He was working, and agreed to the interview if I promised to keep it under 10 minutes. This was difficult, as it takes me a while to get going and it’s almost impossible to get to “that place” in an interview when you’ve only got a couple minutes.

The edit was very difficult for me, but I found the footage of his conversation interesting. I had left the camera rolling while I was doing something else. For me, the conversation represents a tiny crack in the presentation. It gives the viewer a peek at his real life however dramatic or mundane.

As a stand alone piece, I feel it holds its own but has a different feel and cadence than the other two shorts I’ve done in the series so far. It’s more real, somehow, and less moving perhaps because it’s so normal. As apart of the series though, Ron occupies a significant space. I see Pat and Gilbert as bookends, and Ron’s interview is almost a breath of fresh air by comparison.

I filmed this piece on a Sony EX1, with a Letus 35mm Adapter, and a Canon L series 24-70 f2.8 lens. The project was color treated with magic bullet looks.

The front of the store is all glass, and the display case is filled with “collectible junk.” I couldn’t help but think every time I walked by, “how does this store survive, and what is that woman’s story?” I had no idea just how interesting the woman in the junk shop would turn out to be.

Artistic Statement: As the second in my profile series, I wanted to retain certain aesthetic elements from my first piece in the series featuring Gilbert. The challenge would be to keep the series interesting, and to keep those aesthetic elements from becoming cliche or gimmicky.

I decided early on to make the store an extension of the main character, Pat, as she is very much a part of the store and the store a part of her. I utilized an establishing shot from across the street to convey voyeuristic sense of peering in to this “familiar stranger’s” life. I wanted to create a sense of place, differentiated by sound and perspective, that marked the outside from the inside of the store.

I wanted the interview to have an almost home movie or archival feel and I felt that the drab colors and the cool fluorescent lighting should be accentuated for the viewer, so obviously black and white wouldn’t work like it did with Gilbert’s piece.

My only regret with this piece is that I didn’t have a wider lens to shoot the narrow store interior and capture the clutter and sense of claustrophobic nostalgia one feels when inside. Although it was awkward for me, I chose to frame a couple shots of Pat where she sits all day long near the store front. She literally blends in with the items on the wall. Over the last 35 years, Pat has become a part of the collection that she so lovingly curates.

I filmed this piece on a Sony EX1, with a Letus 35mm Adapter, Zeiss Planar T* f1.4/85mm prime lens, and a Nikon 50mm f1.4. The project was color treated with magic bullet looks.

Music (used with permission) in this piece is called “Blue Bicycle” by Dusseldorf-based pianist / composer Volker Bertelmann also known as Hauschka.

Artistic Statement: This is the first in a series of profiles of people who I think are interesting, and who I see on almost a daily basis. I don’t want to limit the series to people who live “on the fringe,” but it would be appropriate to say that most of the people I interview are eclectic, eccentric, and just a little bit unique.

The art is in the viewing - but I hope to turn my lens on individuals that don’t always color in the lines, whether they can help it or not.

Tech: This was shot on a Sony EX1, 1080p 30p with a Letus Extreme 35mm Lens Adapter. I had a Zeiss Planar T* f1.4/85mm lens with the aperture wide open. The piece was edited in Final Cut Pro and color tweaked with Magic Bullet Looks.