April 2016 Houston Flood

A Taciturn Turbulence

Houston sprawls paralyzed in its mid-diluvial funk. Streets and skies are empty of travelers. Bayous rush with a turbulent, arrogant energy, oblivious to the curious eyes of daring joggers and dogs. Cars, abandoned, have no ambition to be dealt with anytime soon. Homes, flooded, sigh despondently through open doors and windows. The city starts ambling toward recovery, as it always does. But…it does so cautiously: more storms lurk beyond the horizon. They too shall pass, and we’ll enjoy the respite ’til the next time. And then we’ll do it again, as we’ve done it before. Because we’re Houston.

These photos were taken during an excursion through my neighborhood to explore the aftermath of one of the all-too-regular storm systems that blast our part of the world lately. The idea was to capture the juxtaposition of urban life and meteorology continuing on above, while the damage and danger of the flood remain below. Each of these photos thus is bifurcated horizontally to demonstrate this point counterpoint visual conversation. Reflections are reminders to the “above” about what’s “below.”

2016 Houston Art Car Parade

The annual Art Car Parade, put on by the Orange Show for Visionary Arts and the Art Car Museum, is a Houston institution. The effort and the artistry emanate from every welded panel and every gorilla-glued spangle and toy.

The participants, both the people and their cars, bikes or popcorn machines (seriously, there was one), use their creations as vehicles (pun quite intended) for spreading their messages, be they artistic, civic, political, or just damn fantastical.

For decades, the parade has run down Allen Parkway, taking advantage of its wide breadth and ample green space surrounding it. While the Parkway is under construction this year, the parade was temporarily moved to the skyline district of downtown Houston, where, interestingly enough, is where the parade’s original route ran many years ago. This provided a unique, and utterly unrecreatable, opportunity to juxtapose the profound freedom of the parade (embodied alike in the cars, drivers, and spectators) with the sterile aloofness and rigid lines of skyscrapers.

And, of course, the weather was perfect. That’s Houston.

Instagram Photo Feed

Photography is about the capture of a moment…but first there must be an understanding of, and immersion in, that moment. Then comes the skill of taking the photo, and the technical understanding of light, technology and optics. And of course being in the right place at the right time in the first place. Editing and processing and sharing. A lot of work goes into making a photo, just as a lot goes into making a memory. These are some of my memories…