Observations: A solo show at Photomark, Phoenix, AZ – Oct.-Nov. 2008

There will be a solo show of my work at Photomark in Phoenix, AZ, from September 29, 2008 to November 21, 2008. The show is called "Observations". It is a collection of black & white images from the past 27 years. There will be an artist reception on Friday, November 7, 2008, from 3-6 PM.

Photomark is a complete photographic experience. They have a 6,000 sq foot retail showroom. Photomark retail includes a lighting showroom, a rental department, a repair department, a photographic classroom, an industrial division, and a Fine Art Photography Gallery. They are located at 2202 E. McDowell Road, Phoenix, AZ 85006. Hours are M-F 8AM-6PM Sat. 9AM-5PM.

For more information, please visit their website at http://www.photomark.com/ or call/email Judith Andersen at (602) 244-1133, or judith@photomark.com.

I hope you can make it to the show.

People... People who photograph people...

I do not consider myself a "people photographer". People rarely do what you want, they talk back to you, and I don't like a set of eyes looking back at me when I'm working. I also don't like risking a lot of film if I am not sure that the result will be good. I have taken a few large format photographs of friends in the past, but they are few and far between. With the advent of digital photography, it has become easier for me. I can photograph in stealth mode and not worry about film usage. It has almost broken me out of my shell.

I do admire the work of Robert Frank and Gary Winogrand but have not had much chance to delve into the genre. I have a few photos from New York City when I was in college but I have to get those drum-scanned before I work on them.

In the meantime I have selected a few recent digital photographs that I like. Most of them are just chance, but they all have something else going on in the frame... an irony, a coincidence... and all have an unwritten caption.

I welcome your comments on these as I would like to pursue the genre more in-depth.

Remembering September 11...

World Trade Center, September 13, 1981, © Richard M. Coda

It's hard to believe it was seven years ago. I can remember everything about that day, like my father can remember everything about the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

My wife had left for work as usual. Lindsay had just turned 7 and started 2nd grade a few days earlier. As I work at home, it was my job to get her ready for, and take her to school. It was a beautiful fall day in Jackson, central New Jersey.

I dropped Lindsay off at school and then went to Dunkin Donuts for my morning coffee and a paper on the way back home, just like every other day. When I got back home I added cream and sugar to my coffee and started reading the paper. The phone rang... it was Michele. All she said was, "put the TV on." Just as I turned it on the second plane hit the towers. I was stunned. All I could say to myself was, "that son of a bitch!" In that split second I already knew who was behind this. He had failed years earlier, but hadn't given up. I ended my call with my wife. As soon as I put the phone on the hook, it rang again, this time it was my father. At this point I was so angry that I was using a lot of words that don't come up in polite conversation. My father asked if I had the TV on. "Yes," I replied as I went off on a rant. Being a very religious man, he did not care for my language. I told him I was sorry, but I was angry, angrier than I have ever been. We ended our call and I parked myself in front of the TV... no work today I thought to myself.

Then the news of the Pentagon arrived, and the possibility of another plane up there somewhere. Then the news of Flight 93, crashed in the middle of nowhere. All of the sudden I thought, "Oh, my God... Howell, NJ (where Lindsay's school is) is also the middle of nowhere... the middle of anywhere!" I didn't know what else would happen that day... for all I knew there were hundreds of planes up there. I immediately left the house... hot coffee, lights on, TV on. All I could think about was Lindsay. If ANYTHING happened I had to be with her. I couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to her. It's amazing how your life priorities change when you become a parent.

I arrived at her school 10 minutes later. Mr. Costello, the dean of Lindsay's school, was in the parking lot. I explained to him why I had come. I wanted to take Lindsay home. He requested that I leave her in school. The school was a K-12 and they didn't want to start a panic in the lower school. I said OK, but I wasn't leaving. He said that was fine and asked me if I would help him. The upper school was allowed to leave, but ONLY if a parent signed them out at the office. My job was to direct all parents to the office. First I went inside just to see Lindsay. She saw me peeking through the door window, smiled and waved. I then returned to the parking lot. I could not believe how beautiful it was that day. And as the planes started landing the skies were so quiet it was unnerving. On top of that cell phone reception was dead.

Three o'clock rolled around. I was tired from standing in the parking lot all day. I hadn't had anything to eat. I went inside to wait for Lindsay to come out of her classroom. Then it hit me... how do I explain this to Lindsay? We walked to the car and she asked me why I was at school all day. I started trying to explain the day's events to her. I said, "Sweetie... there are some very bad people in the world, and they did some very bad things today." She asked what happened, so with as little detail as I could, told her what happened. She started to weep.

By now the phones had come back online. My wife called and I asked her, "What should I do when we get home?" We agreed to not put the TV on until Michele got home. And then, we would let her see it only once. It seems like they replayed the scenes of the towers being hit and collapsing a thousand times that day.

When Michele got home, we prepared Lindsay for what she was about to see. We told her that if she wanted us to turn the TV off, just let us know. I also told my wife, "I don't know what's going to happen, but if I am called to serve I will go." Lindsay watched it once and began to weep again. We just held her and tried to tell her everything would be OK. After we put her down, she went and got some paper and a pencil and drew this.



When I saw what she had drawn I had to hold the tears back. How could a 7-year old have such a keen artistic instinct to draw something like this? The planes look like they're circling the towers like sharks circle their prey. The towers and background buildings are crying as if they were people, as is the sun. It was indeed a dark day. The people fleeing for their lives look like ants.

I was then reminded that we had dear friends that worked in the World Trade Center, as both Michele and I had in the early to mid 1980s. One of our friends, in fact, introduced us to each other. We then called each one of them, hoping not to hear bad news. The phones were jammed, but we eventually got a hold of each of them. They were all shaken up, but OK, and all had stories much scarier than mine. Two of them were late getting to work because of their kids, and witnessed the attacks from ferries. One of Lindsay's classmates dads worked for an insurance company on one of the top floors. He was one of the lucky parents whose children had saved them by being late for school. Unfortunately for him, he lost his secretary and a lot of friends and colleagues.

That night I didn't sleep well at all... constantly replaying the scenes from the day in my head, over and over again. I started questioning my God... how could people do this to each other? The next few days I bounced back and forth from thinking peace was the answer, but finally realized that this was bigger than that. It is a battle between good and evil. And we can all only hope that good will eventually win... whatever it takes.

Get your kicks on Route 66...

Well goes from St. Louie down to Missouri
Oklahoma city looks oh so pretty
You'll see Amarillo and Gallup, New Mexico
Flagstaff, Arizona don't forget Winona
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino

You know the song... but did you know it's a great place to photograph? It's very small, but packed with interesting old buildings, and if you're into landscapes it can be nice as well.

These photos are mostly old advertisements on the walls in downtown Flagstaff. The first two black & whites are from July 2008 and are from 8x10" film. The next black & white is from July 2007 and is also 8x10" film. This particular image is in an alley that is maybe 18 feet wide. I had my tripod tight and had to use a 210mm lens (very wide angle for 8x10) and stand on a milk crate to focus. This is also an ACTIVE alley. Several cars came down and I had to make sure they didn't hit the tripod. Several passersby stopped and asked about the camera. I was there quite a while and overheard some other passersby say "that guy is STILL there." Anyway, I got the shot, then switched to the 4x5" camera for a few more.

The color shots are digital, but I do plan on going back and shooting color with the 4x5".

Summertime... and the living is easy

I actually made a lot of photographs this summer, here in Phoenix. The summer hasn't been too bad... only a few days over 110. Usually I'm downtown by 6:30 AM so it's still kind of "not really hot yet" at that time.

Below are a few photographs made with my Arca-Swiss 8x10" camera. Some are from downtown; some are from the area between Camelback Rd. and McDowell Rd from 24th St. to 40th St.; some are from Grand Ave. out by the "Big Tin Shed"; and there's one from Hackberry, AZ, out on old Rt. 66 before you get to Kingman.

These are just scans of the 8x10" film as I haven't printed them yet. Please take a look at them and let me know what you think.

I can't take it anymore and I am running for President of the United States!

I have had it with all these stupid politicians. First they unfairly target people who work hard, and waste money doing so. They send me letters about the Economic Stimulus program, but at the end of the letter tell me I don't qualify for the package. Now, Obama wants to put me in the poor house.

So, as of today, August 23, 2008, I announce my candidacy for President of the United States of America. I believe there are no skeletons in my closet (George and Mike, how much to keep you both quiet?). I think I can get past the Naturalized Citizen thing... my father was serving this great country in Great Britain, where I was born, and I believe is not a terrorist nation.

So, join me to help save this great country. We will need to start taking contributions immediately if we are to make this happen. Send a PayPal payment to rich@rcodaphotography.com. All donations will be re-donated to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.

Thank you, my fellow Americans, and God Bless the United States of America!

Getting Abstract... Again

No matter what I attempt to photograph, I always seem to come back to abstraction in some form or another. Below are some recent photos from my Flagstaff summer trips and from the Caljet Fuel Tank Farm from last week.

In Flagstaff, my daughter was taking a watercolor class and they had an outing to the Arizona Pioneer Museum. My wife and I tagged along so we could get my daughter some lunch, and take her back to the hotel if she got bored (which she did). Anyway, the Coconino Center for the Arts is right next door. They have a handicapped ramp that looked very interesting. I used a long lens (450mm) on the 4x5 to compress the space even more and create this bizarre collection of lines.



From the Caljet facility, I was drawn to the unfinished tanks, especially the details and juxtaposition between the rusted and unrusted portions. I would call these "industrial abstracts" and I am very pleased with them. I would like to do more in this style.



Also from the Caljet facility is a 4x5 shadow abstract. The steps that wind their way up and around the tanks created very strong shadows in the early morning. I'll be posting more of these soon.