Faces
Posted on March 13, 2010
Dancer - 2010
These two images are from a street festival. The man was a dancer and performer. He stood out with his serious clear-eyed gaze and spear held so close. The woman was a spectator… of sorts. She was so excited and having a good time just dancing on her own up and down the street! And best of all, her curved pink sunglasses almost perfectly echoed the shape of her wide-open smile. If only we could all find such joy so easily.
Havin' a good time -- 2010
Ways
Posted on March 5, 2010
Stairway -- 2010
Stairways, doorways. Ways in and out. Their graphic qulaities attract my eye, and the ambiguity of where they lead teases my mind. These were both in one of the many interior courtyards in old Christiansted.
The courtyard has a few small offices along the back wall and a suite of offices in one of the buildings above. The center, open to the sky, had been the site of a now defunct restaurant (business opportunity anyone?). The door with the round window was behind the bar and had the patina of long and frequent use by many hands. It seemed to look back at me as if wondering where all the people had gone.
Doorway -- 2010
Open shutters, locked gates
Posted on February 24, 2010
Open exchange -- 2010
Many of the old buildings here in the tropics have wooden shutters over their windows, but no glass or screens. When the shutters are opened to let in the light, there is also an open exchange of air, insects, and more. What is inside can go out and what is outside can come in.
How different is the message from the old gate with its heavy chain and lock, surely stronger than the gate itself!
Is there a key? -- 2010
A conundrum of sorts
Posted on February 18, 2010
Mocko-jumbie Red -- 2010
The past few months I’ve been puzzling over the tension that sometimes occurs between the content and subject matter of an image, and its more abstract qualities of composition, color and design. Ideally, the two should complement each other, with the design qualities strengthening the emotional impact of the subject matter — and vice versa.
However, I have found that is not always the case. Sometimes color and design can compete with the subject, distract, and actually weaken the image’s impact. Photographers working in black-and-white know this well. In other cases, an image’s content can distract and interfere with the emotional and sensual appeal of the colors and design — especially when those elements are an important quality of the subject.
If there is a focus to my work right now, it is experimenting to find a balance for each image that is right for me where subject matter and design work together to make the images stronger. The images in this post illustrate one direction the experiments have taken.
Hung out - 2010
Everybody loves a parade
Posted on February 12, 2010
Parade dancer -- 2010
These images are part of a larger series from this year’s festival parade in Frederiksted. Fortunately, we arrived in Frederiksted about two hours after the parade was scheduled to begin, and only had to wait an additional hour. When we left some time later, people were still arriving with their chairs and coolers. I understand the festivities went well into the night. You would think I would eventually learn the rhythm of the place. By the time I do, I’ll probably no longer have the stamina to participate!
The first image is from a dance troupe celebrating their African heritage. While the costumes may not have been as large or colorful as some of the more traditional carnival-like troupes to come later, I thought the group’s costumes and dance were especially interesting and heartfelt. The bottom image is of one of the several groups of young majorettes on the island. The blue velveteen uniforms glowing in the sun formed a striking band of blue as the young women lined up to march further down the street.
Blue Majorettes -- 2010
Almost abstract
Posted on February 6, 2010
Bulge - 2010
These two almost-abstracts are a little change of pace. The first started as a door in a yellow stucco wall, and the second as a broken guardrail near one of my favorite beaches. But those reference points are largely irrelevant now.
It is interesting how non-representational art can demand both more and less of the viewer. Abstracts have the potential to become eye-candy — color, composition and textures to please the eye, without any representational component from which to draw meaning.
However, even without an external reference point, some abstract art evokes feelings and reactions, and forces the viewer to find meaning in it. It is a mystery to me how to accomplish that on a consistent basis, and to make abstract images more accessible and understandable beyond their appeal of color and form.
Let Down the Guard - 2009
Time passes
Posted on January 30, 2010
Queen for a day - 2010
The queen rides by in sparkling yellow proud and smiling. A few blocks away, the afternoon sun illuminates a crumbling cemetery. The stones speak of dreams and lives long gone, and stories played out on that balcony just beyond the cemetery wall.
Gone for a while - 2010
Different lives
Posted on January 24, 2010
Before the boat parade -- 2010
Different people, different lives. The image above was captured at dusk in a waterfront cafe, waiting for the Christmas boat parade to begin. A smiling older woman strolls through the crowds selling trinkets and candy from a bin in a baby stroller. Always ready with a smile, she is a fixture at the town’s events.
And below is a tall man, cigar and beer in one hand, cell phone in the other, apparently oblivious to the woman with her small basket of goods to sell, as the night’s energy swirls around them.
Cigar, beer and a cell phone -- 2009
Faded places
Posted on January 18, 2010
Reflections - 2010
Every community has its empty places, faded and overgrown. Some of these, when there had been no design or charm to begin with, become a blight on the landscape. But others have personality and become a part of the character of a place, in their decline adding a patina of charm and history.
How do the well-intentioned and civic-minded learn to tell the difference, so they can carve away the decay and blight while leaving the history and charm in place?
Red gate - 2010
Buy me Love!
Posted on January 12, 2010
Buy me love mainland style!
This store display screams “Love! Buy me love!” and to avoid confusion the t-shirts on the mannequins say “my boyfriend” and “my girlfriend” with a big red heart. So come on, just buy me some clothes, buy me love!
Now here in the Caribbean — once you get away from the big stores — the style is a little different. On the gallery (porch for most of you) of a little house that serves as a store on a back street of Frederiksted hang some new lingerie swaying in the breeze, just whispering…
Buy me love (Caribbean stlye)
Subjective Realities
Posted on January 5, 2010
Man in Purple -- 2009
Each person’s heritage and life experiences are different, creating unique subjective realities that affect our interpretation of the world around us. I like these images because the feelings and stories they evoke for me tell me something about myself.
The original images were captured at night, handheld, without the benefit of flash. I then enhanced the indistinct and impressionistic qualities to make the images even less literal, and allow the viewer more freedom to reach their own conclusions.
Generations Apart - 2009
For a Jumbie-free New Year!
Posted on December 29, 2009
Mocko Jumbie Dance - 2009
St. Croix’s celebration of the holidays continues through the week, ending with the adult’s festival parade (a loud, long, and sometimes lewd extravaganza) on January 2. In keeping with the celebratory spirit, these two night-time mocko jumbies may help keep the bad spirits away throughout the New Year.
May 2010 bring the best to all.
Mocko Jumbie with Holiday Lights - 2009
St. Croix — Hotel Caravelle Artwork
Mocko Jumbies
Donald Diddams 