Strangers & Not So Strange

[cenelsonfoto]

Greetings;<p>

It's been a good while since I last posted here, but I've been busy with school

and other major issues.

<p>

One thing I have been working on is a project which came out of left field back

in March. At the moment, I am calling it "Strangers & Not So Strange". <p>

All images are being shot on Fujifilm FP-100C using my Mamiya RB67 in hand with

a pola-back attached. Primary lens is the 90mm. I've done a few using the 127mm,

but find I prefer the 90mm. I'm working very close to my subjects, using only

available light. Location has been my favorite pub, which has wonderful,

folding, glass doors along the face of the business, providing very nice light

in the late afternoon until early evening, generally 3PM to 6 or 7PM, depending

on cloud cover, etc.<p>

If you happen to be in the NW Arkansas area...and I know, that's a stretch...and

you would like to sit for this project, please contact me to set up a meeting.<p>

The full, on-going set can be viewed <a

href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nelsonfoto/sets/72157604123142870/">HERE</a>.<p>

Thanks for looking.<p>

CE Nelson<br>

Fayetteville, AR<p>

 

<img src="http://nelsonfoto.com/mein/grouped.jpg">

[Uhooru]

There some beautiful images in there Craig. So these are like Fuji polaroids? This is

cool because I have a pola back for my Hassyblad, and the color is intense.

[cenelsonfoto]

Barry, indeed. And I think the Fujifilm is much nicer than the Polaroid versions. I also think they're more stable, as in less color-shift with the expired packs. Can't swear to it.

 

Order some, see what comes out.

 

And thanks, kindly, for the feedback.

 

:)

 

C.

[joe_gallo]

CE, These are terrific... tonality, colors, texture... Defies my friend's theory that "portrait shots are a waste of time"... You should shoot a million of them...

[akochanowski]

lovely stuff CE. I'd love to see what happens with this project.

[clive1]

Beautiful colours and a wonderful array of faces. Great stuff!

[cenelsonfoto]

Thanks, all.

 

Joe, I enjoy your blog, prose & images. Great reading.

 

Best,

C.

[jeremy brotherton]

I really like your work! So when is your first book coming out?

[spanky]

Welcome back CE! There's a restaurant in Glendale CA I frequent that the previous owners daughter did a similar project. She took pics of all us regulars and they are on the walls of the restaurant.

 

I recently turned the tables on them and had the cooks and servers come out to the back for some on-the-fly portraits. I brought back some prints to give to them of course.

 

Keep posting new stuff CE.<div></div>

[cenelsonfoto]

Nice, Mark. Glad to see you are still shooting.

<p>

J., not sure about a book. I've thunk on it a bit, but worried the per unit cost would be overwhelming to the average buyer. I've considered doing small box-sets of prints, or perhaps even a very small book, 2x2 or 3x3 prints--that might actually be doable.

<p>

I'm starting to run out of film, and I'm pretty much broke at this point. Trying to raise funds by selling some gear, etc., but also have a wish-list at B&H if any better-off individuals are lurking and would be willing to kick down a pack or three of film...that would rock.

<p>

The wish-list is <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=wishlisting&A=wishlistDetail&Q=&li=23AFB7CE1D">HERE</a>. A Paypal donation would be helpful, too, and all of it would go toward film supplies. Request my e-mail from the system, and send a few bucks to it if so inclined.<p>

I'll add more to the forum as I produce them. I waited a while to be certain this was actually going to come together as something sustainable. It's not exactly street, and a handful of images wouldn't have qualified as a social-doc experiment, so...<p>

I am glad to see familiar faces still posting here.<p>

Be well,<br>

Craig

[michael s.]

Hey Craig !

 

Many fine portraits there. I'm going to look at the whole set more carefully.

 

A thought on the $$ issue: I'm confident that most people don't have portraits anything like these. If it doesn't run counter to the understanding you have with your subjects, some of whom I gather are also friends, how about offering to provide quality prints ? Not at regular photographer/studio prices, of course, but rather on a cost-plus basis ?

 

Just an idea.

[cenelsonfoto]

Haven't thought about that angle, Michael. Good one to mull over.

 

C.

[www.philwinterphotography.]

Hi Craig, It's been a while since you've appeared here on PN. I thought you might have dropped off the face of the earth. I'm glad to see you're back. The images are great, and you have a worth while project going. Please keep posting the images. Finally, say hello to all my friends and relatives in Fayetteville. Oh wait - I don't have any left there. But I have located some second cousins with roots in Fayetteville. We're talking about a reunion there. We'll see if that comes about.

 

Cheers,

 

Phil

[cenelsonfoto]

Aye, Phil. I've been laying low.

 

As always, if you plan on being back here in the hills, drop me a line ahead of time to plan a connection. Would be grateful for a meet.

 

Craig

[mark.brennan]

Wow, Craig. I just went through the entire set on Flikr and was enthralled. Maybe

because i've been looking at so much documentary style photography (books and web),

but looking at so many portraits was a bracing change. Really great stuff. You should

be quite proud of this portfolio.

 

As others have said the colors and light are beautiful and amazing. More than that, I

was just simply impressed by the quality of the portraiture and the compelling images

of these people's faces. I was also impressed how at ease so many of the subjects

seemed w/ you (not surprising, I guess) and some of the subtle tension (perhaps more

noticeable in the women, but also in the men as well, to some degree) between that

ease and trust and the consciousness of being photograhed and watched intensely;

that tension, though slight, often seems to disappear behind the beauty and drama of

the light, shadow, color, but I think it's there in many of the images. Some of the direct

gazes just blew me away. Again, the trust seems to shine through, but made more

complex by the subtle shifts in underlying emotion. Very rich.

 

I know it sounds corny, but I found the whole thing intensely human and was surprised

by how moved I felt.

 

Thanks for sharing. All the best.

 

-Mark