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Inspiration - It's all about the journey.

dave.gt

Well-known member
Medium Format Photography. How did I get here?

While I was listening to a favorite recording artist of mine, I realized the lyrics at the bottom of the video pretty much summarized my mood lately. The music, the rhythms, the emotions, are all beautiful and inspiring in a different way than I am used to being inspired.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XQbk2C4ZmsE

I find inspiration in Life in many places. But I can only be patient and wait for it to find me.

Photography, and other forms of visual art, inspire me. People inspire me. And I am here on this forum because of those people who inspire me. My bride of 49 years now, who has always been a mentor for me, and who continues to suffer and survive devastating health problems, inspires me the most. She is profoundly inspiring. But how did our journey bring us here to this day, in this community of talented photographers and genuine, good human beings (as my good friend Steve Hendrix might describe those we appreciate)?

In 2004, our journey into a Strange Land began with medical complications from a blood clot while I was working professionally and teaching graduate students simultaneously. The outpouring of love and compassion from dozens of my students was the beginning of my enlightenment of the goodness in humanity.
After years of caregiving, in 2015, I had become a changed person, humbled in every way. Beaten and thankful for our survival after dozens of hospital stays, surgeries, and hundreds of therapy sessions, we noticed that we were not alone and many patients we met inspired us with their own stories. We were brought from the depths of despair by amazing healthcare professionals and we were awed by the many survivors we met along the way.

My passion for photography, a lifetime affliction, had been put on hold for years. But I still carried my Leica camera in my Billingham bag to use as a pillow and a mobile storage solution while living in wooden chairs in hospital rooms.

We met a dear soul who had suffered a massive brain stem stroke and Lockdown Syndrome just a year after she married her high school crush and while climbing the ladder of her professional career. From Wall Street to wheelchair. We became friends and adopted her as our own mentors as she flourished and shared her story of survival and continuing rehabilitation.

She became our first pro bono client in our quest for inspiration. We sold everything we had left to start a mobile Studio for inspiring others. I had never done anything like it before. But I knew my 35mm and full frame digital gear was not what we needed. Through a friend, I was led to CI and met Steve Hendrix who became a business resource foundation, setting us up with a CPO Medium Format camera and lens, plus rentals, professional advice, training, and, amazingly, personal assistance in accomplishing our goals. We could not possibly have produced our Portraits of Healing and stories of inspiration without Steve's help, care and empathy.

We met a scientist, who fell while on vacation and broke his neck. He became an instant quadriplegic six years ago. At the time we were introduced to him and his family, he had progressed from a sip and puff wheelchair to a manual wheelchair and was able to stand and hug his wife for the first time since his traumatic accident. Using the H5, we were able to present his story of inspiration as a fighter. He went back to work and with the help of his loving family, he flourished.
Images will follow.

These are just two people who helped us to be inspired along the way. From our own lowest depths of despair, we followed the light. That light was the human spirit and love they shared with all those people around them.

Medium Format was our chosen medium of expression and we remain committed to that form of presentation. Sure, there are other means of expression, and music is one of them. Perhaps, when the dark days of Covid 19, political and social problems are behind us, we will be able to return to those angels of survival and share more stories of inspiration.

For now, we are in the interlude of our life's symphony. Patience and continued work with photography, no matter how banal our motifs are lately, are important and we look forward to sharing more stories of inspiration. Those who inspire us deserve more than I can possibly do, but sharing their stories is what we are called to do.

May the rest of the way be even more enlightening than we have experienced thus far.:thumbup:
 

dave.gt

Well-known member
The reason I posted this thread after the 3rd anniversary of our pro bono project is to share stories of inspiration. We live in bad times now that we could not have imagined, even having gone through the Ebola scare while we were on campus at Emory University within walking distance of the CDC. It is time to share positive stories, of triumph over devastating trauma experienced by people everyday.

There is hope for all of us.

May I introduce you to Dr. H, demonstrating his freedom after his life and his family were changed forever by a fall. From a quadriplegic to working again in his profession in two years.

Single exposure image:

 

dave.gt

Well-known member
Dr. H once said that the greatest reward for all of his hard work with his therapists was standing and hugging his wife for the first time in a couple of years.

Single exposure image:

 

epforever

Member
Dave, thanks for sharing this. Those are profoundly moving stories. I'm sitting here rushing and trying to get through my long to-do list, and this caused me to stop, feel and reflect. I've found that some of the happiest times in my life, when I finally get away from everything swirling around in my mind, are when I have been helping others in need. My inspiration right now is my eight-month-old daughter, who is bothered by almost nothing and is curious about everything. When there's no stimulation, she quietly sits, babbles and chews on whatever's nearby. She teaches us about living every day.

ethan
 

dave.gt

Well-known member
Dave, thanks for sharing this. Those are profoundly moving stories. I'm sitting here rushing and trying to get through my long to-do list, and this caused me to stop, feel and reflect. I've found that some of the happiest times in my life, when I finally get away from everything swirling around in my mind, are when I have been helping others in need. My inspiration right now is my eight-month-old daughter, who is bothered by almost nothing and is curious about everything. When there's no stimulation, she quietly sits, babbles and chews on whatever's nearby. She teaches us about living every day.

ethan
Oh, man, Ethan, I remember those days when our kids were that young. Congratulations to you and Mom!:angel:

It is odd how time expansion and compression seems to exist... it is like only a short time ago we were blessed with our grandkids that age and only a few weeks or months before that when we were first-time parents. Where did the time go?

I just met our new neighbors a few minutes ago and offered to help them move some furniture in. They have enough help at the moment, but, like you, I enjoy helping and gift of giving is profound. But mostly, I just enjoy good people.

This online community is one of those rare places we can enjoy them!
 

epforever

Member
Oh, man, Ethan, I remember those days when our kids were that young. Congratulations to you and Mom!:angel:

It is odd how time expansion and compression seems to exist... it is like only a short time ago we were blessed with our grandkids that age and only a few weeks or months before that when we were first-time parents. Where did the time go?

I just met our new neighbors a few minutes ago and offered to help them move some furniture in. They have enough help at the moment, but, like you, I enjoy helping and gift of giving is profound. But mostly, I just enjoy good people.

This online community is one of those rare places we can enjoy them!

Agreed about the passage of time. I just turned 50 (we got a late start and went through a lot of fertility efforts), and I'm crossing my fingers that I still have half my life left. It has already gone by too quickly. In a finger-snap another four months will pass, and Moxie will suddenly be a year old. I want to hit pause on everything. Notwithstanding that, I just try to enjoy every day. Would that we didn't have to work.

Glad you've gotten the chance to be a grandparent. I'm hoping for the same.

Oh -- regarding medium format, I got myself a Hasselblad V system about 21 years ago when I was doing photo classes. The large viewfinder and square format really resonated with me. Now I do have a Nikon system for when I need to shoot at higher iSOs or faster apertures, but otherwise I use and love my H4x with Credo 60. The big viewfinder, the large sensor, the 4:3 aspect ratio, the fast sync speed -- it all works for me much better than 35mm. For the most part I find the lenses to be better. And there really is something about the CCD sensor and the Leaf colors. I will never sell this back, even if I get a CMOS MF back at some point. The files are just so much richer than 35mm. And of course you can slap it on the Alpa too.

Enjoy your day.
 

darr

Well-known member
Dave,

You are quite the artistic soul, and I always look forward to what you have to share.

--

My life has always revolved around the visual arts. I feel I was gifted inspiration through my grandfather who was a painter of seascapes and photographed people and places with a Rolleiflex. Grandfather wanted to go to school to be an architect, but instead he spent 52 years working for the railroads. I would spend weekends with my grandparents, learning how to cook from my grandmother while falling in love with art and baseball from my grandfather. I would go on to name my son after my grandfather as his memory brings me so much happiness I could not imagine giving my son a better name.

I get inspiration from nature and also from viewing paintings and photographs made by others. I enjoy literature (short stories and poetry the most) and listening to music and find some inspiring feelings through those portals as well. But spending time in nature really does me good!

Take care,
Darr
 

dave.gt

Well-known member
Me too, Darlene. I'd be a basket case without the land, the trees, the flora and fauna - especially in these unusual times.

Hahahaha! Too funny!

Non-clickable RX? Anal retentive cure? Catatonia? Etc...

Darr is right, it is the best thing just getting outdoors and enjoying nature.:thumbup:
 

dave.gt

Well-known member
Seriously, though, the past years of watching our local birds through the backdoor window has inspired me as well.:) Observing nature has taught me more about life than I ever learned from simply living.

From the songs I hear each morning starting an hour before sunrise, I realized why those birds sing and it is because they had a song that had to be expressed.

From the Mockingbird on the terrace catching Cicadas and "field dressing" them with sharp beaks to expose the nourishing protein within, to the neighborhood bully (Cooper's Hawk) striking fear into the Cardinal family as they feast on our feeder hanging in the old wooden fence, I find many life's lessons.

As I attempt to catch those moments with limited lens choices of the MFD gear I use, I am inspired when I am actually able to shoot some keeper images. In order to obtain the low rate of keepers, it is wise to persevere and learn the habits and characteristics of all species. Once learned, it is inspiring to see commonalities with humans. Both good and bad... (if I were to force my moral preferences into the experience). Nature is nature. Humanity is entirely something else.:facesmack:
 
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