Today we bid farewell to Açores and say hello again to Lisbon. It’s been more than a pleasant experience during our stay in Ponta Delgada. People we had encountered in Lisbon have been warm and friendly. It was even more so in Açores. We appreciate the hospitality and certainly can recommend visiting Ponta Delgada should anyone be curious.
This morning I came across a few boxes which I haven’t opened since we moved here. In this shoebox I discovered stuff from those years when I was studying at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. Most of them were class assignments, of objects that I didn’t particularly care about even then. The question whether I should continue keeping them or put them in the garbage came to my mind. Test shot Polaroids, slides of the same building shot at different time of the day, 4×5 negatives of my classmates when we had to model for each other for the class.. Should I keep them? Do I want them? Would I miss them in the future? Am I letting go of the past if I were to dispose them?
The indecisive me put them all back into the same shoebox. It’s a matter for another day, for now..
Today I received the new lens I ordered for my Nikon Zfc. I really love the shallow depth of field it creates. This new lens is ideal for street photography, but as you might have known already, my main interest is portraiture. Before I could find willing subjects, I guess I’ll be testing this lens for still life.
Recently I acquired a few books, including a biography of Peter Hujar. To say that Hujar was one of my favorite photographers would be a great understatement. He was my inspiration, and a mentor that I never had. To be able to see his contact sheets is almost equal to having the opportunity to read his private handwritten diary. It’s not so much about his technique; it’s how he sees his subjects..
For the past week I’ve been spending a lot of time backing up raw files of all the images I’ve ever captured since I switched to digital cameras. Unavoidably I looked in earnest at some of the images that I almost had forgotten. They brought back so much memories and at the same time reminded me how time flies..
