We are still in Las Vegas. Plans changed this week for national and international travel. We’ve re-located to a different RV community, although not in the initial plan. Each RV community is different and there are images that are distinct both inside and outside on the street. Likewise, there is a considerable difference in most communities here. Each one has a different “Vibe.”
10 March 2020: Since starting this new page there has been a world wide change in the status of the Corona Virus. People from Washington State are experiencing drastic changes since the outbreak there, and the spread into California.
This change of events has changed our immediate plans to leave Las Vegas. We have elected to stay here for the time being.
Our attention typically is focused on work and family. What’s going on in the street is only seen from a remote periphery. In the last few days I have spent more time walking on one of the major thoroughfares of Las Vegas, and I am now more familiar with area neighbors or frequenters. There are those in the RV park, and then there are those who frequent the street. Familiarity with the people who live here builds. Life has taught me that. I am becoming familiar with their faces, These photographs are a pictoral study of the section of Las Vegas where we are now staying. It is directly off a major thouroughfare where numerous people walk and use the city bus lines. Parallel to the highway are large sidewalks that takes one, whether by walking or car past CVS, Walgreens, Casinos and Walmart.
"The camera is for us a tool, not a pretty mechanical toy. In the precise functioning of the mechanical object perhaps there is an unconscious compensation for the anxietes and uncertainties of daily endevor. In any case, people think far too much about technique and not enough about seeing." -Henri Cartier Bresson-
Life with the Awareness of the
Corona Virus
The Photographs:
Post America's Announcement
Week Ending 15 March
This week could upset the equalibrium of just about anyone. All the news coming over the Media, and the closing of so many venues we all take for granted. And then learning that it would be important to socially distance ourselves and keep our hands clean. Our neighbors can be thought of as suspect, or it could very easily be the other way around.
We must stay cool, calm, and collected as Katy Winters used to say in her “Secret” commercials.
Near Week's End: 19 March 2020
It has been a very difficult week for people world over. Waking each day to more and more information and what we should all do. The life that we know is now drastically different. The following images were made during walks not far from our RV Resort. Photography enables me to slow down and really observe the signs of our times.
22 March Sunday: A little more apprehension today, however staying busy using the time to organize, and ridding our home of what is not necessary, and having access to what is. A morning and afternoon walk; listening and seeing; doing both equally. Listening to bits of chat as I pass by others who will be here for the time being. And looking for images. Here are a few…..
Week of 23 March 2020
Experiencing some increased apprehension. Some second guessing. There are things to do here in this RV Community. Each day I walk and photograph what calls out to me. Once they are recorded in mind and camera it is followed by a feeling of exhilaration, curiosity or apprehension.
Had to make some changes to our RV site so the canopy will open and provide shade. It gets very hot here in the summer. Ventured out to Ace Hardware for a lopper so that the awning will open without tree limbs and branches blocking it. Trying to settle in to a routine and making our immediate site more home-like.
Relieved to be back home... And All The Signs
It seems as if there are signs everywhere. Is it me or am I being hyper-sensitive?
More and more people are electing some form of isolation. Many to their communities and homes. The images that follow continue to provide a closer glimpse into our RV Resort where most of the vacationeers have departed.
My wife and I are spending more time together. We are communicating and interacting even more than normal. Malka is showing me the sign that she made as a young student by raising her index finger. “I would like to talk.” “I want to say something.”
End of Week 5 April 2020, Las Vegas RV Park
Throughout the world it seems like we are all home. The streets are relatively empty as well as the casinos and many of the non-essential stores. Cannabis here is considered an essential store. Many of the distilleries are converting to making alcohol for medicinal purposes and to kill germs and viruses. There are few who are out on the sidewalks along the streets and highways. Where have they gone? The number of people who have contracted this have been rising alarmingly. That is what is so. Is there anything we can do? I’m accepting all the uncertainties. Take your choice. Here are some images from the past week that I would likke to share.
The Gear
Two cameras have been used to make these photographs. Firstly the Leica Q2 which has a perfect symbiosis of the essentials with innovation, pristine performance with connectivity with a monstrous 47.3 MP sensor.
The second system was introduced to me by Eric Kim just prior to a trip that was taken with him to Hanoii, Vietnam. Both cameras are 28mm wide-angle lens that is fine for me. Up until the CV they were use extensively. The Ricoh II was used when in the stealth mode, while the Leica has been used in the majority of cases.
I’ve had the Leica Q2 since late November 2019; the Ricoh was obtained Spring, 2019. What’s great about the Ricoh is that I can put it in any pocket therefore always having access to a high quality camera system.
Most serious photographers always carry a camera, no matter where they may be.
End of the week: April 12, 2020
Another eventful week in our lives. Every week brings more spread, more concern. I have learned how to deal with the personal challenges and emotional ups and downs of the times.
.Firstly that I have no control of this situation. It is what it is. It is what is so. Secondly, once I accept it as it is without blame or anger, I can then decide upon the person I am. I’m a father, a professional who helps people world-wide talk or talk again, and that I am a photographer. With those things in mind I concentratie my attention on what I can do for others. My children, patients, and those who enjoy my photographs. When approaching my life during these trying times I can sleep better, stay strong, balanced and hopefully healthy.
End of Week April 18, 2020
It has been an exhaustive week with the preparation and delivery of 2 Webinars, along with all the administrative tasks that were necessary. However, there was still time to go out and capture images although I was not comfortable walking out on the street and down the highway. Instead I decided to concentrate more on images from inside our rather large RV Park, in Las Vegas. I have been thinking about journaling some conversations with some of my RV neighbors as well as other images that beg to be photographed.
Meet the Neighbors
NEAR THE WEEK'S END MAY 1, 2020, LAS VEGAS
Bringing the website up to date this evening. Lots of change in the last two weeks. Some states starting to open up their economies in stages.
Recently I have limited my photographs to those taken within the park. As the virus has worsened in this zip code, which is one of the highest in the state of Nevada, I have elected to limit my photograph making to the images of interest right here in the park. Fewer people out and about which caused a looking out for other images that are pleasing to my eye.
APRIL 2, 2020 THE WEEKEND IS HERE AND
IN COLOR
Was up early this morning and viewing photographic documentaries of many iconic American Photographers. At 5:30 AM headed out the door and decided to get out to the street. Went by car to scout out the section of Las Vegas I had in mind.
It was great to leave the cloistered existence of the RV Park, and once again get an idea of what Las Vegas is now acompared to before. All one has to do to make a comparison is to go back to the home page and review the images from Las Vegas 2019 +2020. I sense that we all are rather uncertain at this time . Let’s keep our heads down and keep reaching forward.
More Images in Living Color
The Stay at Home Order Has Enabled Me to address the things I hold most dear. The completion of a new book, studying the work of famous photographic Masters, and venturing out and attempting new strategies. I’ve been reading more about color photography and the influence it has on the images I photograph. So I will begin to add more colorful images with my Q2.
It’s Wednesday, 2020, and realizing we are going to be in this for the long haul. Venture out occasionally to go visit Vegas landmarks that are now relatively deserted.
