First Day Out

So today (February 18th) marks the first day someone took me out in their car to shoot some photographs. Kiki Athanassiadis works for the University of Windsor as the printmaking and digital print lab technician. Sheis from Montreal, and only arrived in Windsor for the first time, likemyself, just after September. The first trip made for a most interesting adventure.
The first place she wanted to take me to was Zalev Brothers, which is a metal recycler, because she drives past it every day. But I had just been there on Tuesday when Riaz had lent me his car; I knew that I would need to get permission into the area to get the photograph I wanted. So, we took a service road to some interesting buildings that she had seen instead. It was here that I took the portrait of her car, and decided I would come back to photograph a building during a day when there was morninglight.

From here we got a little bit lost, but ended up driving over an overpass where hundreds of new cars from the Chrysler plant are stored. First, we stopped for a quick lunch at Tim Hortons. (I ate a Spitfire donut. Really… do all cities have donuts named and decorated for their junior hockey leagues!?)

It was a good time to sit and discuss my current project – we discussed mapping, a perfomative aspect, and adding audio. All valid issues that I need to give more thought to. After lunch, we drove near the edge of the overpass, and Kiki waited in the car, while I walked up the grassy side of the overpass to get an elevated view of the Chrysler Plant car yard. This may sound easy, but I had to do a bit of bush whacking to get up there, and with the fresh snow melt, it was a bit wet and muddy in places. But I made it, set up, and am hoping something good emerges once I stitch the pano together.

Our next stop wasThe Wood Mill, as Kiki is currently creating a piece of work out of wood. They had some really exotic and beautifully coloured and textured wood in stock and I couldn’t help taking a few photographs.

We decided to head back at this point, and took Riverside drive back into the heart of the city. The colour of the Fleming channel was so blue, I couldn’t help but stop and take a photograph of the Detroit skyline. Before being finished for the day, we stopped at Crawford Avenue so I could reshoot a pano I had shot on a day when the light wasn’t as good. Then headed back to Lebel, finished up a few things in my studio, and here I am.

I’m Exhausted! It’s been a long, but good week. I’m glad reading week is ahead, and I have at least two more people lined up to take me out during it. Kiki also made a suggestion that I should get everyone together at the end of this project for a dinner. Not that I could afford a dinner for all those people, but just a get together. Something to keep in mind anyways…

New Direction

I’ve really been struggling with keeping up with this blog. The last time I really kept one was with Scruffy Nomads, which was easy because it was a synopsis of world travels my partner, Bryan, and I experienced last year. I guess I’m just having a hard time comprehending why someone would want to read about the securities/insecurities that I’ve been struggling with through this Master’s program in Windsor. That being said, I think I’ve found the perfect outlet to keep me writing…

Anyhow, let’s catch you all up to where I’m currently at with the development of my artistic concept:

Even though I’ve never had a car registered to my name since I received my license on August 4^th 1998, I have always had a car to use at my leisure. There was the Suzuki Swift throughout high school, registered to my Mom, the Chevy Beretta, registered to Joan (Bryan’s mother) throughout our undergrads, Betsey, the van we drove over the course of 11 months in New Zealand was registered to Bryan, Scarlet, the car we put 14,400 KM on in Australia over the course of 4 months in 2010 was also registered to Bryan, and most recently, Cherry, is currently in Saskatoon, registered under Bryan’s name.

When I came to Windsor in September, my parents graciously undertook the 3-day drive with a U-Haul of my stuff in tow. But when they left for the 3-day drive back to Saskatchewan, I was left carless – which really felt like my biggest nightmare. All I could do was dwell on the fact that I didn’t have a car, so how was I going to get out and shoot what I wanted to? So, I bought a bike, and rode around my area of town randomly taking panoramic photographs, which subsequently revolved around the theme of auto-recyclers, scrap yards, and the auto industry. But I still wasn’t satisfied. I wasn’t seeing enough of the city.

After Christmas break, I came back to a snowy Windsor, which immediately made me even angrier about the fact that I did not have a car. As Bryan can attest to, I may have on an occasion or two, cried and whined and pouted about how I didn’t have one but NEEDED one, perhaps in the off chance that he would say, “Hey, guess what! I didn’t tell you, but I have a few extra thousand lying around… Why don’t you go and buy yourself a car.” This did not happen. Instead, I was told to quit being counterproductive and constantly focusing on the negative, and instead, turn my attention to the positive. Wow… I must really be rubbing off on Bryan!

But, I agreed, and since two of my classmates in the program, Amanda White and Riaz Mehmood, had offered to either drive me around, or lend me their cars, I took up Riaz on his offer this past Tuesday, February 15^th. He was busy, so Monday night let me keep the car overnight so I could head out and shoot the next day. It felt so good to be in a car, and driving myself home, that I couldn’t stop thinking about it.Then, later that night, I had an epiphany that could turn my disadvantage into an advantage.

I figured, if one person was willing to lend me their car, why wouldn’t a number of people be willing to lend me there ‘expertise’ on the auto industry? The word automobile and Windsor seem to be deeply intertwined, so through this process I will also be learning more of people’s opinions on the matter. So my question will be, “What do you think represents the auto industry? And would you be willing to drive me to this location so I can document it?” Of course, I’ll be fronting gas and food money to make it worthwhile…Additionally, I will take a portrait of each person’s vehicle and keep track of where we go through a mapping process, and through this blog. So, every time someone takes me out, I will write about our adventure here. As being on the hunt, and the thrill of seeing new places is part of what drives me to be a photographer, this seems like the best way to make my current situation work for me. The idea is still being formulated, so I don’t have much more to say about it at the time being, but I appreciate any feedback or ideas that people have… that is if anyone bothers to read my random ramblings.

Portrait of Riaz's car from February 15th 2011. Just a sample, as I would like to re-shoot with direct light, rather then side light.

The New Website is Live!

Check out the new website design at www.MeghanKrauss.com showcasing a bunch of new photo galleries, including some work still in progress. As it's still quite new, there might be a few surprise kinks to work out yet, so let me know if you notice anything... strange. If you've been to the site before, you may need to refresh the page to help clear your cache.

Hope you enjoy some of the new work - I'll keep you posted as new collections come together.