August 9 2014

Each day I post two photographs to Flickr. I have been doing this for the past three years or so. One iPhone photograph and one DSLR photograph. I rarely miss days, unless I am too busy with work or away on holidays. I love the discipline of it. It forces me to produce and to fight my laziness and love of procrastination.

It is silly having a blog and not posting these images here also. It is silly not to give some background information on the photos I shoot.

Today, I posted this DSLR image of a person, who I cannot recall if it was a man or a woman as it is blurred beyond distinction, walking perpendicular to my position. The photograph was taken in Daegu, a large city in South Korea. For a number of years now I have been photographing pedestrians passing perpendicular to me and blurring them out. Why am I attracted to these scenes?

DSC_0050
Invisibility in the everyday sense

Working with two cameras is fun, but they compete for attention. Each has its appeal. I love the iPhone because it fits. It fits so perfectly in my hand and I can do it all with that one hand. I can get in close and not startle people in the way a hoisted Nikon can. This photograph was also taken in Daegu, a city full of the coolest old dudes. Men who I imagine saw war in their lifetimes. Men who exude attitude. This guy I saw on the train with me. He sat opposite where I stood, hands on his knees and his legs open, his gaze straight ahead. When we made eye contact it was confrontational. I guessed he knew I wanted to photograph him, but I rarely ask. I don’t like to convert the scene.

Luck had it that we both were getting off at the same station. He alighted first and I followed and amidst the crowd I got ahead of him and waited and snapped as he passed. He didn’t seem to notice or perhaps he did and didn’t care. I knew immediately that I liked the shot.

14679292760_57fb310897_k
Daegu dudes