Dan Goorevitch's photostream  

THE DIRT:
Please see dangoorevitch.com to explore my paintings, drawings and poetry.

THE DIRTIER: No notes please until they've fixed the blocknotes GM script for the new Flickr, which has now been done. NO ICONS of any kind that are larger than a buddy icon. FIXED!

THE DIRTIEST: If you favor a photo of mine or make me a contact and have no images to show you and a body of favorites full of pornography you'll be blocked. I am legally responsible for the juxtaposition of my images. Some of my subjects may view such juxtapositions as defamatory and therefore actionable. It's hard enough to shoot street without people getting the idea their images will be bundled with other "inspiration" for teenage boys.

THE GOOD STUFF
It's like a kid's fantasy. You're invisible and you get to stop time, walk around people and study them to your heart's content.

I’m really interested in a certain type of smooth rich space… space that’s kind of tangible. Like this one:



I was educated in painting and other media but mostly painting. (See my blog here)



But I've been writing poetry for very slightly longer.

I shoot people almost exclusively but I like to escape into flowers, leaves and sky from time to time when the stress gets to me.

I always shoot candid and never ask peoples' permission. I find it just doesn't work for me. Actually I ask, in a way, but it's all body language. Bringing words into it really throws me. And it makes me look and feel guilty. That makes the subject think I've got something to feel guilty about. I shoot from the hip sometimes though increasingly rarely. Something's missing from a hip shot, I can't say what.



I always shoot extremely beautiful women on bicycles. Joy is the uttermost beauty:



I'm really interested in how people react to things beyond control (like me!) and in the whole issue of private vs. public space



Many believe privacy is portable and unconnected to private property. People who swear a lot in public, talk loudly on cell phones about very personal things for example. But the public space is equally everyone's and no one's.



So it's a space for negotiation. We all go through annoying things in public. Why should I be less annoying?

It's not as if I mean to or want to be but it's almost inevitable. I always erase photos for paranoiacs. And it's surprising how people adjust and, not only start not to mind being photographed but actually enjoy it if I persist. That's a fascinating process to me. Here's an example of someone who didn't want her photo taken... at first:



How else to catch life as it's happening? I 'd prefer to get people so involved in their lives they aren't aware of the camera but it's hard to be that fast.



Sometimes a reaction is even better, I am studying to be a fly on the wall. It's like the kid's fantasy.



UPDATE: I'm now returning home. They say you can't do it but you can:



I switched to Canon. The color relationships in all kinds of daylight are better, more impressionistic. Nikon is still great for night shots.





EDUCATION STUFF
Born Edmonton, Alberta, 1951. I started writing poetry as a teen and a year later, painting. I found my mentor at a little art school in Vancouver, BC. Ronald Milton Stonier was an artist of skill, judgment and vision. I am indebted. That went from 1973-77, theoretically. Actually he was so generous I'd say my education didn't end till the late 80s when I felt something large and dark waiting for me to wrestle in the East. So off I went to Toronto.

TECH TRIVIA
Painting for 40+ years has made color an integral part of how I see. It's hard to make color read as quickly as black and white but very rewarding when successful. Digital camera technology has already surpassed film for accuracy of local color, color cast and color relationships.