March 2013: Snips & Spins

NY struck me hard this time.  Perhaps I was searching for a message, or some decent explanation of how I was feeling.  This vacation wasn't peaceful for many reasons, but then again, NY trips never have been.  They're loud, turbulent, cramped, crowded, consumptive, effortful, exhausting, expensive, fast, big, commercial, confusing.  In other words, very trying on all the faculties & the feelings.  

Since these nine days were rocky, I got seasick.  I focused on what was still, quiet & familiar to settle the spinning.  I ate incredible food, met great new & old friends, slept late, wrote postcards, meandered the streets on foot (including the High Line), witnessed a deflated Red Hook, saw 'Amour,' MOMA's lavish displays & The Comedy Cellar's best.  These wonderful, special things didn't calm me completely, however.  So I bottled my own message & threw it out to sea:

Emit, 'live on no evil time.' -Dr. Awkward

      

(Manhattan) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(Manhattan) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(Red Hook) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(Red Hook) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(Manhattan) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

 (Manhattan) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(Brooklyn) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(Brooklyn Bridge) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

 

(Jacob K Javits Convention Center, Manhattan) --Ilford HP5 Plus-

(Jacob K Javits Convention Center, Manhattan) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(Jacob K Javits Convention Center, Manhattan) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

February 2013: Building Speed

A rental car, a book on tape, a barista competition, a library jaunt, one long evening walk, but not another. 

Gourmet pizza dinner, giving up a good parking space, a keg party in a coffee shop, finding a better parking spot.  

Swimming, racing, screaming in the hotel pool, a cold morning walk near the water, a bakery stop, no hangovers.  

(Seattle) -Ilford HP5 Plus

January 2013: Editing the Editor

SK is honored to have made the non-analog 'click' behind the new image of Fresh Cup Magazine's Editor-in-chief, Chris Ryan.

 Sweet pee: may you always dot your teas, cross your eyes & wear the Ampersand with heart.

Yours, SK

December 2012: Fake Nature

(Lincoln City, Or) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(Grace Life Fellowship, SE Lincoln St & 148th) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

December 2012: Business of New

Just a mere few days ago, SK shot only digital (shame, shame), but alas, had a pretty great time.  No nitty-gritty film changes, no misplaced canisters, no extensive metering, no conserving.  Just full-fledged concentration on subject, scene & shooting away.  In color.  

We're thrilled to announce ANNA (a perfect palindrome) from She Radiant in non-analog dimension.  Thanks for bringing the trampoline, your incredibly helpful assistant Jamilee & of course, your daring, biting, supreme radiance.   

 (NE Alberta St & 20th)  -Digital File-

 (NE Alberta St & 20th)  -Digital File-

 (NE Alberta St & 20th)  -Digital File-

 (NE Alberta St & 21st) -Digital File-

 (NE Alberta St & 20th) -Digital File-

 (NE Alberta St & 21st) -Digital File-

 (NE Alberta St & 21st) -Digital File-

 (NE Alberta St & 21st) -Digital File-

 (NE Alberta St & 21st) -Digital File-

 (NE Alberta St & 21st) -Digital File-

 (~NE Alberta St & 19th) -Digital File-

November 2012: Defunct

(Waldport, Or) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

November 2012: Hands Down

Oregon College of Art & Craft current Artist-In-Residence & SK's older sister Jessica has a truly unfettered imagination AND knows how to work with her hands.  Having been a ceramic sculptor for over 15 years, the difficult mental task of expressing conceptual ideas in 3-D form comes naturally to her.  She ponders beauty & molds her thoughts into shapes & installations that give viewers the chance to see, to experience something brand new while at the same time familiar, but not necessarily comfortable.  She implements themes that revere animals, nature, patterns from domestic existences, memory, decay & abandonment.  Also prevalent in Jessica's work are: Victorian-era motifs, delicate, lacy shapes, oozing body orifices & authentic relics from distant times & places (including worn doors, headboards & floorboards, thin-legged chairs & stools, compact mirrors, unusually colored cushions, metal scales, rusted hangers, a very used wooden broom, a vintage parasol, SK's baby pillow, their mother's yellowed & broken contact case, her pastel soap remnants, even her baby teeth.)  

Although Jessica might say something different herself, SK believes her sister holds the key (in her mind & then her hands) to unlocking the mysteries of the universe.       

     

Keep up the incredible work, JK.  I love & admire you tons!

Yours, Sister

 (OCAC Studio, SW Portland) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(OCAC Studio, SW Portland) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(OCAC Studio, SW Portland) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(OCAC Studio, SW Portland) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(OCAC Studio, SW Portland) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

Piece

(OCAC Studio, SW Portland) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

 (OCAC Studio, SW Portland) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(OCAC Kilns, SW Portland) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

October 2012: New Growth

Cully [proper noun]:

A neighborhood in the Northeast section of Portland with the smallest amount of parkland per capita.  It has the largest population living more than one-half mile from a park of any Portland neighborhood.*

Grove [noun]: 

1)  A small wood, orchard or group of trees, usually with no undergrowth.

2)  A group of trees planted & cultivated for the production of fruit or nuts.

3)  A road lined with houses & often trees, especially in a suburban area.

(Cully Grove, NE Going St & 48th) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(Cully Grove, NE Going St & 48th) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(Cully Grove, NE Going St & 48th) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(Cully Grove, NE Going St & 48th) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

 Toothpicks I

(Cully Grove, NE Going St & 48th) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

Toothpicks II

(Cully Grove, NE Going St & 48th) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(Cully Grove, NE Going St & 48th) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

Entre

(Cully Grove, NE Going St & 48th) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

September 2012: Big, Strong Trees

We've waited so patiently for our ultra-sweet, precious Lindsey to marry her fabulous, cool boy, Nate.  And it finally happened this September 22nd under a canopy of giant trees in Portland's Mt. Tabor Park.  Walking an aisle of pine cones in a clearing of forest, these two made one under a white taffeta banner gently tied between two towering pines.  As a small group of family & friends watched, bride & groom recalled their meeting story of five years previous, uttered personal vows, placed bands on fingers & painted a blank canvas of two trees branching out as hearts, ushering in new meaning to the words nature & nurture.  

Then, at the end, smiling, she leapt into his arms.    

(Mt. Tabor Park) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

Leap of Faith

(Mt. Tabor Park) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

September 2012: Roof Shooting

SK recently had the opportunity to assist two seasoned photographers, Mike Riches (PCC darkroom instructor, mentor & friend) & Phil Kuglin (darkroom colleague) with the all-staff shoot for Portland Community College's Southeast Center.  Staking out a plan weeks beforehand, the trio worked to assure the best angle with limited shadows, tree/shrub interference & the most practical organization of 250+ individuals.  With Mike & Phil on an adjacent roof & SK on the ground, the shoot emerged a success, due in large part to these tactics:

Plan ahead (know exactly where to set camera & when [for light measurements] the shoot will occur, how to arrange people & what to avoid)

Know the first row of head honchos is the most crucial in terms of positioning & camera gaze

Set the crowd first, then have the president take three steps forward

Get a police bullhorn to direct crowd because it's powerful & effective

Use walkie-talkies to communicate from roof to partner on ground with bullhorn

Get the job done FAST (the trio clocked at under 10 minutes) 

I learned a lot from you boys, thanks!

(PCC Southeast Center) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(PCC Southeast Center) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(Mike Riches, PCC Southeast Center) -Ilford HP5 Plus-

(Photo Taken By Phil Kuglin & Mike Riches, PCC Southeast Center) -Digital File-