kitchen sink ~ the book / gallery

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The kitchen sink body of work is an outgrowth of my kitchen life body of work. In the act of making pictures for the kitchen life series, over time it became apparent that my kitchen sink needed separate attention inasmuch as it presented a very specific referent as opposed to picturing things which depict the generalized idea of life in the kitchen.

Making pictures for the kitchen sink series is a slow go. Even though I am constantly on the lookout for (to my eye and sensibilities) visually interesting arrangements in the sink, picturing opportunities are few and far between due to the fact that the arrangements are found as is / serendipitous / the result of happenstance and not made / constructed. Consequently, there can be long periods during which nothing pricks my eye and sensibilities and, therefore, no kitchen sink picture making.

I have given thought to making arrangements in the sink but have come to the conclusion that doing so would negative the entire point of the endeavor. That is, to recognize the random and serendipitous beauty to be found in the quotidian world.

kitchen life # 67 ~ onion skins at midnight

onion skins at midnight ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

ART: conveys / transports / reflects ~ the book / gallery - it's all connected

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Next up in my body of work organization endeavor is my art reflects work.

Unlike the rain work, this body of work began from the very first picture as a dedicated body of work. A separate folder was created from the start so no emerging-body-of-work recognition was required to cull these pictures from the herd.

All of these pictures were made in Montreal, CA. With the exception of just one picture, they were all made on a single street in Old Montreal - Rue Saint-Paul Est - a target rich environment for this body of work. The majority of the pictures were made during a single trip to Old Montreal.

I would like to add to this body of work and the work in the windows of the galleries on Rue Saint-Paul Est change every month to reflect that month's exhibition or, at the very least, a rotation of works from permanent exhibitors. In effect, there is a densely packed and never ending opportunity for picture making with these referents.

However, in making more pictures for this body of work, I most definitely want to stay with the look to be had on overcast days. In part, because I want the cohesive look of that light from picture to picture and that light seems to work best on a purely technical basis. I have made pictures on sunny days and the contrast is extreme enough that the resulting images just don't blend the elements - window interiors to reflected streetscapes - in a visually harmonious manner.

Consequently, in order to maintain the visual cohesiveness that I want, it seems a number of cloudy day trips to Old Montreal should be put on the calendar.

FYI, these pictures are straight from the camera single exposures. No multiple exposure techniques, no post picture making blending or PS tomfoolery was involved in their making.

rain ~ the book / gallery / let the stormy clouds chase everyone from the place

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As time allows I have continued to mine my picture archive - currently numbering around 6000 pictures - to recognize and organize various bodies of work. Bodies which I have recognized but have only loosely put together. Rain is one such example.

Over an extended period of time, I have been making pictures immediately before / during / immediately after rainfalls which are one of favorite times to make pictures. That is to write that rain is one of the very few referents for which I suit up and go out to make pictures of a specific type. That's as opposed to my normal M.O. of going out with my camera(s) with no specific picture making objective in mind and making pictures of whatever pricks my eye and sensibilities.

What I find interesting about my approach to picture making is that I have had only a few bodies of work which I have intentionally pursued over time. Most of my other bodies of work have emerged from my archives when I recognize that I have a worthy collection of pictures which can make up a separate body of work. Once recognized and organized, I will then pursue, again over time, additional pictures for those almost serendipitous / newly 'discovered' themes.

My manner of discovering 'hidden' bodies of work within my archive stands in contrast to those who work on single bodies of work one at a time. My reason for not doing so is simple - I like to make pictures, lots of pictures. My archive extends back almost 13 years. Doing the math (6000 ÷ 13), that equates to approximately (on average) 460 pictures per year. And that's counting only the pictures which made it into my archive.

I can not imagine that my prodigious picture making habit will change any time soon. So, who knows what might emerge from that heap o' pictures in the future.

addendum: Borrowing a page from Andreas Manessinger, The Song of the Day is Singing In The Rain.