Please join me at Sweetwater's at 123 West Washington on Friday, August 25 from 7-8:30. I will have a few pieces hanging along side the other five members of my photo group. Would love to have you there.
Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category
Artist Reception
Wednesday, August 2nd, 2017Day 28 of the Minimalist Game
Saturday, March 1st, 2014Today’s the last day of February and the last day of The Minimalist Game, http://www.theminimalists.com/game/. I’m going “play again” in March, since I’m not done getting rid of things.
Some of the things on today’s list of items include: punch bowl with matching cups, sleeping bag (not ever going to camp again), badminton racquets and birdie, four college yearbooks, four t-shirts, five milk crates, two kites and kite string, and 30 years of photographic negatives.
During this purging process there have been places I have bumped up into emotionally difficult groups of things. Other times it’s felt too tough to deal with either the shear volume of stuff (either sorting through or lugging it out of a closet or the basement) and I have turned away. The negatives were the first really emotionally difficult thing to toss. There were a lot of them, organized and labeled, neatly and carefully stored in a couple of containers. But, like the kites and kite string, I hadn’t used them in a very long time. And, realistically I’m not ever going to. They aren’t adding value to my life and they were just taking up space. They remind me of what I haven’t done (some sort of photo project) instead of inspire me to do something creative and new.
I can already feel the freedom that comes with less clutter. With fewer things I feel lighter and more able to just get stuff done. There’s a lot more to go, and I’m sure there will be hard things to part with in the future. Even so, I’m looking forward to playing another round next month.
Here’s (most of) the stuff from February’s Minimalist Game.
Opening, May 31 from 4-7 PM
Thursday, May 31st, 2012Tonight I’ll be at Foran’s Grand Trunk Pub at 612 Woodward in Detroit. Fourteen of my photos are on the walls and during happy hour there will be food for all. Thanks to my friend Ken for brokering this opportunity, helping me hang the photos, and for boosting my confidence along the way.
The photos will be up during the month of June and if there’s a closing party, I’ll post it here, too.
Characters of the West: Deadwood Legend
Thursday, August 25th, 2011In addition to meeting the characters of the Old West through stories, we ran into some modern day characters.
While walking along Main Street in Deadwood a guy stumbled out of a bar for a smoke.
South Dakota recently banned smoking so all the restaurants, gaming establishments, bars and other public places are smoke free. My cousin Robb reported that gambling revenue is down about 17% since the ban.
As this guy attempted to light his cigarette he said “Take my picture. I’m a Deadwood legend”. So, I took his photo, after which he told me if I needed a guide, he was my guy. He also questioned whether or not there was film in my (digital) camera and I showed him his image on the screen and he seemed pleased.
Theme of the Month: Panorama
Saturday, April 2nd, 2011Michigan is ugly in March so I struggled with the March theme of Panorama … until the last day of the month. Finally took myself out and shot for just about a half an hour and it worked (well enough) to my surprise. To see the panorama shots I took, you can start here: http://www.pixelgary.com/PAW/Theme/index.php?showimage=561
Chuck
Friday, March 6th, 2009Ive been driving by this guy for months. He stands at the exit ramp at I-94 and Jackson Road in Ann Arbor. Obviously homeless, he stands at the exit with a piece of cardboard without anything written on it. I’ve wanted to take his picture for some time and finally got up the courage today. I went up to him, said hi, and asked him if I could take his picture. He said, Sure. But I dont have anything on my sign. I told him that was what made it interesting … and then he told me the whole story of why he doesnt have anything written on his sign. He got ticketed and had to go to court when he had Will work for Food on his sign. The cop didnt show up to the hearing so the case was thrown out. He told the judge he was going to hold up a blank sign from now on and, for the last six months, thats what hes been doing. Its been driving me bonkers that he holds up a blank sign! Now I know the story behind it.
His name is Chuck and hes homeless. He sleeps under bridges and right now has his blankets under I-94 at Jackson Road. He mentioned that it was a really hard winter and when I asked him if he ever thought about moving south where its warmer he said no, that Ann Arbor is home. He has two grown children, Alice and Lisa. He was easy to talk to, willing to share his story, and didnt seem under the influence of anything.
I anticipated some sort of negotiation when I asked to take his picture … something like Sure … you can take my picture for five bucks but he just said yes. We chatted for 5-10 minutes and then, when I left, I shook his hand … and then gave him a dollar. He didnt ask I just gave it to him.
Theme a Month
Monday, November 10th, 2008The online photo group I belong to (Photo a Week) has started something new … Theme a Month. November’s theme is Uniformity. I started shooting two weekends ago and got a few shots while in Saugatuck. My photo buddy, Bev, has also joined and as we wandered the town shooting we were digging the assignment. To see what’s there for the month of November so far go here: http://www.pixelgary.com/PAW/Theme/index.php?x=browse
Peter Turnley (again)
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008Turns out Peter Turnley is an artist in residence at the U of M Residential College during the winter semester. So, that’s why he’s in town. He is speaking again next week on Tuesday, April 8.
His talk this time is in connection with the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq. His public lecture is entitled “Iraq Uncensored: Images from US-led wars in 1991 and 2003”. After his lecture, there will be a discussion about the war led by Charles Bright, a professor of history.
If you’re interested in attending, the lecture is free and open to the public. It starts at 7:00 PM and is at the East Quadrangle Residential Building in room 126. That’s at 701 E. University Ave in Ann Arbor.
Peter Turnley
Thursday, March 27th, 2008Tuesday night I went to Washtenaw Community College to hear a talk by a photographer. My friend and photo buddy, Bev, went with me. We both enjoyed his talk very much.
Peter Turnley calls himself a photo journalist. He’s been a photographer for over 30 years and has visited over 90 countries. His photographs have been on over 40 covers of Newsweek. He talked for about an hour and a half in the dark while showing some of his photographs (most of which can also be seen on his website http://www.peterturnley.com/index.html). He’s a good speaker and seems like a regular guy who has had some, as he would call them, lucky breaks. He spoke confidently but not arrogantly to a crowd of a couple of hundred people. It was a mixed crowd with lots of WCC students and a good number of older people. Bev and I figured we were right smack dab in the middle of the demographic group. When the slide show was done he took questions for a half and hour. He’s a good story teller and it’s amazing he remembers the details of places and dates he’s been. He lives in NYC now but lived for a good number of the last 30 years in Paris.
He, his stories and mostly his photographs inspired me to give taking photos of people a try!
SOLD!
Monday, August 13th, 2007This past week two of my photos sold. I’m a part of the Ann Arbor Women Artists group. They partner with different businesses around town and hang AAWA members’ art on the walls. For the next two months I’ll have six photos on the wall at the Westgate Curves. The show, up until October 6, has been up just over a week and I’ve sold two photos and a set of notecards! I’m just tickled.