Glass Key In A Modern Landscape

Recently dropped by Glass Key Photo here on the Lower Haight in San Francisco and was both happy and relieved to see that they very much appear to be thriving. This is a small "mom and pop" type affair (ie- not your usual corporate, conglomerate retail photo enterprise) that consists of a small but well stocked, second hand, film camera store complete with various format bodies and lenses in good cond and at very reasonable prices, along with paper, chemicals, film and other accessories... in addition to housing a rather nice gallery space.

Consummate gear hound that I am (needed a body cap), I came upon a small crowd ogling, handling and yes, purchasing a variety of bodies, lenses, etc- and these were majority twenty somethings. Make all the hipster remarks you want, but if these are the people to keep film alive well into the coming decades- more power to them, cuz us geezers only have so many years left. Anyway, it was nice to see things coming along- not to mention catch the exhibit by Marissa Rocke.

Raccoon, Washington Township, Pennsylvania by Marissa Rocke from Modern Landscape

Modern Landscape offers an unsentimental though touching view of various road kill portraits taken on Ms. Rocke's travels. While some appear blissfully asleep, others are obviously in various degrees of decay and disarray- but curiously manage to retain some semblance of beauty, grace and dignity. And having a quality show to look at definitely makes for a complete experience!

John and Jane Doe's

Photo: Arne Svenson

Photo: Arne Svenson

I love portraiture and history, both are about trying to get something right that concerns a certain amount of mystery- whether real, or imagined. It's never all that easy, and usually considerably harder than it ever even suggests. How much is ever really known, how much can ever be revealed?

History tries to solve the enigma through exhaustive research, documentation, personal accounts. Portraiture purportedly ties to reveal an inner mystery through overt physical appearance and gesture. Of course, either method concerning either genre is limited in both its scope and its ability to divulge any definitive, meaningful truth. But that never does stop anyone from trying...

Arne Svenson attracted a lot of attention for his essay on anonymous people photographed through the windows of their homes. But he's a lot more than just some perv with a camera as some people would have you think, and once you see his Unspeaking Likeness series, you begin to see the common theme of identity that runs through much of his work. These portraits are more than mere conjecture, they are based on recreations from actual physical evidence- and are probably more accurate in capturing their physical likeness than any photographic portrait is capable of capturing any (living) subject's "inner self."

Painting: Sarah Honan

Sarah Honan's Blink explores much the same ground, except from a painterly perspective, again addressing the mystery of persons unknown- people whose lives and histories have been lost to us, a nameless representation of their likeness all that remains of their earthly wanderings...

Self Destruction

Unfortunately, since this video was made, we have not only failed to curtail our own self destruction, we have redoubled our effort to destroy the very planet we live and depend upon and everything within it...

The Death Of Analogue...

via: ecosalon

Yuh Never Know...

On any given day, whenever ya walk out the door, yuh never know... Yuh never know when that big, Mack truck of destiny is gonna smack ya upside the head and send ya down for the long count. Yuh just never know...

101 Tragedies of Enrique Metinides is the illustrated accounting of that fatally simplistic, but fatefully prophetic wisdom. Car accidents, train accidents, plane accidents, earthquakes, fires, and electrocutions to name but a few.  And perhaps it does happen more in Mexico, or any developing country one may choose, but only the fool would think him or herself immune or invulnerable, no matter where they may live. These photos do not blink, they confront these tragedies straight on, and yet they never seem disrespectful of the subject(s), or their fate. Many are presented matter of factly, death as a fact of life- but never as leering, voyeuristic creepshots. Others still go well past the fact, and actually make you reflect... and feel. Perhaps in part, because these are not the consequences of terrorists acts, or acts of war- but the domestic and civilian tragedies of everyday life. The penniless mother who carried her baby in a coffin, walking all 9 kilometers home; the guy who simply slipped on the sidewalk and cracked his head open till the life drained out of him; the mother who asked a police officer which was the oldest tree in the park- and then hung herself from it when her husband refused to allow her at her daughter's quinceanera.

No, they may not even look like you, but deep down, gut level down, you know you can't deny- their fate is every bit as universal as your front door...

Photo: Enrique Metinides

More On Target Than Any Drone Strike...

                                       

UPDATE:  One of the things that Mr. Colbert reminds us of (for those outside the US who can't watch the above) is that Mr. Obama has cleverly labeled all males of military age that are killed in drone attacks as "enemy combatants" (just as anyone at Comicon is probably a virgin), thus greatly reducing the random "collateral damage" his attacks incur. As for the all the innocent women and children who are also blown to bits- well, errr, ummm... over to you, Mr. Haviv!

Amazing Lives, Amazing Story...

2011 Has Not Been Kind Thus Far...

It came in with the passing of a student, and now a former Marine (Korea), NYC fireman, and my former boss at PS-162 in Harlem has also gone. I was very green when he gave me my first class, and had no idea how good he was at his job- and how much easier he made mine. I was soon to learn when he retired ten years later. He had his private side, but he was eminently fair- and always there when you needed him. A class act, and a stand up guy to the very end. One day when he was leading tours at the NYC Fire Dept Museum in the Wall St. area, the public unknowingly got a brief glimpse of him on TV on 9/11. Ever the fireman, he ran his retired butt towards Ground Zero and was glimpsed ghostlike and unrecognizable, completely covered in white ash and dust.

I'll be returning to NYC this week for his wake, but I'll leave a few things on the stove here while I'm gone. Death never gets easier- I guess it just gets closer. Photography is very much the active denial of that inevitable end, and a celebration of a time well spent.

Sick F#*king Shit!

Sorry- there's just no other way to put it....

Never (ever) dreamed that even this is so damn crazy crooked here!