The Question

Once ya stop laughing, this is one Onion that scrapes awfully close to the truth; and the reality can certainly play like one sorry satire. If pressed, what would I have to show for my spare time obsession other than a few photos in the proverbial 21st century shoebox?

Actually, I purposely chose this P/T way of the warrior path after seeing what even successful NYC studio photographers had to go through (ie- the eternal hustle to get jobs followed by the eternal hustle just to get paid for said jobs). Perhaps, the question is not what I have to show, but what have I managed to avoid? A motorcycle would've landed me dead in my twenties for sure (smartest thing I never did)... just as sure as the latter part of that particular hustle above would have eventually caused me to do something that would have landed me in a place where I'd have every minute of every goddamn day to myself.

Nevertheless, an even greater question still remains- photography has been a private, personal joy... but has it been a salvation, or a selfish, distracting diversion that has actually prevented the achievement of a greater good, maybe even a life of actual accomplishment?

Life saving recourse, or life sucking addiction like any other? Something you may want to (re)consider- sooner rather than later. Damn, that's some scary shit...

Pretty Damn Amazin'!

Gotta give the guy credit for even attempting it! Hell, I'd be pretty damn proud of myself if I could freakin' do it- no doubt get a couple of photos out of it too! But just thinking about doing something so damn mundane, and monumental, makes my mind reel- and my legs ache... Don't forget folks- the borough of Queens alone* is five times the size of Washington, DC.

Good Luck, Matt Green!

*And there's four more where that came from in NYC- The Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn & Manhattan. 
PS- Only the borough of the Bronx is on the mainland, Brooklyn and Queens are on Long Island.

Occupy One Goal?

Photo courtesy: ©2011 John Montgomery

Now that Occupy has everyone's attention, should we perhaps concentrate on just one goal- one demand that could truly inspire, unite and actually bring out the 99% en masse? Namely, the fact that the 1% (incl corporations- who are now legally recognized as people in the US of A) must pay their fair share of taxes! Not that it would be nice, not that it's a good idea, but that they must do it- and do it now! 

Sure, every other Occupy demand is also eminently just, righteous and well, well overdue- but instead of just taking symbolic, philosophical stands, what if We The People finally said BASTA, and concentrated all our effort on just this one! So far, it's gone nowhere fast legislatively- but it's the one that would most easily garner (and already has) the widest nonpartisan public support and enthusiasm!

If we could get that one thing done, not only would it clear the deficit- it would also help pave the way for everything else that so desperately needs to get done...

PS-  Wrote the above a week before I found the photo, and the accompanying site...  Guess we got some like minded people out there- Let's do this!!!

Into Every Life...

If not for the passing of a very good friend, this would have been a very good year indeed- from a purely selfish point of view. Copublished an online magazine, helped initiate a much needed conversation on race and photography, and even managed to take a few memorable keepers for good measure.

Also made a point of posting daily at Reciprocity Failure, and pretty much succeeded (though I don't know how much longer that can continue). I hope to Blurb my first book this summer, so am currently in the process of editing around forty 35mm silver neg scans- no fun feat. I've got a dozen in the tank thus far, and although familiar with the trials and tribulations of Blurb quality, what "reasonably priced" alternative is there? Truth is, I've seen plenty of monographs by name photographers where the quality was considerably less than exemplary...

And while I'm definitely looking forward to participating in the interblog web Symposium on Race & Photography come this Spring, as well as contributing a few posts for Bag News Notes- the thing I treasured most this year was being privileged to make friends and/or correspond with the likes of: Benjamin Chesterton of Duckrabbit, Mark Page of Manchester Photography, Peter Brook of Prison Photography, Jim Johnson of Politics, Theory and Photography, Mike Johnston of TOP, and Michael Shaw of Bag News Notes, in addition to quite a few photographers ("virtual" though they may be, it's definitely preferable to operating in a virtual vacuum). And certainly don't mean to name drop here- these are all busy people who simply made the time to treat a stranger on equal terms. Of course, there are always those who simply choose to look down on one for whatever reason, always have been (met plenty in NYC), always will- but we're gonna keep this upful and bright, there's enough serious shit to go round the planet.

So I'm hoping everyone a good holiday season as we get through the godawful, prerequisite, commercial blight, and remember those forgotten and those in true need- and, as ever, thanks for dropping by!

Good Night, James...