Micro/Macro - B. Rieth

1.

An area of personal interest is one that is just outside of the area between UW-M and MIAD (about 5min south of MIAD on 2^nd St). Though it is outside of the boundaries set by this assignment, it holds more interest for me than anything else that currently comes to my memory. On 2^nd Street there are several parking lots and in one of these lots is a trailer that I imagine functions as someone’s living space.

I have an ongoing interest in the divide between public and private space, specifically how people choose to decorate or accent that space between spaces. This trailer, for me, has an ominous presence. While it may be perfectly decorated and homey on the inside, the outside is cold and off-putting. Its windows are all blocked out and there is a Jolly Roger-ish flag in one of them (to ward off danger or imply it?). On top of that the parking lot that the trailer resides in is fenced off.

Just off the top of my head, I’d have to compare it to a can of soup or sundry left out in the elements; frozen in the winter and acrid in the summer. Needless to say, I’d be interested to see inside.

2.

An object of personal significance comes from a friend who I’ve kept in sporadic contact with over the years. There may or may not have been a mutual romantic interest at one point or another…I don’t normally keep things with such associations (letters or other such crap), but this one stayed with me somehow. Maybe because it’s hand made, and simply at that. Maybe its simplicity is a nice summation of that friendship. Perhaps it has only been retained on the merit that it guards my change/random stuff film can…

We shared a meal at Alterra on Prospect, the geographic equivalent of this memory. It was during that time that Jade the cat had managed to wedge herself under the driver’s side seat. The cat was not de-clawed, so it took close to 20 minutes to dislodge her. After that both left town; that was the last time she drove though.

3.

City transportation is an environment in which expects nothing out of the ordinary. Inspired by David Shrigley, I placed a sign on a bus seat that simply read “I’M SORRY.” The intention was two-fold; to see how a person might react to such a statement in an environment where it was unexpected, and apologizing for myself for having been taking a documentary photograph with a concealed camera. The reaction was subtle for the most part, as the bus was not very busy for most of my journey; The sign got little more than a cursory glance from most. When the bus started to fill up towards the end of the trip, the person hoping to occupy the seat picked up the sign, inspected the seat and its surroundings, and placed the sign on the floor.

(Pictures are imminent; aka, film)

Personal/Public - B. Rieth

I have a terrible memory for places and people. For the life of me, I find it difficult to recall things even on a short term basis. It usually takes quite a bit of effort or impact for a place to stick in my mind.

This one happened the previous fall on the 15 route heading south some time in the early afternoon. I was out to photograph for my senior project (thesis), which consisted of the collection of an archive to be rediscovered later based largely on straight photography through everyday life; In short, a lot of "impulsive" photographs of people, places and things that caught my eye. I had decided not to walk to my destination (Walker's Point) as it was quite cold and I felt that I had made that walk too many times before and feared that my archive might repeat itself.

Remember how I have a terrible memory? In a way that's why I photograph, but even then I do not necessarily remember the images I have taken. For this project I had decided to leave processing for later in the year in aid in later selection, so I hadn't yet seen any of the images I had made.

So, I boarded the 15 and sat down towards the back; I readied my camera and checked it's settings. When I looked up there was a woman who was veiling her face and looking at me quite coldly. I got the feeling and came to the conclusion that she recognized me as a photographer who might take a photo without permission. I tried to ignore her; I didn't recognize her and I have never been particularly interested in photographing on buses. It got to be so uncomfortable on my end that I decided to depart several miles early and wait for another.

When we're out in public we're used to being anonymous; this was the first time I felt recognized...it sticks in my memory because of its negativity. I kept looking for her when I got to processing hoping that might help me understand if there had been something that I had done. I never found her in them, nor have I ever seen her in public again. Perhaps she just had another previous experience separate from me, giving natural distrust of persons with cameras; it's a weird concept for me considering the amount of surveillance in this country (both state and corporate).

My trip didn't happen that day. I put my camera away and walked home.

GPS: 43.073198,-87.8879

Three Days/Three Ways - B. Rieth

Some notes about the trips, painstakingly transcribed and expanded from fairly haphazard notes.

The Route.

1. Bicycle.

· Time started: about 7:30am by the North Ave. exit on Oakleaf.
· I keep getting hit in the face with flies on the Oakleaf Trail.
· There are a lot of plastic bags in the trees.
· Squirrels!
· I can still hear what I think are trees creaking around the exit by Altera on the Lake.
· Slight detour – I’m not about to attempt to drag my bike up the hill; I go down to the Brady Street exit and backtrack to St. Johns.
· Not too many people out on a Sunday morning.
· Prospect is easier to cross than it was on Thursday evening.
· The rest goes by fairly quickly. My back/neck hurt, for some reason.

2. Walk - Burdened.

· Took my view camera and tripod on this one – starting about 2:45pm from North/Oakland.
· Stopped for a snack at Sils. Overcharged by a dollar = free bag of chips.
· I only have a few holders, and it’s hot (got to be in the 80’s, according to weather.com) and the trip isn’t necessarily the subject that I want to use the film for. I did stop to make one exposure at my St. John’s hill exit. I get a few looks at this point from the higher pedestrian/bicyclist traffic at this time.
· My backpack keeps getting caught on trees up the hill. The tripod isn’t helping. It doesn't seem as heavy when it's only carried a short distance. I still feel like a weirdo once I emerge from the brush behind St. Johns.
· I was spending so much time looking about that I forgot my cig had burnt down – ouch.
· No violinist at Hamilton/Pulaski at the moment. Boo.
· I find that I am paying more attention to the people around me than I was on the bike. More time to contemplate them rather than avoid (hitting/being hit by) them.
· I catch the 15 route at Brady and Van Buren/Holton heading south. I leave the unopened bag of chips for someone to find.

3. Car – Passenger.

· City transportation is out due to my route; luckily my friend was available shortly. Time: about 6:30 from Holton/Brady.
· Country music is not my favorite. Air conditioning, however, is.
· Being in a car makes the trip seem like nothing, even less so than on a bike. Taking pictures of people is easier though, the car being a buffer and all.
· Remember the small bit of graffiti in the parking lot. Reserved>Deserved. We get stuck behind another car idling in the lot...unkind words are spoken.
· The trip ends prematurely: my friend has to get to work, and we cannot follow the route anymore anyways after the lot(one ways going the wrong way).

***Of note: Pictures are from the initial trip and trip 3. I took analog cameras on the other two runs; I’ll try to remember to post some of those once I get them processed/scanned. =)

The End.