29-DEC-2006
Intersection, Marrakesh, Morocco, 2006
Street corners often will often present contrasting stories – each invisible to the other. I saw this man sitting helplessly on one side of this building – alone, and perhaps homeless, ill and distressed. He holds his hands to his face, hiding from both my camera and the world. I saw three women coming down the other side of the building towards him. They do not notice him yet. This trio appears to be members of a family and their body language gives evidence of support and caring among them. This image incongruously compares the human values displayed by the women to those expressed by the man. The fact that each party is invisible to the other here intensifies this contrast.
26-DEC-2006
Donkey rider, Ouirgane, Morocco, 2006
Visitors to the small village of Ouirgane in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains enjoy riding donkeys along its slopes and into its picturesque valleys. The donkey riders come in all sizes, and this one is probably the smallest. Her tiny figure on the large donkey is incongruous in scale. She is too young to hang on – the donkey driver constantly holds her tiny body on to the big blanket that covers the donkey’s back. The human values of vulnerability, support, fear, and perhaps delight, all come to mind.
28-SEP-2006
Free ride, Gardiner, Montana, 2006
We were just about to leave a supermarket in Gardiner, Montana, just outside the Northern entrance to Yellowstone National Park, when a woman roared into the parking lot on an all terrain vehicle. Her large German Shepherd shares the vehicle with her, a study in equanimity. The dog displays several human values in this context – protectiveness, composure, and mental calmness. The woman, of course, takes it all for granted. And the dog apparently enjoys the free ride.
29-SEP-2006
Disoriented elk, Dunhaven Pass, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2006
We drove behind this male elk for some time as it plodded slowly alongside of the road. It seemed indifferent and disoriented. Later, we talked to a Park Ranger about this behavior – she thought that this male may have been in a mating battle with another elk and had received a blow to the head. On the other hand, it might just be getting old and a bit confused. We drove on ahead of it, parked at a pullout and watched as it approached us. I made this image, using the s-curve of the white line to trace to illuminate its twisting path. Disorientation is a human value – we’ve all been there. We can appreciate what this elk must be going through.
25-SEP-2006
Nuzzle, Fall Creek horse camp, Bridger National Forest, Wyoming, 2006
We meet Randall Perry, a veteran rodeo rider, in this horse camp just outside of Yellowstone National Park. I was making an environmental portrait of him in the golden light of the forest ( click on thumbnail below ) with one of his horses when suddenly the horse took him by surprise and began to nuzzle him. I made this photo just as they came cheek to cheek. Perry reacted with surprise – we can see it in his facial expression and body language. This image is rich in human values such as affection, humor, delight and surprise.
30-SEP-2006
Conversation, Jackson, Wyoming, 2006
I saw these locals conversing in the courtyard of a shopping complex in downtown Jackson and made this candid image through a doorway to capture the flavor of the place. I don’t know if they are cowboys in for a shopping spree, Snake River guides discussing business, or shop owners. But they certainly are relaxed, at ease with each other, and colorful additions to a tourist town that is famous for its Old West traditions and attractions. They project the human values we would expect from such folks: confidence, ease, and perhaps a touch of swagger.
18-SEP-2006
Store clerk, Cameron Trading Post, Cameron, Arizona, 2006
While on the way to Utah, we stopped off at this trading post on the Navajo Reservation.
I watched this clerk sorting masses of Indian jewelry for several minutes – she was methodical, precise, and as it turned out, a bit tired. When she stifled a yawn, I made this shot. This image expresses such human values as effort, perseverance, and dedication. The racks of jewelry she has to check get no smaller. She has a big job ahead. We’ve all struggled at times to stay alert and can appreciate how she must feel at this moment.
16-OCT-2006
Roofer, Lone Pine, California, 2006
We drove out to visit Lone Pine’s old railroad depot, only to find that it was no longer open to the public. Long abandoned by the Southern Pacific Railroad, the depot had been purchased by this man. Bit by bit, shingle by shingle, he was restoring it. We asked permission to photograph and he graciously allowed us to do so. He was more interesting to me than his building. We found him doing some roofing, a hard and obviously dirty job. Yet he continued to talk to us as he worked, telling us of his laborious renovations. In this gesture I see confidence, pride, persistence, and energy. All are important human values. I structure the image geometrically, allowing his arm to add still another triangle to those already present.
08-AUG-2006
Conversation, Third Avenue, New York City, 2006
has played a significant role in my own urban photography. His work speaks of urban alienation, and lack of communication. I often make images that echo his concerns. However on this visit to New York City, I wanted to make a contradictory statement, asserting that both friendship and communication, pivotal human value, can exist in environments very similar to the one that Hopper uses in “Night Hawks.” This image does precisely that. Hopper’s painting is cased in lonely darkness. I set my image in the context of an early morning – the sun bathes the sidewalk and building in splashes of warmth. As with Hopper, the viewer stands outside, looking in. However I found two women communicating here through both speech and human gesture -- factors deliberately lacking in the Hopper painting. They may be alone, but they are not lonely. They have each other, and the whole coffee shop is theirs as they start the working day.
10-JUL-2006
Train watcher, La Posada, Winslow, Arizona, 2006
La Posada, a former Harvey House, once catered to passengers of the Santa Fe railroad. The hotel was oriented so that its back door faced Route 66 and its front door led directly to the Santa Fe tracks. Passengers arriving in Winslow could walk directly from their coaches into the hotel lobby. The hotel was recently restored to its original condition, and its front door still faces the tracks. The Santa Fe Railroad is gone, and its successor, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe, carries mostly freight. La Posada's guests, particularly children, enjoy watching them clatter past. Two sets of relationships express human values in this image. The child’s arms form an inverted “V” as they rest on the fence. Right next to him, an old tree that no doubt once shaded arriving passengers in the 1920s and 30s, spreads its limbs in a “V” as well. It seems to salute both the child and the passing freight train – a salute that echoes both yesterday and today. I also bring the eye into the image with a diagonal curb leading to three empty lounge chairs of vintage design. To me, they represent the spirits of past passengers that always will watch the trains rumble past La Posada.
13-JUN-2006
Facing the fall, Portland, Oregon, 2006
By juxtaposing an abstract symbolic figure of a small man contemplating the awe-inspiring force of an equally abstracted Multnomah Falls at close range, I imply such human values as futility, and our ultimate destination. Using deliberate under-exposure, I only hint at the natural beauty of the falls here – reducing it instead to a fierce plume of surging spray that implies (for the faithful) either a descent into hell or ascent to heaven. The image is also rich in tension – created by contrasting the surging vertical flow of the falls against the horizontal bridge and frame. Ultimately, it is the scale incongruity here that speaks the loudest -- reducing man to trivial size in the face of nature’s massive power. It reminds us all that we are only here for a while, while nature rules for an eternity.
12-JUN-2006
Nightfall, Portland, Oregon, 2006
This is still another image without visible people, yet it is entirely focused on human values. I was with a photo tour shooting a sunset, and found that the man-made portion of the scene to the left of the setting sun provided a more expressive subject than natural beauty by itself. I juxtaposed a lone car against an incongruous contradiction – a golden sky punctured at intervals by utility poles, its natural colors competing with those of a glowing gas station sign and traffic signals. This photograph expresses the human values of loneliness, greed, and ugliness, set against a backdrop of nature at its most beautiful.