The Most Convenient Thing

A few weeks ago I broke down and ordered some Polaroid film, just to see if my Spectra would even work. I got it a little over a year ago, new in box, with the original price tag from Wal Mart. Back then it was $127.64. I got it for $8 from a local antique store that has Facebook auctions on items that the owner gets from estates and storage buildings. I’ve actually gotten a lot of good stuff from them. I’ve had the film for a while, but I really needed someone in front of it to get used to the focusing distance and how I could get the camera to do what I actually wanted. That didn’t pan out today, but will in the future.

I did however, decide to try it out. I was scouting spots in in my old hometown of Gadsden and happened upon one that I had remembered. I’ve had the the imagine in my head every time I’ve passed by. I at least wanted to get the mood right with the backdrop. A dark, stripped away, forest that could be from another era. Luckily, every store on the entire internet was out of color film for the Spectra system. Because of that, I had no other option but to get B&W. I’m kinda thankful for that. If that did not happen the way it did, I wouldn’t have gotten this…

the exact same feeling i wanted to try and replicate in my mind.

Landon

It’s pretty rare that any one hits me up to shoot, despite my near constant asking during the week when I have random off days. I get it though, no one NEEDS to see my work, or praise me, or even acknowledge why I like doing in the first place, so when someone does though, I get excited. I get excited for them and I have that feeling of validation, that I so rarely get anymore. Landon really brought it a couple of weeks ago with a cool aesthetic and mood, inspired by Post Malone. With a little help from her friend, Savanah, (who was an actual gem of a human being) I think we got pretty close on some of them, considering Landon had never been in front of a camera outside of senior portraits, which we agreed did not count and her boyfriend Matt, who is always there to get those sick snaps for the Gram. Really though, she’s a natural. Also, Shout out to Matt, he’s a super cool guy and handsome as heck.

I really loved this shoot, I finally got to use this location I’ve been wanting to since I moved to Birmingham and find another one along the way. That’s usually how it goes anyways, we’ll get to the location and I’ll immediately search around for anything to start out on. The first few always feel like a warm up and the longer we shoot and scout around, the better everything gets, from the light, the people I am with and me.

The old elementary school off 19th street,

I definitely wanna be more open about personal feelings when I’m in such a unmotivated slump. Some days it’s really hard to get out, pull over somewhere to something I see that I’d like to photograph and click the shutter. Maybe I’ll do a series on it, I gotta get out more. Anyways ya’ll SHOULD definitely follow Landon at https://www.instagram.com/landonkaybrooke/ and Savanah, the most most supportive friend anyone could ever ask for! https://www.instagram.com/savanahchurch/

ANYWAYS, HERE’S SOME PHOTOS

Vertical is legit, Don’t @me

Sedona

Being unmotivated is the the biggest obstacle I’ve had to face creatively. Often times I’ll struggle to just get out on a good day and shoot, as if I’ve lost the the will to. I think it’s that I always want someone to be there, to have some kind of connection. I always look for places to make photos, and I run across a lot of them and keep onto them forever until someone is willing to go with me. Maybe its because it means more and I feel like I’m doing something not just for myself. Plus, most of the places I find are usually old, broken and forgotten. I always try to find correlation between them and myself.

A couple of weeks ago, Sedona, who always makes time to shoot with me when no one else will, came down from Chattanooga to explore this place. A quiet, abandoned housing project nestled in South Gadsden just off 278. I’ve passed by this place thousands of times without even knowing its existence. It had a look of something out of a larger, rundown city. It was a cul de sac with mostly the same housing layouts, except a few. There were remnants of recently used mattresses, a dwelling for the homeless to find shelter. We tread lightly, trying not to make our presence known from any watchful, concerned eyes passing by on the main road behind us. We eventually found one that was more intact than the others and had some interesting rooms.

There’s almost a ritual when I start clicking away with my digital camera, almost a warm up of sorts. I click a few that are always unusable and I completely tune out until I come up with some kind of idea for the place if nothing is set in stone. The idea of how something should look in my head rarely comes out right, I always get pretty close with Sedona though, despite my horrible lack of direction. We’re not uncomfortable, it’s that I’m always skeptical if I do give any direction. It’s something I’m trying to work on. How do you break this kind of wall? What’s your method of taking initiative? Anyways, here’s some photos. I’m gonna start doing this as consistent as possible, I have a bunch of work that I’ve been wanting to get out and have a home for.

Thanks for stopping by, and shoutout to Sedona, she’s an actual gem and sweetheart. Follow her at https://www.instagram.com/kid_ruby/?hl=en