Things I Love...

I recently got an old Canon AE1 camera so that I could shoot this old Canon lens that I have (which I've been shooting on a different camera and LOVE it!). It seemed only fitting that the first roll should capture some of my favorite things on beautiful black & white film. 

SX-70 that survived the South Pole

I'm a sucker for a good street lamp...

Some kind of Magnolia found in a park in Auckland, NZ

Ocean!

My favorite flips that just died and were buried in Auckland.

Day & Night Flower Series

I shot a lot of photos in the greenhouse before everything was torn out last week. These are some of my favorite black & whites. Anyone that knows me well knows how fascinated I am by flowers and plants in general. I love seeing them in black & white because it's always the small, perfectly formed bits that intrigue me, not the colors, and shooting them in black & white makes me pay more attention to the details.

Take it to the Streets

Last year was the year of Impossible.  This year it seems to be the year of street photography.  The twitterverse, Facebook world and blogosphere are all singing the praises of Vivian Maier- the amazing street photographer whose negatives were recently discovered.  You can read all about her here or do a quick google on her name and find loads of blog posts written about her work. 

The great thing about street photography is that it captures realistic moments in time.  They aren't the contrived, set-up photographs that we so often see in advertising or formal portraiture, but rather caught or stolen moments of real people living out their daily lives.  I think this is what gives them magic and resonance.  And without street photographers, we would be missing a lot of our history and our ability to get a glimpse into the daily realities of those that lived in the past.

Street photography is beautiful, important and historically illuminating.  So grab your camera and get out there.  What's happening on your streets today?

A quick search on flickr will find you lots of other great street photography like those found below.

The Library of Congress

New York Public Library

Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest

New York Public Library

George Eastman House

George Eastman House

George Eastman House

New York Public Library

It's a Mystery

Mysterious old photos always grab my attention and I couldn't resist bringing a few home when I found a full suitcase of them in a vintage shop during my trip to Portland last week. 

Who did this little boy grow up to be?  Is that old couple standing in the snow field just finishing up the burying of a body?  Did the guy who could be in Caracas have anything to do with it?  What do you think that farmer grows? Where are those girls going on that train?  And why are they wearing matching plaid dresses?  Who abandoned the boat, or is waiting to make their getaway on it?  I'd like to know the answers. Of course I'll never know the answers, but I now have a lifetime to spend pondering these photos.