Another Giant Gone
Elliot Erwitt died late in November. My favorite quip from him is "You can't make funny pictures if you don't live in a funny world." His world was definitely funnier than mine. Not to say that all of his photographs were funny (for sure).
He also said that "Photography is a craft. Anyone with normal intelligence and application can learn a craft. To take it beyond the craft is something else. That’s when magic comes in. And I don’t know that there’s any explanation for that."
Harry Calahan said (quoted by Emmett Gowen) "Really there’s no difference between us except that I’ve made more bad pictures than you have. (pause) And, of course, I’ve made more good ones, too."
I kind of feel like that about Elliot Erwitt. He made more bad pictures than I have but made more good ones, too. His books all seem to me that they needed "one more trip through the meatgrinder," But the good ones are really good.
Bellevue Art Fair 1979
January's Print of the Month is an old negative/new print. While looking for something else I found a "vintage" print of this photograph. I still like this image but that was a lousy print. I'm a better printer now than I was in 1979.
It was a warm summer day, the music was good, the crowd was cheerful, the splash of sun on her hands attracted my attention. I hope she liked the print I sent her but I'm happier with this one.
Gathering Glass
Tacoma Museum of Glass "Hot Shop", 2010
Several members of Group f/5.6 will have a group show at the newly christened Venture Mechanics gallery as the VMS Gallery. Our show is the inaugural exhibition at this new gallery in the BelRed Art District of Bellevue. The opening reception is February 2, 4-6 p.m.
My entry in this show, "Gathering Glass" was, well, a challenge but a lot of fun to print.
Julius Eastman revisited (again)
This 1973 profile of composer/musician Julius Eastman will be featured in a display about his life and work at the Museum Of Electronic Music in Fribourg Switzerland this spring.
His music was nearly forgotten until 2017 but has enjoyed a lot of attention since then. My photographs of him in concert seem to be the only photographs of him during his seminal days teaching at State U. of New York, Buffalo.
They have appeared in music catalogs, museum displays, concert programs, CD covers .... at least a dozen times
Highline Heritage Museum Portraits
Looks like the new exterior display on Burien's Highline Heritage Museum is going to happen!
Nine of my photographs, emphasizing the diversity of the Highline community, will be printed 4x10 feet and posted on the side of the building that faces Ambaum Avenue.
I haven't seen a proof (at small size) to see how they look printed on weather-resistant white vinyl.
The installer wants a three-day dry spell to hang them so that may be a while yet.
