My good friend Chris Fortuna is such a driving force for me. He’s living almost exactly the life I’m chasing. Riding bikes as often as he can, shooting as a professional photographer for years now, killing it. Absolutely killing it, and on his grind daily.
I asked him to document some of his LA riding and life with a NLLTL Cam, and he delivered some amazing shots and some fun times. So stoked to share these Chris!!
Here’s what he had to say:
NLLTL camera in hand I was forced to think about what sort of images I wanted to represent me and my time in the project…but as all things visual…the more you dwell on theory and language… the more you miss the most basic of elements…perspective.
its funny after shooting thousands of rolls of film in my day it was sort of surprising to have a film camera in my hand again…it made things a bit more mysterious and special, with a set amount of exposures in the disposable I found myself seeing them
as more finite than usual. the exposures now somehow had more value, or rather I put more value on them.
I took the camera with me pretty much everywhere, in my photo bag, hip pouch, wrapped up in a zip lock in kit pocket, etc…but I found myself slightly timid to shoot it at times, guess I was somehow looking for the right moment. funny how no longer being able to see your results instantly, or having the ability to “redo” moments can change your way of shooting/ thinking/ even seeing….in the end I tried to at least capture a few things that would represent the overall concept of ones life…but for sure I did leave out a lot of moments. for NLLTL i tried to focus on two broad ideas…”places not seen” and “my fascination with california”
“places not seen” is an old art concept that has defined me for some time…we all live in the same general area, but what each of sees is unique, even rare, an individuals perspective…its based in the beauty of everyday life / objects, as well as sharing ones minds eye with others…the guy I snapped driving the tan Nova in the same colored shirt (ASPCA employee I think) was pretty much about this…I was sitting there at a light and he pulled up, one of those totally typical moments, but for some reason was very special to me, kind of psyched that one.
“my fascination with california” is sort of a huge idea. I drastically uprooted my NYC world some time ago to be here in Los Angeles, and to my surprise it helped both focus my creative vision, inspire and ultimately changed my whole existence. driven by natural beauty and light. along the way I found bicycles, and amazing friends I call family. I tried to capture some of this idea within the landscape images, the vast wild natural world embedded into the heart of Los Angeles…the wonderful endless pedaling…good vibes and laughter.
overall its not easy to really view much of ones world in 24 exposures, but it certainly was fun !
thanks JP!
