Last weekend Graham, Kate I and went to Pittsburgh. We didn’t check the weather before we left, so we were fairly surprised when over 2 feet of snow fell the first night we were there. For the next two days, we wondered around the city, drinking whiskey, throwing snowballs at strangers, taking pictures and shoveling out lost cars.
This last picture was taken in Rochester.
Over the last month I have spent more time photographing at night. I haven’t thought too much about these pictures yet, just been taking them. The night is quiet. It is one of the only times that I can be completely alone, or at least just with one or two people. It’s winter, so it has been cold, snowy and rainy. It is challenging to get out of my semi warm house and venture out into the brisk winter air at 1am. I feel like I have overcome something when I get back a few hours later, toes numb and ready for bed. I think these might reflect a state of mind. I am in my own head at night.
There is only one portrait shown here, but there will be more. I like the way flash at night isolates. So much happens at night, but usually things that are meant to be hidden. While I’m sitting alone in bed, how many gas stations are being held up, people having sex, college students getting drunk, old people getting drunk, drugs being sold and other people sitting alone in bed? People get murdered at night.
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The opening to Sweet Meat Co. was Saturday night. I was pleasantly surprised at how good the space looked. Good job all involved. Don’t worry, if you missed it there is a closing reception this Friday.
P.S. this is where DRAFT is going to be this year.
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All I know is that four people, whom we had previously chilled with, tried to jump him. I might be getting the story wrong, but I think it started with a car chase. It ended with four people fighting Larson in his car.
He used to keep a kitchen knife under his back seat. He now keeps it next to him on his passenger seat.
I asked if I could photograph him with his sunglasses off. He replied, “No, I don’t want to remember this.”
He says he needs to move to Atlanta.
This past Christmas break Graham and I spent two weeks on the West Coast visiting friends and family from L.A. to San Fransisco. It was my first time in California and it was pretty fucking great. It was just enough time to stay incredibly busy hanging out with people and eating as many burritos and In and Out burgers as possible, chilling, making art, and smokin up. While in L.A., we stayed with Graham’s mom who lives on a hill in Topanga which overlooks the valley. The area was not at all what I expected to see on the outskirts of the city.
Since I’ve been back it has been hard to make images here in Rochester. I absolutely love being able to explore and take pictures that aren’t made under the pressure of the impending critique. I find it easy to remember why I do this shit when I’m away from school. We are young and we should have fun. In school we are forced to be adults or “artists” or something. Labels are resticting. Fine art photography, commercial photography, its all the same thing. We just trying to sell. Whats the difference between Andreas Gursky and Nike? I guess I’m just rambling, but these are things I’ve been thinking about and I would love to here what other people think. I love what I do, but I think it is ridiculous to think it is any more honest or extraordinary than anything else out there.
The hills of Topanga.
Graham (on camera flash) I don’t get it when people say that on camera flash is ugly or synonymous with bad photography. I have a hard time saying something is bad. Maybe the worst photography is that which tries to be too good. Sorry for judging. I like contradicting myself.
A circle found in the hills of Topanga
The Chinese Theater, Hollywood
Pismo Beach
Santa Cruz
Jesus in the woods
Cave, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz
I kind of hate this last picture. Its too pretty. There is no story. I find the one before it so much more intriguing. I don’t know. Maybe its OK.
In class the other day, we talked about what we like to see in an artist statement. Most everyone agreed that the best statement is the one that is genuine or sincere, but I feel like when it comes down to it, we have a hard time really saying what we are thinking. Love ya’ll s+w.
Graham and I spent our Christmas Eve expressing our tangled emotions through postcard creations. If your lucky, maybe you’ll get one. Brownies + Scotch + Jersey Shore = Art.
I first picked up a disposable when I was 11 years old. I was a collector. Before I found photography I would pick up everything and put it in a box. I had countless plastic boxes with little dividers full of spiders, rocks, shells, fungus and numerous other objects. When I was given that first camera, I saw it as a way to easily collect all the things that I had before, except this time I could save all of the other things that were previously impossible to fit into a 1″ x 1″ compartment. I have been photographing things for over 10 years now. Over Thanksgiving I began sorting through the boxes of photographs to see what I had actually saved. Its kinda crazy, photography has been one of the most consistent things throughout my life. I updated my website with a selection of these images. I am still playing with some of the layout.
I don’t know that these are about anything in particular. I started photographing as a collector and I don’t think that the camera still functions in the same way for me. For the most part, the images that I selected represent a specific moment or place in my life, some significant and some not. In that way they are collected. Maybe its only when you have work that spans a long period of time that you can look at it in a more removed way. I do feel removed from these, but they still hold something for me. This is half my life. I grew up from when some of these first images were made until now, as cheesy as growing up is.
I have to say, with only two weeks until Christmas break, I am not feeling too motivated as far as school is concerned. 200 pages to read for Monday and I still haven’t gotten my books.
I’m continuing to photograph Larson. After spending the last month looking over the book, I am slowly seeing things that are missing, things that I want to take out and rearrange. On Tuesday, Larson is coming over to record a track with my roommate for a music video I’m going to be making for him. I’ve spent the last few months intruding on his life and it feels surreal seeing him enter mine.
I am about to leave for my Digital Output final crit. For the class I decided to print images that I had taken this past summer in New York City. During most of my free time, I would get on a train and take it to the last stop. I would get out and spend an afternoon wandering around the areas that lay on the edges of the city. I haven’t really thought about the photographs I made during those times; they just kind of exist.
Far Rockaway
Brooklyn
Coney Island
These are a few other images that I did not print for the class, but they were also taken this summer.
Graham: City Island
Identity Disclosed: Washington Heights
McCarren park
OK, no more Police cover band. Maybe its too personal.
This past summer was a good time for me. I was able to start focusing on what I might be doing after college and how to get there. I took tons a photographs, and didn’t have to worry about having a strong concept behind them. It allowed me to take photographs with out consciously thinking about how they tied together. I think it also energized me for the school year. I am honestly excited to graduate and begin a career.