McMullen Photography

[mcmullenphoto]

364: Michael McMullen - Revealing Spokane's Unidentified

In this episode of "F-Stop Collaborate and Listen," host Matt Payne speaks with photographer Michael McMullen about his poignant photography

I am VERY late in sharing this. In my defense, I forgot I had a blog. They say memory is the first to go.

Which is why I take pictures. And some of those pictures became a book, and that book was discussed in a podcast!

F-Stop Collaborate and Listen is a rich resource of talented photographers talking about craft and their personal philosophy around image making. Somehow, I managed to talk Matt, the host, into letting me on. I was nervous, so know that going into it. I think I did okay otherwise.

[mcmullenphoto]

Spokane's Missing Persons: Is Robert Thompson the Unidentified Man in Cadillac Apartments

The Man in the Apartment

As firefighters rushed to put out the second blaze at 228 W Sprague Ave that year, 1978, they found a deceased man on the second floor in an abandoned apartment. The first fire was in a restaurant on the main floor. This one had apparently started where the man lay, a lit cigarette most likely catching his sleeping bag on fire after he fell asleep. The medical examiner determined he was 5'6", around 130 pounds. He was missing his teeth and his left index finger. He showed signs of liver disease -- possibly due to alcoholism -- and Osteoarthritis in his lower back. But without fingerprints or dental records to go on his identity could not be verified.

Who is Robert Thompson

Robert Theodore Thompson was born in Bixby, South Dakota in 1932. His family took up residence in Corvallis, Oregon. He moved around a lot, following fairs and circuses and working as a cook. He also was missing his left index finger. According to his daughter, DNA has been submitted to see if there is a match between Robert and the John Doe in the Apartments.

A potential sticking point in the case is the time. Robert went missing in 1974 but, assuming the man in the apartment is indeed a match, he wasn't found until 1978. However, since he was by all accounts transient and without knowing how closely he kept in touch with family, it's not at all outside of reason to assume four years would not have been a long time to go without contact from him. As is repeated over and over again in the unidentified cases that are eventually solved, the family knew the person to be difficult to pin down. They lived in multiple areas, sometimes multiple states. They often led a vagabond lifestyle.

It is also possible the family may have assumed at one point that he wasn't coming home at all. His family grave in Corvallis has his name In Memoriam. Not the action of people who still anticipate the arrival of their brother.

As always, these are difficult cases and my heart goes out to them. I hope the Thompson family gets answers soon, so Robert can get the proper rest he deserves.

[mcmullenphoto]

I really struggle to create things just for the sake of creating them. For years I thought I needed something outside of myself -- namely, money -- to make things. Especially photographs. It's taken a long time to get out of that thinking. While I'm not out completely, I feel like I've come a long way. This image was made because I wanted to see if I could get bubbles to land on a bottle top. It wasn't the first image I made in this session, nor was it the last, but it's my favorite of the set. (And, no, it didn't look like that right out of the camera. Close, but not exactly.)

For me, the best way to practice photography now is to say "how can I make a photo of this," and not "how can I make a photo that would sell."

[mcmullenphoto]

An image can be good in its technique and I can explain why that particular image is good to people, but ultimately it’s about how it’s going to resonate with you emotionally. - Dan Winters

Celebrity Heads - meet the amazing Dan Winters - Capture magazine

Portrait photographer Dan Winters has been recognised worldwide for his iconic photography with over one hundred awards, including a 1st pri

[rosechata]

golden light

[mcmullenphoto]

The joy and enrichment you could derive from a single musical instrument, or a set of paints, is enough to fill a lifetime, and many people have demonstrated that. But those deeper levels are effectively inaccessible without some limit to the splitting of your attention and interest.

I keep imagining a tradition I’d like to invent. After you’re established in your career, and you have some neat stuff in your house, you ta

[elles-books-deactivated20241101]

One of my longest commonplace entries to date (it goes onto the next page too…!) - an article about the concept of a “depth year”! The article is called “Go Deeper, Not Wider” and it’s on the blog Raptitude; would recommend reading it in full! But the tldr is; a depth year is a year (duh) where, instead of casting your net wider (by picking up new hobbies and buying lots of new things), you instead dive deeper into the things you already enjoy or own (getting more skilled in your current hobbies, reading the books you already own instead of buying new ones). I’m giving it a try this year! 🥰 I think it’ll help me stop a) pulling myself in too many directions, and b) spending too much money… 🫣

[mcmullenphoto]

Unidentified: The Lost and Unknown of Spokane County

In 2023 I undertook a project to document all the locations in Spokane County where the body of an unidentified person was found. I went to each location on the same date they were found to capture, as best I could, the conditions in which they were found.

The end result of that project is a book, which you can purchase at the link below.

Unidentified

Unidentified examines the locations where over twenty individuals have been found dead and whose identities remain unknown. Each photo was t

[caffeinatedcatlover]

“Isn’t it odd how much fatter a book gets when you’ve read it several times? As if something were left between the pages every time you read it Feelings, thoughts, sounds, smells… and then, when you look at the book again many years later, you find yourself there, too, a slightly younger self, slightly different, as if the book had preserved you like a pressed flower… both strange and familiar.”

- Cornelia Funke

[mcmullenphoto]

I wish I had kept a commonplace book when I was making Unidentified. I'll have to start one for my next project.

Also, I prefer the term "Zibaldone" because it sounds more artsy.

[mcmullenphoto]

Some film shots from around 2010. I just recently got some of these developed, the others have been sitting in a box.

[mcmullenphoto]

Yeah, what the hell. Let's get this thing going again.

[staff]

tumblr tuesday: nature photography

Good Tuesday to you, Tumblr. Today, we’re featuring some of the people creating breathtaking images of landscape, flora, and fauna. Reblog to add your own nature photography blog—let’s see if we can get a good reblog chain going 🌝

Beautiful botanicals by @boohwanj:

Mornings in pastel by @dpcphotography:

@swedishlandscapes takes truly breathtaking images of—you guessed it—Swedish landscapes:

@gon-iii captures botanical close-ups:

Golden hour grasses by @stephaniedolen:

Pink pastoral by @kylebonallo​:

Kyoto’s gardens by @harimayasukeroku:

It’s all film, no editing with @alifeingrain:

@alexmurison​ photographs his hikes to the high places—and the friends he meets along the way: 

[mcmullenphoto]

[staff]

tumblr tuesday: nature photography

Good Tuesday to you, Tumblr. Today, we’re featuring some of the people creating breathtaking images of landscape, flora, and fauna. Reblog to add your own nature photography blog—let’s see if we can get a good reblog chain going 🌝

Beautiful botanicals by @boohwanj:

Mornings in pastel by @dpcphotography:

@swedishlandscapes takes truly breathtaking images of—you guessed it—Swedish landscapes:

@gon-iii captures botanical close-ups:

Golden hour grasses by @stephaniedolen:

Pink pastoral by @kylebonallo​:

Kyoto’s gardens by @harimayasukeroku:

It’s all film, no editing with @alifeingrain:

@alexmurison​ photographs his hikes to the high places—and the friends he meets along the way: