I follow a lot of accomplished photographers on social media, some of whom I’ve met or worked with along the way, and others who I never will but who have left an indelible mark nonetheless. I’ve noticed that many of them have begun looking backwards at their lives and careers, while at the same time still producing new work that continues to challenge and inspire.
Me, well, I’ve dropped off the photography radar screen over the past few years, and while most of my work pales in comparison to that of many of my peers and contemporaries, I guess I’m no different in that regard. I suppose I’m drawn to exploring it all again to try to better understand the consequences of the choices I’ve made and the experiences I’ve had.
As a result of that introspection, a new project is emerging from a large collection of old pictures, all shot on film from the mid-70’s through about 2004. I call it “Negative Thoughts”, and it’s much less about the pictures themselves, and much more about the stories that surface from the act of looking at and remembering them through much older eyes.
I challenged myself to shoot all these new images of old film photos with an iPhone to create a technological bridge from the world I started in to the one we all find ourselves in today. It’s very definitely a work in progress, I have no idea where it’s going, but I’ll post some of it here from time to time as the project develops. Here’s the first one, about a special day with an old friend from very long ago:
