martes, 20 de abril de 2010

Archeoportraits


Archeophotography is what your mind does each time you pickup a family picture book and people discus with their memory every little detail in each image.
I found a hard drive 6 years old. And it looks like an antic. I remember it had two other brothers, one died of over heating and the other with a virus that came from a program that promised to recover deleted images you promised to your girl friend that no one would see till she changed her mind and made you delete them...

That was way back when PC`s were the only way to go for me.
And this is where it became more interesting. With a hard drive loaded with immature photographs taken with a Canon XT. giving a strange low quality image that spits out all its flows on the up to date computer Im using now: I found that most of the pictures (if i wasn't jaded by a pretty face) were talking about most of the same things i talk about now. So ill be adding up sections to Lizards Night. Instead of separating chapters with little fairies and princesses in distress, there will be a succession of strange portraits that will bring complex questions to the table.

Portraits around me recently have been intended to glorify beauty by covering up black spots and pimples with shiny visual sparks, that in a way short circuit my attention. Iv found it pretentious and imitative. So fondling these "old" pictures with new technology gave me access to a process i missed very much, the combination of "chiaroscuro"and grainy texture of high ISO B&W film. With in the combination came the next discovery.

We all like to say we have taken photographs since we can remember, but its never the case.
I never invested in a good set of filter for B&W Photography, thinking that with a dense red filter was more than enough, had to do with high contrast clouds, very nineties video clip or U2album cover. (Not many clouds where I live and I think U2 is over rated)

So good thing I found the Blue filter for B&W digital conversion. Cant wait to get a real one...
Ashley Fell in one of my uncompleted short films that turned into a music video, Better day Dante Ochoa. You can see it at Tren Géminis Producción




Bety Aguilar Maza
Cesar Guevara from TGProducciónes


Luis Fernando Corona
Ginita Bonita


Mario Josué Aguilar Méndez






You can call this a study on new digital filters in B&W with older DSLR files, but for me its just progress in my work. (And getting ready for Friday, got a photo shoot with some talented models, so they can knock some sense back into me).



domingo, 18 de abril de 2010

Making an ass out of your ass











Kent Evans; The Donkey whisperer...
Author of "Malas Ondas" google him and you wont find him. ebay him and you will find...




The government of Alberta has this to say about Donkeys;
... it must be acknowledged that the largest segment of the donkey industry may currently be the people who own them as pets. The pet category is dominated by the miniature but it would be incorrect to assume that the miniatures are not establishing their own reputation as equine performance animals.

What does this have to do with what Im about to show you?
Nothing...


Because we are in Guanajuato, and when you race donkeys ritualistically once a year for the anniversary of your local bar Its vacation time for all. The donkeys get pet and fed with nothing all that heavy on their backs. Big fat gringos maybe (recently mexican fed also, so probably lost a bunch of fast food wight), but better than the 350pound load of bricks they carrie 5 days a week.

When you google "El Fusilado" you will get a myspace...
and you can se pictures from previous races.

Noticing my lack of participation, lots of people come up close to me with intent to have a whispered conversation about the mistreatment to the little critters. They did not notice that I was actually glorifying the event taking pictures. So I kept my mouth shut and continued with what I do...













And the proud winner of the Fusilado Donkey race 2010 is this guy. With the prize, a bottle of their best Mezcal.

lunes, 12 de abril de 2010

Generating a dialog through out Lizards Night.



If you´v asked me recently what have i been up to: I will answer ·personal projects· Simple and avoiding details, unless Iv got much on my mind and needy to spit it out. Then I will spiral into a narcissistic discussion with myself about Liz`s Night.


With a collection of critters, fairy bug eyed people and a potpourri of oddities that have come out of costume parties and random encounters. Its getting closer to become the melting pot of fantasy and fairy tale archetypes it has originally intended

to be.


Still, the dialog is what will guide the story line. I see no other way than printing the 500 or so usable images in this three year collection and free style it like they did in the old days.

Finally, there must be a a really fast slideshow, and a really slow slide show. This will be my work method for the storyline that will end up being a book.

Its harsh on some people when they see them selves portrayed as an evil minion or victim of one. Being sexually attractive in a photograph is a big deal now a day: I just find it generic most of the time.