Five: Photo books from 2009...

I didn't buy enough photo books this year to author a 'best of' list, but here are five books that I really enjoyed this past year.


William Eggleston
Paris
While Paris is unlikely to change anyone's opinion on the photography of William Eggleston, it's a solid book for anyone who may already be a fan. Along with the images, there are a few of Eggleston's drawings interspersed in the book.







Edward Hopper & Company
This book basically takes what might be my favorite painter's work and discusses his influence on some of my favorite photographers. It's a fantastic little book but sadly already out of print and demanding high prices.









Jungjin Lee
Wind
Released late in the year by Aperture, this book has served as my introduction to Lee's beautiful work. Wind features atypical, intriguing landscape photographs produced on homemade paper hand coated with a homemade emulsion.







Sarah Greenough
Looking In: The Americans
This is by far the most obsessive photobook of the year. Greenough's look at The Americans is several times larger than the book it analyzes. The highlight of the expanded edition is a look at Frank's contact sheets for the project.







Peter Kayafas
O Public Road!
Peter Kayafas' collection of American road-trip photographs has a title I wish I had thought of first. And the book comes with a song by Eef Barzelay of Clem Snide fame, bringing music and photography together in an effective way. A great concept.

Image: Meadville, Keya Paha County

When I set out to construct my first project on Nebraska, I decided that I wanted to create a sort of visual collection of all the random places I visited throughout the state. The idea was to explore this place I call home and record images of its smallest corners that may otherwise have been forgotten or left in anonymity.

The Omaha World-Herald has an article today about a new bridge being constructed across the Niobrara River in north-central Nebraska. I visited the old bridge during the summer of 2007 and captured the above photograph which will appear in the final edit of the series.

Meadville is what amounts to a ghost town on a rarely-traveled gravel road that wanders over 30 miles between Springview and Ainsworth. All that remained there was a general store and this old, one lane bridge. At the time, I wondered just how safe the wood-surfaced bridge really was.

Not safe enough, it seems.

Image: Omaha, Douglas County (Alt.)

As November draws to a close, it's time to look back at another year gone by. 2009, like most years, has went by much faster than expected. I got back on track with my work, stumbled upon some new inspiration and began to pursue my BFA in earnest.

2010 is shaping up to be a big year for me. My first solo show at the Hot Shops. Two extensive projects to develop. And the many surprises that every year we live through inevitably presents.

The above image is one of several alternate images from ninety-three for Douglas County that I captured a few weeks back. I'm on track to have the entire project finished by the opening of the show on April 30th. Just a few improvements to be made and I'll be ready to call it finished for good.

Once again...

Back at work on ninety-three once again, hoping to get some work done before the weather takes a turn for the worst in the next few weeks and winter settles in.

Harvest is my favorite time of the year to photograph rural Nebraska. There's lots of activity in all the little towns and the late afternoon sun has a warm quality to it that just isn't there the rest of the year. I revisited a few places and discovered a few new ones. The sun sets so early.

The above photograph is from downtown Pierce. Just the small detail of a glass brick from a building.

Also visited: McLean, Magnet, Hartington, Coleridge, Belden and Laurel.

Out and about...

With the Hot Shops show just a few months away, it's time to finish and tidy up ninety-three for its debut. Today I set out to find an image for Douglas County and wandered Cuming County for what felt like the 20th time. Sometimes I just can't seem to find something that will work.

Pictured above is an old barn still standing all by itself in a recently harvested field near Bancroft.

Also visited: Omaha, Aloys, West Point, Beemer and Bancroft.

John Vachon

"Omaha looked swell this morning out the train window," wrote John Vachon. "Very unspectacular, and ordinary looking, but definitely camera-challenging.

John Vachon wasn't from Nebraska, but he extensively photographed Omaha and Nebraska for the Farm Security Administration in late 1938. There are quite a few (sadly low quality) images of Nebraska available here on the Library Of Congress website.

The always excellent Shorpy has quite a few high resolution images by Vachon here.

Image: Instance #2

Just a small taste of something new that I've begun working on over the last few weeks. The process shows a lot of promise, I think.

The series will be titled An Instance. Merriam-Webster defines instance as "a step, stage, or situation viewed as part of a process or series of events," and that's pretty much exactly what these photographs represent. A moment (or step) in time that's defined by a process and its somewhat unpredictable results.

I'll let you use your imagination as to how this was accomplished. In actuality, it's really quite simple.

Required Linkage

friends and mentors:
Metro Photo Club
Ben Richter
William Hess
Jim Butkus
Dana Fritz
Jamie Burmeister
Nicole Jean Hill
M. Giron
Les Bruning

local art:
Hot Shops Art Center
Workspace Gallery
Kimmel Harding Nelson Center For The Arts
Corning Center For The Fine Arts
Haydon Art Center
Jackson Artworks
Joslyn Art Museum
Sheldon Museum Of Art
Nebraska Arts Council

influences:
Robert Frank
William Christenberry
Walker Evans
David Plowden
Jason Fulford
Solomon Butcher
William Eggleston
Jeff Brouws
Ed Ruscha

resources:
The Online Photographer
Photo.net
Photo Eye
Aperture
Light Work
Blind Spot
J&L Books

music:
Lazy-I.com
The Weakerthans
Eels
Outlaw Con Bandana
Black Squirrels
Sonic Youth
Jim Bryson
Cub Country
Christine Fellows

Five: Songs From 2009

Cub Country - Lone Tall Pines



The Mountain Goats - Ezekiel 7...



William Elliott Whitmore - Mutiny



The Thermals - Now We Can See



Eels - Prizefighter

Exhibit: ninety-three at Hot Shops

I'll be unveiling ninety-three with a small show in May 2010 at the Hot Shops Art Center in downtown Omaha, Nebraska. The opening will be part of Hot Shops' open house weekend.

This has been a long time coming and I'm excited for an opportunity to get more of the project out for people to see. I'm still not sure how much of the series will ultimately end up on display at this point, but there will definitely be quite a few images that haven't been seen yet.

To receive updates and a reminder about the show, become a fan on Facebook.


The above image is Mullen, Hooker County. Hooker had the smallest population in the state when they assigned counties numbers for license plates. Outside of the town of Mullen, there's roughly 1 person for every two and a half square miles in the county.

Image: Lyons, Burt County (alt.)

This image is from ninety-three, one of the many that I love but will probably not find their way into the final series. The fence(s) were set up in downtown Lyons, a small town a half hour or so north of Fremont, Nebraska.

I'm currently putting together another project to go along with the yet untitled series documenting the areas surrounding where my parents and grandparents grew up in Iowa and Nebraska. Both are moving along well, still evolving. I hope to get a chance to exhibit at some point in the near future with the Metro Photo Club and unveil something new.

Iowa: Day Six

Another day spent scouring the Iowa countryside for family memories and little towns. I continue to be amazed by just how much local history my grandfather knows. It's incredible. The weather continues to be unseasonably cool, almost jacket weather.

The photograph above was taken in Belle Plaine, Iowa. It's a marker for the old Lincoln Highway, the first road to cross the United States.

Also visited: Laurel, Haverhill, Chelsea, Marengo, Williamsburg, Parnell, North English, Keswick and Guernsey.

Iowa: Day Five

Today finds me headed back east to Grinnell, Iowa to work a little more on my current project. It was a gorgeous day, perfect temperature and lots of blue skies. I skipped the interstate for most of the way, instead relying on state highways I'd never taken before.

Above is a photograph of Searsboro, Iowa. It's a tiny place a dozen miles or so south of Interstate 80. There's not a lot of the town left these days.

Also visited: Neola, Minden, Avoca, Walnut, Marne, Atlantic, Wiota, Anita, Adair, Casey, Menlo, Stuart, Dexter, New Sharon, Lacey, What Cheer and Montezuma

Five: Influences (As Of Right Now)

William Christenberry
I am drawn to Christenberry's unique approach to visual history. His photographs of the same structure over many years depict the changes, both deterioration and rebirth, of unique landmarks throughout the southern United States.



William Eggleston
Eggleston gave us color photography, or so history will ultimately read. It's hard to be a color photographer without mentioning his influence. I do struggle a bit with the haphazard look of some of his compositions, but, when everything comes together, few can match his genius.



Robert Frank
My first photo book was Robert Frank's The Americans. I received the book as a gift after randomly listing it on a Christmas list. It didn't take long for me to get hooked on the idea of traveling the country, photographing everything along the way.



David Plowden
David Plowden has photographed many subjects over the course of his life, everything from trains to steel workers. But what resonates most with me is his work in small town America, especially his A Sense Of Place monograph. Plowden's photography of rural Iowa and other states has a sort of quiet, dignified quality to it that I hope to be able to approach some day.



Ed Ruscha
Although more famous as a painter, photography is what Ed Ruscha uses as a sort of visual sketchbook to gather ideas from. His photography is often mundane; a collection of buildings along a single street or a series of gas stations. But his use strong use of typography translates this work into iconic imagery.

Image: Boyer Chute (2009)

Today felt like a good day to get out and hit the road. I revisited a couple places I wanted to photograph, Fort Atkinson and Boyer Chute, and spent some time near Prague in an attempt to work on my latest project. At this point, I'm still not exactly sure how to pursue the whole idea. It is time to evolve and grow. Just need to figure out how to go about it.

The above photograph is from the Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge. It's a nice quiet place, tucked into a bend in the Missouri River east of Fort Calhoun.

Also visited: Fremont, Cedar Hill, Linwood, Abie, Bruno and Prague.

Image: Untitled (2003)

I spent a day off last week going through my old image files to make sure everything is backed up multiple times. This photograph was taken for an intermediate photography class for a pushed film assignment. It's still one of my favorite photographs.

Going through early photographs is always a bit of a revelation. There's always a surprise; something that had never really caught your eye before. The lack of a preconceptions can make for surprisingly interesting work. After looking through hundreds of black and white photographs, I find myself wanting to move back in that direction. Maybe next year.

Five: Films with Photographers

Blow-Up (1966)

Take the consummate swingin' 1960's photographer with his womanizing too-cool-for-you lifestyle and put him right in the middle of a murder mystery. Then give it the kind of symbolic ending that makes a great majority of people hate European films.

The best scenes in Blow-Up find the photographer endlessly enlarging negatives to better see the evidence of a crime that may or may not have happened.


City Of God (2002)

A young man chooses between a life as a gang member in a violence-plagued slum in Rio De Janeiro or something more. He is drawn to a camera, ultimate choosing to document the tragedies around him as a means to rise above the poverty and hopelessness of his situation.

City Of God is a powerful statement of perseverance and one of the best movies that many have never seen.


One Hour Photo (2002)

A lonely and psychotic man works in the photo lab at a big box retailer. His obsession with one of his customers gets out of hand, causing him to lose his job and embark on what he sees as a noble mission to punish a husband for his infidelities.

Robin Williams plays as convincing of a psychopath as you'll ever see. He's remarkably creepy and unsettling, but somehow we feel compelled to empathize with him.


Pecker (1998)

A wide-eyed kid from Baltimore takes some photographs of the people in his neighborhood. A snooty New York art dealer discovers his work at the local deli and turns him to a star in the art world. And John Waters directs, so there's a good dose of filthy humor and outright bizarre characters.

Pecker is a love-hate sort of film. Either you laugh and eat it up or you sit and think about how much you despise everything about it for two hours. I think it's brilliant.


Rear Window (1954)

What's a photographer to do when he is confined to a bed in his apartment? Spy on the neighbors across the courtyard with a telephoto lens, find one of the neighbors attempting to cover up a crime, and end up face to face with the murderer himself after he knows he has been discovered.

I'm a huge Hitchcock fan, and Rear Window is one of his best. It's brilliant how the entire film is shot within one apartment and its view across a courtyard.

Iowa: Day Four

With nothing but rain in sight, I headed home from Burlington. I'm looking forward to getting back to central Iowa to continue working on the family project. Most of the ride home was spent trying to figure out just how to approach it. It's daunting to try to work in a different way, but I think it'll make for a stronger series in the end.

The photograph above is from downtown Burlington. There were four bikes hanging on wires above an intersection.

Iowa: Day Three

I've made it down to Burlington, in the south-eastern corner of the state. It's an old river town on the bluffs of the Mississippi.

The photograph is a detail of one of the buildings downtown.

Also visited: Gulfport and Hamilton, Illinois; Fort Madison, Montrose and Keokuk.

Iowa: Day Two

Today was spent meandering all over the countryside in Iowa and Poweshiek counties with my grandparents. We covered a lot of ground and family history, many places that are almost non-existent today. I had forgotten how beautiful it is out here, rolling hills and valleys with green as far as the eye can see.

Pictured is what remains of the country school that my grandmother first taught in after getting her teaching degree. It's very nearly gone forever.

Also visited: Brooklyn, Carnforth, Victor, Ladora, Millersburg, Hartwick, Deep River, Montezuma and Malcom

Iowa: Day One

Today was a wonderfully cool June day, very different than the sticky hot weather we usually get around here this time of year. I spent the day traveling a little more than halfway across the state of Iowa to Grinnell. I'll be attempting to get started on the Iowa portion of my yet-to-be-titled family project over the next couple days.

The above photograph is from the side of a building in the main street area of Persia, Iowa. Not family related, but one of the few photographs I took today.

Also visited: Portsmouth, Newton, Kellogg and Lynnville

On the road again...

I've been stir crazy of late, constantly wishing I was out and about now that I've got most of my health issues under control. Work is work, and offers very little of any sort of outlet for creativity. I've been spending a lot of time with Walker Evans' work and planning to get out and photograph during the summer months.

Today was a test run to the loess hills region north of Council Bluffs, Iowa. The picture above is something I've wanted to photograph for the long time, a (now abandoned) restaurant all by its lonesome at the Honey Creek exit on Interstate 29. The giant letters that mark the roof have been been burned into my memory for as long as I can remember, most likely going back to childhood trips to Nebraska to visit my grandparents.

Also visited: Loveland, Missouri Valley, Logan, and Beebeetown.

Reissued...

I was pleased to discover that William Eggleston's 2 1/4 is once again available for purchase. Twin Palms published the fourth edition of the book earlier this year and it's limited to just 3000 copies worldwide.

My first (and only) experience with this book was through the interlibrary loan system at school. The copy I borrowed had seen better days, but still stands out in my mind as what I like best about Eggleston. While it's really not all that different than his later work, 2 1/4 shows what direction he was heading in and the use of a square sets this work apart from projects like Los Alamos.

2 1/4 is wonderfully printed with large images on every page. Just a fantastic book overall, especially for fans of Eggleston. Get it before it's gone again and only available at inflated prices on the secondary market.

Books On Books

The first four releases of errata editions' Books on Books series are in stores now. Each title features a reproduction of a classic photography book with added insight and commentary on the work.

Walker Evans' American Photographs is the second book in the series and the first I have purchased. The idea behind the series is brilliantly simple. Take the original book, scan the pages, and publish them in a new format. Some of the images are published on a single page, others are placed four to a single page spread. After the reproduction of the full book, some essays about the photographer and the work follow.

Errata did just about everything right with the entire presentation. The half dust jacket looks great and the entire reproduction looks excellent, better than I had expected. Some of the images end up a bit small due to the layout, but that's about the only complaint I've got. Definitely an interesting way to discover books that may be unavailable at the current time.

Other titles in the series include: Eugene Atget's Photographe de Paris, Sophie Ristelheuber's Fait and Chris Killip's En Flagrante.

Five: Photo books from 2008...

I didn't buy enough photo books this year to author a 'best of' list, but here are five books that I really enjoyed this past year.

Ray K. Metzker
Light Lines

This is a beautifully printed book, a collection of much of Metzker's work. He excels at creating abstract black and white photographs out of everyday life, reducing landscapes and people into lines and shapes.



William Christenberry
Working From Memory
For fans of Christenberry, such as myself, Working From Memory is a much appreciated look at the stories behind his work. Each chapter gives a background story for a photograph, all the little details behind what makes them special to the photographer.


Bill Wood's Business
Bill Wood was a commercial photographer from Fort Worth, Texas. Diane Keaton purchased his vault of negatives after his death and eventually put together this exhibition of his work. The collection documents both the serious and odd side of a very straight-forward photographer without pretense.


Zoe Strauss
America
Strauss' America is vivid and recalls Stephen Shore's American Surfaces project, albeit a bit more focused. There's a lot to see, with a lot of photographs, both delightfully mundane in nature and some that may be a little too contrived for my tastes.


Michael Eastman
Vanishing America
Vanishing America is chock full of images. Some layouts are simple, other have a half dozen or more images on a spread of pages. Eastman's work is a massive collection of broken down main streets and all the other small town necessities that are slowly falling apart.