New Work

mysteries

"sub": under "urbia": city

Within the suburbs lies a hidden world, a collection of concealed yards, covered windows, buried secrets. I am interested in this hidden world. We prune, and tend and try to tame it all and yet it somehow returns.

under and over

tall, imposing fences both keep in and keep out. simultaneous protection and confinement.

looking

missing

hideout

happy st patricks day!

I got some power ball tickets in Denver last week and won $17! was hoping for the 250,000,000!

38 is the new 28!

another year older and wiser and better!
I just returned from SPE in Denver today and had a really good time. Saw lots of photo friends from different parts of the country, professors and tons of photography. I never knew Arno Minkkinen would be dancing like a madman at 3am! I had critiques with James Kolby, Director of the Weeks Gallery in Jamestown, NY; Liz Unterman, the education coordinator the the Center for Photography at Woodstock; Tammy Cromer-Campbell from TCC Photo Gallery in Longview, TX and Bill Kouwenhoven, editor of Hotshoe magazine based in Berlin.

guardian

engulf

engulf: to swallow up. Ive been testing how to represent this. much more to do here. I dont want to be literal. But there is something interesting about plants that consume

beneath

mystery in an ordinary place

the lunar eclipse (just for fun! 15 minute exposure)

In looking around these last few weeks I've been shooting through the "dense" spaces of my surroundings and searching for ways to invite the viewer in. There is not much room or much light, so it is simultaneously inviting and unsettling, just where I want it to be. I'm looking to give a sense of being there and show less of a representation of what is there. Really focusing on the mood of the images.

Yesterday I met with Claire. We had a productive meeting, I see my style is evolving and I am not completely comfortable with it yet, its like a new pair of shoes. I need a little time to make it mine. Claire wants me to quit fucking around and focus so to speak, in other words make some very conscious choices and be strong to defend them. what is it about this place and (my) being in it? Each addition to the body of work should be explained and purposeful. The most successful images are evocative of mood and really speak to a place of mystery and intrigue in a very ordinary place. I'm working on the images that will act as bridges between the more atmospheric pieces and the more descriptive ones. lots to do and June will be here before we know it.

I'm currently printing some work to take to Denver tomorrow for the SPE conference. It will be good to see Jen, Liz, Sam, Patrick and who knows who else will be there from Boston. A mid semester summit. I'll also have a chance to have drinks and catch up with my undergrad professors Jeannie Pearce and Alida Fish. which is always fun. I've got to get some leave behinds printed up so I'm off & Ill post more images later.

It's dark, I'm coughing and standing out in the street by the mailboxes in my sweats and slippers taking 5 and 10 minute photographs. A neighbor's house sitter came out with a dog. The dog saw me and barked but I don't think she could see me, although I did say hi....needless to say, I'm surprised the cops were not called to check out the stranger lurking in the shadows on our quiet street

still sick. slept some 17 hours straight sat. & had to cancel another meeting. I've got writing to do, my paper is waiting, and I've got editing and lots of printing to do .....

winter

the flu

im getting sick. i have so much to do i'm starting to feel the stress. ive had to cancel my meeting with claire and hopefully we can reschedule soon, her schedule is crazier than mine

psychological portraits

The Oscars are coming...Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises and Russian tattoos...
A couple of years ago in march I spent my birthday in new york. I went to the Russian Samovar for caviar, aspic, herring and vodka. It was snowing (!) and absolutely amazing. There is something wonderfully seductive about the lounge, the red lights glow amidst all the people smoking, laughing and comfortably hanging out.

In a similar night, I had a great Russian dinner at Restaurant Pasternak in Berlin. Named after Boris Pasternak, the author of Doctor Zhivago, for which the movie version in 1966 won 5 Oscars, including one for cinematography and one for art direction.

These restaurants and movies are all about ambiance, mood and getting in. Presenting a psychological portrait. of a person. or of a place.

Image, Donald Weber

Documentary photographer Donald Weber's images of life in Russia are haunting, saturated with color and evocative. Based out of Kiev and Moscow, he was recently awarded a spot in PDN's 30 of 2008. He's also worked as an architect and he was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2007. smart