Nude in Chicago
April 13th, 2009
OK…I’m still shooting nudes. I worked with a couple models while I was in Chicago. This is LuxxxNoir and, trust me, she was nude when I took this photo. I told her she could leave her hat on. I shot with her the last time I was in Chicago and she was the first model I contacted when I knew I was going back. She’s great. A fine model and a nice person to be around. I shot more than this photo, so you will probably see more of her here soon.
Things are going well in Florida. My daughter is recovering well from her surgery with no complications. So I’m just keeping an eye on her and making sure she has what she needs to be able to rest and get back to normal.
Life is full of surprises.
April 12th, 2009
“Man plans. God laughs.”
I’m in Tampa right now. Not a trip that was on my calendar. My daughter, who is in college down here, had to have her appendix removed yesterday. When I heard what was going on I got on the first available flight and arrived here late last night. Ironically, after driving home from Chicago on Thursday I found myself sitting at O’Hare waiting for a connection on Saturday.
My daughter is doing well. She was discharged from the hospital this morning and I’m taking care of her in my hotel room until she feels well enough to go back to her dorm.
I’ll be back in Ohio Thursday, just in time to keep an appointment with my eye doctor. Then Saturday it’s up to Detroit for the “Seduction of Art” show by the Midwest Society of Erotic Photography at the CPOP gallery. I’ll be hanging around there Saturday evening if you are in the area and want to say hi.
OK…so today’s photo is not so erotic…unless you have some very unusual kinks, I guess. Just something I saw during a drive through upstate New York last fall. I considered it just a snapshot, but my wife really likes it, to the extent that she had some note cards printed up with it on the cover. I had to agree that it made a nice note card. It has me thinking about printing up some of my non-nude work to take to one of the galleries that is not selling my prints despite them being nicely displayed. Maybe some of this type of thing might actually sell occasionally. I don’t mind shooting things like this…they just don’t seem to have much content for me, beyond being pretty…but some folks might say that’s true of my nude work as well.
Beaner, Beaner, Beaner
April 8th, 2009
I’ve been in Chicago this week. Today I saw the Karsh exhibit and the Munch exhibit at the Chicago Art Institute. Both those shows are fantastic, as I expected. If you are near Chicago, get there to see them before they leave at the end of this month. Unfortunately for this visit, anyway, much of the institute’s modern art collection is in storage in preparation for the opening of their new modern art gallery in May. Didn’t get to see any Picassos on this trip. I’ll just have to come back.
After we left the art institute my old friend and former Chicago resident Tim, and I walked around the lake front for a while, visiting “The Bean” where I took this snapshot of us with my pocket point and shoot and having pizza at a wonderful little place that Tim remembered from his days living there and working for the Associated Press.
Back home tomorrow.
Dance at the studio
April 4th, 2009
Practically since the very beginnings of my life as a photographer dance has been a subject I loved. I started photographing dance at the newly-formed Ohio University Dance Department when I was a 17-year-old college freshman looking for something to photograph. I fell in love with dance then and that love remains.
In recent years I’ve returned to Ohio University and the now School of Dance and have started photographing their concerts again. I’ve also this year invited some of the best student dancers to come to my studio for photos in a more controlled environment. Jesse was the first to take me up on that invitation. This is one of the photos we got that day, back in December. It has since been used for the posters to publicize the school’s winter concert.
Several more dancers have come to the studio since Jesse’s visit. I’ll be sharing some of those photos with you soon.
But for now I’m about to head out to Chicago where I’ll be doing a little shooting, but mainly I’ll be visiting the Chicago Art Institute to look at the Karsh exhibit they have up. I’ll also most likely spend some time in the Munch exhibit that is also there. Should be a fun week.
Karsh has an OU connection. He was emeritus faculty there when I started in the photo school way back when. I never got to meet him, but his influence was still felt in the school.
Weston, Kubota and Detroit
March 30th, 2009
We spent the weekend in Canton and Akron. The Weston exhibit at the Akron Art Museum was wonderful. Smaller than the show a couple years ago at the Dayton Art Institute, but the prints were fantastic to see. These were “vintage” prints made by Edward Weston himself and really showed what a master printer he was. If you haven’t seen original Edward Weston prints, well, you haven’t really seen what a great master he was.
The only complaint I have is that I think the gallery was just a little underlit. I understand the need to protect these very valuable prints, but still, there needs to be enough light to fully appreciate them. I’m sure Weston would not have been happy that there wasn’t good strong light to bring out all the detail and the amazing multitude of shades of gray that he worked so hard to include in these prints. Still, if you are anywhere near Akron, Ohio, you really should try to get to this show before it leaves on April 26. And after you see the show I can give a hearty recommendation for dinner at Crave right across the corner from the museum.
Before we drove over the Akron museum from Canton my sister-in-law suggested we stop by the Canton Museum of Art to see the kimono exhibit there. Not something I’m usually interested in, but I went along and wow! What a great surprise that was. These kimonos created by Itchiku Kubota using a once lost method that he re-invented through years of trial and error are wonderful, masterful works of art and simply beautiful beyond words. So, if you are going to Akron to see the Weston museum it’s really worth the half-hour drive over to Canton to see the kimonos.
And, finally, I’m going to have a few prints in a show in Detroit in April. The details are in the flyer below. It’s just a two-day show, April 17 and 18 at the C-Pop Gallery, put together by the Midwest Society of Erotic Photography. I still don’t know why they invited me to join this group, since my work is almost never about the erotic. But they invited me and I decided to accept, since there are a whole lot of very fine photographers in the group. They are also very fine individuals, so I’m happy to be associated with them, even if my work doesn’t really fit in. But there will be a few of my prints on the wall those nights. If all goes well I’ll be there on Saturday night if you want to come by and say hi. And you could always buy a print or two and help support my habit.
Curl Up With A Good Model
March 27th, 2009
I worked primarily in black and white for many years, starting when I first worked as a newspaper photographer back in the days when newspapers only published black and white photos. About 15 years ago I found myself becoming more and more interested in color. I shot a lot of color film and was happy when digital came along and gave me back the level of control (and then some) that I had enjoyed with black and white work.
I appreciate good black and white work, but often color is a significant part of the subject matter for my work, so I seldom appreciate the occasional comments suggesting one of my photos would look better in black and white. Those comments tell me that the viewer of the photo doesn’t understand at all what I am trying to do with my work. That’s somewhat my fault, since what I’m trying to do should be apparent to a serious viewer. But often those comments come from people who are clearly not serious viewers, just thoughtless people with an unthinking preference for black and white photos.
Black and white photos are a curious artifact of the early days of the medium. Everyone working to develop the medium of photography was trying to find a way to record the colors of the image. And they succeeded early on. Color photography has been possible almost since the beginning of photography. But it was technically very difficult to make color photos in the early days. So, black and white was a poor substitute for what was desired. And the gray tonal representation of a color scene is a unique artifact of that twist in the science of photography.
But, that’s not to say that black and white photos are not beautiful things. And that sometimes black and white can be a more effective way to communicate an idea through a photo. But I don’t think black and white has any inherent virtue setting it above color photos as art or as communication. It’s just a different thing. A different way to communicate and create.
And sometimes a photo in black and white just works well and looks nice. That’s the case here. I shot this digitally in color. Athena photoshopped it and converted it to black and white for the model, Unbearable Lightness. And this is one case where I don’t mind the switch to black and white. It works and I like the result. So here it is.
And, speaking of beautiful black and white photography, tomorrow I’ll be going to the Akron Art Museum to see the Edward Weston show they have running through April 26. I hear it is an excellent show of prints actually made by Edward Weston. If you’ve never seen a Weston print up close and in person, you really should try to find a time and place to do that. If you are in the Ohio area this show in Akron could give you a good chance. It’s nothing like seeing a photo here on the web…and is really vastly different from seeing a reproduction in a book, even one with excellent reproduction.
Buy This Book
March 25th, 2009
Back to Photography
March 22nd, 2009
OK…that’s enough of politics and legal crap. Back to photography and beautiful nudes. And light. And shadow. Here’s Athena again from the Florida shoot. This was taken in weak, overcast late afternoon light. I liked what the weak sun was doing with the shadows of the balcony railing. I like the way the shadows play over Athena’s lower body. I love the beautiful pose Athena struck. I love the colors and the textures of the wall. It all came together pretty well on this shot. Thanks, Athena!
2257 Rant
March 17th, 2009
I’m mad as hell and I’m going to vent about it. The draconian, unconstitutional provisions of an extremely poorly written law go into effect tomorrow. This law violates my constitutional right to freedom of expression. I take violations of my rights very seriously.
Under The Wire
March 16th, 2009
