32ndframe
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Speed graphex
I love process. I love craft. Skill, patience, and simplicity, are all children of a good craft. 
What I am
So what do I believe? Well that is one long story so I will give you the full story in a nutshell…
First off I don’t associate with any current political system although I am closest to libertarian. I believe in Individualism but not isolationism. I am a humanist, as I try to see every side of a problem. I am against Slavery, War, Abortion, and dehumanization. I believe everybody is equal so they should have an equal start in life however they should share equal responsibility for those who cannot have an equal start. They should also be equally responsible of their actions and the consequences of it.
I believe human nature is the big poison in humanity. It is why both Anarchistic and Socialistic societies (and everything in between) fail, it is why people are oppressed and why oppressors manipulate. Greed and lust tends to be the root of them all, causing people to be violent, uncompassionate, and often pure brutal.
I am not overall religious and what I learn and believe changes day to day. The best description of what I believe is would fall under being an agnostic christian (believe in Jesus and the bible but am very open minded and believe “Christians” need to think for themselves instead of following some random church/doctrine & ideology)…
I believe in research and open-mindedness (both which are rare today on an academic level). It is one thing to hear a statistic, but another to read into it. It is one thing to believe a stereotype based on personal observation, but another to study a culture for what it is.
I am against racism, misanthropy, misozoony, misogyny, misandry, and any form of unnecessary hate. I do feel though it is okay to disagree, debate, and look at all of the options even if it means challenging a presumption of hate. I believe everybody has the right to an opinion whether it is perceived as wrong. People are not born with hate but are taught it through life experiences and training. There is nothing sadder than one who acts on hate, discrimination, or personal pain. I don’t believe it is right to push them away, but instead to try to help them.
While I generalize from time to time I am against generalizations as the way for dealing with a problem. Everybody has a problem that can be addressed and for most no 2 problems are the same. I am not against people getting together to solve a problem as many good things have come from it. (For instance the right women gained to vote in 1914 was a good victory by an oppressed group) However human nature can destroy good a good group and turn it bad, and it can let people take advantage of it. Also groups, whether diverse or not, often have a set mindset of uniform beliefs/ideologies, some which I may agree with and some which I don’t.
I also believe in being good stewards of our society, kind to animals, the environment, and to whatever else we have. I don’t believe in modifying something just to make it quicker to produce or in creating something that has a short lifespan just so it can be replaced. I despise consumerism and the generalization of what products one creates. I am against companies that take ownership of an individuals idea but refuse to let anybody develop it due to it being “owned” by the company.
I guess I used a few nutshells but why not. I seldom explain myself…
Truth
“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
– Arthur Schopenhauer
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.”
– Mark Twain
Incentive
“One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” (John 6)
Generally speaking, I am not a very religious person. I however do read my bible quite frequently as it has much to learn and relearn from. I like the verse above because it shows action. Too often people see a problem and do nothing about it. While skeptical Andrew still considered it a possibility or he wouldn’t have brought it up.
Lesson in point: Initiative is the first answer to solving a problem…
Sigma 200-500mm f2.8
The Reviews on this are really funny 😀
A favorite
Many people (locomotive fans in particular) are familiar with the beautiful styling of the Gs-3 & Gs-4 4-8-4 type locomotives that graced the coastlines during the 1920’s-1950’s.
Lesser known are the well decorated P-14 type locomotives that ran in Texas and through Central California. I love the styling on these locomotives.
A quote…
“Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing, it was here first”.-Mark Twain
Willie Nelson…
This song almost always makes me cry(or at least want to). Willie Nelson is a genius and one of my favorite musicians…
Frustrated
Yesterday I go into my local target to get my film processed like I always do. To my surprise the photo area was dark and all of the machines were gone. The associate (target employee) didn’t know what was going on beyond an “upgrade” and the MS word note taped to the counter was just as vague. In frustration I travel one city over to another Target.
Upon arriving at the photo-booth the same message awaits me however this time it says that they are going digital. I asked the lady at the customer service counter as to wether they will still support film or be able to send it out. She first tells me that they are going all digital and are putting in a photo printing kiosk. Then she tells me (with an attitude) that I will need to take my disposable camera elsewhere or switch to digital. Well I gave a short retort that I do digital too and can process that at home and left… Not I had a Dslr hanging off me this whole time.
I was pretty frustrated. Here is this lady giving me an attitude as if I am cheap by using disposable cameras when she could clearly see that I had a canister of film and a big honking DSLR hanging off my arm. I shoot 1000’s of photos with the 4 DSLR’s I own weekly. I can (and do) process my RAW photos in the latest versions of Photoshop/Lightroom/Corel Photo paint and can print a multitude of things that those guys cannot at their “printing kiosks”…
In other words I can fully go digital if I wanted to but I obviously haven’t…
Rant aside, the main reason they are probably ditching film is not due to lack of customer base(although Im sure it plays a small part) but the fact that the big photo company they work with (Kodak) just went bankrupt and announced that they are completely pulling out of both film AND digital cameras, processes, and sensors and is just focusing on printing (namely digital printing). I find that to be a foolish move, because less and less people are printing as they share their photos on Facebook, flickr, Tumblr, photobooth, and other image sharing sites. Even digital frames and tablets are an indicator that consumers will stop printing photos altogether in another decade or so. Maybe they plan to go head to head with Epson, Hp, Canon, and Roland but as of now they show no sign of creating an High end glicee printer…
Is film dead? No and it wont be for a while. Most consumers have dumped it so it is not a viable mass level product anymore. However Fujifilm and Ilford have found it to be a very profitable niche industry and still continue to produce and improve upon their film products. This make me happy as I love the medium and craft and will continue to use it until the last roll of 35mm film comes off the line…
Finally
I have been a photographer for around 10 years and I have not once gone to the Annenberg space for photography off Santa Monica bvld. Tomorrow I am going with my Grandma so this will be exciting.
Also on another note I have relinquished my membership with the Los Angeles Art Association due to time, energy, & financial constraints. It was great to be part of the association but I couldn’t produce art with the strain of life.
I am still an artist though and will continue to make photographs when I have the ability to. I am also looking forward to getting a speed graphlex type camera to force me to create more art…
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