Laura Buckman

2011-01-31T13:53:00.001-05:00

Switching to tumblr. All future blog posts can be found at laurabuckman.tumblr.com.

See you there.

can't stop watching

2011-01-03T23:28:00.000-05:00

riverofthe.net

Black Swan

2010-12-30T23:57:00.001-05:00

I've been in Dallas for the past week and I've really had the chance to indulge in some quality movie-time.

Saw Black Swan with my Dad.... SO GOOD. Definitely got caught up in the psychological angst of Natalie Portman's character. I started laughing in the middle of the theater because I was so stressed out. Highly recommend!

Merry Christmas, 1990

2010-12-24T23:54:00.001-05:00

Me and Alex.

howie

2010-12-15T22:12:00.001-05:00

My canine companion.

first snow

2010-12-14T19:50:00.002-05:00

darkroom plans

2010-12-12T00:55:00.009-05:00

I may be overestimating my crafting abilities here, but I've been thinking about how I can build my own camera and darkroom. I love using digital (and can't live without it, professionally) but I'd like to continue my glass plate projects. I can't afford a nice camera, so I'm looking to go a little more DIY.

I found a tutorial on building a collodion camera which seems totally feasible. Also, a light-weight and cheap portable darkroom. Looks pretty neat, right? I've been using to the indoor-plumbing standard darkroom setup for years so this will definitely require some planning on my part. But the thought of having a darkroom outside of a windowless basement is really exciting.

bubbles

2010-12-10T23:11:00.003-05:00

Are those gloves a little creepy?

A1

2010-08-13T22:30:00.003-04:00

One of my pictures, that is:

I usually forget to check where my photos end up once I take them, but there you go.

Here's a more interesting screen grab:

The Adventure of a Photographer

2010-07-29T14:08:00.003-04:00

When Spring Comes, the city's inhabitants, by the hundreds of thousands, go out on Sunday with leather cases over their shoulders. And they photograph one another. They come back as happy as hunters with bulging game bags; they spend days waiting, with sweet anxiety, to see the developed pictures (anxiety to which some add the subtle pleasure of alchemistic manipulations in the darkroom, forbidding any intrusion by members of the family, relishing the acid smell that is harsh to the nostrils). It is only when they have the photos before their eyes that they seem to take tangible posession of the day they spent, only then that the mountain stream, the movement of the child with his pail, the glint of the sun on the wife's legs take on the irrevocability of what has been and can no longer be doubted. Everything else can drown in the unreliable shadow of memory.

Italo Calvino, from Difficult Loves

Ah, the memories....

2010-07-09T20:27:00.002-04:00

2010-07-02T23:03:00.001-04:00

Long-distance relationships are tough.

winter portraits

2010-06-26T11:59:00.004-04:00

Memorial Day

2010-06-08T21:23:00.001-04:00

A recent assignment at the Westport, CT Memorial Day parade.

2010-05-23T10:28:00.001-04:00

20 years later - same haircut.

Mom, circa 1980

2010-05-15T22:23:00.004-04:00

I love these.

2010-03-22T11:48:00.002-04:00

I can't believe I missed this!!!

Small Town Celebrities Rough Edit

2010-03-01T23:06:00.002-05:00

A work in progress, but here it is. There's still some things that I'd like to make happen but the general structure is there. Feedback would be very, very welcome!

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

2010-01-25T22:35:00.002-05:00

Here's a performance clip from the short documentary I've been working on.

2010-01-03T01:15:00.001-05:00

This is what it would have looked like if you sneezed in 1950.

2009-12-20T15:02:00.003-05:00

So... haven't been too good about updating this lately but I HAVE been busy editing editing editing editing my video project. I'm going to be sending out a link to a rough draft of my current project sometime in January.... so if you'd like to see it/give me feedback/check out some celebrity impersonators, let me know and I'll put you on the email list.

Extra:

Here's an old favorite for list lovers like myself.

2009-11-16T01:00:00.001-05:00

David Lynch Loves Quinoa

2009-11-14T17:40:00.002-05:00

Progress Update

2009-11-11T13:01:00.007-05:00

This semester, I tried to really commit to a standard documentary filmmaking workflow. So I started by coming up with a treatment, shot list, production schedule, etc. I'm still in the production stages but I've started to do some really light editing and I'm stuggling to come up with a title (as usual). I don't know know what I want to do career-wise after graduation but if I'm going to make a documentary for my senior thesis, I really wanted to commit to it. I'm hoping that this project will look like a filmmakers film, and not a photographer's attempt at time-based media.

I'd like to put an edit of the documentary up here for critique, but I'm just not at that point yet. But here's a few random screen grabs that I was looking through today.

Being sick this last week has left me with nothing but time to watch movies/tv and I took the chance to catch up on stuff I wanted to see but just haven't made time for. For any other one-woman-shows out there, I would highly recommend watching Ross McElwee's "Sherman's March".

Anyone that works on video/film projects solo will tell you that it's really, really hard. But McElwee also makes it look really, really fun (he shoots film and records sound at the same time - don't ask me how). AND it was also a really funny story about "an improbable search for love". AND on Netflix instant streaming. Yes!

Noteable Moments From This Week

2009-11-08T23:59:00.004-05:00

- going to Providence for the first time in 6 months

- getting to work at the annual RISD Collodian Workshop

- spending to time with friends and fellow RISD students

- seeing Dean & Marilyn perform at a CT senior center

- getting Swine Flu

That's right - I have the flu..... Today is the first day my brain hasn't been totally consumed by fever so I'm hoping to 1. Get off the couch and 2. Maybe try editing footage a little bit. We'll see how that goes.

Karma Physics < Elvis

2009-10-31T00:03:00.000-04:00

Right here.

Return To The Scene Of The Crime

2009-10-29T21:40:00.002-04:00

I was listening to This American Life on the way home from the city the other day, and this episode (from May of this year) came up on my playlist and I really feel like I should recommend the last segment of the show specifically. In the final story of this episode, writer & columnist Dan Savage does a segment on the church, family, loss, and the struggle to give up religion and maintain hope at the same time.

I don't talk about my religious background very often because I've made a genuine effort to walk away from it. Savage's story if probably most intense for people with a history of faith, but if you're interested in knowing a little bit about the emotional roller coaster that comes from leaving faith, than this story is for you (and I promise, it's definitely a lot more personal and heartfelt than I'm making it sound). The segment starts at around 37:45 but the whole episode is fantastic if you have the time.

Sad Day

2009-10-28T23:03:00.003-04:00

Roy DeCarava, Pioneering Photographer, Dies at 89.

Way cooler than mine.

2009-10-22T10:26:00.001-04:00

mom

2009-10-05T10:34:00.000-04:00

from 9.20.09

Another Awesome TED Video

2009-09-26T10:59:00.001-04:00

"Taryn Simon exhibits her startling take on photography - to reveal worlds and people we would never see otherwise. She shares two projects: one documents otherworldly locations typically kept secret from the public, the other involves haunting portraits of men convicted for crimes they did not commit."

alex in sequence

2009-09-25T13:18:00.003-04:00

2009-09-21T12:53:00.003-04:00

I love being able to wake up and see the trees outside my window first thing. I hope I'm always able to live someplace like this.

(Photo from late Oct. 2008).

Ted Talks

2009-09-18T12:33:00.002-04:00

Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity.

Semester Update

2009-09-17T00:10:00.000-04:00

Where to begin...

As you probably don't know, I'm on an official Leave of Absence from RISD for the fall semester. I first want to say that I'm not on a leave because I'm at all dissatisfied with RISD and I'm definitely returning for my final semester in the spring. I already miss the people and the facilities so much. I decided to take a leave for a bunch of little reason, but it comes down to the fact that it didn't make sense for me to live/commute to Providence for one class. It's academically/financially/personally better for me to study elsewhere for the fall and RISD very, very graciously has allowed me to do so. If you like to reach me this fall, I'd love to continue to dialogue about life and work.

So, where in the world am I? I'm at home, in Connecticut. I've started my classes for the fall semester, which include a Documentary Production class in NYC as well as some ensemble and private music courses locally. I'm a freelance photographer for some local papers and I've also got my fingers crossed for an internship with an awesome local photog. Of course, my thesis project is constantly in the back of my mind....

For a while I was going back and forth wondering if I had made the best decision as far as deciding to not be at RISD. It's really difficult to be away for so long, but I feel my video skills improving and that makes me think I made the right decision as far as academics go. I'm learning how to handle a camera better and think like a filmmaker. I still love photography. I'm excited/anxious/hopeful/uncertain about this semester and life in general. Yes!

2009-09-05T22:10:00.001-04:00

I just want to make something beautiful.

A Room of One's Own

2009-08-10T12:48:00.002-04:00

At any rate, where books are concerned, it is notoriously difficult to fix labels of merit in such a way that they do not come off. Are not reviews of current literature a perpetual illustration of the difficulty of judgement? "This great book", "this worthless book", the same book is called by both names. Praise and blame alike mean nothing. No, delightful as the pastime of measuring may be, it is the most futile of all occupations, and to submit to the decrees of the measurers the most servile of attitudes. So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters; and whether it matters for ages or only for hours, nobody can say. But to sacrifice a hair of the head of your vision, a shade of its colour, in deference to some Headmaster with a silver pot in his hand or to some professor with a measuring-rod up his sleeve, is the most abject treachery, and the sacrifice of wealth and chastity which used to be said to be the greatest of human disasters, a mere flea-bite in comparison.

Virginia Woolf

2009-08-09T14:45:00.000-04:00

suspicious package

2009-07-29T21:32:00.003-04:00

I was standing in line at the post office today when I realized that the box I was mailing looked almost exactly like the "suspicious package" advisory on the wall.

Also curious to note that the sign instructs mailroom visitors to abstain from smelling or licking suspicious packages.

A Room of One's Own

2009-07-29T18:16:00.001-04:00

Yet it is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth sometimes comes to the top.

Virginia Woolf

Blueberries

2009-07-27T00:14:00.006-04:00

Lots of blueberries.

Bee's Knees - It's my 100th post!

2009-07-23T22:42:00.010-04:00

Oh gosh.

I was shadowing a magazine photographer today and had the opportunity to literally look inside a beehive. Other than bees climbing around in my hair, it was not as scary as I imagined.

The tiny lump at the end of the metal rod is a new home for the queen.

The bees mostly travel from the same direction and are so intent on getting into the hive that they form this line of solid brown floating in the air. And it's pretty safe to walk up to the hive as long as you don't walk into the bee-highway. Although, I decided to walk away once the beekeeper pulled out a leaf blower to clear out the hive (in order to collect the comb) and started blowing bees in my direction at 50 miles an hour.

semi-serious thoughts on the future

2009-07-22T22:26:00.004-04:00

I really, really want to apply for an internship at This American Life next year.

I think I'm going to apply.

I'm definitely going to apply.

It's unrealistic but I guess I can just add it to my growing list of unlikely post-graduation plans, which I've typed out below (in decreasing likelihood):

1. Hermit

2. Wedding Photographer

3. Pet Photographer

4. Photo Retoucher

5. NPR Correspondent

6. Yoga Instructor

7. Fancy Grant Recipient

By the way, this is an actual list from my planner.

Elvis

2009-07-20T10:07:00.015-04:00

A loose edit.

I get a lot of beach assignments.

2009-07-18T12:37:00.008-04:00

Please enjoy this sequence that I shot today while attempting to photograph a young girl starting off a swim race in Westport.

This is when I'm glad that 1.) I use work equipment and 2.) I can wear a swimsuit to work.

Judgement Day

2009-06-30T11:34:00.001-04:00

by Clarina Bezzola.

"Judgement Day is a parody on our constant urge to criticize, label and judge. It shows a person sending her whole day going around town judging and commenting on everything and everyone she encounters until she finds herself completely isolated and empty."

Penfield Beach

2009-06-29T23:56:00.005-04:00

I wake up some days not wanting to be a journalist. I'm probably not supposed to say that, but it happens sometimes. But... there are other days that I'm totally in love with my job. This Sunday, I had an assignment at a beach in CT to cover a sand castle festival... which may sound really cutesy (it was)... but it was really great to be able to work outside and meet with people that were happy to have their photo taken.

After shooting in the strip club over the last semester, I've actually really appreciated having "nice" assignments. I'm completely happy with how everything went with the stripper video, but these past few weeks have been a breath of fresh air. I guess I'm just trying to find out what type of photographer I want to be and realizing I need variety.

One of the perks of being a photographer is free stuff. Free admission, free food, free parking. So, since I can't normally park at a Fairfield beach unless I'm working, I decided to take the rest of the afternoon (post-sand castle mania) to hang out and ultimately get a sunburn. It was great.

The Bothersome Man

2009-06-27T19:45:00.002-04:00

Picked up "The Bothersome Man" from my library the other day. I thought the filmmaker did a really great job of presenting an old theme (protagonist seeking better world beyond his inexplicably bland life) in a unique way.

I have to say, I've had pretty good luck with all the Film Movement movies that I've picked up so far.

What I don't like about my job:

2009-06-20T12:25:00.004-04:00

2009-06-17T00:07:00.004-04:00

Awkward/funny photos (courtesy mom) from my first day at the new internship. Maybe this is what the first day of elementary school would have felt like.

I need to get up, but he won't move and I feel bad making him.

2009-06-12T19:57:00.003-04:00

summer internship

2009-06-08T00:10:00.002-04:00

That's right - I photographed a mass wedding this week.

Just kidding. It was actually a (catholic) high school graduation. Yes, it did look eerily like 100 child brides gathered in a gymnasium but it also means that I have officially begun my summer internship at The Journal News. So far it's been totally great. I really enjoy the rest of the staff and I feel like I'm going to be learning a lot from the editors as well as other photographers. PLUS I also have plenty of newsroom-issued equipment to use for the summer... including a nice video camera. It's really important for me to be working in more than one platform, so I'm happy I've ended up in this newsroom.

family film

2009-06-07T00:39:00.000-04:00

Here's some unorganized screen shots of family footage from sometime around 1960:

Apparently my Grandmother (mom's mom) was a film enthusiast. In our basement, we have boxes and boxes of her VHS videos of me doing toddler things at her farm but she apparently took many, many reels of 8mm film of her children in the late 50s-early 60s.

Most of those 8mm reels were unfortunately destroyed, but a few now belong to me. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet, but I recently had the film transferred to digital files so that I can edit it. It's all pretty typical family footage - a lot of easters, Christmases, and birthdays. But as with all family films I guess, there's the added dimension of hindsight and knowing how the stories of all these once young people played out. I feel a little like I've stumbled upon a time capsule... I know it's just home movies, but I'm the only living person to have seen this film. I do have a tendency to dwell in the past, so I guess this is right up my alley. I'll put some clips up here as soon as I can.

bike rides by myself.

2009-06-03T09:20:00.003-04:00

New Video Project

2009-05-27T11:24:00.002-04:00

I'm an incredibly pleased to announce that as of last week, I completed my first video project. I began photographing at a strip club on my street this semester and at some point in time, it became clear that photos weren't going to cut it for this particular story. Looking back, the transition from still photos to time based media was actually pretty smooth. The technical aspects of moving imagery are still pretty rough around the edges for me, but the virtual layout and process of working fits me well. So I am now totally fascinated with video. I still love photography, but I am excited about incorporating video into my future projects.

2009-05-24T12:07:00.004-04:00

Mendelssohn Trio in D minor, mvmt II.

While attending a beautiful concert last night, I remembered how much I enjoy chamber music. I'm so thankful for the experiences I've had with music. I don't know if it would make sense to other visual art people, but I feel like my training as a musician definitely plays heavily into my practice of photography.

Also, here's a summary of my life since finals ended on Friday:

This is Iggy.

2009-05-18T00:08:00.002-04:00

I don't normally like poodles, but this dog is so cute.

I won an award.

2009-05-15T19:01:00.007-04:00

This week I was awarded the T.C. Colley Scholarship for Excellence in Photography. Each year, it's given to a undergraduate photo student of the faculty's choosing. I don't usually enter that many competitions, but this one was particularly meaningful because the judges were all the full-time faculty who I admire so much (they are all established photographers as well as professors). I know the award could have gone to any number of talented students in our department, so I'm surprised and grateful to have been chosen.

Because you asked.

2009-05-01T12:40:00.004-04:00

From a shoot on April 11th.

2009-04-27T20:50:00.006-04:00

Went to the RISD farm today (on the water in Barrington) to do some art history homework and get some sun. Got ALL of my work done and had time for a nap on the beach. It was a good day.

Spring at RISD

2009-04-22T17:27:00.003-04:00

Alex & Laura at the Wild Animal Farm

2009-04-18T15:00:00.003-04:00

Highlights Include:

Furry Animals

Non-furry Animals

Blue Tongues

Interspecies Love

Alex, Queen of the Woodland Deer

Satin Dolls

2009-04-13T21:15:00.011-04:00

It's been a while since I put some of my crit work in this blog. I recently started photographing at a strip club on my street and I have to say that it has got to be the least likely place I would have ever imagined myself. Yet, that's where I've been. I could go through my list of things I don't like about the place but I imagine that you could probably guess those already. Some of the most surprising things I've found have been among the people who work there.

Here's an rough audio interview with the club manager, Louie. As far as photos (which I will put up at some point in the future) I've mostly been doing crappy Lorca diCorcia rip offs but it's been fun. I don't have much experience incorporating audio so any impressions or feedback you have would be great.

yes.

2009-04-06T12:20:00.005-04:00

so looking forward to partly cloudy.

quote to remember

2009-04-04T20:31:00.004-04:00

Some elements of artistic editing:

1. Deep feeling for the intentions beneath the surface

2. Sensual love of the language

3. Sense of elegance

4. Ruthlessness

Enemies

2009-03-30T22:45:00.004-04:00

I found one of these little buggers down in the Antique Processes (basement) darkroom the other day. I'm not normally that squeamish about bugs, but I draw the line at prehistoric arthropods mutated by who knows what darkroom chemistry.

So gross.

2009-03-29T12:09:00.005-04:00

January 09.

2009-03-27T23:18:00.009-04:00

It's so, so quiet at home tonight. It feels like these:

I was looking at "Immediate Family" by Sally Mann today and remembering how much I appreciate it. "Immediate Family" was one the first books that showed me what it meant to tell a story through pictures. I think it's interesting that somehow, by looking at someone's creation, you feel like you're getting to know part of their personality. I've never met Sally Mann, but I feel like some of who she is must be reflected in her work (and not just because they're family photos). I'm fortunate enough to have several friends who are talented artists and I'm constantly surprised by the unique fingerprint they leave of their work. It makes me curious as to what someone looking in on my pictures might be able to read about me.

words

2009-03-17T23:44:00.002-04:00

words strain,

Crack and sometimes break, under the burden,

under the tension, slip, slide, perish,

Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place,

Will not stay still. Shrieking voices

Scolding, mocking, or merely chattering,

always assail them.

T. S. Eliot

zoo animals

2009-03-16T11:45:00.005-04:00

2009-03-14T20:08:00.002-04:00

hello monkey.

$15,000 worth of glitter

2009-03-12T00:19:00.002-04:00

at the armory show.

free play: an excerpt

2009-03-08T20:53:00.004-04:00

Pascal said, "The heart has its reasons, which reason cannot know." Feeling has its own structure, just as thinking has its own structure. There are levels of feeling, and levels of thinking, and something deeper than both of them, something that is feeling and thought and both and neither. When we speak of "trusting your gut", it is to this activity, intuition, that we are referring our decisions.

I remember a feeling that caught me as I hung up the telephone once, a kind of sadness. I realized that my inner knowledge had told me to say something, and I did not pay attention. I though, with regret, back to other times when I had heard that voice and ignored it. The simplest yet most elusive lesson in life is learning to listen to that guiding voice. I've learned to respond to it more and more, yet the times still come when I admit that I have just missed some extraordinary experience because I failed to catch the message fast enough. And when that happens, something is irrevocably lost. It is vital at such moments to learn how to forgive yourself. Perhaps the awakened state means being ever ready to respond - something that no one can be all the time. But we can approach it; we can learn to listen more and more reliably. Mastery means responsibility, ability to respond in real time to the need of the moment. Intuitive or inspired living means not just passively hearing the voice, but acting on it.

Stephen Nachmonovitch

2009-03-07T00:24:00.000-05:00

unique artists

2009-03-03T00:10:00.011-05:00

I've been reading quite a bit of poetic literature lately which makes me want to put something equally inspiring or beautiful in here...but... I do have some portraits of my talented roommate, Roby, at work in the nature lab.

Roby is a illustrator and some of her work can be seen here, on her blog.

As I was uploading those photos, I realized that a Francesca Woodman photo that I was looking at today was also taken in the nature lab (I couldn't find a high res version of this online):

Francesca Woodman was one of the RISD photo department's most famous graduates. Supposedly her pictures weren't received well at school, but it would be nice to imagine that something of whatever inspired her is still left here. Here's a few of my favorites, courtesy of google images:

People I met last week.

2009-02-23T18:59:00.005-05:00

Horst Maurer, world traveler and Leica camera designer:

Ron Vestri, East Greenwich, RI barber for the past 40 years:

I'm not really sure what I think about this.

2009-02-21T16:41:00.002-05:00

Here's the recent keywords that have referred people to my website within the past day or so:

exploring

2009-02-17T11:26:00.000-05:00

howl

2009-02-15T23:55:00.001-05:00

A duet. 2.8.09.

Also, the ecstasy of influence.

jess by the window

2009-02-11T20:49:00.004-05:00

2009-02-08T12:19:00.004-05:00

new film scans soon.

camera phone

2009-02-06T16:16:00.010-05:00

I guess I'm a little behind the times, but I just discovered how to send photos from my cell phone to my laptop. Here's some of my cell photos in chronological order:

divine inspiration...?

2009-02-05T13:44:00.003-05:00

November.08

A day at the beach.

2009-02-01T21:50:00.007-05:00

Frozen sand, wind, sun.

Photos by Kristin Arzt.

2009-01-30T19:59:00.003-05:00

studying in the library.

10:00 AM

2009-01-28T10:11:00.002-05:00

Photos of Photographers

2009-01-26T10:59:00.002-05:00

Last month I used a web application called indexhibit to start building my website..... It's worked out pretty well so far. Today I was looking through their list of participants to check out other websites built with the application and I stumbled across an interesting site on conflict photographers. Photographers were interviewed and photographed while at the 2006 Visa pour l’Image in Perpignan festival and this website it the documentation of those interviews/photos. I haven't been able to look through the whole site yet, but it looks worthwhile.

Manufactured Landscapes

2009-01-16T23:55:00.005-05:00

Re-watched "Manufactured Landscapes" the other day.... so interesting. Burtynsky's China photos are some of my favorites.

Edward Burtynsky.

NPR

2009-01-08T23:14:00.000-05:00

NPR piece on Providence Brothels.

2009-01-07T22:44:00.001-05:00

Dolly and Charley are best friends.

2009-01-03T20:45:00.003-05:00

NEW website + Brothel Edit

2008-12-29T22:16:00.004-05:00

I got some server space for Christmas so my website is up and running. I managed to build it, crash it, and rebuild it all within the last few days (I'm learning a lot about websites). It's only a small editorial portfolio right now (mostly old things), but as soon as I'm done with my internship applications I'll put up some artwork too.

Also, the Brothel Project is available on the site here. Its a combination of landscape shots of brothels, advertisements from the Providence Phoenix Adult Classifieds, and text from an online prostitution forum. I've learned a lot about the brothel subculture in the last couple months and it has been a hard thing to look at. I'm going to be adding more to it starting in January but I like what I've got so far. I still think it translates better as a book but this will give you a good enough idea. Feedback/questions/concerns always welcome.

In other news, Charley is still the cutest dog ever.

I had to have my old dog Ruth put to sleep last week but having Charley around has made the holidays a lot better.

The Fountainhead

2008-12-27T18:10:00.004-05:00

"Why are you a good architect? Because you have certain standards of what is good, and they're your own, and you stand by them.... Do you think integrity is the monopoly of the artist? And what, incidentally, do you think integrity is? The ability not to pick a watch out of your neighbors pocket? If that were all, I'd say ninety-five percent of humanity were honest, upright men. Only, as you can see, they aren't. Integrity is the ability to stand by an idea."

Me and some people I know

2008-12-17T15:35:00.008-05:00

Alex, Katie, Laura PH, Lindsey, Roby, Shannon, Sonya.... extremely patient models.

brother

2008-12-09T22:12:00.005-05:00

Jonathan.

Hands

2008-12-03T00:00:00.007-05:00

I've been working on a glass-plate project over the past few months and today I presented it for a final critique. I don't think I'm finished with the project but I had to bring it to some sort of conclusion. I started this whole thing based on some things I've been feeling and thinking about but I've really enjoyed the fact that everybody brings their own ideas to the pictures and reads something unique from them.

The internet is kind of a weird way to show these since the way they physically look and feel is important, but this is what the presentation looks like. There are 29 images and each plate is about 4x5 inches.

Thanksgiving break...

2008-12-02T00:58:00.003-05:00

...consisted mostly of sleeping/sleeping/reading/honing my pet photography skills.

newer scans

2008-11-23T00:17:00.004-05:00

2008-11-21T21:12:00.002-05:00

Interview with Magnum photographer, Bruce Gilden.

Quote from Gowin Lecture

2008-11-13T23:46:00.006-05:00

Emmet Gowin came to RISD this week to give a lecture. He's a famous photographer from the 70s and he was here partially to talk about his work and partially to talk about Harry Callahan, who he was close with for many years. Gowin is the most emotionally engaging speaker I've ever heard and I've been thinking a lot over the last few days about some of the things he said. He started out by reading a quote from a piece he had written on one of Callahan's photographs:

At what moment Harry Callahan's photograph of Eleanor and Barbara sleeping took possession of my unconscious need and spiritual calling, my purpose as a young photographer, I can no longer remember. What is clear is that the memory of seeing my own young wife asleep as I worked late into the night, during the first years of our marriage, coincides so perfectly with this image that the two have merged over the years into a single recognition. "I hold this to be the highest task between two people," Rainer Maria Rilke writes in Rilke on Love and Other Difficulties, "That each should stand guard over the solitude of the other."

So closely aligned were my feeling within a young marriage and the experience of this gentle photograph - itself a moment of sublime tenderness - that this image of mother and child still holds for me the deepest level of interrelatedness and of trust. It became a marker of values that I wanted to experience and embrace. Through the grace of this image, we watch as the beloved sleeps. What we see can never be earned; perhaps it cannot even be intended. Yet in some mysterious way, this photograph, this understanding, is a clue to the power of all of Callahan's photographs and especially those of his wife, Eleanor. We are drawn in by what we see, to an intimacy that really matters. We are joined vicariously in a conspiracy of hearts and minds, so that we are filled with hope and affection and find that we, too, are standing guard over the autonomy and solitude that are the essence of our gifts to each other.