Five Frames with Erik Gould on Emulsive.org
Read MoreNSEW: Divided by Land | United by Film Group show in St. Louis
This Film Shooters Collective show closes today so it's high time I post about it! I am proud to have an image included in this really strong group show at the Kranzberg Arts Center in St. Louis.
Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to put this together.
The Graflex and you.
Want to shoot large format hand held? Want to shoot wide open and large format and hand held? Want to rock it like it’s 1929?
For answers to these and other burning questions check out my introduction to the Graflex on the Film Shooters Collective.
Why it's good I'm not a doctor
Getting a problem wrong and then right.
Read MoreICYMI: 120 Love
Earlier this year I did two things I never do. I entered a photo contest and I showed a contact sheet. This was for 120 Film Love Day. I don't regret it because not only did I win second place and get a 6x9 hoodie, but I also get the chance to share and connect with some cool people who run a great site with a great spirit based in Tokyo. Tokyo seems amazing to me, not only as one of the world's great cities but as a place where photography and film photography thrives. I hope to get a chance to visit one day.
Check out their site and their merch here. Includes a tee inspired by cool photographer and twitter pal Dan Schneider.
They gave me a spotlight on their blog, for which I am thankful.
Dear Comrades, have I told you about Commie Camera Day?
I contributed a small write up about International Commie Camera Day for the Film Shooters Collective.
You can see the whole piece here.
From the Archives: Reading the signs on Allens Ave.
"Give me your license and meet me there".
Read MoreI use the word "paean" and mean it.
I wrote a little piece about one of my favorite materials for Emulsive.
The ghosts of edits past
Editing a project for a show or a book has it's stages, from shooting, which may continue well into the editing stage, to the initial selection from contact sheets, printing, sequencing, more printing and then on to book layout or exhibition hanging.
When it comes to sequencing, I've found no better way than working with actual prints, laid out on the table or the floor, shuffling and shifting until the rhythm is right. Digital or film, it doesn't matter, you need the space to see it all together flowing from one image to the next.
The hardest aspect of any edit is the cutting away of things you like and have become attached to. It starts out fairly easily but eventually you get to where it hurts, and you agonize over each choice. But choose you must and (hopefully) the sequence shows you what it needs most. The deadline looms, you convince yourself it's right and up it goes.
You pack up the outtakes, hang the show, make the book and move on. Sometimes those outtakes linger with you, like ghosts popping in unexpectedly until finally you go back to that box and have a visit. Some, you admit you still like. Some give you ideas for new work. Thanks to the miracle of modern digital media you can put them up and excise your ghosts. And so I shall. These are outtakes from Canonicus' Bow.
Gorham photographs going digital
I will have more to say on this over the coming months but I'm excited to share this news. Erik Carlson and I have been awarded a Rhode Island Council for the Humanities grant to create a performance piece about our 1997 Gorham Manufacturing Co. complex documentation. This is in partnership with UPP Arts and Holly Ewald who first envisioned the project.
This means the photogaphs I made will get scanned and made available digitally. I'm thrilled about this, Gorham had such a central role in the growth and reputation of Providence as a manufacturing and design center. The work Gorham produced, especially the fine silver, occupies a prominent place in the collection of the RISD Museum, my employer. I will be very busy making new photographs of that silver collection for the major book and show the museum is planning for 2019. My photographic career seems to be intertwined with Gorham and I'm excited about this latest chapter.