A Week with Chris Buck, Part II

In the course of the week Chris shared many thoughts with us.  Here are just a few.  When in doubt light from the behind.  Embrace physical awkwardness.  Details can't distract from the idea.   Passion for the subject matter is the single most important thing in any endeavor.  Do the safe stuff first.  Keep on asking for your shot.  You can pull it out of them!!!   To ask for permission is to seek denial.  Don't ask, lead.  Never make your issues your client's issues.  Finally my favorite, "You have to raise your expectations to get the possible."

Day 4

Our location for the fourth day was a New Mexico State Penitentiary that had been shut down for almost 20 years.  It was the second time I've shot at this location, the first was during a Keith Carter workshop eleven years ago.  It's really a fantastic location.  The prison scenes from the film  All the Pretty Horses were filmed there, and the faux façade created by the film crew remain connected to the original structure.  There is great light, texture, and a ton of energy in the place-much of it morbid.  Before the prison was shut down there was a massive riot, and some 38 people were killed.  There is also a gas chamber in the prison, although now they no longer let workshops photograph it.  Eventually the entire prison will probably be off limits to workshops and photography.  They have rules there, and photographers, by nature, are always breaking the rules.

Chris had us doing photographs that represented our fears and anxieties, stuff that got in the ways of us making photographs and our careers.  This assignment was a no brainer for me.  The prison was an obvious metaphor.  It was my best day of shooting.