Creative Habit - Final Project Idea & Theme: The Brotherhood

Creative Habit Project

“But obligation, I eventually saw, is not the same as commitment; and it's certainly not an acceptable reason to stick with something that isn't working”
― Twyla Tharp, The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life 
  

For the Creative Habit Project we are instructed to focus on our major, focus on a theme, delve deep into it and get our hands dirty - repeatedly.

Using photography, the theme I am focusing on is a day in the life of a full-time crew at a local Fire Department in Columbus. Some personal connections, mainly through my dad being a firefighter in my hometown, got me in the door. I have been the photographer and photo journalist for our local department for about 3 years and have also been through trainings and the 'Explorer' program (high school). That being said, I'm already familiar with the way things work around a firehouse and how to not get in the way or not get hurt.

I will be focusing on one specific crew on the department. When they are on duty I will be up at the house with them, getting to know them, interacting, seeing 'a day in the life' basically; all through the lens of my camera. Though this won't be a repeated visit every day I will be spending many hours there on the on duty days. On off days I will be editing the photos and doing a bit of research and thinking for the next time.

I already have some exciting ideas as to what I want to expound upon:
 - portraits: not just faces, but defining pieces such as gear
 - atmosphere: trucks, the house, etc.
 - action: daily duties
 - line of duty: (if permitted) running on calls and documenting the men working

All of these guys have stories - they have good days and bad days. I want to sit individually with each guy and hear there stories. I'll be documenting the story then representing it photographically through portraiture. I also want to capture the guy's interactions with each other - a symbolism of brotherhood, one of the most important aspects of the fire service.
For an example, this portrait of my dad during a long, tiring training session. He face and the speaks volumes when no words were even needed.

Similar to the first photo, which was taken at a training - I'm not positive at this point if I will be permitted access to calls or if the department does specific training nights. Regardless of my background, there's a lot of legal stuff to go through with liability. Working on it though! There are many artistic shots that can be discovered at a scene, I'd love to have the opportunity to do so in a big city.

Also using the same technique, another idea is to photograph the atmosphere these guys live in. It can define a mood and feeling, like the photograph of the interior truck above.
Using a more photo-journalistic style than the portraiture, which will be focused more as 'fine art' photography, I want to shoot the guys working. Daily tasks such as cleaning the trucks, tool servicing, even cooking can be highly expressive and detailed. I want to be able to tell a story with these photographs, such as the one below.

All the photos here are examples that I've created from my hometown department. They demonstrate the direction I wish to take this, though idea is a little more centralized and connecting. My final project will be a series of all the best work from the subcategory themes. I may add some excerpts of text to accommodate the portraits, but the focus is definitely all digital photograph and related processes.

Fire Departments are all about the Brotherhood - that is my focus.