Three Days in Berkeley

I flew out to Berkeley to photograph Ms. Waters. Weather disrupted my flight, and I ended up travelling all day. In addition, the airlines misplaced my luggage (both there and back). But it was all worth it to spend several days with good friends, and to meet an icon. Here is Doug in the hotel.
Adam
Adam and I drove up on one day to the Berkeley hills and enjoyed the fog and rain.
We did a bit of searching for the right light. Some pictures were made indoors and out. I'm looking forward to seeing them all. I only made a few images with the smaller camera, mostly of Adam in the light. Most of the time i was busy trying to make things work with the 8x10 camera. Having Adam there was so great- I'd talk with Alice, compose, and then say "ready" and Adam would take a reading, stop down the lens, and hand me the film.
We were rewarded with amazing food- oysters, fresh salad with baked goat cheese, braised pork, rabbit, pasta with pesto.

Pear gelato with pomegranite and almond tuiles.

Vanilla Ice Cream "affogato"...drowned in espresso

Percival Island Baptism

Reading Material

comic by Chris Ware

Naples/ Torino

This is a Banksy I found in Naples

And a sweet interlude in Turin

Shout Outs

I just received a book from an artist/writer named Jungu Yoon who just published "Spirituality in Contemporary Art: The Idea of the Numinous".

He asked me last year if he could include an image of Corey in front of a Yves-Klein piece.

Numinous:

–adjective

1.

of, pertaining to, or like a numen; spiritual or supernatural.

2.

surpassing comprehension or understanding; mysterious:that element in artistic expression that remains numinous.

3.

arousing one's elevated feelings of duty, honor, loyalty, etc.:a benevolent and numinous paternity.

This morning I came across Bill's work from Carrara on Lenscratch

Aline Smithson of Lenscratch writes:

"I recently stopped by Hous Projects in Los Angeles, to see the terrific exhibition by William Wylie,Carrara. The exhibition runs until November 11th. "

Wylie began his photographic exploration of Carrara in 2000. Over the next six years he returned annually aided by support from a Guggenheim Fellowship (2005) and two Visiting Artist Residences at The American Academy in Rome. The project enabled him to combine his interest in the natural world and industry with his poetic sense of light and shadow. The pigment prints of Carrara’s marble blocks capture gorgeous spectrums of black, white, and grey. Wylie’s tone and structure work in perfect equilibrium.

His color portraits of Carrara’s stonecutters (known as cavatori) elucidate telling compositional elements through hue. Mountain light illuminates the fine marble dust covering the quarry workers; their clothes, hair, fingernails, and equipment all radiate a soft glow that physically ties them to the mine. Wylie’s awareness of structure informs his portraits but does not detract from the natural grace of his subjects. In these images, he uses all his skills to create a unified continuum of person and place.

And last month Hippolyte Bayard wrote a post on Adam's work.

View from the Window at Le Gras, 1826

"Sometimes there’s a picture to be made. But more often I spend hours just looking, trying to obtain position. I use a very inconvenient camera, and that helps meet the pace of the place(s). The shadow cast by the clarity of these pictures is clouded by a million reluctant conditions".- Adam Schreiber

Hippolyte Bayard writes:

I felt instant love for Adam Schreiber's photographs, his catalogue of hidden objects which feels to me like the funny version of Taryn Simon's An America Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar.

Among the many gems I would pick the View from the Window at Le Gras by Nicéphore Niépce (aka the so-called "first photograph ever"), shown as some alien mystery object locked inside an Area 51.

Bleach Fix

Sonya and I were walking in the woods behind our house several weeks ago and came across an intact deer skull. It was picked clean but still a little green around the edges, so Bill advised me on how to get it nice and clean. He told me to buy a pot that I'd never use again, boil the water (with maybe a touch of bleach added) outside on a camp stove to avoid fouling up the house, and then to let the bones dry out in the sun for a week or so.

Walmart

It's a little sad that I go to Walmart so much that I've saved a special setting on my camera for the White Balance and Exposure in Walmart.

Chicago Wedding

Congratulations Nick and Sara! I'll finally start working on your wedding pictures this week, but first wanted to thank you two for a beautiful and fun time in Chicago.

Fall and the Fair

Our friend James was visiting his family last week in Northern Virginia. He drove down for a night and we cooked up some spaghetti and grilled Romaine. Sonya's brother Peter also came down from D.C. and we made it to a 9 pm showing of "the Town" ("by the visionary director of "Gone Baby Gone" (otherwise known as Ben Affleck). Our little town here doesn't get much in the way of movies.

The next morning James pulled out his shotgun, drove to Wal-Mart and bought some shells, and we got a pumpkin and proceeded to shoot at it in our backyard. We're in need of practice before we go turkey hunting.

James shows us the ropes.
Sonya was the instigator of borrowing James' gun to shoot a turkey for Thanksgiving. I think she is having second thoughts after actually firing the gun.
James left for Richmond, and so Peter and Sonya and I drove out to the 5 County Fair. We scaled the Wall, trying to win $100.00. (I had to teach some Photoshop moves to my class...this is what you get in a 10 minute demo.)
Deep Fried Oreos
Deep Fried Twinkies. We had to try them of course.

And then it was back to work.

the digital age

There are days when I just wish that I could get into an old analog color darkroom and print my images. Instead I've been forced into learning all this information, which will probably change every 6 months with different programs and downloaded plug-ins with names like "Noise Ninja". And how best to sharpen prints? Unsharp Mask? Smart Sharpen? High Pass Filter? When all I want is some paper and a homemade dodge tool made from a piece of wire and some black tape.

Good Days

It's been a long time since anyone just dropped by the house for a spontaneous visit. Any house....going back to maybe The Antler's Hotel in Fort Collins. So when Greg called up and said he was on his way down from Charlottesville I said "come on down". He pulled in at 8 pm and we ate Panzanella, cheese and salami, and some bread, with a little Ben and Jerry's for dessert, while we watched "Temple Grandin". That movie is so sweet and powerful, and Claire Danes rocked the role. I was hoping for a re-creation of Fort Collins circa 1985, but the movie didn't go that far.

In the morning Greg and I drove down to town and went to "the Bakery", a Belgian owned little pastry and deli and ate 4 pastries and 4 cups of coffee in the upstairs room (named "the Hopper Room", for the light)
We brought back some Decaf for Sonya and threw the frisbee, relaxed, Greg drew some pictures and found some deer teeth in the front yard. All very much like the old days.

Boo

Richmond

We met up with Bill and Kay in Richmond, ate some Thai food near VCU, and then went off to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts where one of Bill's Carrara images is on display. I've never seen these images on the wall and framed, so it was a real treat.
Some anamorphic scuplture.
Cy Twombly scribbles.

Richmond is a great city and we'll have to go back for more. Here's a sign of how far technology has come since I was in college.
Then we drove over to Belle Island and crossed the bridge. The day was warm and humid and people were crossing over to enjoy the day.




It's a little paradise over on Belle Island. People soaking in the warm water, nestled in rock pools.
Umm...using technology

Next time we'll bring our swimsuits. And more time to explore.