Month: August 2020

Here’s a little story behind this photograph of my wife and Joe Biden

During the Democratic primary season my wife and I attended a number of events to see the various politicians that sought the highest office in our nation. All of them were quite compelling for a variety of reasons.

Last summer there was a Joe Biden event down the road from our house in Nantucket and so we went. At one point, we are introduced and my wife says, “Hi, I’m Lauren Regan (her maiden name) I think you knew my dad”

Literally, in less than second the Vice President beamed, held Lauren’s hands and said “Oh my god, your Denny’s daughter”. Then he went on to say he recently drove by their old family home in Wilmington and asked about Lauren’s mom. I grabbed my phone and took this photo.

Now Lauren’s dad was the former police chief in Wilmington, Delaware. But he died suddenly and much too early at age 50 back in 1993. A long time ago. The VP knew it was a tragic loss for Lauren and her family. You could see it in his eyes.

We only had a few moments with Joe Biden as a line was forming behind us with various folks that wanted his attention. But it was a moment I won’t forget.

The man is all heart.

Bright Eyes songs, especially when you’re a certain age, sound as grandiose and all-consuming as your first heartbreak, and they work in good times and bad. Heartache hurts when you’re 22 and when you’re 42. A Bright Eyes song will age with you

~Bringing Back Bright Eyes

I stumbled across this fantastic video on YouTube this summer, produced by Ilford (makers of photographic films) and highlighting the film photography of Jason Lee. For those not familiar, Jason was a professional skateboarder before becoming an actor. About 15 years ago, he discovered photography, and like so many of us, photography became a passion. The video itself is a work of art, and I have watched it a few times now. 

I became a bit curious about his work, which led me to this podcast with Jason and the folks at Kodak about a photography book he created called, A Plain View. The book is out of print, but the images on his website of the book are simply beautiful. I hope I can track down this book in the secondary market at some point, but for now, it’s unavailable to me. 

Few things that stand out with Jason photography:

-He doesn’t have a social media presence at all. He doesn’t collect likes or followers on Instagram or Facebook. His work is in books, short films, fine art prints and his own website. How refreshing.

-You can tell from his work that he loves the beauty of film photography, from exposing the film to printing the image. He mentions his use of old lenses not because they give him a photographic look that he seeks that cannot be matched by new gear or digital manipulation.

-His curiosity leads to experimentation. Jason’s work is across 35mm, medium format and large format. You get a sense that each format is intentional and also the photographer on a self exploration of the unknown.

As you can tell, I am quite taken with Jason’s approach to the craft and the final output. I highly recommend checking out Jason’s work on his website.