I shot a bunch of accountants this week.

Now I know that, as a group, accountants have the reputation of being,
well…..boring. This group, though, certainly rose to the creative occasion.
They were fun, human, interested and, yes, even interesting.

All through the shoot I was rating them (right out loud) on the shininess of
their shoes. Here’s a shot of the winner of that category admiring his shine.

The shots below aren’t really out takes. That’s because they don’t come from
any specific shoot or project so there’s really no context to take them out from.
This happens from time to time.

When it comes to personal projects I like to work within geographical constraints
and tight(ish) themes. Along the way, though, I seem to shoot a certain amount
of one-off mini-projects. These don’t fit in to any of the focused projects I work
on but, in the end, they’re all grist for the mill.

My mind’s a mill.

And, speaking of projects…..I am once again working on the corner of Murray
and Cumberland Streets, photographing crack addicts.

I don’t want to go back to the corner and repeat again this year what I did last
year. I want to show the people there in a different way. Last year’s shots were
all about gesture, clothing, community. This year I just want to show the faces.

This subject matter (crack addicts) isn’t really one where you can test different
approaches using an assistant or any other stand-in. The people, their faces,
vibe and bearing are just too specific to shoot tests using anyone other than
the people who will actually comprise the project.

So with this in mind I dragged the 4×5 down to the corner, set up in an alley
and shot some tests. Initially I had a specific idea about how I would light
these. Then I second-guessed myself and shot all the tests using a completely
different kind of light than I had initially envisaged.

I knew all along that a certain amount of testing of light and approach would
be required. Trial and error is the name of this game. I also knew that the
final decision would be based on how the final prints looked, not on how the
images “read” on the web. Shooting tight head shots using a 4×5 camera
then making big enlargements from the shots yields prints with a look and
feel that can’t be replicated on a computer screen.

Anyway…..

With all this in mind I’m attaching here a short slide show of some of the
portraits I shot this past Wednesday. I reserve the right to change my
mind, in fact I’m already thinking about what’s right and what’s wrong
with these images.

And, by the way…..I met a whole lot of folks down on the corner who I
had photographed last year. There’s also a documentary film crew along
for the ride. The dynamic is very good, the subjects are supportive and
their stories are being poured out onto still film and video tape.

Stay tuned.

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