Rhyen Coombs

I was watching the news one day, when I came across a story about a local bay area photographer who was doing an assignment for her photo class about the hard-hit economy. Her project on foreclosed homes won her a Dorothea Lange Fellowship award. I think the ties between the Great Depression and Dorethea Lange's photography and our current economic depression and contemporary documentary photography is interesting. Really different in this case, but perhaps the situation right now could bring about some really iconic images for the future.

http://berkeley.edu/lange/2009/coombs.html

The last picture of the empty room reminds me of Jesse's work.

Interesting Things to Look At

http://www.hemmy.net/2008/03/12/kids-drawing-reenacted-using-professional-photography/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8WoyPEVRFo&feature=channel

More Campus Event Pictures

This woman was different. The only one welcoming Bill Ayers.

Ooh! Camera dude!

Campus Event at St. Mary's College

Some news vans.

People in a group.

The man is fixing his sign.

The lady shows me the other side of the sign.

This old man and young college student were getting into a real fight. They were yelling at each other so loudly. Eventually the police had to calm the old man down.

This was a protest in response to the college inviting controversial political figure Bill Ayers to speak. He was a cofounder of the political terrorist group The Weather Underground. They were active in the 60's and bombed buildings as one of their tactics to gain media and the government's attention.

My Decisive Moment Shots.

These are out of order.

3

4.

2.

5.

1.

1. A burnt bush in front of my town library. This was unexpected. It had already happened (the fire) and I had actually seen this burnt mass several times before passing by, but I decided to photograph it for the project. I collected some samples of the charred twigs. Makes good charcoal for drawing with. I wonder how it started. Was there a library arsonist? A smoker who flicked their cigarette into the wrong area? Molotov cocktail? Probably not. Someone who really hates books....

2. I spotted these fire trucks on the road while I was driving to school. Luckily I had my camera. This was not in relation to the library fire. I have no idea why this occurred either. No signs of an accident except for the police cars and fire truck. It's always fun to witness something dramatic though. I wish I had seen something horrifying and amazing. Some car in a ditch, or a bicyclist laying on the pavement sobbing.

3. Toilet paper in a tree. Really pretty. They couldn't clean the mess at the top of the branches.

4. Two red carts that were facing out from each other. I found them like that.

5. I saw this cart come crashing slowly into the car. It was a gentle hit. I wasn't quick enough with the camera to capture the actual action. Just the aftermath.