2 More from Vellum

More String Lights

Lights on Vellum w/Pyrex

Christmas Time

Stars & Bars

BIRDS

Wave Forms - Green

Wave Forms - Red

Color Check

Blue

Broke the Pyrex dish this AM.
Consequences: one ruined rug, ehh, Spike had already puked all over it, one shattered Pyrex dish, minor cuts from cleaning up the glass shards, expecting plenty of "What exactly were you doing?"s. Nothing major. The way I have set the dish up for the shoots is pretty ridiculous anyway; Pyrex dish suspended between two chair backs, lit from underneath, me crawling around looking for various angles, tripod, an old mic stand covered in clamp lights. Luckily with this one I was shooting from above the dish, otherwise the camera would've taken a hit. So that's a good thing.

Somerville Again

Around Somerville

I've been staring through a Pyrex dish so long that I sort of forgot what is required to take an interesting photo out on the streets. That of course implies I have taken an interesting street shot. I think that street style photography is the most difficult photographic style. It has the severity of comedy in that it fails as spectacularly and with as little discussion as it succeeds, just like comedy. Fortunately, to my undying credit, I am a funny, funny guy.
Here are some of my shots. I think they qualify as "Street" in that I was in full view of a street at all times during the capture of these images. In some instances I may have even been standing "on" or "in the middle of" a street to capture the image. I use quotes to indicate that I am using the vernacular for purposes of clarity only. In any case, these are images and they are of the "Street" variety, as far as I'm concerned.
Your Loving Pal,
Brian

Somerville Boxing Club

Duane Michals

I went to see Duane Michals last night. He was speaking at the Morse Auditorium on Boston U's campus. The lecture was sponsored by the Photographic Resource Center at BU.
The turnout was really good, probably abround 200 people. And it was way, way, way more interesting/fun than any - and I mean any - poetry/fiction reading I've attended.
Even with the increasing awareness of photography as an art form, I think the medium has a tough slog ahead to achieve some respect.
People generally think of photography as a documentarian utility, impossibly real to be imaginative. While that can be true, and some of the greatest pics are documents, I think there are plenty of possibilities for creative expression with a camera. And I don't mean photoshopping a pic to death. Whatever works, works, though.
Mr. Michals sort of echoed these sentiments last night emphasizing the role of imagination in every aspect of art, stressing its integrity in any artful pursuit.
Some of the images he showed last night were really inspiring. One, of a field of fireflies double exposed against a nighttime fireworks display gave me plenty of ideas of my own involving a sack of flour in my garage.
He also produced a series of images on String Theory which were really amazing. The photos in series were really effective. Individually, I found myself wondering how the hell he produced the pics. I was too timid to ask him in the Q&A afterwards. Maybe I'll get the chance someday. He's pretty old though, 74, and he made a remark that he suffered from Alzheimer's.
That rattled around in my head for the rest of the lecture as I compared his behavior to my grandfather's. He seemed fine. But, boy, that word Alzheimer's was a real zinger. Powerful.
Even though he did dis Warhol as a cartoonist (no shit man, he was a professional illustrator - missed the point - patterns, repetition - oh well) I really enjoy his work. He stays really lo-tech which makes him seem like a survivor, the best American virtue. By limiting his resources (no computers/fancy cameras) he relies on wit and luck and grace and charm to survive. In that way his pictures are very interesting and a little bit heartbreaking.
I'm trying to do stuff like that.

Jockey in Blue, Red & Green

Monkey Like Cactus

Dolls... From Hell