Ghosts in the Guggenheim

Ghosts in the Guggenheim, originally uploaded by Lucia Rojas.

I think about this day a lot because you could say this was the day that I really fell in love with photography. I had always been a painter until then, and my camera was used as memory collector or as an aid to my painting. That day everything changed.

It was my first time visiting the Guggenheim and I was very excited. As I was happily walking around taking pictures, one of the security guards who was having a bad day decided to get on my case. He told me I couldn't take pictures and decide to follow me around to make sure I was doing what he said. I was really, really angry as everyone around me was taking photographs. In a trying-to-be-challenging way I decided to shoot at the reflections on the floor, and told him, I am just shooting the floor, you can't do anything about that. I was captivated by this woman in a pink dress and her reflection, but mostly I really wanted to piss off the guard... :P I made it my purpose to follow this girl around all day... I never did see the art work that day. I was hypnotized, captivated by the moment and the images on the camera.Absolutely seduced by what I was seeing and the way the little Sony Powershot was capturing it.

I didn't need to paint this, no, this was already finished.Photography all of a sudden had a completely new meaning for me. I stayed all day where the shiny floor was and took a series of pictures that I call "Ghosts in the Guggenheim" and that was the beginning of an ongoing series of ghosts in museums. (needless to say I had to return to the Guggenheim some other time to actually see what was in there, but it has never been as good as that day)

To this day, with so much that I have tried to learn and so much that I still need to learn, this is probably one of my top 3 magical photography moments ever and I wanted to share it with you. :) oh, yes! And thanks to that guard ;)

Uploaded by Lucia Rojas on 8 Nov 09, 8.25PM COT.