The Year Ahead.

The restoration project at the Wiley Building has finally begun.

After months of to-and-fro of the parties involved at last the Wiley is off of life support and back to life.

I’m lucky in that after months and months of lobbying to be able to shoot the entire project all things finally came to fruition.

However not without a few bumps.

I will need to report to the Project Manager who I met only last week.

A tall guy with a wad of chew {the juices of which he kept spitting to his side as we talked}.

He didn’t like the idea and misunderstood that I wanted to be there for the whole thing.

Start to finish.

Let’s just say I’ve done a lot of sucking up mixed in with a few hysterics along the way to get in this door so I wasn’t going to lose the chance now.

His points and all I agree with:

1} Who’s going to see these?

2} There is the possibility of being killed if I’m not aware of my surroundings  {which I told him not only do I practice it but it’s what I always tell young photographers to always do}.

3} “I don’t want to feel responsible for you”.

What it boiled down to is that I convinced him that it wasn’t about catching one of his workmen on their smart phone or peeing in some distant floor corner of the building. Hey, I wouldn’t blame anyone on the latter. Those portable pots ice up just like anything else during the Winter.

No, it’s because I want to photograph HISTORY.

I  own my hard hat and steel toed boots.

I’ve  signed a “construction period waiver” as I always do.

And the final qualification?

I’m a tough cookie.

So with that he said the magic words.

Well, he texted me from his smart phone.

“OK”.

And so we’re off on the merry little adventure and thank you , Don. You’ve allowed me to take on the next wonderful chapter in my  life.

Here’s a shot from the first day which will, I believe, set the pace for how I approach shooting there.

A little bit of reality.

And a little bit of art.

Looky.