I take photographs daily. I use my iphone. Sometimes I use a Canon G9 but the iphone camera is less bulky and is decent enough for my purposes, which are basically research and archiving. Occasionally the images make their way into my paintings, drawings and installations.
This is a picture of a kite. This summer I was given some mushrooms and took them and then walked through Prospect Park on an early evening in late July. On one of the meadows there were a number of kite fliers. I noticed a tiny black triangle in what I guessed was nearly a thousand feet up in the sky. I watched for a while and over the course of what seemed like an hour or so, the kite slid its way back to earth. When it landed, I was blown away. Blown away by the thing as an image/object, but also as beautiful and simple feat of both design and engineering. Clear plastic, string, found wood slats, a black garbage bag, some glue, wire and a shard of a US First Class Mail Tyvek envelope (which served as a reed when the wind was upon it – making a slapping sound which could be heard from pretty far away. . .).
Me: Can I take a picture of it?
Kite-Flier: Are you gonna copy me?
Me: I might be making a painting of it.
Kite-Flier: That’s cool. Yeah, that’s cool.”
-Rob Nadeau, 2012
Buddy of Work 