Photography The Bunker Jon Hillenbrand, March 10, 2010October 17, 2019 When I lived down in Momence, IL, or “The Kank” as I like to refer to it (Kankakee Valley area about 90 minutes south of Chicago), I often came home to a dark Hill House-esque pink cottage which teased me with its Pepto crust and screwy center. To say that I believed…
Photography :| (unamused) Jon Hillenbrand, February 23, 2010October 17, 2019 Today during a studio shoot, I had an interesting interchange with an older woman who volunteered to be a model for a set of ads we are putting together for the launch of a new wing to a hospital: SUBJECT: “I own my own ad agency, so I know all about…
Photography The Long View Jon Hillenbrand, February 17, 2010October 17, 2019 Sometimes I can feel the neurons in my head recharging to execute a wrong decision once again. And in that shiver of a moment, I sometimes see the long view of my life stretched out before me like bolts of drying linen across the stone floor of time. Thoughts meander…
Photography Fate of the Created Jon Hillenbrand, February 4, 2010October 17, 2019 Would it bother you to know that you were created in a lab? That your insides were not the result of slow evolutionary processes but of the genius machinations of a scientist? Sometimes I wish I had a robotic hand like in Terminator 2, but then I look at my natural hand with…
Photography Cowboy Up Jon Hillenbrand, January 25, 2010October 17, 2019 Today I had a great photo shoot. I was tasked with photographing a group of 7-year-olds who all have movement disorders. When I asked for a definition of that, one of the supervisors said that they weren’t especially good at coordinating their left and right sides. So, for example, one of the kids…
Photography Instruction Manual – Life – 2010 Jon Hillenbrand, January 1, 2010October 17, 2019 I don’t know about you, but I sometimes feel shortchanged by the instruction manual I received when I was born. Oh wait, there isn’t an instruction manual for Life. What the heck?! There are instruction manuals for everything, even chopsticks. The first time I saw those three Chinese pictures on…
Photography My Sound of Music Jon Hillenbrand, December 27, 2009October 17, 2019 The Von Trapp family was the Partridge Family of their day but without the annoying pastels and giant flowers randomly painted on walls. A string of silver-throated talents from old to young, this family did more to further my love of singing than any other early influence. I suspect I even subconsciously…
Photography Duck! Jon Hillenbrand, December 10, 2009October 17, 2019 Ducks seem to have a lock on a lot of things in the human world. There’s the old saying, “Be calm on the surface and paddling like the dickens underneath,” duck analogy. Then there’s the, “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…,” analogy which is used…
Photography Vanilla petals melting on the ground before me Jon Hillenbrand, December 7, 2009October 17, 2019 I’m glad I’m not a writer, in the professional sense. Sure, I take photos, and sure, some people might think I’m putting myself out there with my “vision of the world”, but for me, my vision(s) of the world are literally snapshots in time, not labored over, heavily edited presentations…
Photography Scared for my liver Jon Hillenbrand, October 29, 2009October 17, 2019 If you’ve ever seen the movie, “Saving Private Ryan,” you might remember the death scene for “Doc” brilliantly acted out by Giovanni Ribisi. Ribisi is great because he has a darkness to him that’s offset by highlights of innocence. Well, in his final scene, shown from the point of view of…
Photography What is the point of this plant Jon Hillenbrand, October 20, 2009October 17, 2019 I can look around at the little lives around me and see their purposes. The small black flies I kill in the bathroom are just trying to mate before they die. The spider I don’t want to kill is trying to catch those flies. Maybe the spider looks small and…
Photography Human Arrogance Jon Hillenbrand, October 12, 2009October 17, 2019 There’s a moth riding the inside of an invisible cylinder as fast as he can downstairs around the light near where I get my mail. These struggles seem minor to others, but to me they always pose a moral challenge. Should I show the moth where the door is? Beyond…
Photography The Dirty Little Secret Jon Hillenbrand, October 4, 2009October 17, 2019 “THE DIRTY LITTLE SECRET” OF THE HIGH COST OF HEALTHCARE or, “THE SYSTEM IS NOT BROKEN” by S. J. Hillenbrand, B.A., M.S. Doctors Cause the High Price of Healthcare It is widely accepted that the misdeeds of physicians are the reasons why so many people cannot receive…
Photography Carwash Jon Hillenbrand, August 7, 2009October 17, 2019 Getting my car washed is one of the larger joys in my life. Now that I am just two or less payments away from full ownership of my car, I strangely find myself wanting to trade. Maybe it’s because of a few possible large expenses coming up, but maybe it’s…
Photography What's the Boy Scout Motto Again? Jon Hillenbrand, August 4, 2009October 17, 2019 Continued from Motivation When you suddenly find yourself locked out of your car that is in drive and stuck in a snow drift, your options are somewhat limited. Your mind races. Possibilities that had not occurred to you just moments before, such as freezing to death while huddled around your…