What is your dream subject?

[Ariston]

It could be anything: An exotic location, a famous person, even a self portrait. You can choose to travel back in time and do street photography in Tikal, if you want. What would you photograph if there were no limits?

 

[removed account4]

Ariston
If there were no limits, I would ask for rent to be paid for a small storefront with foot traffic, doesn't have to be big, but has to have barely enough square footage inside for me to make portraits. and .. i would make a portrait of every person who walked in the door with natural light, and a big old beast of an 8x10 or 11x14 paper negative . i wouldn't travel far, just down the street.
John

 

[guangong]

While dining in the local Cuban eatery, the most beautiful woman I have seen in in a long time was at the counter ordering a takeout. Sitting too far away, too little light...and only my XA. A picture that remains only in my mind. Such is life!

 

[Ariston]

Ariston
If there were no limits, I would ask for rent to be paid for a small storefront with foot traffic, doesn't have to be big, but has to have barely enough square footage inside for me to make portraits. and .. i would make a portrait of every person who walked in the door with natural light, and a big old beast of an 8x10 or 11x14 paper negative . i wouldn't travel far, just down the street.
John

I like that answer, John. Happiness is often simpler than we realize.

While dining in the local Cuban eatery, the most beautiful woman I have seen in in a long time was at the counter ordering a takeout. Sitting too far away, too little light...and only my XA. A picture that remains only in my mind. Such is life!

I wondered if the memory of a beautiful woman might be mentioned. The XA2 is on my list of coveted cameras, by the way.

 

[Vaughn]

It could be anything: An exotic location, a famous person, even a self portrait. You can choose to travel back in time and do street photography in Tikal, if you want. What would you photograph if there were no limits?

That's one thing nice about being old...one already has memories of such things as exotic locations, fabulous people, with every landscape being a self-portrait. And one learns of the importance of taking advantage of one's kids in creating new memories! Such as a month in southern Chile camping around this past New Years with my 5x7 camera and my two boys, Alex and Bryce. And a week at the end of May with the 5x7 around the Finger Lakes while there for my son's graduation (Cornell 2019, BA, summa cum laude, Religious Studies/Asian Studies!).

Alex speaks great Japanese and will most likely be in Japan later this summer (work and/or research). I spent December 2017 with him in Kyoto and places to the south. Brother Bryce was also in NY for Alex's graduation. He has one more year at Berkeley: BS Forestry/Sustainable Development. He is fluent in Spanish (right now he is backpacking in the French Alps) and has spent a good amount of time in Bolivia and Chile. Handy kids to have around -- or to visit in far away places. So in respect to your question, it is not a matter of limits, I just have to be able to haul a bunch of camera equipment around and try to keep up with my sons!

Chile, Early morning, December 26, 2018, while sons climbed a near-by peak.
Eastman View No.2 5x7, 210mm/6.3, Red Filter, Ilford FP4+, f16 at 1/8 second, two exposures
Platinum/palladium print

 

[cooltouch]

A prime location -- or locations -- for shooting the 24-hour race at LeMans. In fact, free range of the place. Yeah, that would be close to The Dream for me. The 2019 race is only 9 days away. If only . . .

 

[abruzzi]

Tunguska, 1908?

 

[jim10219]

Right now, it's a thin, short, old man. I have an idea I that I've wanted to execute for quite some time that involves a thin old man, 80+ years in age, that involves partial nudity (down to his underwear). The concept is to address the problem of how society treats aging (inspired by the work of Edward Kienholz). The elderly often refuse to give up their "independence" and live in a nursing home. I put "independence" in quotes because they often become reliant on family members and friends to do everything for them (take them to doctor's appointments, clean their house, buy their groceries, mow their lawn, manage their bills, etc.). However, putting them into a nursing home is often a way of shipping them off onto someone else's burden. In nursing homes, they can become neglected by not only the staff, but also their own family, who may no longer choose to visit. There's no easy answer to the problem. It's not the job of the children to take care of the parent. They often have their own children to take care of, and if not, they have full lives with jobs that require their complete attention. The modern job can be a 12+ hour a day affair. And you can't take care of yourself, your job, your house, and your children while also tending to a stubborn elderly parent who likely isn't willing to give up the reigns of control to their kids anyway. And it's not right to force the elderly into a lifestyle that terrifies them, so late in life. They have earned the level of respect to be treated with dignity. It's also not good for anyone to maintain the status quo and let them slowly die alone, in misery and filth, because they're afraid of change. It's just a bad situation all around. And it's one most of us will have to face, maybe even a couple of times in our life, and we need to have more conversations about this, because it's a growing societal problem.

The problem for me with this artwork idea is, I can't seem to find a model. None of the local modeling agencies have anyone who would fit. They mainly specialize in young people, and the few older people they have are all far too healthy looking and robust or too young. I've tried asking some older people I know and meet who would fit, but they are usually pretty offended by the idea, and none want to do it. Everyone's paranoid that I'm trying to make some kind of old person porn. I don't know any people who would fit the image well enough for them to trust me.

 

[peter k.]

trying to make some kind of old person porn

Hahaah.. ha.. well guess ya have to change the subject from human to old telephone poles, or gnarly narlly old trees and buildings.
BTW were 73, and your statement is real, and the beauty of senior moments is that you realize you really had no control over anything in your life, including your favorite shots that you have taken, often of something that you had not planed.

 

[jim10219]

Hahaah.. ha.. well guess ya have to change the subject from human to old telephone poles, or gnarly narlly old trees and buildings.
BTW were 73, and your statement is real, and the beauty of senior moments is that you realize you really had no control over anything in your life, including your favorite shots that you have taken, often of something that you had not planed.

Yeah. The good news is, if I live long enough, I can be my own model. Something tells me the subject matter will still be relative in 40 years (I'm 40 now). I probably ought to start exercising again to make sure I make it that long though. I guess if my health starts fading sooner, I can always tan like crazy to make to make up for the lack of years on my skin.

I'll make it happen some way, someday.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

... And it's one most of us will have to face, maybe even a couple of times in our life, and we need to have more conversations about this, because it's a growing societal problem.
...

You present the situation eloquently and accurately.

The sticking point seems to be the "partial nudity" aspect. If you were to persist, eventually you will come to know someone who would agree to it - especially if you discuss your thoughts beforehand. The unclothed aspect of this dream photograph perhaps is something people don't grasp - because it represents vulnerability, among other things.

Looking at those old soldiers on TV at Normandy the other day - they looked so dignified, yet fragile with age.

 

[Chan Tran]

That is the question I asked myself and generally I don't know the answer.

 

[removed account4]

Right now, it's a thin, short, old man. I have an idea I that I've wanted to execute for quite some time that involves a thin old man, 80+ years in age, that involves partial nudity (down to his underwear). The concept is to address the problem of how society treats aging (inspired by the work of Edward Kienholz). The elderly often refuse to give up their "independence" and live in a nursing home. I put "independence" in quotes because they often become reliant on family members and friends to do everything for them (take them to doctor's appointments, clean their house, buy their groceries, mow their lawn, manage their bills, etc.). However, putting them into a nursing home is often a way of shipping them off onto someone else's burden. In nursing homes, they can become neglected by not only the staff, but also their own family, who may no longer choose to visit. There's no easy answer to the problem. It's not the job of the children to take care of the parent. They often have their own children to take care of, and if not, they have full lives with jobs that require their complete attention. The modern job can be a 12+ hour a day affair. And you can't take care of yourself, your job, your house, and your children while also tending to a stubborn elderly parent who likely isn't willing to give up the reigns of control to their kids anyway. And it's not right to force the elderly into a lifestyle that terrifies them, so late in life. They have earned the level of respect to be treated with dignity. It's also not good for anyone to maintain the status quo and let them slowly die alone, in misery and filth, because they're afraid of change. It's just a bad situation all around. And it's one most of us will have to face, maybe even a couple of times in our life, and we need to have more conversations about this, because it's a growing societal problem.

The problem for me with this artwork idea is, I can't seem to find a model. None of the local modeling agencies have anyone who would fit. They mainly specialize in young people, and the few older people they have are all far too healthy looking and robust or too young. I've tried asking some older people I know and meet who would fit, but they are usually pretty offended by the idea, and none want to do it. Everyone's paranoid that I'm trying to make some kind of old person porn. I don't know any people who would fit the image well enough for them to trust me.

That sounds like a great project jim10219 !

 

[chip j]

All the classic cars in the World.

 

[JPD]

I want to take black and white portraits of my nieces and nephews to frame, and landscapes in the nearby mountain area. Perhaps I can combine these plans. I'm debating wether I should use 6x9 or 9x12 for this.

 

[NB23]

Carta Blanca in the Playboy Mansion.

What a question

 

[Meerkieker]

Arctic or Antarctic void, twilight, storms, fog.
Northern sea lighthouses, wave surges, shipwrecks.
Fishing villages in remote locations in sub-polar areas.

Yeah, it's quite grim ha ha