Five: Films with Photographers

Blow-Up (1966)

Take the consummate swingin' 1960's photographer with his womanizing too-cool-for-you lifestyle and put him right in the middle of a murder mystery. Then give it the kind of symbolic ending that makes a great majority of people hate European films.

The best scenes in Blow-Up find the photographer endlessly enlarging negatives to better see the evidence of a crime that may or may not have happened.


City Of God (2002)

A young man chooses between a life as a gang member in a violence-plagued slum in Rio De Janeiro or something more. He is drawn to a camera, ultimate choosing to document the tragedies around him as a means to rise above the poverty and hopelessness of his situation.

City Of God is a powerful statement of perseverance and one of the best movies that many have never seen.


One Hour Photo (2002)

A lonely and psychotic man works in the photo lab at a big box retailer. His obsession with one of his customers gets out of hand, causing him to lose his job and embark on what he sees as a noble mission to punish a husband for his infidelities.

Robin Williams plays as convincing of a psychopath as you'll ever see. He's remarkably creepy and unsettling, but somehow we feel compelled to empathize with him.


Pecker (1998)

A wide-eyed kid from Baltimore takes some photographs of the people in his neighborhood. A snooty New York art dealer discovers his work at the local deli and turns him to a star in the art world. And John Waters directs, so there's a good dose of filthy humor and outright bizarre characters.

Pecker is a love-hate sort of film. Either you laugh and eat it up or you sit and think about how much you despise everything about it for two hours. I think it's brilliant.


Rear Window (1954)

What's a photographer to do when he is confined to a bed in his apartment? Spy on the neighbors across the courtyard with a telephoto lens, find one of the neighbors attempting to cover up a crime, and end up face to face with the murderer himself after he knows he has been discovered.

I'm a huge Hitchcock fan, and Rear Window is one of his best. It's brilliant how the entire film is shot within one apartment and its view across a courtyard.

Iowa: Day Four

With nothing but rain in sight, I headed home from Burlington. I'm looking forward to getting back to central Iowa to continue working on the family project. Most of the ride home was spent trying to figure out just how to approach it. It's daunting to try to work in a different way, but I think it'll make for a stronger series in the end.

The photograph above is from downtown Burlington. There were four bikes hanging on wires above an intersection.

Iowa: Day Three

I've made it down to Burlington, in the south-eastern corner of the state. It's an old river town on the bluffs of the Mississippi.

The photograph is a detail of one of the buildings downtown.

Also visited: Gulfport and Hamilton, Illinois; Fort Madison, Montrose and Keokuk.

Iowa: Day Two

Today was spent meandering all over the countryside in Iowa and Poweshiek counties with my grandparents. We covered a lot of ground and family history, many places that are almost non-existent today. I had forgotten how beautiful it is out here, rolling hills and valleys with green as far as the eye can see.

Pictured is what remains of the country school that my grandmother first taught in after getting her teaching degree. It's very nearly gone forever.

Also visited: Brooklyn, Carnforth, Victor, Ladora, Millersburg, Hartwick, Deep River, Montezuma and Malcom

Iowa: Day One

Today was a wonderfully cool June day, very different than the sticky hot weather we usually get around here this time of year. I spent the day traveling a little more than halfway across the state of Iowa to Grinnell. I'll be attempting to get started on the Iowa portion of my yet-to-be-titled family project over the next couple days.

The above photograph is from the side of a building in the main street area of Persia, Iowa. Not family related, but one of the few photographs I took today.

Also visited: Portsmouth, Newton, Kellogg and Lynnville

On the road again...

I've been stir crazy of late, constantly wishing I was out and about now that I've got most of my health issues under control. Work is work, and offers very little of any sort of outlet for creativity. I've been spending a lot of time with Walker Evans' work and planning to get out and photograph during the summer months.

Today was a test run to the loess hills region north of Council Bluffs, Iowa. The picture above is something I've wanted to photograph for the long time, a (now abandoned) restaurant all by its lonesome at the Honey Creek exit on Interstate 29. The giant letters that mark the roof have been been burned into my memory for as long as I can remember, most likely going back to childhood trips to Nebraska to visit my grandparents.

Also visited: Loveland, Missouri Valley, Logan, and Beebeetown.