light walk

On flying, photographs, and religious thought.

2009-04-03T23:07:00.004-04:00

-DC patrol, the shadows of two Dolphin helicopters flying formation over the Potomac.

For my friends who enjoy open theological dialogue…

Those of us who practice the art and science of flying take for granted the progression that we all inherently, albeit painfully, grow through. I speak for many when I say that there aren’t too many things more humbling than learning how to hover. It’s been almost a decade since I first learned how to fly helos, but the memory is indelible. Somewhere between the awe, bewilderment, terror and faith that the rotor would stay at 100%, we baby-stepped our way into something that resembled competent aviators. I emphasize resembled quite loosely!

Baby stepping is what it took: First the pedals; “here’s what the left does and here’s what the right does”. Then the collective; “lift it smoothly and watch it climb, but don’t forget about the pedals because that collective also affects the overall torque in the main rotor system- increasing the need for more pedal”. Lastly the cyclic, the stick between your knees that pushes you fore and aft, left and right. Each control is uniquely different from the rest but directly affects the inputs of the other. You can’t change one without another! It’s one thing to elaborate on the academics, but there’s no genuine understanding without physically getting/growing through those baby steps.

So step by baby step we studied and flew, and studied and flew. We dedicated the bulk of our lives for a year and a half to institutional code and formulaic exactitude. Underneath the tutelage of our Ft. Rucker instructor pilots we were the ultimate legalists, pending review by our “Sanhedrin”. You see, in the beginning, it’s formula. The curriculum is laid out- black and white. The delineation for success and failure is quite clear and we knew precisely the end state we desired.

Progression is human, and it’s ubiquitous. Those of us who practice the art and science of photography also take for granted the progression we grow through along the road to becoming something that resembles competent visual artists.

In photo school I had a passionate agenda that eclipsed religious zeal. Any rulebook I could get my hands on was game. I fondly remember some of the beginners’ guides I would read, such as the Kodak book on “How to take good pictures” or Ansel’s “The Negative.” Such texts would thoughtfully lay out all of the most common “composition” techniques like using “S” curves in the foreground, using the rule of thirds, increasing your depth of field by stopping down and increase it further by using a wide angle lens. And what about the zone system? While making photographs, my mind would literally churn through the technical prerequisites: “Remember though that if you change over to a more telephoto lens the smallest available aperture will change. Reciprocity and reciprocity failure, incident angles, specular reflections, and pushing/pulling your film, fill-flash ratios and the inverse square rule.” Indeed, Brooks Institute was one of the most technically oriented photo schools available and I was, then as well, an astute disciple.

Back at Brooks it was a lock-step curricula, repetitious, prescribed, and rigorous. One teacher told me, quite accurately, that you could “smell a Brooks portfolio coming a mile away.” I knew he was right too, because we were so often locked-on to technical methodology that it easily bred a certain sameness. Photo school, like my flight school experience several years later, was formulaic, with institutional standards to be kept, and well defined “gates” to pass.

Looking back, it’s plainly appealing to muse over the baby steps. So many stories have been told about learning to fly to make mine passé. But what if, now, after establishing myself as an aviator for almost a decade, I still struggled with hovering? It’s downright jovial to witness the hover learning process as fledgling pilots jerked those Jet Rangers all over the stagefield, but it’s only really funny for about a week, because everyone is expected to “get it” and move on with doing solos, learning instruments, getting an advanced airframe and so on and so forth. Stopping the progression is pathetic and sad, shameful even.

Now I’ve been fairly serious about making photographs for about two decades. If I were still fixated on the basic elements of reciprocity, exposure and just focusing the darn camera… you get my reasoning.

Our early spiritual baby steps are endearing to consider as well. Within the institution that I grew up in we hammered those doctrinal nails into our personal crosses of discipline with assuredness and piety. Ok, not so much with the piety… if you were like me and actually wanted to be Dudley Do-right as a teenager though, you’d understand!

I’m reminded as I watch my two little ones pray from time to time, of a faith that I sometimes really miss. That absolute unquestioning adherence to what you just knew that you knew that you knew, back when there wasn’t the onslaught of conflicting information to even the simplest of assumptions, just the straight and narrow progression. Perhaps the dearth of ethical gray area helped retain a world that seemed so right, so constant at the time.

Indeed I miss it, and equally so I miss belonging to the semi-exclusive institution that laid everything out so well for me back then. Step by baby step we’d study with come and go zeal, dedicating core aspects of our lives to institutional code and formulaic structure. Under guidance and tutelage of our church-school teachers we worked to internalize the formula, if not actively, then most certainly in a passive way. The delineation for success and failure was quite clear and we knew precisely the end state we desired.

---

These days when I’m photographing there are actually very few rules that I’m thinking about. People ask me quite frequently “What is it you look for in finding a good picture?” and quite honestly I come up empty handed. The absurd irony is that I probably could have discussed with great authority, back in college, how to compose, how to expose, how to “see.” These days I have a hard time giving an honest answer because it’s too complex, as I honestly just kind of “feel” an image somewhat. Sometimes they just feel like they work. Sure, the methodology is still there, it’s just latent. Nevertheless, I often feel as if I’m still standing at the starting point, looking up at this never ending uphill climb to become better at it.

I haven’t thought much about hovering in a long time either. I dedicate a bit more brain power to it when we practice turning off the Automatic Flight Control System in the Dolphin, but even then it really is a “nothing burger”. All of those basics, those baby-steps that I learned a decade ago now, are fully expected of me pretty much without error. So now that the “feel” of flying is pretty much programmed into my muscle memory, it’s onto more graduate level stuff. For what we do within the Coast Guard context, well, the challenging stuff is hovering offshore with a swimmer dangling below you, looking offshore at the vast horizonless void of night- may as well be outer-freaking space. It’s guessing the closure rate of an oncoming aircraft who’s violating DC airspace, and not confusing their position lights with the multitude of ground lights that wash out the green ambience of the night vision goggles. Other thoughts compete for attention, such as: “How does our crew of four really feel about what we’re doing? Are they speaking their mind?” “Did JFK tower really intend for me to cross the approach path of the oncoming 747 or did they misunderstand my last request?” “Am I going to fly through the wake turbulence of that Airbus?” “Is that too much of a crosswind to accept for this confined approach?” “Does the potential benefit of this mission justify continuing into this messed-up weather?”

With flying, I’ve learned and experienced so much; but as before it’s as if I’ve just begun a never-ending max-performance climb. The infinite amount of variables that exists not just in flying, but in every area of life, gives me pause to wonder just what on earth I can be completely certain about. Seems so prideful to consider oneself certain about many of the things we do.

It’s cute when my boys ask a deeply complex and relevant question about creation, or God, the idea of “the flood”, how they were born, how car engines work, why we’re at war in Iraq, or why the cats seem to run outside just long enough to eat grass and then throw it up once they get inside. I have to boil down the facts into something fathomable for them. For which they take in bite-sized kid pieces and make a resolute judgment of certainty on it, banishing further consideration until of course they inevitably grow older and more capable of perceiving intrinsic complexities. It seems perfectly right for children though doesn’t it?

-Bren and Cam, boy-steppin' the Coast Guard Cutter "Vigorous" on a cold, blustery day.

How fondly I miss those days when, upon scanning the ingredients of a can of Mountain Dew, I knew with absolute certainty that it would be a “sin” to drink because it contained caffeine! Never mind the fact that it’s got a cane field of sugar and a lab’s worth of obscure additives… I knew not to drink, and it just felt nice to be certain about something.

I’ve learned so much and yet realize; I’ve just begun. So, if even the measurably finite occurrences in my life, like flying, making photographs, or watching my kids grow up, all extrapolate themselves into vastly complex variables with less and less definable progressions, then what of the most profound questions? Am I to be content with settling for the institutional formula that removes the nagging doubt for so many others… about life’s most enduring questions like the character of God? And where we go when the lights turn off for good?

No. Returning to a formulaic structure in order to piously assume clarity of life’s most profound questions, albeit comfy, is every bit as absurd as baby stepping back through nursery school, learning how to hover again, or figuring out “just what do apertures do anyway?” For someone who’s already grown through it properly, there’s no return to Cradle Roll. The mystery we’re left with is uncomfortable to be sure, but you’ll hear me humbly pledging “I just don’t know” far more often. Of all the things I miss about youth, I miss certainty the most… of that I am quite certain!

Magazine Interview: "James Shull's Shore", NJ Savvy Living

2009-01-31T00:37:00.010-04:00

Been procrastinating in getting this nice interview posted. George Anderson, the editor of NJ SavvyLiving, and I had a pleasant conversation which lasted nearly an hour over the phone. We discussed everything from families to photos. I appreciate the kind things George had to say:

James Shull's Shore
West coast transplant finds beauty in the mundane.
NJ Savvy Living, June 2008. By George Anderson.
http://www.njsavvyliving.com/

James Shull has traveled around the world in a military career as a helicopter pilot first with the Army and most recently with the Coast Guard. And with him every stop along the way has been his camera and his love for finding visually exciting images among the mundane objects and everyday scenes that we come to take for granted.

Shull’s latest posting brought him to New Jersey and Absecon.

“Being a West Coast guy (Shull was born and raised in California), I’ve always been attracted to the ocean. What was an eye-opener for me was seeing the variation that New Jersey offers in terms of the Atlantic Coast,” Shull says. “The Jersey Shore is a completely new environment to me and exploring it is exciting. There’s a heck of a lot more swampland and wildlife areas than I imagined. I was surprised and delighted in that sense. There’s a lot to explore here and tremendous artistic opportunities.”

Shull quickly adapted and found his unique visual perspective beyond the boardwalks and beaches gained him fans including an exhibit with the Noyes Museum of Art’s Atlantic County Libraries Exhibition and an artist’s gallery on the Discover Jersey Arts Web site.

Most of Shull’s images are shot in black and white. He counts Ansel Adams, Paul Caponigro, Brett Weston, Ed Weston, and John sexton, among his influences. “I just felt a strong connection with what they did. The black and white imagery just resonated with me,” Shull says. “From an early age, my teen years, I just started taking in as much technical information as I could to try
and do it well. It’s stayed with me ever since.”

What’s also stayed with him is a desire to find the visually exciting where others do not see it. “I like to look in that space between nature and man’s influence. I think even a lot of people from here don’t really consider their environment as being all that picturesque. Where I see something that’s visually exciting, maybe they see the everyday or mundane. So, in a way, coming here from the outside gives me kind of a fresh view. It’s something I enjoy sharing.”

Churning through Moral Absolutes

2008-11-23T21:30:00.003-04:00

Esther,

Your response has had me thinking since I first read it a couple days ago and I’ve been trying to let it sink in and get a feel for what comes to mind.

You know, there aren’t too many organized religions that fully embrace scientific thinking and actually claim, like the Friends (Quakers) do, that there aren’t any conflicts between what they believe and modern scientific thinking. But then again, when you have no functional creed or doctrine, like the Friends, then that’s never really a problem to begin with is it? (I attended a Friends meeting twice--VERY intriguing, much like the Unitarian Universalists, but the Friends DO have at least a subtle creed).

In addressing your response though, I couldn’t help but consider some the scientific parallels. I’m no scientist, though I’m a big fan of what they do. They are after all in the truth-finding business, which is always appealing to me. Of course dogmas and cultural prejudices abound there as well, but by-and-large, the scientific community has built into it’s own source code- it’s scientific method, a means for self-doubt, self correction, and the cultural understanding that if we can all measure this separately and find the same results- it must be true. The motivations for disproving the hypothesis remain high because that means one less variable or concept to lead you astray- not to mention professional kudos.

Now, sensationalist Big Bang theories aside (that’s a different discussion, and I’m completely fine with the Intelligent Design variant as well- Irreducible Complexity makes sense to me), your queries in regard to moral absolutes seem to have relevant parallels to current scientific conundrums. According to Hawking, the gleam in the eye of every physicist is to find a “unifying theory.” The explanation that ties it all up together into one package, that explains how the mass of an atom works- all the way up to explaining the apparent lack of measurable mass that must be spread throughout the universe in order to affect the observable trajectory of planets and galaxies as we see them. There are gaps in what we know that have prevented any such “unifying theory”, admittedly so.

What I like and respect though about Hawking’s world, is that for the most part, everyone readily admits they don’t know or at least provides a percentage of accuracy. Sure, theories abound, but the culture prevents mystery from being explained-away in order to accommodate preordained conclusions. There are always a variety of theories on the table to be explored. What makes something absolute in the scientific realm? Well, pretty much the fact that it can be observed, tested, and agreed upon predictably by others. Of course, you may agree, this is completely relative too. But it’s relative to any human who is willing to patiently observe and can make a measured quantitative analysis on an observed event.

Might those of us who are spiritually minded perhaps take a lesson from this? How much can we dare admit that we just don’t know? How much mystery are you ok with? It's uncomfortable isn't it? Kind of like growing up.

Segueing from that, but getting back to your response… what makes a moral absolute, well, absolute? It’s peculiar to discover, if you’ve studied many other world religions, how strikingly similar most of them are in their moral codes. Crazy fertility cults aside, look at the world religions that have stood the test of time; the Abrahamic triad is far more similar than they are different in their moral codes. The far-eastern religions too, have a moral code that is fairly compatible with our own. If you had a devoted Sikh neighbor and a devoted Buddhist neighbor, you’d probably find yourself in a relatively safe and decent neighborhood. Heck, I’d probably choose them over many of the SDA’s I’ve known.

There have been plenty of scholars by now who have laid out many of the notable similarities between Christianity and other world religions. Most notably Joseph Campbell, who often talked of the same “motifs” such as virgin birth and sacrifice as being timeless fascinations of the human psyche. He believed humankind so revered these concepts that we kept “re-creating” them in our religions throughout the ages. The evidence is there.

My point in bringing up all of these other religions is that there almost seems to be something written in our operating system, our very DNA, that brings us to these moral expressions of right and wrong, a mutual human understanding if you will, or perhaps, even more sublime… that Holy Spirit that we talk about? Another delightful paradox about us humans that always stands in the face of the evolutionist purist… how is it we can be so willing to sacrifice so much of ourselves, our lives, for our moral codes?

You asked (as we ALL do) for a moral yardstick, and I likely threw more questions at you than anything else. That very well may have been my point. We don’t necessarily ever get the answers to these questions so that we can thereby “move out smartly” like they’d say in the Army. Our unchecked desire though, of prematurely boiling down certain presumed paradigms into easily codified doctrine, often at the declaration of a prophet, seems clearly to come at the exclusion of some other truth. It seems one basic attribute of humanity is our ever present need to boil down otherwise complex topics and codify them with a “sound bite” or designation that tricks us into thinking we have a working understanding of them. I guess I’d like to avoid that method of passively thinking for something more... active.

Esther, I DO believe in moral absolutes. However when moral absolutes become codified (turned into doctrine), human beings have a habit of no longer laboring through the critical mind-work necessary that brought them to the “absolute” in the first place. Moral decision-making often is and should likely be gut-wrenchingly difficult. It’s thoughtful, it’s painstaking, it conscientiously churns through ethical parameters and it’s what defines us in history books, resultantly, as visionaries or cowards.

Bottom Line: Science and religion have both given us “clues” in regards to what moral absolutes there may be. Neither of them though, are substitutes for reasoning through the moral dilemmas that shape our lives. Codifying these “absolutes”, is nothing other than a veneer for laboring through the legitimate suffering necessary to face these dilemmas in truthful honesty and dignity.

Afterthought: After reading the account of Victor Frankl in “Man’s Search for Meaning”, a holocaust survivor turned existentialist/professor, I came away with an idea that stuck: Ours is not to keep asking the question, ours is to answer the question. These questions that we continue to ask regarding morality, “How then shall we live? What is moral? What makes right, right?” -Are largely answered by us throughout the ages of humanity and the individual stories of our lives. Our lives are the answer to that question.

Responses to: On Growing Up (and out of your Church)

2008-09-24T00:08:00.004-04:00

The following is a response to a good friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, and had genuine questions about what I’d written. I’m flattered by the sincere thoughts, so here was my reply:

The risk of titling an essay “On growing up (and out of your church)” can, upon first impression, give one the sense that in order to have one- you must have the other. By simply throwing this item out on the table, I instantly risk sounding both unnecessarily heady or like a know-it-all, or both. The title was not intended to imply “In order to grow up you have to leave your church.”

It would be a self-contradiction for me to counter-respond with any degree of certainty. After all, the point of the essay was my admission of not knowing! It’s just that I don’t believe anyone else’s claims to certainty either.

From time to time, when I dump that amount of verbiage onto my laptop screen, I don’t do it to challenge or threaten the sincerely held beliefs of my friends, if there were to be any hidden agenda on my part- it would largely be me “trolling” for like-minded thinkers who are interested in sharing similar adventures. To which I’ve enjoyed some success. More importantly though, I sense a deep responsibility to my children and even my grandchildren who very well may ponder, some day long after I’m gone, why I’ve made the decisions I have. How have I come to these conclusions? These kinds of decisions have multi-dimensional impacts and I fully realize my accountability, indeed to generations.

Recently, one familial association of mine laughed quite heartily when I shot from the hip saying I “thought my way out of the church.” Upon closer inspection though, one has to ask if there is any other legitimate course in this regard? The examples are many of those who backslide out of the church and into chaos. That was my father, who grew up well within the moral boundaries of the church’s nurturing. His was no positive direction “out” of the church. What about the more subtle variety though, the even more well known process of fading away slowly, going through the motions once in a while, feeling disillusioned but not really doing anything about it. The half-assing your way out of the church because it “never really did anything for me anyway” routine isn’t exactly the purpose-driven life either- more of a stagnant non-directional flop out of the church. Standard institutional groupthink, on the other hand, typically sees either harmonious alignment to truth within the church, or the backslidden “fall from grace” as it were. To say you “thought your way out” or came to other rationally induced conclusions doesn’t compute to anything other than theological syntax error, and is henceforth redistributed to the “fallen from grace- prayer list” file.

I guess the greatest paradox, in considering institutions, is how they can simultaneously be both absolutely necessary and also, diabolical. Like I mentioned in regards to my Father, I don’t know where he could have found the support structure anywhere else but within the church as he ironed out so much of the flagrant chaos in his life. During his last 10 years, the church provided the “source code” and shielding relationships that finally brought him peace. True, like the analogy goes, he first had to “die to himself” before moving on within the confines of institution. It really worked like a charm too, re-inventing his map, as I remember haggling over ice cream with him and his response: “But it’s the ONLY VICE I have left!”, which was true.

Diabolically though, churches latently exist (like any group or institution) for the furtherance of the church as a cohesive organization more than for the individual development of it’s members. Consider if you will the static theological plight of a paid SDA minister. I’ve met many that I liked. If any true-to-reason minister comes to the conclusion that part of the doctrinal structure they always believed in isn’t quite as sensible as they originally thought it to be, well, what are their options? How much doctrinal flexibility is there in Adventism? On the 27 fundamentals there isn’t really any. The choices for an SDA minister who decidedly comes to a more dynamic (that’s as opposed to static, or unmoving) understanding of certain doctrinal conclusions (Des Ford) really has no room for OPEN exploration within the confines of the church. The church would quickly take away the more direct pragmatic needs in his life, his way of making a living! With a degree in theology and 10 or so years logged as a clergyman, it’s kind of difficult to re-invent your way of making a living. So maintaining the status quo (intellectual dishonesty) or complete divorce from the institution (and it’s retirement plan) often are the only choices for a clergyman with that dilemma. I truly feel bad for anyone who intellectually grows out of the very institution that pays his or her bills. It’s a system that doesn’t nurture true theological exploration, but structural rigidity.

The example of a minister is more of an extreme case, I know, but the de-motivators for swapping out life’s biggest navigational aides loom over all of us. Once again the paradox; that a truly spiritual (and by that I equally mean mental) walk is one that will likely change considerably from beginning to end, but churches pretty much remain unchanging, as is their nature in order to survive as organizations with identities to uphold. Should there be limits on the influence of groupthink and institution in our life?

This brings us back to the reason we’re discussing this in the first place. Continuing your participation in a church organization, whether it is for the sake of your spouse, your kids, or for other people in your sphere of influence, may very well be the most profound act of sacrifice and giving you could offer. Genuine, because you’re purposefully putting yourself into a territory that isn’t necessarily nurturing to you, but by being there, you’re furthering the growth of someone else at a time they need it most. Sacrifice, hmmm…. there’s nothing in it for you, but everything to gain.

I truly hope you’re furthering someone else along to become conscious, more capable, more honest and giving like yourself. That really is the goal isn’t it? Because if we’re going to whatever church we do in order to receive something, then I’m afraid we’re all going to remain spiritually unchanging, which isn’t actually spiritual at all now is it? Well, I guess that ultimately depends on whether or not religion has a binary conclusion to you- the saved/lost motif. I see no evidence of life being reduced to such binary conclusions anymore.

On a personal note though, in order to genuinely belong to an organization, you actually have to internalize the goals and cultural norms of that organization. As you deftly stated “we need to be sharing the truth about God's character” implies that one assumes a convinced understanding of the Creator. Now, you know the model of God’s character and government that I LIKE to think about, but regardless of how much I’d LIKE to BELIEVE it, I can’t bring myself anymore to the intellectual posture necessary that assumes:
“Since I happen to be more adept and certain in understanding the Creator of the universe, more than you do anyway, then I inherently have a waiver at performing one of the most profoundly intrusive acts a human being can do; attempt to influence or change your belief system- to make you believe as I DO.”
This is a goal of the church in which I can’t rationally align myself.

All of the most simplistic/fundamentalist religions in the world, to include Branch Davidians, Mormons, Southern Baptists, Sunni Muslims, and your most culturally retrospective “Historical” Seventh-day Adventist believe they hold this waiver more than anyone else does. Everyone in absolute certainty of the truth…

As my essay forthrightly told, I know less now it seems than I ever did before. I’m less certain now about what I seemed to have had all locked up when I was younger. More over, I’m ok with it. The mystery I’m left with has become a source of wonderment for me. And to speak certainly… life is no less miraculous!
.

Winding Down Weatherly

2008-07-28T02:38:00.003-04:00

Like most other visual pursuits of mine, Weatherly and the Trainworks began not as a coordinated or preplanned event, but as happenstance that grew into somewhat of an affection. Weatherly, even the name seeps with quaintness. It’s simple, and when the church bell isn’t ringing it’s also fairly quiet.

Now I’m pretty much a misplaced Californian, so my fondness of byway Pennsylvanian boroughs and towns doesn’t come from being a local, nor does it come from being a tourist. In California I am inundated with the new- oh there’s texture to be sure, but you wouldn’t necessarily know it by driving through a random neighborhood. Towns in central Pennsylvania stand in contrast, where the economical designs of the past, together with the flaking paint and peeling siding interweave with John Mellencamp’s “Small Town” as I drive through.

That cultural contrast is what my mind stumbled upon when I first rolled into Weatherly, (known once upon a time as Black Creek) in order to visit an old Army buddy back in 2000. Since then, my visits have been dual purpose, friends and exploration.

On one of these walks around town, I stood on the main thoroughfare staring at an aged industrial building that appeared to be older than anything else. With train tracks leading into it and a river running alongside, I couldn’t resist. What was once the Weatherly “Train Works” seemed so central to this Pennsylvanian discovery of mine. With the assistance of a long-time resident by the name of John, whom I believe worked there when he was young; I was graciously given the opportunity to photograph the place inside and out. The images came easily.

Still, I’m a semi-routine observer, just visiting with a sense to pause. Every time I do I’ve come away with something new and worthwhile. Perhaps new only to my west-coast sensitivities, but old compared to me! I won’t attempt to verbally extrapolate the images, that’s not something I do (I find it silly when artists do that!) but maybe you’ll get a feeling like I did at the Train Works- something that felt somewhat gritty but familiar, something industrial of course, something… American? Rational or not, it was visually exciting!

I never really “complete” a place that interests me, and there may be more images to be made from this place that is so terrifically commonplace. After all, my old Army buddy expects another visit from me soon I suspect. I’ll look some more, however the most indelible impressions have largely been made in my mind’s eye. I think about them as we make our journey back home and the kids bug me to play what they want to hear from my iPod. They oddly ask me to play “Allentown”…

Posting Images Troubles

2008-07-15T00:03:00.002-04:00

What gives with blogger? I attempted many photo uploads tonight with no avail....

Noyes Museum Gala! & Facebook

2008-05-22T02:16:00.003-04:00

Long time no post, but here's something! The Noyes Museum Gala is coming up this summer. On July 13th they will be auctioning off a collection of fine artwork, to include mine. Two prints will be offered by the Noyes.

Looks like I should give up some more images after this...

On other fronts, I thought I would enlarge/enliven the blogging concept with a Facebook profile, which shows a little more of my professional life as well. Look for the James Shull profile with a helo on Facebook.com and click the make friends button... that is if you have a Facebook profile account... and if you're friendly of course!

Update to Gallery Site

2008-01-21T22:32:00.000-04:00

Please have a gander at the latest portfolio I've placed into the LightWalk gallery site at http://www.lightwalk.us/

Capsized Johnboat, Oyster Creek, NJ 2007

At the top of the Portfolios link, I've inserted "Atlantic City and the Jersey Shore". This is my most recent body of work.

I've still to put in: "Weatherly and the Trainworks" portfolio (this is still ongoing), as well as making each image individually viewable.

Stay tuned for a possible magazine interview...

Merry Xmas

2007-12-24T13:59:00.001-04:00

Aerial photo. Pine trees in a ice/snow covered pond. Upstate NY, around 2002-2003.

Atlantic City Boardwalk, Nighttime

2007-12-24T13:30:00.001-04:00

Unused Billboard, Atlantic City Boardwalk, NJ 2007

I feel a tad guilty admitting I like this image in color more than it's black and white equivalent. The eery light of Atlantic City is reflecting off of the low cloud ceilings and creating a wonderful orange-esh glow. Color it will stay.

I'll be making more of an effort here to photograph Atlantic City. The Casinos pose a challenge for me since I'm not interested in revealing with obvious intent which casinos they are. I have no particular interest in casinos (though they have great restaurants!) other than the night-light imaging possibilities they provide. Besides, I can't rightfully conceive of a Jersey Shore project without including a strong dose of Atlantic City. MY Atlantic City.

Pier end, Atlantic City, NJ 2007

New Light Walk Gallery Site!

2007-12-18T03:00:00.000-04:00

The link is going to soon be the same as it always has been... I hope, so don't change the link quite yet. In the mean time, it's temporarily visible at http://lightwalk.homestead.com/

This is the temporary site until I unlock the old domain. What's to see? A comprehensive portfolio of Salton Sea, next will be Kansas, then .... you'll see.

Noyes 2007 Associate Artist Exhibition

2007-11-01T23:41:00.000-04:00

Here we go with another show at the Noyes. As the card states Nov 2-25. Two of my recent images will be on display there along with a fine selection of paintings and works from other Noyes associate artists. I will be there at the reception, which is on 16 Nov @ 5-8pm.

Nicely enough, the good people at the Noyes used my recent "Steel Door, Columbia, Ca" image for the announcement card. Pleasant surprise.

Just had a large batch of negatives processed- neat things coming from PA and NJ.

Trainworks...

2007-09-22T23:53:00.000-04:00

Still digging into the negatives here, worked on about 4 images tonight for some preliminary results.

Current article

2007-09-19T23:04:00.001-04:00

This was the press release put out by the Pleasantville - Absecon Current. Not bad. I'm curious how they got the second image however, as I only remember submitting the top one.

This article discussed the JerseyArts showcase gallery that I have been featured in during the month of Sept., which can be found at http://www.jerseyarts.com/gallery/index.html

Please check it out, if it's past September 2007, then it will be in the Past Exhibits section.

Back from Cali

2007-09-01T17:54:00.000-04:00

It's nice to be back from my not-so-restful vacation back west. Don't get me wrong, I loved getting back to Cali for the first time since 03, however we went nonstop.

My opportunities for acquiring images were few, but I snuck a few in, particularly in Columbia and Monterey. Here's my treasure:

Steel Door, Columbia, Ca. 2007

Door Painting, Columbia, Ca. 2007

Stucco and Shadow, Monterey, Ca. 2007

What do you do when you're standing in line at Disneyland?

2007-09-01T17:40:00.000-04:00

Had to just post these for fun...
Of course though, when you're with camera, you're never really bored. Not even when you're waiting in line for your kids to ride the new Nemo submarine adventure.
Taken in August.

Noyes 2007 Biennial

2007-07-25T22:49:00.000-04:00

I trust the opening went well at the Noyes for the 2007 Biennial. I wasn't there as I had a family camping trip up in the Delaware water gap- beautiful! Even a few images made.

Anyways, the folks at the Noyes were kind enough to put my image on their homepage, http://www.noyesmuseum.org/index.htm . Have a looksee.

The image used for the show was this, Public Pier, New London, 2006.

...and if you look closely, you can see a USCG 25' patrol boat in the center of the river. You see, it's an action photo!

On other fronts, Jersey Arts, http://www.jerseyarts.com/index.cfm , will likely give me a gallery slot in their online feature artist gallery sometime this fall it appears. Perhaps this will coincide with the upcoming Noyes Museum 2007 Associate Artist Members Exhibition?

Oyster Creek. Visit 2

2007-07-17T16:53:00.001-04:00

Really recent digital work from this last weekend...

And left over from visit #1...

Atlantic County Public Library- Mays Landing, NJ

2007-07-11T22:51:00.000-04:00

Here's what Michael Cagno and company from the Noyes Museum of Art put up in Mays Landing:

It's a library after all, so we can't expect gallery lighting, but hey, it was a great presentation none the less. Thank you all.

Oyster Creek, NJ

2007-07-10T00:36:00.000-04:00

Catch Buckets, Oyster Creek, NJ 2007

If serendipity wasn't a reality, then there would be no photographs from me! It's funny how often I'll meander around thinking "Well, probably not much around here..." I catch myself at it all the time, just a little battle I often have with myself to keep LOOKING!

Last weekend my youngest and I went out photographing, of course he was fussing to go home after oh, about... 10 minutes. We went several places, but I had the most fun at Oyster Creek. I'll definitely go back.

My "Weatherly and the Trainworks" images are beginning to taper off. I kind of feel complete with the Trainworks, not Weatherly- just the Trainworks itself. I probably won't be back to Weatherly for several months, but I'm sure it will be there. It probably won't change much. Here's one of the last images from the Trainworks. Not the last, just one of them.

Bucket Cart, Weatherly Trainworks, 2007

BitterSweet

2007-06-26T22:46:00.000-04:00

As with everything else in life, I'm beginning to understand that our human preoccupation with making our surroundings comfortable is both necessary... and condemning. Another paradox worth exploring as I'm pondering this parenting experiment my wife and I are still engaged in.

The Creator gives us some obvious motivations to reproduce, that's not where I'm heading with this. I had my own agenda, a score to settle if you will. I needed to KNOW that I could do it right where so many others on both sides of my family had messed up. Not bring accidental occurrences of misguided passion but souls that were intentionally brought into this world. Planned, intended, purposeful. This is what I get the pleasure of telling my children all the time and they know it. They get tired of hearing about it.

So why the hell do so many other people have kids (who, seemingly had them intentionally just like we did) just to provide a semi-cognitive and laissez faire non-participatory involvement in their children's lives. It seems criminally negligent to my wife and I. Well, criminal in a spiritual/psychosocial sense perhaps. This parenting style appears to be quite prevalent.

Having these two aliens in our lives has proven to be difficult, life-altering, energy-draining, painstaking, freedom sapping, complex and uncomfortable. Uncomfortably complex.

Along the path I so often just want them to go to Gma's or something for a while. Or if they're acting up and everyone's tired, my wife and I tend to want to just mentally check out from them for a while and let them be. After all, it's not like they're going to kill each other, right? These are the bad days though and they're transient at best because my better conscience is always telling me to keep sharpening them, keep guiding, keep being patient, keep staying mentally there, keep listening to the endless chatter concerning Animal Planet and Star Wars, and oh yeah DISCIPLINE.

My own preoccupation with attempting to make the continual mental engagement with my kids more... comfortable... is that very bridge that I see other people faltering at "Perhaps I'll just let this atrocious behaviour slide this one more time again..." Another temporary mental vacation, more comfort sought.

I've never been much of a Tom Cruise fan, but one of his movies so graphically puts life's legitimate suffering on the table better than many. In "Vanilla Sky", his character's friend is letting him in on why his life turned so irreplaceably horrid, "You only like to live for the Sweet! But, life is both bitter, and sweet. If all you have is the sweet, it stops tasting that way! You have to have the bitter, in order to taste the sweet!"

Casa Blanca is also somewhat of a case study on legitimate suffering, but I digress...

Parenthood is by far one of the most magical, joyous, enriching, complex and delightful adventures that any truthseeker could ever embark upon. Delightfully complex. We genuinely enjoy the company of each other more than anyone else. The dream I had before I was a father of having my young ones RACE to me when I came home has become my reality, just as I did when my own Dad got home after work. You'd have to kill me to give em' up, though the whole thing is so routinely uncomfortable... bitter even at times.

We don't sing to them anymore as we put them to bed -they're getting bigger after all. But I think about all the rest of these things as I tuck them into bed at night, like every other night, and lie with each of them for a while, like every other night. It usually enters my mind after I remind them of what they're tired of hearing- that they were two on-purpose-people, and that I loved them before they had even arrived. Nothin' sweeter than that.

...and there you go. It looks like I'll be legitimately uncomfortable for a bit longer still. Kind of like losing yourself to gain yourself. Now where have I heard that before?

Unused Window, Train Works, PA

2007-06-08T13:38:00.001-04:00

I know it's been a little while since I last posted so here's something I'm just tossing in. Still plenty of images to sift through from the Trainworks trip and this is a worthwhile one from the hasselblad stack. Some of the large format images should be here shortly. I had a big scare that many of them had been destroyed as the lab erroneously processed them with color chemistry! Lucky for me the postal service delivered the second batch much later than the first, so we had time to adjust from the first mistake. Most images will be done just fine.

The Noyes Museum of Art is presenting multiple opportunities throughout this year that I'll be excited to participate in. Here's the schedule:

Noyes Museum Biennial, 20 July - 2 September 2007
Atlantic County Library system/Noyes Museum collaboration, 2 July - for up to 3 months
Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts/Noyes Museum collaboration, 20 Sep.- 14 Oct. 2007
Noyes Museum Associate Artist Members Exhibition, 2 Nov. - 25 Nov.

Once again, here's the Noyes link: http://www.noyesmuseum.org/

Black Dirt Courtyard, PA

2007-05-10T00:01:00.000-04:00

The Noyes Museum 2007 Biennial is coming up here soon and I've been wondering what image to offer-up to the show. This is the one I was thinking of using... I'm open to suggestions, it has to have been made within the last 2 years, so, this one qualifies.

Photographers, quite often, aren't very good editors of their own work from what I hear. We have our own built-in prejudices toward our own work such that it's difficult to make an objective decision sometimes. It's so based on feeling, integral of course, but it's not always what everyone else is thinking/feeling too.

Anyway, the discolored dirt in this Trainworks "Courtyard" was eerily black from compounded years of industrialization. But things were still growing...

Noyes Museum of Art

2007-05-01T22:34:00.000-04:00

Click on the above link.... Well, now I've got a bit more motivation to remain visually productive, I'm very appreciative of the Noyes Museum in Galloway, NJ for accepting me as one of their Artist members. Michael Cagno, the executive director, has done a wonderful job maintaining the only museum of art in Southern Jersey- at least from what I can tell perusing the place.

The Noyes Museum is set away slightly off the beaten path, right next to a wilderness sanctuary on the Jersey Shore (we have to avoid flying over it all the time!). I first saw it within the first couple weeks of coming here, as I was exploring the Forsythe wilderness area. Ever since then I had it in my mind to look at the museum again. It's small but satisfying, the wood floors alone are artfully done.

One of their newest shows is of Doug and Mike Starn. These two brothers have been photographing together from an early age and have recently been doing some very unique work with ultra-macro lenses on moths. Personally, I prefer their tree images, which are highly erratic but seem to still maintain a sense of order and direction- they're much less rigid than me I think (but actually have a following). They have completely embraced and integrated multiple alternative (whatever that means anymore) processes along with digital technology to create some very expressive material. I enjoyed looking at it.

So here's another recent image, Absecon Marina...

Cold Easter Weekend

2007-04-09T21:22:00.000-04:00

Photo time these days doesn't come without competing interests. If my wife isn't pulling me away, then the kids are. Multitasking is often the only way, so here I sit at the computer, part watching the Peanuts special whilst scanning. It happen to be the "Snoopy Come Home" full length movie- I had thought it would be much shorter. Hey, it's been a while since I've actually watched it, probably 20 years.

This weekend found us all ill. It's been cold outside for April, so it's been a pretty boring weekend- except for the Egg Hunt I guess. Daddy bunny hid the eggs extra hard this year and my wife calculates that there is still one egg MIA in the backyard. As long as the dog doesn't find a chocolate surprise everything will be fine.

Easter for me, for us, is just an American holiday. That's all. Forgive me but I just can't get theologically motivated over a pagan-based fertility celebration. Like Christmas, it's a Christianized non-christian holiday so you won't see me acting any more religious during these events. If you're a monotheist, thank the Constantine influence for the confusion.

I had the Ladder and Plates image up near Tom's River NJ at a "pick yer own" produce farm this past summer but I hadn't scanned it until now. The below image was made in a park in Galloway, NJ where there is a ground shell road that meanders out to the backwaters.

Steel Wheelbarrow

2007-04-02T21:59:00.000-04:00

....more from the trainworks. This thing was still functional even.

Cameron's Artwork

2007-03-22T22:23:00.000-04:00

I love how the boys concentrate on the most memorable features of our pets. Reagan, our Golden Retreiver does have doggie claws that have made marks on the boys from time to time. Reagan does have a pronounced "snout", and if you look in his ears you'll see a shade of pink.

Cameron has made many varieties of this picture, to inlude similar versions of tigers, and our cats of course. The cats have similar exagerated claws but are specifically CURVED, like the daggers our two felines are often sporting.

I love this image. It is perfect.

Merced River, Dusk -recropped

2007-03-22T21:59:00.000-04:00

This image was made while it was quite dark, well after sunset. If my memory serves me correctly, the exposure lasted 4 minutes.

I've become somewhat of a square recently- when it comes to cropping. That may be explainable with my having acquired a Hasselblad just over a year ago, but I've even been doing it with many of my 35mm images for a long while.

The Merced River at dusk image is one that I've recently changed considerably in how I've cropped it, having changed it from the conventional wide/landscape format to square. I like it more now and would print it this way.

I guess it would be valid to post the older version on here, however I've purged my system of it since I like the new one so much more!

There is a box of 4x5" negatives waiting to be processed, sitting on my counter in the basement. There's some good work there. Recently the 4x5" film boxes are much more difficult to come by so I've been stalling on sending them out. I'll end up rigging something...

Forest Walk, Valley Northside, Yosemite, 1993

2007-02-24T02:32:00.000-04:00

So here's an example of post-serendipitous evolution. How is it that I've withheld closely looking at this negative for 14 YEARS. Last week, I was perusing a box of work prints and stumbled upon this. Pleasant surprise.

Rowing Club, USCGA #2

2007-02-24T01:09:00.000-04:00

More material from New London. Just hadn't got around to scanning it, that's beginning to sound like the story of my life. More negatives than I know what to do with. I suppose that's better than the reciprocal, not enough decent negatives. Someday, I keep telling myself, I'll be able to focus the better part of my sum total energies on just image making. In the meantime, the negatives will keep piling up.

At least the negatives keep coming...

Plans, Storeroom

2007-02-22T01:06:00.000-04:00

Here's one of several images I made in the locked storeroom that John brought me to. Many of these plans, blueprints, and documents are older than me for sure. I'm sure many of them require better archival protection than what they're getting.

Static Hook

2007-02-18T01:38:00.000-04:00

Here's finally some more material from the Train Works trip. Finally had some negatives completed, thanks to Jay's in New London- still doing film, old school. I won't put them up all at once.

The main part of the warehouse was pretty sparse, exept for things that had collected around the sides of this interesting place. Near the back end, where there was very little light, hung this hook from a dysfunctional crane. It's near-symmetry was working well in front of the covered window.

I will admit that I only used available light on this image, as my camera flash was readily available, I strategically walked an arc around my camera and flashed methodically during the exposure. Just enough to get some detail on the wall behind the hook. Kind of spooky looking actually.

more to follow...

Viewbending at the Trainworks

2007-01-30T01:21:00.000-04:00

Crane Ladder, Weatherly Trainworks, 2007

This photograph is a good honest departure from any typical point of viewing. I'm still looking at it to see how much I like it, however I have pretty strong feelings so far. I particularly enjoy seeing it this way as I've toyed around with it a bit. The background consists of a white cloudy sky and the metal framework was painted dark maroon/reddish. That's where it wasn't rusting. I attempted to get some good images of the crane itself, but it was difficult to get something that really made sense visually. -Sometimes the idea of something makes more sense than the actual visualization.

Like any proof print, I've got to keep on looking at this for a while...

Spiritual Dialogue

2007-01-29T22:28:00.000-04:00

Recently, a friend and I exchanged blog comments on the role of institution and religion. Without attempting to over-define the complexities of one's individual spiritual walk vs. institutional necessity. We embarked just a bit. I began with this friends comment:

"My "Christian Walk" has not aided me in my ability to cope with life. I am not even sure if I believe that Jesus was the son of God, again, that is a whole
other topic of discussion. Regardless of my uncertainty about the details of my
belief system, I have recently developed greater faith."

...and I could say similar things. I would argue however that your formalistic upbringing within "black and white" institutional rule-sets benefited you more than you may recognize. When we're still coping with the complexities of adolescence- well defined spiritual boundaries can be downright saving- I believe.

The problem is though, we grow up. And if we're truly growing spiritually at the same time, these static rule-sets or "maps" that we develop no longer address the complexities that exist for us as spiritually growing adults. Changing the map hurts though and is fraught with uncertainty particularly if you believe in an arbitrarily punishing God. So the temptation to stick with the "old-time religion and it's good enough for me" routine will always be with you.

It's not to be though, because as the gray area of truth starts overshadowing your time-worn map, and you have no conscious choice but to reevaluate the role of institution in your life, then you begin graduating to mystery and paradox. Welcome.

You very well may find, now, that embracing mystery is perhaps one of the most "faithful" acts you could venture upon... certainly something you were never ready for before. Difficult, because as you see our former institutional rule-sets fit less and less with God's paradoxical ways of doing things in your life (ala divorce, and the turmoil of you're patients lives) you'll likely be tempted to go in the direction of many of your fact-minded contemporaries and swap out the institution of religion for the institution of secular humanism.

I pray that you keep moving upward. Here in paradox where institutions are absolutely necessary for those of us, like my past father, who found concrete spiritual rule-sets to be the latter sunrise of his life away from chaos. But also a place where the influence or addiction of institution can be diabolical.

It's helped me tremendously to settle with the belief that there is NO DIFFERENCE between mental and spiritual growth. They are often one in the same. For you, you see, delving into the science of the mind has been the truth that has set you free. More free you are! But only coming from a context that can embrace the mystery of why God (and yourself) would send you on this particular route you've travelled.

Along your route, the standard religious coping mechanisms, as you mentioned, are only one piece of the pie. We've all really got more tools than that, like you, but the contemplative and powerful mystery of prayer remains.

Lastly though, really now, you didn't think a truly spiritual walk was going to get any easier with age did you? The larger our sphere of consciousness increases, the more we realize we don't know. Our challenge is to accept that awkward, nebulous and undefinable truth. My fondest hope is that I can have an eternity with which to keep learning.

A weekend at the Train Works

2007-01-19T21:44:00.000-04:00

Luckily, I've been able to squeek out a small portfolio from this very intriguing place in Weatherly (formerly named Blackwater) PA. The Train Works has been in existence, in one form or another since the mid 1800's. After the choo-choo business faded, it became a steel processing plant of some sort throughout most of the last century.

Unfortunately, the place is just plane getting old, the rooftop is falling in, bricks are falling down, ...the list goes on. This building adds so much character to this adorable town though, that I really hope it can be spared.

Over this past weekend John Koehler, a long-time resident of Weatherly came out to greet me and give me a very informed tour of the place, letting me have free reign to photograph the place over a few days. I deeply appreciate his time. He showed me some of the writing on the wall that is inconspicuously decorating this whole place; "First snow, Feb..." and "Last Coke...", there were even marriage dates.

I'm eager to finish all the Train Works images, the ones here are the only immediate gratification I have to offer. That's because they were digital capture. I have plenty more still tied up in film, 6x6 and 4x5. Here are some of my first images of 2007...

Wooden Framework

Covered Bucket

Ceiling View

Conduit

River view, from Weatherly Train Works

New Scan

2007-01-01T01:16:00.000-04:00

Nothing like a scan of an old-found negative. In 2000, I had the opportunity to linger around the lower Chesapeake for a couple months. Many negatives were made...

For quite some time, I thought these negatives were lost. Only within the past year did I get wind that the negatives were safe and looking good- albeit a tad foggy from going so long without being processed I presume.

Cape Henry, Va. 2000

This, like the photos from Kill Devil Hills (Kitty Hawk), were a very pleasant surprise. There's more to come, to be sure...

FOCUS fine art photography magazine

2006-12-23T22:29:00.000-04:00

www.focusmag.info

I've subscribed to FOCUS magazine, a fine-art photography specific magazine since this last summer and I love it. I like it because it showcases both the legacy photographers that I enjoy as well as the new or lesser known folk (like me). David Spivak, the publisher of FOCUS magazine, was kind enough to publish a small portfolio of my work in the upcoming Feb. 2007 issue.

David seems to be quite a people oriented person and I truly enjoyed speaking with him, particularly about the direction of inkjet vs. conventional printing. I truly hope the magazine skyrockets.

As fate would have it, the cover shot of the next issue happens to feature one of Ruth Bernhard's images.

For my submission, I sent in a bio that they edited for size and format. The images, too, were selected from a larger group that I sent. It was a pleasant surprise to see the ones Steve Anchell, the editor, had picked.

Here's the original bio:

Born and raised in California, my formative years were the 80’s. Photography, for me, began with working in a printing press while attending a boarding school on the pacific coast near Monterey. The west-coast influence I grew up with lingers still.

Between conventional printing and complete immersion in the yearbook during my youth, I was permanently transfixed. College found me with a photography major to include Brooks Institute, of which I purposefully didn’t finish as I quite literally ran out of money sources. In attempting to find the “recipe” for making a living as a fine-art photographer I’ve explored many awkward venues that resulted in a very fluid lifestyle. Part of this searching led me to assist for plenty of great photographers in southern California and elsewhere, an experience I’m so glad I had as it catalyzed my direction with photography at that time. Somehow through it all the images kept on coming. I’ve kept them quite personal, as I’ve not attached my livelihood to my photographs.

It’s been almost a decade since I last lived in California, and sometimes I miss the geography of the west quite a bit, but what dampens my craving for the dramatic west-coast landscape is the tremendous amount of variety that my military lifestyle has provided me. Since I’m never in the same place for more than a few years, my “wanderings” are predicated on building a connection with the place I live at the time. Right now that happens to be southern New Jersey!

Throughout my journey, photography-as-exploration has always been the thread of continuity that keeps life interesting and new. Outside of having a great family, 18 years of wandering with a camera has been the best part of living. To stop now would be akin to death. That’s about as much as I can rationalize the “why” of image making, the rest can hopefully be explained visually.

I am very amused by much of the “art-speak” that arises from so many photographic communities, forums, and periodicals. Our human tendency to attempt to make a photograph more knowable by fragmenting it with definitions strikes me as folly. It feels arrogant and it risks divorce from the sublime… there you go, some of my own “art-speak” indeed. So please pardon my reluctance to attempt dissection of the more intangible aspects of photography. It’s a visual medium and I don’t have any focused social agenda with it other than sharing it with others who are so inclined. What gets me out of the house over and over again is the continual possibility that I might turn the mundane into the profound.

Reexamining the mundane is where I find myself the most now. Sure, I’ve photographed famous places such as Yosemite and other high-interest places in the past, but there is nothing more challenging and fun than to pull a great image out of a pile of debris, or to visit any uncelebrated locale and find picturesque beauty. This is where you find unlimited possibilities to explore and renew afresh, never to be bored. I’m totally certain; the greatest treasure lies close to home.

Technique:
Images were made in all formats, to include 4x5”, 35mm, and 6x6cm, with a few being digital image capture.

Pricing (matted)*:
$275.00, 10” and under.
$400.00, 11x14” or equivalent
$500.00, 16x20” or equivalent

*archival inkjet print editions, limited to 25.

Galleries Shown:
PhotographyBLOG.com, James Shull, March 30, 2006
SPECTRUM Gallery, Fresno, CA. 1996
The Center Gallery, The Photographers Exchange Members Exhibition,
San Juan Capistrano, CA. 1996
The Caged Chameleon Gallery, Santa Ana, CA. 1996
Yosemite Internship Work, Brooks Institute, CA. 1993
Mariposa County Arts Council Gallery, CA. 1993-1999

Juried Exhibitions:
Selfridge Garrison, MI. 1999
L.A. County Fair, New Photography, CA. 1995
Yosemite Valley Visitor Center, Yosemite Renaissance IX (a traveling exhibition), CA. 1994 Rasmussen Art Gallery, Student Work, Pacific Union College, CA. 1991

Ruth Bernhard

2006-12-19T20:11:00.000-04:00

Sadly, I found out today that Ruth Bernhard has past. This occurred just yesterday from what I heard.

It's been about 13 years since I had the privilege of meeting Ruth. It was at a workshop with Sexton in Carmel Valley. Ruth, back then, would only stay with us a few hours a day and while she was with us, she was energetic, directed, youthful, curious, and pretty much everything you would imagine Ruth to be. I'm blessed to have known her.

I remember specifically how she would be quite sharp in her critiques (a few pointed at me!) and say "You wouldn't have come to a workshop if you didn't want to hear what you needed to get better. You're visiting the doctor, hoping to get better aren't you?"

Ruth had this scraply looking notebook in which she kept many of her favorite photographs, it was a potpourri of many different photographers, to include her former assistant, Michael Kenna. She would sift through it and talk about the last show she attended of his, and of others.

Upon first seeing and critiquing one of my images, the first utterance out of her lips sounded like she had just tagged my style of photography from seeing the first image: "Now WHO's you're favorite photographer?" It felt a little awkward, and I'm not telling what my answer was. From my portfolio at the time, she reacted the most to this one, I thought it was fitting to add it.

It was a few other photos like these, one of which was a polaroid I gave away, that she reacted to most energetically. Needless to say, I've done a few more close-ups since that day- most of them have been of debris and other clutterables.

Farewell Ruth, thank you for you're point of view, and thank you for the images.

Weatherly Trainworks

2006-12-17T23:07:00.000-04:00

The family and I just got back from another short stint in Weatherly, PA. We have some very close friends there who have a cute little house right next to a stream.

We've adored this place ever since we first saw it, and some photographs have resulted. On this trip however, my friend Dave and I were taking a look at the aged industrial facility in the middle of town by the river. Weatherly Trainworks.

As we were there, the caretaker of this long-forsaken facility, John, asked if we'd like to see inside. Sure enough, this place is an important piece of history for this little town. I've decided to make it a personal project and donate the images to Weatherly's restorative efforts for this important place.

I'll plan on making a trip again in January- this time with the 4x5...

Untitled, Weatherly Trainworks, PA, 2003

Beach Hunt

2006-11-25T23:49:00.000-04:00

It's hard to deny digital photography's appeal. I'll always be a silver-halide guy at heart to be sure, but the instant gratification that digital provides is very refreshing. It makes me feel like a loose photographic canon- I shoot everything. That's what happened today...

Reeds, Sun

Skull Painting

Absecon Light

Painted Board,

Skull Painting,

So what's up with the skulls? I found a few painted boards with the lizard and the skulls. La playa de la muerte? Maybe it's left-over from Halloween... And I can't explain the lizard, but I like it more in the photograph.

Of course, raiding my wifes new camera that was given to her for the primary task of photographing the kids makes me feel only slightly guilty, but more so for not having used film. Even though I probably never would have made the above photos with a film camera, I still feel as if digital is "cheating" a bit. An irreverance, like I'm shooting from the hip. Then again, maybe that's it's purpose.

Right now, it goes great with the kids, where I can erase almost as many photographs as we make, with reckless abandon!

Fishing Poles, Brigantine

2006-11-21T22:30:00.000-04:00

Whatever is available

2006-11-20T23:52:00.000-04:00

I believe it was Richard Avedon who said one time, when asked what his favorite format was: "Whatever is available."

Why is it that, of the many things I've read about him, that's what sticks?

On a trip I took awhile back, I belligerently left my camera at home thinking I'd be too scrambled and busy to use it productively. Wouldn't you know it that I found myself with a few extra moments of time, and a few interesting subjects. Luckily, my mother-in-law had her little digital jobby. So I just played with it for a while and ended up somewhat pleased with the results.

Perhaps the most important lesson that I have to keep learning is to always take my camera. Now I know many notables who would agree with that...

Brigantine

2006-11-12T03:14:00.000-04:00

A beach trip on a whim. Plenty of photographs made. Most notable were all of the tiny little clams that you spot all over the beach. We tried to tell the boys to kindly stay dry- like putting up a sign that says "Don't throw rocks at this sign".

Crabn'

2006-09-06T22:44:00.000-04:00

One new element in this seaside life is Crabbing. Whether you eat them or not, it's worth it to see the boys wonderment at pulling up these sideways-walking pinching machines.

I haven't taken any good pictures of the crabs, yet. I'm usually more preoccupied with making pics of the boys while they're engaged.

Cameron's Blue Crab Picture:

Scroungely Cameron, Absecon Inlet:

Bren, still frustrated.

Sailing

2006-08-30T19:19:00.000-04:00

Sailing, Conn. 2006

Coastie Shack

2006-08-29T00:06:00.000-04:00

Sea Isle City, near Townsends Inlet. NJ
March, 2006

New London

2006-08-23T00:31:00.000-04:00

Despite living in a new place, I was given the opportunity to take a course in Connecticut for a month. I’d never stepped foot into the land of Lyme disease until just this last July. I know, that’s a little unfair, particularly since I’ve had more issues with ticks here in Jersey than anywhere else. The majority of my meanderings were around the town of New London. New London has a lot of unique attributes, however, I couldn’t help but wish it had some sort of revitalization plan.

Of course while I was there, I found myself drawn to the waterside more than anything. There were plenty of images to be made. Most of what I saw and felt resulted in landscape shots, with a few obscure 2 dimensional-type studies thrown in.
Connecticut was a beautiful place and I’d love to go back. Here are a few images…

Rowing Club

Downtown Pier, New London

Gate and Plastic

Tie-Off, Dock

Fishing Shack

feeling guilty

2006-08-14T22:32:00.000-04:00

Well the end of summer is in sight and I've done precious little blogging. Due a recent submission I've been working on though, I've got a few new scans to put up. So there's the cause for guilt, not posting regularly. Also, for not being as productive as I would like. Funny what job changes do to you. My camera stands at the ready though, and my vest is currently slumped over my chair, ready to go. No worries, the images will come.

Tennis Courts, Nighttime

Recently I was speaking with a buddy from work about the overall quantity of images I've built up over the years. It means nothing artistically of course, but the overall quantity of images that have collected in my presence is now officially cumbersome. It now requires a painstakingly hassle-full amount time to stay organized- amidst my many moves no less. Another distraction from actually being out making new images.

Now here's one that hasn't been shown before, it's a place near and dear to my heart, "Kill Devil Hills". It's the actual area formerly known as Kitty Hawk. These are the dunes near to where those two crazy bicycle repairmen were messing around with the rediculous concept of powered flight. I must have you know that the most famous of Wright Bros. photographs, the one showing the "Flyer" lifting up off the track and one of the Bros. running along side- was taken by a Surf Rescueman from the local lifesaving station. That's right, it was the predecessor to the U.S. Coast Guard that had the earliest influence in powered flight. They should've painted the "Flyer" bright orange.

Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, NC

a new place, again

2006-07-15T01:08:00.000-04:00

How can you ever be bored if your into photographing like I am? With the infinite new possibilies in front of me here in Southern Jersey, it's going to be a great few years to live, explore, and see.

It's only been a few months and I've got a few negatives to show for it. The unprocessed rolls of film are stacking up! This includes a months worth of wandering up in Connecticut.

Here's a recent photo I'm pleased with. I live not far from a wildlife refuge here in SoJo, where many people stay in their car and drive around looking at a lot of water fowl. Pleasant place, but I don't know how much I want to photograph there. I may go back again. Though I realized the hard way that ticks abound.

Jersey's a beautiful state, but then again, I even enjoy photographing trash.

Wildlife Refuge, Jersey Shore, 2006

I can't wait to see more...

transitioning

2006-05-07T23:19:00.000-04:00

Please forgive my neglect over the last few weeks. Currently I'm transitioning from Alabama to New Jersey! I should be settled to a reasonable degree of sanity by the end of May and posting more regularly throughout the summer to be sure.

I will be spending the next 11 years of my life near the water, or so it appears. In the past I've been resistant to photographing sea-shores and maritime things- just a little, due to the inherent quaintness of it all. Alas now though, it will be quite close to my doorstep. I'll be embracing the seascapes once again.

One focus I can't get out of my mind though is maritime equipment. I'm more interested in that now I think. Not just boats and what-not, I'm thinking ropes and rusted paint, ship lettering, docks, sails, stuff like that. Of course I can't plan, I'll just have to see what I come up with.

Seating, optional

2006-04-21T19:50:00.000-04:00

Dinner Table, Birthday Cake, 2006

This was a moment I couldn't let go. Trust me, we're not such bad parents that our typical dinner finds children gorging themselves on chocolate cake, sitting ontop of the dinner table. The craziness was contained somewhat for the moment.

You know, the more I'm exposed to children in general, the more I appreciate my own. Pretty darn good boys. Their mother and I would like to take credit of course. Perhaps it's just the amount of time and concern invested. The returns have been worthwhile.

Alabama springtime

2006-04-20T23:08:00.000-04:00

Wildflowers, Alabama Springtime, 2005

Thought I'd throw in some color work for a change. These flowers are quite common here in southern Alabama during the early springtime, they're still around now, but much less common. Had it not been for the erratic light pattern splashing across this "bouquet" I might not have enjoyed it so much. The variance works for this photo. I made several others that day, all digital, of these flowers near a dam.

PhotographyBLOG

2006-03-30T13:11:00.000-04:00

Friends,

Mark Goldstein, the creator of PhotographyBLOG was kind enough to publish 13 of my photographs recently. The specific link to the portfolios section is http://www.photographyblog.com/portfolios_james_shull.php

My last name is listed there as Schull- the "C" is a common misspelling.

Please check it out. PhotographyBLOG is just a touch consumer oriented, but it has some nice work posted and some worthwhile information. I learned about his site from B&W photo magazine.

Zoo

2006-03-30T13:08:00.000-04:00

Zoo Railing, Montgomery Zoo, 2005

More Weatherly, Pa

2006-03-28T01:09:00.000-04:00

scrapmetal vent, Weatherly, Pa

Weatherly

2006-03-25T02:27:00.000-04:00

Garage Door, Weatherly, PA 2003

Weatherly Pennsylvania had a name well suited. Not in a bad way, it's an adorable little town. I thoroughly appreciated the character of this out-of-the-way place. Of course, not every part of Weatherly looked as "weathered" as this garage door, just enough not to look brand new.

Emblem

2006-03-17T01:37:00.000-04:00

Emblem, bullethole, Alabama, 2006

Sometimes gifts lie closest to home. I've been looking at this dilapidated car over the past month. It lies just inside the treeline, off from a powerline clearing near my house. This is one of my most recent works, made just last month with my Hasselblad.

Now I'm no ballistic forensics expert, and I'd be quite curious to know how that bullethole seemingly got around the tail of the emblem. Of course the tail is noticeably chipped, but it looks as if the bullet would have gone directly through that entire corner in order to make that indentation. Please excuse my ignorance on the make of this old coupe, as there is no identifiable wording left for me to find. If anyone knows, please share eh?

Of course this is all way too much discourse for this type of image, and not why I even made the photograph. What attracted me is how the emblem, surely much older than myself, is still advertising in chrome amidst the decay of the rest of the car.

Kansas Seasons

2006-03-15T00:30:00.000-04:00

Creek Leaves, Kansas, 1998

Konza Prairie, Kansas, 1998

Luckily, I came away from Kansas with a fairly good range of experiences and photographs to show for the year I was there. It's amazing how much more you recognize the nuances of the weather in a place that has much less geography to offer you. In a way, the weather replaces the varietal void that you experience in such a place.

I watched the weather a lot. Of course "hearing" the unrelenting thunder on a nightly basis is no less sensual, it would set off the car alarm occasionally. The lightning would strobe through the edge of the window blinds with regularity at night.

Rock Formation, Kansas, 1998

Kansas, believe it or not, has some very unique and interesting geographic features. They're not necessarily dramatic, they're gentle. Hunting for them made it all the more worthwhile. Mushroom rocks, pilgrim signatures, mild valleys and endless grain silos. It's not all just your standard "Country Kitchen" fair to be sure.

untitled, Kansas, 1998

Kansas gave me more than I had time to capture. The storms and weather patterns, of course, filled all the down-time between exposures.

Refuse

2006-03-13T23:35:00.000-04:00

Sandbags, Louisiana, 2002

Found myself in a situation where I couldn't go anywhere once. I was somewhat stuck in a remote area of the state of Louisiana. With nothing but hours on hand and my small Leica, I meandered over to a trash heap nearby. This is what I found. The sandbag image, I think, will look great on real photographic paper, but I haven't had a chance to print it. The drawers image is just a composition that I think works, which is nice since I seem to have so many that don't! It was worth being stuck.

Drawers, Louisiana, 2002

High-key

2006-03-08T04:02:00.000-04:00

White Fence, Lodi, Ca. 1994

Ford Detail, 1994

White Door, La Selva Beach, Ca. 1992

Cardinal Directions

2006-03-06T01:23:00.000-04:00

Seawall, Santa Barbara, 1992

By the time I arrived at this image I'd been photographing for a few years already. For all I knew it was just another early-morning trip to the beach. There have been multiple moments in my life that have "defined" my photographic direction and I'm a little shy to talk much on them, however, this was one of those passage points along the journey. I wouldn't attempt to say that my whole basis of visual pursuits boils down to this- far from it, I don't buy into the momentary conversions for religious appeals either.

It's ridiculous for me to even attempt to put into words so I won't try, but the appeal I've had to this very image has indeed been a very positively motivating factor for me throughout my life.

I chase that same feeling still...

The Dirty Trailer

2006-03-03T16:47:00.000-04:00

Shadow Pattern, Trailer Home, 2002

View Outside, Winter Rain, 2002

These photographs were made in a trailer that we stayed in temporarily in Alabama once. We didn't quite like staying there for the short time we did, but I made the most of it, photographically. The place was dingy, smelled bad, and was complete with broken furniture. The kids didn't seem to mind, though my wife cringes still just thinking about it. Of course I'm easy.

Towels, Trailer Home, 2002

We stayed the course in this place through Thanksgiving and Xmas of 2002. Everyone got the flu but myself, oddly enough. My kids and I left with decent memories. My wife has repressed most of the "Dirty Trailer" experience.

Wonderous Wasteland, Salton Sea

2006-03-02T16:44:00.000-04:00

Alkali Tracks, Salton Sea, California, 1996

For many people, my fascination of the Salton Sea is considered a bit twisted. The place reeks of decay. Quite literally, the dead Tilapia fish that lie all around the poorly oxygenated water cause the place, in some areas, to smell horrible. I loved it and miss it.

Platform, Salton Sea, California, 1995

Dredge, Bombay Beach, Salton Sea, 1996

Yeah, Salton Sea is like another world. A forgotten piece of California that was almost developed, then neglected. Who knows what's become of it since I last visited. In the middle of the summer the temperature would reach over 120 easily. The humidity, uugh. It would actually mottle-up my sheet film if I didn't keep it in a cooler.

I hope it hasn't changed too much, except for the abyssmal pollution coming into the lake from Mexico. It would be nice to journey back to this seemingly wasted place again. The things I found there, I've seen nowhere else.

Bombay Beach, Salton Sea, California, 1996

Pohono Bridge

2006-03-02T04:08:00.000-04:00

Pohono Bridge, Yosemite Valley, 1993

Thought I'd just throw this in. Goes well with a certain Crosby, Stills, and Nash tune. Pohono Bridge is the first bridge you cross as you're just entering Yosemite Valley.

contrivances

2006-02-28T21:48:00.000-04:00

Picnic Table, Springtime, 1993

There's always a great image waiting to be contrived. One spring afternoon during my pre-fatherhood era I found myself bored. Nothin doin. What caught my eye, outside the kitchen window in the temporary housing that the Dept. of the Interior provided for me was a maple tree. Bright new, perfect leaves. Enough to make any Canadian gleem. I'm a sucker for leaves and have probably way more leaf pics than anyone should have, but alas, the setup began ontop of the picnic table. Looking straight down.

Finding the perfect leaf was easy. Contending with wind was not. A yellow filter, a watered-down table, and wooden field camera did the job. In between wind gusts that is.

Rodina Lights

2006-02-28T04:40:00.000-04:00

The Rodina Hotel was supposed to be a 4 star hotel, one of the best available in all of Bulgaria. Perhaps it was, but without seeing any other hotels' amenities I was loath to believe it.

I didn't make as many photographs of Bulgaria as I would have liked. Sophia, the city in which we stayed, was saturated with hints of the Soviet era. It was awkward to walk by Russian armored vehicles in the middle of a redeveloping downtown area, and see dilapidated statues depicting the efforts of working-class communists. I'll have to go back someday.

In my room there were these unique little adjustable tungsten lamps. They were next to each bed above the antiquated eastern european radio with push-button channels. I've never seen lamps like those and probably never will again.

toys and other complexities

2006-02-27T01:44:00.000-04:00

Kids need toys. Of this I am certain. The boys' room lacks no evidence of this belief at all. Like average Americans, our spawn have way more than any developmentally healthy mini-humans should have.

Of course today was cleaning day at our house. Much of this activity involves toy redistribution and management. To this sophisticated effort, we've enacted any kind of incentive and disincentives (to include cash bonuses) to get these two practitioners of the destructive arts to comply with our long-standing policy of "you made it, you clean it". It's an experiment in folly.

So I thought of the pool toys image I made from our boys backyard blow-up pool up in New York. Now, some pictures I have to contrive. No problems there as far as I'm concerned, you see ALL images are contrivances to some extent, many full-blown lies. This wasn't one of them however. Simply toys, un-picked up. Left where they had been after the two goofs had relocated for dinner.

I have to return to images like this when I selfishly wonder to myself how much more time I would have had for my artistic pursuits had I not followed the family guy route. Occasionally I hear the words of Ruth Bernhard, a photographer I respect immensely, saying "...and I never had any distractions like children to get in the way..." Why did those words lock into my mind even then, sitting in a photo workshop, years before I ever had kids?

Most ironically, the name of our workshop was "The Gift of the Commonplace", and I was a convert from the get-go. Still am. Making the mundane into the profound. It never gets old. Of course the boys are far more adept at this than I am, as just today I learned that all lightsabers second as double-barrel shotguns, that unclaimed flight kneeboards work well as "safety" harnesses, and toybox lids are a perfectly acceptable bobsled substitute for couch slopes. Why do toy manufacturers attatch labels and definitions on toys that change entirely in purpose within about a week of ownership?

I guess the commonplace inspiration doesn't stop after all, for someone who's looking. Daresay I've kept looking? God I hope so. Like that day in New York, where plush fish toys really did live in the pool, and helos weren't required to be equipped with emergency flotation devices. How could I not make a photograph?

So the toys keep finding their way into every corner of our house. I hope they stay around for a while. When the toys begin to stay put away, all nice and neat, and my distractions are fewer, then those distractions won't be coming back. I'm fairly certain that Ruth Bernhard's poignant words won't be haunting me then either. Yeah, the toys can lie for now, but you can bet I'm going to keep looking.

If you ask me, it's the best of both worlds. I couldn't get the education from any workshop. What a profound gift to explore. But it's getting to be late and I could use some good ole' mundane sleep right about now. I'll remove the strategically placed plastic spider from underneath my pillow though before I do.

5 birds

2006-02-25T03:17:00.000-04:00

Came across an old friend tonight. Well, a few actually, but this one caught my attention and sucked up most of an evening from me.

In central California, near Fairfield along hwy 12 was this particular windmill/waterpump that I'd routinely spied as I drove between home and college years ago. On at least two occasions, I stopped to make a large format photograph of it, with seemingly ok results. I don't even remember how many times I stopped actually. Once Jeff C. was with me providing entertainment in the form of Monty Python quotes throughout the procedure. This specific negative, however, came from a lone journey out there early one morning during a Xmas break from school.

After seeing the negative, I was dubious on how to go about printing it. Somehow it lacked the stark graphic quality that seemed so apparent as I was driving by. On my first attempt to print it, I came up with an interesting image that still seemed detached from what I felt when I first became excited about this place. Since then, I thought that maybe I would come back to it and try something different. So I did.

There are several basic things that I've done to the image. Magically enough though, all it really needed was to be cropped differently, not so tight.

See the 5 birds. For all I know there's more there, behind the fan-blades or the windcock assembly. A few years ago I would have maintained the sterility of a bird-free image, using one of the other negatives. I can't imagine not having them there now.

Like many times before, I have to giggle as I look at what I presented in the past thinking "how was I even ok with that crap."

According to one great photographer the most important tool in your darkroom is the trashcan. In this case for me it was time, but the trashcan is definitely close by.

So my old friend along hwy 12 is still a friend all the more. Matured to be sure, and much more pleasant to be around.

herding boys

2006-02-24T02:23:00.000-04:00

It's impossible to keep the boys posed in any prolonged and meaningful way without becoming thoroughly frustrated. They just don't do what you want them to do. Photographing or not. Perhaps the best attitude going into it is making a collaboration with chaos. If I can borrow the term from Andy Goldsworthy's "Collaboration with Nature" series.

I'm not just describing the photography of my kids but the entire affect parenting has had on my masterfully conceived collegiate plans of adulthood liberation. That was only half a joke. Because if you were to see our house on any day of the week you'd realize that control of our sphere of influence isn't exactly fine-tuned. We embrace the chaos.

It turns out that this makes for pretty cool pictures of my kids. Never can I quite pull the expression that I most want out of them- I get something else. It's something unexpected to be sure, but whatever it is, it works. Kind of like our marriage, kind of like our life with these two aliens.

So that's why it works when Bren walks into the scene even though I meant to photograph Cam! That's why picking up my camera is never boring. That's why I'm still a slave to this activity after these few years of living here.

Believe it or not, the activity that worked here was getting the boys to this location so that they could repeatedly spit over the railing, down into the water. Posing is boring, spitting is not boring. Pausing between the spitting fits was all the collaborating I needed to do.

New York:

morning light, kitchen

2006-02-23T09:56:00.000-04:00

One of my first digital images. Looking forward to making conventional silver prints from digitally captured images. Hybrids.

I've consistently tried to make great images of the place I live. Lucky for me, that changes often. The surface that these shadows were cast upon was simply the white-painted cabinets of our house.

young hardwoods

2006-02-22T16:32:00.000-04:00

There have been so many times that I've found myself in a visually interesting place with nothing motivating me to make any photographs. Of course, the opposite is true too. Yucky places have provided wonderful results, hence Salton Sea.

Down at my creek (the previously unnamed creek), there is so much tangle, brush, stick chaos, that it is extremely difficult to visually reduce elements into what makes them so interesting.

Therein lies the most wonderful frustration of photography. Creating order from chaos. There's no reason for me to expound on this as so many artspeak pontificators have before.

Lucky for me, the light this day was giving me options. The moment seems to be working for the hardwoods photograph.

blog adventure

2006-02-22T10:47:00.000-04:00

Inspired by the Blog of a good friend, I've decided to open a venue in which I can show and discuss photographs. Thank you Michael and Cara!

I'll open up this blog with a recent photograph. Near to my townhouse there is a small unnamed creek to which I've been venturing to recently. It's so tempting to be drawn to water! There's a lot of trash that has unfortunately lodged it's way into the tangles of this unnamed place, some of which I may need to photograph! It's a difficult place to photograph, with all of it's "overgrownness".

The closeness of this place draws me. And it's just plain easy to get to! Of course I come back a muddy mess each time I explore it. More to come.