Category: Portraits

Boca Museum Reopens

 

We went to the early opening for members, but the power was out due to a thunder storm. Felt normal being able to visit a cultural institution in the midst of Corona and Black Lives Matter. We even dressed for the date.


We returned the next day. Only a few people present. Museum show featured Self-Portraits from the National Gallery and prints by Steichen. We dressed again.

I got to see a Chuck Close, one of my favorites and pose with him. Too complicated to explain here.

But Steichen will always be the start, the greatest portraitist of the 20th Century. He invented it. Here is a self-portrait where he photographs himself as a painter. He preferred photography and destroyed many of his paintings.

 

 

 

 

Duckman Fights CLL and Corona

I fight the battle of Corona and CLL from all fronts. Keeping my mind active as a photog, my body strong by walking and biking and my system enriched. Who do the voodoo that you do so well. We all be human, mortal people, whose life spans happen when they happen. Keep the pills coming and the vodka chilled.

Having A Future

So, time flies when you are having a good time, eh. Not that cooped up, but enough to stop the analysis of the past. It will never change and whatever story I have to tell will remain in my head. I don’t have to wonder if I will survive this, I may. But little difference will come of it. My CLL limits my life expectancy anyway. Much I didn’t do because of my limitations. On to filling the rest of the time with who knows what, except that fame and fortune have escaped me. Keep in mind, it’s a cromulent world.

Ron Baraz, Valencia Reserve Neighbor

I see many people walking past my house in Valencia Reserve whom I don’t know. The other night, as I looked at a full moon shining through the trees, a man walked by. Compositionally, he made the frame. Three shots. Moon moved. He moved. I needed to adjust the exposure. I got it.

What’s your name, I asked. Ronnie, I live at 9163, around the corner. Printed the image. Put in his mailbox after wiping it down with my card. He called to thank me. I don’t remember ever seeing him, other than as he drove by and he lives 4 houses away.

There may not be many positive things to say about living in lockdown.

Duckman No Beard

So, it was time, time to get rid of the beard. I cannot remember how long I had it or how many shapes it has had, but enough. I hadn’t seen myself, except for my eyes in years, which isn’t a bad thing for a studio portrait photographer. And, in addition to having to clean after every meal and dealing with underlying skin problems, I thought it would be healthier in the Covid epidemic to not have a virus catcher near my eyes and nose.

Sharon waited patiently as I shaved. She said I looked more handsome than ever and then we did the shoot.

 

First In

Tennis keeps so many fit and connected. It’s both a skill and an art. You can play it when you are young and when you are old. You can even have physical maladies which prevent you from running, but allow you to cover the court, slicing and dicing, hitting them where they ain’t. It has lines that never change and rules, except for the scoring, which are easy to learn. The net, old mr. net, the nemesis hangs tautly to control height and distance.

 

Sometimes, people make rules up, to make the game more friendly. First serve in to start a game the first time around. But the ball only gets to bounce one time, has to go over or around the net and it cannot be outside the lines.

We worry that jobs won’t be coming back. Maybe tennis won’t either. We feel for our friends whose livelihoods depend on maintaining the courts, the schedules and the skills. Who knows? But can you name another game where the person with no points says they are at Luv?