The Cambridge Art Association has shows named “Red” and “Blue” in alternate years. This year is a Blue year. The show’s subtitle is “more than a color, metaphor, feeling, idea, or hue.” More, yes, although each of us has at least one or two of those things in mind.
For me, the Red and Blue shows are like workshop assignments. I have the two years in between Red shows to shoot that theme. Sometimes I am doing that consciously. This year I was thinking “blue” a lot when I went out, although not really on June 24, 2012, when I shot The Evening, which won First Prize in this year’s show.
I was out that day with my friend Ed Friedman and some of his photography students. We ended up in the Gloucester harbor area and were still walking around at 8 p.m. It was an evening when the light was beautiful and everything suddenly looked good. The town’s Festival of St. Peter, patron saint of fishermen, was a few days away. My usual style would have been to sneak around the corner and get the couple walking their dog, with at least some of these other elements in the picture, but as much as we talk about it, we can’t always be in the right spot at the right moment with the right lens, can we? Next time.
When it was time to submit works for the Blue juror (this year it was Joseph Thompson of Mass MoCA), I submitted three: this one, one other from the same Gloucester evening (Non-Hazardous Industrial Wastewateri) and The Insect Barn, from an outing with my wife and daughter at the Los Angeles County Fair.
My thought at the time was that The Insect Barn was by far the most representative of my style, but I had a feeling the juror wouldn’t go for it. The Wastewater picture was even further off my style, but I was allowed to submit three pictures, so….
The Insect Barn is a good example of what I like to call “my style.” There are many characteristic gestures in the picture. I’m right in front of the people, but they don’t notice me. I didn’t create the “insect barn” sign but don’t mind taking advantage of it. Everybody is totally worn out (except maybe the boy) from having such a wonderful time at the County Fair. I’ll bet the mother can hardly wait till next year.