Learning to See » Life

Change, Flux, Reinvention

Jon Roemer — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:27:15 +0000

A Canon C300 at the AbelCine introduction. NY, NY, January 25, 2012.

It’s a weird time – I just redid my people print portfolio, first time in years. Yet, last fall was dominated by video work. So, as I redo books (architecture is next) I’m also thinking about video, cameras both still and video, upgrade paths, compromises, choices and where best to allocate resources.

My still cameras, Canon 1Ds Mark III’s, have served me well. Four years old, rock solid. The next generation has been announced and should be out this spring, the 1D X. Primarily, a still camera but with 2nd generation DSLR video (less moiré, less artifacts).

And then there is the C300, a video camera. Stunning images, easier workflow and handling than when shooting DSLR video and the ability to take all of my Canon lenses. And no visible moiré or artifacts.

The former promises a better focusing, higher ISO camera, with slightly better video workflow and (most likely quality.) The still quality is not likely to be noticeably better except in low-light or in AF challenged situations. The latter is orders of magnitude better on the video front – no more of the subject sitting down and moiré rearing its head and no more unusable shots because there are too many artifacts. Plus, it is better on the high ISO front and second system sound recording can be eliminated if desired.

Attendee tries out the C300 in stripped down mode. Looks and feels much like a medium format still camera - think Hassie or Mamiya. AbelCine, NY, NY, January 25, 2012.

While the options cost real money they also end up in the same ballpark when all things are factored in (old cameras sold, etc.) So, what’s it come down to? In the end, the same ever present question -> Who am I and what do I do? Not what do I do in terms of making the choice seen in the paragraphs above but what is it that I do as a person, as an individual, day to day, as one following my interests, and as one in the still motion world that is photography in 2012. In the end the question is not about equipment, it never is.

You Say You Want a Revolution

Jon Roemer — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:05:30 +0000

From "Young Egyptians Spread Their Message." Ed Ou for the New York Times.

I photographed Steve Jobs once. Some time in ’86 or ’87. Jobs was in a suite at the St. Regis in New York pushing NeXT computers. I remember getting there early and watching him prep.

I don’t have the photos (my employer owned them) and at the time I didn’t think to grab some of the extra prints. Maybe that says something… I saved odds and ends: Mario Cuomo at the opening of the Javits Center; Joe Raposo, Judy Collins, and a cat at a Purina Cat Chow event in Lincoln Center; Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble in Fred’s car for AAA; Spanky from the Little Rascals promoting the Little Rascal motorized scooter. But no Steve Jobs.

I spent the 90′s with a shared NEC PC and then a couple of Dells until I hit a wall. A custom Dell configuration failed me. It couldn’t support a few scanners and an early digital camera. Many emails back and forth with Dell, including a couple from Michael Dell (yes, times were different then) and it turned out that Dell had not vetted the computer completely. They could not fix the issues and they could not recommend an alternative. At that point, about 1997, my Mac odyssey began.

In thinking about how much my iPhone has integrated with my DNA and in how much I couldn’t survive without my Mac Pro or my MacBook Pro when working on location, it’s actually two other thoughts which come to mind with Jobs’ passing.

This past year with the Arab Spring, demonstrations, and calls for democracy; it was common to see photos where in the mix of all that was happening a Mac laptop or an iPhone was present. Jobs must have seen these, the two examples here were on front pages of the New York Times, and he must have seen in them a culmination of his vision to truly *change the world. It wasn’t just about changing the culture in the United States or making a profit. It was about giving the world the tools to institute change.

My other thought is to my personal experience in switching from PCs to Macs and how, with hindsight, it shows what has always been at Apple’s core – the user experience. When I got my first Power Mac not only did it run all my peripherals seamlessly but when you opened it up it was a sight to behold. Brushed metal on the inside with slight circular patterns to it. Everything neatly arranged and easy accessible. It was the opposite of my PC experience. Going inside a PC was like trying to find your way through the back room of a storage facility. The think different here was Apple recognizing that a Power Mac user was going to open it up, otherwise they wouldn’t need a Power Mac. So, Apple made the experience positive – aesthetically and functionally.

I can’t help but think that up above there’s a room somewhere with Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Edwin Land, and others. When yesterday’s news spread Bell got on his phone, rang his assistant, and said, “Mr. Watson – come here – Steve’s arriving.”

Jalalabad, Afghanistan; volunteers build a wireless network with off-the-shelf components. Keith Berkoben/Fab Folk

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*When hiring John Sculley, a former Pepsi CEO, Jobs asked him, “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world?”

Young Egyptians Spread Their Message from the New York Times. The photo ran on the front page, above the fold, on February 9, 2011.

US Underwrites Internet Detour Around Censors, from the New York Times. The photo ran on the front page, above the fold, on June 12, 2011.

1995

Jon Roemer — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 18:06:31 +0000

In 1995 I started a project documenting areas around Manhattan. I concentrated on New Jersey and Staten Island but more particularly on places that still had a tie back to Manhattan – either through line of sight or via some of the iconic bridges leading to it.

Looking at the images now, ten years after 9/11, I am struck most by the ones featuring the World Trade Center.

Jersey City, NJ. 1998. World Trade Center. Click images to enlarge.

Weehawken, NJ. 1995. Baseball diamond on top the Lincoln Tunnel. World Trade Center.

Staten Island, NY. 1997. World Trade Center.

Newark, NJ. 1998. World Trade Center.

Wait Wait… We’re Home

Jon Roemer — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 02:45:35 +0000

We’re back from Maine after a long drive with stops in Bowdoinham, ME for lunch and the always reliable Rein’s in Vernon, CT for dinner. My kids are usually plugged into their iPods for much of the trip but a chance listening to Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me led to a marathon session of five or six WWDTM’s at their urging and courtesy of the free iPhone Public Radio Player app. Wait Wait… if you are listening – thanks for that bit of shared family fun on the way home. It’s a great way to end a vacation. President Clinton… if you are listening – nice job on My Little Pony.

I shot a lot this trip as evidenced by all of the square Hipsta photos preceding this post but the bulk of it was video on my 1DM4 and my iPhone or stills on my iPhone. My 1DsM3 spent much of the trip in its bag chilling out. I attribute that to a number of factors – this trip was not about doing as much as relaxing. You need a crowbar to get teens out of bed in the morning so we didn’t fight it. They could sleep late, we could kayak or run or read, and we would all do something together in the afternoon. That in itself led to being in less places which in turn led to less photos. I have also been to this area of Maine so many times that video and the Hipsta stills offered a way to see it new, so I gravitated toward that instead of feeling a need to work with the 1DsM3.

Afternoon on the links, Sedgewick, ME. July 7, 2011.

The one thing, the only thing, I photographed with the big camera was the early morning scene on Crockett Cove. Light, water, and mist too beautiful to turn my back on.

Sunrise, Crockett Cove, Deer Isle, ME. June 27, 2011. Click images to enlarge.

Sam's Island, Crockett Cove, Deer Isle, ME. June 27, 2011.

Close Sesame

Jon Roemer — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 05:09:26 +0000

Writer Tom Beller gets a whiff of sesame from H&H Bagels. NY, NY. March, 2004.

Word from the New York Times tonight that H&H Bagels is closing its flagship store at 80th & Broadway. I photographed Tom Beller there in 2004 for Columbia Magazine. Tom had written a piece about his trial by bagel as the inventory manager at H&H, a brief stop on his way to full-time writing.

To be back in H&H on assignment was fun for as much it influenced Tom’s life, it had intersected mine. In the fall of ’85 I moved to New York City living at first at 71st & Broadway. Fresh out of college, with the world’s smallest apartment (one window and ~80 sq. ft.), no love life to speak of, my friend Chris and I would walk the Upper West Side. Chris grew up in Manhattan and could hardly go a block without seeing someone he knew. Me, I was learning the streets. With Chris’ guidance various haunts became our home. Big Nick’s Pizza Joint – a sign on the wall implored the “girls”, the waitresses, “to get the phone,” prompting us to do the same the whenever the phone rang. Cafe La Fortuna, where a crowd of heavy older men held forth with breast pockets filled with paper two to three inches thick. I liked that the fire extinguisher was a Potter-Roemer (I had never seen that before), the chocolate ices were amazing, and the inner courtyard a respite from the crush of the city.

Equal with those was H&H Bagels. It was just on the acceptable side of run down. Not dirty, just used, but also practical. It had one purpose and that was to get the bagels out.

Chris taught me that there was only one way to pick a bagel. It wasn’t by flavor or by favorite, it was solely by warmth. The hotter it was, the fresher it was, and that was what you got.

We would stumble in (an odd silly habit we had developed), any time of day or night, and go straight to the plexiglass case. Each kind of bagel had its own cubby, a square foot of space. The key was to press your hands against the plexi and be guided by the warmth and the glow and the love of a fresh out of the oven bagel. That was what you bought and once in hand you could step outside, break it open, watch the wisp of steam rise out of it, and dig in.

Outside H&H Bagels. March, 2004. Click images to enlarge.

For Bob’s Birthday

Jon Roemer — Tue, 24 May 2011 20:38:15 +0000

Me butchering Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, circa 2009.

Recorded via the Voice Memos app on the iPhone.

Friday!

Jon Roemer — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 03:54:19 +0000

Totally out of left field, having absolutely nothing to do with photography, I am giving myself a pat on the back. After many years I finally made it, completing five consecutive New York Times Crossword puzzles, Monday through Friday. Phew!

The puzzles get harder throughout the week. I’m usually good for Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday somewhat often, and if I’m lucky maybe Thursday. I’m sure today’s puzzle was ranked as easy. It had nothing too generationally obscure short of trying to remember who sang Dream a Little Dream of Me (Mama Cass.) Some words, e.g. otiose, never heard of but there were enough answers the other way to fill it in.

King for a day - the April 29, 2011 NYT Crossword Puzzle.

Speaking of Trees

Jon Roemer — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 03:11:14 +0000

One more quick one:

View from my desk. Princeton, NJ. April 17, 2011. Click to enlarge.

Like the weeping cherry around the corner from me and featured in the last post, I have a sugar maple in my back yard that is as much of a presence. I photograph it often and now I look out on it. At first glance it’s neither striking nor commanding. It’s quiet and subtle but it’s hard to imagine a day without it.

More of the sugar maple here and here.

Of Trees and Spring

Jon Roemer — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 18:26:47 +0000

I pass this weeping cherry a few times a day when I walk the dog. Multiply that by fifteen years and I’ve gone by it over 20,000 times give or take. When it flowers in the spring peak is very short. If a storm blows through it may only be a day or two, that’s been the case this March and April as Spring tries to break free from a rough winter’s grip.

The video was shot and edited on an iPhone 4. It’s a bit shaky but hopefully that adds more than it takes away.

Music: Tom Waits.

Wax On, Wax Off

Jon Roemer — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:10:39 +0000

Waxing crescent moon in the clerestory windows. New studio. Princeton, NJ, March 7, 2011.

Running errands today in between processing, wrapping up post on jobs, and prepping for my second hybrid stills + HDslr video assignment. Squirrels are out in force; a field by the lake, near the boat house, was filled with geese and deer; an eight-person scull was about to start an evening practice run, chase boat and megaphone along side. Could it be, spring is in the air?