Paul Collins Photography

Random Photo of the Day

2009-08-12T17:42:00.000-07:00

The Monkey and the Organ Grinder

Times Square Subway, NYC

It's almost here!

2009-04-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

Danny Tellers has informed me that I will be able to see his new design of my photography site on Thursday!
I'm really excited and I'm sure I will love it!

Danny is an amazing designer. You can check out his work here.

Random Photo of the Day

2009-03-21T15:48:00.000-07:00

Lonely Tower

New Paltz, NY

Random Photo of the Day

2009-02-23T18:55:00.000-08:00

One side makes you taller

Annandale, NY

On the horizon...

2009-02-15T14:17:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated my actual website, Paul Collins Photography, in a while due to an imminent redesign by the wonderful and amazingly talented Danny Tellers.

I'm really excited as this will be far better than anything I could have ever done on my own.

In the mean time, be sure to check out my street photography galleries there (if you haven't already).
It's a slice of time and space from San Francisco to New York, spanning 1989 to the present.

If you are on Facebook, I also have galleries up at my own Artist Page there.

There's always something new and groovy happening over at the 15x100 Blog! Be sure to stop by regularly.

Random Photo of the Day

2009-02-15T14:14:00.000-08:00

Paws

From a recent walk through Poet’s Walk Park.

Red Hook, NY

Random Photo of the Day

2009-02-04T18:12:00.000-08:00

Pieces of Donna #1

An older film shot. From somewhere in the late 90s.

Woodstock, NY

Random Photo of the Day

2009-01-27T19:42:00.000-08:00

Ministry of Hope

From the “Kingston Life” series. See other selections at 15x100.

Kingston, NY

Random Photo of the Day

2009-01-26T19:55:00.000-08:00

Fresh Picked

One of my more successful attempts at creating an HDR image that doesn’t have that HDR “look”.
Also experimenting with some fun ways to use Photoshop’s Lens Blur filter.

Annandale, NY

I've been published at One Exposure

2009-01-23T08:35:00.000-08:00

I'm pleased to announce that one of my images, "Park Slope Diva", has been added to the hallowed galleries of One Exposure!

It's very exciting to have been deemed worthy by such a distinguished collection of photographers!

Link is here.

I am honored and humbled...

2009-01-21T19:10:00.000-08:00

Over at the 15x100 blog, Marie Wilson of Vargas Speaks has written an amazing and poetic account of what she sees in a selection of my photographs.
Thank you Marie for your beautiful and inspiring words!

You can read the piece here.

Random Photo of the Day

2009-01-16T16:49:00.000-08:00

Twins

Albany airport.
Albany, NY

Random Photo of the Day

2009-01-15T19:30:00.000-08:00

Bodyscape #1

Part of an ongoing series of bodies as landscapes.

Saugerites, NY

Random Photo of the Day

2009-01-14T19:07:00.000-08:00

Untitled.

I love trains and the things you find around them. I can always feel the Ogun energy.
This structure seemed perfect for a little experimenting with HDR.

Mt. Marion, NY

Random Photo of the Day - Extra

2009-01-12T19:46:00.000-08:00

Roots revisited.

A favorite spot of mine along the Poet’s Walk trail in Annandale.

Annandale, NY

Random Photo of the Day

2009-01-12T18:57:00.000-08:00

Wonder

From an upcoming section I plan to do on life in the up and coming city of Kingston, New York.

Kingston, NY

Random Photo of the Day

2009-01-11T13:02:00.000-08:00

Pong

Something about this made me think of the classic video game.
That singular white block bouncing back and forth across a center line.

Saugerties Bowler's Club
Saugerites, NY

A bit of news from my world...

2009-01-10T17:02:00.000-08:00

New gallery on the site. “Polk and Sacramento”.

This completes what will become the Street Photography section of the galleries.
They will ultimately be sectioned off by way of a main gallery menu.
I haven’t quite decided what the other sections will be just yet though.

The story behind “Polk and Sacramento” begins with my severe case of Attention Deficit Disorder.

I lived in San Francisco from ‘89 to ‘93, and supported myself by working in one hour photo labs (back when that was considered a “skill”).

The job itself can get monotonous pretty quickly. Day after day of roll after roll of boring family vacation pictures can make you want to claw your face off after a while.
So, to relieve the boredom, I used to spend my lunch break photographing everyone who walked past the store (which was on the corner of Polk street and Sacramento street, hence the name of the gallery).
All shot with my old Canon F-1, on Tri-X.

I had no designs on making a project out of it. It was really just a way to keep my brain from atrophying.
All these years later I revisited those shots and was quite surprised by what I’d captured.

An interesting little slice of life in the microcosm that was one street corner, in one neighborhood, in one city.
A documentary, of sorts.

It was fascinating to recall people’s reactions to me.
I’m sure they all wondered who was this freaky fellow just standing there taking pictures of everybody?
Some seemed to be amused by it. Others scowled. Most just ignored me and kept walking.

Being that I was stationary, it was tricky to compose the shots with any sense of inconspicuousness.
In other types of street photography that I’ve done, I was always moving.

With a few exceptions, it was a “hit and run“ style of shooting.
In Polk and Sacramento, I was forced to confront the awareness of each subject.

There were never any verbal exchanges. But the one-second conversation our eyes would have said enough.

In the coming days I’ll talk a bit about the other 3 street galleries and the inspirations and stories behind them.

Random Photo of the Day

2009-01-10T15:29:00.000-08:00

Immobile

From Friday’s nature walk.

Just figured out how to automatically add the little watermark of my logo in Aperture. :)

Annandale, NY

Synchronicity...

2009-01-09T13:12:00.000-08:00

One of the inevitabilities of having such a common name in the information age is that you will invariably encounter Doppelgängers.

I am endlessly fascinated by this.
I enjoy periodically googling my name to see what other Paul Collins' are doing in the arts.

Today I came across two other Paul Collins' who are also photographers, and quite extraordinary ones at that.

Paul Nemirah Collins is a fabulous portrait photographer who is also based in New York.
This Paul Collins does wonderful urban landscape work that reminds me a bit of my friend Llorenç Rosanes.

I highly recommend checking out both.

Random Photo of the Day

2009-01-08T19:22:00.000-08:00

Staring At The Sun

“When I was a kid my father used to say

I had dreams when I was your age.

I don’t get it. Why do people change?

I swear I will never be that way.

Staring at the sun, I see a brighter day.

Should I look away?

Staring at the sun, I feel it’s warm embrace.

Should I walk away?“

--Wendy and Lisa

Annandale, NY

Random Photo of the Day...

2009-01-07T09:44:00.000-08:00

Elephants In The Ice

That's what these tree trunks looked like to me.

From a nature walk I took the other day.

Annandale, NY

Random photo of the day

2009-01-06T20:24:00.000-08:00

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

This bottle fascinated me on a walk through the woods one day.
Despite being saddened that it was there in the first place (It sickens me when people don’t clean up their mess in nature areas), I loved to contrast of the blue of the label against the brown leaves.
The patterns of the bubbles, and the way they caught and refracted the light.

Annandale, NY

Into the woods...

2009-01-06T06:44:00.000-08:00

Or, at least, the "blogosphere"...

I have a lot to think about as I foray into the notion of creating a blog about photography.
What is photography from my perspective?

How do I think about it?
How do I feel about it?

Do I want to talk about philosophy? Technique? Ideas? Or, just the work itself?

I like to stick my fingers in many stylistic pies. So which one is "me"?
Or are they all?

Mostly, I suspect this will just be periodic blather that will be completely uninteresting to anyone but me.
Photographs from my daily (and not so daily) wanderings around the Hudson Valley area of New York.

And perhaps a political rant or two to spice things up a bit.

The adventure begins...