We did a lot of “model-walking” in Chinatown this afternoon. Model-walking is pretending to walk and talk and do things that might end up looking natural, but certainly are not. And it was HOT and HUMID in Chinatown today.
I was given a drink and a camera was put around my neck. It was a Silver G2, just like the one Ziya Danishmend was nice enough to let me use for quite a substantial while. So we talked and “model-walked”.
I am a Mentor with the AIGA and with the New York Department of Education for two years now and very happy about being one. The program is quite excellent, the young man I had the chance to meet in the last two years or so is very smart, he has great talent and he will certainly succeed at what he wants and he certainly knows what he wants. He will now go on to Stony Brook and study Math and Physics on a full scholarship. He taught me a lot in the last two years. I feel very lucky to have met him. Stefanie Aaron of Aaron Design, Inc. decided to have a picture of him and me in the next Brochure which will attract mentors to participate in the program. So there will be a brochure about the mentoring program next year and we will be in one of the pictures. We will be sipping drinks and I will have a silver camera around my neck.
Everything will look quite natural. There will be other people in the picture. The photographer was a real pro. A true, quiet hunter, not the flashy loud kind. She was so incredibly focused. It was a true pleasure working with her. I just found some of her work online and I think that it is quite stunning. Take a look at some pieces by Susan Wides.
congratulations on being a mentor. i think it is one of the most rewarding experiences one can have. you are lucky to have met him, yes, but he is just as lucky (if not moreso) that you made the choice to be such a presence for him. and to be in the brochure, to boot! and to work with a great photographer. jeez. what a rewarding experience for you. :)
"a true, quiet hunter"
Wow! I love that you describe a photographer as such. Though, I think what I really like is imagining myself with lens... stalking prey in the dirty streets of the city... intent on capturing rare, haunted expressions left by stray thoughts on the faces of unwary passers by.
Oh, (knock on wood) life is good indeed. The mentoring program with the AIGA is truly a fantastic one. I have to say that the organizers are probably the best this probraam could wish for and that the whole thing is a truly wonderful experience. Yes, I feel very lucky.
as for your comment, Kitty. If you feel that you should go out there and hunt then GO! the weather is perfect this time of year, and it does not really matter where you are. Hunting is possible anywhere. (The Camera Hunting, that is.) When I go out to shoot, someties the outcome of the shoot becomes secondary. It is more about being out there and having the eyes really open, being awake, being alive. Camera or no camera, New York City or country or anywhere... go out there and kep your eyes open.
(I like the The Contax G site by Glen Campbell. It is a bit like a protokoll of a worldwide hunt with a specific camera which is made for that. )