Rhonda Prince now becomes author on F-Blog

I love all kinds of cameras...I love pushing buttons, turning dials and looking through viewfinders. What is even more exciting to me is when a picture jumps out at me uninvited. It's just there staring me in the face, begging to be taken. Of course, sometimes I plan a picture by composing, calculating, agonizing over the light, etc...but I keep taking pictures for the interlopers who appear unannounced, challenging me to grab a camera fast enough to answer their call... Mostly photography is what keeps me sane and feeds my soul…

Available, 2007

Some of the well-known photographers who have influenced me are Walker Evans, Diane Arbus, Elliot Erwitt, Robert Frank, Robert Adams, William Eggleston…to name a few. The music/poetry of Tom Waits, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen inspires me as well.

115th dream, 2006

My favorite photography quote: “The thing that's important to know is that you never know. You're always sort of feeling your way.”

(Diane Arbus)

I have been feeling my way in photography since 2001 while living and working in Chattanooga, Tennessee as an exceptional education teacher. My true love is shooting film, color and b&w, in a variety of 35mm and medium-format cameras. Education in photography has been from books, trial and error and a myriad of talented photographers I’ve met on numerous photo sites.

Overturned, 2004

I don’t see a particular thematic pattern in my pictures though there may be one. I do know empty chairs and seats or all types seem to have a recurring role. I tend to take pictures of places and things more than people. Finding the beauty in inanimate objects is like hunting for treasure. The textures and patterns combined with light and shadow create a landscape of their own. I search for the story in a place or object, imagining what happened before I took the picture or maybe after. I often like to add words and titles to my pictures when the picture evokes an emotion. Recently I have started a blog with poems illustrated by photos or photos illuminated by poetry, whichever way you want to see it. So many times it may be the memory of the place or the circumstances of when I took the picture that makes the photo more meaningful to me than anyone else. Because of this fact, it is always exciting when others understand my vision and appreciate my photos.

Chasing Bubbles, 2008

I’ve experimented some with toy cameras and developing b&w film in the kitchen sink. No matter how many times I try it I find there is nothing like the feeling of pulling the film from the reel and seeing that a picture has actually developed there…magical!

Hard times, 2007

I have so much to learn…so many directions to follow…always hoping to propel myself forward. I feel honored to have this opportunity to be a part of F-Blog and all the fine photographers represented here. More of my pictures can be seen here on F-Blog , BlogSpot and altphotos

Northshore, 2005

ggf

invited guest: Tommi Pirnes

1. School morning. Kourseong, India 2006

2. Playing in the back streets of Jhunjhunu. Jhunjhunu, India 2006

I really don’t consider myself as a photographer as much as a traveller. I rarely pick up the camera in my hometown, but when I travel it’s all I do. From dawn till dusk and then after that. My trips are relatively short so I must make the best of the time I have. These photographs from India were taken during November 2006.

3. Under the bodhi tree. Bodhgaya, India 2006

4. Jaipur, India 2006

5. Adinath Jain Temple, Ranakpur India 2006

Why India? There are few places left in the world that still has that aura of mystique above it. For me India has always been one of those places that has had that something... So, the only way to try to make sense of it all was to go there and see that something myself.

Today India is in the midst of a massive change both ecomically and culturally. During the last 15 years it has been the second fastest-growing country in the world surpassed only by China. By 2040 it will be the the third largest economy in the world. You can see this change clearly in the outskirts of big cities such as Mumbai or Bangalore where new and shiny glass-walled towers rise next to the slums. India is still home to 40 percent of the world's poor. Mohandas Gandhi said 'You must be the change you wish to see in the world' and it seems that millions of Indians are becoming that change.

6. The rescue. Mumbai, India 2006

7. Just after sunset. Ranakpur, India 2006

8. Butterflies and the Mahabodhi Temple. Bodhgaya, India 2006

Many things have changed yet many things stay the same. The 1444 distinct marble pillars that carry the heavy roof of Adinath Jain Temple in Ranakpur will still stand centuries after we are gone. And every night bats leave their nearby cave with no knowledge of actions of men. India is not easily understood and it will get under your skin. Still. I can’t wait to go back…

Tommi Pirnes: "Born -78. My grandfather gave me my first camera. My father photographed. The library gave me books. And the streets keep me walking... I'm just naturally curious about almost anything new and of course when you travel many things are new. When I was 23 realised that I can take a decent picture so, I desided to buy a decent camera. After that my only travel companion has been my M6.

One thing also is a must for me. Film. Photos in media and especially the net have lost much their credibility after Photoshop etc. If I take photographs with a mechanical film camera and print it myself, the final print will hold some of that original photographic truth. Not saying that digital prints would not have that. But I guess you know what I mean? And yes you can debate about truth or photographic truth for eternity. But it's still the way I like to work. I need something I can touch. And believe."

Text and photos © Tommi Pirnes

invited by ulf fågelhammar