JN134 Week 6 Blog Post

Topic 1: My Hometown
1. I'm going to photograph the neighborhood around LBCC. I live right next to the school and I've found that my apartment building is a really interesting mixture of young single-parents, elderly, and low-income students.
2. For my portrait subject, I hope to photograph my neighbor Ray, who's often seen smoking in his truck in the parking lot. Ray grew up in rural Alabama during segregation and was born into the KKK. He was arrested in a race riot with a black man he was fighting and was put in a cell with the man. After talking with him, he realized they wanted the same things and even listened to the same music. In that moment he found he was no longer able to support racism. Ray is really the glue that connects the younger generations within the small community to older generations, he introduces all new tenants to existing ones. For my landmark photo, I intend to take a picture of the gate that leads from my neighborhood into the LBCC parking lot. The activity I tend to photograph is the "smoking tree" in the parking lot of my apartment complex. The tree is where people typically gather at the end of the day to trade cigarettes, pipes, drinks and stories from their day.
3. I think the photograph that will present the largest challenge is the portrait of Ray, he's about the most laid-back person I've ever met but he's not one to welcome a spotlight. Ray is a man of strong constitution and will be terribly difficult to bribe.

Topic 2:
First Photo Story Idea: LBCC Car Show
So this idea didn't end up panning out, as these photos became my "Free Shoot." I'm going to answer the following questions as though I had properly planned out my attempt.

I would follow Richard Treewin as he prepares to show his 1968 Buick Riviera at the LBCC Industrial Technological Society Car Show on Saturday, May 20. I would continue following Treewin during the car show at the LBCC Albany campus, covering him interacting with patrons and judges, explaining things about his car. I would then take photos of him accepting his award, cleaning up, and leaving the car show. 

I would have reached out to Treewin before and asked him to come take pictures of him in his garage cleaning his car or making last minute adjustments. I would then ask to ride with him to the show. I think once I had permission to follow him a little bit, getting the right photos would be a matter of taking them properly and getting them at the right time.

Second Photo Story Idea: Alec Shelton Hitchhiking
Alec Shelton is one of my neighbors and has recently become interested in hitchhiking. Shelton has hitchhiked to the Oregon Coast once previously and intends to do so again. Alec is hitchhiking to the coast this weekend from Albany. I will be following his journey from the time he packs his bag and draws his sign to when he steps onto the beach.

I already spoke with Alec and have gotten his permission to photograph him at his apartment as he prepares to leave. I have to go to the highway where he will be standing to catch a ride and scout a place to photograph and still be able to drive quickly so I can follow the car he gets into. Other than that, I will have to do it on the fly, as where he will be dropped off and when are always subject to change with something like hitchhiking.