Living in Syracuse, Utah, R. Nial Bradshaw is a photographer for the U.S. Department of Defense. His photostream is phenomenal and, thus, nearly impossible to choose from. I narrowed the number to 70 from the […]
Category: Storytelling
Flickr a Day 147: ‘Old Lady’
If you asked reasons for today’s selection, several would stand out. Top of list: Exhaustion that makes me identify with the subject. That’s how I feel after searching the photostream of Oliver Degabriele; I could choose any and most every image for the Day. Composition, color, and contrast also appeal, and I find something old-worldly and interesting about self-titled “Old Lady”.
But I like “Soundcheck” as much, but passed even though it more topically represents the photographer, who also is a musician. As the series progresses, increasingly my choices are influenced by previous picks. We bad musical performance themes on Days 12, 16, 92, and 100.
Flickr a Day 144: ‘Old Glories’
Sometimes the best photographs capture the shooter’s mood. On March 18, 2009, Jano De Cesare felt uninspired about his camera work “maybe because I had little time to shoot, maybe because I just chose bad […]
A Life Lesson
For three summers during high school, I participated in federal assistance program Upward Bound at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. My parents divorced when I was 13, and my then 31 year-old mother chose to raise four children alone. Jobs were scarce in Aroostook County during the early 1970s, and mom couldn’t earn enough. We were poor, by most American measures.
That circumstance and college plans qualified me to spend summers in Southern Maine and someday to attend a school like Bowdoin (I didn’t). The program has expanded such that if I were a high school student today, my UB participation would be at the University of Presque Isle branch rather than the one at Bowdoin. While closer to home (next town over), the benefits wouldn’t be as a great: Getting out of the County’s confines, experiencing life on such a prestigious college campus, watching Shakespeare at the Theater at Monmouth, or traveling—even for a day—to Boston.
Flickr a Day 142: Beloved
To celebrate my wife’s birthday, I select a self-portrait she shot, at age 21, during the hopefully-not-forgotten fine film photography era. Ha! And youngsters today think selfies are some new thing. Annie doesn’t have a Flickr, so I—ah, hum—unexpectedly feature my own. That’s something not planned when starting this series nearly five months ago.
Annie used the Pentax K1000, which she bought for a college photography class. “It was a great camera for me”, she says. “I loved photography and really enjoyed developing photos”, although she concedes to not fully “developing my craft”.
Flickr a Day 141: ‘Snappy Dresser at San Francisco Bev Mo’
The only camera that matters is the one with you. So carry the right mobile, which Lynn Friedman does. She shot self-titled “Snappy Dresser at San Francisco Bev Mo” on April 14, 2015, using iPhone 5s. […]
Flickr a Day 140: Key Man
Today’s selection comes from Italian Fiammetta Bruni, who joined Flickr in February 2008. She’s generally a street shooter of artistic flavor whose sense of composition differs from my own. That said, she makes the Day […]
Flickr a Day 138: ‘Cold Soul’
For once I am glad for a photostream with so many images licensed All Rights Reserved, which means instant disqualification. This series only features Creative Commons works. There isn’t a Hamed Parham pic I wouldn’t pick otherwise, making the selection next to impossible, if not for the small number designated CC.
Some photos command character. Hamed goes further, by way of composition and perspective revealing each subject’s character. His street portraits are classic. Iconic. They’re ripped from the present and transported into the past.
Flickr a Day 137: ‘Monks on Smartphones’
Some selections are instant decisions. “Monks on Smartphones” makes the Day as much for the self-title as the excellent, suggestive composition. We don’t see the devices but know they are there. The choice of focal […]
A Hundred Smiles and My Frown
How unexpected. For the second time within three days, I spotlight photography that won’t be part of my Flickr a Day series but should be. The project, which reaches No. 136 this fine Saturday, only features […]
Flickr a Day 136: ‘Ghosts’
Motion describes the street style of Nadine Heidrich. From Mölln, Germany, but living in Hamburg, she is a relative Flickr newcomer, joining in August 2013. What a contribution her black-and-white portfolio brings. Each photo is a […]
When One Gets Away
If you don’t follow my “Flickr a Day” series, you really miss out. The 133rd, “Jenna Bean“, is the most recently curated photo. There will be 365 pics picked this year, with no photographers repeated (unless by carelessness), Storytelling motivated me to begin the project on January 1.
But there are many images or shooters I want to feature but don’t. Okay, can’t. Two common problems: Resolution of the photos are too low or they are licensed All Rights Reserved. The project only features Creative Commons-available content.