Beth Spain: The Graduate

So, Beth Spain here, my friend and one time photo protégée (that's the female version of the word as the wise wikipedia tells me) will graduate from Union University in May. She will spread her wings and fly away from the safe, warm, photojournalistic friendly nest known as college to soar high and far into the ambiguous professional world of professional media work.

Godspeed little photo bird.

PS: Start working on a photo blog of your own, you are overdue for one.

Groundbreaking

Just another run of the mill groundbreaking ceremony for some new construction in Germantown, but I feel these aren't the worst ground breaking photos I've ever made.



Workers from Acuff/Scott Contractors clear the first half mile of the new Wolf River Blvd extension that will connect the eastern and western sections between Kimbrough and Farmington. Construction is expected to be completed by July 2013.



Germantown alderman Ernest Chism listens to the mayor dedicate the new roadway.

little bit of yoga

I shot this in January and forgot about it until today as I was backing up files.



Claire Pinkstons stretches her back during a yoga session at Bikram yoga Memphis where the room is heated to about 90 degrees while the class runs through more militant yoga routines. Bikram yoga is holding a 60-day challenge, where students take classes for 60 days straight to raise money for St. Jude. Two students from the studio have offered to match every person doing the challenge with a $100 donation.

Kites, Mermaids, Hula Hoops and Sushi....Oh My!

Children wrestle, tug and play with their kites to keep them afloat at the 4th annual Kite Day at WC Johnson Park in Collierville. The kite started four years ago with 5 kite fliers in attendance and has grown to over 60 this past year. Hosted by the Collierville Parks and Recreation Department and sponsored by Fogelman Properties, the day attracts fliers of all ages. Prizes were also passed out for most unique, most colorful and highest flying kites.





Memphis College of Art graduate student Emily Stout installs life size replicas of mermaids into the Wolf River on Mud Island across from the Pyramid as part of her MFA thesis. Stout's piece is a look at public space and using mythological creatures as a way of defying reason and the natural order of things. Stout will be present her work on Friday March 25 from 6-9 at the site on the Wolf river.



(front) Joquain Davis practices his hula hoop skills with his friends (left to right) Jamia Davis, Trinity Shannon and Ky Markel at the 1st annual "Healthy Today, Healthy Tomorrow" health fair hosted by the Junior Auxiliary of DeSoto County. Along with physically-based games and activites the fair featured several informational booths on nutrition and ways to keep various parts and systems of the body healthy.



(left to right) Hannah, 10, and Madeline, 9, Dickerson enjoy a sushi dinner with thier family at Bluefin Restaurant. Hannah and Madeline's parents have exposed thier children to various types of cuisines so they won't be bored of eating the same meals over and over. The Dickersons credit to the experience of dining out with the kids as helpful for the getting their children to try various foods.

Recent Work

Courtney Oliver has worn many hats at Playhouse on the Square after ten years. Currently, the Director of Special Events, Oliver has also been an actress and choreographer with the company.




(left) Eve Pai, 4, listens to members of the IRIS orchestra's percussion section talk about the various instruments and why they play them during a dress rehearsal at the GPAC. For the first time, IRIS turned its regular Saturday dress rehearsal into The Young Person’s Guide to the IRIS Orchestra by focusing on two pieces from the evening program that provide a colorful and exciting introduction to the individual instrumental sounds and collective power of a symphony orchestra in order to get younger children interested in playing musical instruments.




Patrick Dockery celebrates after being declared the winner of the DeSoto County Spelling Bee for the third year row with his winning word, madrigal.




(right to left) Seth Goff and his father, Kent Goff inspect some anitque rifles at the 45th annual Civil War and Antique Military Show will be at the Southaven Arena.

Endurance

Jon Simpson has run every day behind his house next to the University of Memphis for 39 years. He was diagnosed with polio as a child and credits the daily running to his health and the ability to still use his legs. This August will mark 40 consecutive years of running for Simpson.

2010 Retrospective

Well, it certainly has been some time since I posted on my blog. As the year came to a close, I came off of a slew of weddings, holidays, vacation and life in general that kept my busy. So, now it's nearly February 2011 and I'm finally looking back at my collective work from 2010. I almost decided against posting these photos, because lately I’ve felt that I hit a wall with my photography. I've caught myself switching to autopilot several times in the past couple months as I march off to work. It really bothers me when it happens. So one thing I took away from my experiences this past year was to relax more with photography and return to some of the more simplistic pleasures of making images.

Also, I've been listening to A LOT of Cat Stevens music this past year. If you know anything about Cat Steven's music, then you know he can leave you staring into space pondering life for hours on end.

I was largely insipred to post these images after reading a blog post by my friend, Aaron Hardin and his drive to continually explore with his camera. Aaron's work has been amazing this year, but it was his words that really hit home for me:

"Seeing each image brings back sights, smells, emotions and ever lingering doubts. 'Am I any good at this?' 'Am I getting any better?' 'What defines ‘BETTER’?'”

I don't know if every I saw as put this together brought back sights and smells, but it definitely conjures emotions and frustrations of failed projects, repeated meaningless assignments of fluff and the question of "When did I shoot this?" as work starts to blur together.

Now, before I become a complete Debbie Downer, there were some positive experiences and not every image I made was from a mentally distant place. I wouldn't have called this past year a stellar year for me in my photojournalistic pursuits, but it was a great year with my wedding photography. Also, I helped start a wedding photography business with some friends, Hands Up Visuals. Go check us out. Not only do we rock, but also we really want to tell the story of your wedding day.
(A little shameless promoting for you, Brad.)

Now, these photos are not what I consider necessarily a "Best of 2010" slideshow, but rather a retrospective journey I took with my camera in 2010. It was one of those years were I could feel I was growing, except the results were more internal than external. Kind of like a flame getting beaten around by a strong wind, it's not as bright or as hot as it could be; however, it did not go out.

So, I learned to relax a little with my camera and made one of my favorite images of the past year, the lead photo in the slideshow.

“Kyle, before you go, I gotta have a beer with you. I haven’t had a beer with you yet.”

This is what my 91-year-old, great-uncle Dave said to me as I was walking out of his house during an impromptu July trip to New England. Needless to say, when a 91-year-old asks you to have a beer with him, you turn around and go back inside.

I will say 2011 has been pretty swell so far and I can't wait to see what becomes of it.

Enjoy.