Sunday, June 01, 2014

"However long the night may last, there will be morning."

This Morrocan proverb inspired this latest self-portrait I shot at the Peekskill waterfront:

 "However long the night may last, there will be morning."

 I arrived at the waterfront earlier than I wanted to because the sun was still shining brightly and I intended to shoot this image at dusk. It was also Memorial Day and many families were still soaking in final rays of the descending sun, and couples strolled about. I was a little annoyed at myself, because this had been an image I hought about making for weeks, and I picked the worse day of the year to do it. Nevertheless, I changed out of my shorts and t-shirt in my car and put on my white outfit. The white was to symbolize cleansing, purification, spirit and because I ws at the water, a call to the orisha Yemaya.

 As the sun made its slow descent, I spent some time shooting silhouettes and a few waterfront activiteis like a father playing with his son. Finally, with my camera mounted to the tri-pod, I began to explore this vision I had. I tried diffrent exposures and varying shutter speeds, shooting only in Manual mode to achieve the results I wanted. A few times I was interrupted by passersby who observed me run from my "posing" position, back to my camera and back again. Offers to take my picture made me chuckle because it led me to believe that these well-meaning people thought I was simply trying to get a sort of "tourist" shot with the view of the magnificent mountains and bay in the background. When I explained that I'm an artist, and I was creating "art", there was the "oh!" followed by a few lingering eyes that continued to watch me as they slowly strolled away. All in all, I like what I achieved here, but I have so much more to explore of myself at the waterfront.