Author: admin

I was at Kewalos today trying to shoot more of my surfer project when I was confronted by Morgan Montana. Morgan saw my camera (which he declared was worth over $50,000…how wrong he was) and wanted me to grace him with a photograph. Oh the power of a 4×5 camera.

Morgan, who aura wiffed of tall boys and Mickeys, recounted a story of history, celebrities and fame, which very few could be capable of obtaining.

As I spoke with Morgan, who I slowly found his real name was Lenny, I was told of a sailboat of great girth which entertained local prostitutes, Lost celebs, and the female undergarments which flew freely from the masts of his vessel. Morgan/Lenny spoke of engagements on the mainland with Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow and others details too interesting not to believe.

He recalled a bar in Colorado where he slugged the Kid for mouthy behavior and watching Mt St. Helen’s trumpet around his life.

He also spoke, with glassy eyes, about time spent in Vietnam (he did say he was 57 which actually makes him of proper age) and lives lost and taken. He described life as a tunnel rat, of women’s screams and lives lost at his hands…of Agent Orange, of snakes, and friends who still remain hidden within the bush.

He told me of “gook” heads skewered on bamboo as warnings, of life taken with no regret. Of mothers holding their children and his M-16. He chattered about life and death with candor. As if nothing was worth but his eyes felt it was…

But back to those bars he so quickly returned to, his boat, his pose, and his scrap with Kid Rock.

Life for Morgan consisted of cheap drinks, long hair, and a history full of fun, death, sailing, and living. Is a far existence away from jungle rot, cans of MREs, and killing someone you don’t know.

At the end of the afternoon, Morgan hit me up for some dough. I coughed up $5.00. I got a polaroid out of it.

You be the judge…was it worth it?

I met Karin the other day at Kewalo Basin. I approached her and her friends to ask if I could take a photo of them. I was working with my 4×5 camera so they figured I was for real. She agreed but as I started to pose her, the Hawaiian sprinkle rain came down and I had to close shop.

I gave Karin my business card and told her to look at my site to see what I do hoping I would run into her again. I hate to approach anyone, especially women, and ask to photograph them without identification or something of the sort. People weird out and think I’m a perv but with a 45 camera and the likes, I look like I know what I am doing. It actually takes a bit of nerve for me to get the guts to approach anyone. You just never know how people will react when you ask to take their picture.

About a week later, Karin calls me telling me she’d be out at Kewalo and asks me to come out to photograph her. She saw my site and loved work and wanted to be part of my project.

I was very happy to have a chance to meet and shoot her again as she has a strong surfer chic’s body (as do most real surfers…all that swimming, balance, and the likes really makes you tough!) and wanted to do my best to capture her. She was positive, strong, and definitely has that “je ne sais quoi.”

As I was taking the photos, i quipped to her that her natural pose reminded me of Venus de Milo or Botticelli’s Venus.

Art as an archetype becomes apparent when I do this type of work. I didn’t pose Karin or ask her to do anything other than move her surfboard around a bit. She naturally fell into this pose, whether it was intentional or not, she fell into a beauty archetype that is as long as history.

As Karin posed throughout the four sheets of Tri-X and one polaroid, she pulled it all together. Her pose, her body language, all of it, really says something. The curve of her hips, the slight of her legs, the length of her arm..it all created a part of history, this archetype. She really put it all together and in a way, became a part of a long traditional history of beauty.

It was a great moment.

This image was made on Polaroid T 55 positive negative film. This film is probably destined to be discontinued as Polaroid has stop making lots of their products. They stop making 665 PN. I would buy loads of that film if they still made it. Its hard to get film developed here in Honolulu as labs here just aren’t making money in development. Digital is king.

The next images is shot on 45 color film…Kodak 160NC to be exact.

I forgot the name of the English girl but she was fairly keen to be photographed. That afternoon, I set up at Diamond Head beach and waited for surfers to exit the water and walk off towards the showers. I had been setting up around sunset just to get that golden light and shadow play on the figures. It works really well.

Alina and Mina had just finished a surf session when they walked up the beach. I convinced them to pose but sadly, Mina shifted during the shoot and was out of focus. Alina stood rock solid still. Her image came out really nice. She has another type of sexiness and strength in her pose and her face really carries loads of power.

The pommy made for a great picture. The curve of her hip, the slight scowl on her forehead, the shadow play on her figure. Another shot for the series…

Today I spoke with a verteran who was one of the first American soldiers to enter Nagasaki after the bomb was dropped in August 1945. He spoke with passion and fear and dismay of what he saw and the future of what will happen if the world goes nuclear against Iran or some group detonates a dirty bomb in a populated area. I was struck by his passion, his fear, his life. He is sick. Radiation is a killer. He said out of 10 soldiers that marched through Nagasaki, 9 are now dead.

I was thinking of Aceh. Of tsunamis of turmoil. Japan, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, atomic testing…we only have to blame ourselves. Who do we blamb for nature? God?

This Aceh man rode his bike thorugh a destroyed city. The destruction lingered after the tsunami. It still lingers in me.

The same day I shot Josh and his friends at Kewalo Basin, I met Smokie who was part of the click that was hanging out at the park.

Smokie was a green eyed Mexican kid from California who claimed pure blood Azteca blood and spirits of Cuahtemoc. The wool had obscured his good looks but his physique canvased his body like a piece of artwork. An almond eyed woman outfitted as a beautiful Pancho Villa graced a thick shoulder and other various histories and dramas played out across his chest and back.

He showed me scars and pains and allowed me a hint into his life.

Very interesting man. I will probably run into Smokie again.

Gracias hombre!

Kramer after a surf.

Diving in head first into something isn’t always the wisest or prudent choice in life but I decided to move forward with a 4×5 camera. As digital is by far surpassing all that is film, one must think about why anyone would choose to use a nitrocellulose coated with a type of emulsion over a “somewhat” superior image created by a CCD with a Bayer filter. Digicams are so easy! Point, shoot, transfer, publsh! Done. A fact found on wikipedia points out that the first filmless analogue cameras were designed in the early 1970’s. Unbelievable.

Ah but with film and a 4×5, you gotta drag out the tripod, you have to compose, focus, think, and put forward a good image. It takes time, effort, and thought. Something digicams are allowing the photographer to forget about.

As far as this new toy, its Toyo View cream colored 4×5. It has a Nikor 210mm lens and its allowing me to make magic. Why go through this struggle, you might ask? Well, there is a psychology to the portrait. A true psychology the subject feels when he is placed behind this monstrosity, an accordion with an upside down image that can only be seen with a dark cloth placed over the head.

People take you seriously…oh this guy knows what he is doing. they pose, the take themselves serious. you won’t see stupid grins, hand signs, etc…but the serious “I am being preserved” attitudes.

At the same park where I shot that surfer, a gang of guys drinking beer called me over and asked me to photograph them. None shied away from saying they were from the other side of the tracks…jail time, stab wounds, gunshot scars, etc…they shared beer, time and stories. I, not the type to shy away from life, embraced these guys, who in many ways, would have probably sneered at me if I had a 35mm camera, but coddled me as one of their own. They were the nicest kindest, friendliest people you could ever image. If I had been on the other side of the island (you know…the rich side) I never would have been allowed a rich world party. Those types are snotty and pretentious. What did Josh and his friends have to loose?

We shared polaroids, family snaps, etc…they loved it. I loved it. Here is Josh. What a guy.

That is what makes them so interesting…
And makes us so boring.

ah, the joy of cameras.

Thank you Yong Yoo for your efforts and support. You are never far from my thoughts.