self-guided tour

2008-07-25T14:51:00.004-04:00

One last little tidbit of news on this gorgeous Friday: this week saw the release of the self-published book In the Hardship and the Hoping: Poems of Northeast Ohio by JB Solomon (aka the illustrious Tim Bugansky). The book also includes a few photographs (such as the above) done by yours truly.
Part homage to our collective Rust Belt roots and part chronicle of daily life in the region, the book can be purchased in paperback form -or- as a free download, both options available here.

2008-07-24T22:54:00.011-04:00

Like many people, I've always to a certain extent been captivated by the lure of the road. And in the car-centric culture of this here U.S. and A., there is no greater road to trip down than The Mother Road herself, Route 66.
Since my first days as a licensed and certified driver creepin' around in the '88 Corsica (you know the one: cassette player with a voracious appetite for devouring that Top 40 tape you just bought from the mall with a week's pay from your shitty summer job, passenger side window that would never roll down, steering wheel that would violently shake if you drove faster than 55mph) handed down from my grandfather, I'd envision myself and a few select companions whizzing off into the great unknown, thru the desert Southwest along desolate stretches of America's First Superhighway, to experience (and maybe even abuse) the pre-packaged "freedom" that a car and the open road were supposed to provide us (or so we were told by the glossy ads for gasoline and car sales). Of course in today's "non-recession" economic slump we're perhaps finally coming to understand the hollowness of this promise--with gas prices skyrocketing we'd be foolish to not at least take a quick glance in the collective mirror to realize that our demand for and consumption patterns of oil to fuel (pun intended) our road trip dreams, as well as the highway-centric urban/suburban planning models that The Mother Road eventually spawned, are just the tip of the iceberg of complex issues we must confront and reform to deal with this oil "non-crisis" dilemma.
But this isn't a civics lecture, its a blog about photography (mostly). And, pretending for a minute that my hindsight isn't 20-20 and excusing myself the continual indulgence (like ice cream on a summer evening even though you know its no good for you--Jennie would find it comical) of entertaining this road trip fantasy: yes, I have always wanted to drive The Mother Road in its entirety and make pictures.
I had my first chance to see part of it in the spring of 2005, traveling with Wes from Oklahoma to Illinois. All told it was a quick two-day tour with one REM cycle of rest in Tulsa, but regardless a little taste of the sweetness and definitely enough to make me yearn for a return trip for more pie, especially because I've been assured by many Route 66 travelers that the road's greatest tales unfold west of OKC.
above, left to right:
1) The Blue Whale (abandoned amusement park), Catoosa, Okla.
2) "The largest private gun collection in the world", Claremore, Okla.
3) Near Our Lady of the Highways, Raymond, Ill.
4) Arriving in Chicago.

So obviously it was with great excitement when I realized, upon scouring the map looking for an obscure little town in the Ozarks called Lake Spring, that an assignment this week in Missouri would find me right along the Show-Me State's Route 66 corridor shooting for a new client, the Italian news magazine Il Sole 24 ORE. I spent the majority of Monday with the writer, traversing small town backroads (the gig had nothing to do with 66), interviewing and photographing some locals and getting a visual feel for this corner of Middle America. By the time work was done, I had about two hours of daylight left and figured I'd start my route back to St. Louis (early flight home the next morning) with a quick journey down 66 from Rolla to Cuba and search for a good place to sample the localers' cuisine, which they insist must include BBQ in some form or another.
above, left to right:
1) The main intersection, downtown Rolla, Mo.
2) One of the many "Giants" scattered all along 66, this one just outside Rolla.
3) An abandoned motel, between Rolla and St. James, Mo.
4) Johnnie's Bar, St. James. A filthy but endearing little dive definitely worth stopping at for a cold bottle of Pabst or Stag (another one of the OTHER beers that made Milwaukee famous) with the locals--that is, unless you're one of the 12 people listed in large neon orange on the door as "undesirables" who are no longer permitted to drink there. It was during my inaugural bottle of Stag here where I was witness to the politics of beer in Missouri, made complicated by the recent $52 billion purchase of St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch by the Belgian brewers InBev--the main topic of discussion among a crowd of die-hard Budweiser drinkers. In talking to a few patrons about the sale, many said they'd now switch to a short list of their second-preference beers...from Milwaukee.

One thing that I was particularly struck by on this brief drive, moreso than the previous, was the commodification of Route 66, wrapped into a cute little consumable package of kitschy Americana. Nostalgia, memorabilia and tchotchkes for sale every few miles. We no longer have any use for 66 as a superhighway (its been replaced with newer ones, which in many locations are mere inches away from the original 66), and now all its good for is to sell a cheap plastic product that was likely made in China. So naturally, as someone who holds a growing disdain for materialistic consumerism, what other choice did I have but to surrender the $2.99 plus tax for the Missouri Route 66 refrigerator magnet?! Hey at least I didn't splurge for the shot glass or safari hat I guess. But besides, how else was I supposed to memorialize the trip, right...?above, left to right:
1) Cattle grazing, near Rosati, Mo.
2) Historic mural, downtown Cuba, Mo.
3) My dinner, downtown Cuba: at Hick BBQ (they named it, not me), a modest plate of pulled pork sandwich with the spicy sauce and a side of mac 'n cheese.
4) King of the Road, Cuba.

Anyways, a few of my favorite sources of photography along Route 66 are a multimedia piece done by the former New York Times photographer Edward Keating, and the pop can pinhole camera project done by the aforementioned Wes Pope (I don't have a direct link to the flash gallery on his site, but once you get past his splash page, find pop66 under the first tab in the upper left). And on the topic, a big hello to Wes out there in Denver now, about to start his new job with the Rocky Mountain News just in time for the DNC!
Meanwhile, back at the homestead, my Missouri gig was immediately followed Tuesday nite (return flight arrives at 2pm, shoot time in Cleveland suburbs at 5pm) by a gig for another new client, Money magazine, and the next day dodging come-and-go thunderstorms on a jaunt up to the Lake Erie islands (aboard the ferry boat, below) to do a dusk shoot for Cleveland Magazine.
I'll spend the next few days filing these assignments before jumping back into some personal projects next week.

2008-07-16T19:57:00.003-04:00

Artist Steve Kurtz photographed with an installation that is part of his multimedia exhibition SEIZED, at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center in Buffalo, NY. Kurtz is also an art professor at the University at Buffalo and founding member of the artists' collective Critical Art Ensemble.
Journeyed up there last week for Time to photograph him for a story about his show, which closes at the end of this week.
SEIZED is the result of a four-year investigation Kurtz endured after being accused of "bio-terrorism" and other charges by the Justice Department. The sad and ironic ordeal began in 2004 when Kurtz called 911 to report that his wife (and artistic collaborator) had died. When authorities arrived at his house, they began questioning Kurtz about science and lab equipment (such as those seen in the photo above) he had in the room, which he explained were used for his artworks, including projects on controversial topics such as genetically modified food or governments manipulating public fear of bioterrorism.
The exhibition centers around the materials seized by federal authorities, as well as physical items left behind in Kurtz's home by FBI agents during their lengthy investigation--hundreds of empty sport drink bottles, pizza boxes, Hazmat suits, and other trash.
Kurtz's story is one of those absurd post-9/11 sagas that would have Kafka rolling in his grave. But equally striking, and of very serious consequence, are the grave concerns that such an issue raises about the suppression of artistic works (Orwellian thought crimes?) and how to preserve creative expression in a society that brags about its democracy (yet at times seems very willing to, in fits of paranoia, sacrifice its golden principles of civil liberty). Or, as mentioned at the end of the trailer for the film "Strange Culture" based on Kurtz's story: "if an artist is silenced, then the potential is for everyone to be silenced".

2008-07-07T08:08:00.005-04:00

Coming down from a relaxing holiday weekend: time with friends, tasty food (and lots of it), cold beer, bummin' around the city, soaking up the warm sun, futbol, and grilling out three nites straight--this is what summer should be all about.
Then of course here we are Monday morning having to swallow that bitter pill of going back to the work week again. And it starts off with a bang for me, in Pittsburgh today for Kiplingers and in Buffalo tomorrow for Time, then later in the week continuing work on some personal projects.
So in the spirit of shaking the post-holiday blahs, here's a spread from the new July issue of Spin, a shoot with Robert Pollard the former frontman of Guided by Voices.
Jim and I showed up on location way early, set up lights, threw the Mamiya on a tripod (always love shooting the 120, so thanks to the mag), and started bantering with Pollard. We kept the mood really light throughout the whole shoot, which I think Pollard preferred. He's a class act, creatively eccentric when he wants to be, very patient with us and extremely gracious with his time. We followed up a two-hour shoot with a nite on the town, joining Pollard at his favorite hole-in-the-wall bar nearby and met a bunch of his crazy local friends. Good times, and cheers to a great host!

2008-06-30T21:29:00.005-04:00

Fresh back from a work/vacation weekend combo in Chicago, shooting some stuff for a project we're doing at Redux and kickin' it around the city with Jennie and some friends.
More to come on the project stuff later, but Chicago itself never disappoints especially when we're hangin' with Wes and Kate. Flew in Thursday nite no problems (surprisingly) and lounged in the backyard for a few drinks with our gracious hosts at their new place before early to bed/early to rise for Friday morning to pick up some rental gear and scout locations for the weekend shoot. Explored some unchartered territory in the city with Jennie and after a refreshing late-afternoon meal in Ukrainian Village, we headed out to the edge of town to meet Rob at the legendary Fitzgerald's for a nite of music with the First Lady of Rock (or Queen of Rockabilly, depending on who you ask), Wanda Jackson.
Rob was entirely in his element though we were feeling a bit unfashionable wading amongst a crowd dressed to the nines that the Sartorialist surely would've had a field day in, as Jennie was quick to note. No matter though, as Wanda was the main attraction and one helluva entertainer even at the young age of 70. She led us on a musical journey through her 50-year discography and between songs humored us with stories about listening to records with Elvis in his bedroom when she was 17, and swigging her alcoholic elixir/throat remedy before jumping back into hits like "Let's Have a Party" and "Fujiyama Mama", a wry and catchy favorite.
After a full day of shooting on Saturday, that evening provided us with yet another show to add to the long list of kick-ass live music experiences in Chicago, this time a "professional concert" by Maritime at a street festival on Belmont Ave. in Roscoe Village.
The indie rock quartet from nearby Milwaukee dazzled with tracks from their two most recent albums (2007's "Heresy & The Hotel Choir" and 2006's "We, The Vehicles") and kept the tempo upbeat and the energy level high for the duration of their all too brief 60-minute set (the catch-22 of seeing a good band at a street fest for only $5). We got there in just enough time to scarf down some kebabs, corn cobs and local beers before meandering up near the stage.
Between Maritime rockin' the speakers, the neighborhood vibes, moderate weather, tasty food and drink, and of course the company of closest companions, it all made for an ideal summer evening in the Windy City.

2008-06-24T17:17:00.003-04:00

For those in the Cleveland area, this week sees the debut of the show "The Recognitions: (un)originality and community" at the Cleveland Foundation gallery downtown, featuring the work of my esteemed colleague Nama Khalil and other emerging artists Emily Moores, Peter Tabor and William Laughlin.
The exhibit is a collaborative project of the Cleveland Institute of Art, Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Foundation.
Thursday nite kicks it off w/ an opening fiesta from 5-7pm. The show runs until September 15th and is free and open to the public.

2008-05-22T23:42:00.006-04:00

As seen in the June issue of Cleveland Magazine, fresh on the newsstand, a few spreads from a story I shot about the steel industry in Cleveland (click on the images for full-screen view).
Growing up in the Rust Belt I was for the longest time fascinated by these behemoths of industry. From the first time I had my own car I've been constantly driving through the maze of filthy roads that criss-cross the industrial Flats of the city, where these mammoth mills of smoke and steam straddle both sides of the Cuyahoga River. I'd snap pictures of the rusty landscape--what I could take in of it from the outside at least. So of course when the commission came calling w/ promises that I'd gain "open access" (always a relative term) to the steel mill's operations, I was quick to jump on it in anticipation of fulfilling a long-sought dream come true.
The plan was that I'd photograph the steel-making process over a series of a few visits to the mill, in addition to some time spent w/ specific steelworkers who'd be interviewed for the story and photographing them on the job. So as I prepared for my first entry into the sprawling complex, I had visions dancing in my head of W. Eugene Smith and his "Dream Street" Pittsburgh project in the 1950s, or the earlier labor photos from Lewis Hine, and other masters who have detailed the industrial world thru photography.
Of course upon arrival I was confronted w/ the modern-day reality of automated and mechanized manufacturing technology, and quickly snapped out of my misplaced daydreaming. Admittedly it was a bit disappointing to see that many of the steelworkers who I had expected to be smothered in black and visually rich were instead just men and women in jeans and t-shirts monitoring the progress from the climate-controlled confines of computer booths. Granted this was not the case for all, and our main character Don ended up being the perfect protagonist: gruff, full of character, rough around the edges, extremely hard-working, and a straight shooter.For me I think the main highlight had to be the blast furnace, where, at the beginning of the steel-making process, raw materials are melted down into molten iron and slag. Standing in that drafty structure and watching the glowing lava-like liquid flow through the grates beneath my feet, watching the burning orange embers leap around me, and getting my entire self and my gear covered in the soft grey snowflakes of ash, all made for a surreal experience that I'll never forget--but you won't see any of that, b/c I confess that in my complete awe I was wholly unable to make a picture that really captured the essence of what the blast furnace is and what goes on there...
Ultimately I walked away feeling like it was one of my favorite photography experiences ever--the type you wish would never end, so naturally I wish, as always, that I'd had more time...

2008-05-21T09:29:00.003-04:00

World Press Photo recently posted a series of videos on their site showing interviews with this year's award-winning photographers as they describe the stories behind their photographs.

I was particularly intrigued by Platon as he describes the stressful buildup to his portrait of the Russian president Vladimir Putin for Time magazine's Person of the Year cover story. Platon's portrait is rumored to be the only formal sitting that Putin has ever done.
In addition, the interview with the Dutch photographer Pieter ten Hoopen about his story on the mythical Russian town of Kitezh ("The Invisible Town") was revealing and poignant, as I was an admirer of this body of work from the get-go. His words about bringing a personal style and voice to journalistic storytelling should be thoughts well-taken in photojournalism circles.
Lastly, definitely worth checking out too is John Moore's detailing of his definitive photos from the controversial assassination of Benazir Bhutto and his experiences of being there at the exact time of the explosion.

Be sure to play w/ the little magnifying loupe, which allows you to zoom in and examine the fine details of the images.

2008-05-09T10:21:00.004-04:00

Gonna make it a quick post as life is running by pretty quickly these days btwn. assignments and personal work, but a few noteworthy updates (sorry I'm a bit late):

Welcome Bob Croslin to the blogosphere. The lighting guru plans to post some explanations of his lighting setups from past shoots w/ some educational and informative examples, worth a look-see. Go here.

If you're in Ohio, the Cleveland Institute of Art is having their annual BFA Thesis Exhibit, finishing tonite from 6:30-10:00pm including reception and then 10:00am-6:00pm on Saturday. Go check out student art from various mediums in photography, video, painting, sculpture and more.
Also at CIA this weekend, jog over to the Cinematheque and catch the last of their 11-day series of Romanian films, including award-winning works by Cristi Puiu ("The Death of Mr. Lazarescu", a morose detailing of a man's deteriorating life in the hands of an impersonal bureaucratic health care system), Corneliu Porumboiu ("12:08 East of Bucharest", a hilariously absurd and at the same time insightful look into the Romanian mind and the subjectivity of memory and how we define, interpret and internalize historical events such as the Romanian Revolution and subsequent execution of the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu), and Cristian Mungui ("4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days", the gripping tale of black-market abortion in the Ceausescu era).

Lastly, the photographer Paul Shambroom opens at the Columbus Museum of Art this weekend with his exhibit "Picturing Power", which brings together selections from five of his major series--"Factories", "Offices", "Nuclear Weapons", "Meetings" and "Homeland Security"--and addresses how everyday citizens intersect w/ the institutions of power in American society. In many ways, one of the great triumphs of his work is his ability to gain access to photograph these places. The show runs from May 10th - September 14th.

As for me, I'm still playing catch-up after just getting back from six days in L.A. and San Diego, a mix of vacation and work--more to come about this stuff soon.

2008-04-17T19:37:00.003-04:00

After a well-attended lecture by the great Martin Parr last month, the Akron Art Museum is at it again this weekend, bringing in Stephen Shore for a talk on Saturday afternoon.
Shore was one of the very early pioneers of color photography and has carved a legend for himself with his images of the American vernacular landscape. His lecture will "explore how the physical and formal attributes of a photographic print help define and interpret its meaning".
The photographic print is of course quite a poignant subject for discussion in today's age of digital photography, where film and prints are rapidly disappearing--one of my favorite local labs just shut down all of their film processing services a few weeks ago due to lack of demand.
Should be interesting to hear Shore's perspectives in the aftermath of some provocative comments he made on the "film vs. digital" topic and the overabundance of mediocre photography being spread by the internet and new digital technology, during an interview before one of his exhibitions at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle in '07. The recap is here, though I'm just trying to keep the issue as a matter of consideration and discussion and am really not interested in rehashing any new bouts of Shore-bashing. However, for the sake of full disclosure, by and large I find myself in agreement with much of Shore's critique and loathing for the proliferation of digital photography, so he can at least count on one captive audience member...

The details--
The Nature of Photographs: A Talk by Stephen Shore
Saturday 19 April, 2:30pm
Akron Art Museum
One South High St., Akron OH
members and students $5, non-members $10

2008-04-05T15:19:00.003-04:00

as seen in the New York Times Magazine from last weekend (I'm a bit slow on catching up w/ the blog as of late), an image of Paul O'Neill, former Treasury secretary during the first half of the Bush regime, before essentially being forced out of his job for challenging Bush's tax cut proposals.
I bring this up mostly as an example of a great subject--pictures being what they may (and I might have wished for a different frame to make the final edit), but more importantly O'Neill was a classy guy who was gracious w/ his time (not the 30 seconds and out like one might come to expect w/ a high-powered subject) and great for intelligent conversation (among other things, we shared quite a laugh over the often absurd intermingling of "faith" in politics and policymaking by Bush and others).
Since my scanner lobbed off part of the tearsheet, you can find his interview in its entirety here. Definitely worth the read.

2008-03-11T17:12:00.004-04:00

After a half-day out shooting some personal work w/ Ben, we stopped by the Allen Art Museum at Oberlin College to check out the new solo show by photographer Chris Jordan, Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait, which opened today.
The highlight of the exhibit are Jordan's 14 large scale images in which he confronts quantitative statistics about contemporary American culture along the lines of mass consumption, waste, the environment, public health and social justice:

--Plastic Bottles, 2007: a 60" x 120" print showing 2 million plastic bottles, the amount used in the U.S. every five minutes
--Skull with Cigarette, 2007: inspired by Van Gogh's Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette, Jordan's 72" x 108" version details 200,000 packs of cigarettes, equal to the number of smoking deaths in the U.S. every six months
--Ben Franklin, 2007: an immense 144" x 108" three-paneled arrangement of 125,000 $100 bills, or $12.5 million, the amount of money the U.S. gov't spends per hour on the war in Iraq

The numbers are startling, and Jordan plays that into his grandiose image presentations and uses it to provoke our responses. In his own words:

"Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing. This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society. My underlying desire is to emphasize the role of the individual in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible and overwhelming."

Ultimately what this issue boils down to is our personal roles, opinions and actions as part of a consumer society. Jordan's photographs force us to confront this reality and evaluate whatever extent each of us knowingly or willingly participate in, and by extension propagate the values and ramifications of, such a society.
The show runs until 8 June. Coinciding w/ the opening, Jordan will give an artist lecture Wednesday at 5pm at the museum. The lecture and the museum are both free and open to the public.

2008-03-04T08:17:00.007-05:00

From a recent shoot w/ a group of steelworkers who lost their jobs when the company closed up shop and moved its operations to Mexico. Just another day here in Rust Belt Ohio, where more than 250,000 factory jobs have been lost since 2000.
These guys' experiences are particularly unnerving: the company broke the news on short notice and didn't even have the guts to tell the workers in person, instead leaving it on the union chief to pass the word down. Meanwhile, armed security personnel stormed the factory floor and ordered the workers to step away from their equipment. And in the greatest kick in the gut of all, after termination the workers were contractually obligated to report back to the factory and help a crew of Mexican laborers dismantle and pack up all the machinery.
Read more of their story here.
Its one that has echoed loudly through Ohio's Mahoning Valley industrial area for decades, but of particular poignancy lately as the Democratic presidential candidates have swooped through trying to court potential voters w/ rhetoric about economic recovery, "green collar" jobs, trade, NAFTA, CAFTA, etc. etc.
Maybe I was listening to a bit too much Billy Bragg while driving home after the shoot, but I was livid at my perceived helplessness in knowing that American corporations are basically under no restrictions from shipping their jobs out of the country--they say they need to "remain competitive in a global economy", and gov't cheers its own "hands off" policy on big business. Money makes the world go 'round--its extremely frustrating.
And moreso than usual, this issue hits a personal nerve w/ me. The company that laid off these steelworkers did so by shuttering plants in Niles and Garrettsville, the town where my dad grew up. Two towns over from there, my dad works for another manufacturing company that also closed and sent its production to Mexico last year. My dad was fortunate enough to keep his job amidst all the chaos, but had to stand by and watch many of his long-time colleagues walk. The bullshit irony of my dad's situation is that in the subsequent reshuffle, one of his newly-defined duties is to travel to the Mexico plant every few months and help make sure its running efficiently and productively.
So today in Ohio we go to the polls in the presidential primary, casting our vote and, faithfully hoping as we do each time, that these little penciled-in ovals might be our voice and that just maybe the "change" that has become the prevalent buzz word of this season's rhetoric might actually produce real results.

2008-03-03T07:54:00.009-05:00

Some monumental news in this week's goings-on: none other than The Mr. Martin Parr here in the flesh in one of America's greatest flyover zones (hey a little self-deprecating humor goes a long way here in the Rust Belt), lecturing at the Akron Art Museum, Thursday 6 March at 630pm.
I remember first reading about Parr in the Magnum biography, I was a college senior hellbent on becoming a documentary photojournalist who was gonna change the world and pictures would be my weapon. So I'm trudging along, drooling over the words and photos of Paolo Pellegrin, Alex Majoli, Alex Webb, Josef Koudelka, etc.--then up out of left field comes this Martin Parr character w/ his garish colors, harsh flash, awkward compositions, and the anecdotes about his rocky start w/ Magnum as many of the group's hardcore photojournalists (likely including many of the ones I admired) flat out rejected the merits of his work and how it might contribute to the collective vision of the agency. But I couldn't stop devouring his photography; by the time I picked myself up off the floor from laughing uncontrollably after the second or third straight viewing of his Autoportraits series--I was hooked.
Discovering Parr's work was an early first step in re-examining and re-aligning my perspectives about my photography, and about photojournalism in general, and a catalyst for looking at the wider realm of photography outside of the newspaper-oriented photojournalism of my education up to that point. Most importantly it gave me further fuel to use photography as a form of cultural anthropology as well as critical examination of society and modern life, but now w/ fresh eyes.

2008-02-20T15:46:00.004-05:00

Had a chance today to run into the Cleveland State University Art Gallery to check out a new show by Mike Levy, one of my favorite local photographers. The project Mere Witness consists of 27 black-and-white photos from African-American churches around the city and is a testament to the church communities' unflinching faith in the face of the harsh economic and social conditions that have come to define the modern urban environment in Cleveland.
Levy started shooting the project in 2002, working in a range of churches from the city's biggest and most powerful cornerstones to the handwritten signs of its smallest storefront churches, seeking to visually address the "intangible quality of faith" and perseverance, culminating in the question "how can people affected by hardship continue to have faith?"
Levy spent much of his career working as a photographer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer before leaving in 2006 to pursue his own projects. He now also teaches photojournalism at Kent State University. His book Cleveland's Urban Environment: The Sacred and the Transient, published in 2003, is a personal favorite on my shelf.
Mere Witness runs thru 8 March. While you're there, take a minute to check out some pretty awesome chiaroscuro landscapes by the painter Randall Tiedman in the Curious Terrain show.

Another local show that just opened along similar lines, titled Let All God's People Say Amen, features the work of Helen Liggett, a photographer and professor of urban planning in CSU's Levin College of Urban Affairs. Her project is the culmination of a five-year community project w/ Morning Star Baptist Church in Cleveland. Her show runs thru 5 April at Heights Arts Studio in Cleveland Heights.

Lastly, in New York a few happenings by some of my colleagues at Redux--
First, Danny Wilcox Frazier w/ an opening and book signing for his Center for Documentary Studies/Honickman First Book Prize-winning project Driftless: Photographs from Iowa, Thursday 21 February from 630-830pm at the Redux Gallery, 116 E. 16th St. 12th floor.
Next, Nathaniel Welch w/ an opening for his new book Jesse James and His Beautiful Machines, Friday 22 February from 6-9pm at powerHouse Arena, 37 Main St. in Brooklyn.

2008-02-08T11:59:00.000-05:00

World Press Photo contest winners were announced today, see the gallery here.
Coming from a photojournalism background, I'm always intrigued by their annual picks especially compared to, say, a U.S.-based contest like POYi or (god forbid) NPPA BOP. There seems to be a marked distinction btwn. the American and European sensibilities that is quite evident in the results. In many ways a contest like POYi tends to be a bit predictable (and NPPA especially so). There's no doubt the work is compelling and top-notch, but it seems like the same names show up, and the same general pictures get rewarded, year after year (but again, many of them are often the photographers at the top of the game so maybe it shouldn't come as a surprise...?)
I always look to World Press for a different view and photographers who are really telling stories in unique ways. A few works that really stood out to me in this year's crop:

--the 1st and 2nd place Sports Feature Story winners: Copenhagen Marathon pictures by Danish photographer Erik Refner (a frequent name in World Press, including Photo of the Year in 2001), and my Redux colleague Erika Larsen's beautiful project about child hunters. The decision to award Refner's images ahead was, well, an interesting decision let's just say. I love Refner's project, its a very coherent, stylized and quirky look at a potentially redundant subject (a marathon? people running?), but I still have hard time w/ it sitting above Erika's.

--the 1st place Daily Life Story of Kitezh, Russia, by Dutch photographer Pieter ten Hoopen. Again very stylized but definitely not at the expense of content. His 3rd image in the sequence really echos one from Josef Koudelka's famous Gypsy series.

2008-01-22T19:40:00.000-05:00

As seen in the newest issue of Cleveland Clinic Magazine, for a story about the after-effects of cancer treatment in children. Holly, now age 13, is a cancer survivor but in its wake has developed a number of complications that doctors attribute to her year-long chemotherapy and radiation regimen.
Its one of those assignments where the client wants intimate and compelling reportage images (w/ a few portraits mixed in) and--better yet--understands that it requires a bit more time w/ the subject than just a one-off portrait session to produce (and is more than willing to factor that accordingly into a reasonable shoot budget).
Altogether I had two full (long) days w/ Holly, of course the first half day we're getting to know each other and she's growing accustomed to having a photographer follow her around, so I'm not shooting too much at that point. The first night I had dinner w/ her family and some long talks w/ her dad about farming and the predominantly agricultural area of Ohio in which they live.
Day two I spent w/ Holly at school, in band practice and after school w/ her friends in drama club. By now her classmates want to know the skinny, and to an extent I think once she got over the initial embarrassment of the situation she seemed to almost enjoy the attention (at one point even asking me, "tell him you're here for me!" to a nagging bandmate, to which he replied "really? lucky!").I guess this is what really made the two days of shooting worthwhile: feeling that the subject and I reached a point where my presence and my job (to document a slice of her daily life in the brief time we spent together) were accepted by Holly and her family, and all suspicions or doubts or self-consciousness were quickly erased. I felt I had gained trust, and as a photographer that's about the most I can ever ask of a subject.
And in turn I hope that comes across in the photographs.
In the final product I was glad to see how many pictures were used from a rather large self-edit of selects, and for the most part used well. Ultimately I might have liked to see some slightly different choices for print, but their final edit is what it is and I'm pretty pleased overall. Here's a few outtakes from the cutting room floor.

2008-01-20T20:49:00.000-05:00

This week saw the premier of the newest issue of John Loomis' documentary photography ezine, Blueeyes Magazine. Inside you'll find an amazing portfolio from the Romanian photographer Cosmin Bumbut, whose work draws comparisons from Josef Koudelka and Luc Delahaye, legendary photographers who have painstakingly documented Eastern Europe. This marks the second time we've seen the mag feature work from Romania--the first being in issue #13 (August '06) by Davin Ellicson, an American photographer now based in Bucharest.
Imagery from Romania holds a particular place in my mind as I've had a strong interest in the country since hearing stories from my grandfather about our family roots in the Transylvania region there. Since then I've sought to devour and absorb as many words and pictures about Romania as possible, specifically about current life there and the post-Ceausescu period.
left: industrial area in Medias, Transylvania
right: two kids on a bike in the village of Hoghilag, Transylvania

In September 2004 I had the opportunity to travel briefly through Transylvania w/ a loose sheet of scrawled family names and villages but few leads as to where I might actually find people.left: outside a butcher shop in Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania
right: potatoes at a market in Medias, Transylvania

It was ultimately a fruitless endeavor in that regard but if nothing else a somewhat revealing (though of course somewhat limited as well) first-hand experience of rural and urban life in the modern day.
left: on the streets in Medias, Transylvania
right: Sunday concert in the village of Cristian de Brasov, Transylvania

My photographs from Transylvania are just the beginning of a long-term project (and probably very long...) that I plan to continue work on in the future.
above: a cold beer in the shade on a hot summer day in Hoghilag, Transylvania

Meanwhile, there have been a number of photographers whose work from the region keep these thoughts fresh in my head:

--Clare Richardson and her book "Beyond the Forest", which evolved from a project originally entitled "Sylvan". Recently picked up the book of stunning color photographs from Steidl.

--Balazs Gardi, a Hungarian photographer named to PDN's "30 Under 30" in 2004, has worked extensively throughout Romania and Hungary, among other places.

--David Dare Parker, who has extensively photographed Gypsy life in Romania

--Tamas Dezso, the 2006 Magazine POY winner

--Petrut Calinescu, a freelancer based in Bucharest and working w/ Panos Pictures.

--Anzenberger Agency based in Vienna, many of whose photographers have completed projects in Romania

2008-01-15T22:26:00.000-05:00

Recently back from a week on the road--in Omaha and Nashville Tuesday - Friday for FSB and then over the weekend in Cincinnati for Spin. I used to live in Cincy for a stint so the place is kinda old hat to me, but on the other hand the whirlwind trip thru Omaha and Nashville really got me thinking a lot about the travel aspect of the job, particularly the recurring paradox of it all: of course I love going on the road for assignments or self-generated projects--seeing new places, meeting new faces, and hopefully finding new foods to try--and I'd never trade it for an office job any day of the year. But the excitement for these fresh experiences that travel can provide is oftentimes met w/ a tiny disappointment when the demands of the photographic work aren't always conducive to really getting to know a place. Or, worse yet, when I end up stuck out somewhere in suburban hell, surrounded by big box stores and crappy chain restaurants and cookie cutter subdivisions as far as the eye can see, and soon enough I don't know if I'm in the Chicago 'burbs or the Cleveland 'burbs or the Atlanta 'burbs or anywhere else for that matter...
I always hope and try to book a hotel in the nearest big city whenever possible, so I can at least soak up whatever bits of the urban landscape my time might afford. But the fact of the matter is I'm there to work and produce the best pictures I can, so if that means spending 14 hours per day w/ a subject out in the 'burbs or wherever, well that's what I'll do. Sure who doesn't enjoy a little playtime to decompress but sometimes its just not an option.

Obviously one thing you gotta do on the road though is EAT. But being in unfamiliar territory can make this a tall order, esp. when its been one of those 14-hour days and you're starving and the last thing you want is some wild goose chase to find a half-decent bite from a respectable place. The simpletons who run Applebees and McDonalds know this--that's why you'll find one in every other town and usually conveniently located off some major thoroughfare. I do a fair share of travel by car as well as by air and in all my driving its been really sickening to see how these awful chain restaurants pop up everywhere, their billboards and shitty neon clogging up all the interstates. But I guess this is the American Way, right? Its a car-centric culture and there surely must be nothing more American than the freedom to drive wherever you want (gas prices? Exxon Mobil quarterly profits in the multi-billions? who cares! hurray freedom!), and don't fret you can be a thousand miles away but you'll find the comfort of familiarity at the nearby Applebees that will look and taste and smell just like the one back home, so go on and exercise your freedom and Americaness and stop in for some delicious chicken fingers w/ their unique homemade dipping sauce!!And on top of that if you want to eat something even remotely healthy then you're really complicating your situation. I've started making a more consistent effort to further clean up my diet--for a moment considered vegetarianism but quickly abandoned that, appeasing my nagging conscience by instead committing to at least swearing off red meat for a while. Well this is no easy task when you spend two nites in Omaha, a city known for its steak. And when you're in one of the localest of the localers' mom-and-pop old timey steakhouses in Omaha and you look around sheepishly to see that EVERYONE else in the whole joint is eating steak except for you, well...
But I held my ground--salad, veggies, and a country fried chicken instead (granted the signature white gravy on the chicken was probably a heart attack in its own right but damn it really sealed the deal and hell, no one's perfect). And then the next two meals, placated myself w/ a few monstrous salads again, and, on the final nite in Omaha, had a chance to sample a local beer.
Lucky for those of us who desperately try at all costs to avoid the homogenous chains and fast food joints, there are resources like Chowhound, whose message boards provide local dining options from the localers themselves. Plus I always like to ask around to friends and colleagues to get their recommendations before I hit the road. After consulting those two sources for my Omaha gig, I was able to enjoy a good lunch (awesome chips and salsa and, of course, a salad) at a local Mexican grill called Roja (en Espanol "red", and believe me it was), plus dinner and the aforementioned local brew at Upstream Brewing Company.
Altogether though, while I enjoyed the work experience from the road and came out satisfied w/ the pictures I had made for the job, on a more personal note I ultimately came away feeling like I had learned next to nothing about either Omaha or Nashville (except for maybe what the hotel looked like). I even had a free hour to walk the streets of Nashville, same as I did during a work trip there a few years ago, but still came away feeling like I could tell you nothing informative about the place.

2008-01-02T16:05:00.000-05:00

We escaped from the city on New Years for open skies, good eats and intimate company with friends in the countryside. At midnite it was hugs and kisses, champagne, and lighting globos in the Argentinian tradition--whispering a wish or any thought you want to release, then letting go and sending the lanterns careening off into the nite clouds. Somehow in the moment after, it wasn't quite so cold as we squinted between the trees to catch them incinerating in a dancing flicker.

Welcome to 2008 and best wishes for the new year ahead!

Lastly, shout outs to a few of my amigos down in Athens, courtesy of the folks at Flak Photo: Jim Korpi giving the homepage a brilliant luster w/ his wonderful portrait (hey Jim, its the Speed Graphic, no?) of Lau at the lake edge, and wunderkind Matt Eich among the up-and-comers in the Magenta Foundation's Flash Forward: Emerging Photographers 2007 publication and exhibition (see here).
Hoping to make a trip south sooner than later to visit these dudes, two of my inspirators.

2007-12-19T10:20:00.000-05:00

Flak Photo and File magazine recently issued their 36 Exposures Challenge, a call to photographers to put away their digital cameras (at least temporarily) and step up to this project by conceptualizing and illustrating an idea on one roll of 36-exposure film.

Read the details here.

Add another 'graph to the raging film vs. digital debate.

Also, Robert Wright has added part three to a discussion about the business end of editorial work, culminating the focus of his ire on corporate greed--and very much to the point, one of his commenters notes: "this is so much bigger [than] photography".

2007-12-18T08:45:00.001-05:00

After a weekend blizzard pummeled the city.(you'll have to click and scroll)

2007-12-17T19:11:00.000-05:00

Getting up to speed on some news from over the weekend, big congrats to Andrew on release of his new book "A Room with a View". Read more about it here (particularly the importance of personal work as a balance to the steady gig), and even some early reviews (here and here). Limited print runs now available at Dashwood Books, NYC's photobook haven, so if you're in the city grab one if they're still on the shelf...
I had the good fortune of getting a sneak peak at the work during a trip to New York earlier this year, and it was a treat indeed. Andrew doing what he does (his "style" should we say?), doing it well. Definitely a tiny bit of Bechers (as others have noted) channeled into the numerical sequencing as well--clever, as I've recently rekindled an interest in their work after seeing some grids at the Philadelphia Art Museum over the summer.

Also wanted to catch up w/ a post (here) from a few weeks ago by John Loomis about his "evolution" into a portrait photographer, especially considering how our paths have been somewhat mirrored--both coming into the field through photoj schools, cutting our teeth a bit in the newspaper world, passionately dedicated to the technique and ethos of documentary photojournalism...and then some time in our editorial freelance careers realizing that the market (in our case now the magazine world, mostly) for reportage is continually shrinking at the concurrent rise of portraiture. So in the meantime there's a certain understanding and acceptance of that reality, and working within it to develop some kind of portrait vision that will (hopefully) sustain an editorial career, all the while maintaining that documentary tradition nurtured by side projects (in John's case, the dynamic and renowned online documentary magazine Blue Eyes), personal work and yes that occasional diamond-in-the-rough magazine assignment where you get to dive into some great true reportage.
Suggested reading for those w/ a shared passion for documentary photography and trying to make a career at it. Obviously there are many of these types at the top of their game (i.e. pretty much everyone in the VII agency), but even the greatest such as documentary demigod Eugene Richards have to pull in their share of portrait gigs and even (gasp) corporate/advertising work in order to pay the bills.

2007-12-11T11:03:00.000-05:00

Some important discussions about the business of photography have been floating around the blogosphere lately and they're very much worth taking a look at.
Their postings dovetail pretty well w/ the fact that these biz-related issues have been in the front of my mind as of late, partly b/c we're nearing the end of '07 and its time for me to look back on my year financially and start adding up the gross income and expenses.
But more importantly I've been continually lamenting the lack of cohesive education and resources for photographers to learn sustainable business practices. In a few guest lectures I've given at photo schools this year, and in talking to some friends in grad school or recently out of college and colleagues who (like myself) are only a few years into the biz--its become painfully clear that business skills are just not part of the curriculum...not when I was in school and still not to this day.
That's an absolute disgrace.
So you're more or less forced to learn it on your own. There are sites like EP, ASMP, NPPA, et. al., but is it enough? Do they fully enable a photographer new to the market to understand the fine print and legalese of contracts or usage rights, for example? Or are we all just destined to learn the hard way regardless: being continually screwed over by shooting on spec or signing away our copyright or accepting ridiculously low day rates, or worse.
So with some of these things in mind, check out two posts by the photographer Robert Wright (part one and part two), and for some input from the other side (the "Them" in Wright's "Us vs. Them"), see the follow-up from the anonymous A Photo Editor blog. As always their comments section at the bottom attract lots of additional discussions worth reading too.

2007-11-27T09:43:00.000-05:00

Still playing a bit of catchup after the holiday, but definitely wanted to make reference to some back and forth discussions that have transpired over a few blogs in the past few weeks about the all-important (or much-dreaded) PORTFOLIO...

My comrade Andrew shared a few posts on the topic (here and here), which were then followed here by 'A Photo Editor' (the anonymous photo director of a national magazine) and here by 'A Visual Society' (the anonymous photo agent). As always, check the comments section of each of their posts as they usually garner some follow-up conversation.

For what its worth, my current book is a 17"x11" PZ screwpost portfolio w/ light metal and pressed hardboard, enclosed in a black softcase (sorry, no fluorescents for me). Its stocked w/ 20 spreads for a total of 40 images, all printed full-bleed. There's been some talk about whether or not to include tearsheets in the book; I've tried both ways and have decided to show the portfolio by itself and follow up w/ the tearsheets if needed. Lastly, in back of the book (maybe in the last sleeve if you end on an odd number), some leave-behind promos...even though they may end up untaken or, if taken, tossed in the trash, as 'A Photo Editor' so brutally tells it.

In addition to the PZ, I've perused thru House of Portfolios a few times (after numerous recommendations from colleagues and agents), and they're definitely worth a look. I'll probably go w/ them for a different look when I construct my next book.