There is the rare occasion that Fresno has a “Special Show” of live music where the artists and the crowd have this unspoken musical chemistry. Mayer Hawthorne put on a show to remember; an eclectic turn out made the show even better. The ambiguous genre of music seemed to inspire this melting pot of listeners to all gather for the evening. I’m always looking for a good excuse to balance a full project in black & white only. Mayer’s classic & timeless sound seemed to be deserving of a classic balance. It was crazy fun to shoot and even better to hear them live. To check out upcoming “Special Shows” visit LoveTheCaptive.com and follow them on your favorite social networks.

I’m not sure how some of my mental connections are made, but it seems as though our world likes to place things in our lap for the taking or leaving. Some of these instances are said to be omens, or signs from the universe to follow by our own instinct. I like to make my decisions based on a firm well-rounded understanding, but there are times where it’s as though the decisions are made out of our own control.

After growing impatient from a relentlessly failing cell phone I decided to pull into a parking lot to make a quick phone call. I parked and after I dialed my phone said to me, “So… I’m going to go ahead and power down now. I’m tired and you’re frustrated with me, so why don’t you browse around in this thrift store that you just parked at? Do some good old window shopping and then later after I’m rested and charged up you can return to your day filled with errands and tasks that are making you forget about the stars.”

I accepted the phone’s demands and let it rest in my pocket-bed. “The Stars” is a phrase I use to un-ground my thoughts. It seems our lives are so individually important it can overwhelm our thoughts, drowning the beautiful experience of experiencing, letting the race take over our focus and drive.

On my way into the store a cute wrinkly old lady was making her way into the store just ahead of me. She talked to the people out front as though she had come to this place day after day for weeks, or maybe months. I entered before her almost in a hurry, still having trouble remembering “the stars”. As soon as I entered the second hand store I immediately noticed the first item on the floor. It was a solid black upright piano. It was just as tall as I am and it looked to weigh about 500lbs. There was no detailing at all, I had never seen such a simple design before, it stood almost as an icon only representing a piano. Being a former piano player who dreams of piano possession, naturally I inspected the old instrument as though it could make the distance up the stairs into my apartment.

Then appeared the cute old lady. She started at me with some banter that consisted of a bit of piano jargon; she was testing to see whether or not I was just kicking tires or if I knew my stuff. I proved well with the old lady who seemed to appear like magic despite her slow walk and sever tremors of the hands. She explained in a convincing manner about the difference between furniture and instrument. She insisted so many forget the piano as an instrument. She went on to tell me about how she loved being a piano teacher for beginners and of her love of the sound from the instrument. I imagined the frustration she must experience with her tremors and it made me appreciate the simple gift of a steady hand that could still work the magical machine with crescendos so powerful between light trickling notes. I can’t help but hope our universe is so kind that the piano be her only cure to the tremors, and when playing she is at peace and her body functions as it should. She mentioned how this place has many more pianos and how she loves to come see the old pianos here. After a few more words exchanged about the instrument, I wished her well and returned to the race of my day, but the piano-seed was already planted and my hurry felt like it had a new motivation, different from my earlier agenda.

As I thought about the old lady, my walk slowed in pace and my eyes were lifted to clearly seeing my surroundings. I began to stroll around the store inspecting ornate mirrors and beat up coffee tables as if it were my duty to fully experience the place. I neared the last corner of the store and there they were: the group of old abandon pianos. There were tall pianos like the icon at the entrance and a couple shorter half-uprights. There were also a couple of organs there; most all had stand-in-benches missmatchly placed with the instruments. There was a square shape layout made out of these old things, with a place to walk in the center where more of these magical machines were placed. It was a farmers market of keys and you can’t not buy something at a farmers market, you just have to decide what you’re going to buy.

Almost on cue the old lady passed by right before I sat down. She acknowledged how she was glad I found the piano section and commented on how beautiful they were. She wished me well and left me to the keys. I sat down at a half upright with a crooked key cover halfway open. I fumbled with the broken cover and got the keys exposed for inspection. An initial shy push of a few keys proved the beautiful sound of the piano. As I played on I found a small group of dull sounding keys and realized the dampening pedal out of service too. An intact logo decal revealed it to be the trusted manufacturer Wurlitzer and once I saw that I knew a piano had been placed in my lap.

A hesitation came over me debating the necessity of the purchase and I couldn’t help feel I’d let that cute old lady down if I were to let this opportunity get passed up by trying to reason the minor purchase. With a price tag of almost $300 I knew I had to make an offer that even I couldn’t refuse if the store didn’t. I debated on how much to offer, I didn’t want it to be insultingly low but it had to be low enough that I couldn’t back out of it once accepted by the sales associate. $175 seemed a proper offer; it wasn’t quite half, which I felt would be rude to offer half of the asking price. Not long after the sales associate returned to where I continued to inspect the instrument with some tunes from my child hood, his manager had agreed and he was ready to write a receipt.

It was then I had realized the universe had just sold me a piano in a most intricate manner. Sometimes it feels our lives are lived in a way that’s almost out of our control, but these opportunities need to be taken when given. I can’t help but wonder if that cute old wrinkly lady was an angel in disguise there to help me find the harp in disguise. The magic of the people around us seems to be the thing we all live for. Without those to share talents and our experiences with, our individual worlds really would be the most important thing to worry about. It isn’t the Stars that keep me going; it’s their reminder of knowing how small I am as an individual. The powerful universe spans further than any of us can ever imagine and it’s exciting to try to contemplate the mysteries of the world beyond us when even a trip to a second hand thrift store can be so magical.

I’ve imagined so many times the pictures I would take of this place. I pass by here multiple times a week in a frenzy to get home for the evening. I usually shoot through this underpass going too fast for comfort, and my mind is always captured by the interesting architectural landscape that someone once cared enough about this part of town to create such a detailed structure. Above here runs the train tracks, if I’m lucky I’ll sometimes begin in my car blocks up with the train next to me and it’s here I pass under the train from the east to the west side of the tracks where I follow next to it racing to the next passing point miles up, where If my luck strikes twice, I’ll pass over the tracks from west back to the east moments before the crossing lights begin to light up and ring their bells. I feel like an urban dolphin trailing the ship of a train, it’s something that makes me smirk after a long day filled with things that seem so important but are then thought of as trivial when I’m able to laugh at the metaphorical drive home.

“Pictory is a showcase for people around the world to document their lives and cultures. Anyone can submit one large, captioned image to each of Pictory’s editorial themes.” -Laura Brunow, Creater of Pictory Mag

In my words I would describe PictoryMag.com as a place for creatives to express them selves in an open exhibit. Pictory gives great regard to the splash of editorial included with submitted images giving photos the important dynamic of depth beyond the image. So much is said by a photograph, but so much more is said with history. Laura Brunow is giving everyone the opportunity to exhibit their expressions for the world to see, and I’m glad I was able to partake.

It was a honor to share my thoughts and be chosen as a featured portrait on the site. It wasn’t long after that the Los Angeles Times decided to feature PictoryMag.com on their blog, where my submission was picked out of the handful of other exhibits on the site as a representing image for the story.  Thanks to the always beautiful Lidia for making my images that much more beautiful.

Check out the PictoryMag.com post here

Check out the Los Angeles Times post here

]]> http://www.jonahpauline.com/pictorymag-los-angeles-times-portrait/feed/ 0 http://www.jonahpauline.com/posh-events-wedding-portraits/ http://www.jonahpauline.com/posh-events-wedding-portraits/#comments Fri, 16 Jul 2010 03:35:41 +0000 Jonah http://www.jonahpauline.com/?p=750

All these weddings have to be conceptualized by someone. Nicole & Ashley are the chicks that make it happen. These two are a perfect match for each other, a dangerous blend of creativity, professionalism and drive. This venture is now infiltrating all types of events here in the Central Valley with a major focus on Weddings and Corporate Events. I had a great time during this portraits session capturing the fun and creative personalities of these two.

Find Plush Events on Facebook or on the web at PlushEventsCo.com

Thanks to the always informative Cortney Kizirian for putting in me in contact with “Go-To” People, making this feature possible.

Check out the Digital Edition Here

“Love The Captive” aka “LTC” as I like to call them. An extremely varied group of Music-Lovers that seems to be growing every time I glance back. You’ll find a silhouette-ish shot of the founder and head-man (Johnny Q, aka: J Catch, Blac Shampoo, Q, Mayer of Tower, GQ-JQ, etc & so on) of the Fresno group that is infusing our culture with acts like this one A Place to Burry Strangers. The show was at Audies Olympic (formerly known as Club Fred), I consider it to be one of the better venues in town to photograph at, something about their colorful lights and alcohol signs scattered about the venue that give it very photograph-able qualities. It doesn’t hurt when a band like this decides to bring their lazer-light and fog equipment. There’s a handful of images here I know will forever be in my most favorite shots. After skimming through the photos and as I began working on them, I decided that 3 DAYS of ringing in my ears was well worth it. I also decided to invest in some 75 cent earplugs. Check in with Love The Captive for more shows, they’re always bringing in some out-of-town gem to any number of venues here in town.