It was a pleasure hearing from several people from India who admire my visual images.
I have recently received e-mails from Mumbai and Calcutta.
I send you my very best regards and look forward to photographing in the near future your diverse, country filled with natural beauty, and scenic wonders.
Best regards,
Brendan Ben Feeney
It is difficult to believe 5 years have passed since hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast leaving a wake of destruction in its path.
Sad, yet true, if one travels to states hit hardest by Katrina, devastation is still evident and the recovery is truly not a full recovery.
As a nature photographer, I have witness violent storms in the past 25 years. The visual images that tend to be embedded in people’s minds when it comes to powerful storms are massive waves slapping the shoreline violently, boats on land, houses reduced to splinters of wood, and trees blowing in the wind about to snap like a celery stick. Yet, it is the human suffering that must be remembered and the suffering of all creatures great and small. Think of the people trapped on rooftops and bridges calling for help. Visualize the colony of pelicans completely coated in oil–unable to fly. Many civic, religious, and humanitarian agencies are still collecting resources for the victims of hurricane Katrina and working to rebuild the Gulf Coast after its many disasters.
Whether it be earthquakes in Haiti, China, or South America, the flooding in Pakistan, or natural or man made disasters here in our own backyard, these catastrophic events displace people, harm animals, change places forever, and cause disruption to the things we love and cherish. When your learn of relief efforts that work to aid those directly effected by natural and mandate disasters, kindly consider reaching out in ways you see fit to assist.
Brendan Ben Feeney
On Tuesday night, well into the wee small hours of the morning, I had the good fortune to work with Nicholas Nides, Director, and Lindsey Cline Sutton, Producer of the movie “A Father’s Story. ”
The film was shot on location in the Boston area. I worked the final day of production, shooting night photography stills, in the rain—with no flash. The unforeseen rain and the outdoor night shooting schedule did not seem to pose a problem for the Director, Producer, their talent, and crew.
This particular night of photography resulted in signatures images that are trademarks of my art night photographic work.
After editing over 800 plus shots for one day/morning of shooting, I culled out a body of work reflective of the many aspects of film making. This body of photographic work documented with an artistic edge, crucial scenes to the movie “A Father’s Story” and captured the talent, production team, and the tech team, working at a methodical pace. Nicholas Nides, Director owns the rights to my stills and will use them with proper credit for for promotional and study purposes.
One thing I learned about photographic work on a film set is that it takes patience. Cinema shots do not just happen. Talent is inside rehearsing while the heavens open with driving rain. The important technical and lighting teams were are out in the the wet rigging lighting equipment on ladders, checking light meter readings, and members on the crew were stringing cables from a silent generator. I was able to capture on digital imagery the cinematographer patiently loading film into a camera bolted to the hood of car.
Now post production begins. In can say after working on the set, Nicholas Nides, Director, and Lindsey Cline Sutton, Producer, are 2 California-based entertainment industry members on the rise.
Brendan Ben Feeney
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It was the slow road that hooked me.
Yesterday, traffic of Cape Cod was exceptionally busy. Summer Saturdays on Cape Cod are known as “turn over days.” People renting beach houses, campers camping, and people staying at guest houses for one or two weeks at a time most often begin their vacation/holiday on Saturday.
I am sitting in heavy traffic on Highway 6 and begin to think, “I know a back road.” Thoughts turn to Robert Frost. I found a road less traveled and was all the better for choosing this winding pathway.
Driving on rural Route 6A in Truro, Massachusetts, I passed a sign noting “CHURCH FAIR TODAY.”
First, I bypass the sign. Then I think, apply brakes, pull over, put my car into reverse, and do a “U-ee.” (For those unfamiliar with Boston driving terms, a ‘U-ee’ is an illegal U-turn in the middle of the road.) I turn back.
Once parked, I check out items across from the church in a shed. In New England, we call donated items at church sales “white elephants.” Why? I do not know. Maybe a reader can post to my blog and explain. Second, I stroll across the street to the community room in the basement of this quintessential New England rural church. Something artistically hits my eye. A member of this small Christian community strung paper plates with yarn above the Baked Good table. The names of the food offerings were carefully printed using a bold magic marker. This creative signage captivated my interest–yet it was pear jam on the table that hooked me like a striped bass.
Who knows how to make homemade jam in the year 2010? Our lives have become so busy we often forget to pass skills down from one generation to another–such as jam making. My mother and her grandmother all made homemade jam. Do I know how to make jam? No. Do I try? No. Ask an average person where jam comes from? I am most certain they would reply, “The supermarket.”
Needless to say, I asked permission to photograph the Baked Good table and the kind ladies from the church who volunteered their time at this church fair. I added these photographic images into my personal collection. Again, I document my daily life. I call it “Ben’s Nouns: Persons, Animals, Places, and Things.”
The jam table had meaning. So too did the sight advertising an old fashion church fair. I stuck up a delightful conversation with the pastor. She informed me the proceeds of the sale assist in keeping this small rural New England church afloat in though economic times. Yet, more important, she told me that the money raised by her church members often goes back into the local Cape Cod community for outreach programs that serve people in need.
So take the road less traveled. Hit the brakes and do a U-ee’s for things you pass–then have a second thoughts. Return.
I am pleased I did. I was able to document with my ever-present “street camera” a New England church fair, engage in a delightful conversation with a minister, chat with church fair volunteer tending the Baked Good table, view and photograph creative signage that caught my artistic eye, and buy homemade pear jam—–something few make in their kitchen today.
Brendan Ben Feeney
Welcome to Brendanbenfeeney.com.
I began this web site project at the beginning of the summer. After consulting with my IT & Tech Team, staff, editors, and fellow artists, we began to see patterns emerge pertaining to my artistic work. After editing over 950 recent photographs, classifications developed. I have a deep respect for nature and the natural world, a strong affinity for California–its people, places, and stunning scenery. I am attracted to the world at night. While others slumber, I tend to be out and about in unfamiliar or familiar cities/towns capturing the mood of the night.
Cape Cod has been my second home for many years. I reflect on the wisdom and foresight President John F. Kennedy had in the 1960s to preserve thousands of acres and miles of pristine shoreline. This preserved land became the Cape Cod National Seashore Park. If if were not for President Kennedy’s forward thinking and preservation efforts, many of the places on Cape Cod where I photograph would be “off-limits” and in the hands of developers.
Three days ago I returned from a photo assignment in California. The staff at the Marriott Renaissance Stanford Court Hotel would see me come and go—at all hours of the day and night. I was able to capture the Golden Gate Bridge bathed in shroud of fog–shooting images while driving during rush hour. I drove back and forth 3 time across his magnificent structure to get the perfect shot. Thank you, Mary, for watching and warning me of oncoming traffic!
It is 1:30 AM. I am back at Cape Cod, Massachusetts. I am classifying my new work. I plan to post images from my August trip to California on my web site’s late Fall. I offer my work in various price ranges in order to reach a wide audience.
I set my alarm clock to rise early to capture the pounding Atlantic Ocean, photograph seals that hide on a stand of sand I discovered–evading 6 Great White Sharks that have been lurking off the coast of Cape Cod this summer. I am also up early to discover what washed ashore during the night tide.
Enjoy viewing my vision of Cape Cod, nature, California, people, animals, places, and things I encounter on when I travels. Witness the world I capture when many are fast asleep, deep in slumber.
Brendan Ben Feeney
I welcome you to my world of visual art.
I began this web project at the start of summer. Now, I witness “Back to School” ads, the sedum in my garden beginning to turn green to royal burgundy, and the sun sweeps earlier across the sand dunes of Cape Cod.
When designing this web site with my staff, editors, and Tech Team, we classified my photographic work into distinct categories. I edited over 875 recent photographs to provide you with a “slice of life.” How I see and experience the world.
I just returned 3 days ago from California where I added to my body of artistic work many vibrant images. It times I was out late. Very late. In one instance, I pulled my car over to snap a series of photographs of an old 1920s era movie marquis. Just as I snapped the last shots, the lights turned off. As noted, sometimes one is in the right place at improbable moments in time.
I will update my selections for your viewing and purchase. I sign and limit the editions of my work. I also have for purchase 2 distinct post card sets, also suitable for framing. I want to offer my work in all price ranges.
I am now back on Cape Cod. I plan to rise early tomorrow and photograph the pounding surf of the Atlantic Ocean, see what washed ashore during high tide on the beaches of the Cape Cod National Seashore Park, and hike to a rare strand of beach where seals cluster–hiding from 6 Great White Sharks that have been spotted off the coast of Cape Cod this summer.
Next post………more about California, its people, places, nature, and the spirit of capturing the mood of a San Franciscan night using my Nikon and Cannon camera equipment.
Best regards,
Brendan Ben Feeney