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

There are some photographs I look at and say to myself, “When did I take this?”. This is not one of them, however. Like almost all of the photographs that I took while I was in San Francisco, I seem to have an almost “photographic” memory, in that I can place myself mentally in my shoes at the exact time and place of the image capture. On this occasion, I had ventured out for a long walk from just past Silver Ave and 101 all the way down to the Embarcadero [an over 7-mile walk]. Along the way I shot various scenes - the sky was quite blue with great puffy clouds that I knew would render well in black and white. Canon 10D, 100 ISO. Hand-held.

Retrospective?

I have a fascination with flying and airports. For me, when I look at a plane, it’s just the most amazing and unnatural thing I’ve ever seen. I love sitting at the airport and watching planes take off and land. I attempted to do so on one afternoon while living in Madison, Wisconsin, but the aftermath of 9/11 has made it exceedingly difficult. So I parked across from the runway hoping to catch a few shots. I had very little luck but in no time flat an officer pulled into the roadway here and escorted me off the premises. C’est la vie… This barren look here is part and parcel for me of what Wisconsin looks like. Desaturated and mute. Canon 10D, 100 ISO. Tripod.

Retrospective?

When I met Titus in Ann Arbor, he was finishing up his MFA at the University of Michigan. Through him I was able to meet some other very talented artists. Monte was one of them. Monte was in the MFA program as well and shortly after completing his degree he, along with a couple of other artists, started up a sort of co-op called Studio 555. I remember going by this old space on the West Side of town in an old building. There was always a lot going on, with cast of characters coming and going. Monte being the kind of person he is, he allowed just about any and all to participate. There were some fun art parties thrown here. When time permitted I used to come and just hang out and shoot Monte or some of the other artists that were passing through. I believe this guy’s name was Andres. The space has since moved from its original location in Ann Arbor to Detroit - I believe the building succumbed to a fire. Hasselblad 501 C/M, Ilford Delta 3200 ISO. Hand-held, available light.

Retrospective?

In 2004, I took a long road trip/vacation and drove from Madison, Wisconsin, to Monterrey in Mexico. It was an incredibly long drive that took over four days of long, serious driving [though we did stop for a couple of days in St. Louis to visit a friend’s family] to reach our destination. I love road trips [I have driven from coast to coast a couple of times now]. I like being out on the road with the wind in your hair just observing what flies by you. It’s as if time becomes modal. You catch so much more than when you fly. The city of Monterrey itself was not terribly remarkable, though the food was fairly decent. The most striking aspect were the ring of mountains [Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range] that surround the city [as a side note - one of the names of Monterrey is Sultana del Norte. Really shows how much of an influence Islam/Arabic language had on the Spanish language. I wonder of the US government knows there’s a sultanate in their backyard?]. It was nice to visit a part of Mexico that was not a tourist location. The people were fairly nice [known as regios] and if I had the chance I’d return, though I’d like to spend more time in the mountains. This is the scene of a church that sits in the foothills of the San Pedro mountains. Hasselblad 501 C/M, Kodak T-Max 100 ISO. Hand-held.

Retrospective?

Before leaving Madison I happened to meet a woman named Sarah. She worked as a waitress at a restaurant I used to frequent and asked if she’d be willing to do a casting shoot. I wound up doing a few more shoots with her, her sister and her mother before she went off to Senegal with the Peace Corps. Here’s an early outtake image. Canon 10D, 100 ISO. Studio strobe.

Retrospective?

Titus is one of my best friends and probably the closest thing I have to a mentor in photographic terms. I met him by chance while attending photography school in Michigan. He had been invited by my instructor to come and speak to our class. I was really impressed by his work and after his demonstration we struck up a conversation that’s still going till this day. On this occasion, Titus and I met up in Chicago, as I was living in Madison by this point, and we went down to cover the anti-Iraq War protests. Titus mainly shot video of the event and I covered it with my camera. I remember the day vividly as the energy was pretty high amongst the speakers and protesters. I really enjoy shooting these kinds of events as it’s more documentary in feel and you have a chance to interact a bit with the subjects you’re shooting. Hasselblad 501 C/M, Fuji Across 100 ISO [I loved this film!]. Hand-held, available light.

Retrospective?

Through my middle brother, who is a professional musician, I have come to know many other musicians here in the Philadelphia area. I’ve known Tom Tallitsch for quite some time now, as he’s played with my brother for many years. Tom is a jazz saxophonist and jazz educator here in the NJ/Philadelphia area. He was putting together a new media kit for his new disc, Duality [see iTunes], and wanted me to photograph him for it. It was a simple session I did in my place with a couple of strobes. Canon 10D. ISO 100. Hand-held with studio strobe.

Retrospective?

When I first caught the camera bug, I began photographing in and around the Detroit area. Every weekend I would go out shooting with my friends Titus and Marjorie. On this trip, Marjorie and I wandered into Arabian Village, a part of Dearborn, Michigan, that is home to a large Arab population. Once home to perhaps the Lebanese, the predominant group is now composed of Yemeni people. They are mostly low-income, transient workers. I used to stop and eat Yemeni fried chicken and lentil soup. Marjorie and I photographed this man sitting on his stoop, taking a smoke break. I believe his name was Muhammad. Hasselblad 501 C/M. Ilford Delta 3200 ISO. Hand-held, available light.

Retrospective?