Words from a hero

"Laugh uncontrollably and never regret anything that made you smile. The world I was trying to present was one where I would feel good, where people would be friendly, where I could find the tenderness I longed for. My photos were like a proof that such a world could exist."

-- Robert Doisneau

Doisneau is one of my pantheon of humanist photographers whose work I come back to time and time again for inspiration -- Willy Ronis, Robert Doisneau, Edouard Boutbat, Grace Robertson. A workshop leader (David Bayles) made me aware of Doisneau a few (ahem) years back.

What put me in mind of Doisneau yesterday was an email about Atelier Robert Doisneau that has custody of his archive of 450,000 negatives and is carefully working through them selecting photographs for portfolios of related subjects -- lots of them. https://www.robert-doisneau.com/en/ He kept meticulous notes on each roll of negative so they had a running start in organizing and now digitizing his work.

450,000 -- that puts my puny 50,000 negatives in perspective and I have notes only on those that I printed.

Browsing through the Atelier's website a couple of observations came to mind. The best of what I do doesn't look bad by comparison.

"Punch and Judy Show, Covent Garden, London.

I suspect that I could comb out a few dozen -- maybe a couple of hundred -- prints that I would be willing to hang on the same wall with his work: or Ronis's or Boubat's or Robertson's. That would be about 1 in 250 negatives.

I found out earlier this month that I will have a show in the Burien Arts Gallery (hosted in the Highline Heritage Museum) first quarter of 2025. It will be 18 or so prints (including the one above). There will be an opening and I'll post the details when there are any.

The display that I designed and curated for the city of SeaTac's city hall main plaza ("The History We Live With") will do up any day now -- as soon as the print shop finishes their magic and the volunteer who does the installation gets back from vacation. Doing that was fun and a new task for me but I'm glad it's done and I have a new appreciation for those who do it again and again.