A Shared Passion for Photography

It’s been great having my daughter Andei back home after 9 months of her living in Sicily. I’m really enjoying (and sharing in) her passion and enthusiasm for photography. She’s been picking my brain for more information (and instruction) on camera mechanics, shutter speed / aperture relationships, composition and asking me to critique her work. Sure, I’ve been teaching photography for 25 + years, but being able to share in a mutual love for photography with my daughter is truly something special.

Triple Exposure with Holga by Andei and Hannah

I’m impressed by how her personal style as an image maker is developing at such a young age. Sure I am bias so I will let her images speak for themselves. I haven’t worked with film for about 6 years and critiquing Andei’s Holga and film pictures is getting me thinking about starting to shoot film again. There is something film is able to capture that digital can’t as far as the texture and depth of an image – just my opinion here but looking at here film photographs has made me think about the aesthetic differences between film and digital photographs.

Sunset on Bogue Sound - Holga Photo by Andei

The one thing that I am starting to see reflected in her recent Holga pictures (and photos in general) is a unique personal style emerging. As I told Andei during one of our critiques, there are many layers to photography and the goal of any serious and committed photographer is to be aware of these levels and learn to incorporate them into your work. The first step is understanding HOW the camera works.

Watch Your Step - Oceanna Pier - Atlantic Beach by Andei

Then we have to understand composition which is the next step in making strong photographs. From there you want to dig deeper into exploring / investigating a more conceptual and symbolic realm with the subjects you choose to photograph and then….only then does a unique “personal style” or vision emerge in a body of work. Great photographers MUST be “in the moment” MUST be hypersensitive to the world around them and be able to translate that vision into creative photographs that connect with the viewer on multiple levels AND say something about the photographer him or herself. We all have to keep learning, growing and exploring with the camera. Remember what the great Edward Weston would say when he critique a photographer. If he liked a picture he would say “good seeing” I think that says it all.

Dunes, Sea Oats and Condo's at Beach by Andei

Photography is much like any other art form. You have to practice your craft and spend serious time developing and nurturing a unique and personal photographic (artistic) style and direction.

Click Here for Andei K Photography Blog

Andei’s Coming Home!!!

I just got the news that my daughter Andei is flying back to the states this coming Tuesday. My son Adam and I are going to pick her up in Raleigh Tuesday nights. It just so happens it is Adam’s 24th birthday that same day. We have lots to celebrate! Andei has had an incredible experience / adventure in Sicily and I am sure it has helped her grow and mature as a person. To think to be fluent in Italian at 16 years old. There are more adventures ahead for all of us. My son Adam has joined the Peace Corp and is leaving after Christmas for South America. Andei is staying with me for 2 months then sailing to the Bahamas with her Mom and Step-Dad to spend the winter. Adam plans on going with them and while they are gone I am planning a trip to either North Western Ireland or Prague. These next two months will be a special time for us all to regroup and just spend some special time with each other as a family. I am a happy and very proud Dad!

Survived the Hurricane and Some Works in Progress

The winds and rain from Hurricane Hannah have finally subsided and it doesn’t look like my home has experienced any damage besides lots of broken branches strewn all over my yard. I have been through much worse hurricanes but I must admit they are never fun and anything can happen so Its a great feeling when they are over. Its a quite day here at the house. A lazy day to read, do a little artwork and basically just relax. Check out a few of may latest mixed media paintings. They are digital details of larger pieces that I plan to print and exhibit alongside the actual paintings.

Click here to check them out!

Recuperating from Surgery…Andei, Politics and Hurricanes

It’s been a rough week for the most part. I had double hernia surgery (ouch) this past Wednesday and have been on the road to recovery ever since. I’ve not been able to do very much up until yesterday besides lay on the bed or sit up and read on my recliner. Hopefully in a month or so I’ll be back to 100% and will be able to get back into my running and working out. Seems like there has been a lot going on the past week in the news.

A hurricane (Gustav) is churning up the gulf and barreling towards New Orleans again – that just adds insult to injury to Louisiana. Hopefully it will not be as bad as Katrina and it looks like it had been downgraded to category 1 so maybe they will dodge a bullet. Time will tell. We all need to be praying for those folks on the gulf coast.

The presidential race is going full bore and I am not going to comment much on that because of my vow to disconnect myself from writing and working myself up over politics. I used to be a serious political junkie a few years ago and all it got me was high blood pressure and an endless stream of arguments with friends. I will say however, even though I was not pleased that McCain was the Republican nominee I like his gutsy pick of a woman VP and considering the alternative of a blatant Socialist who’s main agenda is to increase the size of an already bloated government, raise our taxes and weaken our military. I am going to go with McCain. It’s a no-brainer in my opinion. He’s so much more experienced that Obama and so much more prepared and capable to protect our national interests in this very dangerous world we live in.

That’s all I’m going to say on politics for this post. I may go into more depth on this subject in the weeks to come. I don’t want to add to my stress level as I continue to recuperate from surgery.

I spoke with my daughter Andei today and she is flying home in the next week or so. I have not seen her in almost 9 months and I can’t wait until she comes home to stay with me for a few months. She wants me to teach her to develop film and make prints so that will be something creative and fun we can do together. I’m really impressed with her photography and I’m starting to think she may want to pursue it seriously as a career along with her writing and other art endeavors.

I’m about over my job at the college and would absolutely love to retire and just freelance my teaching online in addition to painting, writing and traveling. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and its getting brighter and brighter. Thinking of taking a 10 day trip to Ireland or Prague this Thanksgiving once Andei leaves for the Bahamas with her Mom, Step-Dad and Adam. Travel is one of the best forms of education and is such an eye opening experience for young people. I’m glad Andei has had the opportunity to travel like she has – it’s really broadened her and opened her eyes to other cultures and sensibilities. School kicks back in tomorrow and I must admit I’m not looking forward to dealing with all the administrative crap. If all I had to do is teach I wouldn’t be thinking so seriously about retirement.  The bureaucratic demands is what wears me down and sucks the creative spirit from me. Ok…enough for now.

Send some prayers out to the folks on the gulf coast and do some serious soul searching on who you’re going to vote for. I am no longer into preaching the political gospel according to Keough – those days are over. Just do what you think is the right thing for this great country of ours as far as the presidential race is concerned.

Hopefully Andei will be here with me by the time I post the next entry on the KEO Blog. Andei made my day with her latest post to her Blog.