night urban landscapes (film)

“The streetlight globes threw off a gaslight yellow that had turned the underside of the leaves that had not yet fallen, an otherworldly teal.”  -Richard Powers, Galatea 2.2

I learned how to use the view camera in ARTPH 216-View Camera at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. I learned about rise and falls, tilts and shifts, bellows, the glass plate focusing plate, the large negative, Scheimpflug. This time was also a time of emotional turmoil and loneliness, of nights laying awake in bed thinking, overthinking, and not thinking. This work was an attempt at navigating the dread of (d)evolving relationships with friends, religion, and family. It was an attempt at making sense of the darkness surrounding me in my soul, brain, alleys, streets, and gangways. I often photographed late at night into the early morning. Exposures ranged from minutes to hours depending on the amount of light available. Long exposures meant I sat around in these dark spaces alone; I had no choice but to reflect on the incredible sadness I was unable to explain.

night urban landscapes (digital)

As a teacher, I have to take professional development from time to time. These images are from a class I took called Urban Photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. While I believe myself to be well versed in the craft of photographic equipment, and much of the content was review, it was good to be able to have time devoted to practicing digital techniques and equipment and while also engaging in critique sessions with other people who were experimenting with image making. These are photos of various spaces around the South Side of Chicago at night using a digital SLR camera.