ROAD TRIP

I’m leaving Monday on a road trip/personal project.

I’m going to follow the Passaic River as it runs 80-odd miles from it’s
source in the swamps of New Jersey, through industrial zones, suburbia
and on past Harrison and Newark where it drains into Newark Bay.

Now, I’m not going to be in a boat or anything…..I’ll be following it in
my car. On streets, highways and in parking lots that edge the river.
Other than that…..I don’t have a clue. No idea what I’ll find or how
I’ll feel about it. Who I’ll meet, what they’ll be like, what I’ll do with
them and my camera.

This is what I’m taking.

Plus a flash and a tripod. One pair of jeans, some shorts and t-shirts.
Shoes and socks. Ben (the assistant) and my car. Money. What else
do you need for this type of endeavor? Oh yeah…..underwear.

I just hope that the pictures I take don’t suck too much. But who really
knows? That’s part of the charm (if that’s the right word) of this kind of
trip……the great unknown. Jersey, baby!

The pressure’s on and I’m okay with that. The deal is that I’ve got 5 days
to travel the 80 miles the Passaic flows, 5 days to make something happen.
Not only make it happen but also make some kind of sense of it, impress
my eye and brain and heart onto film.

I’ll bet that drool will be full of this trip over the next few weeks….

GOSSIP GUY

I recently shot Macleans magazine’s political gossip columnist, Mitchel Raphael.
Thanks to the folks at The Chateau Laurier for the loan of a room.

Here’s a sequence of Mitchel ironing his shirt (none of these ran). I probably
never would have thought of getting him to do this for the shoot. It just so
happened that he needed to iron his shirt. I recognized the photo-potential
and talked him into ironing for the camera. I think that a lot of photography
is just recognizing things , being aware of the moment and it’s potential and
then, after a bit of shuffling and visual organization, pressing the button.

Anyway, after Mitchel ironed we sat him down…….

ME

Here’s me in Ottawa Magazine. Top right, in case you don’t know what
I look like.

They put words in my mouth, man. I’d NEVER say that self-indulgence
is a sin.

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