Beyond Single Objects on Plain Backgrounds

Much of what I did last year is single objects on plain backgrounds and I'm trying to push beyond that, not only because it feels too narrow (I mean, there's specializing, and then there's specializing), but because I want to work with complex ideas.

How complex? Not too...I mean this is just the idea that the shoes want to go running.

But working on this image reminded me of how I got on that single-object-on-plain-backgrounds track: it's cheap. Very cheap.

It's, uh, irritating that the year when I ought to start doing tests with larger budgets is the same year the economy falls all to pieces.

I believe in a world of limits

"I believe in maniacs. I believe in type As. I believe that you've got to love your work so much that it is all you want to do. I believe you must betray your mistress for your work, you betray your wife for your work; I believe that she must betray you for her work. I believe that work is the one thing in the world that never betrays you, that lasts. If I were going to be a politician, if I were going to be a scientist, I would do it every day. I wouldn't wait for Monday. I don't believe in weekends."- Richard Avedon

I attend a group with Lisa Wiseman, and we trade inspiration. Last time I pulled this quote from Avedon as my bit. I'm not going to disparage Richard Avedon, his career and his contributions to photography, but I've had a hard time with the betrayal part of this quote. After wrestling with it for a while, I've decided that this comes from a belief in scarcity, that the essence of the world is limited, and that you must decide between work and love, between yourself and others. Otherwise, the guy's just selfish (which is possible, what with the mistress, and considering his marital history and jeez, there seems to be a lot of betrayal going on).

I'm not convinced that this is an accurate description of the world.

But whatever. I needed to figure out what to do with this quote, and I wasn't having any ideas about photographs to makeof it, so I decided to act out the quote. I committed to shooting as much as I could in order to get this project out the door in a timely fashion.

I'm no Richard Avedon, I'll tell you that. I tried to betray my fiancee by leaving the dirty dishes but it doesn't take that long, so I washed them anyway. I tried to betray the dog by not going running with him, but I needed to get out too. I did manage to shoot and retouch two of these per day for a week or so.

See the entire series.

I Got into the APA Something Personal Show

I'm pleased and excited to note that these two images were selected for the APA Something Personal Show.

Last year I didn't get in. I talked to Thomas Broening about that, and he asked me how many images I submitted. I told him "One." He laughed.

This year I submitted eight.

There is an opening/holiday party on December 11th. (Complete series)

Dyson Vacuums Ad

In May, I volunteered at the San Francisco Portfolio Night. Portfolio Night is an around-the-world event that matches graduating art directors with established art directors. I volunteered to help because I thought I might be able to hook up with some budding art directors who need some of their ideas photographed.

I did in fact hook up with some. Cliff Seto is the first one that I've worked with. Cliff had an idea about shooting messes as crime scenes to advertise vacuum cleaners. We pulled this production off in a couple days - Cliff was in a hurry to get his portfolio finished so he could graduate, and I was in NYC when we started talking about it. I got a friend to loan me his house, stopped by my local pet groomer to pull dog hair from their vacuum cleaner, and Cliff got a plant. Darcy Rogers via NAOPA volunteered to assist and was super helpful.

I think the three of us got these pictures to about 90%. We really needed a stylist to go all the way, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to secure one, due to the compressed timeline (and styling budget of zero).

It was easier and harder than working without an art director. On the one hand, I had to interpret what Cliff was going for; on the other, in those moments when things stopped flowing, I could look to him for some guidance. Happily, Cliff is a good communicator, and I've learned some things to help that along (eg, asking for photographic examples, offering quick sketches).

The whole thing was a good experience - I like working on other peoples ideas. Next week I'll start shooting something with another art director from Portfolio Night.

Busyness

All my mid- to long-term projects seem to keep getting interrupted by booking or by weddings and birthdays. Oh and self-promotion. I've been looking at Flickr, but haven't really been able to address any of that 'new photography' stuff.

I did manage to work this out today, with a stylist named Colleen Hartman.