Floating

Trying to get the nerve up to shoot for most of the day today, but instead spent it on a writing job and some major surgery on my closets. What is it about Spring that makes me feel like throwing everything away? Will try again to shoot tomorrow, have some pictures I want to make with Ollie.

This week Chloe (Ollie's half sister) had her big show along with what seemed like thousands of other SVA students. Oliver's father is about to become the father of another boy, this one named Felix. This will be his third child, each from a different mother. We (the three mothers) were all there at the opening. Trust me when I tell you that it did not go well.

The good part of this story is that Chloe is a very talented photographer, and I'll show you some of her work here soon. This shot is from a few weeks ago when Kelly modeled for me. Thinking over the possibilities this one open up for me.

Johnna Arnold

Johnna Arnold's work was the most exciting I saw over the Photo Alliance weekend. This work is centered on freeways in the Bay Area. She places herself within all of the images. Unfortunately, this blog is not a good format to show these extra large images from Johnna's latest portfolio. Please enlarge these images by clicking and find her in the landscape.

She becomes a mostly faceless figure you can relate to, overwhelmed by or blending in with these environments. There is something frightening about seeing the human figure in these forgotten, in-between zones. I'm reminded of a repeating dream I've had of trying to rescue a horse from a busy highway--the terror of the situation, and the impossibility of this creature so far from it's natural habitat...

What I especially liked is the feeling of re-taking ubiquitous large format urban landscape photography that is mostly devoid of any people. Johnna's work puts us back into this world we have made, this time as actors, rather than observers.


Titles (t-b): Best Buy, I-580 & I-80, Oakland, CA; Under the Maze (I-80, I-580 & I-880, Oakland, CA) .

Photo Alliance Review 2012

This Review weekend in San Francisco has been a rush--I've re-connected with old friends and seen some great work. Also got to briefly catch up with my beloved former professor, Linda Connor. Attached is an image by an old classmate of mine from my undergrad years at the San Francisco Art Institute, Cynthia Rettig. It was so fun to hear about her life since leaving school. It turns out she makes a living handling estate sales, and makes some amazing images along the way of the belonging that displayed for sale at auction, or left behind.

It is late after a long weekend so I'm checking out, but will be back with some more favorites to show.