In my family, we play cards.
Not full time, obviously. But, when we get together at my parents' place on Georgian Bay - a glorified shack, really, with limited solar power & no TV or internet connection to speak of - that's when the games begin.
My parents have had an ongoing cribbage rivalry for as long as I can remember; they stay at the cottage for up to four months a year, and spend many of those evenings locked in crib battles.
However fast airplanes can go, it never feels like traveling, it’s nothing but just moving fast. In a car on the other hand, I always feel like a traveller. Whether it’s a long drive to the South of France or a twenty minute local commute, my heartbeat slows down and I enjoy the ride. Nobody invades my personal space, my thoughts can roam free and I can sing my heart out without disturbing anyone. Things get put into perspective, new ideas flourish and dreams come naturally.
The Road. Two words that sing to us like an incantation, conjuring rapid-fire contact sheet images of 60s motel rooms, sun-drenched landscapes and long evenings with nothing but oblivion ahead of us. We know the myth, we've read the words and felt the zen fury of mad altered poets living that transient life, moving incessantly, riding the snakes that meander through the peaks and valleys of the world.
But few of us ever experience "the vastness of old tumbledown holy America from mouth to mouth and tip to tip"*. The road we know is small and crowded and connecting point A to point B. It's tedious and infuriating, a prison far removed from the odes to liberty that haunt so many pages in so many books. We're not heroes here, we're not vagrant iconoclasts...we're cogs in a machine, longing to come home.
But there's still beauty if we look for it. If we raise the volume, ever so slightly, if we close down the windows...an almost film-like quality to kill the doldrums.
The simple vastness of living.
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*Excerpt From: Kerouac, Jack. “On the Road.”
After the album had been rehearsed and recorded (see part 1), Tommy wanted to do the shoot for the cover and inner sleeve at Craignethan Castle.
The day of the shoot was a very cold, but dry February morning. We didn't have a set plan, but would have to work fast as the castle was hired for just one hour. I took a shoot through umbrella, a single Yongnou 560 IV flash and a 560 TX trigger. I knew there would be some dark areas of the castle plus being in Scotland, there is no guarantee of enough light.
The castle has a bridge near the entrance, which was as good a place as any to start. I shot a few portraits of Tommy using the flash and umbrella to keep the sky from blowing out. Then we moved on and shot a few pictures around the inside of the outer wall of the castle. Tommy is no stranger to being photographed and has a good idea of what he likes and what he needs to do to get it. I was shooting with two X-T1's and even with the rubber grips, my hands were getting cold. Tommy was holding his saxophone and had nothing to grip except bare metal.
We moved around the outside of the castle and shot more with the flash, which added drama to an already dramatic location. Craignethan Castle is only open to the public from April to September, so we had the place to ourselves, which is just as well due to our timescale. At one of the rear corners of the castle I lay on the ground and shot up. I exposed for the sky and lit Tommy with the flash, trying to stop the umbrella from falling over.
A tunnel runs below the castle from one side to the other with rooms leading off at each end. There is only a tiny amount of light inside and none at all as you go further in. Shooting without flash would be impossible so the umbrella was essential. I placed the light stand just behind me and as close to the tunnel ceiling as possible. Tommy changed into a few different positions and I took some shots, but it was when he relaxed between shots that the best picture was grabbed, which is often the case. This is the shot that was used for the cover. We also shot in the rooms, but mostly using the little amount of light coming in through the small windows.
Tommy opted to design the CD cover himself. He's a man of many talents and as is often with musicians, has a great eye for composition. He's also an X-Pro1 user too.
I'm really happy with how the CD cover turned out. When you hand over your pictures for design, you never know what the end product will be like. But I think Modern Jacobite will look fresh for many years to come.
But it doesn't finish here. There was another shoot to come for promotion and a backup just incase the castle pictures didn't work out. This project has run through every type of light, from ambient at the rehearsal/recording session, then a mixture of ambient and flash at the castle and finally a studio type shoot with 100% flash
Jazz wise magazine (in the UK) has a full page ad for modern Jacobite in the August edition, which is on sale when this post was published.
Click HERE to buy Modern Jacobite. Click HERE for part 1 of this series and click HERE for part 3.
I’ve just reread my article about “the blank canvas”. Written two months ago, I have admit that so far I haven’t finished everything that was on my list and new items have been added. But I have allowed myself a temporary blank canvas anyway. I just needed to see if the kind of life and work that I want, is possible.
In the last six weeks, I’ve spent two weeks in a cabin in the South of France, I’ve been on a hunting trip to the UK, I went camping in Belgium and tomorrow morning I’ll be leaving for a week in Holland. I’ve hardly slept in my own bed but I still managed to get some work done.
I’ve enjoyed amazing close moments with my kids, deep conversations with my girlfriend under the stars, I’ve experienced the thrill of harvesting a roebuck (twice) but I’ve also shot three weddings, corporate jobs, personal work, wrote a magazine article, conducted a workshop and started vlogging.
The vlog has been a very important outlet for me. It may seem incoherent to you, but it’s starting to show me a clear direction. I’m not yet able to write down the right words or completely catch the feeling in the vlogs. So far, every episode may seem completely different but the more videos I make, the more direction I’m seeing for myself in the ensemble of the series.
If you’re up for some experimental vlogs, feel free to take a look at my YouTube page
The last week of August, I’m going to tie down the loose ends of this ideal summer and evaluate how I did. It sure feels like I’m on the right track. I’ve combined work with life pretty well and I’m feeling creative again. There will still be some of that unfinished business but having a sense of direction should be a big motivation to catch up completely.
Next month I’ll be back with a game plan.
On a cold morning in Feb 2011 Giles Duley was a documentary photographer covering the conflict in Afghanistan. While embedded with the American 101st Airborne, he stepped on an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) and is now a triple amputee. Remarkably, Giles went back to Afghanistan in 2012 to face his demons and keep a promise he made to an Italian surgeon. This book tells the story of his return and is split into two halves, Words and Images.
Shar Madani has done a fantastic job in coming up with an original design for this book. The tan soft cover reminded me of an old school jotter. This is not an expensive production by any means and the book is actually held together by three staples down the main spine (on the images side) and two staples down the other spine (on the words side). This is not a negative though as the hand-made craft design gives the impression that you have something really special and unique in your hand. It's hard to describe the design in words, but the pictures included with this review will do the job for me. Basically you open the book to the right as you would any other and then open the words section to the left.
The Words section tells the story of Giles brave return to Afghanistan after stepping on an IED and losing multiple limbs. Giles was ironically due to start a project to document a hospital funded by the charity Emergency, a promise he made to Italian surgeon Gino Strada and a promise he kept by returning in 2012. The courage Giles faced by returning to the place that changed his life in such a dramatic way is absolutely astonishing.
The Images section of the book feature a selection of black and white and colour photographs of victims of war, especially IED's. Each picture is printed alone on the right hand page, while the corresponding number is printed on the left hand page. This is just as well as the paper is not the thickest stock, but the quality of the printing is still high. His pictures are from an Afghan hospital and some people might find them a little too graphic. One such picture shows a hand being held over a trash can to catch the blood. Only three fingers remain intact in what is clearly a fresh blast wound and all the more powerful being a colour shot.
These pictures would have been difficult for any photographer to capture, but to think that Giles was himself a victim of an IED just the year before, doesn't bear thinking of. Giles had nothing to prove to anybody by going back to Afghanistan, but obviously he had something to prove to himself. The courage to make this journey back to the place where he lost both legs and his left arm is almost beyond imagination.
Giles was kind enough to sign the book for me and also included a signed postcard too. A really nice personal touch and something else that make this book just that little bit more special. my copy is a first edition number 409 of 1500. I'm not sure if there was a second edition produced or if the book is still available, but if you are interested in purchasing Afghanistan 2012 you should contact Giles through his website at www.gilesduley.com
Flemming Bo Jensen | X-Pro 2, 1/40 at f/1.8, ISO 8000 (XF 16mm F/1.4)
Kevin Mullins | XT2 with Xf14mm. 25seconds, f2.8, 32000 iso
Charlene Winfred | Fujifilm X-E2, 1/20 sec at f2, ISO 4000 (XF 35mm F2)
Patrick La Roque | X-Pro2, 1/250 sec at f/7.1. ISO 200 (XF 35mm f/2 R WR)
Bert Stephani | X-T2, 1/160 sec at f/3.6 ISO 200 (XF 16-55 f/2.8)
Derek Clark | X-Pro2, 1/125 sec at f/4. ISO 2500 (XF 35mm f/2 R WR)
Robert Catto | Fuji X-Pro 1, 1/300 at f/11, 200ISO (XF 56mm f/1.2)
Everyone was under the pump this month. Summer is upon the northern hemisphere, where evenings are presently endless and turn into daybreak before night has had much of a chance to hit. For those of us who live/work in these reaches. this is the sunshine with which we make our proverbial hay.
We had no theme for this issue, just a pair of technical limitations: shoot with a 35mm lens (or 50mm-ish equivalent), and do it at night.
So we did.
Welcome to The Evening Standard.
Enjoy.
- Charlene, June 2016.
Etudes à fleur de peau, là où la nature et l’humain se rencontrent. Anatomie d’une union indélébile née de la passion de l’un pour la beauté de l’autre, traits pour traits…
Studies, skin deep, where nature and humanity collide. Anatomy of an indelible union, the passion of the one for the beauty of the other. Identical.
A little over a year ago I was face down on the canvas after receiving some big punches. I got up just before the referee could count to ten and left the ring with my head held high. Still swaying on my feet but upright I made some big decisions, left the highway and chose some less traveled backroads instead. I didn’t know where my path would lead me, but I did promise myself that I would take my family on a holiday abroad after the dust had settled.
And here I am, one year later, in a small cabin in the mountains in the South of France, surrounded by trees, fallow deer and my family. To upload this story I have to hike a mile through the forest and drive a couple more on treacherous mountain roads to get to the village café to get a slow internet connection with my café-au-lait. We’re down to the last days of our vacation but the kids, Griet and I have enjoyed so many amazing moments so far.
I spend a lot of quality time with my family but rarely do I get to observe my kids as closely as now. Not obscured by the many layers of clothing the Belgian climate usually requires, it’s striking how my children’s bodies are evolving just like their personalities.
Noa, the youngest is opening up like a delicate flower. She’s always been sensitive and still is but as her body grows, so does her confidence, her humour and her intelligence. Her sensitivity has become an asset to feel what the people she loves need: a kiss, a funny line, a dance or a hug. She always has the right cure before one even knows he needs it.
Maya’s lines are turning into curves never to be straightened again. She’s not always sure what to do with her femininity but embraces it without fear. Like every father, I’m not sure if I like this fearless femininity and at the same time I have no defence against the charm that comes with it. I’m losing a carefree child but I’m getting a wonderful young lady instead.
Kobe’s body is that of a young athlete. The lean muscles are the result of his determination, hard work and his quest to find his limits. Our stubborn souls inevitably clashed a couple of times in the past year. But deep down we always know that our mutual trust and respect will always persevere. We have forged a new balance between the two of us, a balance between two men.
The small roads we’ve travelled in the last twelve months have been bumpy, even barely passable at times. But they were taking us in the right direction and we can look ahead to a lot more adventures. I accept that from now on, my kids will sometimes choose a path that may be different from mine. But I know there will be always crossroads where we will all meet and choose to travel down the same road for a while.
