JUXTAPOZ

Back when this project came out the publishers and I had hoped and kind of expected some type of blessing from the powers that be at JUXTAPOZ. Then it was not meant to be.

I was happily surprised to see this on their site Friday nite. Sometimes things take time.

See it HERE. Buy Sex Machines : Photographs and Interviews HERE.

American Photography 27

American Photography 27, bigger than any phone book if you all still know what those things look like, came in the mail the other day.

Happy to see ECHO, as well as so much fascinating stuff, too much really to do justice to. Here are some great spreads I grabbed from Peggy Sirota, Tim Flach, Tony Fouhse, Michael Lewis and Balazs Gardi.

Good Morning, Mr. Gehry

Good Morning, Mr. Gehry.

I think I used that line back in 2011.

Well...here we are, first spam of the year.

Onward.

Best Photo Books Of 2011

Oh...I almost forgot. It's January 2nd and everyone has come out with their lists of the best photo books of the year...from every different angle and every different author. Here, we live very simply: we choose one book. This year...we chose two.

Cruising by Chad States and Low Life by Scot Sothern.

A book about marriage, secrets, parenting and giving voice to the voiceless, Sothern's book feels a bit like Studs Terkel, but the person confessing this time is the author. Shot between 1986 and 1990 but blown into the publishing stratosophere in 2011. You'll never forget where you were the first time you dug into Sothern's story. I already wrote about it HERE. Buy it HERE.

Cruising by Chad States first came to my attention as a self published Blurb book. Next thing I know it's out via powerHouse and is stately and beautiful. The publisher for once describes the book better than anyone with the following intro:

Sit in your car in your car and wait or take a walk through the trees.

“Cruising” has always been a part of gay culture; the word itself is a code, innocuous to outsiders, but representing an incognito hunt for sexual partners to those in the know. Over the years, men with particular desires found spaces—certain parks, public restrooms, and roadside wooded groves—out of sight and yet in plain view, where they could meet, and with the use of silent signals and cues, pair off for intimate encounters. It is these spots, nationwide, and the men making use of them, that Chad States photographs in Cruising.

Buy CRUISING by Chad States HERE.

 

Predictable And Hackneyed To...

The Old Testament of the industry, Communication Arts Magazine, did an easy breezy interview for no apparent reason a month back that got released to the masses this week online. Here are some of what we spoke about:

Aside from your camera and lighting, what item could you not work without?
My toothbrush is a deal breaker. I carry extras in my glove compartment and my camera bag. I really can’t focus on a photo shoot without having my mouth clean and minty. Brushing your teeth before a shoot is like brushing your brain—it clears everything out.

From where do your best ideas originate?
The good stuff comes when you’re not trying really…when your brain is occupied with something else. That is when the raw idea bubbles to the surface. But then, it all gets polished and solidified when you bounce it off your peers. The collaborative moment is when something goes from predictable and hackneyed to utterly inspired.

How do you overcome a creative block?
Drinking coffee and taking pseudoephedrine. Collaborating on projects with my kids always seems to allow me to see things anew.

What’s one thing you wish you knew when you started your career?
This whole idea of a career in the arts is fascinating, and really only works, because it doesn’t have a map available to guide you. The idea of wandering with a flashlight, in the dark, to find your path is terrifying, but it leads to these things feeling so special when they work out. So of course, I like to say I wish I had a map to guide me in the beginning, but honestly, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

So it's pretty clear I love to talk. About myself. Duh.

Read the interview in all its splendor HERE.

Special Holiday Issues

The holiday is here.

It arrives like a brick thrown through my office window. Sometimes I duck. Sometimes it hits me in the head.

So much going on in the months ahead that I'm excited about: working on an audio spoken word piece for Daylight Books for the forthcoming book "The Photographs Not Taken", curated by Will Steacy. Then there is a photography/design neutron bomb being cooked up by Kate Osba at This Is The What. Of course we don't want to let the cat out of the bag, but we want to get you all curious.

Yes, print lives....at times. And sometimes better than ever.

Then still building the Stereoscopy Project, curious name and all, on my elegant new Tumblr space. Please join and follow it at http://timothyarchibald.tumblr.com/ or HERE.

Things may be quiet around the holidays...but ya never know...

Guy Walking In Nature With Technology

Guy Walking In Nature With Technology was essentially what we needed to create for this think-piece in Forbes last month. The wetlands off 101 in Palo Alto really could not have been kinder to us, as was Michael Woelk, CEO of Picarro.