From simplicity comes complexity. Give yourself the gift of 45 seconds of peace. Watch, listen and breathe.
© 2009 John Nordell
September 30, 2009
September 23, 2009
Life Imitates Art - Another Roadside Abstraction
On my way to the movies in Hadley, Massachusetts, this repainted "No Parking" sign stopped me in my tracks because the overlapping planes evoked my own reality-based abstract photographs. So I made this end of summer self-portrait.
Then I framed a detail:
And finally a multiple exposure of the layered letters:
No Parking
© 2009 John Nordell
September 16, 2009
On Being Educated About Tattoos By My Students
During student orientation last week I picked student tattoos as a theme to photograph. The images were projected in the auditorium before the next day's session began.
I asked the proudly inked humans: "What does your tattoo represent to you?"
"The bright colors represent me, a colorful me." - Ben, age 23.
"It represents love and compassion, kinda making all religions hold hands. The Indian Sanskrit is a prayer that means Mahabharata... the third eye. The Mandarin character means 'Love'. Any tattoo is spiritual to me." - MacKenzie, age 21.
"I just got the stars because I like them. Everyone kept asking me, 'What do they mean?' They mean finding your path in life. Sailors put them on their chests so they could find their way home if they got lost." - Alyssa, age 18.
"Koi (the fish) traditionally mean strength and determination. You are built from the ground up - your strength, your roots." - Eric, age 33.
"It represents femininity, independence and strength." - Sally, age 18. She designed the tattoo herself.
September 9, 2009
September 2, 2009
Classic Cars, Gangsters and Athletes
I saw Public Enemies this summer. Nattily dressed 1930s gangsters perched on running boards firing tommy guns made for dramatic visuals. So it was fun to check out this 1930 Ford at the Northampton (Massachusetts) Elks Cruise Night. How gangsters have changed from this John Dillinger era.
Al Capone showed up Tom McNab's fascinating read Flanagan's Run, a novel about a footrace from Los Angeles to New York in the early 1930s. One of the contestants in Flanagan's Run - remember this is pre-jogging times - notes how both children and adults made fun of him as he ran through their towns. "Every runner, whatever his abilities, was making a personal statement every time he ran. Here I am, he was saying. This is what I do. I run. This is what makes me different."
I love it when elements of my life connect: movies, books, cruise nights...
Look at this interior! I wonder if 70 years from now my Honda will look this elegant.
I have fond memories a push button car radio like this; this mechanical, analog device.
In the distance sits the Arts and Industry Building, a former industrial mill now home to artists' studios and small businesses.
The smokestack reused as cell phone tower.
How technology changes and changes our lives fascinates me. I am thankful for a historical perspectives. And, really inspired by the intrepid runners in Mr. McNab's book.
Here I am. This is what I do. I photograph. This is what makes me different.
P.S. For those of you that have tried to leave comments, the problem is fixed.
© 2009 John Nordell
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