Piazza, by Beth Dow
from the show Ruins, at Jen Bekman Gallery
Ruins
Photographs by Beth Dow
At Jen Bekman Gallery
Opening Reception: Thursday, April 9, 2009 from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m
On View: April 9th - May 16th, 2009
Be there or be ☐.
Unphotographable is a website by Michael David Murphy, described as “a text account of pictures missed”.
My own missed moment yesterday: Two men emerging from the woods, dressed entirely in camouflage, carrying semi-automatic rifles. I have not taken many portraits in the past, but it would have been the perfect time to start. My only hope is that they spend a lot of time in those woods, and I’ll be able to find them again sometime.
UPDATE: In the comments, Blake mentions The Photographs Not Taken, a collaborative project with a similar theme. And Camden mentions that Unphotographable is also available on Twitter, in a slightly different form.
One more site, slightly different but related, is Air Camera, from Justin James Reed. For the record, my air camera is an 8×10, but it weighs nothing and the film and developing are free.
** It turned out they were paintball guns, but how was I supposed to know that at the time? **
It is fine and good to tell us what not to photograph, but once we’ve gotten through that list, what’s left?
I ask this question partly in jest, because Colin’s series of posts is quite a good read—a bit cynical, funny, and serious at the same time—and does something very necessary, which is to acknowledge that we photographers often rely too heavily on convention and format. One could easily extrapolate that to any group practicing any kind of art. It’s what people do.
The fact of the matter is that there are only so many great and original ideas to go around, and we can’t all be fortunate enough to have them, so we need to borrow from others from time to time. It’s who you borrow from that’s important. Shamelessly copping Alec Soth’s style won’t get you anywhere these days, because everyone is doing it, and they’re probably doing it better than you are. Find someone a bit more obscure, like John Divola, maybe, and try something involving empty buildings and spray paint. Throw in some string and tape, in the spirit of John Pfahl, and you might be on to something.
I’m sure this is true of everyone, but I have questions about the value of my own work all the time. After all, isn’t this set from Sicily just my own version of the vacation slideshow? Maybe this is why I always have problems coming up with work statements. “I was in Sicily. I walked around for two weeks with a camera. Black and white film.” That seems to pretty much sum it up. Decent pictures they may be, but I’m not sure where they go after that.
I have my own list of genres that I love and hate: I dislike irony, I despise a cheap joke, I think portraits are overrated except in those exceptionally rare 0.1% of photos where they’re great and in that case they’re the best thing ever. I love landscapes. Nothing gives me a thrill like Jem Southam’s Painter’s Pool, or Lee Friedlander’s Desert Seen. When I close my eyes, that is where I live, and that is the only place I want to be.
I’m afraid I get no points for originality for my choice of subject, and so I am going to have to make up for it with dedication and obsession. Which is fine, because hopefully I’ve got another 40 years to make that one transcendent piece before I shuffle off.
I’ve mentioned Women in Photography before, because they have been promoting some wonderful work, and now Cara and Amy have something new up their sleeves. Women in Photography, along with Lightside Photographic Services and LTI (my lab of choice in NYC), are sponsoring a $3000 grant to fund a new or ongoing photographic project. Application is open now through May 1.
Oh yeah, and if you’re curious about their spiffy new site, Amani Olu did the design and I did the web development.
This is just a small sample of what it looks like in my house when I get to printing. After experimenting with several different papers, I finally settled on Moab Entrada Bright White for this photo. (Top row, third from the left). Now that I have settled that question, printing of the edition has commenced and the first batch will be shipping tomorrow.
Wyman Park, Baltimore, 2009
click image for larger view
This month’s print comes from Wyman Park in Baltimore, Maryland. I have been taking pictures in this park for a couple of years now, whenever we can pop down for a visit to Mr. and Mrs. Curmudgeon, and I am always surprised by what I find. It is an odd spot: a mostly overlooked and untended open space right in the middle of the city. I enjoy exploring areas like this—there seems to be a certain uneasy equilibrium between the city and the land in these places that I don’t find anywhere else.
If you like this photo, you can see the entire series at http://daltonrooney.com/current-work/wyman-park
As usual, single prints are available for $25; subscribers get a discount and always get access to editions before they become available to the general public. More information about subscribing is available on the Print of the Month page.
About this print:
Image size: 7½ inches square
Paper size: 8½ by 11 inches
Archival pigment print on 100% rag, matte finished paper
Limited edition of 20
Signed on the back
Price: $25, including shipping to US and Canada (add $5 for shipping elsewhere)
I have written previously about photographs made at the sites of famous paintings, and about using Google Maps to investigate and record the locations of well-known photographs. A similar mash-up of art and technology has been developed by the Tate and Google, which demonstrates just how much the British landscape has changed since the time of Turner and Constable.
This article in the Guardian tells the story, or you could just skip straight to the slideshow. Seeing one of Constable’s pastoral images followed by the contemporary view is jarring, to say the least.
That moment of recognition reminded me very much of the feeling I got when I first saw these two photographs from Frank Gohlke’s Aftermath series.
Aftermath: The Wichita Falls, Texas, Tornado No. 10A and 10B - Maplewood Avenue, near Sikes Senter Mall, looking east, 1979/1980. Photography by Frank Gohlke
Within the context of the entire Aftermath series, these two images have an even stronger impact. Gohlke’s recent book Accomodating Nature features several photos from this series, and is very much worth a visit to the library.
If you’re bored of thinking of time on a scale of years and centuries, how about moving to a geological scale, as in Jem Southam’s Rockfalls of Normandy?
Vaucottes, November 2005, Vaucottes, February 2006, by Jem Southam
OK, that last pair are only a few months apart, but you get my drift.
Many thanks to Dr. Steven Zucker from the wonderful smarthistory.org for the heads up on the Guardian article.
I’ve photographed in this park several times over the last couple of years, but this is the first time I’ve used color film. I paid for these photos with a lot of bruises and a slightly battered camera, but I’m happy with the results.
The rest of this series can be found here.
I wanted to take a moment to highlight the work of a couple of friends who have prints for sale in Daniel Cooney’s third Emerging Photographers Auction. There is only a week left to get into the action on these affordable prints.
Berkley, 2007, Ellen Rennard
I first came across Ellen Rennard’s work on the Women in Photography website, and was pleasantly surprised when she dropped a line in the comments on my New Years post in 2008. We have since struck up an online friendship, and I highly recommend taking a look through the portfolios on her website. I am particularly fond of the “Horses on the Backside” series.
Tourists, Inlet, Point Wolfe, Nova Scotia, 2008, by Alexi Hobbs
I have been following Alexi Hobbs for a couple of years now, having first discovered him on Flickr. I was very happy to find that he had an image in the auction as well. And what a beauty, too; it reminds me a bit of the work of Timothy O’Sullivan, a modern yet timeless landscape image.
A few more photographs from the auction are posted below:
House Number, 2007, by Alan George
Spirit of Life, Wilmington in Jell-O, Elizabeth Hickok
Quilotoa Crater Lake, 2007, Ani Kington
