Photo Essay - PhotoTrice

The Proper Subject of Photography

Alamo Actor - Santa Ana — Alamo Actor – Santa Ana

Recently I came across a quote that said something like; “The proper subject of photography is people”. That has stuck with me ever since. After searching around on the web I’ve never been able to turn up actual quote again. In any case the idea seems more or less true.

The subject that most interests me as a photographer is the human face. Even though many of us routinely mask ourselves with makeup or facial hair the face still conveys a strong sense of who we are to the world. Faces are utterly fascinating.

Unfortunately staring at someone long enough to see the detail in their face is considered bad manners or even confrontational. That is unless you are making a photographic portrait. Then you are allowed and encouraged to examine the face of your subject in detail. You can even do this to some extent in street photography. The camera acts as a barrier between the photographer and subject that bypasses social convention. I’m sure there must be some deep evolutionary reason why we tolerate the stare of the machine but not that of other people.

As a non-professional photographer it is often difficult to photograph people outside of my circle of family and friends. I have to seek out subjects who are inclined to be photographed. For me that almost always means shooting at some sort of public event. There you have a target rich environment where people expect to interact with one another. It lowers barriers that people may otherwise have to the camera.

San Antonio, Texas where I live has many public venues that host events during the year. One of my favorites is the historical reenactments of the siege and fall of the Alamo. They take place in the middle of the city adjacent to the Alamo itself on two weekends in late winter. Depending on the year there will be tens to more than a hundred people in authentic early nineteenth century dress in the plaza anxious to talk and have their pictures taken. Everything comes together with the Alamo as a backdrop.

The images accompanying this post are from several years of reenactments. The common thread is the people. They spend lots of time preparing for just a few days in front of the Alamo each year.

Jazz Seen

The heyday of Jazz performance photography is long over. The great masters of the genre and the musicians they captured on film are gone. Those wonderful gritty dark club interiors were of course captured on film.

As far as I know the best album covers ever printed were for jazz LPs in the fifties and early sixties. They were often as avant-garde as the music itself. They mirrored qualities of the music transposed to the visual medium. Maybe you can tell I’m a jazz buff.

Every now and then I try my hand at jazz photography. For one thing I can’t resist music. In this era jazz musicians they are something exotic. They have a presence that may have been overlooked when the music was more common. Of course the best players were never main stream for the pop audience. You had to pay attention to the music and the musicians. They demanded that the audience be up to their standards.

Walking Peacock Alley

In the recent past I was fortunate to work downtown within walking distance of Alamo Plaza. That gave me the opportunity to spend my lunch hours photographing on the street. One thing I quickly discovered is that tourists are not very interesting subject matter. Eventually I began to explore old streets and alleys of the city. Some areas in downtown go back to the eighteenth century Spanish colonial period well before Texas independence. Peacock Alley probably dates from the end of the nineteenth century about the time Teddy Roosevelt was in town recruiting Rough Riders. The city has always been a vibrant crossroads of cultures.

The alley runs just to one side of the Alamo serving the back doors of many businesses catering to local residents and tourists. Unlike the public face of the business district it exposes unvarnished aspects of the city. Within the mile length you can find some of the poorest residents in downtown and high end boutique hotels. It is an interesting place to do some amateur urban archaeology.

I was prompted to photograph there because the city is rapidly redeveloping areas near the Alamo. Given the pace of change, some places in these photos already look completely different. The residential hotels and old buildings in the area will soon be gone. Progress and change are relentless, no matter how much we would like to preserve the character of the city. San Antonio like all cities continuously renews itself while hopefully preserving at least some history. Peacock Alley has no history to preserve so it will redevelop in due course.

The photographs were shot during several early morning walks in varying lighting conditions. All were made from within the alley or a few steps beyond. Some show surrounding areas but most are of the alley itself. They follow in sequence from one end of the alley to the other. Some images are better than others but they all contribute to the body of work as a whole.