Stories from Photo Forward
Kristina at Jeffrey Mansion
Saturday, November 28
The mist was lifting as we walked around the grounds of Jeffrey Mansion. The morning was cold and the park was quiet with the exception of a few kids on the playground and a couple of tennis players on the court.
As we walked through the grove of pines to the creek, it was like we were somewhere in the Pacific Northwest rather than Bexley, just blocks away from the interstate and the noise.
Our walk back through the field behind the mansion made me regret not wearing my duck boots because my warm Uggs were becoming saturated. Aaron even had to get a towel to wipe the morning dew from the picnic table where we sat and warmed up with hot chocolate.
Moments later the serenity was interrupted as Kristina’s mom Kristen pulled in honking her horn and announcing herself with, “Hi Aaron”, “Hi Clair Bear!”
You can’t help but to feel loved when someone cares more about saying hello to you than about disturbing someone’s morning walk or tennis game.
The afternoon sun turned the chilly day into a pleasant one. Although, the mansion was under construction, the photographs of Kristina turned out great. She was so easy to photograph and even willing to climb on the edge of a wall for a picture. She has also mastered the art of changing in the car and is the fastest person I know at it.
video by Aaron Gettys
Paige at Whitehall Community
Saturday, November 28
This photo is not meant to offend anyone but to express the frustration Paige had as a 2020 graduating senior because she couldn’t do most of the things we did as graduating seniors.
She couldn’t walk across the stage in her cap and gown and hear her name called in front of her family and her fellow classmates.
She didn’t get to walk through the hallways of Whitehall Yearling High School knowing it was her last time.
She didn’t get to say goodbye to her teachers that have been with her through her years as a high school student.
She didn’t get to have a senior trip, senior field day, or senior skip day.
She couldn’t have a senior prom to wear the dress that cost as much as a sales rack wedding dress.
The dress shop (a very popular store to get prom dresses from at Polaris Mall) would not take back or refund her dress even though she never picked it up from the store.
She didn’t get to turn the tassel on her cap at the same time as her fellow classmates to represent the grand accomplishment of finishing a milestone in her life that we work hard to achieve.
Even though Paige was part of last year’s graduating class, we thought it would be appropriate to provide her with another tradition she missed out on
– her Senior Pictures.
video by Aaron Gettys
Grace at Rockmill
Sunday, October 25
As Aaron and I drove down Lithopolis Road towards Rockmill, the rain splattered the windshield causing my nervousness to check the weather on my phone. The rain wouldn’t last but the temperature was struggling to reach fifty degrees. I don’t usually mind the lower temperatures but in combination with the wind and dreariness it was not the welcoming crispness expected in Autumn.
The rain taunted us long enough for Grace to find her way to Stebelton Park at Rockmill. Grace is a senior at Whitehall Yearling High School and only got lost once on her way from there. She’s a varsity cheerleader for football and basketball, a member of numerous school clubs and spends most of her weekends working at Roosters on Hamilton Road. So even though the weather wasn’t ideal, the timing was.
Grace was unperturbed by the cold and the wind, while I was upset that Aaron didn’t pack any gloves for me. Outfitted with rainboots, Grace even went trekking through the water with her bare legs. I love to photograph people with rainboots on because they act as a type of armor that transform them into that little kid jumping in puddles. With Grace’s rainboots and my duck boots, we were able to go stomping through the river and forget about the wet and the cold. We managed to get the gorge and waterfall mostly to ourselves and we took advantage of it.
I felt ambitious that day and broke out the Linhof 4x5 camera for a photo. Sitting the massive camera on the tripod, it exuded a look from Grace. Not sure if the look was more wonderment or apprehension, but you could tell the camera was something unfamiliar. The 4x5 is a large film camera that gets its name because of the size (4x5) of the negative that is used. You use a dark cloth, or in my case a coat, to block out light as you look at your subject on a piece of ground glass. I informed Grace that I was taking the photo with a piece of film and she asked, “what do you mean film?” My heart broke a little and I cried a tear for all the other film photographers out there.
Of course, I couldn’t show her exactly what I meant because the film needs to be developed in the darkroom. To think that is how most photographers started, including myself, and now it is beginning to be put in the same category as typewriters and cursive handwriting. With film, we couldn’t look at the back of the camera to make sure we got the shot correct but had to wait for the negatives to be developed and the images to be processed. Sometimes a scary thing but more often a reward in having the knowledge to get it right without having to look at the camera after every shot.
video by Aaron Gettys
