Searching for more

ALBUQUERQUE - Here is a set of photos showing the workers at the site where 13 bodies have been unearthed over more than a month long search southwest of Albuquerque. It has been a while since they have found any new victims, so here's hoping the 13 is the unlucky number and that now they can focus on catching the person or persons responsible.

How long has it been...

ALBUQUERQUE - Yesterday was the one year anniversary of the final publication of the Albuquerque Tribune. Alumni gathered to mark the occasion and catch-up on the many changes a single year can hold. For those who couldn't be with us, here are a few photos. I hope to see you all in the coming year. The paper and the people who put it together everyday are my hero's and have shaped me into who I am today.

Grainy goodness

The plan was simple.

My brother Mike was to lure his girlfriend Alisa into a pre-selected spot in the foothills where he'd ask her to marry him. I'd be waiting with a 300mm lens just at the edge of the sight line to capture the moment. They'd leave work after she finished tennis practice, giving me a great New Mexico sunset for light.

Simple plans aren't always simple.

They got away late, showed just after the sunset, only a hint of the days final glory still in the sky. As a result I had to crank up the film speed all the way. A few years ago, with my first digital cameras, this wouldn't have been possible. The result is a grainy, some not-so-much in focus set of pictures. You try manually focusing a hand held 300mm at 1/30 of a second after you've been standing in the cold for a while.

The pictures are technically flawed, yes, yet I love seeing them. They feel like a grainy contact sheet I might have made back in college. But more importantly, it's the love in both of their eyes.

Safe to say that I and the rest of my family could not be happier about having Alisa join ours, and I am so happy to be documenting this part of their lives.

Cockfighting in Mexico

I made these images in Tulum Mexico on my way back from Guatemala. I decided to leave them more or less as they came out of my camera, grainy and a little red. I'm going to let the photos speak for themselves, and I trust people can make their own judgments as the if this is cruel and disgusting or just a harmless tradition.

Q & A

A high school student named Adriana wrote to me for an interview for her "project on photography and it's impact on social justice."

So since I put some time into answering these questions, thought I would share them. Please feel invited your thought or reactions by too by commenting, even if you think I'm totally full of crap.

Also, in case I never told, I was honored to be featured on the website Verve Photo recently.

Enjoy...


1. How did you get interested on being a photographer?
I took an elective course in black and white photography my senior year in high school. I was really hooked on the idea of not working in an office.

2. How long have you been doing this?
I've been making pictures ever since, but it's been my primary source of income since 2001, which is to say I haven't made much money.

3. Who inspired you to be a photographer?
I draw inspiration from many sources, literature, art, music, films. But I imagine you are asking about photographers who inspire me. Well, for starters their is the entire staff from my home town newspaper, The Albuquerque Tribune, including Stacia Spragg-Braude, Michael Gallegos, Craig Fritz, Erin Fredrichs, who probably had the most profound impact on me directly. Other all-time favorites include James Nachtway, Robert Frank, Eugene Richards, David Burnett, Vince Musi to name a few off the top of my head. Others who are in my generation include Matt Slaby, Kevin German, Jakob Schiller, Rich Joseph-Facun, Michael Rubenstein, again just off the top of my head. I could go on and on, and I hate to leave people out, but that is the list for today.

4. What type of photography do you do?
My work to this point is mostly documentary in nature, meaning I don't set-up/stage photos. In the coming year I will be doing more controlled portraiture.

5. In every photograph of yours what is something that you want to show the viewer?
My one time (and always) editor/mentor Mark Holm put together a list of words that start to explain what makes a photograph successful. These are his words, which say it very well.

"MOMENT, LIGHT, EXPRESSION, EMOTION, COMPOSITION, IMPACT, TONE (as in, attitude), TONE (as in, the more technical / aesthetic), PERSPECTIVE, ENERGY, IRONY, LAYERING, SURPRISE, JUXTAPOSITION, MESSAGE, COLOR, COLOR (as in sports reporting: vignettes, asides, feature aspects), SCALE, CONTRAST (as in, comparison), CONTRAST (as in, stark tonal relief), HUMOR, HORROR, EXCITEMENT, NARRATIVE, QUALITY (as in, excellent photographic execution) FOCUS (as in, the optical qualities), FOCUS (as in, attention), MOVEMENT, CONTEXT, TRUTH"

He (Holm) as also sent along this new explanation for these words:

"The idea here was that any photograph has appeal, or lack of same, because of some quality (or combination of qualities) that rises to the top. Or maybe it's notable that these qualities are missing. Any time you view and are drawn to a photo, you can probably identify certain attributes that photo has that give it strength or muscle. Tuning in to those qualities and giving them a name, I think, helps you converse more fluently in the language of visuals. It helps you articulate what a photo brings to storytelling beyond, "I really like it," or, "it really works for me." It helps you know intellectually, what you already know empirically or emotionally."

6. What is something different from your photographs from other photographers?
I guess I'd leave that to the viewer to decide. Really there is no magic formula. It's work, hard work, being on the streets, approaching strangers, rejection, long hours for low pay, more rejection. The best way I 've heard it explained is to tell a writer is to say that photography is a universal language, and I want my photographs to adverbs and adjectives, where many photographs are nouns and verbs as it relates to a larger body of work. It takes time to develop your voice with a camera, lots and lots of bad pictures to make one good picture where all the elements come together. But for me now it's not about making one photo, it's about a series of images that conveys a message, a perspective.

7. Does photograph affect society today? In what way?
Not that long ago, people looked to still photographs for news, for proof from "unbiased" sources. Great magazines like Life brought the world but with today of 'photoshopping', we are distrustful of amazing pictures, which is unfortunate. But still images still resonate in people in ways words and video can't. It lingers in you heart and in your soul a little longer.

8. Do you think photography is art or something that is used to show how time changed?
Yes, on both counts, and so much more.

9. Do you think photography changes people perspectives on global issues?
(Like in Darfur, they are having hard times right know, and they show these photographs from there, do you think it is something that is helping their situation to motivate people to do something about it and help out.)
I think it can contribute to greater understanding, so yes. I think that photographs can change the world, but maybe in way we might expect. Say for example that I (or Marcus Bleasdale, who also belongs on the list above) makes a great reportage about Darfur. Maybe it doesn't end the situation, but maybe some kid see those pictures and is moved to go out and volunteer and devote their life to making a difference. Maybe they become President, who knows.

10. Where have you gone with your photographs?
I just got back from the inauguration in DC, and before that I was living in Guatemala and traveling around Central America. If I hadn't become a photographer, there is no doubt in my mind I would never have experienced these things. the camera is just my excuse.

11. What is one of your proudest photograph?
Well, I have a series of pictures from rural village of Chilili NM from their feast days, which I was incredibly lucky to be allowed to photograph. The community is not far from where I live, but I had the same sense of wonder I get from traveling to a foreign country. You really don't have to leave the USA to get outside of yourself.

12. Do you do something else than photography?
I try to sleep once in a while, but I'm not very good at it. As a freelance photographer, there is always more work to be done, plans to be made, pictures to be edited, invoices (hopefully) to be sent. It's the reason I'm trying to learning Español. Making pictures is the easy part, the too rare reward.

13. If you had the chance to change your career would you do it?
For me it has to be more than a career, and to that extent if I have to do something else to make money, I would, but it would just be to feed myself and my photography habit. That being said, I would also love to teach photography some day.

14. Do you think being a photographer is a thing to do?
It's a million things to do, or more.

The inauguration of Barack Obama

The crowds, the cold and hanging out with David Burnett. It was an amazing day, and if I hadn't been awake for 20 plus consecutive hours, I'd tell you all more about it. For now, I will have to let the photos talk for themselves. Thanks to everyone who made this possible, which is many people, but notably Rachael Peterson and my brothers Dave and Mike.

Obamanos!

I was missing it. One of the defining moments of my life, happening before my eyes without me making so much as a single good image. I was in hotel in with four other Americans in Guatemala watching the election on television. As the results came in and it became clear the Barrack Obama would become the next President of the United States, I was excited and relieved, but also I felt left out. I watched as my photographer friends from APAD filled my inbox with pictures from the celebration, I felt a little jealous.

It was that night that I decided I had to come to Washington DC for the inauguration. Even if I never sell a single image from the trip, I am glad be a part of this movement, this moment.