Abstract photography exploration

Abstract photography exploration is a series of images I am creating. First, I don’t exactly know what abstract photography means. And sometimes I confuse abstract and surreal photography. But abstraction has always fascinated me.

"slippage" abstract photograph
abstract photograph
“pink dancer” abstract photograph

The End of Film Photography, an analog exploration

the end of film @thendofilm Ken Hada
the end of film @thendofilm Ken Hada

The end of film reminds me that there are ideas hidden in everything. To start, I recently created an Instagram account called the end of film or in the Instagram language @thendofilm. This all came about from a summer chore. And that chore was the archiving of old 35mm film negatives. Something I did over the summer in 2019. So how could a chore spark an idea?

During this chore, I found these half-pictures in just about every roll of film. In fact, the truncated photo occurs near the start of the film. And most times it would cut the image in half. And at first, these defective frames seemed useless. I thought these little imperfect images were sad. Because there was this possibly perfect picture cut in half. But sometimes the meaning of things change.

Soon I was collecting these unusual snippets of film. Because I began to find them interesting. I thought they showed potential instead of failure. The blown-out part of the film represented what could have been. At certain times the bright part of the film sort of looked like a gateway.

The end of film or this place where light washes away reality can be a fun concept to explore.

I look at these images and wonder what happened before everything went white. The gateway can represent a beginning or an end.

Is the blown-out area a jumping-off point for time travel?

Is the blown-out area space where time does not exist? And when the white fades into a legible picture is that the threshold where time begins? Or did I spend too much time on Inner Space when I was young?

In the end, this place where the machine starts or stops becomes an interesting place to explore. Check out my end of film pictures on my Instagram account @thendofilm

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How to scan a nametag on Instagram

magician Michael Weber podcast unedited

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away I met magician Michael Weber. I was an elementary school kid looking for the latest in magic (the magician type). The time period was the 1970’s and the locations southern California. Michael worked at the The Magic shop. Michael Weber had a strong impact on my young self.  You just don’t meet a guy like this everyday. Weber always made me laugh, amazed me, and was always kind to me. So how do you reconnect from a galaxy far far away (Twitter I guess)? And as you may have guessed Michael Weber is that same force of imagination, creativity and kindness, that he always was!

Lastly, if Michael Weber were to hear this podcast he would gently remind me ” every dance is too long” or “if it can be cut it must be cut”, and of course he’d be correct. But alas my style of conversation (podcast) goes against many of the wise concepts Michael genrously offered up in our chat. Even so, hopefully Michael’s wisdom and good sense will still prevail over my uncut unedited style of  conversation.

Finally lets cut through this SEO-bullshit-intro. Michael Weber is someone I looked up to as a kid and still look up to. And I was surprised also very happy to have a conversation with him. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Michael Weber as much as I did having it.

Every Dance is Too Long Michael Weber unedited


John Stamos Universal Studios 1982

Ken Hada John Stamos Universal Studios 1982
Ken Hada John Stamos Universal Studios 1982

 

John Stamos text me this photo a few weeks ago. I had sent it to him decades back. I shot this when I was in High School with one of those plastic pocket 35mm film cameras. Probably had it developed at the K-Mart his mom used to go to. John would have auditions in Hollywood, and I would sometimes go along to hang out. On this particular day I remember we did not have enough money to get into Universal Studios. John Stamos and I used to like to watch the stunt show (because we were nerdy that way). At this time there was a huge ivy covered hill in front of Universal Studios (just above one of the parking lots) with a medium size chain link fence on top. Yeah you guessed it. Like most high schoolers we had a great time disrespecting authority.







As a photographer I try to surround myself with people who know more than me.

Greg Rager film lecture
Greg Rager film lecture

Im a drummer who used to do photography a long time ago. In the last ten years or so I have taken an interest in photography again. If you are getting back into photography, or just starting I assure you that classes and lectures will be a fun and interesting pursuit. Wonderful things happen when a room full of photographers (with varied skill sets) get together. And of course the worse photographer gets the most benefit.