Personal Cinema; Rear View

Personal Cinema is a way for me to look back on the images and tell the story behind some of the ones that have moved me and that have some insight to offer into how it came to be. These images really have become my personal cinema, frames from my life living here in Poland, stories that move me. I hope you enjoy this series.

This was not ever going to see the light of day. When I looked back at this one after shooting one morning heading into work, I just didnt like it. The young man was in an odd spot and it didn’t move me so much, seeming so ordinary, plus I again hated the graffiti in the window and was not wanting to call attention to it. When I showed the days images to Agnieszka, it was this one that she stopped me on and professed her love for it. It made me look again and reconsider my thoughts. I still didnt like it too much but decided to include it in my 365 Project that I was doing. (You can follow the link to view all of the images form that year long project).

As I recall, this was one of those really flat grey types of mornings that I am always a bit reluctant to shoot during, plus it was raining wiht the kind of drizzle sloppiness that reminded me of my life back in Seattle. Nothing super dynamic about it, little light and just…ugh…grey with the promise of more rainy drizzle to come. The trams at this point in my day are kind of a savior for me as the interior is dark and the window can be of a kind of rolling cinema into the outside world offering some fun views at times. So I hop on and lucky me, I had the rear window all to myself and started to shoot a bit.

I saw this guy racing for the tram and shot a few frames just as he missed tram departing and the door closing, cursing. School had just started giving him the reason for the suit and lended intelf to the drama unfolding which in my opinion was a little comical. People in Poland generally love outdoor sports but I think few realize how big a sport “tram chasing” is. There isnt a day that goes by where you wont see someone running after one like all hell broke loose and another wont be a few minutes away. In my opinion, this is very funny! And yes, I find myself at times chasing the tram…at which point I laugh a bit at myself. Enjoy the ride.

Anyway, it was another fast moment that came and went in speedy fashion. I stayed on the tram through the city, enjoying the ride like I do and shot a few frames along the way, but nothing super memerable as I made my way to my coffeee shop to begin the days festivities. Forgetting about the moment for the time.

Later, when it came time to deciding my shot for the day…this was not the one, but as I said earlier, Agnieszka really took to it and so I decided to include it. Giving into something new and using the 365 as it was meant to be used by challenging my style and way of seeing, creating some progression into my work.

When I posted this it was another image that completly took me off guard as to how people responded to it. Somehow, this capture really resonated with people and has since become an image that follows me around everywhere.  Not that I mind becasue I dont….but it constantly surprises me as to how much this one image strikes the heart of so of folks. I imagine that there is that bit of nostalgia and timelessness to it that calls to mind similar situations and days of school starting, chasing trams. Still, it baffles me at times but I am very grateful for the attention it caused and the grey day that made me shoot from the tram window.

So you see, I second guess all of the time. I wonder what else might be in my catalog of images that has never seen the light of day because of it. Often, the images that I really think are something else prove to be nothing but mundane and appeal to me only. So what do I know? Through the years I have learned to trust my gut when shooting and often it does me right and sometimes not, but I have also learned to value the thoughts and hold high the opinions of those around me. Especially the ones closest to me.

And as always, that is also work in progress.

I hope you enjoyed my little vignette from this day. I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions or if there are images you would like to know more about, just ask!

Cheers!