spring – Assignment Chicago

Running to the Sun

April 28, 2010Alex Garcia 1 Comment

©2010 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia

A jogger crosses the lens plane as I lay flat on cold concrete photographing a pedestrian bridge next to Lake Michigan. I was glad he wasn’t freaked out by a stranger, basically in a sniper position, laying down in the middle of his morning routine. Up until that point, pedestrians, bicyclists and joggers would run close to the side of the bridge to get out of the picture or maybe to avoid my presence. In preparation for the moment, I had been tweaking that sunburst at right – just too much either way would have created intense lens flare, or would have blocked it completely. This was one of those enjoyable mornings of beautiful sun, invigorating weather, and time to explore. Just lovely…

A Forest Painted Blue and Orange

April 20, 2010Alex Garcia Leave a Comment

©2010 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia

“Painted Forest” is an idea co-sponsored by the Chicago Park District to paint trees that have been targeted for removal this year because they either died or are severely damaged. I’ve seen it driving by and thought it was pretty creative and whimsical. But not everyone is tickled by this. A Lincoln Park jogger was seen flipping off the workers and cursing their work. There’s the issue of public funds being used to paint trees that are going to be removed anyway. There’s also the issue of whether the city should be encouraging the painting of public property. And, as one passerby was reported to have commented to a worker with the project, “So you think you can improve upon God’s creation..?” I don’t know how the colors were chosen (GO BEARS?), but maybe if they had used red, white and blue it might have gone over smoother…

Photographer As Gardener

April 5, 2010Alex Garcia Leave a Comment

©2010 Alex Garcia

It is said that the world’s oldest profession..is gardening. What must it have been like to be the first human being beholding the first flower? To realize that all that was necessary for this glorious pop of color and design was contained in a tiny seed the color of blah. Scarcely unbelievable. You might ask, hmmm. ok, nice Alex – but what the HECK does this have to do with photojournalism? Every situation has a flower – its moment of beauty, emotion, light, or important meaning. You go into situations with the hope to find and to share with others your discovery. You take, but only for the benefit of the many more who are not privy. Sometimes the potential for pictures looks small, or blah. In the process, it is good to bury your expectations of what the scene should be, and to let hope and patience grow something new. I could go on, but you get the picture. In the many professional analogies that can be made about photographers and the process of picture-taking, this is the kind that springs eternal for me.

Good Friday

April 2, 2010Alex Garcia 1 Comment

As a photographer shooting a religious procession or reenactment, it is not uncommon to find yourself in the sometimes paradoxical moment of “jostling for the sacred”. You’re running around, anticipating and preparing yourself for that sacred moment that you can’t miss. Everyone else seems calm and in the spiritual moment. But if you stay in such a moment, you’ve lost the ability to capture it. So you’re sweating up a storm, your back is aching, “Jesus” keeps moving faster than you would think, and at the last moment some other photographer steps in front of you. At a “stations of the cross” moment on Good Friday last year in Pilsen, the only one of these I’ve shot, it was a similar situation. Lots of photographers. With so many, I’ve seen moments like this turn ridiculous. I’m reminded of one religious pilgrimage in Cuba, there were so many photographers surrounding one person on his knees that the man dryly commented, “I hope one of you guys will give me a passport photo”. Since no one else spoke Spanish, photographers passed off the remark as a prayer or religious utterance. A few moments after the above picture, after the cross was upright, the hectic jostling ceased and you realized the moment had peaked. There was no looking back. You either got it, or didn’t. In the back of your mind, and with your ears, you hear the words, “It is finished.”

A View from Above the Palm Trees

March 15, 2010Alex Garcia Leave a Comment

Walking through the Garfield Park Conservatory, I realize that I forget what it means to breathe deeply. The air is so rich with oxygen, I find myself inhaling and exhaling with a smile on my face like a giddy hippie. My assignment was to photograph the staff dyeing a pond green for St. Patrick’s Day. But as I was lingering on my way out, I noticed a spiral staircase that became a service walkway at the very top of the Palm House. I asked a horticulturist watering plants nearby if there was a way I could make a few pictures from above. To my surprise, she agreed without hesitation. Within a couple minutes, I was walking the length of the greenhouse at its highest point, taking in the unique view. In a previous post about photo tips, I talked about how sometimes you have to feel a moment to really photograph it. As I was looking from above, I was hoping to find someone who shared my sense of the beauty and grandeur of being surrounded by our green Earth. And that’s when I saw this man – wearing a green shirt, of course.