Another of my photographs (above) has been featured on wan.der.lust.ag.ra.phy. Photographs of youth was the theme behind the set I was included in along with photographers Brea Souders and Amanda Tretault. Thanks for the props, Amy.
Every couple of months I contribute photographs to Charlotte Viewpoint, a citizen-driven forum for ideas and expression in and about Charlotte. Here are few of the images being featured in the October 2007 issue.
There’s a bit of the past, present, and future in every nook and cranny of Charlotte. My work for Viewpoint attempts to capture slivers of our city that may be overlooked as it grows (rather quickly, I might add), pushes forward, and flourishes into one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the New South.
Late Fragment
by Raymond Carver
And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.
Inspired by the Urban Nocturnals of overshadowed, I set out on a cool Saturday night to capture the glow of uptown (downtown?) Charlotte long after the bankers had all gone home.
Notice the purple-ish glow on the structure in the second photo? That’s light from the electronic upcoming events/advertising video billboards on the outside of the Bobcats Arena. It was quite a sight to watch the different electronic colors splash the side of this structure during the 32 second exposure.
There are two things I really like about this photograph.
The first one is the bright light beaming in from behind her, the glow so close to the outline of her face and hair as if emanating from inside of her. The second one is that I trusted my creative instincts enough to put her back to the light in the first place.
The second reason jives with Alec Soth’s post about an essay he read by poet C.K. Williams. Williams referring to poets, and taking it a bit more broadly myself, artists:
“Another, related, right, is to be wrong, about anything and everything, and to know that even when your line of reflection or imagining might be viewed as absurdly illogical, you should be able to go on to its however provisional conclusion.”
The logical view might be to have the light illuminating her from the front and not from behind. More from Williams:
We should be able to entertain anything the mind casts up as potentially useful for a poem, while at the same time forgiving ourselves for such after all private matters, and this should be a forgiveness that arrives in a short enough time so that any shame or guilt arising from such scary glimpses within will be productive rather than debilitating for the germination of poems.
Yes, photographers should be as free as poets to, as Williams writes, “vacillate, to wobble, to shillyshally, be indecisive in one’s labors, and still not suffer from a sense of being irresponsible, indolent, or weak.”
There are also times when a photographer must be firm, decisive, and structured while still following his or her instincts. The ability to know when to be one or the other, or when to mix one with bits of the other, makes all the difference when you’re an artist and a commercial photographer.
The September 2007 issue of POZ features this image I made for them a couple of months ago. Looking at this image again reminds me of the fun time we had making it.
It was a relatively quick shoot. In and out in about half an hour. Jade, our subject, was a real humble and down-to-earth girl, a real treat to photograph. Her mother, on the other hand, was very vocal and quite funny. She had Jade, my assistant Andy, and I laughing almost the whole time. It was all I could do to keep still and get the shot. Kept still, though, and I really like the results. Good times.
Post-assignment photos in and near Lenoir, North Carolina.
© Armando Bellmas
© Armando Bellmas
I’m not a big fan of photos of myself. I prefer being behind the camera.
It’s funny now that I think about it because I worked in radio for years and back in those days I always said I preferred being behind a microphone and the music. “A face made for radio” was the quip I used.
Alas, someone recently asked me for a photo of myself to run with a bio of me. (It’s going to end up on the website of a non-profit I do some pro bono work for every few months.)
Thinking back, I don’t think I’d ever taken a proper portrait of myself. Lots of quick arms length stuff alone or with C and the kids and random tests from photo classes.
Then there’s this cool shot from many years ago which I still use for my business cards.
© Armando Bellmas
Not exactly what they were looking for, though.
So after many days on the road, lots of work behind me, and a looming deadline to submit the photo, I set up the tripod in our dining room and set out to make a quick and simple self-styled self-portrait.
I was dead set against the typical headshot — you know the kind: shoulders up, head slightly to the side, softbox out in front and a hairlight up top, muslin background — and warned the folks asking for the shot that I wouldn’t be delivering such standard fare.
I framed the shot, opened wide, focused, dragged the shutter, and let the sun shine in behind me.
© Armando Bellmas
Presto! A little rough but right on for me.
I haven’t heard from the folks I sent it to. Maybe they liked it, maybe they didn’t. It doesn’t really matter to me, though. I really like it and, who knows, it may end up on a business card someday.
© Armando Bellmas
This is a blog by photographer Armando Bellmas. Please make some time to look through my PORTFOLIO. You'll love it.
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