of pedestrians that come and go all day and night. Some walk, others run. But the procession is continuous. To stress that horizontal flow of foot traffic, I cropped the picture into a long, wide, horizontal frame. And so the shape of the picture becomes part of its message.