BURST!

I'm not convinced that even the greatest photographers can will inspiration; creativity is not a readily available resource. Ideas can slowly creep to the surface (hibernating long enough to cause a bit of worry) or they can BURST! from your brain in an adrenaline-producing manner.

My inspiration came to me in burst form last night, as I walked to the Quarry-house in Silver Spring to meet a friend for beer before seeing The Kids Are All Right. The sky was gray and the streets wet from a recent rain. I was walking quickly toward my destination, head down, noticing a stream of fluorescent light from one of the stores I walked by.

It was a Barbershop. A black man sat in the chair, eyes closed, knees falling in opposite directions as the Barber shaved the graying hair off his head. That's when the burst happened. The scene was so appealing to me; almost moving. It was such an interesting, every-day representation of my city's culture. One man getting a routine hair cut, another doing his work to get by, and not another soul to crowd the frame. I wanted to preserve the image to share with someone else. And that, I think, is what photography is all about.

And so I would like to make a photographic series and call it "Barbershop." Although the subject is self-explanatory, I think it will provide me with many interesting sub-subjects: barbers, customers, kids, interesting shop spaces (walls, ceilings, floors), hair cutting supplies, and on and on and on.

Josh likes the idea. Of course this helps because he is my partner, and I know his perspective and endless supply of good ideas will enhance the project. Together we can put together an interesting collection of shots.

But can we do it? Can we capture not only what we're seeing but what we're feeling? Practice makes perfect, right? We're going for it.