High expectations – The rise and fall of LDRS

Sometimes things just fall into place, as they did for Sean Lemoine; a self-taught photographer from California, who previously scheduled out weekly events to photograph for deliberate practice. It was at one of these events that he happened to find out about rocketry and was encouraged by participants to return for LDRS, which is the acronym for ‘Large Dangerous Rocket Ships’. Although he was not too familiar with the subject, he felt it would offer him the opportunity to focus on a particular topic for an extended period of time and obtain an education on the types of challenges he might face in that given situation. And so he returned to the dry lake bed to document the rise and fall of rockets sent out to face “Space Death X”- or at least this is what one of the pictures suggests. His photographs are very well outbalanced, and the vast and bright landscape, with its fine pattern of cracked soil, makes a perfect background for the rocketry enthusiasts and their colourful flying objects. 
There is a great sensitivity for energy and timing noticeable in all of Lemoine’s works. Some of the settings are so surreal that you would not guess that Sean prefers to be the observer, rather than having a strong influence on the subject he is shooting. For me this was also surprising because some of the people depicted were so perfectly frozen in motion: that is what makes it easy to think they were posed. With his work, Sean appreciates the human element that can be perceived when someone is either striving towards achieving a goal or when someone is partaking in an activity that they find joy in. He is conscious that what he is looking for are individual moments; and he shares these with us through photography, which is not only beautiful but also humorous. We like it a lot.