This is some documentation of the installation I set up on May 1st @ the Temple Gallery. If anyone knows of a venue where I could set this up more long term that would be great. Thanks to everyone who came out and participated…
This is a rough cut of the linear doc I started last Fall. I plan on reworking it, but I wanted to put something out there now since I presented my installation “Closer: A Conversation with Charles and Guy.”
*Just a note about how this project came along. September 2008 (about a week before my son was born) there was a day that was really overcast and cloudy, perfect for shooting black and white film. I was inspired so I took my camera and got on my bike and rode around looking for a story. I searched around Kensington along the tracks just north of Lehigh, but nothing really drew me in, so then I thought of the two homeless guys who live by the tracks in South Philly. They always intrigued me. Just living on piles of junk, huge beards. I really wanted to know what their deal was. I was unsure if they would be approachable or not, but I rode down and walked up to Charles and talked for a bit and told him that I had been seeing him for years and was always curious about him. Then I told him that I liked making documentaries and the like and would he be ok if I took some pictures over a period of time. He was fine with it, but told me to ask Guy, so I did. They mentioned that someone else had made a documentary on them, but I assumed it was some student project and felt like I wanted to continue getting to know them regardless. So, I took a bunch of stills and later shot video and Super 16mm. I was telling a friend about the project a few months later and she mentioned that she had seen a doc about them…so I did some research and it turns out that this guy named Samuel Nalband was the guy who made the documentary they told me about and it was pretty successful. You can see it here: http://www.openfilm.com/videos/charlie_and_guy/. I like it, but I feel like I am doing something a bit different in that I don’t see the project ending. I just want to add chapters and chapters…and explore various mediums (It’s all just an excuse to hang out with people that I am drawn to and attempt to be creative at the same time)…Anyway, today I dropped the money off that we collected during the installation and one of the books I made to Guy…Charles is in the hospital again…he’s been there for ten days. I think about them when the weather is bad…Anyway I just wanted to give Samuel Nalband a shout out. If you find Charles and Guy intriguing I think it is cool to see them through various lenses, or best of all go and talk to them yourself: 1830 S. Columbus Blvd. Philly PA USA.
I hope to put a photo slideshow together soon with all of the matieral I shot with Joe while shooting the 32 minute documentary “The Scrapper.” For more about the project go to http://thescrapper.org
