Photographs not taken No.4

I haven’t been my usual self this semester,
I’ve fallen off course and am slowly returning back on to it.
If you didn’t know, I’m usually zealous about life and school, zealous about the work in front of me and any obstacles there. I used to carry a camera with me 24/7 and to be honest, I haven’t been in that mood to lug around a camera older than my parents.

To be completely more honest, I haven’t felt I missed a photograph or at least I haven’t thought of it.

I’m sure I will look back, and think dammit “why didn’t I take more pictures during the semester?” But for now, I’m perfectly content where I have currently been, I also can’t stress out about missing a moment in time, because that’s not going to help for the creating of new images, of new work and of new stories.

Photographs not Taken No. 5

I found myself without a camera the other day, a midnight trip to the Marin Headlands. I didn’t think about bringing a visual apparatus, I just thought of going.

The sky was dark, and the ocean loud. Even though the only light that lit the beach was the moon, I could see everything. If I brought my camera, I would of missed the first hand experience of being there and taking it all in.

I’m happy I didn’t bring camera, I didn’t need it.
Sometimes it’s best to leave it at home.
Sometimes you want to bring it and not leave it home, but that night was not the time to do so.

Single Image No. 5

Looking through a manhole from within a concrete military observatory post at the Marin Headlands.

Single Image No. 4

Cyclists stopping by at Sonoma State to support “Bike to Work Day” on May 14, 2015.

Photographs Not Taken No. 3

It’s really difficult for me to think of a photographs not taken, as I carry a camera with me every day of the week, 24 hours a day.

I actually have a time period that I can think of, which I wished I photographed. Before high school, I never took photographs. I can remember one instance that I took photographs, it was our senior picnic in middle school. I remember my mother giving me a disposable camera which I used, and images I can’t recall where they disappeared to.

I wish I took more photographs in this period of my life, my middle school career. I don’t care to retell my middle school career, but I wish I could see those who called me friends, moments I enjoyed and things I experienced. Even though middle school was shit and hell, I still wish I was able to go to a drawer, pull out those glossy photographs and look at those memories and people that made it not so hellish.

Single Image No. 3

Sonoma State Community Service Advisors, also known as RAs, team building during training on August 20, 2015. Fifty-seven CSAs are hired every year to create a better sense of community and responsibilty to students living on campus.

Photographs Not Taken No. 2

Have you ever thought you documented a moment with a camera but to only find out later that the camera you used was unloaded or malfunctioning? I have.

Have you ever been to Spring Lake or Howarth Park in Santa Rosa? I was there only a few weeks ago, on a trip for school. I brought one of my favorite cameras to photograph with because of how “easy” I feel the camera is to use. I think this idea of “easy” is my downfall. I became clumsy, I cut corners and became too relaxed. I find becoming too relaxed will bite you in the end, in terms of photography.

It must of been 30 minutes into the trip, and 20+ pictures in that I realized my camera was not actually loaded. What do you think about frame counters on a camera? My curiosity is from this fault, and this fault only. Never have I put thought into the counter of frames in a camera until now. The camera’s frame counter is stuck at 40 and has been this way since last Spring.

I was on this boat launch at Spring Lake, and a boat was heading towards the launch to dock. There were three men, beers and fishing rods. I thought it was the perfect picture, for what exactly I have no clue, but something I feel could culturally represent the area.  “Americana”

I asked the men I could photograph them while they floated my way, so they didn’t awkwardly stare. They allowed and I snapped away. Film only, no shots with my digital camera for some reason. It didn’t occur to me that newer technology was needed.

Pure photography needs pure photographic equipment, right? No distractions from LCD screens or memory cards.

After that moment, I had a thought. How many shots am I at? Haven’t I been shooting way more than this roll of film could handle? I had to of reached 36 frames already. I have had film loaded in the camera for quite some time right? Wrong.

Turning the rewind lever, to my dismay the camera was empty. Unloaded and not ready for me to take my pictures. “Leave, goodbye, sorry we aren’t open” is what I feel my camera wanted to say to me earlier. But my camera is a camera, and not a person.

Single Image No.2

The view from Pt. Reyes, looking West into the Pacific coast, just south of Pt. Reyes Lighthouse on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015.
(Gustavo Vasquez)

Photographs Not Taken No.1

For the matter of not missing a moment in time, I carry a photographic mechanism that its sole purpose is to record time and light. Even with having this habit of carrying a camera with me, I still find myself missing a moment with my camera and lens.

One instance, which was also the most recent, occurred when a friend asked if I would like to go to a trip with her, a trip which I couldn’t ask about, or see where. During those moments before leaving the suite, I had the chance to take my camera. A chance I didn’t take. I asked, and she told me “If you want”. I don’t know what went through my mind at that time, If the camera was too much to carry, or that this trip would be nowhere exciting, I was wrong.

We jumped in the car, and while I laid back with my eyes closed with blindfold on, I fell asleep. I awoke to her shaking me on the shoulder and saying we were here. A dark gravel area off a road. She grabbed my hand and led me forward, through what looked like an abandoned building. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next, but what did was magnificent.

The Golden Gate bridge lit the area with it’s many lights and vehicles, San Francisco was lit by it’s many housings and buildings; towers in the clouds high above. A lighthouse could be heard afar and a glow streaming through the sky.

This idea came to me, something I learned about in another class. This philosophy of the Sublime. This quality of greatness, this area of aw. I felt so small, and the city so vast. I was just one part of this larger picture of life. Something that I can’t comprehend.

Sure, I won’t be able to go back and recall what I experienced with a camera, but I can’t image that night with my camera, and I don’t want to. What I found that night was special, and with a camera, I feel I would have had something between me and the sublime. That mechanical device that I use to record time and light.

Single Image #1

An unknown man wearing a patriotic hat, soliciting affiliated political organization to students in SeaWolf Plaza at Sonoma State on March 23, 2015.

The organization was one of many invited to Sonoma State to be a part of “Social Justice Week”, an event organized by the Sociology: social justice and activism club at Sonoma State. The event brought professionals from around the nation to Sonoma State to host over 30 hours of panels, lectures, discussions and films.

(Gustavo Vasquez)