Public Health Hazard

Public Health Hazard — 50mm | f/1.4 | ISO 8000 | EXP 1/40

Obligatory Disclaimer Alert: Kids, don’t be like this hobo hipster wizard. Smoking is bad for your health.

This past Thursday longtime pal, ceramicist, glass blower and acoustic romanticist, Jeff Ruemeli, invited us over to the LBI Foundation of the Arts & Sciences to check out this here soda kiln firing he’s been waxing poetic about for weeks. The outdoor oven apparatus—roughly 5 feet by 5 feet by 7 feet (not including the chimney) of what I’m guessing is some kind of volcanic brick—was quite cool; and glowed something fierce in the dark of night as he and his colleague worked diligently to get the temperature up to a balmy 2,300°F.

While I was unable to get a serviceable image of the natural gas kiln itself, I did manage to make this here modest portrait; highlighting the perils of gnarly beards and nasty cigarettes. Both insidious threats to civil society. Hide your children; hide your wife.

Without question I have a fear of portraiture; personal space and comfort issues, damn you to hell. In the future, if I find some subjects I’m comfortable enough with, it’s an area of photography I’d like to explore. As such a speedlite and portrait lens may be in my future. Hooray for cash eating hobbies!