Many photographers are utilizing film in these ever digitalizing days and my use of the medium has changed considerably while orienting myself in the professional commercial photography realm over the past year. In previous years, when I had a job and moonlighted from time to time, I shot mostly film. I didn't have extreme deadlines nor did my livelihood depend on nailing frames. Film's slower and more costly workflow has taken a bit of a backseat in recent months due to the nature of my professional work, except for my cherished personal projects. These projects reflect my interests as a person and exploration of how I utilize my photographic skills in an ideal world. Like most creatives, these are itches that need to be scratched.
Two such projects were shot throughout this summer but the negatives sat untouched in their archive sleeves...
Patiently collecting dust while I got to grips with a busy shooting schedule (Thank God) and worked through my film scanning issues. I think the biggest source of this photographic limbo was not being able to share the results with the groups and people I photographed during the projects. They opened their worlds to me and I wasn't able to show them the results. I felt like a bit of a fink that showed up with a great idea, barged through their lives and left 'em with nothing.
So, sidelined with a debilitating back injury I shelled out the money for a new scanner, dusted off my archives and set out to get things straight. First up is a look at the ground-up reconstruction the Keegan Theatre while the cast and production crew simultaneously prepared for the launch of the Tennessee Williams classic "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. I would drop by the Theatre 2-3 times a week to photograph the construction crews working through the late summer afternoons as well as cast and crew rehearsing in the incomplete theatre space in the evening. My time spent photographing rehearsals became meditative escapes from the stresses of running my business and client work. I would show up, load up my 35SP with some Kodak Tri-X and work around the endlessly talented collection of performers as they moved through production. I was captivated by their performances while at the same time blending into the wall. At times totally anonymous amongst their deep concentration and collaboration. Their finished product was fantastic and I am really happy with my results, as well.
The Runner is the ongoing story of Waldon Adams, a local marathon runner who was once chronically homeless, addicted to anything he could get his hands on and suffering from perpetual illness. Years ago, he began jogging around his hospital bed (more literally, a death bed at that point) as a form of relief from the latest round of meds he was prescribed to, and this sort of make-shift exercise made him feel good for the first time in years. This revelation eventually lead to increasingly more rigorous cardio regimen as a form of relief from the heavy hitting side effects of medication and sobriety, and now, years later is sober, healthy, housed and as devoted to training and running marathons as any athlete I have ever met. He is a truly remarkable person and I am honored to have the chance of photographing his training process as he prepares for his next round of events.
Oddly enough, he also suffers from chronic back pain, so we are brothers in the same fight in those regards. My project about his training process has no end in sight and I look forward to using it as a means to push my ability to build a long-form photographic narrative. Here's to his health and continued success.