Do Haeng Michael Kitchen

I like photography.  Capturing the memory of the moment.  It could be amusing sights around the house…

or the treasures from a vacation…
It could be from the quiet awareness of a Zen photo walk….

or the loud enthusiasm of friends.

Detroit City FC Supporters march to the stadium. Photo by Michael Kitchen.

There is one category that, in 2014, I took a hiatus from.  Events.  At special events I would take my camera, particularly if there were authors or other artists around.

In 2014, I attended these events and left the camera at home:

-Michigan Sports Hall of Fame induction of Alexi Lalas
-Bill Ayers at Source Books in Detroit
-Brigid Pasulka at Nicola’s Books in Ann Arbor
-Voices of the Midwest event in Ann Arbor
-Zell Distinguished Visiting Writer – Jane Smiley in Ann Arbor
-Motor City Comic Con
-Detroit Working Writers conference
-Ann Arbor Antiquarian Book Fair
-Metro Detroit Book and Author Luncheon, May, 2014
-Lolita Hernandez book launch in Detroit
-Marie Mason Prison Work Art Exhibit in Detroit
-Ann Arbor Book Festival
-US vs Belgium Watch Party in Campus Martius, Detroit
-Ann Arbor Art Fair
-Author readings hosted by Kelly Fordon
-Northern Guard Supporters’ Books & Breakfast gathering at John King Books in Detroit
-Kathleen Ripley Leo book signing in Northville
-Books on the Banks book festival in Cincinnati, OH
-Metro Detroit Book and Author Luncheon, October, 2014
-National Writers Series featuring Rita Mae Brown in Traverse City, MI
-Tom Daldin book signing at Paperback Writer Books in Mount Clemens, MI
-Emily Rose book signing at Paperback Writer Books in Mount Clemens, MI

Was it worth leaving the camera home?

Without the camera, I was more present at these events.  There were no concerns about seating and whether the lighting in the building would be good enough to shoot without a flash.  My mind was not divided between the content of the event and the image on the digital camera screen.  There wasn’t the awkwardness of holding the camera while awaiting its use and of asking the person who was the center of attention to pose.  I found it liberating.

However, those moments are now committed only to images in my memory; that limited space where decades of moments have been forever lost, unable to recover even when reminded by others who were there.  Photos give life to those favorable memories.  If a photo is worth a thousand words, then in 2014 I left behind a four-hundred page epic of images.

I’ve found that even though I was released of the burden of carrying the camera, the loss of captured images – the memories of the moment – is far too great.