photography

House






A dream I've had several times.  I live in a little house inside of a community garden. In the dream, the garden is in a park near a river where I grew up and the setting is always a warm and humid summer evening with crickets singing. There is industry nearby, old abandoned factories and junkyards but the park is quiet and the garden is down a long dirt road. A few other people have chosen to live in the garden. The house is small and rustic with robin's egg walls. It's a very nice house, except the hallway to the kitchen is too narrow for a person to pass through.



Iceland: Part Fourteen

I'm starting to feel that the end of this residency is looming. Trying to keep simple days and take in the lighting and textures of the landscape, and though they don't figure in my pictures prominently, the people, I'm going to miss the people that have made me feel so welcome here. I'm also looking for the arctic fox...so arctic fox, if you're reading this, please come out and hi. Thank you.   :)











Iceland Part Ten: The Herring Era Museum

On a clear crisp day, I got to visit The Herring Era Museum, a beautifully curated, crafted, award winning museum that tells the story of the herring industry in Iceland. The museum is actually three separate buildings, these images are all from "The Salting Station." The third floor of the building remained untouched, including the "brakki," sleeping quarters for dozens of girls who worked in packing herring, and the office of the herring speculator. Örlygur Kristfinnsson, artist and director of the museum, is also one of the founders of the Herhúsið residency. 

:: looking out on the old piers ::










Things

A friend asked me recently what I'm currently inspired by and I replied "things that look like other things." Not the most eloquent response, I'll work on that, but it's true. I've been looking at these images, as well as others, a great deal, photographs that exhibit the phenomenon of the repetition of forms in the manmade and natural world.



Recent Acquisitions

Recent acquisitions from the used bookstore. A vintage issue of Exposure, the journal of the Society for Photographic Education. The theme of the issue is photo-offset printing and included a portfolio section.

 :: todd walker ::

 :: scott hyde ::

:: cover ::

A beautiful little bound copy of the Life of Tom Horn. Steve McQueen read the story of Tom Horn and felt a strong personal connection to Horn, a loner and one of the last of his kind in the disappearing Old West. His film Tom Horn is one of my favorites. 

I love the scale and feel of this book. I have been working on an edition myself and am now thinking I might downsize it to a more handheld size. 

 :: cover ::

 :: title page ::

Guests and Projects

I had a guest at the studio last week, the great Kevin Mercer of Large Mammal fame. He brought some gifts, which was very much appreciated and a super cool thing to do. We had a great talk about printmaking and art making in general and even did a little bit of collaborating, which there will be more info about soon. But for now, I just wanted to say...Thank you, Kevin, that was really fun.

 :: gifts! ::

 I also had the chance last week to make a couple of prints.

One for my own amusement,

 :: TVC15 ::

And one as part of a larger body of work. This one is titled Scythian. Letterpress on cotton paper.

 :: Scythian ::

I've also been digging around into my old work because I'm starting a project that will incorporate old writings, and I found some work from 2004. I was so happy to see this work again and to see how much I've changed and yet there is a strong narrative that runs through it all.

:: Untitled, photographic work from 2004 ::

How to print ghosts.


I dreamt we were printing ghosts. The press was found in a forgotten room, silent and damp. It took two of us to start the old machine, turning and turning until momentum lifted the heavy wood handle from our hands. Hidden mechanisms slid over cool burnished stone and silhouettes curled upwards into the air like burning paper. Colorless sendings, their mouths open with surprise at their own animation. I saw them drift and break like bubbles.

Making a Custom Portfolio

Look at this! I actually had the fore site to take process shots for once in my life. I'm not going to lie, large scale bookbinding is intense, precision is key and the glueing...not for the weak at heart, but I'm very excited about how this turned out. Please enjoy the making of a custom hidden screw post portfolio for the very talented Rush Jagoe: Photographer. 

 :: figuring out the hardware ::

 :: positioning the letterpress nameplate ::

 :: drying the book under weights, many weights ::

:: pressing the screw post holder ::

 :: finished cover ::

 :: closed portfolio, with slipcase behind it ::

:: open portfolio ::

The End