I was looking for a restaurant I didn’t know the name of, going east across 21st when I rolled past some art school … these young women come running out the front doors, jumping up and down with their phones, ran into the street taking pictures, laughing and then ran back inside… I shrugged, as I continued down the street, I looked up and saw people at this 2nd floor big bay window looking west… further down the street, similar picture taking was happening. This woman standing by a parking lot, standing on her tippy toes. I turned around and saw what the others were reacting to. I wish I was in a different spot to get a better shot. It’s magic hour. It’s only a few minutes long, before things start to get diffused, so get your shot and move to a different location if you think you can get another shot before it’s gone. It’s April, so the sky is going to give us some more beautiful colors as it starts to get warmer.
As I looped west down 22st, I saw another woman, on the phone, saying wait a second, and taking a shot. . I started thinking about what I was catching here. I’m a photographer, well, more of an artist and picture taker. But looking at things and trying to capture hidden or special moments has been my life’s passion for decades. My attitude towards the selfie generation has been kind of meh. I know some people who are pretty brilliant with camera in hand.. no matter what kind of camera it is. But what I got tonight, was how much a part of our culture, being aware of something special or anything in the realm of nature has become part of the zeitgeist. I used to shrug and mutter something under my breath about shit like this, but I was actually enthused that so many people, actually mostly women, were capturing this beauty that was playing out before us all tonight.
This camera doesn’t capture the nuance of this amazing sky but it was pretty cool so many folks caught the magic hour…