Little Rock Arkansas.
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© Rex Lisman
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Friday, December 25, 2015
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Cowboy, Mena Arkansas. 4 of 5
His concentration was broken by the honking horn of a passing car. He turned his head quickly and looked sternly through the large window. Then, laughing, he said, " I sure hope my boots are made of cow hide."
" Yeah, me too," I said, trying not to imagine the alternative.
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© Rex Lisman
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Cowboy, Mena Arkansas. 3 of 5
He paused for a few moments, lost in thought, then looked at me and said, " These boots, my boots, were handmade for me by a man who lives just outside of town."
He took a deep breath, " That man was married to a woman who, it is rumored, killed her first husband, chopped up the body and dumped it in a pond on her property."
He held his direct gaze at the camera for a long while.
( continued )
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© Rex Lisman
Friday, November 6, 2015
Cowboy, Mena Arkansas. 2 of 5
" Cowboys would go to town once a year and get cleaned up, get a haircut and spend that hard earned cash at the Saloon."
He paused for a moment, " So, I get my haircut once a year only."
A serious look came over his face, " I'm from Chicago originally and I am most likely the last Cowboy left."
He paused for a moment, " So, I get my haircut once a year only."
A serious look came over his face, " I'm from Chicago originally and I am most likely the last Cowboy left."
( Continued )
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© Rex Lisman
Thursday, November 5, 2015
I saw him from across the street, sitting inside his shop, sleeping in front of the large window. As I shot he stirred awake. I motioned that I wanted to come in and he waved me in. I sat in the other chair and said I wanted to shoot some portraits of him in this light. As I did he started a stream of consciousness series of mini stories about himself. The first one began with him telling me that he gets his haircut once a year only.
( Continued )
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© Rex Lisman
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Friday, October 23, 2015
Some damn Federal Building.
Within a few steps of shooting this frame I saw him. I was walking west along the sidewalk, he was walking east. He was dressed in what appeared to be a security guard uniform that was designed to look like Law Enforcement. Of course he could be Field Protective Service but I had my doubts. At first I thought he was going to pass by me but after a few more steps I realized he was making a bee line toward me. I sighed to myself knowing the conversation I was about to have. Once we were within five feet of each other he stepped in front of me and said, "You can't be taking pictures of Federal buildings."
"I'm done taking pictures, but yes I can take pictures of Federal buildings." We were now stopped and facing one another.
He said, "No it is illegal to take pictures of Federal buildings."
I shook my head, "As long as I am standing on public property I can photograph anything I can see. You might want to check with your supervisor to make sure you are telling people the right thing."
"Sir", he said, "I need to see your ID."
"Why do you need to see my ID?"
"You were taking pictures of the Federal building and it's my job."
"That's no reason for you to ask for my ID, I'm not giving it to you."
"Sir, I need to see your ID."
"If you want to see my ID we need to have the Police come down and sort this out."
So far the conversation remained cordial, he made no threats and didn't raise his voice, but it was apparent that he did not like having his authority questioned. He dipped his head to the left while grasping his mic, which was secured to his shoulder, and spoke something unintelligible into it followed by,"You need to come out here."
As much fun as I was having, at this point I was getting bored so I asked,"Are you detaining me?"
"No, not at the moment."
"Alright then, I'll be on my way."
I started walking west down the sidewalk again. He followed and after a couple of steps he was walking next to me.
"So, what exactly were you photographing." He voice had taken on a tone of curiosity. I wasn't fooled, he was just stalling me. I was interested again so I decided to play along.I stopped and faced him.
"I framed the corner of the building in such a way that the two sides angled off. I also wanted to include the light pole and the power lines to help with the visual interest. I am curious if this will make an interesting black and white architectural shot." ( When I was a kid I had a poster that said, "If you can't baffle them with intelligence then befuddle them with bullshit." I'll leave it to the reader to decide which was at play here. )
"So you were just photographing the architecture?"
"Yes, that's right."
To my front left the entrance to the building opened and out walked another man in uniform, no doubt the supervisor and the reason for the stalling tactic.
"What's seems to be the problem?" The supervisor asked as he approached.
"Your man here is trying to tell me that I am not allowed to photograph Federal buildings."
"That's right."
"I'm not trying to be argumentative, and I've answered his questions, but in fact I am allowed to photograph whatever I can see as long as I am standing on public property, like this sidewalk."
"What are you taking pictures of?"
"He was just taking pictures of the architecture." The first guard chimed in.
It seems that now he was an Ally.
"Well yes you can photograph the building, just not the entranceways."
Interesting how the story evolved after a few minutes of not just submitting to some some authority's assertion as to what I am allowed to do or not do. I wonder how many other people have relented and possibly erased their shots just because some guy in a cheap polyester uniform told them to? To be fair, this guy never asked to see my shots or never told me to erase them. In fact he was very polite and never lost his cool or got angry during the entire conversation. But, he was still wrong and I am not about to give in without an argument. I'm certainly not going to hand my ID over to some Security Guard and risk finding myself on some stupid list. The fact is we are slowly becoming a country guided by a fear of things that are so unlikely to happen that all I can say is it's time to stop being candy-asses.
I finally had enough of this fun and said, "I'm not trying to be a jerk but I'm just standing up for myself." "Y'all have a good evening." I walked off, slowly. My car was parked a block and a half away, that's where I was headed when I decide to stop and take a few shots of the building, that I didn't even know was a Federal building until the first guard told me. As I made my way to my car I stopped and shot more frames of scenes I found interesting. A few of those shots were wider shots that included, among other buildings, that Damn Federal Building.
Little Rock Arkansas.
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© Rex Lisman
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Monday, October 5, 2015
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Friday, October 2, 2015
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Kennedy. Little Rock Arkansas.
After walking around downtown Little Rock for two hours photographing the urban environment I stopped to shoot some details of a parking garage. While doing so I heard someone a few hundred feet to my right say something a few times. As he got closer I realized he was talking to me. This happens to me a lot. I turned toward him and asked, "What's that?"
He responded, "I'm going to be a famous poet someday."
He didn't stop so I started walking along side him.
I asked, " What's your name?"
"Kennedy."
I asked him to recite one of his poems. He did. You have to respect a person who is willing, without hesitation, to take the risk of sharing an artistic creation with a perfect stranger. When he finished I asked to shoot his portrait, and after five frames we continued to walk and talk until we came to the next block. He turned right and i continued straight.
He responded, "I'm going to be a famous poet someday."
He didn't stop so I started walking along side him.
I asked, " What's your name?"
"Kennedy."
I asked him to recite one of his poems. He did. You have to respect a person who is willing, without hesitation, to take the risk of sharing an artistic creation with a perfect stranger. When he finished I asked to shoot his portrait, and after five frames we continued to walk and talk until we came to the next block. He turned right and i continued straight.
My personal experience is that whenever I would like to shoot a stranger's portrait all I need do is walk around photographing anything but people and eventually, almost without fail, someone will stop me and ask me to photograph them. The people who do so almost always are the most interesting people with the best personal stories.
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© Rex Lisman
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Friday, September 11, 2015
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Monday, September 7, 2015
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Thursday, August 20, 2015
I pulled into the rural gas station and then along side one of the pumps and stopped. I opened my door and stepped out into the wet air. The forlorn voice of Hank Williams implored me as it rose, once more, from it's loamy home and settled in the air and spread across the pavement.
A man, in faded jeans camouflage tee shirt and Hog ball cap, on the other side of the pump island worked his windshield with a squegee with the same obsessiveness as a sleep walking Lady Macbeth.
He finished and then walked to the back of his truck and opened the large bed mounted tool box and exclaimed, " Whooo-wee, talk about one more for the road", then reached in and fetched out a half emptied gallon bottle of whiskey, raised it to his lips, took a long draw, put the bottle back, got into his truck and drove off. And Hank kept singing.
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© Rex Lisman
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Friday, July 24, 2015
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Monday, July 6, 2015
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Monday, June 15, 2015
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Monday, June 8, 2015
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