A few days ago I was contacted by a Leica store to display five photographs for an upcoming exhibition.  I have to admit I was very surprised and at the same time flattered they would offer me space in their store.  The easy part was accepting the offer, the hard part was choosing a theme.  Narrowing down all of my photographs to five to portray a theme is tough.

Between a Leica S2, X1, M8 and M9 I’ve accumulated nearly 30,000 images. Obviously there is quite a range with regards to ‘keepers’, but nonetheless, there are a lot of photos to go through.  Themes that I’m working on are: Solitude, Relationship, Protest and Crosswalk.

I can pull out five photos for all of these themes, but one of them sticks out more than others, Crosswalks.

For whatever reason, I have been fascinated with capturing crosswalks, with pedestrians in or around them, for a several years.  I like the bold, contrasty white stripes on the black pavement, I love the urban landscape and I like the fact that it symbolizes a safe zone for pedestrians in a place they don’t belong, the road.

Solitude is interesting because it’s about people.  Some people appear perfectly happy to be alone where others look out-of-place, awkward or lonely.  I like the feelings and the instant connection with the subject.  It is a great practice in empathy.

Relationship is probably the least challenging one to pull off.  Relationships are everywhere we look and we can all relate in some way or another.  One way to challenge the Relationship idea a little is to put relationships into two categories: 1) Relationships with people or 2) Relationships with inanimate objects such as machinery or the land.

Protest is a great theme, because it shows exaggerated emotions is always current. People gather to express an idea and usually do so visually which suits photography perfectly.  I like the sings, the variety of people, the emotions, the colors and the busy settings.

Nothing has been decided yet.  If you have some ideas or suggestions, please pass them on, I’m listening.