My observation of the Eaton Fire, before, during, and after.
Read More
David Goldblatt: No Ulterior Motive
Before I went back to Chicago I looked online and saw that David Goldblatt’s retrospective was up in the Art Institute’s Photography Galleries and noted the exhibition was closing while I was there.
I was aware of Goldblatt’s work but did not know it well, and I have never focused on South African photographers from a regional viewpoint. I obviously was aware of the social and political issues South Africa has gone through during my lifetime, but I never immersed myself in photographs from there as a whole. I do recall being very interested in South African photographer Kevin Carter and I have a had newspaper clipping of his obituary on my darkroom wall for close to 30 years. Carter documented a lot of pain and suffering in his lifetime, the nightmares from the things he witnessed eventually became too much and he took his own life. His photograph that accompanied his obituary was of a South African neo-Nazi Afrikaner Resistance Movement (AWB) member begging for his life moments before he was executed in Bophuthatswana, March 1994. It is an intense image, and I kept the article because of the message it had about dealing with the things you witness when you photograph bad things.
I was not “wow’ed” by the Art Institute’s online description of the exhibition, it was okay, but it wouldn’t have motivated me to plan a special trip to see it. So, when I eventually entered the exhibition I did so just interested to learn more about Goldblatt and his photographs. As I walked around the show it didn’t take long to realize that this was powerful the exhibition and that David Goldblatt was an excellent photographer. The exhibition exceeded my expectations gave me such a better appreciation of Goldblatt, other South African photographers, and the conditions which people in South Africa endured.
I was impressed that Goldblatt was able to document South Africa so completely. It is one thing to capture historical events like Kevin Carter did, but it is another thing to document something as complex as a country in depth. Goldblatt obviously had the skills to get to know different people and then make those people comfortable in front of his camera. Given the racial tensions of the period when Goldblatt photographed it was incredible he was able to document all sides so well. I also loved that Goldblatt documented the subtle important details of his country like the churches and mining. I came away from this exhibition with such a better understanding of South African and the people. I also had no idea the country was such a bleak landscape aesthetically.
The Art Institute of Chicago introduced the exhibition with the following:
Known for his nuanced portrayals of life under and after apartheid, South African photographer David Goldblatt (1930–2018) devoted himself to documenting his country and its people.
Born into a family of Lithuanian Jews who emigrated to South Africa, Goldblatt focused much of his work on Johannesburg, the city where he lived for most of his life. His relative freedom to move within a society bitterly divided by racial segregation influenced the critical perspective of his work. In a church facade, down a mineshaft, through the exchange of glances between a passing man and woman, Goldblatt recorded the uneven application and reception of South Africa’s political values and beliefs.
The Exhibition Title: “No Ulterior Motive”
If you say that someone has an ulterior motive for doing something, you believe that they have a hidden reason for doing it.
The exhibition included photographs from two other groups of photographers. One group, which included Robert Adams, considered photography’s privileged relationship to reality and its ability to effect social, political. and environmental change. The second group was South African photographers who had attended Goldblatt’s Market Photo Workshop. Goldblatt founded the workshop in 1989 to develop emerging local photographers with a goal to help bring his country closer together again after years of internal turmoil.
A powerful reminder of the staggering loss of life during the AIDS epidemic. After enduring the Covid Pandemic I am afraid many people have forgotten this chapter of world history.
I love the power of this image; it reminds me of one of Leonard Freed’s Police Work images where he focuses in on just the officer’s equipment, almost exactly the same portion of the torso.
(Link to exact image I am referencing, it is on the 12th page of the PDF)
Goldblatt’s photographs of churches were so beautiful. They were wonderful architectural images, but they were deep with meaning capturing the issues of a missionary religion in a nonnative land. They symbolize the conflicts within the country which mirrored issues throughout other parts of the world. When I thought about South Africa it was about Apartheid and relationships between blacks and whites, I had not considered the impact of western religion on the indigenous population (I should have because it is an issue still in our country today), nor did I know about the issues with the Muslim population in the country. In researching the issue of religion further, it appears the conflicts and violence in South Africa related to it appear to be ongoing to this day.
The photograph above of Ozzie and his daughter is wonderful, they look like great people and Nassima looks so full of life. I had no idea this population was in South Africa nor about how their businesses werer destroyed under the Group Areas Act.
The layers of meaning in this image are incredible, it absolutely was one of my favorite prints in the exhibition. It speaks to so many different issues, there is humor, tension, and great composition.
These two images are examples of how brilliant a photographer Goldblatt was. To think to photograph in a funeral home office, then garner the trust of the people there to actually photograph there and come away with images of a basic environment that are so deep with layers of meaning and information is incredible. I keep revisiting the top image and pondering the fact there is a tapestry of the NASA moon landing in the office of a South African funeral parlor.
For a portrait to work for me I always want more information than just what the subject looks like, I want to know about their environment; I think the only photographer to pull off photographing just the person well was Richard Avedon. The subtle information in these images is outstanding. Depicts a bleak, hard, lifestyle. I like his composition with the square format images especially. When I look at the photograph of J.J. Oosthuizen in his office (upper right) I can feel how hot and uncomfortable it is. He obviously holds a position of authority as a Senior Township Superintendent, but it looks like a miserable job. The juxtaposition of this photograph in the exhibition was next to a photograph of a man butchering a broken-down horse which also added to the experience seeing the image.
I see innocence and hope in this image, it suggests the kids are capable of being color blind. These kids are just laughing and playing together for Goldblatt’s camera. The world today needs more innocence and less stress.
This is one of those photographs when I look at it, I can imagine all the other senses from the moment, the temperature, the odors, and maybe even some dust. I love the composition as well; the framing makes the image more powerful by including all the extra information.
Goldblatt’s photograph of The Dethroning Cecil John Rhodes - University of Cape Town April 9, 2015, is another great image. The vantage point he chose was perfect because it documents the scale and showcases the relationship between the youth and the country beyond. I also like that the image captures all the people using cellphones and tablets to film or photograph the event. This element speaks to the medium of photography as well as the time in history, it’s another great layer. I also love that fact that Goldblatt was still getting out with the people and photographing at 85 years old. That is one of the wonderful things about being a photographer you never have to retire from it, if you adjust you can keep making images all the way to the end, or at least that’s my goal. Earlier this month I was out photographing the WeHo Pride parade with 84-year-old LA based photographer Ave Pildas and it took considerable effort for me to keep track of where he was because he kept darting through the crowd and often the actual parade (Also, height wise Ave doesn’t stand out like I do).
Goldblatt’s color images are beautiful, and they showcase his ability to photograph in different styles. The photographs perfectly document the environmental issues Goldblatt was bringing to our attention. I was not aware of Blue Asbestos mining or the issues it caused in South Africa. These prints are perfect compliments to the rest of the exhibition.
As I have said throughout this post this was a good exhibition, incredible images which were curated and displayed perfectly. I have paid more and more attention to the choices curators make when it comes to selection and exhibition design, it is an artform of its own. Matthew Witkovsky, Leslie Wilson, and Yechen Zhao from the Art Institute of Chicago curated this exhibition with Judy Ditner from Yale. David Goldblatt’s archive was acquired by the Yale University Art Museum in 2018. The Yale University Press published the accompanying catalogue for the exhibition.
Announcement and Reviews
Exhibition Announcement Press Release
A special thanks to my tour guide Alyssa for taking the day off from deciphering Genetics stuff to guide me around the galleries of the Art Institute.
Winogrand Color & Friedlander's The People's Pictures
This blog post is a review of several new photography books I recently added to my library.
The release of Winogrand Color was my motivation to go book shopping online. I have mentioned this time and again I love Winogrand’s photographs, and I am always interested books about his work. While ordering the Winogrand book I also came across The People’s Pictures by Lee Friedlander and two other books which were on sale and looked interesting, so I added them to the cart as well.
Twin Palms publishers describes Winogrand Color as follows
Winogrand Color presents 150 photographs selected from the archives at the Center for Creative Photography by the American film director, Michael Almereyda and former Museum of Modern Art curator, Susan Kismaric. It is the first monograph dedicated to the artist's rarely seen color work.
Images were selected from the 45,000 color slides that Winogrand photographed in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Published November 2023, 12” x 12”, 176 pages, 150 four color plates.
The retail price is $85. Twin Palms produced two slipcase editions of 50 which are already sold out at ($300 ea) and they produced a limited edition of 750 books with an alternative cover image ($85) which is still available. The first edition printing is 7,000 books.
My first impression of Winogrand Color was good. I like the page layouts; I think the image sizes and book size are appropriate and the design is clean and simple, which I really like. The printing is very good, many images have deep shadow areas, and the printer was able to keep shadow details while still achieving solid blacks where appropriate. In reading the book detail I saw it was printed in Turkey and that several people were involved in the image restoration process, this suggested the Winogrand’s transparencies may not have been properly processed or stored.
As a document the book is good. First it documents an era in color well that most of us remember primarily in black and white. Second, and most importantly, the book allows us to see more Winogrand photographs, most of these images we have not seen before, and that allows the viewer to gain deeper knowledge about one of the greatest documentary photographers of all time. The photographs in this book also reaffirm that Winogrand was not wedded solely to Black and White photography. I remember in the 2018 documentary film on him, “All things are Photographable”, where Winogrand spoke about photographing with color film but had reservations about it because, at the time, he could not produce archival prints of color images. It showed the choice was at least partially a business decision not just an artistic one. So, as a photographer myself, the photographs in this book gave me a lot of clues about how Garry Winogrand photographed.
Many of Winogrand’s most famous images were made with a 28mm lens on a Leica M4. A number of the color images in the book seem to be made with longer legnth lenses. Winogrand is at his best when there are layers of information in his image. Winogrand was quoted numerous times talking about how he liked his photographs to be more interesting than the subject matter and how he photographed to see what something looked like photographed. With a wide-angle lens, you tend to have more content in the frame which lends itself to what Winogrand was after. You can still achieve images with deep meaning using longer focal lengths, Max Yavno is someone who photographed that way, but it did not seem to be Winogran’s typical approach. Thinking of Winogrand’s Women are Beautiful, when I saw the entire portfolio displayed at Pier 24’s exhibition “The Grain of the Present” in 2017, I really became aware of how rarely he used a longer lens.
This book begins with a number of longer focal length images at Coney Island I assume. They seemed more voyeuristic than insightful and I questioned if these were images that Winogrand really would have included in a portfolio or if he was just exploring with his camera. Was the color film and the focal lengths a careful creative decision or was it more spontaneous. I don’t know how Garry set up his cameras related to film type or if he carried similar focal length lenses. I have seen video of Winogrand photographing in the 1980’s and he had a single camera in hand and camera bag, but he didn’t seem to be transitioning to a second camera body. I wonder if Winogrand had his primary Lieca M4 with the 28mm lens loaded with black and white film and then had a telephoto lens on another Leica loaded with color slide film? Having photographed in the pre-digital era I remember having to carry two camera bodies if I wanted to photograph in color and black and white. It would also make sense logistically if he had a telephoto lens on the camera with color film too, because if he wanted to use a telephoto lens for a black and white image, he could just trade the lenses between bodies. (It is unfortunate that so many photographers today have never worked with analog cameras because it would give them a greater appreciation of what photographers in the past accomplished.)
Several images in the book looked to me as if Winogrand saw something that interested him, and he used the color film camera to just see the difference of how the image would be in color. One example is his famous image of a couple in Central Park Zoo with the baby monkeys. The famous black and white image is framed so much better than the color image in this book. Interestingly when examining and comparing the color and the black and white imagers of the couple it is obvious the color image was photographed with a wide angel lens and that the black and white image may have been photographed with a slightly longer length lens but still not a telephoto lens. The black and white image is the better composed and the lack of color helps the viewer focus on the details within the frame. There are a few images in the book that seem just okay like he was making an exposure to see the difference but not with the intent to ever exhibit the image. The photo in the book of a boxing match where you basically just see the ceiling looks like an absolute mistake, like it was an accidental exposure (Like most photographers I have captured many mistakes in my time). There are a number of images in this book that seem to fall short. This book is not an example of Winogrand’s best work, and I question the curator’s selections and wonder if Winogrand would have showcased the same images; I also can’t imagine if the editors had 45,000 color images that this collection was the best of that lot. I have not been able to find a concise statement about this book from either Tod Papageorge or Joel Meyerowitz who photographed with Winogrand during this time and know his process better than most people; I would love to hear their review of it. I think Arthur Lubow from the New York Times wrote a solid article reviewing the book and comparing Winogrand’s color work with other noted photographers working with color film at the time. The only thing in Lubow’s article I would question is when he said this about the couple in the Central Park Zoo: “It is a biting and unsettling comment on the era’s prevailing slurs about interracial marriage.”. I completely understand interpreting this image this way with today’s viewpoints, and I am sure some viewers now, and through the years, share Lubbow’’s opinion. But I specifically remember Tod Papageorge discussing this image in the documentary film on Winogrand “All Things Are Photographable” and dispelling that intent. Papageorge was there with Winogrand when he photographed the couple and in fact Papageorge photographed Winogrand with the couple. In 2014 Tod Papageorge wrote an article about the image for Transatlantica that explains everything about it. I have authored a separate blog with more detail on this subject.
So, to wrap up my opinion of the book, it does have value for me since I get to see more examples of Winogrand’s work and continue to better understand him. This book is not a priority add for a photography library and it isn’t something everyone should buy. 1964 and Figments from the Real World are much better books that showcase Winogrand at his best. This book is for people wanting to learn more about Winogrand and how he photographed. I am happy I added it to my library, and I know other Winogrand fans will feel the same way.
I had not taken notice of The People’s Pictures by Lee Friedlander until I saw it listed at a sale price. The book was produced in 2021 by Ekins Press Foundation and was printed in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.
I like this book a lot. The design and printing are good as is the edit and image sequencing. It is impressive that there are images from five different decades in this book, the combination of the images makes a great documentation of our world. I love the first section of the book where Friedlander photographs people with cameras, I like to take those kinds of photographs myself. The second section where he is taking pictures of things with actual photographs in the frame is stylistically different than the documentary street style of the first section, and I see how that could be slightly confusing to someone. But I understand the connection and I think it works well. The only frustration I have with the book is the lack of written information. There isn’t an artist statement or much guidance about the collection other than two vague quotes from books that aren’t specifically about the work. I always think less is more with artist statements and I think it is best for viewers to see photographs and experience them without being influenced by a complex artist statement. Good images stand on their own and people should have their own unbiased experience with a photograph. But after that the viewer should be able to compare their experience with the artist statement to see if their experience was similar to what the artist was projecting with the image. I think I understand well what this catalogue is saying but I still would like confirmation and in some cases more information. In reading reviews of the book on line I saw some images had more detailed titles than in the book. For example plate #31 is of a photographer in New York City in 1975 photographing with a Leica. You can’t see the photographer’s face well, but I think it might be Garry Winogrand. If it is I would like to know it. The opposite image in the book is of a pig roast in Cold Spring, NY in 2013, a great photograph. I want to know why this pairing was made, what deeper statement was being made here. There are several other images where I know more information about the image exits but its not included in the book because I expect they wanted to keep a simple clean design throughout the book. I am fine with it; I just wish there was a detailed description in the back of the book that I could reference to learn more. I paid under $40 for the book which was a great value. This is a book I would suggest for anyone who likes documentary and street photography. You will learn something just by looking at the images and even though I mentioned I wanted a little more text information with it, I am fine without it and I think I understand why this book was designed this way. A fun addition to the library.
The two other books I had in this order were Los Angeles Portrait of a City (572 pages, 2009) and Dark City: The Real Los Angeles Noir (478 pages, 2018) both published by Taschen America. These are not fine art photography books but there are good photographs in both books and with my interest in documenting Los Angeles now, there was valuable information in both. Dark City also interested me because of the law enforcement and evidence photographs it had. If these books had not been on sale, I would have passed on them but their prices were reasonable, so I went for it. Jim Heimann authored both books and there is some overlap of content. These are not fine art photography books but both books contain some outstanding photographs and are interesting, especially since I have been documenting Los Angeles more.
Controversy over Garry Winogrand's Photograph of a couple at the Central Park Zoo
In authoring a blog post on the book Winogrand Color I came across a review of the book online by New York Times writer Arthur Lubow. I think it was a really accurate review about the images in the book. The only thing I didn’t agree with that Lubow wrote were part of his comments on the very famous Winogrand photograph on the left above. Lubow wrote “Even less successful is the color version of one of his most famous photographs, “Central Park Zoo, New York City” (1967), which shows a Black man and blonde woman, seemingly affluent, each carrying a fully clad chimpanzee. It is a biting and unsettling comment on the era’s prevailing slurs about interracial marriage. In the color image, probably taken an instant later, the man is looking at the camera, the woman’s expression has changed, and the impact is diffused by the photographer’s own obscuring shadow and a distracting crowd of passers-by.” As I stated in my other blog post I saw the Winogrand documentary film, “All Things are Photographable” where Papageorge discussed this image and shared his own photograph of Winogrand with the couple. Tod Papageorge explained he was with Garry Winogrand that day and he disputed the assumption that Winogrand was making a statement about interracial relationships with this photograph. Tod and Garry were close friends and I think Tod would have understanding of Garry’s beliefs and opinions. I researched this subject matter further and found an in-depth article, with photograph illustrations, that Papageorge had authored about the photograph for Transatlantica in 2014 on MoMA’s website.
I know I have shared this information in the body of another blog post, but I think the subject is important enough to highlight in a separate post specifically dealing with the perceived controversy with this image because it applies to other works by other people. It is wrong to apply current day feelings or cultural standards with things from the past. I am not saying we need to condone outdated beliefs or past behavior that would be wrong in our world today. I am saying things needs to be evaluated with perspective of the time of the event and without any attempt to cancel it because of the current values and opinions of a segment of society. Here is a good non-photo example of my point:
My son is a graduate of Choate Rosemary Hall, a well-known prep school in Connecticut. On one of my many visits back there I got to sit in on his English class during the events of a “parents’ weekend”. My son’s teacher was Ed McCatty who is an outstanding educator, now retired. McCatty, who is black, had the class reading Mark Twain’s 1884 classic book “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” at the time. In the classroom, with all these other parents visiting, McCatty called on a student to read the book out loud and the student became nervous because of the book uses the “N-word” a fair amount to describe Huck’s friend Jim who was a fugitive slave. Finally, McCatty took over reading and projected Twain’s words eloquently. Parents squirmed uncomfortably as McCatty read “that word” again and again. I had already met Ed on a previous visit, he was one of the faculty residents in my son’s dorm, I knew where he was going with the reading, so I sat back and enjoyed seeing a number of parents getting completely stressed over words written in the 19th century. McCatty eventually explained how it was important to interpret Twain’s writing based on the time it was written. He pointed out that even though Huck was using the term for Jim that it wasn’t being used in a derogatory manner for the time, and the fact that Twain wrote about a young white youth befriending a black fugitive slave it showed Twain had a progressive viewpoint. McCatty took the topic further, using examples in his own life, and ended up giving everyone a lesson that day which went far beyond literature.
Interpretations of images (and other things) can change quickly, we don’t need a hundred plus years to pass for feelings to change. The best example of this with my own work is this photograph below which is in the permanent collection at the Center for Creative Photography.
PPD-177 #23 March 1987 - William Karl Valentine
Officer Ware and Craddolph at search warrant related to a narcotics sales investigation.
When I displayed this photograph in the first couple decades after making the exposure most every viewer was compassionate for the child being raised in dangerous conditions and anger towards the parents for putting the child in the situation. Some people went on to acknowledge gratefulness for law enforcement for trying to protect the child and do something about the drug epidemic of the times. These are accurate opinions about what my image is about. But in the last decade plus a portion of our society has altered its perspective on law enforcement and I have been confronted about this image. I had an anonymous Instagram viewer question my ethics for taking the photograph when the woman was unable to defend herself. In 2020 the photograph was in a simple exhibition in Pasadena and several people demanded to have it taken down because they found it offensive, so that image was pulled from the wall by staff. I am fine with someone not liking my work or disagreeing with my interpretation of the world, but to censor me is outlandish. The First Amendment gives me as much right to express myself opinion as anyone else in this country. The fact that some people thing their feeling give them the authority to remove that right is infuriating. Most photographs are an accurate account of a fraction of a second of time, how we interpret them is another thing.
One final thing I want to get back to, the majority of Arthur Lubow’s opinion on Winogran’s color photograph of the couple at the Central Park Zoo is spot on. The image is not as good as the famous black and white image and for all the reasons Lubow points out in his description of the image. Lubow obviously knows how to look at photographs. The positioning of the subjects in the frame and Winogrand’s shadow make the color image way less impactful. If Winogrand had been using a digital camera, which obviously did not exist then, and decided to share this famous image in color I think it may have been impactful, but I can see how the bright colors could have been distracting from what was going on in the frame. I know in my own work sometimes bright colors in a color image distract the viewer from the shapes, forms, layers of meaning, and textures in the image which drew my eye. That was a big consideration I had with my Santa Anita book, I didn’t want the viewer to focus on the bright colors of the silks, the horses, and the grass, I wanted them to see the details and layers of information that came out in a black and white image. It is natural that our eyes are drawn to bright colors and when color is removed a photographer can direct the focus in an image. There are times that colors matter and for that I am thankful for the digital age where the decision can be made after the shutter was released. Knowing how many rolls of film that Winogrand exposed I can only imagine how many hard drives he would have filled and the thousands of more images he would have made.
Atlanta Photography Group - Storytelling 2023 Exhibition - Opening September 19th
I am honored that the above print is included in the Storytelling 2023 exhibition which opened this week at the Atlanta Photography Group.
The exhibition celebrates street and documentary photography and was curated by Alyssa Coppelman.
APG shared the following about Coppleman on their website:
Alyssa Ortega Coppelman is an independent photo editor and photobook consultant based in Austin, Texas. She is Art Researcher for the Oxford American magazine; and Archival Researcher on the Emmy-nominated, PBS NewsHour series, Brief But Spectacular. Previously, she was Deputy Art Director at Harper’s Magazine.
About Oxford American
The Oxford American is a nonprofit arts organization and national magazine dedicated to exploring the complexity and vitality of the American South through excellent writing, music, and visual art. Billed as “A Magazine of the South,” it has won four National Magazine Awards and other high honors since it began publication in 1992. The Oxford American is published in partnership with the University of Central Arkansas.
The Image
This is the first time I have exhibited this image which I photographed in June 2022 at the First Annual West Hollywood Pride Parade. I have been concentrating on photographing more aspects of Los Angeles the last few years, partially because I think is important to document where I am from and partially because of the constraints related to the pandemic. I have always found it difficult to photograph in LA, it is not like New York or Chicago or even San Francisco. Los Angeles has so many diverse communities, and is geographically massive, it is really hard to capture everything about this place. People also don’t move around here like in the other big cities, in LA most people drive to where they were going, they don’t walk. Although this is changing some, as a photographer I still find that I have to search for the areas where people are congregating on the street. Hollywood and West Hollywood have always had more foot traffic than other areas and I knew the Pride parade would bring out lots of people for me to photograph so I went to it. I felt it was important to document the LGBTQ+ community because of its population size in Southern California and I was also interested to see how people would interact with each other at one of the first large post pandemic events.
When I saw this person in drag, and the people with them, I knew I was going to have the opportunity to capture a good image. I was first thinking my images would only be of the entourage but as this woman in in the tan hat started to fumble to get her cellphone camera up, I recognized that having her in my frame could take the image to a different level. The woman was so excited by what she saw approaching her that she stepped right in front of me to get her shot. Normally I would say something if someone did this while I was photographing but I wanted her in my frame. I stepped to my left and took my time framing the image. I made a number of exposures and worked to make sure the person in drag was featured, was in focus, and that I could see their image in the woman’s phone. Normally when I photograph on the street I am moving, often photographing from the hip (literally with a Sony RX100 vii), and when I frame an image, it’s quick. The parade setting obviously allowed for a more traditional photographic approach, framing in a viewfinder, but with this image I spent even more time than normal to perfect the frame.
For me, the interaction between the woman and the person in drag is key. The stare down of a dominatrix, the desire of the woman to capture the image and maybe even a desire for other things. The stare was so intense it seemed to single them out from the crowd, like a scene you might see in a movie, where all other noise is silenced and it’s just the two of them alone, albeit in the middle of a crowded parade. The other elements of the image work well too: the laughter of the other woman witnessing the scene, the contrast between the muscular man and other woman crossing the street, and the how the majority of the crowd isn’t even taking notice of their connection. With many of my street photographs I look to document relationships between individuals, and relationships between a person and the whole of a group or society. I love that this image has lots of layers to it, which allows each viewer to have their own experience of seeing it. The image is also a solid document of the event and a segment of the Angelino population.
The Print:
The exhibition print has an image size of 24” x 16” which is the largest sized print I have produced so far in an edition (I have produced some larger prints for commercial clients). This print is on a sheet of 26” x 18” Hahnemȕhle Photo Rag Ultrasmooth paper, framed with a window matt to an external size of approximately 33” x 25”. The print in the exhibition is #4 in an edition of 9 for this image size.
The print was made by Digital Arts Studio in Atlanta who I have been using to produce all my large print editions. Owner Barry Glustoff is fantastic to work with and his lab is one of the top certified printers of Canson and Hahnemȕhle papers in the world. I had Barry produce editions of 19 other images this summer at this size, and he has printed and framed all my photographs for every one of my APG exhibitions. His work is outstanding, and the staff is professional.
The Exhibition:
I have had a chance to see the other images in the exhibition and some early photographs of the installation. The exhibition looks great, some outstanding images, and I am pleased to be showing work with Gwen Julia, Joe Hoyle & Peter Essick again.
The List of Photographers in the exhibition:
Betty Press
Blake Burton
Caren Winnall
chilingo
Cindy Konits
Dennis Church
Dwain A Vaughns II
Eric Burkard
Eric bladholm
Erica Clahar
Gwen Julia
Howard Pelteson
Joe Hoyle
John Garcia
Joshua Tann
Laura Inman
Lawrence Manning
Louis Leon
Madeleine Soloway
Marcela Verschoor
Marcos lopez
Peter Essick
Richard Schramm
Robert Oliver
Roger Archibald
Steve Dinberg
Susanne Swing Thompson
Ulrich Mannchen
Willard Pate
William Karl Valentine
Greg Vaughn and Brewers at Scottsdale Stadium - Cactus League Spring Training - Arizona (CL-152 #08 3-16-89)
Photo Lucida Critical Mass 2023 - Finalist Announcement
I am honored to announce that my submission to Photo Lucida’s Critical Mass 2023 has been chosen to be a Finalist. This is the third time I have been a Critical Mass Finalist. I was also a Finalist in 2014 & 2016 with law enforcement portfolios. Critical Mass is one of the most prestigious international photography calls for submission there is. It attracts thousands of entries each year from around the world and the jurors for Critical Mass are some of the most renowned photography professionals in the world. 200 photographers are chosen as Finalists and now a panel of 150 jurors will select the 50 Winners.
I also want to congratulate Denise Laurinaitis who is another finalist this year. Denise and I have exhibited together twice this year. First in May at the Atlanta Photography Group’s Portfolio 2023 Exhibition and opening next month in The Decisive Moment juried exhibition at the Photo Place Gallery in Middlebury, Vermont. Denise is a very good emerging artist, and I am always honored to have my photographs exhibited with her work.
This was the first year I submitted images from my Cactus League Portfolio which documents baseball’s Spring Training in Arizona each March. I have been photographing the Cactus League for over 40 years now. With my submission, I selected images which showcase the decline of the number of African American athletes playing professional baseball in recent years as many of those athletes now concentrate on Football or Basketball. Below are the rest of the images in the submission and my statement:
“Black in Baseball" William Karl Valentine
This submission is a selection of images from my Cactus League Baseball portfolio to showcase player demographics changes since I began documenting the sport forty years ago.
African American players only accounted for 6.1% of Major League Baseball’s 2023 opening day rosters. Of the 945 players only 58 were Black. The last time the percentage was this low was in 1955 the year before Jackie Robinson retired. Five teams had no black players and 9 teams only had one player who was black. 29% of Chicago’s 2.75 million residents are black, the city has two baseball teams, and only two black players.
Diversity though is up in baseball, with 269 International players on opening day rosters. The sad reality is fewer African American athletes are choosing to play baseball when it comes time to select a focus sport in high school, they tend to pursue football and basketball instead of baseball. Popularity, visibility, marketing, and related attire are suspected factors. The path to the NFL and NBA may also be easier with many players turning professional after only a year in college. The prohibited costs of youth travel baseball may also be impacting the numbers of black players.
Many of baseball’s greatest players have been Black, it is sad to see the decline in numbers today. Thankfully baseball is working on this by investing in programs to bring these athletes back. If baseball is to continue as America’s National Pastime it needs more Black players back in the game.
BLM Protest - Newport Beach, California (NB DSC 6686 6-06-20)
Picturing Resistance Exhibition at Art Intersection Gallery - Gilbert, Arizona
I am proud to announce that legendary photojournalist, and educator, Ken Light has selected three of my photographs for inclusion in the Picturing Resistance Exhibition at Art Intersection Gallery in Gilbert, Arizona. The exhibition runs August 12th through September 30th and includes 59 photographs.
Protest against Governor Newsom’s orders to close the beaches during the Covid Pandemic - Huntington Beach, California (HB DSC 9916 5-01-20)
BLM Protest - Hollywood, California (CA DSC 5652 6-02-20)
I have enjoyed Ken Light’s work for some time, and his books “Texas Death Row” and “Course of the Empire” are in my library. Ken is a great photographer to follow on social media. Not only has he been documenting America, and other parts of the world, for 50 years, but he is also the Reva and David Logan Professor of Photojournalism and curator of the Center for Photography at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California Berkeley, so he has knowledge of most all current trends in photography today. Ken posted about this exhibition call on social media and I took the opportunity to get my work in front of his eyes. I didn’t know about Art Intersection before the call but in researching it some it looks like Alan Fitzgerald, the Executive Director, is overseeing a good space with a great photography community. I’m glad to have discovered Art Intersection.
With Ken selecting these images for the exhibition it gives me some validation for my pandemic portfolio which makes me very happy. I think mu pandemic era photographs will become an important documentation of what occurred during the pandemic, especially here in Southern California.
Art Intersection Gallery
207 N. Gilbert Road, Suite 201 - Gilbert, Arizona, 85234 480-361-1118
Gallery Hours: Wednesday - Saturday 10 AM to 6 PM
Owl in my Star Pine - Newport Beach, California (NB DSC 5929 11-6-22)
Small Works Exhibition - South x Southeast Gallery - August 2023
I am pleased to announce that curator Donna Garcia selected the above photograph, “Owl in my Star Pine” for inclusion in the South x Southeast Gallery’s upcoming “Small Works” Exhibition. The work will be displayed online and in the South x Southeast’ gallery space in Molena, Georgia this August through September. I am also excited that exhibition will hang during “Slow Exposures” Photography Festival: Celebrating Photography in the Rural South, in neighboring Concord, Georgia.
This exhibition call was a chance for me to showcase one of my lesser-known images, in this case a photograph I have never exhibited before. I really like this photograph, but I knew when I made the exposure that the image would not fit in to any of my primary portfolios. Didn’t matter, this is an example why you should make the exposure when you see an image that interests you even if you don’t know how you would ever use it. Like that old paraphrased Winogrand quote says: “You photograph something to see what it looks like photographed”. I also liked the technical challenge of photographing an owl at night that far away.
Background about this Image. If you are familiar with Newport Beach you might not expect to find a home here with two pine trees and a 100’ tall Star Pine on the property, but my house does. I have lived here for 29 years and a couple of years ago I started hearing owls in the neighborhood, eventually they started sitting on the top of my Star Pine. The owls come and go, sometimes I hear them every night for two or three months straight and then they will be gone for several months. I have heard them on a couple times in the last week and not in my tree. I have used a 400mm lens with a flash on my D850 to photograph the owl before and was lucky to have been able to photograph two owls in the tree at the same time. With most of my owl photographs I am standing within 6 feet of my front door. For this submitted image I used my D500 with a 300mm zoom lens because I was in a hurry to get the image of the owl with the alignment of the rising moon. This image lent itself to be cropped square so for this exhibition I had it printed and framed so it was 12” x 12” with no matting (Price $375, no edition set but limited up to 27).
More photographs of the Owls
Owl in the Rain - NB DSC 1053 12-30-22
And a few photographs from last September when the crows were going after a Cooper’s Hawk in the pine tree 20’ away from my Star Pine. I didn’t see the owl at first, he looked like he was just hanging out, but I assume that he and the hawk were both going after the young in a nearby crow’s nest.
I am not a nature photographer, but I appreciate God’s creations and find all the birds in my yard interesting (although I hate the crows, they are annoying), so as a photographer, I photograph them, it is just a compulsion I guess at this point.
New Avedon, Cunningham, and Friedlander books I bought in March while at the Phoenix Art Museum.
New Library Additions - Avedon, Cunningham, and Friedlander
When I visited the Phoenix Art Museum in March, I decided to buy a membership instead of just a single admission. I like to have memberships at museums I want to support even if they aren’t local. One benefit of that is a discount in the Museum Shop which I used to add three more titles to my library. I encourage anyone interested in these titles to purchase from the museum shop to help support the Phoenix Art Museum.
Richard Avedon - Relationships
Released in conjunction with Avedon’s 2022 retrospective exhibition in Milan, this book was published by Skira Publishers in Italy and edited by the Center for Creative Photography’s Rebecca Senf. The book is beautiful, it was printed and bound in Italy and the edit is outstanding. It was nice to finally get a signed copy of one of Becky’s books, I still need to get my copy of her Ansel Adams book, Making a Photographer: The Early Work of Ansel Adams autographed. The Center for Creative Photography houses Avedon’s archives and Becky was also involved with curating the exhibition as well as editing this book. You can see examples of the images in the book on Avedon's website.
Bill Cunningham -
Published by the New York Times in 2019 this retrospective of Bill Cunningham’s fifty-year career is a nice document of fashion during that time. Bill was a fashion columnist and photographer who worked for the New York Times. What I love about this book is all of these images were taken on the street, these photographs aren’t of models on a runway, they are all of people on the street. It is a better documentation of what fashion really was because it accurately shows what people were wearing during this period. Bill Cunningham referred to himself as a Fashion Historian more than a photographer. I agree with him 100% on his title but I also acknowledge he made interesting images and is more than worthy to also be called a photographer. Bill’s work is about the fashion not the frame or the interaction, but in this format it absolutely works. I wasn’t familiar with his work before seeing the exhibition Fashioning Self: The Photography of Everyday Expression at the Phoenix Art Museum but it was a perfect fit, and I purchased the book because I enjoyed how it was a different approach to document people on the street. If you are a fan of fashion photography you need to add this to your library.
Lee Friedlander - Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom
This very unique book, published in 2015 by Eakins Press, only documents the events of one day, May 17th, 1957 when Dr. Martin Luther King spoke at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC during the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom. I wrongly first assumed this book documented the famed day when King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech but that would not occur until 1963. I researched the events and learned the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom was actually the first time Martin Luther King addressed a national audience. It makes sense now why photographs of Dr. King were not more prominent in the book since he was the last speaker of the day. The book is an outstanding document plus Friedlander’s photographic style is amazing, I always love looking at his images. I found it ironic I discovered this book a couple months before Fraenkel Gallery’s Friedlander exhibition opened this past weekend. The most incredible thing is Friedlander was 22 years old when he photographed the event. The book is a nice reference point to examine how Friedlander’s vision and career developed. He obviously knew early on how to be at the right place at the right time.
One more shout out to the wonderful people at the Phoenix Art Museum and their Museum Store, please purchase directly from them if you want any of these titles.
Chris Field
Chris Field - Visual Engineer
I watched an episode of The Green Planet this week and saw at the end where they showcased the inventions of Chris Field that allowed to capture time lapsed images in the rain forest. The images that Chris’s rigs captured are amazing. They were basically able to document the process of photosynthesis and show things like the relationship of ants and plants in the rain forest food chain. The images on their own were beautiful and I continue to be blown away by what the technical advances in cameras allow us to document. For me when I consider the complexities of the food chain it bolsters my faith, I know science answers many of life’s questions but when I see how well designed our world, I just can’t believe all this happened by a collision of a couple of rocks. The Green Planet episodes also remind me we need to do better to cherish our planet.
In the simplest of terms Chris designs camera systems (rails, camera mounts, computer programing of their movement and function) which allow cameras to track and photograph subjects like bugs and plants. The camera captures time lapse images which are then used to create video. Some of the lenses he uses are micro lenses with built-in ring lights which allow the camera to photograph tiny creatures in tight dark spaces. Much like drone cameras, his designs allow the documentation of things most of the world has never seen before.
Being a documentary photographer who works with still images I don’t have the need to use any of the rigs like Chris designs, but I found his story interesting and since it is a photography subject I decided to write a blog post about it. In researching Chris, I didn’t find a whole lot about him. The BBC mentioned he was an engineer in the US Military but I don’t see much more on line other than he was based in Colorado and I found his email address. After gathering my links for this post, I decided to something I don’t do much, I reached out to Chris, explained I was doing a post and asked if he would be willing to answer a few questions. He replied immediately and the time he took to answer my questions exceeded my expectations. When I read them I knew I picked a great topic for a blog post, his insight is outstanding. Below are my questions and Chris’s answers:
WKV- I would like to know more about your technical background. Is there greater detail you can share about your military background and how it gave you the skills needed to create these rigs or inspired your interest in building these. Was there another background that gave you your technical skill set.
CHRIS - So there is a little bit of confusion there with the whole military engineer thing, I think they should have put a comma between Military and Engineer. I spent 4 years in the military working on telecommunications. But I never have considered that engineering, but it did give me a great trade to fall on when I got out of the military, I ended up spending 20 more years in Telecommunication working on repair, test and turnup, new product implementation, and was tasked with quite a bit of telecommunication engineering as well as tier 2/3 support for newly developed products. I eventually ended up in charge of my own team. It was a wonderful career which paid well enough for me to really dive into my hobbies. As for mechanical and robotic engineering this has been mostly self-taught over time. A huge part is learning how to use Arduino, they are incredibly useful in this line of work and have an easy learning curve. These devices became critical to learn in order to build out the automation that I needed as there are really no good off the shelf solutions that can coordinate the camera, plumping, motion control, environmental, etc. I remember seeing the end of the tropics episode where it mentioned “Chris Field, an ex-military engineer” and suddenly those words were all over the place and there was not much I could do about it. I think “Chris Field, a self-taught engineer” would have been closer to how I would have written it. While I was in a technical field, the “military” portion makes it sounds like I was doing crazy DARPA stuff. I was in the USAF from 96-2000. I did 4 years and I’m proud of that service and continue the tradition, but it is not something I define myself by.
WKV – Did you have an interest in capturing visual scientific information about plants and animals to learn more about them? Is this a business concept where you saw a need and thought you could develop a niche that was profitable? Do you just like complex challenges and building rigs capable of capturing such amazing images just motivates you?
CHRIS - The why stretches back to when I first got into photography and astrophotography. I fell in love with hacking and building, and saw a timelapse with the milky sliding past and I was hooked. I gave up astrophotography overnight and started learning how to do timelapse. A friend of mine and I built a slider, and people started asking us to build them one. That led to a small side business that was ultimately a lot more work than pay. We eventually got burned out and stopped selling them. I had some cameras at that point and a few sliders and wanted to film some stuff, but with it being February in Colorado, it was cold so I bought a hyacinth plant and put it in a spare room in my basement and filmed it blooming. I was mesmerized by the results and started to turn that spare room into a studio. What I really loved about it was I was producing footage that nobody else was doing. A lot of folks were hiking to beautiful remote locations to film mountains and clouds. But aside from some plant timelapse sequences on BBC documentaries, nobody seemed to be doing it. Probably because it is so difficult and there are a ton of challenges. But it’s really the love of the process and the constant need to overcome challenges that keeps me hooked. I am always building something new, trying a new way to do something, experimenting around.Marketability never really occurred to me, until BBC gave me an offer to work on Green Planet that I could not pass up.
WKV- I was wondering about your photography background. I am a huge fan of Garry Winogrand who has a famous quote: “Photography is not about the thing photographed, It is about how that thing looks photographed.” Does something like Garry’s statement apply to you? Did you begin building your rigs to capture things you wanted to see but no one had been able to photograph (or video) them yet? Do you consider yourself an image maker or filmmaker or are you just focused on the technical aspects of creating the rigs?
CHRIS - I really consider myself a visual engineer, which to me means I create solutions to filming difficult things. I love photography, inventing, engineering, and creating stunning visuals. If I won a billion dollars today, tomorrow I would still get up and do the same thing. The financial aspect of this is certainly a bonus as it allows me to focus so much more of my time and energy to this sort of work, but even if I was not getting paid at all and working fulltime elsewhere, I would still keep doing this.
I am so happy I discovered Chris’ work and thankful he took the time to write back. I look forward to seeing more of his work on TV soon, it truly is amazing.
Chris’s company is Biolapse, please visit his website to learn more about his amazing creations.
I found another interesting article about the Triffid 1 system at TVB Europe’ website.
Finally, this is another video related link which has nothing to do with Chris’s work, but I stumbled across it while researching this post and since I don’t deal with video much, I figured best to share this as an add on rather than never use it. It’s a link to an article about the use of shallow depth of field video using mirrorless DSLR camera bodies to capture sports videos. I watch my fair share of sports and have noticed the trend, so it caught my interest.
Ave Pildas “Star Struck” and Ian Bates “Meadowlark” signing at Arcana Books
Ave Pildas "Star Struck" Book Signing at Arcana - 10/8/22
I have been a fan of Ave Pildas’s photography since I discovered his work in 2018 during another trip to Arcana Books. I even authored a blog post at the time reviewing his book Street / People which I had purchased.
Ave is 83 years old now and I am completely jealous of how much he gets out and photographs still, especially since he is also still constantly editing and promoting his older work. “Star Struck” is Ave’s 10th book and his 8th book since 2015. Ave is from Cincinnati and moved to Los Angeles in 1971 to work for Capitol Records in Art Direction. He started teaching at OTIS in 1985 and retired from there in 2008 to concentrate on his own photography. He has work in the permanent collections of LACMA and MoMA and has traveled the world photographing.
Photographing in Los Angeles is hard, I have written about that fact often here in my blog. The greater Los Angeles region is massive, thousands of miles, and a population of well over 15 million people. It is also eclectic demographically; Hollywood, Boyle Heights, South Central, Venice, The Valley, Pasadena, the OC, HB, Newport, Santa Ana, and the IE are all unique in their own rights even though they get lumped into “LA” from any perspective outside of California. It is not like photographing on Michigan Avenue in Chicago or on the street in New York City where it is easy to get out and walk amongst the people. I totally respect how much Ave has documented because I have traveled those same areas and what it takes to get to all those places.
This was the first time I have met Ave and I was so impressed with his incredible energy; he attacks life. During the time it has taken me to get to writing this post Ave has traveled to New York and Paris for the book fairs and has posted more updates of new work. We are planning of going out and photographing together sometime soon and I will share posts from that later.
But now, back to primary topic of this post and Ave’s new book. “Start Stuck” which showcases Ave’s photographs from the “The Hollywood Walk of Fame” section of Hollywood Boulevard taken between 1972 and 1975. The concise location helps make this book a great documentation of the people in the area during that era. It was published by Deadbeat Club and printed in China. This book is Deadbeat’s 78th book and the first edition was limited to 750 copies. The design, print quality, and image selection is very good, I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves documentary photography, street photography, or who is interested in Los Angeles’s past.
Ave was signing books with Ian Bates, whose new book “Meadowlark” was also published by Deadbeat Club (their 79th book). This was the first time I had seen Ian’s work. The only explanation text in the book is a short 2009 poem by Jim Harrison titled "I believe” and even with that text the viewer is pretty much left on their own to navigate the images. The quality and design of the book are good, and I liked most of Ian’s images on their own individual merit. Many of his photographs have a feeling of solitude, loss, and despair for me. There is a dark quality to them, but within most images there is also beauty and hope. Ian came across as a quiet person and I think I can see why he made these types of photographs and this book. You have to bring your own past experiences with you to appreciate this book, but I actually love that. I have seen enough photography in my life I don’t need someone stating obvious facts to me. This book is also one that you could come away with different feelings on different days from it, depending on where you were in life that day. It is a very good book to return to occasionally. I love that Ian is putting his work out there and I am happy to have added his book to my library.
Atlanta Airport Exhibition 2022 Exhibition Announcement
I am proud to announce that I have two photographs in the Atlanta Photography Group’s annual Airport Show which opens later this month at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Juror Lisa Volpe selected 30 photographs, from over 500 images which were submitted, to exhibit in the central atrium of the airport. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world’s busiest airport with an average of 260,000 visitors a day. In 2019 Atlanta had 53.485,000 total visitors, the next closest airport was LAX at 42,880,000.
The 2022 Airport Exhibition is scheduled to be up September 22nd, 2022, to January 25th, 2023, and this is the second, consecutive year, I have exhibited two photographs in the APG’s Airport Exhibition.
My two included photographs are from two different series. The above image (PPD- 057 #14) is one of my favorite images from my Pasadena Police Department portfolios. I photographed Officer Kevin Hall on December 1st, 1985, at the Do Dah Parade in Pasadena. This parade is a spoof on the annual Rose Parade and the mid 1980’s was when the parade was at its height of popularity. I have always seen this image as symbolic of all the different threats and unique incidents that police officers encounter daily.
The image below (BOS DSC 8022 March 6th, 2021) is from a trip to Boston last year when I discovered Ponyhenge in Lincoln, Massachusetts. The link is to my blog post detailing that experience with numerous other photographs from there.
Having Lisa Volpe select two of my photographs for this exhibition is very exciting. Her insight of the medium is outstanding, and she has so much passion for photography. This interview of Lisa by Aline Smithson for Los Angeles Center of Photography gives fantastic insight to who she is and her thoughts about photography.
If you are in the Atlanta airport later this year hopefully you can check out this exhibition. It is outside of security in a food court area so it’s hard to get to if you are connecting to another flight there. I will try and update this post when more information as it is available.
Atlanta Photography Group - 2022 Street Photography Exhibition Announcement
Selected image: Los Angeles, California 06-17-2018 (CA DSC 5594)
I am very honored to have had one of my photographs chosen by renowned photographer Henry Horenstein to be in the Tell Me A Story: Documentary and Street Photography 2022 exhibition at the Atlanta Photography Group’s Gallery opening later this month.
This 2018 image is from the intersection of Maple and Olympic in Los Angeles and is titled “Los Angeles Olympian”. The image is part of my Los Angeles and general Street Photography portfolios. This is the first exhibition for this photograph.
The Atlanta Photography Group formed in 1987 and moved into its current space at Tula Art Center in 2002. The staff, especially Director & Curator Donna Garcia, at APG are so professional and the list of jurors they have been bringing in for their exhibition calls the last couple years is the best in the country. Donna is also an accomplished photographer in her own right, and I encourage you to follow the link to her work, it’s worth seeing. This is the first showing of my work in their gallery space.
As I stated to start off this post, it truly is an honor to have a photograph chosen by Henry Horenstein for this exhibition. Knowing his work, and the fact we have photographed similar topics, the selection means a lot to me. We have never met but I know we have photographed in the same places around the same time. Henry photographed at the Santa Anita Racetrack just before I started work on my Santa Anita portfolio and I think we may have crossed paths on the streets of Boston a couple years ago.
If you are in the Atlanta area during this exhibition time, I encourage you to stop by and see it. I will update this post later with installation views and other links as they become available.
HB Art Center Juried Exhibition Announcement - September 2022
EMERGE: A JURIED PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION
PRESENTED BY THE HUNTINGTON BEACH ART CENTER
JURIED BY CHRIS BARTOLUCCI, ED TEMPLETON,
AND DRAKE WOODSON
SEPTEMBER 16– OCTOBER 22, 2022
I am happy to announce that the above two photographs are included in this local exhibition opening in two weeks at the Huntington Beach Art Center.
The venue is nice and located in downtown HB where it is very accessible. I am especially honored that this group of judges selected my work. I have respected Ed Templeton and his work, for some time. Chris Bartolucci and Drake Woodson are also two other important members of the Southern California photography community.
If you are in the area hopefully you can stop by and check it out. The opening is Friday September 16th from 6:30 - 9:00 pm. There is also a Curator Talk on Wednesday September 21 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm
538 Main St. Huntington Beach, CA 92648
Gallery Hours
Tuesday - Wednesday | 12-6pm
Thursday | 12-8pm
Friday - Saturday | 12-5pm
Glasgow Gallery of Photography - "Nowhere Far" Exhibition Announcement
July 4th, 2019 - Newport Beach California (CA DSC 03329)
I am pleased to announce that the above image was selected for the Nowhere Far Photography Exhibition opening this Tuesday at the Glasgow Gallery of Photography in Glasgow Scotland.
This is the first exhibition for this photograph, and it will be accompanied by another one of my photographs in a separate exhibition in the Upper Gallery at the Glasgow Gallery of Photography during the same time. These exhibitions are my first in Scotland which is now the fourth country I have exhibited prints in.
The Nowhere Far Exhibition was an international call with a theme of photographers showcasing their hometowns or current locations where they are working.
The Glasgow Gallery of Photography is a relatively new space that is quickly establishing itself and one of Glasgow’s top photography spaces. I am pleased to be part of this show and the process of working with their staff have been very good. Here is the link to the exhibition.
Glasgow Gallery of Photography - "Pandemic" Exhibition Announcement
May 12th, 2020 - Manhattan Beach, California - (CA DSC 0391)
I am pleased to announce that the above image was selected for the Pandemic Photography Exhibition which opened this weekend at the Glasgow Gallery of Photography in Glasgow Scotland.
This is the first exhibition for this photograph, and it will be accompanied by another one of my photographs in a separate exhibition in the Lower Gallery at the Glasgow Gallery of Photography during the same time. These exhibitions are my first in Scotland which is now the fourth country I have exhibited prints in.
The Pandemic Exhibition was an international call with a theme of photographers documenting their experiences during the Covid-19 Pandemic. I was excited to see this call, especially while we are still in the tail end (hopefully) of the Pandemic. I have photographed extensively during the Pandemic, making an effort to document as many experiences during it as I possibly could. I am so pleased to be part of an exhibition focusing on the events and hope it is the first of many for pandemic portfolio in the years to come.
The Glasgow Gallery of Photography is a relatively new space that is quickly establishing itself and one of Glasgow’s top photography spaces. I am pleased to be part of this show and the process of working with their staff have been very good. Here is the link to the exhibition.
RSM Orange County Office - Corporate Collection
About five years ago, I created and curated the artwork for RSM’s Orange County, California office. RSM is a global professional advisory firm providing technology and financial consulting services, tax and attest services. RSM moved to a new office space during the pandemic, so I removed the work from the walls of the old office and prepared the work for the move. Last month I hung the work on the walls of their new office.
When I started the dialogue with RSM about the project they told me they were looking to modernize their office space and were interested in my photographs. I came up with the concept to only use images only form Orange County to help the office showcase their identity and to be a component of team building. I knew that an entire office of similar images and frames would not work so I curated my work to use various photographic styles. Since I had lived in area for over twenty of years, I had a fair number of images to choose from. I also knew the area well enough to know where to go to photograph to get the images I still might need. The photograph above shows two images I went out looking to photograph once I began this project. These two prints are in the lobby and large conference room which are the focal point of the office upon entering it. It was a great opportunity for me to display some of my images that aren’t in some of my better-known portfolios plus it allowed me to reexamine some images that I hadn’t looked at in a while.
The RSM collection includes 35 framed prints of various sizes, a small aluminum print, and a large (40’x60”) three panel aluminum piece. RSM’s new office has less useable wall space than their old office but my photographs fit better in the modern brand-new building. The installation took about 17 hours including the time it took time figuring out useable wall space and pairings. The new building also had some surprises for me with wall material considering all walls were internal. There were several times where I had to redrill holes or move mounting brackets on frames because I hit steel supports, but it all worked out and by the second day of hanging frames I had my system down again.
Below, one of my favorite images for this office still remains the theatre marquee for the movie “The Accountant”, just a perfect image for this office.
I’ll share some insight into my installation process. I use a T-lock locking system to attach the frames to the wall in commercial settings. I developed a system to speed up the process by making templates out of strips of scrap mounting board. Each template has the positions for the brackets on the frame as well as the corresponding positions for the wall mount clips. I use the template to position the clips on the frames in consistent manner then I use the same template to determine the wall clip positions. By using a level, I just have to determine the center point of each frame on the wall and mark that with painter’s tape. Most of the frames in the office were hung with their center point being 63” which is higher than museum standard but visually it fit the space better. So, for each frame I would measure the wall at the floor level to find the center point. I then measured up to where I wanted the top of the frame to be (63” + 1/2 the frame height) and that determined my center point. I lined the template’s marked center point with the mark on the wall and aligned it with my level. I then marked the two drill holes and I the frame would be aligned. I found it best to mark the bottom T-lock drill hole with the frame on the wall and tracing the edge of the lock bracket on the bottom of the frame. Aligning the T-lock is the hardest part, and more than once I was a fraction off, but luckily usually close enough a hammer could correct the alignment. I got smart the second day and put all my tools on a cart to speed up the process.
This panel below was the prominent piece in the old office’s lobby. These panels are each 40” x 60” aluminum prints. The old office had a slightly curved wall which was a problem to hang on. We chose a flat interior wall in the new office which was much simpler to deal with. These pieces hang on strip of grooved wood and then I secure the bottom of them with a removeable mounting adhesive. Surprisingly they are from a single image my lab cropped into a panorama and then made three prints out of it. The camera was a Canon PowerShot G12 with a 10MB one inch sensor. It showcases the incredible capabilities of digital technology, especially considering this is now old technology. The image is of the Balboa Peninsula looking South towards Corona del Mar and Laguna Beach. When my son was a freshman in high school his PE class was surfing, and it was first thing in the morning. I would park near their surfing spot then walk the stand with my camera until his class was over. This image came from one of my walks.
And finally, the of the office exterior. RSM is one of the first tenants in this building and the entire complex is still under construction. The modern design of the space really fits photography artwork, I am proud of how well the collection looks here.
Tod Papageorge at Danziger Los Angeles
I was able to get up to Danzinger yesterday afternoon and it was absolutely worth the drive. Danzinger is a great space, in Bergamot Station which has so many cool gallery spaces and is actually pretty easy to get to considering how hectic summer traffic can be in Santa Monica. The staff at Danzinger is also outstanding, they know the exhibition well and were actively engaging visitors to explain interesting facts about the work. The staff obviously has a passion for art and are motivated, I wish every gallery was like that.
Read More
PD-029 #33 5-02-92 Bill in front of his laundromat - Los Angeles, California
30 years ago today, I was at the LA Riots
As a documentary photographer, the fact that I was unable to photograph some of the most surreal things I ever witnessed will always bother me.
I was a Police Officer for the City of Chino in 1992 and at work when the LA Riots erupted. Chino is forty miles East of downtown Los Angeles, just outside of Los Angeles County in San Bernardino County. I remember watching Reginald Denny getting dragged from his truck and beaten on the TV in the watch commander’s office as our dispatchers took 911 calls from our citizens pleading for our officers to nbe sent to help stop the things they were witnessing on. I was expecting that there would soon be a mutual aid request soon from LAPD and I started lobbying to go when that call came. I knew Los Angeles better than most my peers and I wanted to get into this fray. The rioting grew that night, but the mutual aid request never came.
I lived in Pasadena then and when I got home, I could smell the smoke from the fires in Los Angeles. One buddy I grew up with was a Pasadena cop and he let me know Northwest Pasadena was rioting too and their department was on tactical alert. It immediately reminded me of my father’s stories from the Pasadena Gambling House riot which occurred during the Watt’s Riots in 1965, just after he had joined Pasadena PD.
I watched a lot of news before my next shift as rioting spread on April 30th. I knew I wanted to get to Los Angeles but was torn because part of me wanted to go photograph it and the other part wanted to go as a police officer to deal with the looting and rioting. I knew to go photograph on my own would be dangerous and logistically nearly impossible.
Finally on May 1st Los Angeles sent out a mutual aid request to San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. I was one of nine officers sent from Chino PD, we took three older police cars. We were to the Los Alamitos National Guard base where we staged and waited for our assignment. I remember we left in the afternoon and traffic on the 57 freeway was so heavy we had to drive down the center shoulder to get there. Looking at the people we were passing most of them looked serious or nervous. I remember people were worried the rioting would spread throughout Southern California. I was focused on what awaited us in Los Angeles, we were not saying much, mostly listening to the Am news radio. I was expecting to get into a lot of conflict, so I had the pregame type of focus. I was thinking of what I had seen on the news, and I was trying to run as many of those scenarios through my mind as possible to prepare.
We sat at Los Alamitos for over an hour then they told us they were cooking steak dinners for us before we went it. The last thing I wanted was a military grade steak dinner, I just wanted to get to Los Angeles while things were still going on. After dinner we were sent to the City of Inglewood in a task force of mostly officers and deputies from San Bernardino County agencies. The only agency from our county that didn’t go with us was Ontario PD because they had been assigned to escort a shipment of ammunition to Compton PD shortly after they arrived at Los Alamitos.
It was evening when we finally started our drive up the 405 Freeway. Our convoy of over 30 police cars, every unit with 3 to 4 cops wearing helmets, and support vehicles was pretty impressive looking, a strong show of force. The San Bernadino Sheriff even sent his mobile communications center semi truck so our radios would still work outside of our normal range. As we got near the 110 Freeway, I could see plumes of smoke all around South-Central Los Angeles. The columns had orange tints from the late afternoon sun, and the scene was almost apocalyptic. I knew a full curfew was set to go into effect at sunset, or 8pm, and I was hoping to get deployed before that. We got to Inglewood and staged in the parking lot of an eight-story hotel on Century Boulevard just off the freeway, today it is a Motel 6. Once again, we all stood around and waited, now as the sun was setting and the curfew was going in to affect. The Inglewood officials didn’t seem to know what to do with us. By that point rioting in their city had calmed down. Los Angeles and Compton were still rioting but Inglewood officials didn’t want to send us over to those areas in case Inglewood had more problems. I also think a lot of people saw us come into the city and officials just liked our presence as a deterrent.
We were eventually sent to guard a gas station on the north side of Inglewood, I think it was on La Brea near Centinela. The small mini mart portion of the Chevron had already been partially looted but I was able to find a map inside so we could figure out where we were (pre-cellphone era when gas stations sold maps). With the curfew in place we hardly saw anyone out and about. I could still hear gunshots occasionally, but everything sounded a couple blocks away, and no one was shooting at us. A couple of us eventually talked our Sergeant into letting us scout the surrounding area. Inglewood residents still had electricity so except for the looted businesses it looked normal. But once we went a few blocks East into Los Angeles where there was no power, so everything was pitch black. In Los Angeles we came across a market that was still burning, LA City Fire engines were on scene working it with CHP officers providing them security. On one block we found a corner market that had burned to the ground, a pilot light for some appliance was still burning and that little two-inch flame was the only light we could see on the entire block. We saw a few people moving around in the darkness but for the most part the streets were deserted in that area.
It was well after midnight when we returned to the hotel at the end of our shift. Things were still disorganized. The San Bernadino County Sheriff’s Department had allocated all the rooms at the hotel for their people, and no one had any idea where to put us. We waited for a long while and I finally got fed up. I told my sergeant if he’d let me drive to a pay phone I would find us a hotel. He asked how and I said I would just come up with something, he agreed since there wasn’t another option. The first hotel I could think of was the Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. I knew they would be empty and assumed they would be happy to have Officers on site given everything that was happening. I made the call, spoke with the manager, and he invited us come on over. They comped us on everything and their only request was that we park our units up front so anyone coming to cause problems would see them.
We decided to drive across Manchester Boulevard to the hotel in downtown LA. I knew Manchester very well, having driven it hundreds of times going to Kings games at the Forum. It was so surreal to see the area pitch black with so much damage and seemingly being the only ones out and about. So many businesses were gone, and it seemed there was a burned-out car in the road every couple blocks. We passed a couple armored vehicles parked on side streets then soon saw a pair of heads approaching from behind us. We couldn’t tell who it was, so we moved to the right lane and were starting to prepare for trouble when we saw it was a convoy of 30 Los Angeles County Sheriff’s units with four deputies in each car. Only the lead unit had headlights on every other unit behind was blacked out, we assumed they might have been out hunting for problems trying to appear as if there was just a solo vehicle. The sight of that LASD convoy passing us was so incredible, put the gravity of the situation in to perspective.
The next couple days we were assigned to guard the general area of Manchester and Crenshaw in Inglewood, it was mostly to show a presence and deter further unrest. We were able to assist Inglewood PD with a few calls, a shots fired and a looting in progress, but those calls were uneventful. It did allow us a chance to talk with the Inglewood officers about the first part of the rioting which was insane, I remember talking with Sergeant John Bell after clearing a Nix Check Cashing store which someone had reported being “re-looted”. I knew who Bell was, he was somewhat of a legend, having survived some intense situations. Bell told us that he was in three pursuits and two shootings on the first night of the riots. He described driving up to the front of a liquor store he thought was just being looted only to discover it was an armed robbery in progress and having to engage the suspects. Later that night I spoke with a couple more Inglewood officers in an unmarked unit on another call. They said their primary assignment that night was to go to “shots fired” and “man with a gun” calls before other officers in marked units arrived. Both officers had been in so many shootings the first two days of the riots the extra magazines on their belts were empty. The department had apparently run out of duty ammo because officers had been in so many shootings. They described the agency being in a “no hits no paper” mode because of how overwhelming things had been. They said if someone shot at them, they would try to return fire and get out of the area as fast as possible then come back later with numbers and check to see if they had hit anyone. I could tell how much stress they had been through with the looks on their faces. One side note about Nix Check Cashing, which is a chain of check cashing storefronts still around today, while we were there a couple guys drove up and asked us if Nix was open. We said they were closed because it had been looted. The guys lamented that they needed to cash their welfare checks but couldn’t find anyplace open because they had all been looted or burned. We suggested they drive out of the area, and they said they didn’t have enough gas because all the gas stations had also been looted and shut down. This interaction highlighted the lack of thought with the rioting. One other incredible thing I saw during the riots was the massive line of 3000 people at the main post office for South Central LA when people had to go down in person to get their welfare checks because all letter carrier service had been suspended because the area was too dangerous.
We patrolled around the neighborhoods some and interacted with people the best we could. I consider a lot of Inglewood as middle class, definitely nicer than South Central LA, and most the residents are good people. The neighborhoods were very well cared for, lots of older well-kept single-family homes. The homes were in good repair, lawns were mowed, hedges trimmed, most with a decent car in the driveway, and almost everyone with security bars on the windows. But it also seemed like every block had one house that was the local gang or crack house. Trash in the yard, broken down car out front, and bullet holes in the stucco. It still pisses me off to think of how many decent people were living behind bars because of the gangsters on their block, and how many more people today are subjected to crime. It was blatant who was involved in the looting and rioting. We stopped in front of one of those gangster houses and chatted with a guy putting a new car stereo in his ride. The guy said he had just bought it but we all knew where it came from but there was no way to prove it. All the stores had been closed for several days and he didn’t have a receipt. We then drove the alley behind the house and found a pile of old furniture and an old TV, they were not even trying to hide the fact they had been out looting. Most the people I spoke to were happy we were there and supported us. About a quarter of the people were just pissed off. Pissed off at how LAPD treated people they contacted but at the same time pissed off at the gangsters that committed the crime which created the law enforcement response. They were also livid with the people who destroyed their neighborhood. The rest of the people, mostly the ones involved in crime and causing problems, just hated us and didn’t mind letting us know about it.
I was able to photograph some while I was there although I was limited in how much time I could spend doing it. Somehow I lost one of my rolls of film, one that had images of the burned-out cars in the street, If I remember correctly from the area of Florence and Normandie, but I still have the images in my mind. My portrait of “Bill”, who owned a laundromat, in front of burned-out business is one of my favorites. He was such a gentleman, in talking to him I knew how much effort he put in to building his business and it made me mad they destroyed his business for something he had absolutely no responsibility for. His faith was impressive and I assume he rebounded well. I have other photographs which document the devastation of the fires and looting. I remember photographing a bank where the giant main steel support beam for the roof bent from the intensity of the fire being left to burn out, the only thing left inside the walls was the vault, it was insane to think how hot that fire must have been.
I knew at the time that I pretty much missed out things with the riots. I had so many friends at other agencies who were in the middle of the fight as were a lot of press photographers at the time. I was able to witness and document the aftermath still and have a good understanding of the atmosphere, but that was about it.
With the 30th Anniversary of the Los Angeles Riots this weekend I wanted to take a moment to share these photographs and the story of my experience. I am fearful how history is being rewritten lately, and it is important we remember things as accurately as possible to prevent repeating previous mistakes or creating new problems.
PD-029 #07 5-02-92
Harry Carey - HoHoKam Park - March 1983
40 years Photographing the Cactus League
2022 marked the 75th Anniversary of the Cactus League, Spring Training in Arizona, and the 40th Anniversary of my first trip to Arizona to watch, and photograph, Cactus League games.
In 1983 my buddy Steve DeWitt suggested we road trip to Arizona to go see some Cubs Spring Training games. Two other friends also went along. I think I drove us out there in my small Toyota truck, and I know we stayed at the Motel 6 in Scottsdale. That “Six” was in even worse condition than you would expect from that motel chain, the pool was solid green, and the room was dated, so it was ideally suited for a low budget road trip by 20-year-old males.
CL-094 #33 3-28-87
Don Zimmer, Manager Roger Craig, Bob Lills, and Jose Morales - Old Scottsdale Stadium
Spring Training then was nothing like it is today. Back then the teams didn’t count on the games as revenue sources like they do today. Teams seemed happy with whatever ticket sales they picked up to cover some of the training costs, it wasn’t a production like it is now. Most tickets were $5, the stadiums were very simple, and they would even let you bring in your own coolers of beer. When we went to see the Cubs at HoHoKam Park we sat right under the press box, behind home plate, and we could literally stand up on the bench seating and talk to the announcers who were eye level on the other side of their worktables (as you can see with the lead photograph of this post). We sat there specifically to be close to the legendary announcer Harry Caray who was starting his second season calling Cubs games. We infuriated long time Cubs radio broadcaster Lou Boudreau by asking him to get Harry’s attention for us. Lou was already in the Hall of Fame as a player by then and he hated the fact we were more interested in Harry than him. Lou was also probably upset that we had passed a few Budweisers from our cooler to Harry by then too; he wasn’t supposed to drink during the game but then it was Harry. Harry was famous for leading the crowds in the singing of the 7th Inning Stretch, especially since joining the Cubs in Wrigley. Harry was not supposed to lead the crowd during that spring training game, but everyone encouraged him to sing it and he did. Afterword he leaned over towards our section and said “I remember the first time they asked me to sing the 7th inning stretch in Comiskey (The White Sox home park, Harry had called White Sox games for ten years before joining the Cubs and the White Sox started the tradition of Harry singing the stretch). They asked me what “key” I wanted it in, and I told them the only “key” I’m familiar with is “whiskey”!” Then he bellowed out laughing with the rest of us. Access to the players and personalities back then is what made Cactus League so special. It was an epic road trip at the start of my love for the Cactus League.
I transferred to Arizona State University in 1984 and spent each March I was in school going to as many Cactus League games as I could. Being a photography major I started to photograph games as another school project, a portfolio that now documents 40 years. Things were so relaxed then that I often would be able to put my 500 mm Mirror lens on a monopod and just walk out on to the field and photograph from the photography wells without anyone questioning me. At Scottsdale Stadium when games were over-sold, they even let fans sit on the field in foul territory beyond the bullpen mounds. It would never happen in today’s world but back then the fence for the stands was only about three feet tall and no one cared. People respected the players, and no one was on a cellphone, so people paid attention to the game. One day the Giants Assistant Director of Public Relations Dave Aust finally noticed me on the field and asked who I was and how I got there. I told him I was a student at ASU documenting Cactus League games, and I didn’t really admit that I knew I wasn’t supposed to be on the field. Dave got me off the field but told me to meet him at his office before the next game. Dave was just starting out in his career, we talked, and I think he respected how hard it was to get established and he liked the idea of my project. He issued me a photo credential for the rest of the season and for a couple years after that too. Tempe Diablo Stadium was another favorite of mine when I was in school because they always left the service gate on the third base side unlocked so I never had to pay for games there. A plus being a college student needing all the extra cash I had to buy film and paper.
When I was photographing Cactus League in the mid 1980’s there were only 8 teams that I remember. In the Phoenix area the Oakland A’s played at Phoenix Municipal, the Milwaukee Brewers were at Compadre Stadium in Chandler, The Chicago Cubs were at HoHoKam in Mesa, the Seattle Mariners at Tempe Diablo, and the Giants were at Scottsdale Stadium. The San Diego Padres were in Yuma, Arizona, the Cleveland Indians were in Tucson, and the California Angels were still based in Palm Springs, California. Today there are 16 teams in the Cactus League, playing in 10 state of the art Phoenix area facilities. Scottsdale Stadium, originally built in 1956, was rebuild in 1992 and Tempe Diablo Stadium, built in 1969, are the only two remaining Cactus League parks from when I started (Phoenix Municipal still exists but it is now the home of ASU Baseball). Modernization of the Cactus League really began in 1994 with the opening of the Peoria Sports Complex for the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres. Peoria is still a great facility to watch baseball in, and probably has the friendliest staff. Most all the stadiums are surrounded by multiple training fields and training facilities now. The newest stadium is Sloan Park, the Chicago Cubs home in Mesa, which opened in 2014.
I see Baseball as a Metaphor for American Society, that is one of the reasons I like photographing it so much. Spring Training is baseball in its purest form. You have the current players getting prepared for the season, aging stars trying to find one of those last roster spots, and young players chasing the dream to get to “The Show”. It is a rebirth, signaling that the new season approaches. It is casual experience for the fans, since all games don’t count, it is easy for spectators to relax and just enjoy being at a ballpark. A popular component of every stadium now is lawn seating beyond the outfield fences. Players have more time to interact with fans and don’t have the demands of the regular season schedule. It is unfortunately changing though, as is our society. Safety netting at Camelback Ranch, the Dodgers and White Sox home stadium, now goes the entire length of the field so the interaction between fans and players is harder now. I assume attorneys worried of liabilities championed changes like this, but then when I see how many people attend games now with the eyes glued to their cellphones, I guess I can understand the reasoning. Pricing has also changed, and Spring Training is now as much of a business venture as the regular season is. I am admittedly a romantic and I not usually a fan of change. My Cactus League portfolio has documented these changes fairly well, and because baseball is such an integral part of American society I think this portfolio also speaks to the changes in our society these past 40 years.
Even though Spring Training was cut short this year with the MLB lockout, I made it out to Phoenix last week to photograph a couple days of Cactus League games in honor of both anniversaries. Included below in this blog are a selection of my photographs from the trip. I also authored this post honor of Major League Baseball’s Opening Day yesterday.
