This “roll” further convinces me that I had no proper management or organization strategy of my negatives in high school. I’m sure I could go back through my negatives and rearrange them with some degree of accuracy bat at this point, having posted nearly all of the “rolls” from high school, I’m not sure it makes sense because I committed to the lack of organization I had already. If I go that route, I’ll make sure to repost all of the rolls in their new arrangement for artistic accuracy.
Glancing at this “roll” I can see three distinct groups of photos that have been posted already and are a part of this mess. The others I might be able to piece together but, honestly, not worth my time.
Moving on.
Do you ever take a look at your old photos and think to yourself, “Why? Why did I take that absolute pile of garbage shot?” If so, then you’re like me looking at these photos. Can you guess which photo(s) I’m talking about? No. No it is not the blurry photo of the dead pigeon on the Chicago street. That one works for me and I would place it as the genesis of my series on dead animals that I’ve come across and snapped photos of. Seriously, I have one or two others (in digital) and I’m not opposed to snapping more as I come across them.
No, the dead pigeon isn’t it. For me, it’s the two photos of the bottles of wine. If I remember correctly, I was shooting these shots for an assignment of “reflections”. I suppose to my teenage mind the light bouncing off the glass bottles counted as a reflection. I’m pretty sure I thought I was being edgy too, sneaking in photos of alcohol into an assignment. My teacher, pictured just after the bottles in the gallery, did not approve. I should have known too. One of my earlier photos of my brother with dreadlocks and smoking cigarettes was censored despite it actually being a decent composition. So, alcohol and cigarettes are taboo to depict in high school. Lesson learned.
However, adult me wants to retroactively pull my camera away from those wine bottles. Specifically, for these reasons:
- They’re out of focus
- They’re too busy
- The lighting is bad
- There is nothing interesting about the photos
Given the location of the bottles, the fact that there is some sort of food in tinfoil next to it, and that this is towards the end of the semester, then I would guess this photo is from Christmas that year. It’s really the only time there’s a mass of wine bottles out in my parents house. If that is truly the case, was this really the best subject to photograph that day? Why couldn’t I have sat all of our guests down and done portraits? If I had, then I’d have a nice record of my family before my grandma passed away and the family broke apart. Instead, here’s some wine bottles.
Don’t get me wrong, not every photo I take these days (film or digital) is an absolute banger. I don’t expect them to be. I just really, really hate these photos of wine.
The difference is today, or maybe it was the same back then, the photos I take today that are bad felt right in the moment. It isn’t until later when I review them that I realize there isn’t anything interesting in the frame. Maybe that just comes from experience in bad photos. It all adds up, these photos of wine bottles needed to be taken so that I could eventually get to this point in time after taking hundreds of bad photos where I know those are shit photos.
Eh, whatever.
At this point, there is one roll of film left from high school and then we start to time warp. I am looking forward to some fresh content to share. We will come back to high school at some point, since I did come across some rolls I have no recollection taking (and some in color!), but that is a ways down the line.
also, before anyone points it out, yes i’m aware that two of those bottles are sparkling grape juice. really that is the saving grace of these photos.