Horses, coffee and the odd fact that photojournalists are getting put out of work by the rapid proliferation of photography
Thursday, August 27, 2009 at 2:12AM ;)
I have so much to do and I am so far behind that I thought about working right through my afternoon coffee break, but when 4:00 o'clock came, I knew that I would be basically sitting at my computer for another ten hours or so. I simply could not stand the thought and so went out and bought a cup from Carmen.
As I drank it, I took the long way home. After I crossed the bridge over the Little Su and drove past the place where people stop to pray, I was surprised to see these horses, galloping hard. I rolled down my window, shoved my pocket camera out and, hoping to get it in position to peek over the bushes and a bit above the fence, raised it as high as I could and pointed in a direction that I hoped would catch the horses, and then I shot.
There is a little motion blur, but you know what? I don't really care. The horses were in motion going one way, my car was in motion going in the opposite direction (and no, I was not traveling at all fast and there was no other traffic anywhere in sight in any direction and I did not take my eye off the road any longer then you take yours off it when look over your shoulder to change lanes) and so a little motion blur is appropriate, I think.
;)
This, by the way, is Carmen, who sold me the coffee. She is the owner of the new Metro Cafe that I showed you in yesterday's post. It is a family operation.
If I would have had more time, I would have went inside, taken more pictures, and had Carmen tell me the story of what led she and her family to buy out the old dog wash and build the Metro Cafe, but my 96 page project waited for me at home.
And horses. Horses were waiting for me, too. I did not know and neither did they, but they were waiting for me to come at just that moment. No other moment would have worked, so I had to get the coffee and go.
The coffee was superb. I mean superb. Better than yesterday. Better than any coffee I have had for awhile. I only ordered 8 oz. "I have to cut back," I told Carmen.
"Oh no! Not now!" she exclaimed.
;)
Speaking of horses, my very favorite photographic blog is Lens: Photography, Video and Visual Journalism, published by the New York Times. Yesterday, they ran a story and photo series by Kenneth Jarecke titled: Essay: Cowboys and Photojournalists.
The images come from an excellent photo essay on the Montana State Fair in Billings that Jarecke shot.
The word essay was built on the premise was that there was a period in US history that lasted about 20 years during which what we think of as the American cowboy really existed. Yet, more than a century has now passed since that time and the real cowboy is no more, but people still dress like cowboys, still rodeo, still eat and raise beef and keep the notion alive.
And just as the real cowboy disappeared, Mr. Jarecke proposes, the heydey of what we called photojournalism, best exemplified by Life, a time when hard working Photojournalists could not only travel and document the world but get paid a living income to do so is fading away.
Yet, people are taking more photos then ever, putting more pictures before the public then ever, in places like this blog. It's just that it is getting more and more difficult for anyone to make a living doing so. So much content is free, so many photographers now put their work out there for free that it makes life very tough for the working photojournalist.
;)
Anyway, I left a comment on the blog. It makes a statement that resembles something that I have been wanting to say here for awhile, so I'm just going to paste it in:
I did part of my growing up in Montana and for awhile I wanted to be a cowboy. But after studying Montana’s history for awhile, I came to understand that the cowboy had come too late and had been an instrument of destruction of what had been good about Montana and that the drover sitting on the horse working for a rich man had not only taken the freedom from the land, but had already lost his freedom. So I decided that I wanted to a mountain man and live in the mountains with the Indians, but this was impossible, for that life had also ended.
Still in pursuit of the dream, I became a photojournalist in Alaska where I have been fortunate to hang out with Alaska Native Eskimo, Indian and Aleut peoples and to document slices of their lives.
But awhile back, I realized that everything was crumbling around me, due to this digital world that I love so much. Thus I decided to start my own blog and to blindly move forward into what I did not know.
So far, the effort has been fun but not the least bit successful. I lack both the time and funds to do the blog right, because I still have to make a living and the blog actually gets in the way of this. But still, I forge on, believing that sometime before I am utterly destroyed I will find the answer.
I have additional thoughts to add to this, but right now I lack the time. I've got to get back to work so I can feed my cats. Not just these two, Chicago and Royce - who, as you can see, greeted me with great enthusiasm when I stepped back through the door - but Jimmy, Pistol-Yero and Martigne.
Technically, Martigne is Jacob, Lavina and Kalib's cat, but she chows down with them all. Sometimes, Muzzy does, too.
I will return to the subject another day, maybe tomorrow. Maybe later.
PS: I have had a bit of an empty feeling in me all day today, and it is because of the death of Senator Kennedy. I have been fortunate enough to have met and photographed him a couple of times in my career and I wanted to run one of those photos here in his honor. But I took them well before the digital age began.
They are on negatives somewhere, and I have absolutely no idea where. I did a "Kennedy" search in my computer, because it seems like I might have scanned one of those images a decade or so ago, but if I did, it is not any harddrive currently attached to my computer.
Reader Comments (7)
I owned a handful of horses back in the '70s and '80s so it's a pleasure to see such well-cared for groomed horses enjoying themselves in an extended run, even if it's behind a barbed-wire fence (ugh).
You can relate to why I had to stop -- I had to cease my favorite exercise riding those horses
when my back (a congenital misalignment) eventually forced me to stop riding, and find new homes for them...sigh...
i hope you continue this blog because it is my favorite one and i read it every day.
It's my favorite blog too!
I like reading your blog..very interesting. I also read another blog written by a lady in Anchorage www.scribbit.blogspot.com she has sponsors, I think your blog would be perfect for sponsors as well.
I too enjoy your blog. I am a neighbor of sorts, living up the highway in Houston, and I found your blog last yr. Having just moved to AK in '08 I have found your blog fun and informative, even though there are subjects we disagree on :) Keep sharing, I and many others do appreciate the effort you put forth.
I also like your blog. It's interesting, yet restful.
I most certainly do appreciate these comments. It is good to know that I have connected with all of you - and I am glad to see that we can connect even when we disagree.