The Manrilla Blog | Life. Art. Religion. Culture.

What does it mean to be courageous? Does it mean to do larger than life deeds? To run into a burning building so save someone’s life? Or perhaps to face those inner demons that each and everyone of us carries inside us. Well, I will certainly not thwart the former but I suspect it’s more of the latter. Many things in life take courage. To stand up for what one believes in takes courage. To do what’s right in the face of adversity and injustice; that certainly takes courage. But to be happy? Could that possibly take courage? Why not, I say. To enjoy oneself and pursue that which makes one happy certainly takes courage. Letting oneself go and releasing holds on bonds that we have placed upon ourselves is key to happiness and that act certainly takes courage. Some times it’s much easier to be bold and courageous if we feel others need that courage. But often we leave nothing for ourselves. What about the courage that we need, as individuals, to live out happy and fullfiling lives? Obviously I am writing this in response to something or more pertinently, someone. I hope that that person can achieve that level of fearlessness that they no longer have to build walls around themselves - walls that are oh, so easily knocked down. Walls that have become a tomb or a prison. I pray you find the strength and the vision to knock down those walls and embrace the life you’ve been given. It’s never too late to make a positive change. It’s never too late to find that courage that’s hiding somewhere inside the fearless warrior in us all. If I only had a heart…

Pete and I went out to see the premiere of the film he worked on last summer, Side Effects. I believe he got double credits as still photographer and as an extra. I saw his scene - it was very moving. He was sitting at the back of a cafe, head down, reading. It wasn’t so much his lack of dialog as it was how he wasn’t speaking. Yeah, right! It was cool to see that, although at one point I was edging him on to leave in Spanish as I was beset upon by some weirdo who lives 6 hours north of here. Long story - not that interesting. All in all, it was fun. Let’s never do that again.

I did have fun hangin’ with my crew the other day, though. We all went out and took some pictures since the weather was so nice. As the weather improves day by day we should all do that again. Speaking of shooting, looks like I’ll be out Monday for a week and a half on the East Coast. Yeah, big shooter, babeh! Well, I’m fried. Until the next episode.

It was very, very good to go back home and visit with my family. In a way, though, it’s funny ‘cuz I almost needed a break from vacation to rest. It was hard being under the weather and still trying to get out and visit folks. I don’t do well with being down so I tend to push myself harder than I should. I know I should get my rest but what can I say? I’m stubborn.

My Trip So Far

So far my trip has been enjoyable except for the being sick part. There’s nothing worse than being sick on your vacation. But I’m plodding along despite it all. It was very cool to see Jonathan and Jackie last night - it’s been about a year since I’d seen ya’ll. Jonathan!, keep the faith, young blood. Keep writing and things will start to move your way. I wish you all the best, Jackie, with school. Get some more rest though and make sure Jonathan cleans the apartment more!

I also had the best time haning with Marjorie yesterday, who I hadn’t seen in maybe two years plus. I’m sorry I won’t be able to make it to your gallery showing - I promise to come back during the summer and we’ll hang out more. Take care of yourself and above all, KEEP SHOOTING!!

This trip has seen me catch up with some other old friends as well. Jason and I made it to Cedarland, in Dearborn. That was well worth it. I love the Arabic food in Dearborn. No where like it in the States, that’s for sure. I stopped by Ali Baba’s and saw Omar and Adnan, who was shocked at seeing my cleanshaven face. Abdou and I made salah together - hadn’t done that in a long time (Charles will be happy to read this!). Besides that it has been reall nice just to sit around with my parents and my dogs for a few days. I hope that I get a chance to see Rachel before I go - if not, we’ll catch up in the summer for sure. Well, peace to the “D” and we’ll see ya next time.

More On the Detroit Trip

I just got back in from visiting with Jewett. This cold has really sucked and kinda got in the way of me doing some stuff that I wanted to do. For one, Michael and I haven’t done any shooting together but I haven’t really been up to running out. Seems like he’s been running full steam though since he’s gotten here. At least one of us is having fun. I also saw Hazem yesterday. I hadn’t seen Hazem in four years! Man, how time flies. I also ran into Glen today and we sat down and had some coffee together. He’s a musician/photographer like myself. Well, he’s still playing and I’m not playing so much any more but we used to sit in on some jam sessions back in the day. We had a nice discussion about politics, race, religion and a whole bunch of other stuff. Jewett and I talked of much the same. I also saw Linda , Mary and Art from WEMU 89.1 FM, the radio station I used to have my show at. Good-night Detroit.

There are many joys to being a photographer. Creating. Interacting. Seeing your pre-visuals come to life. I love and live to photograph. There are few things that bring me as much joy or find me in my element as when I’m behind the lens. This particular project has been and is really engaging. For those not in the know, I have embarked on a large-format portraiture project where I am photographing exclusively on a 4×5 or an 8×10 camera. Sadly, many young photographers today have abandoned large-format in favor of the instant gratification of digital. And while I have no bone to pick with digital, hell, I shoot digital, there still is a time and place for these great cameras. If you are unfamiliar with that type of camera I’ll try to explain here. Large-format cameras are a curious animal. They are at once ancient technology in terms of how they operate; a lens mounted on the front. A bellows which allows the light to travel from lens to the film. Sushi Chef
A film back which holds the film holder where sheet film is kept (you shoot one sheet of film at a time with these cameras). The bellows expands and contracts for focusing. Very simple and yet for all its simplicity it is in many ways the most advanced camera there is. You can move the film plane independent from the lens plane. This allows you to “throw the focus around” for lack a better term. In the above photograph of the sushi chef, the plane of focus is diagonal across the image, with only the chef’s head and part of the menu sharp with everything else “going soft”. This is accomplished by those independent movements. The same or very similar can be done on Photoshop but results done in-camera always look better. It’s also the style of how the shooting is done. In the case of the three women above, I showed up to the studio an hour or so before the shoot. Loaded my film holders, set up my lights and got ready to go. When they arrived in the studio the only thing that was needed was to set the focus. After that I was able to step around from the camera and direct/interact with my subjects. With a traditional SLR camera your eye is behind the lens, looking through at that decisive moment except when you trip the shutter, then it blacks out. With large-format you are looking straight at the subject and you can witness that decisive moment, wait for that perfect time to trip the shutter. Ahh…, I love photography. Wanna know more about the photographic process? Shoot me an email.

Goodbye, Sara! It was and is a pleasure to know you. Our time aquainted with one another has been short and brief but the connection has been and is, real. You have a wonderful family. Your sister is was really nice as was your mother. But really, I don’t think I’ve had such a great and positive reaction from someone I’ve shot and known in such a short time. You will be missed and will remain in our minds, hearts and thoughts. The honor has been and is, all mine. Peace, love and happiness to you in Senegal.

Playin’ ball is one of my favorite things in the world to do. There’s no better feeling than running up and down the court, shooting, rebounding, stickin’ some hard ‘D’ to your guy and makin’ him pay. But one of the downsides of playin’ ball is punks. Trash talking is an accepted part of the game. I do it all the time but that’s mostly against the guy I’m guarding and it’s only to throw him off his or her game and it’s all in good fun. No “your momma jokes”. That shit’ll get you cut where I come from. The problem lies in where you have a lazy joker who can’t play any defense, doesn’t run the floor, who’s jump shot looks like something from an all-night telethon and then he turns around to coach you? I don’t think so. Negro, pleeeeeease. That gets under my skin quick and it got under mine and my boy’s yesterday when we went out to play. If you can’t come out and run the floor, play defense, rebound or in general, contribute to the game then stay at home and play with your Ken dolls.

An agreement was signed on Saturday in local Madison Olive Garden by leaders from Iraq and Germany to prevent any further disasters. Shown below are two highly respected men, Dr. Eric Hamburg and Sir Marc Manley. Looks like peace is on its way!

– This report brought to you by Julia Hamburg, chief reporter for The New Rilla Times.

Million Dollar Baby is one of the great movies. I can say that for a fact. I’m still wiping tears from my eyes 30 minutes after having walked out of the theatre into a cold, windy pre-sping night. Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Hilary Swank should all by lauded for their performances. The camera man and lighting people should be awarded as well. The movie is beautifully shot. As a matter of fact just about everything in Million Dollar Baby is beautiful even if it’s in a bittersweet way. Though you may (and believe me, you may) walk out of the theatre with wet streaks running down your cheeks it is sweet none the less. I have few things in common with the main characters in the movie. I have no family of my own that I’ve started. I have not lost a son or a daughter. The closest thing is that I dabbled in boxing briefly. But one of the things I loved most was how the movie engages you; it’s not necessary to have all those things in common with those characters to share in their wins, their loses. Their victories and defeats. You absolutely must see this film before it leaves the theatre. It’s one of those movies that should be seen in a dark theatre. Mr. Eastwood, Mr. Freeman and Ms. Swank (and all cast & crew) take a well deserved bow.