Robbie McBloggie

McBloggie is moving.....

2010-02-16T12:28:00.000-08:00

I've decided to move McBloggie to my own domain for a variety of reasons. Please redirect to:

http://mcclaran.com/mcbloggie

Thanks for reading.

Presidents Day

2010-02-15T10:43:00.000-08:00

They waited, respectfully and patiently, for their turn to have their picture taken in front of the great man, a near constant stream of people from every ethnic background, anxious to pay tribute to this icon of American presidents, who represents so much of what is good in the American promise. On this day I was proud to be an American.

Midwestern Minature Metropolis

2010-02-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

My buddy Alan sent me this link. Photographer Michael Paul Smith, a former museum display designer, created models and superimposed them in real backgrounds to recreate the midwestern town of his youth. This is the coolest thing I've seen in a while:
Check it out: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/35299392/ns/today-today_home_and_garden/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1

More of his images can be seen on his flickr page Here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24796741@N05/sets/72157604247242338/

Mac

2010-02-11T09:14:00.000-08:00

Oliver B. McClaran July 29, 1917 - February 11, 1978

Me and Dad, 1956

Interview in Shutterbug

2010-02-09T15:28:00.000-08:00

I was interviewed by Maria Piscopo for her Business Column in Shutterbug along with BigshotStock colleagues, Brian Smale, Shawn Henry and Brian Smith about business trends in editorial photography.

Workshop in Haiti?

2010-02-08T14:12:00.000-08:00

Zoriah Miller wants to charge $4G to teach a workshop on Disaster photography. WTF? To be honest I haven't read the entire output of opinions on this but it's stirring up a shit storm on the various forums and blogs. There's even a facebook page, "Responsible Photographers Against Zoriah..."

Here's some more reading:

Huffington Post

Light Stalkers discussion

And Zoriah's version of the story

Be Here To Love Me

2010-02-05T15:10:00.000-08:00

Be Here To Love Me.

I’ve been haunted since watching this fantastic documentary on Townes Van Zandt the other night. Reflecting back on when he first began playing and writing music he said:

“There was one point when I realized, Man, I could really do this. But it takes blowing everything off. It would take blowing off family, money, security….happiness. Get a guitar and go”.

He did. But could I do it, blow everything off? Could you? It strikes me as an act of ultimate courage to walk away from everything in order to single-mindedly pursue perfection in your art. A argument could be made that it's ultimate selfishness. Or cowardice.

The film’s poster asks, “What would you sacrifice to follow your dream”?

It’s easy to romanticize the idea of no attachments, no distractions, nothing holding you back. But I love my life, my family, my motorcycles and my work. Would it be worth living without all of that to make art without compromise. I’m sure I don’t have it in me.

So the reverse question might be asked, “how has your work been sacrificed so you can lead a semi-normal life”?

Life only gives you one chance to get it right. I guess it helps to start out being a genius.

Pilfered

2010-02-03T08:35:00.000-08:00

Mike Floyd just sent me the link this morning to something called Pilfered Magazine, a photo blogozine exclusively featuring images stolen from various sources on the web and submitted by viewers. This month's cover features an Irving Penn image. But beyond that individual pages don't even credit the stolen photo to the original creator.

Their about page says:

"Its founders, artist Patrick Hoelck and creative director RUDJ, together with their team (Nate “Res” Harvey & Mia Van Valkenburg), have in the past spent hours surfing the web to put together presentations for various commercial ad and editorial jobs…and noticed the hours it took to gather images and felt it was time to have a massive image collective shared by the people, for the people."

What a load of crap. Theft is theft whatever you want to call it and however fancy you want to design it.

Rest Area- I-5

2010-01-30T16:38:00.000-08:00

Not really the a great picture but I like it anyway.

Vintage Derby Photos

2010-01-29T10:30:00.000-08:00

1952, Championship Heat

In my other role as Dad I've become more invloved with the Soap Box Derby. Along with the amazing Lydia Hess we've been working on producing new marketing material for the Salem Soap Box Derby Association, new website, etc.. I had seen scrapbooks that belong to the club before and tracked down Steve Brandt, a former race Champ and Race Director, as well as Dad to two racer / Champs, who keeps the books. Steve gave me permission to bring some home to scan for the website and I have only scratched the surface. Some of the images are amazing, at least I think so, but maybe that's because of my enthusiasm for the Derby. One of the things that I think is particularly cool is seeing these images from 50 - 60 years ago on the same race track my kids race on. Here's a couple more:

1963, Finish Line

1953

Check out the Salem SBD website here: http://salemsbd.org/History.html

BTW, This is a super cool thing to get kids involved in. If you are interested in more info get in touch.

Characters

2010-01-28T15:10:00.000-08:00

When asked what I like about my work the first thing I think of is the cast of characters I meet. Over the years I've had the pleasure of photographing people of many many walks of life, politicians, tycoons, murderers, atheletes, junkies, movie stars, etc., but none have the chutzpah of Stu Rasmussen. Elected Mayor of Silverton Oregon last year Stu became the first transgendered Mayor of an American town. I spent a couple days in Silverton hanging out with Stu and what I found remarkable was after only a few minutes, minutes in which Stu quickly disarms and charms you, you no longer see him as transgendered. You just see Stu. The people of Silverton, young and old have accepted him as one of their own in ways I found hard to believe could happen in a small town.
Anyway, here's a couple from the take I shot for People:

in the City Council Chambers, Silverton.

With his girlfriend Victoria.

We're screwed

2010-01-22T08:06:00.000-08:00

Time magazine paid $30 for a stock photo which it used on the cover to illustrate a story on the "The New Frugality". Is that frugality or publishers making a statement to "content providers" about the ready availability of cheap but acceptable artwork. It seems the day of reckoning is upon us when a culture of commodified "good enough" content has replaced well craft art in magazines and advertising. Can consumers tell the difference? Do publishers care?

Great article in the LA Times:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-et-onthemedia22-2010jan22,1,3750639.column?page=1

My Blog Sucks

2010-01-21T16:08:00.000-08:00

Okay I admit it. I really have been calling it in and not putting forth the effort to make this worth reading. And to be honest I've been just a tad lost in regards to improving it.

But the thought occurred to me that perhaps I could spice things up by telling a few stories about some of the more, ahem, interesting shoots I've been fortunate to be assigned over the years. I mean this IS a glamour profession after all.

So why not start at the beginning. Way back in 1985, I was living in Dallas Texas trying to get started working as a magazine photographer. I went down to Austin and met with Fred Woodward at Texas Monthly and showed what no doubt was the thoroughly forgettable portfolio I had at the time. He didn't have much to say about it but on leaving I gave him a copy of a small self published book I had produced a few years prior, called Atget's Gardens. The book consisted of pictures I had made at Versailles one afternoon under the influence of cheap red wine and the notion I was walking in Atget's footsteps. Here's a couple sample pictures:

Well what do you know but Fred really liked the little book and damned if he didn't call me for an assignment a couple weeks later. My first big time magazine assignment. And for a heavy weight art director as well.

The assignment was to photograph the car pound. The place your car goes when it gets towed. I shot 22 rolls of tri-x (that's black and white film for any youngens that might be reading). Here's the image that was published:

After that it was off to the races. My next gig was shooting the dog catcher:

Over the next 4 years I shot a number of assignments for Texas Monthly for Fred, Nancy McMillan, Kathy Marcus and DJ Stout. I can't begin to tell you how fortunate I was to land those first gigs, as they opened doors for me in NY and elsewhere down the road. But the first was still the best. Thanks again Fred.

BTW, I still have copies of Atget's Gardens for sale. 5 bucks.

Mark Hooper

2010-01-20T14:03:00.000-08:00

I just returned from a terrific presentation by photographer Mark Hooper as part of the Portland Art Museum and the Photography Council's Brown Bag Lunch series. Mark produces elegantly executed, thought provoking and often humorous work for magazine photo illustrations as well as work specifically for exhibition. If you don't know his work seek it out. The two images above are the only ones I could find to link to but take some time and look at his web portfolio.

Surprise Package

2010-01-12T16:00:00.000-08:00

As has been widely reported Business Week magazine was purchased by Bloomberg and is moving their offices. Today I received a package of original images dating back 20 years I had created for Business Week over the years, which they kept on file for potential future use. Was fun going through the package and finding images so old made for stories I had long forgotten.
Included was this vintage portrait of Bill Gates, photographed in 1991 working in his home office on a Saturday morning.

I have no idea

2010-01-07T14:51:00.000-08:00

Preservation Magazine

2010-01-06T13:06:00.000-08:00

This guy has made a mint selling stuff for old houses.

Inc. Magazine

2010-01-06T13:02:00.000-08:00

Fun story about books burritos and a son's love.

Performance makeup

2009-11-16T18:54:00.000-08:00

Musings on Shooting Video

2009-11-13T09:47:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night Pro Photo and Canon sponsored a panel discussion of photographers who are beginning to shoot video. Like many photographers who are wondering where the sea change in our industry is headed, I’ve wondered if video is the new thing. Wednesday night did nothing to clarify it for me.

After a promo reel and an introduction to some video basics by the Canon rep, we were shown clips by each of the panel members and when the evening was over I came to a couple of very vague conclusions:

1. Just because you can shoot a fine still image does not translate to being able to speak a motion language.
2. Video is as much about sound and editing as it is the visual, perhaps more. Crappy sound, bad music, choppy editing makes a bad video, no matter the visuals.

The new Canon DSLR tools are opening doors to thousands of photographers who will shoot video. They will all be competing with an already robust industry of seasoned, talented film makers for their assignments. If I were a veteran film maker I’d be really concerned about the race to the bottom in the pricing arena that we have seen in the photo business brought on by an influx of hungry young photographers/videographers. If you think I’m being cynical consider clients who are looking to Flickr for their source of still materials. Then have a look around youtube.

I think the real growth industry in video production will be skilled sound artists and editors.

When the discussion brought up the subject of royalties for music I got really depressed. They all agreed your best bet was find a musician who would hand over their work for free or for trade. Sound familiar photographers?

I thought it was ironic when one panel member stated although he had used music without permission, as it was not a commercial piece, and besides he didn’t know how to contact the famous musician anyway, it was okay to use it.

But is not a portfolio piece, in this case a video clip as part of ones reel, a “commercial” piece? And is not using someone’s work in this way no different than an ad agency using your images for comps? I know many photographers who have tried to get paid for such usages.

The real kick in the pants was the suggestion that it’s so easy to find musicians who will let you use their work for free, just search myspace. Apparently there is a French website that has over 100,000 royalty free music clips. Ironic to hear all this from photographers who fight tooth and nail to retain intellectual property rights in an age of Flickr, clipart and royalty free micro stock. Glad I'm not a musician.

All this plus the unanswered questions about pricing / ownership rights and I came away from the evening no more enlightened, or for that matter excited, about the prospect of adding video to my skill set. Then again I saw one clip that kept the idea alive for me.

One video clip really stood out from the others and it wasn’t surprising given that the director / dp was none other than Pete Stone, a famously talented and creative still photographer who has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to technology and can run most other photographers off the field. Here’s a link:

http://wadhams-stone.com/

McClaran.com Redesign

2009-11-09T13:18:00.000-08:00

Lydia, Rory and I have been working on a web re-design. No radical changes, just cleaned up the old design, fixed some things that weren't working well, made the pictures bigger and of course added some new material (as well as got rid of some). Phase one will be live soon featuring a new Portraits portfolio, with a brand new Travel portfolio soon to follow and finally a refreshed Projects section. We're beta testing now, here's a peak:

http://mcclaran.com/portraits/portraits_01.htm#

If your tired of wasting time on Facebook have a look and let me know if it's working okay.

New York City

2009-10-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

The State of the Industry

2009-10-01T20:06:00.000-07:00

The State of the Industry

Hacked for Islam

2009-09-21T17:59:00.000-07:00

I didn't quite know what to make of it when I first saw it, whether to laugh or be horrified. Sometime around 10:00 pm last Saturday night I received an email telling me my portfolio site had been hacked. When I checked, instead all the nice pictures on my landing page that normally greet a visitor I found this:

Accompanied by ominous music. According to the official incident report the attackers found a vulnerablity and ran a rogue code that over wrote any files with the word index in the filename, defacing a number of sites hosted on the servers. The attack was traced back to a group called Milw0rm and while I will likely never know the identity of the attacker and whether they were jihadists or just bored teenagers out for some mischief, the creep out factor was over the top, coming as it did the day after the 8th anniversary of 9/11. The site was fully restored in a matter of hours and I can't say enough good things about the customer support at Easystreet.

Andrew Wheating for Runner's World

2009-09-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

The University of Oregon star is being billed as the great American hope in the 1500. A really nice kid, I hope he make it happen.

72nd All American Soap Box Derby World Championships

2009-09-19T12:39:00.000-07:00

My daughter, as the top points earner in Region 1, earned a return trip the All American Soap Box Derby World Championships in Akron Ohio, held the third week of July. This year she bounced back after last year's devastating crash and won 8th place in the Stock Rally division.
It's often frustrating to attend this event as a photographer because while I am constantly inspired by the rich visual environment of the event, my job as car handler for my driver prevents the kind of attention necessary to make serious photographs. So I keep my G9 handy and shoot what I can when I can. Not much race day action this year due to her staying in the race but I'll trade the pictures for the trophy any time. If you have a kid between the ages of 8 and 17 I urge you to get involved in this fantastic old school family activity.

Playing Catch Up, Fourth of July

2009-09-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

Thunderstorm over Indiana

2009-07-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

Dave Makes Killer bread

2009-06-05T13:59:00.001-07:00

Dave Dahl's story has received a fair amount of attention locally and now it's gone national with this feature in Inc. written by my friend and many time collaborator Bill Donahue. He's a three times convicted (Dave, not Bill), former meth dealer / addict who, with the help of his brother Glenn, has jump started a new life for himself baking amazing healthy bread.

This guy makes cool bikes in Portland

2009-06-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

Sacha White hand builds each Vanilla Bicycle himself. The attention to detail is sublime. The waiting list is three years or thereabouts. Makes me wish I was thirty, skinny and riding one of his fixies.
Photographed for Forbes.

The Vendor Client Relationship

2009-05-28T11:47:00.000-07:00

More on Louisville

2009-05-15T09:50:00.000-07:00

The last time I showed work in Louisville was May of 1976, a student work show at the Louisville Public Library (if my memory serves me correctly), I had the distinction of having one of my entries removed due to obscenity. You be the judge but I'm guessing someone saw something homoerotic in the image.
Here's the story behind the picture. My friend Bobby Adams and I were interested in making deliberately provocative, dada'esque images often using each other as models. We were on the roof of the Center for Photographic Studies on W. Main St in downtown Louisville. I had just shot Bobby, with his camera, nude and standing on his hands with the cityscape of Louisville behind him. As he pulled on his jeans he remarked, "damn, look at the black stuff all over my hands" and I took a couple frames with my own camera.
The exaggerated grain in the image was from deliberate reticulation of the negatives during processing, a technique I used quite a bit during that period, and one which I now look back on and mostly groan. First year photo student stuff.
Anyway, it was kind of cool having my print banished. At least I got a reaction.

Inspiring and Overwhelming.

2009-05-01T08:39:00.000-07:00

I came away from my two mornings reviewing portfolios at Photolucida both inspired and overwhelmed by the level of talent and quality of the work, re-affirming my belief in the still image as a powerful medium. Three artists stood out for me:

Karen Davis’ series of staged set pieces using mechanical dolls that had belonged to her late disabled sister. Re-creating scenes, both imagined and actual, of their shared childhood Davis presents a powerfully emotional body of images.

Lauren Hinkin’s “Displaced I & II” series uses landscape to communicate a sense of loss and abandonment in two bodies of staggeringly beautiful B&W prints.

Alejandro Cartagena has over a period of years chronicled the affects of sprawling new suburbs in Mexican cities. He seduces the viewer by utilizing a combination of traditional landscape, abstract formalism and documentary motifs to achieve a complex simplicity that is at once both informative and beautiful.

It was such a pleasure and honor to be able to meet all the people who so generously shared their work with me. Thanks again to the good folks at Photolucida for putting on a great event.

Photolucida

2009-04-14T17:49:00.000-07:00

I'm excited and a bit nervous about speaking, along with my longtime dear friend and colleague Susan Seubert, at the 2009 Photolucida Portfolio Reviews next Thursday, April 23 at 11:15am. This event is only open to those attending the conference, but if you are going to be there stop by and say hello. Susan and I will be talking about our respective and different approaches to mixing our professional and fine art careers and of course showing pictures. I'll also be slinking about as a roving reviewer on Thursday and Friday.

Also plan to attend Susan's opening on Saturday the 25th at Froelick Gallery. I got a sneak preview of the work and all I will say is it's stunning.

2009-04-08T16:10:00.001-07:00

A door closes, a door opens. The news I had been rejected by FotoFest in Houston has since been tempered by an invitation to show 3 - 5 pieces from the same project as part of a group show in the Louisville Photo Biennial, which I wrote a bit about previously. The show will be at Actors Theater Gallery, which I understand is a quite nice space. Dates are June 5 – July 26. Below are three more images under consideration.

Rejected

2009-03-25T12:22:00.000-07:00

The sting of the rejection letter cuts to the bone and crushes the fragile ego. Here are a few of the rejected works that were not selected for inclusion on the Fotofest Biennial Participating Space Website.

I have a feeling I may soon have opportunities to show other rejected works from various photo annual submissions, etc..

I Love Oregon Locations

2009-03-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday in the dunes near Florence.

Blatant self promotion

2009-03-10T09:28:00.000-07:00

What keeps me going in tough times such as these is the knowledge I possess that rarest of gifts, the ability to make a living doing what I love to do, I get paid to play. That and the fact that I have no other serious marketable skills.
And while the debate over whether magazine photography can remain a viable industry may rage on in other quarters I stubbornly push forward with little more than the knowledge I’ve survived previous economic downturns and a deep love of the game.
Of course not every gig is a dream come true but I find something in most all of them. Then there are those that come along now and again that require me to pinch myself.
In that vain I present my second published story for Travel Oregon magazine in which I was assigned to photograph and write about riding my motorcycle around backroads in the central Oregon high desert. Not a bad gig, huh?

Just for fun here are some of the images that didn't make the edit.

Shepard Fairey + Manny Garcia + Terry Gross

2009-02-26T16:21:00.000-08:00

An interesting interview today on Fresh Air with Shepard Fairey and Mannie Garcia regarding the now famous Obama portrait. It raises all kinds of interesting and complicated questions about the ever popular “appropriation” of source material for art and the appropriate attribution and compensation.

I’ve always been of the opinion that if an artist took source material and significantly changed it, such as Rauchenberg’s use of news photographs in his paintings, or Robert Hienecken’s use of advertising in his work, well it seemed fair enough to me. Where I call bullshit is with artists such as Richard Prince or Thomas Ruth who simply reproduce someone else’s art work and I’ve yet to hear an argument compelling enough to change my mind.

This case is a more difficult call for me and I have a leg on both sides of the fence, but leaning to Garcia. Fairey’s point of view is that he significantly changed the image and it’s purpose from a news reportage image to a political statement. But I agree with Garcia, that the image was his and he should have had the right to decide whether to allow it’s use. To bad Fairey couldn’t have done some legwork and tracked down Garcia prior to all this. Then again, Garcia may have denied him the rights and we would have never seen that iconic image. Tough call.

This isn't Fairey's first time being criticized for appropriating artwork and his defense claiming he uses proceeds to promote social causes rings a bit hollow because it also promotes Fairey in the process.

The sadder part of the interview came when Garcia was discussing his own dispute with AP regarding whether he as a free-lancer with no signed contract, was in fact “employed” by the AP. AP is claiming all his images were works made for hire and therefore the property of the AP. But if he was a free-lancer, not an employee, meaning not on salary with full benefits, etc. and had not signed a contract granting such rights, then all works should remain Garcia’s property. I hope he wins that one.

Mikah

2009-02-16T11:33:00.000-08:00

I met Mikah while volunteering for the Do1Thing project. She’s just turned 20 and is currently living at Bridge House in Portland, right in my neighborhood. Here are few details from her past:
Her father abandoned the family when she was an infant. At 14 she was placed in foster care because of her Mother’s drug addiction. At 17 she ran away to Las Vegas where she lived on the streets, slingin dope, stealing and using meth. Pregnant at 18 she was forced to surrender her parental rights. About 14 months ago she found out she was pregnant again. Hoping to avoid repeating her past mistakes and give this baby a chance she knew she had to get clean. She and her boyfriend went to live in Mexico with her boyfriend’s parents and kicked. About 7 months ago she returned to Portland Oregon where she couch surfed, slept on friend’s floors and eventually got into Bridge House.
Jordan is now 5 months old, chubby and bright eyed. Mikah attends AA meetings with her Mother and is working towards getting her GED. She hopes to get some education, a decent job and be a good mother to her son, hopefully earn back some parental rights to her now 2 year old daughter.
There were a few consistent themes that ran in the stories of the kids I met and spoke to while working on Do1Thing, primarily drug addicted parents, the foster care system and methamphetamine. If I learned nothing else it was that the best contribution to society I can ever make is to be a good parent to my own kids.
Mikah wants that for Jordan. The odds are stacked steeply against her. I hope she makes it, for her and Jordan’s sake.

2009 Louisville Photo Biennial

2009-02-05T08:17:00.000-08:00

This summer the Louisville Photo Biennial will be taking place between June 1 and July 31. The theme this year is "The Center for Photographic Studies" which happens to be where I attended my very first year of photography school. The Center, founded in 1970 by C.J. Pressma, was an alternative school for creative photography and it's impact on my career was monumental. The school had two galleries which showed work by important artists, such as Ansel Adams, Minor White, Henry Holmes Smith, Ralph Eugene Meatyard and many more. The Center also had a regular stream of visiting lecturers such as Russell Lee, Duane Michals, Les Krims and W. Eugene Smith. A. D. Coleman would come around from time to time. One of my most vivid memories was of smoking a joint with Eugene Smith and then taking him out for White Castle hamburgers at midnight in my old jalopy car. I had no idea just how cool that was at the time, I was so naive.
I received a query for material a couple of months ago and while digging through very old negatives and contact sheets I came across some of the first portraits I ever made, a series of fellow students shot in 1976. Using a borrowed Rollei, they were mostly made in the 4th floor loft of the school building under the skylight with natural light. Sadly the ravages of time on my memory have left me unable to name but a couple of these folks, (after all it was 32 years ago) but I remember the shoots and remember many things about each of them. If my luck plays out I will be able to attend the reunion scheduled for this summer and maybe pass on a copy to them all.

Impulse buy

2009-01-30T16:09:00.001-08:00

I stumbled onto this image while looking through prints for an upcoming portfolio submission. Made me lament the passing of Polaroid once again. Then I did something impulsive. I went online and found a place that has been hoarding it and is selling it for outrageous prices. So I did what anyone else would do who should be sticking money away for the impending depreession, I bought three packs of 665 for something like triple of what they should have sold for. I have no plans for a particular project or the like, just a strong desire to have some film should an idea arise. We'll see.

Pumpkins and an Ape

2009-01-27T10:10:00.000-08:00

Floydada Texas, September 29, 2008

Sunday morning Fujiroids

2009-01-25T12:49:00.000-08:00

I awoke to a light dusting of snow. We've had more snow this year than the previous twenty I've lived here combined.

Citizen Photojournailsm

2009-01-21T08:42:00.000-08:00

Citizen photojournalist.

I’ve recoiled somewhat from the notion in the past, fairly confident the power of photojournalism would be diminished if we relied too much on everyday people and their cell phone videos to report the major stories of the day, (and of course concerned about the ultimate affect it might have on my own livelihood). However when I first heard of the crash into the Hudson last week I immediately thought of the citizen photos that would inevitably appear, yet also confident there would be “real” images as well given it was NYC and the home base of some the finest photojournalists in the world. What I’ve found remarkable, and perhaps I just haven’t looked in the right places, is the relative dearth of those “real” images and the relative high quality of the citizen images. In the NY Times for example there are 16 news images and 18 reader submitted. I hate to say it but in many cases the reader submitted images are more compelling.

Check these:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/01/15/nyregion/20090115_plane_readers_slideshow_index.html

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/01/15/us/20090115-PLANECRASH_index.html

and commentary here:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/01/citizen-photo-o.html

Nadav Kander's Obama's People

2009-01-19T14:11:00.000-08:00

It’s been interesting reading the comments to aphotoeditor Rob Haggart’s posting of the “real behind the scenes” to Nadav Kander’s Obama’s People shoot and subsequent portfolio in the NY times Magazine, as well as other blogs. Lots of snarky comments criticizing the work, questioning the choice of Kander, the lighting style, and reeking of “I coulda, woulda done better”. I find it telling that the most vocal of these critics posted anonymously. For the most part an examination of the work of those few who did have the courage to post a link to their own work showed them to be artists of a lesser caliber and hardly with the credentials to take their comments seriously.

I found it curious how differently I responded to the printed version of the portfolio as opposed to the web slide show and it reaffirmed my belief that the web is an inferior medium for viewing photographs. Sorry it just is. I found I spent more time and looked at the images with a more curious and open mind, that I actually “looked” at them whereas on the web I “scrolled” through them much more quickly. On that note perhaps the web is an inferior format for serious criticism as well as most commenters seem to have blabbed out the first thing that popped into their heads rather than spending time with the work in question and looking at it in context.

Many people at APE criticized the lighting design, which is rather flat and shadowless and I have to admit I initially found it uninspiring as well. But as I spent more time with the images I began to believe a more shadowed richer light would intrude in allowing the viewer to simply see the person, which is I think the goal of this project. Avedon’s work was always more about Avedon and his own notions of the subject rather than the subject themsleves, something he never denied, whereas this project succeeds by letting the subjects tell their own stories without being burdened by the weight of technique. I suppose many might say the project fails for the same reason.

These images are of course being compared to Avedon’s landmark “The Family” portfolio in Rolling Stone from 1976, which was a purposeful source of inspiration for the Kander's portfolio, as well as Jeff Reidel’s brilliant portfolio from the campaign in GQ earlier this year, and the blog’s critics offer no shortage of suggestions of other artists who should have been given the assignment. Why not Annie, Heisler or Greenfield-Sanders. Hell why not Terry Richardson for god’s sake. The decision who to hire rests solely with the editorial staff of the publication and to suggest they somehow made a mistake only opens oneself to the same criticism anytime your own work is published.

The suggestions that it should have been limited to an American photographer was most ludicrous in my mind and I was reminded of D.J. Stout’s statement he never hired artists by zip code. As if The Americans would have somehow been better had Robert Frank been born in Chicago?

Whether Kander’s portraits live up to Avedon’s is unfair as what could? But I find them to be a compelling, if perhaps flawed, portrait of a group of people on whose shoulders the weight of expectations, hope and desires of the entire world must carry. I can only hope these people receive a better range of consideration than have Kander’s photographs from aphotoeditor’s audience.

A Photographer Bailout

2009-01-13T11:09:00.001-08:00

I got a chuckle when I heard that Larry Flynt and the Girls Gone Wild guy were calling for a Porn bailout. Naturally I came to the conclusion there should be a photographer’s bailout. Then I read a comment over on Mark Tucker’s Journal “Maybe if we wait a few more months, and things get even worse, the WPA and FSA will come rolling back into town” and I’m thinking why the hell not. In a bailout world of multi-billions a mere $100 million or so could put a number of fine documentary photographers to work creating an invaluable archive of these “interesting” times. I’d sign up. And since I'm dreaming the new crew would only be allowed to shoot film, black and white film, thereby resuscitating another dieing industry.

2009-01-11T09:34:00.001-08:00

Couple more from the September motorycle trip. These are slowly appearing at Miscellaneous

South Dakota

Nebraska

If I had only known it could be so cheap

2009-01-08T15:43:00.000-08:00

I found this ad on Craigslist today. If only I had known it was so easy I could have saved so much time, money and effort.

Photography Education - Complete Curriculum - $20

Reply to: sale-983222086@craigslist.org ^[?]
Date: 2009-01-06, 7:26PM PST

"This was originally a correspondence course I took in High School when I wanted to learn photography (I am actually now a professional wedding photographer :). While you could not use the "correspondence" part of this course any longer, there is still a lot of valuable information in these videos. http://www.icslearn.com . I am including all the course books at no charge because they do have highlighting in them.

Yes, the video host is not terribly easy on the eyes. It's dated, but he's very good at teaching the fundamentals of photography in an easy-to-understand manner. It also goes into The Business of Photography, putting a portfolio together, studio lighting, etc. It's very thorough and I definitely learned a lot from this course. It was not a cheap program ($200+), but you can have all the videos and books for only $25. I will be happy if a budding photographer can get good use out of them now.

$25 includes:
VIDEOS - The Darkroom, Photographic Light, Photographic Design, The Video Guide to Basic Photography, The Studio, The Video Guide to Basic 35mm Photography.

BOOKS (Free)- The Exciting World of Photography, Photography Basics, The Nature of Light, Camera Basics, Choosing Your Subject, Digital Photography, Business Skills for Photographers, Video Photography, Presentation Skills, Lighting for Photography, Printing Color Photographs and Slides, The Joy of Photography, Printing Black and White Photographs, Image Design, Development and Processing of Photographs, and 6 photographer activity booklets.

If you are interested, please email me and include your phone number, or call Heather at xxx-xxx-xxxxx. Cash only please. I am willing to meet you partway if you are not too far. Thank you."

Terry Toedtemeier RIP

2009-01-05T10:41:00.000-08:00

The photography community has lost a great champion and a great artist. Outside of Portland his name was not well known but the impact Terry Toedtemeier had was illustrated by the size of the crowd that came to pay their respects at his memorial service yesterday.
I knew Terry only casually, through mutual friends yet during our conversations I came to know him as a sweet gentle man, always with a twinkle in his eye, always with a mischievous grin, a person I always wished to get too know better. So as I listened to the stories those closest to him shared I couldn’t help but feel an even greater sense of loss.

2008-12-31T14:14:00.000-08:00

I realize it's been since February that I've last posted and other than a minor crisis of confidence that no one really cares and the conviction that the world may not need the additional information all I can say is that life got complicated. But in the spirit of sharing (oversharing?) I'll attempt a year in review kind of a highlight reel sort of deal. Here goes:

January: Spent New Years Day at the Oregon Coast with family and friends and the afternoon shooting black and white film under beautiful eery light which I later published as a blurb book creatively titled New Years Day

February: Had two covers in one month (see previous post), shot an annual report and nursed a sore back. Angry White Men was shown at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon in Eugene. Also had a piece in a show at the Holter Museum of Art in Helena Montana (see previous posts).

March: Soap Box Derby season resumed with a race in Poulsbo Washington. T finished poorly, not accustomed to the track's curve and slow drop. This picture is un-related.

April: Traveled to North Dakota for Bloomberg to photograph oil development in the Bakken region.

I also spoke about my work to the University of Oregon Photojournalism Department. T scored a 5th and 6th place finish at her first race back on her home track in Salem.

May: T scored her very first win at the final Hood River Soap Box Derby rally. I forgot my camera. Multiple assignments for Time and People and another annual report.

June: Mourned the death of my Mother. Took the kids for a hike to my favorite place.

A week later T won the local Soap Box Derby Championship race qualifying to go to the world championship in Akron Ohio. I cried.

July: We traveled to Akron for the All American Soap Box Derby World Championships. T crashed in what we were later told was the most spectacular crash in 30 years, hitting the guardrail, spinning out, crashing into the car in the next lane and spinning another 360 before hitting the far guardrail. Scared the hell out of me. She handled it with a lot of class, like a true Champion. I told her it's bettter to burn out than to fade away and out of 400 kids eliminated in their first heat she will be the one kid that is remembered.

The next day went back out to the track to see her wrecked car and walked the track. Skid marks were plainly visible from the spin out, etc..

August: We took a vacation in Kauai.

September: I rode my motorcycle 7600 miles across country to my Mother's memorial service and back. Kept a journal and made photogaphs. Published the story on advrider.com here.

October: T and I drove to Vallejo CA where she took 3 for 3 first places in the Northern Ca. Soap Box Derby Rally. I forgot my camera.
Also shot an ad for the Oregon Lottery a portrait of a leprechaun in an old growth forest. Thea d hasn't run yet so I can't show it but here's production still

November: Nothing notable happened in November.

December: Both of my daughters have their birthdays in December as well as that other holiday so needless to say it's a chaotic month. But one of my favorite clients (okay, they are all my favorite) sent me to Whistler and Vancouver for a story that hasn't run yet and therefore I can't talk about.

Happy New Year.

Polaroid

2008-12-29T23:08:00.000-08:00

Good article in the NY Times, Week In Review here by Michael Kimmelman. When Polaroid announced they were ceasing production of film I wasn't surprised but it did make me very sad. Like every other photographer, I've been dabbling with Polaroids for a long time in my personal and professional work. Nothing is quite like the magic of watching one of those images slowly emerge from the grayness. Of course image quality was never what you expected but it often weas so much more. I'm going to miss them. I traded one of my early hand made books to Robert Stevens for a SX-70 back in 1978. Here are a few:

AWM at the Schnitzer Museum

2008-02-20T13:13:00.000-08:00

Eleven years later Angry White Men continues to draw interest. While it sometimes leaves me feeling as if the work I will be known for is in my past I'm still proud of having been the conduit for the project.
The Jordan Schnitzer Museum at the University of Oregon in Eugene will exhibit selected prints from the project from February 25 through May 4 th.

Speaking Volumes: Transforming Hate

2008-02-17T13:19:00.000-08:00

The Holter Museum of Art in Helena Montana is currently showing a group show titled Speaking Volumes: Transforming Hate. Proud to have my portrait of Timothy McVeigh included. Please go HERE for more information on the exhibit.

what the Sam Hill?

2008-02-14T18:12:00.000-08:00

Shot this in November for Via. Sam Hill was one crazy cat. Built the mansion for his wife who never lived there but was host to the Queen of Rumania there. he also built this exact replica of stonehenge on a bluff above the Columbia River a couple miles east of the mansion which is now a museum and has an amazing collection of Rodin sculptures.

Two Covers One Month

2008-02-11T22:46:00.000-08:00

shout out to Sarah

2008-02-03T17:42:00.000-08:00

My assistant Chris told me Sarah Wilmer made it into PDN's 30 uder 30 awhile back. Sarah worked for me a few times when she was still in Portland. She's gonna be a big star one of these days. Congrats Sarah.

Miscellaneous Pictures

2008-02-01T17:08:00.000-08:00

Miscellaneous Pictures

rather be lucky than good

2008-01-25T16:58:00.000-08:00

I had to shoot a cover for a real estate trade magazine. Not a glamour publication but I love these kinds of clients, fun assignments, decent fees, etc.. Anyway Astoria Oregon in January is not known for it's mild weather. Yet once again I luck out. I think the one six hour period of non-torrential rain in the past three weeks was the exact time we were shooting.

shot a rockstar today

2008-01-22T16:24:00.000-08:00

I shot a rockstar for Rolling Stone today, Stephen Malkmus

Stephen used to play with Pavement and started his own band a while back. Cool guy although he was a bit stressed as his baby girl wasn't feeling well and when your baby isn't feeling well nobody feels well.

Funny thing was when we arrived at his house I realized I had been there before, a dinner party with friends who used to own the house. Other funny thing was my assistant Chris had once played softball against Stephen. Portland is such a small town sometimes, one of many reasons I love it.

Oh yeah, I also shot film for the first time in ages. I miss my Mamiya.

Portland is not known for it's celebrities but seems to have become home to a number of bands and musicians. Over the past year I've shot The Shins

and Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse

No real point to the story other than I just wanted to post the pictures.

Former Assistants Done Good

2008-01-20T08:04:00.000-08:00

Over the years I've been lucky to work with some great young assistants who have gone on to become very successful photographers and artists themselves. Here's just a few to check out:

Susan Seubert

Amy MacWilliamson

Lisa DeJohn

Miscellaneous

2008-01-11T15:54:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in the previous post I started Miscellaneous as a place to share random unrelated images. I sometimes post old pictures as well as new ones.
Here are a few samples from Miscellaneous

Photo Blogs

2008-01-10T14:51:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I was asked to lecture to the North West Journalism Conference on the New Photojournalism. having no idea what the new photojournalism was I of course said yes. So I googled it and discovered the semi-hidden world of photo blogs. Exploring I found numerous really bad amateurish efforts and some absolutely amazing ones including a couple by friends.
After many fits and starts I launched Miscellaneous which you can see here.
I am referring to photoblogs which are purely visual, no essays on the place of photography in modern culture or any of that business, simply pictures for the sole purpose of showing them.

Here's a few great ones:

electrolite

Chromasia

it won't fucking kill you

quieto

radio uruguay

and of course

Express Train

New Years Day

2008-01-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

Spent the last half of the holidays at the beach with my family and friends. New Years day the normally sodden skies opened just a bit and for about 3 or 4 hours I roamed up and down and took some old fashioned b&w film pictures.

musings of a workaday hack

2008-01-01T11:47:00.000-08:00

Seems somewhat frivolous to enter the blogosphere at this late date considering the wealth and abundance of information and entertainment available. I rarely find time to read half of what interests me already and can't realistically expect a universe of readers to find my own ruminations of much interest. However in the sense of shameless self promotion and a desperate need to see my name on the web , what the hell.