Erie Canal

The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about 363 miles from Albany, New York on theHudson River to Buffalo, New York at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. First proposed in 1808, it was under construction from 1817 to 1832 and officially opened[1] on October 26, 1825.

In 1918, the Canal was replaced by the larger New York State Barge Canal. The new canal replaced much of the original route, leaving many abandoned sections (most notably between Syracuse and Rome). The expansion allowed barges up to 2,000 tons to use the Canal. This expensive project was politically unpopular in parts of the state not served by the canal, and failed to save it from becoming obsolete.

-Wikipedia

-Greg

New Old Work

Editing older and newer 35mm stuff, trying to make a small book dummy for a printing class, we will see

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Hi Buddy

Hi Buddy

Levittown

I spent some of this summer staying at a friend’s house in Levittown PA.  After I found out Levittown was one the first planned communities in America I started taking pictures of it.  Simply put, I’m interested in how this plan has changed.

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Glad to be back.

-Greg

Summer so far

After a quarter of shooting large format for two classes shooting with a 35mm slr feels absolutely vital.  There are times I don’t care enough to look.  Never mind photographing. This is when photography is more about traveling. Walk until you find something. Shoot until it means anything. At all. Its not that I’ve been uninspired. I’ve been resisting inspiration for my own good. Just using the muscles. Here are some photographs I had to find and some that simply occurred.

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Next week I’ll be starting twonew projects. Trying something a little different, very narrow subject matter. Thinking about american identity and the quality of light and heat in summer, separately. Or together.  We’ll see what happens, until then.

-Greg

An Introduction

Hello. I think I should start with introducing myself. So this is that.

For me the most challenging aspect of writing about my work on the web is revealing the process. Without secrets a magician is just an idiot in a cape. However, I have not encountered this type of blog before. I think much more could be gained by giving the trick away, so to speak. I see it as a way of combating the quick consumption of photography that photo blogs seem to breed. I like i heart photograph as much as the next photo student. But I can honestly say that I look at the work on there only as long as takes to accept or reject it. Then the picture is consumed but not digested.  And I imagine this is not a unique experience. This is what needs to happen.  As viewers and creators we need to demand more of each other.  This space is the perfect area for that conversation to happen, lets start a better pile.

 

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This is from my most current series of work.  I had started photographing interiors in the winter which led to an interest in the utility of decoration in modern life.  There is a thought that decoration signals a lack of substance or is used as a way of obscuring something.  While I do not completely disagree with this view, I still wanted to challenge it.  I wanted to take these obvious visual objects or places and photograph them in way where I felt I was taking them seriously while still questioning the function and politics of the object.  I let myself be amused easily when I make these pictures, really let joy into the process, then I cut that joy with skepticism.  The whole process of making a visually pleasing photograph and print is a crucial part of this project.  Craft is where the responsibility of representing the visual is realized.

 

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For Wednesday, something fun

-Greg