Eat a Peach...

That's right, summer is here and the peach crop is coming in. Must say, i love a good peach. :-)

White Peach ©David Sorcher 2009

Okay, so this isn't exactly a fresh peach. Well, not anymore. I shot this back in 2009 in Nova Scotia and have never given it a showing, but when my wife brought home peaches from the farmer's market on Wednesday it made me think of it. I will probably be talking about some of my Nova Scotia work in the coming weeks (summer always makes me yearn for Nova Scotia) and while most of it doesn't look like this (more rocks, shells and sea) it's as good a place to start as any, i suppose. 

In the meantime...eat a peach!  

Northside Revisited

I'd like to continue today highlighting a few more images from my Northside project. It is so easy for us to ignore our immediate surroundings and miss the potential images that might greet our eyes each and every day without notice. In the mornings we are rushing past them on our way to work. In the evenings we might be too tired to recognize them after a long, hard day. And after a while we become immune to their latent potential while at the same time we dream of travel to strange and exotic lands that are sure to provide us with our next great image. Perhaps as an exercise every photographer should try this, to make a project of their immediate neighborhood, to try to see with a fresh perspective, a new set of eyes, the scenes and subjects that present themselves to us over and over again on a daily basis.

Body Shop ©David Sorcher 2012

The Auto Body Shop is just down the block from me on Apple Street. Clean, classic architectural design combined with nice color relationships, afternoon light and that one wisp white cloud are what attracted my eye.

 A Bullet for Jesus ©David Sorcher 2012

This storefront church has been just around the corner from me on Hamilton Ave. for years and this bullet hole has been in the glass for as long as i can remember. With the commercial strip reflected in the glass it seems to tease at a story that it is not quite fully prepared to reveal to us, leaving questions in my mind that will no doubt remain forever unanswered.

 Laurel & Hardy's ©David Sorcher 2012

Also on Apple Street, i have often wondered about the history of this place and more recently about it's future. I was drawn by the wonderful color here, the pastel greens and rusty reds against the deep azure sky and, of course, the mystery of what this place once was. A private club, a bar, a candy store? I have tried to research it and the only thing i found was one other person seeking the same lost history. Now this storefront has been sullied with graffiti and looks like it is about to be torn down, so i am glad i got to it when i did.

 Three Red Doors ©David Sorcher 2012

In a back lot off the avenue i couldn't help but be attracted by these three red doors. Choices are presented. Which door will YOU choose? What purpose did they serve and what lies behind each? Red is such and interesting color which holds symbolic meanings that range the emotional gamut all the way from love to hate. Or maybe that is all just one emotion, passion. It is a color that does always seem to demand out attention however we choose to interpret it. 

This is a scene now past, a relative blinking of an eye in the history of a neighborhood. Construction has replaced the past with the new and it's memory only lives here in my photograph. This is not to say that this shouldn't be so and that such a scene should remain static forever. But i am glad that it was noticed and photographed before it's passing. 

Tailing after the super moon...

I'm sorry SuperMoon, but i just didn't have time for you this year. There was the Solstice party Friday night (bet THAT was a slap in your face) and then the clouds were in when you rose on Saturday. I was just dead tired when i got home from the shoot Sunday and i still had to edit the work before bed and by the time i got finished you were high in the sky without a good reference point. But you were having no excuses, were you, and even after only a few hours sleep you woke me up at 7am and demanded my attention. So against my better judgement i threw on a pair of jeans, grabbed my camera and tripod and ran shirtless and shoeless across the street to my neighbor's yard to try to shoot the very last few moments of your superness against the western sky while wiping the crust of sandman sleep from my eyes. I am not at all convinced that i succeeded, but still, i did it for you. There....are you satisfied now?

©David Sorcher 2013

Birch's Thrifty Tires

Speaking of photographing aspects of our world before they disappear from sight and remembrance (well, if you've been reading me you would know that i had indeed been speaking of such things recently ;->) it wasn't too long ago that Birch's Thrifty Tires, on the outskirts of my neighborhood, slipped into obscurity. Sure, i am certain there were some members of the community who may have looked upon this place as a bit of an eyesore, but to me it was a wonderful and colorful example of vanishing Americana with great photographic potential. I passed it so many times thinking i should do a  study of the place and one late afternoon finally got out to shoot it. Good thing too. Soon after that it was gone forever and now it is just another boring drive-thru convince store and has lost all it's picturesque qualities.

©David Sorcher 2013

©David Sorcher 2013

I loved the way the analogous colors were mimicked by the McDonald's sign in the background. McDonald's, i believe, is still there. :-)

©David Sorcher 2013

I believe this is one of the great values of documentary photography, allowing future generations an opportunity to look back years later at what once was, the way we were. Walker Evans certainly saw the value in this and i tip my cap to him whenever i take a shot like this. His countless images of signs and business from depression era America allow us a window into our past that would otherwise be completely forgotten once the last living witnesses had also passed away. 

©David Sorcher 2013

Though not very hospitable, this gentleman was pretty much camped out behind the big truck trailer, an arrangement probably made with the owner thinking he could have a human watchdog on his property to keep an eye on things after hours. I would have loved to investigate this guy's story if he had been more amenable, but time did not halt it's grinding gears of progress long enough to allow me a chance to gain his trust. I still wonder where he may have landed after the renovations. 

Animal Farm

My Little Pony ©David Sorcher 2013

After yesterday's entry i headed out around the corner to Hoffner Park for the weekly Farmer's Market. I did a little shopping first, but had to come back with my camera. Seeing a Shetland Pony roaming around the park was just a bit too surreal to pass up. Why does the Kinks' song Animal Farm kept running through my head? I love my hood! :-)

Kids n' Kids ©David Sorcher

I guess after a showing of my more desolate Northside project images yesterday i had a sudden need to document some of the incredible community of this neighborhood and why i wouldn't live anywhere else in this city. Market days are generally awesome, but i wasn't expecting the Petting Zoo.

 ©David Sorcher 2013

 ©David Sorcher 2013

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 ©David Sorcher 2013

 ©David Sorcher 2013

Normally i wouldn't post this many images on a single blog entry, but i just couldn't think of where else they should go, so i guess you got 'em. Happy Solstice! Enjoy! :-)

No Place Like Northside

I'd like to promote a continuing long term project of mine today. Some works-in-progress never really have an end, not as long as the subject continues to present itself, in this case on a daily basis. Like most photographers i long to visit and shoot far away and distant, exotic lands. Bali is on on my bucket list. But i think it is important to remember that good photographic opportunities and subjects present themselves everywhere, even in our own backyards. I've been working on this project since we bought a house in Northside, a rather eclectic little neighborhood in my city of Cincinnati. All the shots are well within waking distance from my home, many are even spittin' distance, as they say, right outside my front door. You can see more of this body of work HERE.

©David Sorcher 2012

Though a very young and vibrant neighborhood that is filled with artists and musicians, i have focussed much of my attention on abandoned structures and quiet spaces, many of which will no doubt soon be replaced and disappear forever. These places hold the key to a history that is always in danger of being lost as new generations displace the old. 

©David Sorcher 2012

This quiet corner shot seemed somehow Hopper-esque to me in it's use of light, shadow, contrast and color, a deserted moment as day edged towards twilight. 

©David Sorcher 2012

The Twins stand tall along this peach-tinged building in a park on the avenue that never seems to be used, dedicated to people or things long forgotten. I know i read the plaque once that lives off to the right of this frame, but i cannot recall the dedication. I'll have to go back and re-read it. 

©David Sorcher 2012

Symbols have always fascinated me, flags no less than any other i suppose. This window dressing seemed timeless to me. I knew that if i counted the stars there would surely be less than 50. Bleached and yellowed by many a setting sun they had no doubt been in place for decades, a vestige of the lost American Dream behind dark and dirtied glass.   

ROLLER REDUX

Just one more post on Roller Derby. I spent the last day working up the gallery from Saturday night's match between our Cincinnati Battering Rams (CBR) and the Jerk City All-Stars. I don't really have a great deal of sports in my portfolio, but must say that i really do enjoy the Derby as both a fan and photographer. Certainly it isn't necessary to be a big fan of the sports you shoot. My friend and colleague Jeff Swinger has mentioned to me on a number of occasions that he is not really a big fan, yet sports shooting is still obviously his passion. And he is one of the very best sports shooters i know. I likewise am not a big sports fan per se, but i seek out shooting Derby because i do indeed like it and find it an interesting subject on many levels.

©David Sorcher 2013

I left the bulk of my gallery in color, but certain images just lent themselves to a B&W interpretation. That is what i want to highlight here at the moment. B&W simplifies the compositions where colors can sometimes distract, and the fluorescent light source of the venue did not always yield the most favorable hues even though i do shoot RAW for optimum adjustment capability. 

©David Sorcher 2013

Action is fast and lights are (relatively) low in these venues, requiring fairly high ISOs (i was shooting @ 4000). It is nice that the track is light in tone and a bit reflective since all the light comes from directly overhead. But the light that is reflected back upwards also carries some of it's blue tones into the faces multiplying the color balance issues for skin tones with the already less than favorable quality of the light source. 

©David Sorcher 2013

I like to show all aspects of a game and certainly all the drama and interest doesn't happen on the track alone. Working close and tight with wide angles can provide an intimacy to your sports subjects that can be balanced with the longer focal length game play shots for more complete story telling.

©David Sorcher 2013

Referees gather center track to discuss a controversial call. All part of the game and often overlooked. 

©David Sorcher 2013

Roller Derby is a hard-hitting sport that is liable to leave a skater busied and and sore in the aftermath. So as with any contact sport i am looking for images that capture that contact as well as the grace and speed of the sport.

©David Sorcher 2013

I'll leave you with this one, a B&W version of the first image i posted on my last blog entry. You can decide for yourself, but i find this more appealing without the bright red and yellow lines and blue track to distract from the action of the skaters. For a full picture of Saturday's match please check out the gallery of the entire night's action. 

ROLLERBOYS!

Hey sports fans! I had a chance to shoot our relatively new men's roller derby team, the Battering Rams, last night for the very first time. I have a lot of experience with our Cincinnati Roller Girls (CRG) so i was excited to see what the men would be doing with this recently re-emerging sport. As expected it was a bit faster, though i'm really not convinced that the boys hit all that much harder than the girls even if they do tend to carry a bit more weight and speed.

©David Sorcher 2013

The boys skate in a different venue than the girls though the environmental problems are similar. Low, bad lighting that demands high ISOs to capture fast action at a high shutter speed. The lights at Sports Plus are nasty fluorescents, but the venue wasn't any darker than the Cincinnati Gardens where the girls skate and i was thankful for that. 

©David Sorcher 2013

I think it's fair to say that i will be back to both shoot and support the men's team. I am not convinced that they are quite as much fun as the girls, but i'm not sure that can be helped. Maybe it's a matter of venues. The girls skate the Cincinnati Gardens, a real competitive sports venue, and they have built themselves a loyal following so the roar of a sizable crowd does add to the excitement. But i must say that the girls are also able to pull off a certain playful taunting on the track that i'm not quite sure we men are capable of without resorting to blows. And of course, at the end of the day, at least from my overtly male perspective, they will never be anywhere near as cute. :-) 

©David Sorcher 2013

For a point of reference have a look at some of my shots of CRG. I'd love to see these guys develop a strong enough following to see them skate the Garden as well. 

The Hung Bird

(...in my best Rod Serling voice...) Subject for your approval, The Hung Bird. Another from my Last Rites/Future Fossils series, this was an odd one even for me. Maybe not in a Twilight Zone kind of way, but still pretty strange. My neighbor Alison (again! :-) ) alerted me to this find, the bird just hanging off the concrete of the grade school around the corner as if it had been pinned there for display. I'm not really sure what it found purchase on when it was alive, but wondered even further how it managed to remain hanging there for so long after death.

 ©David Sorcher 2013

I tend to like working in color and have kept the bulk of this series that way (though this did all originally get started as a B&W film project), but there wasn't much color to be found in this shot other than the beige of the concrete wall, so i converted these to B&W. I think it draws more attention to our hanging friend this way. 

©David Sorcher 2013

I don't photograph these expired creatures simply because they are dead and i have surely passed by many a road kill without bothering to raising camera to eye. I am looking for a certain grace in these forms and a beauty that speaks beyond the implied sadness of death. 

Headboards, Bones and (again) Bulbs...

The House in PEI Pt. 4 (see my previous entries under "Homage to Eggleston", "Black Dog" and "X Marks the Spot" for the previous posts).

©David Sorcher 2012

The light (and the warmth) in the house was mostly to be found in the upstairs bedroom where it is probably fair to say the most interesting artifacts of David's life were gathered. I was thankful for the afternoon sun staying off the chill and providing some interesting reflective light into the interiors. It was unclear what had happened to the mattress, but the old metal headboard remained. 

©David Sorcher 2012

I think it fair to say that as different as David and i were, we did share many interests in common. Anyone who has followed my Future Fossils work knows of my interest in skeletal structure and, as Sally Mann once put it in both words and pictures, "What Remains". Though i saw little of real bones in the house there were many representations scattered about, including this haloed ceiling saint watching over the room like a guardian spirit. 

©David Sorcher 2012

They say that much can be gleaned of a man by the shoes on his feet and i suppose the same is true to some extent of the hats one wears. 

©David Sorcher 2012

The late afternoon sun bounced playfully around the room and off the brightly painted walls. A black riding crop hung dormant against the woodwork, telling no tales out of school.

©David Sorcher 2012

And i suppose i've come full circle with my story, back to Eggleston and his damn light bulbs, to the subtle things (and people) that influence us even when we don't actually realize they are doing it. I spent this day in the presence of the last belongings of a man that i really barely knew and wonder now if it is really possible to get to know someone better or find any true understanding though the things that we leave behind. In the end, i think not, but still could not let the an opportunity pass without at least trying to make a record for "days of future past".  

"X" marks the spot

I return once again for part three of The House in PEI (see my previous entries under "Homage to Eggleston" and "Black Dog" for the previous posts).

Many people knew him only as David "X", an enigmatic character who felt that perhaps the less known about him, including his surname, the better. Now that he is gone it seems much of what was unknown about him will remain so. His house in PEI was the last outpost of his physical existence and what remained there were lockboxes and keys that did not necessary go with one another.
Prince Edward Island (formerly called Île Saint Jean by the French and before that Abegweit or Epekwitk , "land cradled in the waves", by the Mi'kmaq) is a beautiful and remote island province in the Maritimes of eastern Canada. The Confederation Bridge that spans the Northumberland Strait to the island is not the longest bridge in the world at just over 8 miles in length (though it is the longest over ice!), but it does emphasis the remote quality of the province and seems endless in its crossing. The house's location speaks well to David's life and personality, a man of many friends, but perhaps even more secrets.
Inside was cold and damp in spite of the day and even open windows would not let the warmth of the early summer sun intervene. So i investigated the grounds a bit to shake off the wet chill.

©David Sorcher 2012

But for his brightly painted red hat, the boy in the high grass might have been overlooked in the overgrown backyard that bordered on the surrounding farmland. He peers inquisitively into the shadows, searching for butterflies and beetles and other such childhood treasures. I find an innocence in his curious stare, a beauty in his classic form, a sadness in his weathered abandonment. I also find delight in the understanding that as he timelessly searches out his treasures in the weeds he has in fact become my own captured treasure. 

©David Sorcher 2012

The farmland just behind the house stretches to the horizon. It seems to hold the history of many cultures. The famous PEI red soil creates striking contrasts with its iron-oxide rich content...or perhaps it is the blood of the Acadians that leaves this crimson hue? 

©David Sorcher 2012

The house re-introduces itself to me from another entrance. At once enticing and foreboding, it draws me into it's mildewed secrets and begs my attendance again. Curiosity is my master and whispers wantingly from within. 

  

Dummy Up

©David Sorcher 2013

I made a visit to Vent Haven over the weekend, the worlds only ventriloquy museum, and it's right in my own back yard in Ft. Wright Kentucky. The museum houses over 700 figures, with examples going back as far as 1820. Started by William Shakespeare Berger, who bought his first dummy back in 1910, the collection has just kept growing over the years and has become a mecca for anyone with any interest in the art.

©David Sorcher 2013

©David Sorcher 2013

©David Sorcher 2013

©David Sorcher 2013

I know these guys freak some folks out, with memories of old Twilight Zone episodes or horror films, but i just love this stuff. I was struck by the absolute human quality of some of these guys, mostly to be found in the intensity of their eyes. If you live anywhere nearby call and make arrangements for a tour. They had to drag me out of the place. :-)   

Black Dog

Originally i had hoped to publish some of my shots from Vent Haven, the ventriloquy museum, but there was some question as to whether or not the museum wants images on the internet so i am awaiting a return email on that question.
So i return today to the house in PEI. I have sat on these images for some time without really making a closer editorial examination. There are still quite a few more that i would like to work up from this pilgrimage. My wife had a long and perhaps complex relationship with the deceased owner of this house and David was a bit of an odd, albeit, brilliant fellow whose presence was still quite palpable within these garishly painted and peeling halls. Sometimes we need to let the work percolate for a while before we attempt to bring it into the light or understanding.

©David Sorcher 2012

Dogs, specifically black dogs, have for centuries been seen as a portent of death throughout old Europe, especially in Celtic and Germanic cultures. They manifest at crossroads and places of execution and haunt the moors and countryside as ghostly apparitions. This benign and faithful beastie came along with Eric, David's brother, to investigate the house with us, but as a lover of ancient lore and mythologies it would be impossible for me not to play just a bit on the obvious symbolism here.

©David Sorcher 2012

As i moved from the house to David's abandoned RV our canine friend followed along, connecting the dots between the home he had made as a base for his physical existence and the symbol of his wanderlust for the "open road" that sat rusting beside it.

©David Sorcher 2012

All that inhabited the RV was some coiled up old barbed wire, as if ripped from the fences of domestic living to facilitate his escape to freedom. 

©David Sorcher 2012

Back in the house ancient tomes of knowledge remain safely stored behind dusty frosted glass bookcases. I squint my eyes in a vain attempt to read their titles.