close your eyes and hope for the best

Christopher Reeve, “Superman”.(click image to enlarge)

Within those first few months I also gained the dubious distinction of being one of the only people in existence to have “knocked the wind out of Superman’s cape.”

What a fabulous job we photographers have. We get to pursue a craft by choice, and generally love what we do. Many of us learned our craft the hard way, through long hard hours of sweat equity and weeks upon weeks of being on the road. Intermixed was often a good helping of luck.

Like many of my peers I have had the opportunity to meet some fabulous people: the rich and famous, the cantankerous, royalty, and the long since dead and recently deceased.

My first job was shooting for a weekly community newspaper where I got reimbursed with another free roll of film and access to a darkroom, while holding down a full time paying job in the military. Granted, the darkroom left much to be desired and came without instruction. I can now only imagine what some of those first negatives might look like if only they had been processed properly. But yet there was this great mystery of watching an image appear while I rocked the tray of developer back and forth.

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Couple near oil tank explosion, Calgary Alberta Canada. (click image to enlarge)

Not knowing how dangerous the situation really was, the health risks, the financial costs, how long they’d be away, or if they’d ever see their home again, uncertainty was their new companion.

I noticed a lady wearing this wonderful orange printed shirt gazing right at me. Instantly the hundred or so other people in my line of sight no longer existed. I approached, and quickly realized that it wasn’t me she was looking at, but rather she was looking past me seeing whom she might recognize from the large gatherings. Awkwardly I introduced myself anyway and asked if I could take her picture. Without hesitation she agreed and I began.

I was astounded at how serene and unruffled she was when I was photographing her. She just looked at me impassively, almost awaiting direction. And I was about to give none. Everything felt in slow motion. It was that amazing and vulnerable space where thirty seconds feels like three years. And just when I thought I had consumed enough of her time, a man appeared, her husband, and he too wanted to be in the picture.

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