So earlier this morning I said that I was not going to put my blog Frame Lines on my server or into WordPress this week. Well, I was wrong. Not long after I wrote that I was struck with an idea. Go here to check it out. If anything I need to shoot, which is a good thing. So now I have my website, this blog and my photo blog all under the same umbrella and sharing similar design characteristics, which satisfies my inner German.
Gregory Crewdson spoke at the Dallas Museum of Art the other night. I was intrigue to hear what he was going to say, or better yet what he was not going to say. “The murky content”, as he put it was off limits. No need to pull the curtain that far back I guess.
The one thing that stuck with me was that he said we all have one story to tell and we spend our whole lives telling it.
I also feel like I need to watch “Blue Velvet” again. Maybe watch “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”.
He also “freaks out” if the camera is ever moved a degree during one of his shoots.
The Big Picture at Boston.com has a powerful gallery of images from the chaos in Haiti. This has been one of the few times that my personal reaction to a series of images caused me to try and help someone. You can follow the link below if you are so moved.
Here is an update from MSF. They treated 500 patients in 24 hours at temporary hospital in Carrefour, Haiti.
This is the second Jay Maisel recording I came across this week. Over on The Candid Frame, Ibarionex Perello has an interview with him. Click on the December 20 button in the player.
George Jardine has interview with Maisel and Richard Benson here. Here is another interview, it needs to be read though.
Maisel is a photographer I have grown to appreciate. His work in color was not something that I was drawn to initially. Color work did not hold my attention early on because I was mainly using black and white film. Now when I read or hear him I am drawn to views of the medium. I am more interested in his newer work. Maisel is someone who has been working for a long time and now is exploiting digital for all it is worth. In the Perello interview, he says that he is now using higher ASAs and making pictures he would not previously been able to. That speaks to the power of digital.
The video is part of a series of Conversations at the Summit which is part of the educational programing from Rich Clarkson’sSummit Series of Workshops. If you are looking for a workshop I was strongly suggest this series. I have known Rich Clarkson for a number of years. He and his crew know how to put on an event.
It was 19 years ago when I walked in a Photo 1 classroom at Western Kentucky University for a class taught by Dave LaBelle. I was freshman who had big newspaper dreams. One of my classmates was transfer student from the University of Pennsylvania named Francis Gardler. He was one of the students who seemed to have it together, was level headed and organized. Other classmates included Craig Fritz and Patrick Witty. These three people were the ones who motivated me. One of the biggest lessons I learned in that class was desire to work. If I rested, one of my classmates of would out hustle me. I learned as much from them as I did from my teachers. There are times when I wish I stayed at Western, but I went west to Kansas after a while. Dave, who worked there for a period of time, told me of all the great photographers who came from Kansas. He encouraged me along my own path.
For as much as I claim Kansas University and the University of North Texas as my alma maters, Dave’s Photo 1 class put me on the track to become the photographer I am today. Dave taught the class with enthusiasm and passion. Looking back on it now, as someone who has a taught a Photo 1 class, my attitude as a student was not the best, but I learned. I can easily spot those students in my classes now who have my old mindset, stubborn. Part of the reason why enjoy teaching is the teachers that have had, not only Dave, but Rich Clarkson, Bill Snead, Mike Williams, Brent Phelps, Dornith Doherty, Susan kae Grant and Denise Baxter. All of these people have a common thread, they are passionate about teaching. Each time I walk into the classroom, I hope that I have that same enthusiasm that they all had shown me. If Dave had not shown a slideshow about Brian Lanker, I do not think I would have been able to approach Rich Clarkson to show him my work. That slideshow has stuck with me for a long time too. He had a photo of a high school football player after a game in a locker room that knocked my socks off. That photograph helped point me in the direction I was to go on.
I found this link to some audio and video lectures at the ICP in New York over on We Can’t Paint.
There are lots to look at and listen to. So far the Burk Uzzle and Taryn Simon lectures are great.
Speaking of Burk Uzzle, this is one of my favorite quotes of his:
“In the moment, in the place when the ordinary reveals itself to be epic, it is my favorite time to be alive, to have my camera and to see.”
I remember the time in college when I came across his book Landscapes at the Art and Architecture Library at Kansas University it was like opening my eyes to a new world. Memories of that small book carried me through visually for a long time.
He is most known for photograph of a couple from Woodstock and a shag van from Bike Week in Daytona. This image is what has stuck in my craw for so long.
A Longhorn and others with "Woman in His Pocket", upper left, during the Portfolio Review reception at Kettle Art.
My photograph “Woman in His Pocket” was selected for the Portfolio Review Exhibition at Kettle Art in Dallas. The packed reception was Friday, November 6, 2009. It is always interested for me to watch people looking at my work. I could tell people liked it, but for various reasons.
I had the pleasure of talking with Anne Bothwell from KERA who was one of the jurors. Again, I want to say thanks to Anne and the other jurors for selecting my photograph. I also want to say thanks to Frank Campagna and everyone at Kettle Art who put this on. This video popped into my RSS reader today. My photograph shows up at 4:01.
My imageSale Day will be on exhibit with at the Photographic Center Northwest in Seattle starting Friday, October, 8, 2009. There is a reception from 5-8 p.m. If you are in the Seattle area, drop by. The exhibit, The Curve: Center’s Award Receipients, features a lot of great imagery. I featured the two other photographers who also placed third here.
This image and five others from the Sale Day series will be exhibited at the mod.shop in Dallas starting Saturday, October 10, 2009. There is a reception from 6-9 p.m. and I will be there. If you are in the Metroplex stop by. The exhibit, Through the Lens, also features the work of Julie Barnofski and Angela Patterson.
Downtown Elmira, NY
