"postpartum" workshop depression has set in for jim and mike and me….the energy has been sucked from all of us….and maybe the students are feeling the same…..it is all over….terrific success by all accounts and yet and yet why such a letdown??
i am still in bangkok….facing the 17 hour non-stop right over the north pole flight back to new york is just not something i am in the mood for right now…i have justified my hanging out for a few days more by having michael encourage our tardiness back to our studio… we are telling ourselves that since we are both here together, we can get a lot of work done from bkk…yea sure…..well, anyway we will only be a couple of days behind schedule….and we have the enormous job of looking at all of your submitted work when we get back to nyc….well, i will think about that tomorrow!!!
now is the time to sit around the pool….except now i have no pool to hang around….i have moved into a less expensive hotel, but clean and nice enough hotel, now using my own funds….a few students are still around…katharina hesse, tom hyde, chris baer and james chance….we all hung out a bit last night…pretty low key…we were all too tired to talk about much or shoot much…i shot a few token snapshots while james chance, above, shot a pretty decent game of 8 ball…..last week, chance did a nice little story on bkk construction…..please see new bkk student posts under "student work/workshops"….
so, how about you guys…ever experience a total letdown after doing something that worked out well ??? and , more importantly, how do you bounce back??
David:
Tell Jim:
Last night marcus gave a slideshow presentation to a few of us at a small wine cafe on his work on Darfur and his multimedia on Congo: brilliant, brilliant, empassioned work. following up on his presentation on the Congo-Gold work he’s doing for HRW. The work is not only beautiful and profound but so incredibly humane and agile!…if only were as committed, the world would (sigh) be a better place…
We had a great chat over wine too. Tell jim: they made a brilliant choice when they choose Marcus to be a part of VII :)))) He is one of the good ones (and I dont mean just his brilliant photography: we’re talking larger more important things!)…
hugs
running
bob
Hi David & all of you on this blog.
First time that i put something here.
It’s weird…since many many years i’m realy addicted on the internet and only since THIS week i found out David’s blog.
So started too read from the start till now.
All i wanna say is
DAVID…thanks for this blog. It’s sooo nice and gives a lot of inspiration.
Hope that i can meet you one time in the future on a workshop.
Fine regards 2 everyone here.
iori
A question for James Nachtwey? Is it too late???
Remind him that I am the person from the LA VII workshop who asked about bringing him to Santa Fe..for a lecture, museum exhibition, workshop and whatever else he’d like to do…I’d love to help coordinate this. It will take the cooperation of a lot of different groups working together. He told me to email him but I never heard back from him so please let him know I’m still interested and wanting to know where to begin…as this is not my profession.
I waited all year to see him at the Julia Dean workshop and then it was cancelled so I missed the opportunity to discuss this with him. Thanks!!!
David I forgot to ask…
Day one you mentioned the guy you photographed in Living Proof, was shot 4 times and in the hospital… Uptown I reckon???
Whatever came of that?
Crazy…
living proof… that says it.
experienced letdown after experiencing something that worked out so well?? let’s see, Mexico, New York, New York again, Mexico again… probably New York a few more times.. and a few in between. Sound familiar? YES, this letdown is boggling.. it doesn’t make sense but there’s no denying it. A mentor told me once, “please please get back on the horse!”… you have to find a balance between savoring the experience that just happened with pushing on to the next thing… if you sit still, you might melt.
… and no, those weren’t all workshops!
Question for Jim: Hope it’s not too late.
As a South African, I came to know Jim via the television screen and not just through his work; there were many of us that saw him on the news, trying to save Ken Oosterbroek and helping Greg Marinovich in that infamous incident in Thokoza before the elections.
They have made a documentary of the “Bang Bang Club”, of which Ken, Greg and two others were a part… now they are making a feature film, I hear. Jim having been the subject of a documentary, I wonder what his view would be of a feature, such as this, that will be so directly based on a time and an incident that he himself was a part of… does it serve a purpose, to resent something like that as entertainment?
I have been a member of the same agency as Greg, but have avoided asking him of those times… perhaps it is easier like this, via the net.
L.
You should do something that you don’t normally do. Bangkok can get exhausting at times. When i feel to knackered to do anything, I make a trip to the zoo. Go and spend a coupla hours staring at animals, particuarly the bears and the lepords.
HERVE….
well, you missed jim…i will have him post something when he gets home from Indonesia..my personal opinion is that jim does see or feel his age….why wouldn’t he?? surely, jim has photographed more than direct conflict…other social issues, which he has always done, will probably come more and more to the forefront…again, only my opinion…
LORI….
welcome to our little group…please write when you can….if you have time to go through some of the archive and read the comments, you will see that i have somehow attracted some really great writers…so, this photoblog has somehow also turned into a bit of a writersblog!!!
CATHY…
i forgot to ask jim specifically about this issue which you had brought up before…i just know that he is very busy….i too, have had to cancel out on commitments for workshops or lectures because of some last minute assignment that i could not miss…mine are usually a bit more predictable than jim’s….he and i will most likely do another “double team” appearance at some point, this last one being so successful for all of us…stay tuned…
MATT….
missing you guys already….that was a good one!!
i just spoke with Uptown on the phone…my first phone call after landing in new york…he seems fine…at home…we will meet this weekend so i can show him the book…i can’t wait!! thanks for asking about Uptown….
Cheers, david
BOB….
yes yes marcus is such a brilliant photographer and terrific person to boot!! jim spoke with pride about marcus while we were in bkk…
i believe you are coming to new york, and i know you told me before, but can you please pretty please tell me again???
like you, running….david
ALL….
i hope it is obvious that those last posts under mike’s name are from me…i am at my home desktop which mike uses more than me and somehow my notes have got his name on them…i am so computer illiterate i cannot see how to make the change…but, give me a minute and i might figure it out!!
ALL..
ok , got it…duhhh
David: :)))
If you will be in NY around Christmas, I will drop into the city. If you’ll be out west with your family, I will come down in either January or February (when you are in town).
Our plan: leave Toronto on December 22nd (driving by car).
We’ll be staying with my mom in PHiladelphia. Originally, planned to drive back from PHilly on Thursday, December 27th.
If u’r in town, Marina and I WILL come…if u’r out west then, we’ll slip down after the holidays: just let me know in a note:
1st: get rest and get Michael some Scotch! ;))
hugs
running
bob
DAVID: Welcome Back. Have you slept yet?
Are you staying in NY for awhile, or will you be gone near XMas? I’m planning my trip and want to hit it right.
ALL: Anybody going to be in Seattle next weekend (14-16th)?
Cheers
Michael
Hey David,
I was chatting with Michael but I thought it was you:) So your identity confusion goes beyond the blog. Any idea when you will be back in Korea? You mentioned a strong desire to be back.
Im sure you will get over the post partum depression of yours:) Arent you busy as hell?
Check your email, I sent you a message a week ago, maybe ot would interest you.
Hi David, one question about the workshops, where can I figure out where will be the next ones ? Is there any chance to have one somewhere in Europe once ?
Yep good question from Yan. I mean about a workshop in Europe :)
Its like I have just returned from the peak of Olympus, where after briefly meeting the gods, I have been set down amongst the mortals again and thus having registered my loss of that heavenly atmosphere will always feel bereft…
Yet, now, infused with sleep and sweet smelling tea, the puzzle begins to fall in place, the nuance of a gesture, a look, a line of light, transcends the sadness of passing acquaintance and fuels me with desire to never forget, that once I met gods who spoke my unspoken language.
Thanks to all the students and teachers, the new deities from Bangkok.
(PS It was Kidney Stones all along)
YAN AND IORI…
i do workshops in Italy (tpw.it) every year and often in Spain (through EFTI) as well…there will be a Magnum workshop in Norway in march 2008…i will probably also do something at the Arles (France) Photo Fest in 2008…working now also on doing something in Poland in the spring, but this is not set up yet…
on my new web site, which i am working on right now, i will make all of this easier by having a permanent page set up to list upcoming workshops , seminars etc…the Magnum site will also have all of this listed for you…i can really only do about 6 workshops in a year….i try to set up my time for the year to shoot a third, teach a third, and produce books a third…
RAFAL…
yes, my friend, i do stay pretty busy!! i am not sure when i will get back to Korea, but jim and i were thinking that maybe we would do some kind of seminar in Seoul at some point…anyway, i surely enjoyed my time there and will find any excuse to get back…maybe for the Magnum exhibit and book launch…just not sure …
in any case, wishing you all best and hope we meet again soonest….
cheers, david
LISA…
thank you for your comment…but, i do hope that what we may have imparted to you was that only because we suffer through the same kinds of things that you do or have struggled in the same way in the past, do we have anything to offer..both jim and i see ourselves as just normal working photographers who might have a bit more experience than some of our students and therefore have something to share…deities not!!! HUBRIS, HUBRIS AND HUBRIS!!!
you were such a pleasure to have in class…and your optimism and good spirit transcended a day in the hospital about which you never complained that you had at least one less shooting day than everyone else!! good on you!! i will post some of your work soonest…
cheers, david
Oh garn David I haven’t had any one to worship since Ian Curtis from Joy Division!
JUST JOKING!!!!!!
What I meant is that it was an incredible experience being in the workshop with you and James and so many great talents like James Chance and Tom Hyde and Lara Day and Joe Wenkoff and Matt Newtown and Kloie Picot and, and, and… well everyone really.
And while I miss that I feel incredibly privileged I was there at all. No hubris intended!
I have a question about letdown. Since the beginning of the year, Mr. Harvey, you’ve been in Bangkok, Brazil, New York, France, Mexico, Korea, Mexico (again? or am I counting wrong?)and Bangkok again. Has it occurred to you that maybe it isnt letdown at all: it’s jetlag catching up with you?
The previous anonymous message was brought to you by the Bashmachkin for President in 2060 campaign. I am Akaky Bashmachkin, except when I’m not, and I approved this message.
Hi David,
That is fantastic news :-)
A workshop in Arles-France isn’t so far away from my place in Belgium.
And Poland…wow man THAT would be even better ;-)
Realy can’t wait hehe.
Fine regards and have a great weekend
iori
Sista Lisa!!!!…Kidney Stones, christ!…good god….i promise to write u this weekend…crazy time for emails :)))…marina and i send love to crush those damn stones away ;)))….
will write
running
bob
When yu come it would be awesome to meet again. Im REALLY curious what you guys came up with in Korea, and I have an attachment to the work as I was there with you when a lot of your work was created. Cant wait for it. I cheated a bit and looked at the Magnu site and saw a bit of work from Chien Chi but not much else. Are you guys keeping it a secret until the launch?
P.S. David, come check out the website I sent you in the email, your comments would be HUGELY appreciated if you wished to write something there
RAFAL…
will check out your site…no secrets, just busy with other things…the book will be out soon enough…besides, you saw some of my work here…
ANONYMOUS…
yes, i did seem to meet myself coming around the corner!!
cheers, david
RAFAL…
will check out your site…no secrets, just busy with other things…the book will be out soon enough…besides, you saw some of my work here…
ANONYMOUS…
yes, i did seem to meet myself coming around the corner!! but you forgot to mention my family trips to colorado, virginia and north carolina…the best of all!!!
cheers, david
Not a problem, the site isnt going anywhere. Its a different sort of place I guess, we have set it up so as to emphasize stories instead of singles.