civilized ku # 853 ~ creative little garden

The Creative Little Garden ~ 530 E. 6th Street, NYC • click to embiggen

the agents of death and the perveyors of fear, pt. II - teach your children well

Andrew Wyatt / P-R Photo
This picture was made (see credit under photo) last Saturday in nearby Plattsburgh, NY. The ReFoxican TeaScumbag Party had turned out some of its best and brightest to protest against our local Congressman's decision to vote YES on the health care bill.

One diligent mom brought along her young bigot son - hey, it's never too early in a child's life to instill divisiveness, bigotry, and hatred. Way to go, mom. Makes me proud to be an American.

ku # 689 ~ its all good, pt. ll

Tree clearing remnant • click to embiggenWhile I was picturing the Vernal water and submerged ice scene (see the following entry), Hugo was off picture scouting and this tree clearing remnant caught his eye.

I gave him the camera and he shuffled fore and aft until he arrived at the precise framing that he thought was good. No point and shoot for him.

Not bad for a 5 year old, although he is, in fact, the Son of Cinemascapist and the Grandson of Landscapist. So, of course, we do expect more from the boy.

more copycat?

Cars and drivers/passengers ~ © Andrew Bush (left) and ©Joel Meyerowitz (right) • click to embiggenSince I've been around for quite some time, picture viewing wise, it came as no surprise that I was familiar with about 80-85% of the pictures on exhibit in the Pioneers of Color exhibit at the Edwynn Houk Gallery. In fact, I had seen many of them "in the flesh" in the late 1970s when they were often spread out on my studio floor as I was helping Sally Eauclaire (you can find my name in the Acknowledgments) with her seminal 1981 book / exhibit, The New Color Photography.

However, one picture in particular, one with which I was not familiar, was a Meyerowitz picture from the mid-1970s - a picture made from his moving car on the NYS Thurway. My immediate reaction upon seeing it was, "hey, what's that guy's name who exhibited his pictures, taken from his moving car, at the Yossi Milo Gallery a year or 2 ago?" My friend, who is not a picture maker but nevertheless an occasional gallery-crawling companion, offered no answer.

I remembered the exhibit at the Milo Gallery because I just flat out liked the pictures and one in particular - titled: Family traveling northwest at 63 mph on Interstate 244 near Yale Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at approximately 4:15 p.m. on the last day of 1991 - is on my got-to-have-that-picture life-list.

Call me a victim of classic racial stereotyping, but when I first saw that picture, I damn near busted a gut L(ing)OL as a medley composed of the theme songs from Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons, and Good Times (dyn-o-mite!) spontaneously burst into my head. There might have even been a soft echo of Shaft rattling around in there somewhere as well. With apologies to Jimmi Nuffin, I just couldn't help myself.

In any event, what struck me, re: the Meyerowitz picture, was the recent Burdeny / Sze Tsung Leong "copycat or not" dust up.

To my knowledge, there has never been any indication of any issue about the extreme similarity between the Meyerowitz From the Car work and the Andrew Bush Vector Portraits work. Meyerowitz' pictures were made a decade-and-a-half prior to Bush's and I have no indication that Bush was influenced in any way by - or even aware of - the Meyerowitz From the Car series. However, the similarity between the works is remarkable.

See more of the Andrew Bush Vector Portraits (aka, Drive) work HERE. Unfortunately, I can find no indication that the Meyerowitz From the Car series, other than bits and pieces / here and there, is anywhere to be found on the web.

FYI ~ some more recommendations

from - Original Refrigerator ArtAnn Mitchell ~ American Triptych projectAnn Mitchell ~ American Triptych projectAnn Mitchell ~ American Triptych projectAnn Mitchell ~ American Triptych projectOver the past few days, 2 picture makers have come to my attention - Ann Mitchell via an email submission, and, the 2nd picture maker who has a number of blogs - none of which identify him by name, all of which give ample evidence of his very fine picture making abilities.

Ann Mitchell, whose work has appeared in LensWork and View Camera (amongst others), is a picture maker after my own heart. She works with vintage cameras (as she states, "for their unique visual voice"), alternative materials - in the case of her American Triptych project, Polaroid Type 55, and, quite obviously, she creates triptychs. Hey, IMO, what's not to like?

The fact that her pictures are drop-dead beautiful only adds to the aforementioned MO. And, in her words, while her picture making referents "may shift as I work, there is a common set of interests at the core of each series. Central to all is my interest in our use of the land and the structures we create."

You can (and should) see more of her work HERE.

Nameless picture maker # 2 - who I suspect is pictured here because the shadow of the picture maker seen here has the same rather hirsute features as the subject in the preceding picture - certainly must have a name, but I can't find it. What I can find are a lot of his interesting pictures, here, here, and here.

The only things I know about him and his picture making are (in his words): a. "Having worked almost exclusively in conventional black & white photography for forty years, the advent of digital photography and the virtual darkroom (e.g., Photoshop) has provided me with so many new avenues for expression, with color being chief among them,"; b. that at least some of his pictures "were made with Pentax K10D camera and 21mm moderate wide-angle lens, and fifty years of practice."; and, that he thinks that "if I knew what I was doing, this would be so much nicer" (although I am not certain what the word "this" refers to).

In any event, his pictures are what matters and, on that score, he is batting .999 or better. IMO, his use of color is on the "real" side of the picturing making equation. His eye is honest and direct. And, his presentation is consistent and gives his pictures a unified body of work look and feel.

IMO, there is much to be seen in and much to be learned about good/great picture making from spending some time with the work of both of these very fine picture makers.

Update on Friday, January 15, 2010 at 10:09AM by gravitas et nugalis

Featured Comment: Martin Doonan wrote: "The second photographer, of Original Refrigerator Art, is called Tyler Monson (I hope he doesn't mind being exposed). I've been following his stuff for some time."

my response: Martin, thanks for that outing.

FYI, I seem to remember getting a picture, via email, in the not too distant past of a photographer making a picture of himself as reflected in a window. I'm thinking now, if my memory is correct, that it might have come from Mr. Monson.

Maybe he'll get wind of this entry - I left him an invitation - and stop by to say "hello" or "fuck off" or something.

FYI ~ some recommendations

Good reads / looks • click to embiggenOver the holidays, while book shopping for gifts, I acquired a few for myself, two of which are shown above. Each book - Ansel Adams In Color and PHOTO:BOX - are worthy additions to interested people's photo libraries.

The Adams' book is an interesting collection of his color work - selected/edited by noted photographer, Harry Callahan - and of his writings on the subject of his personal, not commercial, color picture making. Color picture making was a bit of a sticky wicket for Sir Ansel, primarily because of the medium's inability to submit itself to the high degree of user control that Adams wanted in his picture making endeavors.

Nevertheless, the man did manage to make some very interesting color pictures (especially so considering the technical state of the medium / films with which he worked) - many of which are much more to my liking than most of his tour-de-force BW work.

FYI, this book is an updated / expanded edition - much improved, IMO - of previous editions of the same name.

PHOTO:BOX is billed as "a collection of 250 photographs by 200 of the world's most prominent photographers, ranging from legendary masters to contemporary stars, in an appealing format with a portfolio binding ... Each image is accompanied by an engaging commentary and a brief biography of the photographer ... The book is organized by subject and theme, offering a fresh perspective on the medium: from reportage to nature, and also covering war, portraits, still lifes, women, travel, cities, art, fashion, the nude, and sports. PHOTO:BOX is an irresistible and amazingly affordable survey of photography."

That said, it's not often that a 512 page photo book with first-rate reproduction, paper, and a kinda cool portfolio box binding / enclosure is on offer for the retail price of $29.95US. In fact, if you pay that price, you've been had because it is widely available at prices as low as $19.95US. IMO, it's worth purchasing based on just price alone.

That said, "many of the world's most prominent photographers" doesn't include all of the world's most prominent photographers. I could run down a list of many that are not included in this collection. And, in addition to some notable (and, IMO, very obvious) omissions, there is some repetition of photographers in different subject/theme categories - it's almost as if they couldn't come with enough picture makers to fill the book without spreading some them over multiple categories.

That said, the book is still a worthy addition to any photo book collection. The text that accompanies each and every picture is worth the price of admission, which as mentioned, is simply irresistible.

Don's car wash idea

Don's car wash # 1 • click to embiggen
Don's car wash # 2 • click to embiggenIn response to my get with the feelin' y'all, car wash, yeah entry, Don sent me an email with his car wash pictures attached along with the suggestion:

I did the same thing 4 years ago but without the dashboard,and my family thought I was nuts but when enlarged it looked great. No two will ever be alike.

I would like to see others send you some shots from car washes around the world - it would make an interesting book.

That's a great suggestion and all it takes is a little cooperation and effort from the audience out there. How about it? I'll start a Car Wash Gallery (like the Kitchen Sink Gallery) if there is enough interest.

I am certain that together we could create an interesting and somewhat unique body of work that might, indeed, be book worthy. And I don't mean just POD book worthy - with enough effort and imagination this could be book publisher worthy or even gallery exhibit worthy.

Think about for a bit. The picturing possibilities are plentiful - pictures from the back seat, from the front seat(s), out the windshield, out the side windows, out the back windows, with people in the car, without people in the car, car wash workers, car wash buildings inside and out in all kinds of weather, day and/or night ......

civilized ku # 308-311 ~ point & shoot

Pointing at the center of attention • click to embiggen
Visit with Robert • click to embiggenWe stayed overnight in NYC on Monday because The Cinemascapist had warned us about iffy driving conditions north of Albany. So, rather than getting halfway home and trying to find a motel room late at night, we headed for Robert's in the East Village.

Upon our arrival at Robert's, which was immediately following our visit to the biggest camera store in the world, I set about setting up the EP-1 - take out of box, insert battery, insert memory card, attach lens and viewfinder, turn on camera, turn on IS, set to AUTO and then hand it to the 5 year old. IMO, if a 5 year old can't immediately start making decent pictures after taking a camera of the box and making a few very basic set up steps, you've got a clunker in your hands and I'm happy and pleased to report that the EP-1, as evidenced by the above pictures made by Hugo, passes the test.

Without question, if you're looking for a camera that is a perfect fit for 5 year old hands, the EP-1 is it. This camera looks like it was designed and purpose-built with a set of 5 year old hands as the reference point. The camera fit Hugo's hands like the proverbial glove.

Hugo was also immediately taken by the "cool" auxiliary viewfinder - he used it for all of the 70 pictures he made (in about the first 20 minutes of the camera's picture making life).

It is interesting to note that, both during and after his first burst of picture making with the EP-1, Hugo had nary a complaint about "painfully slow" auto focus, or the "below standard resolution" LCD, or the fact that the auxiliary viewfinder makes the camera a "less than perfect" pocket-able camera. It was just point & shoot heaven as far as he was concerned.