I drove out to the Jesse Viertel Memorial Airport this afternoon to begin making pictures for my final project. As I parked and began looking for the airport manager I spoke with on the phone, I felt directionless. The sky was low and overcast and all the planes were huddled on the runway or in pieces inside the hangers. But I was overjoyed to find the people milling around the airport extremely friendly. I arrived close to quitting time, so they offered me a beer and we got to know each other.
I think this will turn out to be a good photo story, but I’m going to have to devote a lot of time to it. I seemed to be the first J school student these people had dealt with, so I’m excited to finally break out of the Mizzou bubble.
I didn’t take any outstanding pictures today, but that’s ok. I brought an ultrawide lens, thinking I’d be photographing mostly runways and buildings, but I think something in the 35-75mm rage might serve me better. There’s a lot of possibilities here, so I’ll probably need a variety of lenses to get what I want. But in the meantime, I established a starting point and aquatinted myself with some potential characters.
Adam Aton 