My Moms Basement
The act of tinkering is not a new concept or action. Everything we know today has derived from varying levels of experimentation. When I was younger, I would tinker with Legos; I would disassemble old VCR’s that I found in junk piles, or the calculator that mom just bought me. The older I grew the more passions would come along that required the very intentional practice of tinkering. First it was building remote controlled airplanes, that unfortunately due to budget constraints never got off the ground. I would research aircraft design and incorporate my findings into my various projects. I found out how to pull the screen off my second-floor bedroom window, where then I would launch my designs into the air to see how they flew. Most of them would plummet directly into ground. Eventually my passion for photography would explode. My mom let me carve out a corner of the basement to act as a little photo studio. It was there that I would teach myself photography. I spent all my time experimenting with various photographic techniques. The rule of thirds, and the idea of foreground, mid-ground, background. I tinkered with various shutter speeds and apertures; and made notes about what looked good and well, what looked “very creative”. We lived along a busy state highway, so I didn’t exactly have friends next door to practice on. Using a mix of shop lamps, old, outdated video lights, and this old weird mannequin I found in a dark corner of the basement I taught myself studio lighting. I would practice, high key, low key, and Rembrandt lighting styles. I would practice backlighting, and front lighting and every lighting in between. My tinker game was on point. Eventually my sister let me photograph her. I began to experiment with different posing techniques. I loved trying new techniques. Every creator needs a studio. A space whether it be a corner of your room, or a small portion of your mom’s basement; a place where experimentation can become intention. It’s a place where weird is excepted, and mistakes are encouraged.
