A Midwestern Holiday

Photography: Road trip photos of Missouri

I married into a family that has many more traditions than my family. We go to my wife's hometown of St. Louis at least three times a year, and every time I go, I add to an ongoing photo essay of St. Louis and the region. St. Louis is different in a way that is hard for an outsider like myself to describe, so I do it with images.

As some of my other personal work is about the environment and our impact on it, some of the pictures I make relate to this theme. However, I also make pictures of my in-laws and their home. It's a quiet house on a quiet street, with a quiet dignity to the area that is different than the suburbs of San Antonio I grew up in, hewed out of South Texas caliche and live oak scrub.

As we become more alike in the Age of Information, I still try to celebrate the regional differences in America that give each place it's own particular flavor.

My daughter plays with a glow stick, Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Guest bedroom, my wife's former bedroom growing up, Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

A performer at the St. Louis City Museum, Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Lighthouse decor, my in-laws' home, Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

My in-laws' bookshelf, Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

My daughter lights Hanukkah candles, Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Geese fly Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Gateway Arch, as seen Dec. 2017 in East St. Louis, Missouri.

A graveyard in the middle of farm land, Dec. 2017 south of Columbia, Illinois.

Charred foliage surrounds the cap at the Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project December 27, 2017 in Weldon Springs, MO. 

Car accident, Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Bridgeton Sanitary Landfill, Dec. 27, 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri. An underground fire was detected underneath the landfill in 2010 and still burns today. There have been concerns as radioactive waste is also buried nearby the landfill.

Self-portrait, under-construction golf driving range outside of Chesterfield, MO, Dec. 27, 2017

New Year’s Day, 2018, St. Louis, MO at the City Museum.

Frosted window in my in-laws' bedroom window, Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

My father-in-law speaks on the phone in his bedroom, Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Typewriter repairman - Ross Herdejurgen

The adventures of photographing typewriter repairmen continues with Ross Herdejurgen, 83, who has been repairing typewriters since 1947. He has been in his current shop since 1973. He poses next to a pre-1948 Royal manual typewriter. This image was shot on chrome, which I can only get processed locally. The C-41 batch should arrive next week. Stay tuned..  

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Bus stop slumber

After a portfolio review in Austin last week and hearing great feedback all around, but especially from Will Chau regarding a quirky-ness in my work I hadn't really defined before, I've decided to post some recent work I made with my Hasselblad. I've also been on a cleaning jag as of late and in the process discovered a bunch of uncut, unscanned negs that I'm going to give a second look. I also have one more roll of black and white film I shot on the way home from Austin that I still need to develop.  

As for the review itself, I must say that I really need to step it up and attend these gatherings more often. It's hard to get honest feedback as a freelancer. We're kind of out here on our own and the opportunity to hear reactions to our work from professionals in the visual communication industry is priceless.

On a whim, I also went out to photograph a typewriter repair man after reading about him in the local paper.  There is something anachronistic about someone who still makes a living repairing old technology. The experience has sparked some ideas about what I might focus on next. We'll see!

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