Happy Wednesday everyone - A couple of days ago I posted an image a building side and warehouse door I had encountered during a photo walk in Houston. This kind of image has been a theme in some of my work for some time, and tonight I wanted to share one of the early photos that started that series. I used to live in Red Hook, Brooklyn which is an industrial and dock neighborhood in New York. The neighborhood is filled with artists and craftsmen creating beautiful works of art each and every day and I was always captivated by the contrast in the kinds of things made in the neighborhood and the aesthetic of the neighborhood itself. It drew me to have photo walks and try to see the everyday sights in a new way that was more in line with what I knew the neighborhood to be. It was really in this crucible of trying to see these industrial buildings, walls, and doors as art in which I really started to develop what I call my "everyday eye." This is the vision that I try to use to capture something unique out of the mundane, and what I try to share with my photo students in our school's photo club. I have found this to be a very difficult skill to try to explain and transfer to students, and really one that has to be created and developed with some kind of immersion. Practice makes perfect and all of that. However, I know that I can take an image like this in an area where someone would simply walk by without another thought. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but there is a sense of story here and strong geometric shapes and lines in this image. Most importantly, it is an image that was made from a scene which people pass by everyday without a second glance. This is the photography boiled down to its central purpose - to force a viewer to witness something he or she might otherwise overlook. Enjoy your Wednesday -
Red Hook, Brooklyn - Van Dyke