A Little Rambling .....

The two channels I've found fulfilling in life to speak through have been music - specifically through the violin - and photography. How or why I chose the violin and the camera .... I don't know.They're both defined by time and space. Or rather I should say, I love to use each medium's framework of time and space to plug myself into. That's just how they draw me to them, and I feel comfortable telling my stories through their expressive capabilities. Any artist in any medium needs to tell a story of some kind.   That's how we touch the soul of our viewer/listener, give him something to relate to in what he is perceiving in our work, and hopefully enlighten and elevate him with a new perspective.  

I was walking across 14th Street and saw this gentleman standing in his barber shop window. I was initially drawn to the way he was holding his arms, and he had a sad thoughtful expression on his face. When I squared off in front of his window and picked up the camera, he broke out in a grin and after I took the shot he gave me a thumbs up sign, as if to say 'Thanks for making me smile.'

I like the shot because there's so many layers to it. There's the reality of the glass window is the front of the image, with the barber standing directly behind it and his counter with the tools of his trade creating the depth of perspective in the background. But in the flat reflection which appears to be behind him is my image, with a car and the stores from across the street behind me. My image in the  reflection appears to be photographing his back. Hopefully, the viewer's intuition will tell him that what he sees behind the barber is actually out in front, just were the viewer is standing, and that the barber is looking directly at him, the viewer .... that smile isn't for me, the photographer taking the photo. It's for anyone who looks at the image. By looking at the picture, you made that guy's day a little happier, and hopefully his smile back at you made your day happier too.

Have a nice day.