Boys and arrows

-DKM

A Congregation, the favorites of 2014

And so it ends. 

It's impossible to sum up a year's time in a few words, so too is it with a year's worth of photographs.  I think my approach this year was more focused but also looser, realizing that literally anything can be an interesting picture, it just depends on what you do with it. That was really at the root of my explorations around Washington, Oregon and California this year — seeing what there is and what interests me. Hopefully this grouping of personal work favorites from this year will interest you as well.

PS - There is a very nice spread of images by Natalie and I that will be in the paper next week, highlighting some of our favorite Observer photos that didn't make it into print last year. Be sure to give it a look.

COLOR
Every year I try to concentrate or emphasize something different in my work than the year before. In the past it has been shooting with just one lens, shooting in new style, doing something completely different. For a majority of my life as a photographer I would consider myself a black and white photographer. This year I was inspired greatly by the works of William Eggleston and Martin Parr, which is all about color. Granted, though I have shot in color almost exclusively for my job through the years, I have always thought in monochrome. This year I really tried to think more in color and of color.

ONLY LOVE CAN BREAK YOUR HEART

This year I made a major addition to my series of photographs from my hometown of Crescent City, Ca., that has been in the works for more than 10 years. The year was significant as it was the 50th anniversary of the large tsunami that hit the town in 1964, as well as a year since my fathers first stroke. The theme of the work is things that change and things that stay the same. My dad's health has wavered back and forth, as has the town, as they both struggle with life now and life before. Three years ago the town was hit by a second tsunami, the only place in north America to have suffered multiple tidal waves. The tsunami destroyed the harbor, once the most vital industry in the community. A new port opened this year and I found it interesting to see a boat named Victory near another named Maranatha (Come, Lord). I recently did a mock up for a book of this work that I'm going to try and get published this next year. Self-publishing photo books is something I'm beginning to take a great interest in. Maybe that will be next years thing?

-DKM

On streets of Roses, Pt. 22

Baby it's wet outside

-DKM

Me and Doc, Doc and I, Astoria, Or.

After a lunch with the very nice young photographer Josh Bessex, who was just hired by the Daily Astorian, I took a walk around town for a bit with Doc Cheatham in my ears. Doc was a jazz trumpeter who did not come into his own until the age of 70, when most others can no longer play. Not only a great player, he was also an underrated singer who later in life would perform in a fashion similar to Louis Armstrong, where on some songs he would play an intro and then sing a verse, then play some more, and so on, but very gently. He was a perfect partner on a crisp clear day. 

-DKM