Panasonic G9 hidden behind the 12-60mm zoom. I was shooting into one of those round, convex mirrors that they put up at the exits of parking garages to try and prevent accidents. I love em.
the ongoing exploration of self portraits with cameras and reflections.
An odd attempt at humor in front of a crappy bar.
7 comments:
Kirk this is just me being curious. Eventually, things will return to some semblance of normalcy and most of us will be back to work. I know you've said you plan to return to work when allowed to do so. I was wondering, now that you've had a sense of what retirement might be like for you, have you considered not returning to work and calling it a career? Maybe just doing your own personal photography projects for yourself? How is this forced sabbatical sitting with you? I ask because I'm five years away from retiring from my teaching career. While I'm not ready to retire today, I know I will be in about five years. I can see the end and I'm almost ready for it. I'm already looking forward to something new. This pandemic has me thinking about things in a whole new way.
crsantin, Belinda and I discuss this a lot. I really love doing some of the work that I do. I love making portraits and I love shooting theater. Some of the stuff I've done through my career I've always been less excited about. I used to do a lot of travel for work but that seems decidedly less appealing now. I used to do a lot of tightly scheduled, time pressured projects that required a lot of time to manage and that's not so appealing anymore. (those I tended to do strictly for the $$$). While it may seem enviable I haven't really wrapped my head around my situation in a logical way. We are financially in good shape and can retire from earning money any time we want but that doesn't really have a connection to the desire to be busy and productive. Many will write and say I should volunteer for lots of stuff but I'd rather write a check to the charities I like instead of spending the time I have left doing things that aren't exactly what I want to do.
If one has been a gerbil on a wheel for long enough it's hard to stop running even after they take the exercise wheel out of your cage.
Before the pandemic we had planned to do a lot more travel and a lot more entertaining but those plans are obviously on hold.
I'd love to spend the next 20 years photographing the world around me. Not landscapes but people-scapes and the pulsing current of the cultural milieu. The problem is how to switch off my past life and replace it with the new life. If you find a smart way to do so please let me know.
As it starts to warm up and turn to Summer here in Austin, and as our election season comes into horrible focus, my fantasy is to rent a small apartment in Reykjavik, get a good coffee making machine and go back and forth between writing a novel and taking photographs all over the island. That, and it's a hop, skip and jump to Europe. I wonder just how expensive a small apartment in a decent neighborhood might be.
I also love Berlin. But basically the same idea. Belinda, however seems unenthused by the cold weather. We'll see what happens.
Of course I fear I'll retire only to find that we really are living in the Matrix...
Kirk, if you ever decide to come back to Iceland, give me a call. I'd love to organize something, help you out.
I'm a native of Iceland and have been a daily reader of your blog for 8-10 years or so - since your Olympus E-P3 days. Every single day, all your blogs.
Regarding age - I'm born 1954, recently 66 - we can't quit living, the tempo may change, but we can still and always create, so why stop, if alive and moderately healthy?
Anyway - g.gudmundsson@icloud.com - please contact me if you plan to come to our shores ....
p.s.
I am a self-employed writer, author, consultant - strictly amateur photographer - but a friend to lots of photographers, movie-makers and artists in Iceland. - Gunnlaugur Gudmundsson (on dpreview.com)
G Gudmundsson,
Thanks! You'll be the first person I get in touch with. Iceland is an amazing place and I've only seen the tiniest percentage of it. I plan to be back as soon as I can. As soon as it's safe to travel again. Hope it stays safe and secure.
Thanks for reading my stuff. Kindest regards, Kirk
I feel a bit of kinship. I purchased a beautiful used G9 this past Friday and then traded in a some older M4/3 gear which bought me the 12-35 F2.8 2 days later. I have another recent purchase, the Panasonic 100-300 (not bad at all) and have the tiny 20 1.7 in a side pocket of the bag in case of a need for more speed. This is my kit! I'm done.
You had a much better subject when taking the selfie, that lovely child watching you from behind on the scooter:)
Cheers,
Gary
Kirk, the metamorphasis from working man to retirement I think is harder than college man to working man. For people who need a daily routine to feel balanced, retirement can be disorienting until you figure things out. For the lucky people like yourself who work in a profession which is also their passion, then working part-time (semi-retirement) could be just the ticket for you. Subtracting all the unenthusiastic jobs that you did just for the money and keeping the rest may be a good first step.
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