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Redundancy in photography, or in any art form, is something difficult to avoid, or sometimes, entirely inescapable. When you dwell on the millions and millions of stock photographs filed away on computers, servers, stock agencies and in file cabinets, covering just about every subject imaginable, and almost equal numbers of photographers, you wonder, "is there any opportunity left for originality to be found?" Does that mean you stop looking, searching and thinking, meditating, experimenting and just stay home? The Long Branch amusement pier was a place I used to go and zip around on the go carts as a kid. But in time, it closed down and the pier lay useless and decaying. Then one summer there was a fire and the structure lost its integrity and was condemned. The supporting pillars were made of concrete that protruded randomly from the sand, placed like drunken, exhausted sentinels, leaning and pitching, with iron rods hanging down and sticking out from every which way like bayonets. However, their relative juxtaposition to each other did provide some interesting opportunities. But how do you go out and try to make a photograph that is truly unique, that doesn’t look like what so many others have already done? What was running through my mind, were the works of Wynn Bullock done of similar subjects. The question was, how do I "NOT," take a picture that looks like his or anybody else's? I had made several attempts and they all had that same redundant feel. Persistence finally pays off! One afternoon while working there with my 4x5 view camera and tripod, I sensed something moving around behind me, turned and saw a young Hispanic boy, about 6 years old, peaking out from behind one of the pillars, seemingly playing hide and seek with me. I would think the sight I presented, working with such an odd looking camera, was something he had never seen before, and it fascinated him. But apparently, it inspired him as well! Thinking he had left, I went back to my laboring. Minutes later, I turned around again, and without making a sound, the boy had returned. But this time, he had a stick in his hand and had already written out most of the letters of the alphabet in the sand! From A to Z, intently doing his best to make the letters as legible as possible in the soft sand. When he finished, he stood there, and in that all too familiar alphabet song we all learned in grade school, proudly sung aloud, "A B C D E F G..." and so on. When he finished, I applauded and commended him, "very good!" Then he was off like a shot for good, unfortunately. Well, you didn’t have to hit me over the head to see here was the perfect opportunity handed to me on the proverbial silver platter! I set up the tripod low to the ground, used my 121mm Super Angulon, with a 25A (deep red) filter. There was not much contrast to the scene but I also wanted the 8x filter factor for the long exposure time to soften the water. The sun was setting behind me and cast some pillar shadows on the sand and white water. An after thought was that I should have asked the boy to hang around, and pose, leaning on one of the pilings looking right at the camera. But I doubt he would have stood still for the long exposure. The image is very surreal but truly unique. With the aid of a child’s innocent touch, we were able to inspire each other to produce a fine image for viewers to contemplate.
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