Catching up
Okay, It has been quite a while since my last blog post! I wanted to update you all on everything I haven’t written about yet!
I am coming out of the fog otherwise known as my second to last semester of grad school. I have pretty much been knee deep in my Thesis project (which I will explain a little further later on.) So to explain the .gif above, I feel like I just returned to reality now that the semester is over.
I also managed to shoot two weddings towards the end of the summer!
I have a couple more booked for 2019 already and I also have shot an engagement session this past fall. The images came out stunning because sunset at Canandaigua Lake is just beautiful.
If this beautiful couple and their puppers look familiar, it is because I photographed them all a year or so ago! Seamus and Shooz were so happy to be walking around the lake!
Speaking of returning clients, I had another one contact me again for more photos. Kate at Crescent Trail Pilates Opened up a new Pilates studio in Fairport, NY. The new space is beautiful and she has a new instructor helping out with their clients.
Did I mention I began taking Ambrotypes and Tintypes?!
I took a wet plate collodion class this semester and it was truly the highlight of my week.
Pretty much all of this was happening while I was trying to develop a body of fine art photography for my thesis project.
For this work, I am interested in visually describing the military veteran experience. I found it curious that veterans who camouflaged themselves with their uniform or face paint in order to protect themselves became exposed when taken outside of the context of the military.
In the Garden, Mike Guinto. 2018, Inkjet print, 13x19”.
Brick and Mortars, Mike Guinto, 2018, Inkjet Print 13x19”
These photos may become a different series, however I think some of the other work I have created since works a little better.
I also tried photographing veterans hiding in plain sight, being able to disappear into a landscape.
One of the problems I had with this is I felt like I was generalizing or speaking on behalf of all veterans (which is just impossible to do.) So I decided to let the veterans experiences speak for themselves, and allow the audience to interpret how they wish. So I started cutting my old work prints.
One of the things they tell you before you go to boot camp is that they “break you down, so they can build you back up.”
I wanted to ask the question of what happens to those pieces when the service member transitions into a veteran. Unless you have a well crafted plan, it is easier to flounder, for the first time in many veterans lives they begin to live without a support network, they often move to a new city or go back home where everyone has either left or learned to live without the veteran. My project is attempting to reassemble the veteran.
Brenan, Mike Guinto, Inkjet Print Collage, 8x10”
For this I began taking photos from the veterans personal archive and layering them on top of each other. The shapes I cut out are direct reference to camouflage patterns from uniform items the veteran has worn.
Over winter break I am going to be equally as busy writing my Thesis paper, continuing to develop this body of work, and also, the holidays!
So take this holiday card from us to you and I hope you all get some r&r this winter break!
Yosemite
“If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them something more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it.... Once our natural splendor is destroyed, it can never be recaptured. And once man can no longer walk with beauty or wonder at nature, his spirit will wither and his sustenance be wasted.”
John Muir and Lyndon Johnson successfully lobbied Congress to establish Yosemite as a National Park on October 1, 1890. Part of this success was due to a photographer named Ansel Adams. Adams portfolio of the Sierra Nevadas and Yosemite were very influential in their efforts to argue for a protected wilderness.
For the past couple years I have been obsessing over Adams photographs, as well as some instagram accounts of photographers who have traveled to this "Mecca of landscape photography" When Meredith surprised me with a map and airplane tickets to California I was beyond words. I have seen just every photo there is of the Valley and its surrounding granite peaks. So when I tell you that seeing these photos Ansel or any other photographer has taken does not do the park justice, believe me. There is something about your peripheral vision which cannot be captured in a 2x3 frame of a camera that allows you to take in the scale of where you are standing. When you can walk up to the base of El Capitan and look 3000' straight up the granite wall you are left with a sense of wonder. The majesty of half dome, as the sun sets from almost anywhere in the valley becomes electric. The water rushing down Yosemite falls crushing the rocks below fills you with a sense of fragility that only nature can bestow.
If I could leave you with only one idea, it would be to value these National Parks. To allow them to operate efficiently, through proper funding and management so that You, I, and everyone from now until eternity can visit these parks, and share in the sense of wonderment which I have felt.
You can follow me and the photos I have captured on Instagram or by subscribing to this blog!
Out of the Woods
See a photographers modern take on classic fairy tale characters. If Disney princesses were 21st century college students.
At one point in your life, you will experience a sort of crucible. An event which influences your perception of the world and tests your inner character. Whether or not you rise to the challenge, you come out a changed person. The old fairy tales and stories which have been passed down through generations illustrated this concept through a common motif. The Dark Woods, the Enchanted forest, whatever the name the character usually came out on the other side stronger with fewer illusions about the world around them.
My goal is to bring these characters into the 21st century, exploring the fictional characters classic motifs using modern college student experiences. Thus establishing the relationship between the past and present. Maybe you see yourself in these characters as you did growing up reading about them or watching TV.
As a veteran, I understand first hand that you learn a lot of things when you enlist into the military. Aside from how to accurately fire a rifle or applying a tourniquet, you learn how to become a functioning adult. When I returned to college after five years of active duty, I saw these kids in college going through similar life lessons. I would argue that college is to these students what the forest was for snow white, or the military was for myself: a coming of age ritual.
These portraits debut at the DOWD Fine Arts Center at SUNY Cortland March, 2017. You can see them all here of course. I hope to grow this collection and maybe revisit some of the characters.
Great Men are forged in Fire.
Kyle is an inspiration to human beings all over the world.
At this point in my life I consider myself extremely fortunate. I have gone on what could be the most extraordinary adventure of my life thus far. From June 16th until June 28th I was assigned to follow Retired Marine Corps Cpl. William "Kyle" Carpenter around the country as he executed his Medal of Honor Media Tour. This consisted of his closest 100 friends and family flying out to Washington, D.C. and celebrating and honoring his award. Kyle was awarded the Nations Highest award for Valor after selflessly throwing himself in between a grenade and his friend.
Now for those of you who do not know, when you go to boot camp you learn very early on the kill radius of a grenade. You are told that anything within five meters of a grenade when it goes off is dead. Anything within 15 meters is severely wounded. It only takes 3-5 seconds for a grenade to go off once it is thrown and that includes the time it takes to land next to your feet. It is with this knowledge that he acted as selflessly as he did. What may surprise you is that Kyle would still to this day acts with the same intentions in mind as when he was in Afghanistan. This is not because he has received an award. This is because that is the kind of person Kyle is. He is selfless, he is highly self motivated, and he is in my opinion as well anyone who meets him, one of the most humble souls you will ever come across.
This is undoubtedly due to in part by his parents. His Father is one of the most loving fathers a boy growing up could ask for. If you do not believe me, look in his eyes when he recounts the story of Kyle in the video Letters. His Mother, is a classic mold of any great Mom. Caring, loving, with a hint of a southern accent and an amazing cook.
During my last two weeks with Kyle I got to see and experience more than I ever would have in a normal life. I visited the white house and stood next to the President of the United States. I toured Capital Hill, and met the Senators (even got a Gamecocks Cup.) We flew out to San Diego to meet the Padres Baseball team. Went into the locker room and hung out on the field. We went to Wounded Warrior Battalion West (and East.) We even stopped in New York City to see the Stock Exchange, Time Square, David Letterman show, and the 9/11 Memorial. I stood on the observatory deck of the Freedom Tower and wrote on the concrete that was still under construction. I could probably write a book about all the things we did. (Did I mention I spent my 24th Birthday just hanging out with the guy?) I honestly do not have the vocabulary to describe exactly everything we did. It was amazing enough to be able to live through him vicariously.
Kyle is an inspiration to human beings all over the world. His story is so perfect and genuine. He has experienced and suffered so much that he deserves all of the positive feedback he receives. He has touched my life, inspired me to be a better, more humble human being.
Kyle Carpenter was born in Mississippi, raised in South Carolina, Forged in Fire, and it was my unequaled privilege to have experienced the warmth and generosity he has shown me. Thank you Kyle.