Hero Photographs

Kyoto, by the river.

When I travel so far I shoot mostly with the camera on my phone..sometimes i bring my Diana F+ medium format camera, which has a plastic body and is like a Helga (when I know I am going to be in a lot of sunlight because of the permutations in the body of the camera spilling light at random onto the body of the film, I love this camera) but I have grown accustomed to shooting fast and surreptitiously. And it is not because I don’t like being seen taking a photograph. I have noticed that in public places many times photographed that the person poised with a huge black camera and long lens interrupts a landscape more and when I move through new places, I am already in conflict with myself for not just being and having this urge to remember, so this is my compromise. (Thank you little android phone for taking snapshots as you do)..This handsome older gentleman had just removed his hat and coat to more comfortably sit. A person in joggerish garb started to cross the frame and I got scared I was going to miss the shot (was internally growling “get out of my shot” and marveling at sudden territorial burst directed at the unsuspecting joggerly-garbed man–he moved in time). The air was warm with a touch of cool on the edges from the water. A sound of a bird. Otherwise very still and heaviness of air like a hand resting gently on a back. 

Using Format