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.