Pushing Pixels

Perry Dozier Jr. - Columbia, SC 2009

Looking back on my email box, I found the first correspondence letting me know that I had been selected to participate in fourth series of the Palmetto Portraits Project a year ago today.  Less than five days from now, on Wednesday, September 16, 2009, the exhibit will open to the public with a reception at MUSC’s new James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine, located at 29 Bee St. in Charleston, SC.

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Tags: art, gallery, photo, photograph, photographs, photography, south carolina.

I recently found out that, the image I took of then Sen. John McCain’s visit to Adluh Flour in Columbia, SC during his campaign for the Republican Presidential Primary while on assignment for the Associated Press has been selected for a traveling photo exhibit by the AP titled The American President.  I feel extremely honored for my image to be selected for this exhibit since, “The photos in this exhibition are drawn from the AP Images photo archive, which contains more than 10 million film and digital images and is one of the most extensive collections of news and documentary images anywhere,” according to the exhibit’s official promotional flyer released by the AP. 

Additionally, I am the only freelance photographer whose work is contained in the exhibit, all of the other images were created by some of the best AP staff political photographers of all time, and I feel honored for my work to be chosen to be displayed side by side with the work of photographers of that caliber.

To request interviews or speakers, to request use of photos from the exhibit or to book an exhibit for display, contact AP Corporate Communications at 212.621.1720 or visit http://www.ap.org/americanpresident

Tags: ap, associated press, exhibit, feature, flashnick, McCain, photo, photography, politics, president, traveling.

When I was asked by a client to photograph the No.1 ranked team in High School Football, in the entire nation, I wasn’t sure what to expect, just another high school football game, or something unique.  What I saw, the players on the James F. Byrnes Rebels bring to the table is the simple fact that even those a the top of their game have an off night, it is just in how you handle those setbacks that seem to make the difference in champions and everyone else.  

The, Rebels, began their season ranked No.1 in the USA Today Super 25, and after last night’s game, now stand at 2-0.  But last night’s opponent, Ridge View, turned out not to be the pushover that many expected.  With six turnovers (4 of them by the quarterback Chas Dodd in the first half alone), the final score of the game was 45-20.  Even with the Byrnes offense not performing at their best, when things clicked, the athleticism and work ethic of these players really came out, and was something amazing to see.       

I don’t know if this will be my last high school football game or not.  I’m really starting to dread having to deal with the dis-organization, and egos, and professionalism (relating to the organizers, and officials) that go along with covering these sporting events.  Its really sad that all of the positive efforts put forth by these kids and their coaches, gets tarnished, because the adults involved can’t seem to play nice, be professional, or act their age.

Images from the Byrnes at Ridge View, are available for license for editorial use and publication, through my archive on Photo Shelter, at the following link http://pa.photoshelter.com/gallery-show/G0000iyrv9n9Cjd0 

Tags: action, assignment, byrnes, football, game, high school, locker, photo, prep, sport.

Lately I’ve been taking my job a little to seriously, and it is becoming something I do to have an income, instead of something I love to do. But then again lately I’ve been taking life a little to seriously. I suppose that is the curse of making something that you love to do your career. In some ways its inevitable to just take something lightly as you get older, because you begin to realize that you need to be able to make a car payment, rent, insurance, food, etc… But when you worry about all of that stuff you tend to forget why you really started doing this in the first place. Perhaps its just time to stop taking everything so seriously, and start having fun again. Maybe then things will just fall into place. Who knows how everything will work out in the long run, and if we did know that… what would be the fun in living life. Its time to get up off of the couch and go explore the world, have some fun, and see what happens. Its time to take the point and shoot out, like I did at the beach the other day, because its more about the journey than the resullts. In that moment when I wasn’t thinking about shutter speeds, f-stops, and iso, so I get to remember the sunrise, instead of how I photographed the sunrise. I think the line from the movie is “Don’t take life to seriously, you’ll never get out alive.”

Peace

Tags: atlantic, beach, carolina, collage, east, folly, photo, stitch, sunrise, travel.