Life Behind the Lens

When I was a little kid growing up in Trinity, North Carolina, I would sit on the front porch and wonder what the world was like beyond my neighborhood. Surrounded by old cars, failing home structures and loving people, it was there that my imagination began to take shape. There was an old air field that we would ride past sometimes to get home and I remember wondering what it would be like to see my house from the sky. Fast forward to now and I stay in the sky and can't see my rooftop at all, lol.

As I get further a long in my career my friends and family often ask me how do I see the things that I see... How do I process the images in front of me? After I clear the air with a joke or two, I pause to give the proper perspective on the question. I share with them the feelings/emotion of what I see vs the visual side of what I see. In every environment most of us use all of our senses to survive. The same goes for capturing important moments in life. You listen, you see, you smell and you feel everything around you. It's much like sitting on the front porch when I was a kid. It took for me to sit still to absorb my surroundings. I guess it's safe to say that I've been in training to do this my entire life.

Life behind the lens requires a different type of focus. Every camera has "buttons" but no camera carries the emotion or the ability to capture images. As we move thru the last quarter of 2012, I want to thank all of you that have supported me throughout this journey.

Enjoying Life Behind the Lens

-J.J. McQueen-

Comments

The Money Shot

The "Money Shot". It's not the type of shot where you look to get paid. It's the one that tells the largest story with the least amount of words. Today as I drove through Pen Lucy park, I saw this homeless lady at the stop light. I've driven through here daily for years and today was the first time I'd ever seen this lady. She was as worn as the soles of her shoes. She appeared to have the conscious mind of a 6 year old child. I only had about 20 seconds to capture the moment. It tends to be that way driving through the district where most of the show " The Wire " was filmed. Needless to say I was able to salvage what I referred to above as, " The Money Shot". After countless hours of studying the late great visual artist, Gordon Parks life stills, I've come to the conclusion that life stills are and should be timeless. They hold the frailties of life tight enough to crush them and soft enough to doctor them back to maximum h...

The Measure of a Man.........

the details are below the photos it's a must read story for the men.... The title of this blog maybe familiar to some, it's that of the autobiography of actor Sidney Poitier. When you mention his name the words courage, great, intelligent, daring, brilliant and faithful may come to mind. I've got a new name that replaces those words, Von Johnson. My friend. My brother. My cousin. My new HERO. How and what does that have to do with the title? Yesterday, I observed what it means to live the final portion of your wedding vows, "till death do us part"...... I can't even put it into words how I felt yesterday. The only word that comes close is "helpless". It was one of the rare moments in life where you want to take someone else's pain and throw it down the river and start fresh. I learned what the measure of a man is all about. Can you live on life's edge and handle all it dishes out? Can you stand in the toughest moments of opposit...

The Players That You Never Knew

With the opening Friday Night of the 2014 high school football season on the horizon, every barbershop in every small-town in America is probably buzzing with the conversation of who are greatest high school football players of all time. It's a valid question considering the pool of talent that passes through most small towns. People often wonder where these guys end up long after their playing days are over. I've often asked the same question about many of my ex-teammates. Two in particular, Darius Brewnington and Kenny Shaw. If you were an athlete in the early 1990's they were arguably considered two of the most influential athletes in North Carolina's rich high school football history. Unfortunately, like many other high profile athletes life happens. However, even with the growing pains of life every man has his day of redemption. With Darius and Kenny being former teammates of mine I wanted to see for myself who they are 20 years removed fr...

Vision Beyond The Lens by -J.J. McQueen-

Search This Blog