The Tragedy That Is Only Beginning

Twenty per cent of Pakistan is underwater, making it one of the largest natural disasters of all time- the ultimate irony being that despite the over abundance of water, they are desperate for clean water.

And this tragedy is only beginning since this has completely decimated their agricultural (ie- food producing) area for the foreseeable future (and the monsoons have only begun)...

When It Comes To Super Powers...

VOJA's The Man... While others (like me) will forever remain doomed within the darkness...

Prehistoric Diptych

One of these was taken in the wilds of southern Utah on my recent trip out West, the other in the bowels of San Francisco's Tenderloin District upon returning the rental. Can you decipher which is which? (Interestingly, and totally unbeknownst to me- there was also once a NYC Tenderloin District.)

Photo Video Deluxe...

I was going to post this last week (before getting sidetracked by the corporate sponsored, fake ass walk across America video)- for a ton of photo related videos, most featuring famous photographer interviews, check out A Photo Student, which also has this intriguing essay by Danny Lyon on The End Of The Age Of Photography...

Why I Love Dr. Laura!

This is most certainly a case of let me count the ways. Really, where does one even start when it comes to someone whose professional and personal lives are built on such blatantly glaring layers of deceit and hypocrisy? And for those not in this country, my beloved Dr. Laura is an ultra conservative, radio talk show host who freely dispenses her advice and wisdom to those amongst us who are: a) absolutely clueless, and b) love to be verbally belittled, humiliated and further abused. To listen is to truly love, understand and appreciate not only her, but an entire group of people who actually look up to and seek advice and comfort from someone who:

1. Has a phd. in physiology, in other words- she's every bit as qualified to counsel anyone about anything as... you or I.
2. Is probably the only ultra conservative counselor, therapist, whatever that has full frontal pictures of herself freely available on the web. That's right, this person who scolds, humiliates, and belittles others for having premarital sex is the same person who has her muff plastered all over these internets, taken when she was freely screwing everything she supposedly stands for today. At first she denied the photos were her- only to then try to have them legally removed because "they looked like her."
3. Since becoming a proud mom, matriarch and uber proponent of strong family values has managed to lovingly raise a son who even the army fears is a psycho! Now that really takes some doing!

You'd think those three strikes (anyone of which worthy of The Rosie Ruiz Marathon Award) would silence anyone with even the slightest residue of humility, shame or self respect, but my dear Dr. once again made it into the news last week by using the N word- and she really seemed to revel in repeating it, over, and over, and over again. I guess it was a liberating experience (for her), as well as being a teachable moment- for the rest of us... Or as Don King is so fond of saying, "Only in America!"

Swerving Under The Influence Of...

Taken at Canyonlands National Park after I was stopped by a park police officer for swerving on the roadway. I explained best I could that I was just a boy from NYC who never drove much and was just completely taken aback by the grand scenic vistas- which just happened to be the truth. He was pretty cool and let me go with a drive safely reprimand...

When he asked if I had been drinking at ten in the morning, the first thing that automatically came to mind as a response was, "Just one or two beers." The customary reply everyone gives when stopped by police on every damn TV police video ever seen. Somehow, I don't think he would've bought that one.

Five Freakin' Encounters

 It's eyebrow raisin', guffaw inducin', eye rollin' time again. Not from the UFO encounter tales themselves, but from the "official explanations." If they don't induce a spit take, nothing will.

Levi's Dupes America!

I guess like everyone else, I chose to purposely disregard his meticulously fresh, wrinkle free t-shirts (and pants) and applaud this man's incredibly singular feat of  "walking across America." Actually, I was much more amazed and enthralled with this uniquely original and superbly executed still/video montage. Only to find out after the fact, that it was (as my own eyes attempted to tell what's left of my brain), nothing more than... a Levis' ad!

Which leaves a thoroughly foul taste in one's mouth. And not one single mention of the commercial aspects in the video chronicling the making of it- as if those dedicated twenty somethings poured their own starving artist greenbacks, time and effort into this cross country endeavor simply for... art's sake!

The thing is, I would have been perfectly OK with it- knowing in advance that it was, in fact, an ad. Very discreet brand name placement (not until the very end), despite having product placement front dead center, start to finish- ingenious! Instead, they had to lie and play us like the fools we wanna be!

Is that how wars start?

True American Heroes

No guns, no cammo, not one punch thrown... What are they- a bunch of librarians?

On The Bridge To Nowhere

 

There ain't a a single day I don't wake up to earn my daily measure and not feel I have to once again cross that goddamn bridge straight off. Don't we all.

And much as the other side of this particular bridge looks like a lovely little, sun kissed villa somewhere in  the  bucolic hills of Tuscany,  it's actually none other than Mountain City, Nevada- about a block long with a couple of houses and a bar.

When I saw said sign and slammed on the brakes, I gathered up the camera from the back seat and only then noticed that we had attracted considerable attention upon arrival, that is, a most formidable swarm of mosquitoes had surrounded our windows and windshield! Now there's only so long you can wait in 95+ degree heat, and I didn't want to risk overheating the car and being permanently stranded with our new found fans. A decision had to be made, skip the possible photo (after all, there's no guarantee), or get out and risk get thoroughly bit. One minute, twelve bites later, I once again crossed over the bridge to nowhere.

Larry Sultan- Katherine Avenue

Anyone who has followed photography the past several years is no doubt familiar with Larry Sultan's domestic essay featuring his parents, not to mention his background porn scenarios. Those, along with more recent, lesser known landscapes featuring immigrant workers are all featured in Katherine Avenue. I myself have seen the first two essays many times, via several venues- but never fully appreciated them until I saw them in this book. The color reproductions are nothing short of spectacular- a sensual, tactile reaction I thought possible only with original prints. These ordinary, seemingly everyday "snapshots" of mom and dad are nothing short of exquisite works of wonder worthy of the Renaissance. I had no idea a camera, or book, could do that...

This Sucks!!!

I'm not exactly a big computer kinda guy (eg- don't do the Face, don't own one single video game, hell- only know Photoshop basics, if that)-- but even I know, This Sucks!

Dave Jordano

Lens blog reacquainted me with the work of Dave Jordano  who has an eye for revealing the epic in the mundane, be it church interior or prairie landscape. From his earliest B&W portraiture to his latest color landscapes, his photographs capture and highlight those details that penetrate both subject and viewer alike, forever rendering them timeless. I don't think this guy could take a mediocre shot if he tried.

Two Lousy Movies

I remember when the second Matrix movie was coming out and Laurence Fishburne was yappin' away about how unbelievably great the car chase scene was... The first movie took us to worlds and realities we could only imagine in our wildest- yet here he was talking about some... car chase?! No, it certainly did not bode well, and the second of the Matrix trilogy did indeed prove to be the lamest of the lot. 

Recently, the second installment of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy also suffered the sophomore jinx. Actually, it wasn't all that bad- until the very end. Any action movie will stretch the boundaries of reality, but when they have her literally returning from the dead, after being shot one, two, three times and then being buried (alive?)- it really went beyond even the Hollywood (in)credulity factor and into complete comic book superhero land...

Friday, I finally got to see Inception, which I'd been dying to see for weeks. Yes, it appeared to be Matrix Redux, but pretty classy, cool and visually stimulating in its own right. At least that's what I hoped for... Alas, it was not to be (even in Imax). The non stop en masse shootouts were like early Bond movie climaxes on meth, and I found myself anxious for them to be over and done with to return to the real plot- only to be again reminded it was so absolutely piss poor to begin with, which is why they needed the mindless shootouts in the first place...

I guess that's three lousy movies.

Yet Another Republican Finest Hour...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
I Give Up - 9/11 Responders Bill
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

And then there's this...

TGIF ll

General Purpose Vehicle

F-Stop

 Some interesting new portfolios up on the latest edition of F-Stop...

2010 Photography Book Now!

Well, despite the fact that every imaginable poll has predicted my book the uncontested Grand Prize Winner of Blurb's Photography Book Now 2010 competition, I thought it would be nice to glance over a few choice picks of what others somehow thought would present "competition."

In all seriousness, there's a very good chance I missed some real winners amongst this year's competitors since I selected the following only upon entering a self induced hypnotic state allowing me to tear through the 2,000+ listing in one sitting- hardly the fair means to an end. And I hope that's the case, cause in my much admitted haste, I really didn't see all that many that impressed the hell outta me- so please, please, please feel free to mention your faves. But if anything has been made abundantly clear- we definitely do need a workshop or two on naming book titles (eg- Glimpses Of Shadows And The Echoes Of Light- made up, but look for yourself, 'nuff said).

Anyway, books that kicked butt, incl:

The Donovans  by Gina Brocker- Absolutely gorgeous color images of Irish Travellers, full of frenetic energy and reminiscent of a young Nick Waplington's Living Room, except with more poise and grace. One genuine visual tour de force!

The Woods by Emily Shur-  More a collection of single images than anything to do with "the woods,"  and no problem there- I'll take a strong collection of individual photographs over an essay with a few winners and a supporting cast of mediocrity any damn day.

Time and Space On The Lower East Side by Brian Rose- An interesting look back with some remarkable images of the sights, smells and sounds of New York's Lower East Side in the early eighties highlighted against the backdrop of  today's more genteel incarnation.

Covered by Barry Lewis- Awright! Who freakin' let this guy in? Here's a guy who kicks my ass in my own friggin' "demographic." Although there are a few images added solely for content, most of these photographs stand up quite nicely as striking compositions. Cars under wraps never looked so damn good, nor funny...

And speaking of Blurb- wouldn't it make sense that if you or I can get certain bookstores to sell our Blurb books on consignment, we could then merit a more substantial "Bookstore Discount" from Blurb to offset the store mark up? Few people will choose to pay prohibitively more for a book by an unknown artist, rather than get a known artist's book that is also cheaper- but if they were competitively priced... Wouldn't that provide Blurb with added exposure and an avenue into perhaps another stage of their business where they could somehow compete, or align themselves with the "legit" publishing world? Isn't that the most obvious and logical component missing in this whole self publishing equation? Soon many a book store could have a small, separate Blurb section. Just sayin'...

Roderik Henderson

Incredible portraiture by Roderik Henderson that once again proves how sensitivity to one's subject matter combined with a good dose of imagination and a modicum of equipment can create absolute wonders- in a car, on an elevator... (via NPR: The Picture Show)

Sometimes, I Really Don't Know...

How to follow a post like yesterday's, which ultimately involves a real, live, flesh and blood human being- not just some theoretical concept, moral premise or politic du jour. A human being forced to endure that which others cannot even gaze upon, let alone explain. If only it was just her- instead she joins the ever expanding list of humans who prove just how truly abhorrent we as a species will always be, a list as long as it is forgotten.

And we seriously want to go out into space to spread our human grandeur throughout the universe? If we had any of the humanity we're so fond of claiming, we'd wipe ourselves clean off our own planet and let evolution start anew. Humans are the most failed of experiments, forever scared beyond reason and forever doomed to repeat our own miserable, short sighted, self inflicted mistakes. It is who we are, and there is nothing inherently noble, sacred or redeeming about continuing and intensifying such a history. And if god by any chance did indeed make this world in but six days, I seriously suggest he consider putting the necessary time and effort into his next attempt. For those wise enough to listen, our planet has already begun the process of ridding itself of us, as we have so grievously injured it. This time it aint waiting for no meteors. It just can't.

About TIME!!!