What do images say when they are paired together? Maybe nothing special. Maybe something extraordinary.
2022: 39 Twenty Four Frames Per Second
The line between moving pictures and still photography is thin, and vast at the same time. So much in common, and so much much unique to each. I have played with moving imagery throughout my life, in parallel yet separate lanes from my still photography. This week, some of those lines bot blurred, some of the lanes got crossed.
I took a film workshop this past Sunday, run by the cinematic renegades at Basement Films. I got to play with old 16mm movie film, culled from an archive of educational and industrial films. A few arms-lengths of old film, hand manipulated, then spliced to create a loop. Think of it as a handmade animated GIF.
There is something magical about film: the feel of it, the look of it, the tiny replications of reality. Even more so when laid out in strips, 24 frames making a second of moving imagery. Each frame its own sliver of time. Each frame its own still photograph.
Central Ave and Morningside SE
2022:38 The Light
Many years ago, before I moved to New Mexico, I read somewhere about “the light.” The unique New Mexico light. The convergence of altitude, lack of pollution and maybe, something else, something magical. The light here is something I can take for granted. I sometimes resent the sunshine that arrives almost on a daily basis…300+ days a year here. Oh, please just a few more cloudy, overcast, grey, rainy days. But then, I roll up to my office, and see a simple street corner, bathed in perfect October light. No clouds. No filters. This is what “the light” can do; what it can show. And I am reminded, and I am grateful.
2022: 37 Black Hole Sun
I often think about the status of the art of photography. Is it diminishing in value? Is it more ubiquitous, hence less important? Is it a means of expression that is less relevant than it once was? Has it been tarnished by its sheer omnipresence? Many of us who use this medium as a mode of expression probably wrestle with these questions. Yet, we continue to toil away at our craft, ignoring the change in the weather (metaphorically speaking.)
Daido Moriyama, a photographer I greatly admire, once released a body of work titled “Farewell Photography.” One could interpret the title as his own personal goodbye to the medium, and a look at the images from this series would certainly validate that opinion. Grainy, overly contrasty, scratched, water damaged and generally abused, the photographs felt like an extreme that could not be returned from. We know from history that Moriyama did indeed return from this precipice in his personal work, still photographing to this day. However, if we look at the title as a broader statement, I think its relevant to consider the idea of saying farewell to photography as something that still resonates today.
The image above is a film leader from a roll of 110 film I shot earlier this year. A simple, throwaway strip of film stock. But when I scanned it, I saw other things emerge. A sky, devoid of the brightness of the sun. Ab scorched landscape. The universe in a smattering of dust. An existential landscape. The end of straight, photographic representation? Is this even a photograph? It is a piece of film, exposed in a camera, and contextualized by my eye, my brain. Is it nothing or is it everything? Perhaps both? Is it a wrench thrown into the mechanisms of the forever churning, social media fueled, torrent of images? I’ll leave that for you to ponder.
2022: 35 Boredom
“Boredom is the dream bird that hatches the egg of experience.
A rustling in the leaves drives him away.”
- Walter Benjamin
2022: 34 Two Titans
FILM. French film. New wave. Firebrands. “Photography is truth. Cinema is truth 24 time a second.” Don’t give a fuck about the critics. Break new ground. “Yes”, never no. “No” if it isn’t a solid yes. We lost two titans this past week. William Klein and Jean-Luc Godard have both influence me immensely. Perhaps it’s fitting they both left this mortal coil within days of each other. Taking some time to pay tribute to these two masters. Au revoir.
2022:33 Here Is My Proof
PROOF
I’ve always enjoyed sharing my work freely with the world. What you give is what you get. I use the word “proof” in a general way; this work is proof that I am alive, proof that I see the world this way, proof of concept, proof to myself, proof to you, proof of love, proof of mortality, proof of my senses, proof that generosity is its own reward. I make these cards by hand and leave them for strangers at a special place. Maybe you’ll get one for yourself.
2022: 32 Travel
After a month of downtime, travel and vacation, I am back to my weekly blog entries. I hope everyone has been having a good summer. I was lucky enough to leave the 505 for an extended trip, and it really did the trick to refocus my energies and see new things.
My trip began with a red eye flight to JFK airport in New York. An early morning arrival allowed me to have my “go to” breakfast of whitefish salad on a pumpernickel bagel at Russ and Daughters. I then strolled a few blocks to the International Center of Photography to see the fantastic William Klein exhibition. I was visiting as a guest of the museum, as I had recently interviewed the curator of the exhibition, David Campany, for my podcast. Listen here: “William Klein: YES” The show was inspiring, and overwhelming. I’m looking forward to adding the catalogue book to my library as soon as it is available.
The trip then took me to the closest thing I have to a “happy place,” the New Jersey shore. Time on the beach is alway a pleasure, as it brings me back to the days of my childhood, sitting on a blanket in the sand and jumping into the waves of the (this year..frigid!) Atlantic Ocean.
Next was an early morning commute back up to NYC, to meet my wife at JFK for a transatlantic flight to Budapest. We had a friend getting married there, and used the occasion as a great excused for a return to Europe…after years of prohibited travel. Hungary, despite its questionable political situation, is a beautiful country, and the city of Budapest is particularly gorgeous. The wedding itself was an amazing experience, filled with songs, performances, comedy and Central European craziness.
Next on the itinerary was the city of Leipzig in Germany. A former East German manufacturing hub, the city has been on the short end of reunification. This has actually been turned into an artistic advantage, particularly the old factory buildings that now house art studios, galleries and cafes. The Stasi Museum in the city was also a sobering, yet insightful site I am glad I got to visit.
Our final destination was the great city of Berlin. The city is very dear to me for a number of reasons, having been there two times before this trip. However, it was 15 years since my last visit, and I was curious if the city had changed much in that time. I was happy to discover that it had not. The edgy, funky vibe on the streets was a present as ever. Between too many cigarettes and too many weisse beers, we saw some amazing art shows. The Berlin Biennial was in full swing, and I also attended a great show by Susan Meiselas at C/O Berlin. I also discovered the work of Sybille Bergemann, and took home a book of her beautiful photography.
The most surprising thing that you, dear reader, might want to hear is… I did not bring out my camera once during the entire trip. Yes, I had my iPhone for snaps and Instagramming, but I did not even attempt to do any “serious” shooting on this trip. It was a refreshing change of approach for me, and I am glad that I am not experiencing any remorse for the decision not to shoot this journey. If anything, it gave me the time and space to let other things in…good food, good times with my wife, and the rest and relaxation my brain really needed. Even so, it’s good to be home and back to work.
2022: 30 Pinteresting
Friends and followers of this blog probably know that I have mixed feelings (at best) towards Instagram. I’ve been struggling with the vapid nature of the selfie-centric platform ever since I jumped on board, and have had a strong hate / love relationship with it ever since. My disdain grew stronger once I left Facebook late last year. Maybe having one less social media platform made the ‘gram warts show even more obviously to me.
I have yet to depart from Instagram, and try to reconcile the fact that I still use it, mostly to communicate with my circle of creative friends. I also see it as a way to promote my podcast, for better or for worse. But I really wanted an alternative, something like Tumblr, back in the early 20-teens, when it really felt like a creative platform, before the bots took it over. Another aging hipster I know told me he found an alternative, and I decided to give it a try. Lo and behold… Pinterest.
I had originally dismissed Pinterest as a platform for crafty Moms and fashion / interior design wannabe Millennials. I don’t even know how I formed that bias in my mind, but that’s how I perceived the platform. Instead, I have discovered (albeit very late to the party) that Pinterest is a great way to find visual inspiration, and it satisfies my need to scroll through eye candy on my iPhone. What it does not do is fill me with contempt, with envy, and with feelings of insecurity. I have no skin in the Pinterest game. I don’t use it to go fishing for “likes” or instant validation. Instead, I see a parade of imagery, not just from random creators but from great artists I already know and love. Case in point, my feed is currently heavy in Robert Rauschenberg, Sigmar Polke, Robert Frank and Brice Marden. These names alone keep me inspired, and the tangential images that populate my feed feature visually connected content that has pulled my down numerous rabbit holes of discovery.
Might I suggest that you also give it a try? It might make the eventual Instagram plug pulling much less painful and probably more satisfying.
2022: 29 Film Swap / Destruction
Last year I participated in a film swap, sponsored by the great folks at Lomography. They connected film shooters from all over the world to collaborate on a film sharing project (you shoot a roll of film and then send it to the assigned person to shoot the roll again in their camera…double exposures!) Last year’s project was so much fun I decided to throw my hat in the ring again this year.
My roll of film arrived this week from Perth, Australia(!) so I was excited to run it through one of my cameras as soon as the grips of Covid released me from being homebound. After shooting and processing, I noticed the doubles didn’t come out as prominently as expected. The iso rating / underexposure approach didn’t yield clear double exposures. Having been granted permission by my shooting partner, I decided to inflict my (soon to be patented) creative destruction approach to the processed film.
Bleach, flame and dirt was inflicted on the negative strips. I took a fairly haphazard approach to this destruction, not really caring if I went too far with it. The results are very much to my liking and my Aussie friend was pleased as well. Some traditional shooters may cringe at this approach, but I find it liberating to succumb to the happenstance of pouring bleach onto of a strip of film. And one thing is assured, this definitely creates one of a kind images.
