On the Road Again

There's a good reason why it's been so quiet on my end these past seven weeks. 2024 was looking to be one of the worst years I've had in terms of work and finances, but luckily several jobs made it my way and helped put me back on track.

Starting that first week of August, I spent one day in Bentonville and two weeks in Orlando on a shoot with Walmart via Vista Productions. The last week of August I was in Indiana on a project with a scientific instrument company and working with clients from Boston and Quebec. The following week I was back in Bentonville with Vista, this time shooting content for a Sam's Club event.

Thankfully I've got a few more weeks of work booked and a couple other potential jobs on the horizon. There are also a few days in NYC for a Filmsupply event and the yearly NYC NAB show.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't considering other career options the past couple of years. It's been a weird time in this industry and long gone are those bloated pandemic-era production budgets and streamers trying to outspend each other in creating new content. Crazy thanks to the clients and connections recently that've gotten this freelancer back to work.

Talking to Strangers

This past week was the beginning of this year's regular state legislative sessions here in Oklahoma. Monday morning had a sizable crowd of Trans rights demonstrators outside the Capitol building. Then on Tuesday there was another crowd there, this time they were Pro-Life demonstrators listening to a speaker under a banner that read "LAWS TO MURDER BABIES ARE MADE HERE." The crowd had dissipated before I could get back out there with my camera, but I did make it inside the building for the Homeschool Oklahoma Capitol Day 2023.

Talk about whiplash between the two days worth of demonstrations. That and the differences in the weather that helped make for two completely different looks. I'm always interested in people and the things they're passionate about, but honestly I should've been home working and/or studying those two days. Instead I was down the street at the Capitol building with my old camera, more expired film, and just talking to strangers.

At the Trans rights rally on Monday, I finished out a black and white roll of Ilford HP5 that I've still got to develop, but then I switched over to a roll of Kodak Vericolor III that'd expired in 1998. I'm especially proud of a handful of those images as well as getting to meet and interact with some of the peaceful demonstrators who some conservatives are calling a "mob" that had "stormed and occupied" the Capitol.

"The protesters gathered to oppose a group of bills that target gender-affirming medical care. Some of the bills would completely bar minors from receiving transition-related care, including one that would prohibit such care for people up to 26 years old. Other bills would bar providers of gender-affirming care from receiving public funds." - "Peaceful protest or a trans 'mob'? Oklahoma demonstration riles the right" – NBC News

Tuesday's weather wasn't helpful, especially because I'd loaded a roll of ISO 160 Kodak Vericolor that'd expired in 1987. In compensating for how old the film was, I'd need to plan for a loss of one stop of light per decade, so that ISO 160 film would need to be exposed at ISO 20 and I'd still be shooting nearly wide open on my camera lens (f3.8). Even then I decided I'd need to push the film two additional stops in the developing process. Honestly I'm surprised I got anything out of this roll of film that was nearly as old as I am.

Out of the ten shots I'd made on that old roll Tuesday, the only two worth looking at were a couple portraits I'd made with a man named Steven Hess. I'd been loitering outside the Capitol building and just hoping someone interesting looking would walk out in the rainy weather. This dude and his fantastic looking beard walked out and he and his family were taking pictures on the south stairs. I waited for them to finish up and then I approached and started a conversation.

"Hey, I really like your beard. I think it looks great. Would you mind if I took your picture?" "Sure."

From there I scrambled to get a light reading using an iPhone app and we made some small talk. He's a bit older than I am, but turns out we had both gone to the same high school. More than that, we'd both taken photography classes there, so we most likely had used the same darkroom way back in the day. He asked if I'd send him a copy of the photos if they turned out and he gave me his number. We ended up texting back and forth for nearly an hour that night after I'd developed the film and sent him the files.

I got to have similar quick conversations on Monday with a few of the Trans rights demonstrators. I'd posted some of the images I'd made that day to Instagram and was able to share and connect with a few of the people I'd met at the rally.

I've for sure made pictures over the years of strangers out in public with long lenses and without permission, but it's something else entirely to walk up to someone you don't know and ask them to be vulnerable with you for just a moment.

"The Patriarchy Smells like Hot Dog Water"

Woof. So last Friday and women's rights in the U.S. huh? Growing up I'd never planned on becoming an active protester, but here we are. I'd also never imagined I'd be on this side of the fence considering my evangelical Christian upbringing, but again, here we are. Quoting one of the protest signs I saw yesterday at the Oklahoma state capitol building, "The Patriarchy Smells like Hot Dog Water."

Phones across the country melted just a bit more than normal as social media caught on fire following Friday's news of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. There's plenty of extremely qualified and insightful writing out there on what's happening, so I'll let them handle the facts. The best I can do is let you in on what brings this nonsense home to me.

Before this weekend, I'd assumed I knew women in my life that've had first hand experience with abortion, but more than I expected came forward with their own stories. Friends of mine posted about their abortions and how they chose to end their pregnancies due to medical as well as personal reasons that certainly aren't any of my business.

My Christian faith is still important to me, but I know that our country is filled with people and faiths different than mine. As people of faith, why should we expect others to respect our beliefs when we don't respect theirs? I'd found it incredibly helpful seeing a social media post from U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez about "beliefs are not facts."

"...beliefs are not facts. The belief that abortion is murder is a subjective one. Banning abortion violates the religious views of many. Judaism, Islam, and many other faiths and philosophies have widely ranging, different takes on the matter. Judaism, for example, not only condones abortion but insists upon it in for cases where a mother's life is at risk... So banning abortion raises real first amendment violation questions."

What's happening in right now is wrong. I'm struggling to express how I feel, but I'm upset. I'm frustrated. I'm angry and I'm sad.

“What’s happened is not about religion, or morality or unborn babies. It’s about politics.” - Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood (How Did Roe Fall?, New York Times)

There's been protests across the country since Friday. Oklahoma is frighteningly conservative, but there was a solid showing of protesters on the north lawn of the state capitol Sunday afternoon. I'd come to not expect much from Oklahoma City protests, but yesterday made me proud. I've not seen official numbers, but I'd heard someone estimate nearly 1,000 people showed up.

Anne and I took the boys to the event because we think it's important they see their parents as active and visible participants in standing up for what they believe. I remember going out with my mom when I was young during the Oklahoma teacher strikes back in 1990. Tiny Tanner was more stoked about being out of school for a few days and had no idea what those frustrated teachers where actually doing, but I remember it. Protesting doesn't seem practical, but the further into it I've gotten over the years the more I believe in it and see the strength of its long game. Knowing I'm not the only one frustrated with what's going on brings me hope. Showing up and being visible is important.

35 More Hours in NYC

Back in New York this past weekend for something like 35 hours. It's turned into an incredibly busy time here at the Herriott house, so why not include a somewhat last minute trip? On top of that, Elliot and Saint Anne the Wife got Covid right before I left town while Housefire Two and I are still testing negative. Did I also mention it's the last week of their school year?

On Saturday, May 14th, there were abortion rights demonstrations happening across the country. According to BuzzFeed News, there were something like 10,000+ protesters out doing their thing in New York City and marching across the Brooklyn Bridge. Considering the historical significance of the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion and what's at stake, I thought it was important enough to be there with a camera and see things first hand. I'll be cutting a video from the event, but this fight isn't going away anytime soon.

Here's the actual journal entry I wrote the morning following the leak:

We're still reeling this AM following last night's leaked Supreme Court document laying out the overturning of Roe v. Wade... Neither Anne nor I are the same people we were in our younger days. Had this decision come in our late teens, early 20's, we'd be having a different conversation. I'm absolutely in favor of letting women decide what they do with their bodies. This is ridiculous. Again, the black and white lives we led have no doubt turned incredibly gray and we're better people because of it.

In the meantime, just know flights and hotels have gotten INCREDIBLY expensive the last few months. I'd gotten spoiled with $300 roundtrip flights from Oklahoma City to New York during the scary parts of the pandemic. Flights for this quick trip ended up costing $700+. I'd also found a groove with a $150/night Hilton in Long Island City that could've listed as my second address considering how often I was there. I 'bout puked when I saw those same rooms now going for $300-600/night. There's no way I was up to spend that kind of money, so crazy thanks to a DP buddy of mine, Jeremy McDaniel, for letting me crash at his place a couple nights.

deadCenter 2017

deadCenter is easily my favorite week of the summer in Oklahoma City. Over the years – give or take a couple – I've been able to work with the film festival in covering events and screenings with on-camera talent Katie Parker. Here's this year's recap video.

 

Oh, and another thing I got to be part of screened this year in Okie Shorts. Check out the link to Illustrators Anonymous for more info about our film.