I don't know... 5 - 6 years ago or so I started photographing these kids playing summer all-star little league ball in Saegertown. There was this little dude who would hit the ball anywhere in the infield and end up on first base. He would then end up on third base before the next batter even got a ball in play. Often he'd end up across homeplate before the next batter hit the ball. Then there was a kid named Puddin and another named D-train. There was also this other kid who looked a little out of place. His size would seem to indicate the coaches were trying to pull something over on the other teams byt bringing in an older kids and lying about his age. And hit the ball like he was a couple years older as well. When he came up to the plate the team just hollered Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuke! And then they would usually watch the ball fly over the fence a few moments later. This group of kids played very solid ball. Now they are in high school and not surprisingly, they won districts and went a game or two into the playoffs. They ran into a good hitting team and their season ended. During this game Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuke, long for Luke Carter, was the pitcher late in the game when the other team got hot. He was moved from pitcher to third base. A pop foul came his way and he struggled under it a bit and finally stretched out and fell backwards to make the catch and the out. I loved his expression when he tossed the ball back in after making the struggling catch. A few minutes earlier he was visibly upset about giving up the hits and runs that put his team behind. I felt bad for him. He is a good kid and he was pitching great up to that inning. The other team just got hot. Had he failed to make this catch I think he would've been devastated--as if the gods were against him, but he didn't and I felt the expression on his face was sort of a relief smile and making a face as if to say --whhhewf! I'm pretty sure Luuuuuuuuuuuuke and his buddies including D-train (who seems to be called Swagger Dave now) and Puddin will be providing the Saegertown High School trophy case with more hardware over the next couple years. Meadville Tribune photograph by Richard Sayer.
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I often complain about newspaper designers who place words and graphics and such over photographs. I'm not one hundred percent opposed to word and images working together--but they have their place. Newspapers communicate and must do so quickly(compared to a contemplative piece on a museum wall). So most of the time I believe a photograph un altered does this better than one with 'stuff' tossed on it. In my private work, drawings, paintings and even photographic work I often include writing in with the images. This is to communicate something beyond just what is within the image--within the frame. But I expect these images to be allowed the time to absorb. Newspaper photography is a great and complex thing, but it still must engage you. Placing boxes of text or even floating text over the top of the image in a newspaper takes away the image's impact. 99.5 to 99.9% of the time a photograph should stand on its own without manipulation or over - designing by the layout folks. An image - to have impact--needs to be clean and not too cluttered on the page. I admit, I hate most modern designed newpapers. I feel they've taken the route of the mountain Dew culture and sort of ruined what is good about news design and news photography. I always feel if we communicate cleanly, simply and most important--honestly. Then we serve our readers to the fullest. Let the layering of imagery and text and design be where it belongs--in introspective pieces on gallery walls where we can take the time to absorb them if we choose, but let newspapers do what they do best--communicate---and do so with the best the staff can offer. These images haven nothing to do with newspapers, but they were ideas I was trying to convey a few years ago. Even though I think I have an idea here--these just didn't communicate well enough. I either need to push it further or learn more from my approach to newspaper photography---not sure. Photographic alterations by Richard Sayer. PS--still failed to bring home the pictures
Today was a long day--13 hours. It was a good day...just long. So my photos that I want to post will have to wait. Last night as I was making my way through the crowd I stumbled upon Aaron Lloyd, a young man whose senior portraits I had done. He stopped me to mention how much he liked a poster I made for his mom of he and his dad. They were both starting quarterbacks for Meadville High School. Aaron's mom had approached me a few months ago with an idea of combining a picture I had taken for the Meadville Tribune earlier in the year with a picture taken by the Tribune several years earlier of Aaron's dad Brian. This is what I came up with. There are things I would change about it if I were to do it again....thats what I love about the creative process--what seems good one day, the next can be looked upon as something to improve upon. But it was nice to do this and it was even nicer for a young man, on a night of accomplishment himself, to take a moment to thank me for something I made. I'm guessing that he and his dad will look at this picture for years to come. That is pretty neat stuff! Meadville Tribune photos and a SayerMotter Photography design by Richard Sayer. The pictures from today might come tomorrow
I covered a small part of four graduations tonight. Sometimes I prefer this approach to sitting through an entire graduation--especially since it is so hot. But when you're rushing its sometimes hard to capture moments. You need, in less than 15 minutes find an image that says graduation and you don't want each picture to look the same. So I started out with pictures before the commencement began. The second school was in full swing and I arrived during the Valedictorian address. This was great because I could focus on an important feature of every graduation. The third school I arrived near the point of handing out diplomas so I waited a little longer there to get that part of a graduation and the fourth school I arrived on the 'W's' of handing out diplomas so I was able to get a few more shots, the few caps that were tossed in the air and the after graduation pictures. The picture above I was extremely lucky to find and have happen in front of me. I saw people posing by the giant wooden bulldog in front of MASH and thought I'd try to get a picture of that. Then the mom gave her very reluctant son a kiss on the cheek--actually I think she kissed his hand held up to block her. I got my graduation moment. Earlier in the night I captured this person hugging a grad but I didn't get their names and am not sure if it was a mother daughter or aunt or friend. But one thing I thought about is how happy moms are when their children graduate from high school--I'm sure dads are too. I know in my case, when I graduated I thought it was more that I survived than I succeeded in anything, but I guess its a lot of both. Meadville Tribune photographs by Richard Sayer.
I was sent to get pictures tonight at a community garden--its a pretty cool story really--this farmer donates land for people to put in gardens. Many volunteers (including the farmer who owns the land) also help the family participants who are able to take how a box of vegetables each week from the garden. I arrived while one of the primary organizers was going over the basic rules of the garden with kids and adults attending the planting of several squash, cabbage and plotting of more ground. Stone picking up was also a major priority of the evening. While the rules were being read from a board one little girl Samiyah Chambers was leaning on the sign from behind seemingly bored and made some funny faces. I tried to angle myself quietly for a picture but didn't quite get there unnoticed. I liked this picture anyway because, even though she is staring at the camera, she wasn't playing for the camera. She was just doing her thing and seemed unbothered by me snapping a few frames. And, afterall, there was not rule on the board that said she couldn't rest her lip on the board and make a funny face. Meadville Tribune photograph by Richard Sayer
Ahh, the high school graduation commencement ceremony is a rite of passage for any teenager. This morning I photographed a graduation rehearsal at Cochranton Junior/Senior High School. It was early in the morning and I am sure that most of the seniors who are awaiting graduation would rather be in bed. I snapped the above photo of Elizabeth Beck yawning in the middle of the practice and couldn't help but laughing. I started to think about my high school graduation 16 years ago. I remember it like it was yesterday. I remember the clothes I wore, who I sat next to, the speeches (shout out to Robin Kolacek-Baker) and the final moment when I knew that I was finished with high school FOREVER.
Meadville Tribune Photo By: Harmony Motter Last night I shot some pictures of Maribeth McCarthy after she rehearsed with the cast of 'Hairspray' at the Academy Theatre. During the shoot I just got in real close and said--make faces and thought it might be fun to make this collection of faces. She is a pretty neat woman with much much energy--I think she could sing all-night long...make faces all night long and just laugh and laugh all night long. I recently saw this brittish film about a young girl whose father is a baker and as he delivers his breads he sings opera through a sound system so the entire valley can hear him. I was thinking we need more of that in the world---more singing and more people enjoying their gifts like that. SayerMotter photographs by Richard Sayer.
Lets face it, no matter what they say about how much he worked on his prints in the darkroom, W. Eugene Smith is one of the great masters of photography. I can't imagine doing what he did. When I took up photography I had all the knowledge that he and Andre' Kertescz and Cartier-Bresson and Minor White and Ed Steichen and and and and .... had already figured out to help me make my images. So when I look thru my camera I can see what has been done before me and learn from that. Sometimes I see something and get excited about trying that. Today as I was photographing some family portraits I saw this picture and thought a great deal about W. Eugene Smith's photograph--knowing full well that I couldn't duplicate it---but still thought it might make a nice picture. Smith's picture was one of the crowning achievements of the 'Family of Man' exhibitions which really brought the power of the photographic image into the realm of understanding that--though it is recorded using an apparatus (a camera) that the eye and intent of the maker can elevate the work to an importance equal to that of the other arts---some may argue that it elevated it beyond the other arts(though this is where I get into long drawn out boring discussions with my painter friends who disagree.) In any case it is always nice to think of great images and remember how they moved me when I was young and learning how to use this apparatus to make something that I called art--which has led me in a very nice direction in life. So Thank you W. Eugene Smith for all these years and for today! SayerMotter Photography by Richard Sayer. W. Eugene Smith's picture of his children.
Yesterday I travelled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the 1st annual Pittsburgh Jazz Live International Festival. It was sponsored by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and featured many great artists like, Sean Jones, Chelsea Baratz, LES Nubians, Roger Humphries, Soullive and Gregory Porter. Above is a photo of the lead singer of LES Nubians and below is a photo of Soulivedrummer Al Evans
Photos By: Harmony Motter This is a photo that I have hanging in the Meadville Council on the Arts show right now. A couple of months ago I had a dream that I was running through the woods and my foot started to hurt. I stopped to lean against a tree to see what was wrong and my foot was bleeding. I woke up. The dream stayed with me and I made this. The girl in the picture is my sister, Sarahbeth. The photo of her was made on her 24th birthday, January 21, 2010. I have a second photograph of Sarahbeth in the show as well. At the time I didn't really know that it was happening, but as I looked at the photos hanging on the walls during the opening reception for the show last night, I started to think that maybe my part of the show was about my sister. I love what I do and I love photography! I often see pictures in my mind before they ever become real photographs. But, the process of creating what I am seeing to actually putting it onto photographic paper is the challenge. From the time the idea appears to the finished product could take sometimes days or even months. I have recently become a fan of the musician, Patti Smith. She said something and it stuck with me. She said, "The joy of moving through the process of discovery belongs to every new artist." I really liked that quote because, that is what photography is for me a "process of discovery."
Photo By: Harmony Motter |