Recent Prints

A twelve day trip, ten rolls of film. After quick inspection....about a half dozen images I really like. There are many more that will "work," but MAYBE a half dozen that will get print. Others will be scanned, and sent, scanned and archived, etc.

I have a self portrait, as you can see here, that looks really great, in my opinion, and I have no recollection of shooting it. I just the contact sheet, then the negative, and said, "Hmmm." It was shot on a London street corner, that's all I know.

Leica, 35mm, Foma warmtone matte, 11x14,

A Long Time Ago

Somewhere in Mexico. Working on something, some project, some trip, some unknown.

Looks like I picked a really nice place to hang out.

Photographer to Follow: Matt Black

ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT MATT BLACK

So, from time to time I like to write about other photographers that I find inspiring, interesting or just plain good. I don't know Matt Black, never met him, but can tell a lot about him simply by looking at his images. I've know about him for years, first heard his name, saw an image, at least ten years ago.

If I remember correctly, it was an image from Bolivia, a llama sacrifice.

This is, to me, what great photography is about. It's about images that last over time, perhaps gaining more power, more significance as they reappear in your mind, sometimes for unknown reasons.

Matt's images have a complicated simplicity, at least in my opinion, which can be deceiving in terms of how difficult it is to make these kind of images. The complicated aspect is the layering. The simplicity is how they read to the viewer, and not just photo people, but the rest of the world, the unknown viewer, the "average" viewer. Sometimes we get lost in what other photographers or editors will think, but the person buying the magazine, buying the book, signing on to the web gallery is the real treasure, and often times they carry no visual baggage. They either respond or they don't.

I also love the fact that Matt is a small town guy. I was too for much of my life, and can respect what it takes, means to live in a small place. I think where he lives, and where he comes from is front and center in these images. He makes the places that our coastal dwellers joke about come alive with life, passion, tension, etc,

Take a look at his site, his work and see. I don't know about you, but I now want to see Fresno. Never have before. Now I do.

Again, this is where good images can take us. This is when good images force us to reconsider our beliefs.

If you read his site, his bio, you can see that others have taken notice, lots of notice, as evidenced by his healthy list of prizes, grants, etc. But, I still consider him a quiet entity within the photo world. Perhaps he wouldn't agree with me about that, but it's just how I see him, and most importantly how I don't hear him.

I also like the fact his website is very clear and simple and shows one kind of work, his work. His work has a a style to it, a recognizable style, and in the modern, photo-world, this is sometimes difficult to find.

I look at these pictures, these stories and wonder what he is working on now. Where is he? What will we see from him next?

You can see his work at his website www.mattblack.com

Downward

"Some of your best work is looking down," the person said. A respected person.

Is this a good thing?

Or is this bad?

Down is safe. Down never goes away, rarely changes, and is always there. I like down.

Am I a pessimist? Instead of looking up I look down? Are my eyes averted?

Is there a peace about the lower spaces? Places? It is where we leave our traces?

A Light Dusting

The curtain pulls up and the outside world is dusted as the glass fogs with your breath.

A mountain sky with elements fighting for position. Darkness and light. Tracks.

The animals adapt as the harshness is covered by what the wind brings.

Where will we go and what will we see?

New Book: Maroc

MAROC

By Daniel Milnor

Book Preview

Just posted this baby up.

Am loving these small books, and based on the response I've had when showing them around, so do others.

Time On My Hands

One afternoon, one roll, a little time on my hands. This is a theme I've been working on for a while, something very different from what I've done in the past, but I like it. A very low success rate with this stuff, but that is half the fun. Most of the time, when I make these images I have NO idea what I'm getting. Then, out of what I did get, wondering what will be printable, with my skill set. If Ansel was alive I'm sure he could bang out these prints, but not me. I'm learning people, but taking baby steps.

What I like about this work is not knowing. When you can't see the image, you have to think more, perhaps wonder more, which is what keeps my interest up.

I also like the experimentation, and if you see these prints, 16x20, the size I printed them, it might make you wonder. If you saw me making them, you would laugh. I'm sure more than one person uttered to themselves, "Look at that idiot." Basically this is odd film, an odd technique and an odd method of getting the look. But, it works, at least for me. It's also one of the few ways I found of producing work locally that I really like. Portraits and this, for the most part, my most successful.

These images have to be studied, and these little web version won't do them justice. There is much going on in the dark spaces, and the sky, which you really can't see.

This is only the beginning. I'll be out experimenting more on this.

Ready for Liftoff

Just spotted, signed, numbered, captioned and sleeved 27 copies of an image for a "project" I am a part of.

A few images from around the office.

More...

more recent snaps, 16x20's.

The Skunk Hunter

I got a lot of emails regarding the post I did about mom and her Santa pajamas.

So, I thought I would follow it up with a few pictures I made of her on this last trip.

I try to shoot images of her each time I'm home, so I can slowly start to build an archive. Should have done more of padre when he was still around. A regret, just another in a long, long line.

These images, and the prior post, which is comprised of these same images, but in print form, being washed, reminded me of a strange fact, or view, depending on how you look at it.

I try to focus on enjoying the "now" in life. The right now. But it is so damn difficult.

As a photographer very little is about the now. The future is always on my mind. Where will my NEXT job come from? What will it be? What should I do tomorrow?

Advertising, marketing, all focused on tomorrow, next month, next year. My calendar fills months and months from now.

And the images, they reflect the past. Past moments, people, places, events. History frozen, but all reflecting things long since gone.

Or do they.

When I was washing those prints, which takes a long, long time, I truly stopped and focused. My hand moved slowly through the running water, sliding over the surface of each print, feeling the very fiber of the image. So for a brief moment I was only in the "now," even though what was reflected was only the past.

I think I will continue to battle with this, but for me, making these prints, I'm realizing now, after all these years, is a critical event for my work.

In some ways I think I might have wasted the last 15 years of my life by not doing this. I wonder what I WAS doing all this time.

You shoot, you edit, you print, seems like a natural progression, but I didn't do it.

The other side of this edge is digital printing doesn't cut it for me. I do it all the time, and digital prints look fantastic, but they are way, way too easy. You don't live with digital prints. Your hand doesn't touch water, or darkness. You hand touches only plastic. And the end result is instant.

So, in some ways, maybe digital printing is more "in the now?" It's about right now. But then it fades. Quickly.

So, from now on, I'll continue to work this way. I'll also try to focus on the now.

Fingers crossed.

The Shining Path

It feels strange to know you are staring down a path that leads to uncertain things, uncertain times.

Everything you see and hear tells you to take the safe path, the one that most everyone else is on, but for some reason you can't move that way. You find yourself staring at the other path, searching for the footprints of others, and luckily, you can see a few, just enough. It might all sound simple, but it's not.

Far from it.

"Why are you here?"

"Don't know."

"What are you doing?"

"Not sure?"

"Where are you headed?"

"Couldn't tell you."



11x14, Foma, 25 min second bath,

Lens Culture: Dogs Can't Read

Hey Campers,

Just wanted to alert the masses to a recent article regarding my "Dogs Can't Read" project. Paris-based Lens Culture was nice enough to write me up and describe this ongoing series.

So far, I've completed four cities, Paris, New York, Tijuana and Palermo, but there are others on my horizon.

This project, for one reason or another, has been a pleasant surprise in terms of the reception. People see different things in these images, and in many cases, things I did not see. Each book seems to have a life of its own.

Anyway, hope you enjoy.


Lens Culture

The Gamer

I have an older brother and sister. My brother, six years older, was always better, faster, stronger, etc, as to be expected. Sis wasn't much on the sport scene, but she cheated me at Monopoly, cards, and anything she could, so she proved her mettle in ways other than sport.

My point is I know what it is like to have older siblings.

This little package of dynamite also has an older sibling, but she is a GAMER! This girl can play and has some wicked skills not to mention some attitude. I think having an older sibling really pushes her, and it shows in her ability to play soccer and the other sports she enjoys.

I think she scored five or six goals in ONE game.

We have made some sport pictures in the past, over the years actually, but I like some of these recent pictures of her, which are more subdued. Quiet moments.

Through the Ages

One of the great things about my job is watching the kids I photograph grow up. I just did this shoot a few days ago, but yesterday I had to retrieve a file from an older drive and notice another shoot I did with this girl and her younger sister, perhaps the first shoot we ever did.

They were TINY!

It was fantastic to see those old images and to see just how different they are now.

When I show up these days I just begin shooting. Me being there is old hat and the girls just do what they normally do. It is a luxury to get this kind of access and this kind of comfort when shooting portraits.

I will post the little one next!

Ideal

At some point in my life I will only shoot black and white. No matter the results, black and white is always my favorite. Color, in great light, the right ingredients, is great, but I'll choose the black and white from the same scene, every time.

It's not better, just different, and for some reason, it is what I prefer to look at.

I also like grain, the more the better. Real grain, not noise. Noise just doesn't do it for me. Grain gives texture and depth.

This is the Z man, someone I've been photographing for some time now, and he is fun to work with. He reminds me of my brother, serious, but then given the chance will give me a look that leaves us both laughing.