Unadilla Motorcycle Race Fall 2011

My buddy Alex and I jump on the motorbikes and headed to Unadilla a couple days ago to watch a friend (Allan Zitta) race.

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The Polaroid Project

I have started a new endeavor call the “The Polaroid Project” and will post the process of creating a fine art/ travel book.

Throughout the 1990’s I was working hard as a commercial photographer and vowed  I would take one month off each year to explore exotic places around the world. These many trips were generally loosely planned. I would buy a guide book at the last-minute and read it on the plane. There is something exciting in just going someplace for no real reason.

Traveling light and lean was very important to me because I wanted to move fast and step off the beaten path. That did not mean leaving the bulky and somewhat heavy Polaroid 600 at home. We religiously kept a logbook of all our travels. The Polaroid prints were perfect for adding visual content to the book. It was great fun sitting in a bar or restaurant rehashing the recent events and working on the log.

My Nikon f2 plus 35mm and 105mm lens were also part of the travel gear. I mainly shot with tri-x because of its speed and diversity. You can push or pull the film with great results. As a photographer I have an innate need to take photos; so I do.

Business would take over my life upon my return from these excursions and the Polaroid /film went into the closet to be forgotten. Until now. More than a decade later, I find myself curious to what I shot and what I can do with it; thus this self-imposed project.

The Pyramids of Giza

I like this image.  It required a small epic journey to capture it.

Standing in front of the pyramids, right where the bus drops off tourist, did not seem like the best vantage point to take my pyramid image. I really had to be someplace else and far from the main dusty parking lot surrounded by dozens site seers flashing away in the f22 at 500^th of second bright sunlight.

In a nearby town we rented two Arabian horses and a guide to escort us to the rear of the Pyramids. A good traveler should be aware of the inherent risks of be in certain places and two American traveling into the Egyptian desert by horseback had me feeling a little vulnerable. My camera at the time was and old but very sturdy Nikon f2. I liked the camera because it was reliable and could double as a weapon. It gave me a bit of comfort knowing that if I were to be harassed by bandits, pirates or any one of a number of people out to kill/rob an American tourist, I could simply start swinging the camera round and use it like some kind of slingshot nunchuck doodad. Sometimes I practice my swing while shrieking. I am pretty sure it could help out in certain situations.

It was late in the afternoon after miles of sandy dusty travel before I found my shot. From the rear, away from the crowds, the Pyramids took on an ever more mystic quality. They seemed to be secreting some unknown energy into the night air.

I used a 35mm nikkor lens and tri-x film for the above image. The film was overexposed and underdeveloped to accentuate the grain structure.