14-SEP-2011
Child at play, Cuenca, Ecuador, 2011
This boy plays on the street at the doorstep of his home, intent on driving a toy truck along the road of his own imagination. Such human values as creativity, fantasy, and control are all expressed through his intense expression and actions.
24-SEP-2011
At the wall, Cuenca, Ecuador, 2011
The warmth of a rare sunny morning in Cuenca bathes this scene in warm light, rendering the figure of a young man relaxing against a heavily textured wall as a sculpture in light and shadow. He appears to be at rest, yet there is clearly a wary caution present in his posture. I see human values such as anxiety and tension present in this image.
09-MAY-2011
Fun, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2011
These children were attending a picnic at Scottsdale’s Civic Center Park. They were full of energy, and at the moment were engaged in a game of creating "human sandwiches." The child on the bottom is squealing in delight, and has a piece of blue gum hanging out of her mouth. This image expresses the human value at the core of uninhibited childs-play: fun.
14-APR-2011
Ventriloquists dummy, Miami, Arizona, 2011
I found this dummy in an antique store window. Its head-down position expresses fatigue or sadness, both human values. By using my spot meter, I am able to darken the shadows surrounding it, and make it seem abandoned, still another human value.
18-DEC-2010
Favela, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2010
A favela is the term used to describe a Brazilian shanty town. Most of Rio’s favelas date to the 1940s when the country’s industrialization drew thousands of migrants into the city. They mushroomed in the 1970s, when the flooding of Rio’s low-lying slums drove residents into the makeshift towns on the city’s hills. Today, twenty per cent of Rio’s population lives in favelas. Most of them live in poverty, their lives ruled by drug lords. Garbage is seldom collected – much of it is left piled on the streets. The lone figure in this image is dwarfed by the trash piled below graffiti covered barriers. The image implies a number of human values: endurance, acceptance, and impoverishment all come to mind.
19-DEC-2010
Birthday party, Buzios, Brazil, 2010
This young woman, celebrating her birthday in Buzios, a beach town near Rio, is savoring the moment. She closes her eyes as she brings a celebratory morsel to her lips. No doubt she anticipates its taste, while simultaneously smelling its fragrance. The human values of pleasure, anticipation, and satisfaction are all present here.
28-DEC-2010
Incarceration, Devils Island, French Guyana, 2010
A tourist from a visiting cruise ship clutches the rusting bars of a cell at Devil’s Island, the notorious French penal colony that operated from 1852 to 1946. Most of the 80,000 prisoners who were sent here were never seen again. Such thoughts seem to be in the mind of this visitor – this image could express such human values as empathy, sadness, and despair. The light and shadow playing upon the bars move from light into darkness, underscoring the grim history of this place.
08-SEP-2010
Shyness, Mission Beach, San Diego, California, 2010
I was able to express the human value of shyness in this encounter along Mission Beach. A mother is enthusiastically telling her young daughter about this fisherman and his catch. At the moment they pass the fisherman, the child averts her eyes and bites her lower lip, unwilling to acknowledge the presence of either fisherman or his tiny fish. As soon as the fisherman was gone, the child became herself again, reveling in the evening tide. The next image in this gallery was made just three minutes after I made this picture. It expresses an entirely different set of human values. ( See
http://www.pbase.com/pnd1/image/128757519 )
08-SEP-2010
Exuberance, Mission Beach, San Diego, California, 2010
Three minutes after making the previous image of this mother and child passing a fisherman on Mission Beach, (See
http://www.pbase.com/image/128757516 ), they had moved up the beach a considerable distance. The main the subject, the young child, now generates an entirely different human value: exuberance. She is giddy with excitement as she walks in the surf. I found her exerting maximum diagonal pressure on her mother’s arm as she feels the cool touch of the small waves on her feet. A pair of shorebirds at left and right surrender space to the pair of people who pay them no heed.
19-JUL-2010
Remembrance, West Dover, Vermont, 2010
Four very old tombstones, the flow of green grass, and an American flag comprise an image of remembrance, which is a universal human value. The grass is high, and filled with tiny wildflowers, adding a layer of pinkish texture to the image.
11-JUL-2010
Urgency, New York City, New York, 2010
The human value of urgency is reflected in this image. A child is virtually dragging her mother across New York’s busy 34th Street. Her father and younger sibling casually bring up the rear, while the family crossing in front of her does not seem to be rushing the matter. A flow of other casual walkers fill the background – only the child in the middle of the image seems to have a sense of urgency here. Why the hurry? My guess is that the child is fearful that the light will change in mid-journey. 34th Street is a very wide street at this point.
10-JUL-2010
Contemplation, New York City, New York, 2010
I saw this woman staring blankly at the street in front of her, her hand to her chin. Her gesture expresses contemplation or thought, both of them universal human values. As I shot her in burst mode, a New York City taxi rushed between her and my camera. One of my exposures framed her within the window of that taxi, giving the image a sense of place as well.