Andrew Schroeder

Wow. That is an incredibly pompous way of saying I decided to go for a crazy long walk with Curtis yesterday to look at various buildings in the public sphere. We took off on foot… and proceeded to become tourists in our own city. If you have the means (feet) and the time (2hrs +) to do this… I can’t encourage it enough. I feel refreshed and interested… again.

This little adventure is starting to spark some actual art-based experimentation… finally.I find myself going to movies, sitting in the theatre and, at times wishing I could make photographs that are (simply) cinematic. I don’t mean to say that the images I’d like to make are loaded with meaning or symbolic filters. I am much more interested in the… hidden neutral moments that occur when watching a film. There are always those times when you are presented with a beautiful, glowing image on a giant screen… but it is an image that is not really that consequential to the movie.

Back in grad school, I was fascinated by films such as “Our Daily Bread”, “The Passenger” and also certain parts of “Y Tú Mama Tambien” which employ the long shot shaped by static/neutral camera movements. These little bits sparked my interest in the relationship of moving images to my photographs. There is a certain cinematic quality in the empty spaces that I am always drawn to… and… may or may not be able to capture in the perfectly encapsulated form of the photographic print.

Any way… this is somehow work related also… as I have been testing out a JVC HD camcorder for my job. I have to say it is a pretty mean little tool for people who are interested in using video as part of their work/research but don’t want to invest in a professional level camera. This occasion seemed like the perfect chance to try out the camera and also to try to capture more of the presence of certain spaces throughout the city I live in.