Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth, 1948

I was going for a hike with photographer Mark Richards and his dog.

We came to this empty field and he said "Hey, if you lay down there it'll look like Christina's World."

I did. It did.

History Of Photography Road Trip, #1

 

 

I've lived here so long at this point that I forget I'm not a local. Found myself driving thru Hayward, CA and realize I certainly must visit Buffalo Bill's Brewery.

Photographer Bill Owens' published SUBURBIA in 1973. He got a Guggenheim in 1976 and opened Buffalo Bill's Brewery in 1983.

 

I fully enjoyed Orange Blossom Cream Ale, but in the mid 90's, SUBURBIA changed everything for me. My original photography teacher always shared Owens' work with the students, but as a young photographer, I didn't grasp it. As I got older and found myself a dweller in the suburbs of Phoenix, I finally got it.

While working on Sex Machines : Photographs and Interviews, I kept a copy of SUBURBIA with me on the trips. The warmth and humor that he looked at the people and the places in that book was something I wanted to emulate and borrow. Of course the publishers and I begged Bill to write an introduction to the book. Bill declined, wisely I'm sure, but made it a point to come to a book reading party in SF. He was known and respected by everyone in the audience. The picture above is Bill at the party in 2005.

Originally I was dis-illusioned to hear about Owen's exit from photography and entrance into brewing. From where I am now, I see it as wise: he could do photography as he wanted to, and use another part of his brain as well.

 

Time changes the way we look at photographs, as well as the way we look at life decisions. And on this day, it struck me as a two great contributions.

Real Simple / ECHOLILIA

Real Simple magazine approached us about tapping into the imagery from ECHOLILIA to illustrate a first person story written by Alysia Abbott about her life with her son for the story I Don't Know How To Love You. Dig into that HERE.

Photo editor Kelly Clark also had the inspired idea to run an ECHOLILIA book excerpt on the Real Simple online site. A perfect parrellel with synergistic energy running between the two stories. See the RS / ECHOLILIA excerpt HERE.

And of course...buy ECHOLILIA / Sometimes I wonder HERE.

Barack Obama & Mitt Romney, 10/2012





 



Little Victories / R.O.B. Magazine

 























It's all about the table of contents for me here.

The past few years I've been working on Stereoscopy Photographs, a personal project that has gotten some attention, been met with silence and confusion, as well as some curiosity. All good, really...it's a personal project...meaning it's for me, right?

Nice to address the Exit Interview with retired Olympian Clara Hughes for R.O.B. Magazine last month. Clara's interview and her blog frankly addressed what it's like to end something that's essentially been her life for as long as she can remember. Great interview with unexpected candor. And these shifting roles in our lives has always been a topic I felt Stereoscopy Photographs has been poking at.

Happy to find photo editor Clare Jordan embrace this "Stereoscopy-esque" approach to telling Clara's story. It found it's place on the table of contents, rather than the story proper, but it's really the little victories that stick with you. This one did stick.

Buy This. I Did.

It's really hard to question how strangly real Tony Fouhse is. I wonder what he was like when he was 25...30...even 18? I really can't imagine.

I had a hazy awareness of his project for a few years. One day I latched on to a "Kickstarter" type of site in which Tony was discussing his Live Through This project. Oh God, he really means it. He's not afraid of anything. I think he is the real deal.

In his words:

Sometimes it feels like the past 4 or 5 years were my glory days, that it must all, surely, be downhill
from here.

I certainly don’t want to turn into more of a bore than I already am, dwelling on the past.

But it’s hard to imagine what I might do next that would make me feel as alive, that could be as important. And, if you’ll excuse the immodesty, that would, save someone’s
life, like LIVE THROUGH THIS did?

Buy Live Through This by Tony Fouhse at Straylight Press HERE.




 

I'll Write A Song Called "Revolution"

Tech Review's 35 Revolutionary Innovators issue came out last week.

Interesting time digging into the science and the spaces-photographing Ren Ng of Lytro, Shannon Miller of EtaGen and John Hering( twice! ) of Lookout, rolling through a week in the SV.

I wonder if I should have saved this post for the forthcoming Commercial Photography Week, 2012?

Enjoy.