this is just a quick hello and goodbye…i just have no free time
to be here with another workshop just started etc….this could be the
last workshop i do here in my New York space for any number of
reasons…in any case, and you know me by now, i will put everything i
have into this one..as i do in everything i do connected with my
work…other matters are often  a disaster, but whatever i do regarding
photography, i am all in…whether it is my own work or my mentoring of
others…two different "bodies of work" but both equally important and
both with an equal piece of the "whole"

so, allow me please this brief break with our forum so that i may
focus on your colleagues who are here in my home…by the way, everyone
in my home right now is a reader of this forum…most silent non
writers, but they know all of you who write and can recite me various
incidents, paragraphs, and all kinds of things from right here…

point is, we are all having an impact on each other..yes, yes , the
power of the net etc etc etc…well, by fate, or whatever, our online
community has turned into reality so many times, from my first meeting
with Rafal in Seoul to hanging with Patricia in Detroit…and a whole
bunch of stuff going on in between at Look3 and Perpignan and just out there on the highway..you know who you are…you remember
the good times and the truly sweet reality of what it feels like to
know someone before you meet them and then take off on another whole
new side of the friendship..and, you must admit, it has turned into
real friendships…i am sure we all agree that our beleaguered world
can use every drop of good spirit we can squeeze into it..but all any
of us can do is just make your immediate environment as good a place as
you can make it…

my life set of rules for myself: set up good vibes within a 20 foot imaginary
space created around me….give everyone in that space as much room as they want….make whoever is
right next to me laugh..

this weekend upcoming will be another one of our "forum family reunions"….i hope there will be many more….in that spirit it might just be the right time for me to show just a piece of my Off for a Family Drive work at the finale fiesta this friday night..seems like maybe we should look at some of these American families i met cross country  just because of our times, not because i my pictures….i will think on it….Alessandra Sanguinetti and Paul Fusco will precede the student show, but i just might stick "family drive" in there somewhere….what do you think??

after all, it will be a family night…

422 thoughts on “sunday morning ramble…”

  1. more work by dah? always a plus..
    one big ‘group hug’ (and picture showing) to remind everyone we are all ‘family’ in difficult times? priceless.

  2. HERVE…

    you had me laughing out loud….next time we are both in Paris, we will take d’Agata for a beer or two (or five in his case!)…please stop have nightmares…

    BOB….

    please know i have not forgotten you…just as i was ready to open your link, Kyunghee and Paola showed up at my front door and that started a chain of events which did not lead to my computer…

    and i know that you know why i just cannot look at Bones right now..in two days yes, now no…

    rest assured i will see Bones before your arrival on friday…are you sure you can’t get here a day before??? you will be arriving when i am in my most, shall we say, “intense mode”…but, maybe that is just right…in any case, our long awaited meeting is upon us…..

    safe travels, peace, david

    Posted by: david alan harvey | September 28, 2008 at 08:44 AM

    PATRICIA….

    i am totally ok…there are just many factors including that i might move my main “home” to the beach near my sons and just have my New York space as an office..i have my eye on a nice cottage with all the right smells…

    if i do my family show on friday night, i would like to use one of the pictures of you and Ed…i would like your permission, but doubt i will have enough time or remember to send one to you first for your approval….what do you think??

    cheers, hugs, david

  3. What a wonderful idea to show your Family Drive work, or some of it…and the line up is exciting as well.

    It really will be a meeting of the family, Bro Bob and I and Marina talked last night, and just hearing their voices made this sense of family even stronger..can’t wait to have all of you in one big embrace, and to finally speak with Panos and see Gina and all..

    Am off NOW to shot an assignment, send me goodness all, I’ve had a rough couple of days health wise and want to bring my A game..

    peace and goodness

  4. PATRICIA :)))))))))

    well, i guess i remember my dreams, and yes usually remember the details of them pretty well, always have since childhood for whatever reason, about 4 days a week…Marina has the same…and her details and intensity are even crazier…my dreams are not always so “literal of the present”, but i guess it was on my mind ;)))…and now worries, i’ll show bones (maybe today if i figure something out…and thanks again for the support…we’ll see my dear what dreams are made of, we’ll see…:)))))))

    HERVE ! :))))))))))))))))))

    GOD-DAMNED, THAT WAS HILARIOUS! :)))))…i think Patricia should start marketing her skooter as another “tool” for the “creative” photographer ;))))…i can just see Patricia and D’Agata goin’ to town in some god-lost run-down neighboorhood of Detroit or Marseilles shooting from the hip and blowing by folk :)))))))))….i love it :)))…more dreams please :))))

    GLENN: :))))….got those Vo-Vo’s coming :))))…love love that story so much….

    CARLOS :)))))))

    I WILL TAKE LOBO ANTUNES :)))))))…just ordered “What Can I Do When Everything’s On Fire?” it was just published here…and this week he spoke/read in NY…i was so fucking bummed that i missed him by 1 week :(((…im praying he gets invited to Toronto for the October Festival of Authors…maybe :)))))))….fingers-crossed :)))))))…and i dont know what the damn NObel committee has been waiting for…i know Portugal is small and they already gave one prize to Saramago…but….enough already….Antunes is one of my heros ;))))))))))))))…and i ever get more money i’ll come visit u…Portugal holds a very special place in my heart and my wife’s heart :))))))))))

    hugs
    running
    b

  5. DAVID (harvey):

    I am worried about you! You sound exhausted my friend…though I am not surprised in the least. i hope when i come you’ll listen to reason with me and just give yourself a break…after Mexico??….

    Anyway, saw your note on the last thread and let me just assure you that in NO WAY am i worried about you seeing or reading or speaking about Bones. Please. Also, do not take personally my dream, it’s my psyche im wrestling with ;)).. It was just dump luck (fate?)…and in no way to I take personally or am angry/sad/disappointed that you haven’t seen it (who cares if you write anything about it, it’s already out of my system). I know the time and madness and pressure that you are currently under and i wish, as a friend, you wouldn’t act all heroic and shit and do this to yourself. but in the end, i hope that by the workshop ending, it will have made all well, you will have helped and changed the lives of some of those people and then you can return to quiet I hope and get your ass on your Family Project….

    I’ll post bones later and if you dont see it, fuck it, no worries. Marina and I will arrive on Friday morning but we will see you at the Fiesta….maybe Saturday we can have some quiet time together, just to talk about life, forget photography….

    concentrate on those people around you know…and be well….

    hugs from the 3 of us…

    love
    b

  6. DAVID (HARVEY);

    P.S. YES YES YES, STICK PART OF FAMILY DRIVE IN….

    IF YOU DO NOT SHOW US SOMETHING FROM THE SERIES, THEN I REALLY WILL HOLD IT AGAINST YOU THAT YOU KO’D ON BONES AT THE LAST MINUTE ;))))))))

    Now, Marina and I didnt spend all that money to come down just for Bones shit…i want to see Family Drive!

    can i give u an order?? ;))

    b

  7. david…

    sticking in “family drive” makes sense to me… recalling what i saw of it at look3…

    …now i wish even more that i could be there!

    good luck with the workshop… i’m sure some amazings things will come out of it yet again…

    peace
    anton

  8. David,
    I was considering attending your workshop, since I was going to be in NYC around that time. But finacially I just could not made it. oh well. but is the Friday party open for your blog readers? or closed to the student only? I am flying from the UK to NYC on Thursday to attend the Eddie Admas Workshop near NYC. Going to your party would be a cool start of my first American adventure :)

  9. Gee, if I had known the fiesta would bring so many blog luminaries, I’d have made plans to attend. Not easy for me this year to leave on the spur of a moment.

    PS1 Will D’ Agata be there? :-)))))))))

    PS2: Maciej, do not miss it, and make sure you report here with some of your fine party/nightlife shots of which you have become master at.

  10. Just the right smells. Perfect. I know exactly what you mean. My move back to London was intense particularly getting the boys settled in schools. Also my computer went down and then PhotoShelter Collection folds as I was in the midst of preparing a substantial submission. I was beginning to wonder whether Claire and I had made the right decision.

    Then one evening late as I opened the kitchen windows after preparing a nice meal I smelled the autumnal air and knew immediately that indeed we had made the right decision. I cannot really describe the smell but it’s particular to this part of the world. It’s where I belong now.

    Once you recognize that smell, you know where you’re supposed to be. Right?

  11. DAVID,

    Would have loved to be part of the “forum family reunion” this week-end, meet Bob, possibly hear about the edit of Bones but I cannot complain much as I joined a couple of reunions already. I am sure you all will have a terrific time… I hope that our best reporter so far ERICA :):) will do another one of these excellent reports….

    ALL,

    I have been pretty busy over the past week shooting, interviewing some boxers for my essay. Some of you may remember that I talked few months ago about watching a fight from Rau Shee during the Olympics together with some of his friends at the gym. Rau is a Cincinnati boxer who actually started at the small local gym I have been going to shoot part of my essay… Rau was a favorite going into the Olympics for getting the gold medal but unfortunately he lost his first fight…. I had a chance to meet him this week and spend some quality time talking about boxing, how he started, his life outside boxing, his disappointment after his loss, what is next for him…Rau in many ways represents well all these boxers that I have been following who all have been taken “off the streets”… Rau’s mother Paulette says that he used to fight all the time when he was a kid and he actually started boxing when he was 7 and had his first fight when he was 8… Three of Rau’s brothers could not stay out of trouble…all of them went to jail and two of them still are there. Boxing has helped Rau and Paulette move forward as a family… They are both hoping that this will lead to a more stable life as a professional boxer, a life without the pitfalls of crime and punishment… I have a long interview of Rau that I plan to use for the MM piece that I intend to prepare… After talking with many of these young boxers, I will also write as best as I can (not everybody is Bob Black :):):) )an essay to support the photographs that I have taken… I have also done 3 or 4 days of additional shooting this week as well, hoping to complete what I had started and shown to David in Perpignan…

    Will keep you all posted.

    Cheers,

    Eric

    PS: for those interested, Paolo Pellegrin did shoot several athletes going into the Olympics and he also took some pictures of Rau Shee the boxer I have talked about above. You may want to look at it:

    http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essay/2008-olympic-athletes

  12. ALL.

    Heading off to Texas for the week. No computer.
    I’ll be back Friday, just in time to catch up and hear about the Fiesta. Have a great week everyone.

    ERIC…took a look at the Pellegrin piece. I think yours will be much better. What was up with the pace of that piece? I understand the “feel” he was trying to give it…to match the energy of the athletes but it seemed more appropriate for an MTV video than photography. I wanted to have at least a couple of seconds to see the images :((

  13. ALL-

    Forgot to say that I attended a presentation by Paul Fusco this year the first day that Perpignan exhibition started. It was Monday morning, at 10am… when most of the photopraphers and “PROs” come later (mid-week). Hardly anybody in the amphitheater…very intimate… For the few fortunates that were there, Paul shared the work that he did with the kids affected by the radiation of Tchernobyl… Some unbearable pictures… Paul also showed the work on Bob Kennedy Funeral train that led recently to a new book… Some interesting images there as well all taken within a few hours the same day from the window of a train…I am sure he will be talking to the students about both pieces of work… Paul is not a very joyful man but it was very interesting listening in to him and I am sure the students will enjoy….

    Eric

  14. FUCK IT ;))), ok, here is bones…

    i put it up on FLICKR…if you click on the images, you’ll have to look at the work in big size in order to see the grain or the entire image…the pics dont look great at flick and for some reason look really sharp/pointy…but whatever…im sick of them…i WILL REMOVE THEM ON TUESDAY NIGHT from flick…the size of the files are large since i kept that at the size i scanned, so, the quality is reduced ’cause i guess FLICKR sizes them to fit on the page, even in “full size” mode…whatever…

    so, you can begin here and click, first picture:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/73821181@N00/2896320420/in/set-72157607559432969/

    or see the set here: BUT START AT THE MOMENT, as i loaded them backwards…the picture of Dima with my HOlga SHOULD BE THE LAST PHOTO you see…

    none, im really sick to death of these photographs….slinking away…

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/73821181@N00/sets/72157607559432969/

    bye…

    see everyone when we get to ny…

    no more blog for me until i return…

    b

  15. bob

    thanks for sticking them up.. flickr definitely has limitations.. even so, it’s good to see them getting the light of day

    i really like a lot of the photos individually..
    would it be possible to read the words to accompany?
    it feels like i am missing something.. cannot find any of the assignment briefs on here and want to get the full point – i’m getting strong hints throughout and full effect would be great.

  16. DAVID

    I wondered where everyone was! I seem to hang out at former threads way after everybody’s left…

    Yes, yes, YES please show some of “Off For a Family Drive” at the Fiesta on Friday!!! I’m going to be there and want to see what you’ve been up to.

    Yes, I’m coming to Friday’s Fiesta!!!

    My friend Pat Kolon and I will be driving to Brooklyn on Thursday, arriving that night, and staying at the Nu Hotel (85 Smith St. in downtown Brooklyn) for three nights (Th, F, S). We’ll take off early Sunday morning and travel the 630 miles back home. I’ve just been printing out the Mapquest directions…

    Regarding the accessibility issue, I’ll be bringing two portable ramps that should be able to handle the steps up into your building, and then I can use the elevator, right? I’m assuming there will be street parking for my minivan on Kent Avenue.

    I’ll call you this week to firm things up just in case there are unforeseen problems. Or you can call me when you’re free.

    I am beyond excited…ECSTATIC is more like it ;=)

    Patricia

  17. BOB BLACK….

    now everybody knows i like you..at least, for someone i have not met..and they may think that i would be prone to like your pictures just because i like you…nothing could be further from the truth….

    but that set of Bones is just one dynamic twisted it will take me forever to fit all the pieces together work of art..not meant to be a novel “read” quickly…you must have loved Faulkner more than Hemingway…

    i like the individual photographs, have no immediate desire to cut or edit at all , but more importantly, kept looking and looking and looking at it as a “set” as presented on line….i saw it as a WALL in a museum with that collection as shown about 40 feet wide…horizontal rather than vertical as it is on the screen..hard to show a large vertical…but, anyway view it as one giant essay, as one picture, as one almost filmic trip…you may or may not have thought of this, but surely this essay is meant to be viewed as a narrative whole one way or the other…yet, i believe i have read you that pure narrative is never your goal..well, there can be a very broad interpretation of narrative and we can talk about that in person….

    i do not think your work is for everyone..and i do not think you give a damn either…you will be rejected by many and become an acquired taste by many others…

    so ironic that Kyunghee Lee had a similar affect on me today…she presented 69 pictures from a one day shoot..at first i told her she was presenting way too many..then i looked…the whole class was pin drop silent…that woman killed us….amazing work…i have no idea how to edit it down at the end of the week..and that is just her first day!!!

    so no first edit for you or Kyunghee….am i getting soft?? there are 12 other people out there right now who went through the critique of their first day and they would tell you an emphatic “no”…i have two totally blocked students…and they earn their living as working pros….blocked big time…anyway, it has been a “heavy” day…

    thanks for putting up your link…made it easy…helped make my day…

    cheers, david

  18. patricia

    i can imagine the car and the driving tunes..
    amon tobin.. carl craig.. some cuts from intec perhaps..

    safe driving and respect for the effort..
    big up’s
    ai..

  19. Make that “travel the 6300 miles” back home. Wishful thinking that…

    And David, of course you can show any pic of Ed and me that you like. That will be totally surreal for me though ;=o

    Patricia

  20. GINA :)))

    yes, looking forward to seeing you next week. marina and i do not have a cell phone…(our son has one, but not us)…you cant get to us through Erica, with whom we’ll be staying…have fun with bones…wish i could show it here with music and black border, but flickr will have to do….

    DAVID BOWEN :)))

    thanks…the essay i am writing for it is long…and well, yea, i would love to share it…story is complicated (or not) but well…it the pictures dont sting enough, than i have failed regardless of what i write ;)))

    as to FLICKR, yea, it totally sucks…and some folks here (PANOS, KATHERINA, ANDREW) OFFERED GENEROUSLY to house the pics for now, but i didnt want to both them and their time…the images at flicr are sized at 1500 x 1000, so they look absolutely ridiculous at flickr, but well, i dont care anymore…you gotta look at them when you’re drunk, stoned, happy, sad, late at night, lost, sleepy, all the above ;))))))))))…

    PATRICIA :))))

    wow, that’s brilliant! :))))…that will be lovely, i am so happy and so looking forward to seeing you….:)))))…will be great…will be lovely lovely to finally hiss/hug in person :)))))…

    ALL: again if you look at bones, make sure you start with the 2nd page (picture of museum shot with pin-hole camera into the sun)…the last photo is the photo of dima…i loaded backwards ;
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/73821181@N00/sets/72157607559432969/?page=2

    from here (last image), go backwards until you get to HolgaDima ;)))

    ok, running away now for real…family is calling

  21. /\
    bob

    what david said..

    after reading his perspective it is clearer for me – i did look at the photos individually.. and then as contact sheets, which i found a lot easier.. though did not think relevant to mention.

    david suggesting one wall.. perfect.. would be an overwhelming wall .. bringing about a stunned silence.. and demanding time be spent in front of it to ponder our own reactions and bones..
    one wall with many images.. other walls with single ones blown huge..

    well done on the achievement..

  22. PATRICIA…

    maybe i missed a comment, but are you really coming here?? am i supposed to know that???? great, fantastic, unreal!!!!

    yes, all you need is some way to get up those first steps…they are steep but short..can’t i carry you up those steps and put you in a chair?? after that , really easy…get here early ..no later than eight..to my place 607..the show is down in 402, but we can get you there easy as well…

    call me…this is going to be unreal…

    hugs, david

  23. DAVID (harvey)! :)))))

    David, thank you very much….thank you so much for taking the time to take a peak when you’re swamped….and yea, it’s a wall, all around :)))))…no doubt :)))…funny: i like both hemingway and faulkner ;)))…but yea, my mind’s a sloppy mess like William F ;)))…

    and I am so so happy to hear about Kyung-Hee’s work :)))))…as i’ve told her from long ago, that it doesnt matter if people get her stuff or not, but that she has something that no amount of dilligence can get:

    the belief in the hunger that lives and gnawls away at the heart…we (she and i) share a similar believe:

    speak what bites you and it will feed you :)))

    tonight, when you are alone, look at bones again when you have had your cornpipe…it will make sense then ;))))

    marina and I cannot wait to see you and hug you…fuck the rest ;)))

    love
    b

  24. bob..

    i’m probably understating, and so i apologize..
    i’m struck with the photo – certainly.. they have hit with me.. asking for the words was simply because i knew there were words..

    it’s midnight and although i’m not drunk, stoned, speeding, tripping or even high on a sugar rush from cola i can see them and you..
    no need to talk of failure, bob..

  25. Friday night is looking to be a FUN time! Can’t wait to see everyone… xo

    BOB – glad you are staying with erica – i am sure we will all be in contact.

  26. DAVID BOWEN :)))

    no worries amigo…i totally understand…:)))…i’d love to show you the work (there’s more, but i cut out so much to try to get David something manageable) in a dark room with music…a slideshow…as i showed dima…someday :))))

    DAVID HARVEY )))))

    ok, so like i’ll go back and add some of the images (not many) i took out last week….but my mom is coming for thanksgiving, and i will shoot more of her (since she is a ghostly presence in this story)…

    just remember; THIS ESSAY WAS BORN OF YOUR INSPIRATION FOR ME TO DO AN ASSIGNMENT FOR YOU…this essay (and there is more to it in pics, maybe 100 that i can live with) is for my father, my son and for YOU….we’ll talk about that in person…

    i hope Doug is doing well :))

    running
    hugs
    bob

  27. BOB BONES

    Well, what words are left? I can only say that Bones is even more powerful than I’d anticipated. After three images my heart started pounding like a drum. Further on I started shaking, and later still I found myself gasping for breath. And these were my just visceral responses. Bob, I am speechless.I’m sorry but any words I’d say would seem trite. Let me go through it a few more times and try again to speak of this work. I now must go take a friend to dinner for her birthday but I shall return.

    in awe
    Patricia

  28. BROTHER BOB

    I definitely get to claim kinship here now… Everything DAH says and more!!!!!

    I did say ages ago that when you had good bones they always passed the test of time and these are the most beautiful bones ever…

    Of course I have favorites, ‘Subway Glasses’ and “Portrait of my Father’ and ‘Bear, Fear’ but I agree with DAH that they are a body of work, a whole and should only be edited if there is not enough space in the book…

    And I also agree with David B. I have always felt that your words and images come from exactly the same place, there is no disconnect which is the rarest of things and that your words should stand besides your photographs with staunch and proud equality…

    When I did ‘Shadowlands’ (unfortunately its not all on my site) it was a departure for me in a way, but at the time I was in a very hard place and I couldn’t express my world in sharp clear focus and the words for it came from the same place the pictures did and it was the first time I had ever been able to do that.

    I didn’t manage as you have done, your work is an art and deserves to be acknowledged as such.

    All I can say now is WELL DONE and apart from adding the text I wouldn’t (to quote from my favorite Poet/ Performer from Oz, Nick Cave) ‘Touch a hair on their head’

    ‘Bones’ are just beautiful Bob, now leave them alone and stop worrying them, I think they are just perfect as they are….

  29. BOB,

    Well my friend…many of us have been waiting for this chance to look at Bones completed… You can tell that many have been waiting as your essay has been seen already 161 times when I just checked on FLICKR… What can I say that has not been said already above…I have told you this before Bob that I do not like all the photographs you make but there are so many that have touched me… You have a unique vision for sure…importantly, you have been able to create the BOB BLOCK univers, a pretty dark univers it seems that at times gave me a rather uncomfortable feeling, as if I was right in the middle of a nightmare rather than a dream…. This boy with a skull seems a bit scary… All I can say Bob is that I have loved many of the photographs and especially the “Missing child”, “Boy with a Skull”, “Wedding”… I look forward to reading the text together with the photographs…well done sir!!!! I was happy for you that David also responded so positively to your essay although I was not very worried :):):)…
    Unfortunately, will not be able to meet the man behind the photographs just yet but soon I hope.

    PATRICIA and ALL TRAVELERS to DAH land!!!!!

    This is indeed promising to be unreal… Bob sleeping with wife and family at Erica’s place, Panos sleeping in a bag by David’s…Half of the blog tribe seems to be crossing the country to get there….SHIT IS ALL I CAN SAY!!!! WHY DO I HAVE TO WORK THIS WEEK!!!!

    I envy you all and wish I could be part of this with you!!!!

    Cheers,

    Eric

  30. BOB…

    Simply amazing. Bravo. And visualizing as a wall, as suggested…wonderful.

    ALL
    So sad that I am able to travel this week but am already committed (and, indeed, am now int he low country of South Carolina). I wish greatly that I could be there to experience so many of you in one place at the same time….at least know I’m there in spirit and hopefully will meet all of you (singularly or perhaps at another fest) in the future….

    AKAKY IRL: go!

    Patricia and Panos: you must BOTH document…it will be so enlightening to see the coverage from each of your perspectives….

    best to all,
    A.

  31. LEE
    Not sure if I answered your question about emailing….send me an email (link on the page attached to my name, below) so I have your email.

    best,
    A.

  32. DAVID

    Yes, this IS totally unreal. It’s like I dreamed it into being last night, woke up early this morning, and as the day went on, somehow managed to find a way to make it happen…in large part due to the enthusiastic response by my friend Pat who LOVES to drive and looks forward to meeting all these folks she’s heard so much about!

    We’ll do whatever needs to be done to get me up those front steps. Hopefully my ramp will work but if not, I’m OK with being carried like some African Queen! But be prepared–I’m heavier than I look. Must be all that muscle from working out at the gym ;=) Pat and I will be at your place before 8 p.m. on Friday night. I’ll call you when we get to the front door.

    I’ve got jury duty tomorrow–they better not pick me!–but can call you either tomorrow (Monday) night or sometime Tuesday.

    This is going to be SOME fiesta!!!

    ALL

    I promise to be snap-snap-snapping away as best I can. Only thing is I’ll have to wait till I get back home the following Monday to post the photos. But post them I will. I promise!

    And please know I’ll be carrying ALL of you nestled comfortably inside my scooter basket. Just close your eyes and you’ll be there…

    Patricia

  33. Patricia? can I eamil you regarding a technical issue with our camera/lens combinations? You seem to be successfully avoiding/solving an issue I keep having…

    thanks,
    A.

  34. Loving Bones Bob!

    Somebody be sure and get a photo of David and Bob meeting for the first time—I’d be all over that but I doubt I can make it. Terribly disappointed to be missing this family reunion!

  35. VIDEO!

    Who, that is going, has a MAC or another PC with a web camera attached or built-in? We could have multiple Skype video feeds of the fest!

    that would be pretty cool. and free. and reletively easy, I think.

  36. Bob,

    you certainly have your own vision. Its a ig set and some photos are more powerful than others but surely as a whole they create an interesting project, a strong aesthetic, very unique, personal, yours…youve found authorship the rest, like acceptance, isnt important, because acceptance will come from somewhere for sure. Not all will like it, but it will be liked. I like it because its so different. Even if you dislike it now, I think that will change later.

  37. Bob,
    I am too without voice, I love your very personal and unreal essay…
    I love your Portrait of My Father, Portrait of Marina, Dinosaur Dream, Portrait of My Father, Boy with Skull, Dinosaur Dream, Flight… there is too much that I like… Portrait of Firebrand, Reflection, Bear: fear, Son’s Dream… it is stunning!

    Lee,
    I hope that you will make us share very soon your work, I am very impatiante!!

    All,
    I wish you all a very beautiful family meeting…

    Amitiés, audrey

  38. MR. BB-

    I started to write to you about photographs, individual images, but realized that is pointless. There’s no editing, no singling out, no dissecting this one, it is a uniquely personal journey, a story you are telling, and no one can tell you “this is right” “this is wrong”…I do love the images mentioned about though…

    what struck me is that I see it as a big massive wall, a collage that moves and rearranges itself, but even more, I see it in the order you placed it…the themes that keep surfacing, the photos that reference previous images but grow and blur….like a dream that keeps coming back to the same, then moving on to a new place, only to find yourself back again…

    How lucky am I to attend this Friday? What a meeting of the minds this will be!

    (and yes, the launch of Nacthwey’s TED project, hopefully someone can clue us in from the showing at Lincoln Center!)

  39. PATRICIA-
    Unbelievable that you will make it all the way to Brooklyn! I always mean to ask where in Detroit you live (though I’m usually in hiding on here)…I’m a Michigander myself, spent my early years in Detroit….look forward to meeting you…

  40. WOW!!!!

    DAH’s Fiesta visited by the blog ‘luminaries’ of BOB, PANOS, ERICA, PATRICIA and DADAKAKY and MR N’s TED wish all in the one weekend…

    I must be psychic, ‘cos it was MR N that I was thinking of when I said about a week or two ago that one of the greats was going to be showing us exactly how to do this multi media business properly…

    Wish I was in NY right now…

  41. GLENN…

    i took one run through your slide show… i do want to take another look..

    first of all, you are obviously a man who cares….the aborigines have found a place in your heart and you want to create awareness or “do something” …at least this is what i see both in this slide show and in other work you have shown..

    i have a question about this…how much work overall have you done with the aborigines?? if memory serves me, you do as much work as you can on this in between newspaper assignments…is this correct?? i just have no sense right now of your overall body of work…

    racking my brain to try to remember also if i have seen a really good book on the aborigines…surely, several exist…but, i am not so sure…do you see this as a long term goal?? if not, you should…

    this is potentially one of the great people/land stories around…i have no idea how much time you can devote to this, nor how far you live from an aboriginal community where you could work…but, if there is any way you can “drop everything” and just concentrate on this for at least some reasonable period of time, then i think both your career and the level of awareness about the aborigines would be cranked up a couple of notches…

    peace, david

  42. MACIEJ….

    you are most welcomed to come to see the shows of the students and of Alessandra Sanguinetti and Paul Fusco…i think you will enjoy both…

    i thought i also told you before that you are welcomed in my home anytime..i would like to see what you shoot at Eddie Adams and otherwise…

    please come…..there will be a posting soonest with my address etc. or just look two posts back at the slide show fiesta announcement…

    i hope to meet you …

    cheers, david

  43. ALL….

    while i am so pleased that so many of you will be coming this week to New York, i do not want those of you who cannot be here to feel “left out”…

    it has been fortunate indeed that so many of us have met in person…please know that if i am anywhere near you, i will make every effort to meet you and view your work…i think you know this already, but i just want to emphasize it again…

    also, i hope everyone who is coming is coming to see the work….many mention the party, but the party is not IT….parties are everywhere all the time….my focus is on getting the students i have now to produce some fine work for you to see both in person and right here on the forum…that is all..

    for all who will be here, please enjoy..for those who cannot, i hope you will be pleased with the work done this week…when the party is over, i want the work to stand alone….

    cheers, david

  44. andrew b

    live feeds via skype?
    that would work – jeeeze we’d have to get up early in the europe.. or stay awake through beer goggles late at night.

    anyone able to switch on a litle video for a little of the fiesta?

    erica’s written report was a superb endeavor, however if there are no objections it’d be very funny for the rest of us to see you all there..

    ERICA
    btw..

    i’m teaching darkroom this coming month.. it’s on the syllabus.. and i’m delighted that it is.. we’re going to do a little pinhole as well..
    i’m now on the look out for a bulk film loader and film canisters again..
    the only problem?
    none of the students have film cameras from what i am told… and so i have been routing around charity shope looking.. a beaten up AE1 here, F301 there and hopefully there will be enough.

  45. MACIEJ…ALL

    i forgot to mention another thing…and too bad we did not talk about this before…i always have in my classes one or two scholarship students…. students who have excellent portfolios, but just cannot afford the expenditure…

    the other thing you should also know is that part of EPF will be tuition free workshops given out to photographers whose work is promising..not only for my workshops but for several other photographer/teachers as well..stay tuned for these announcements coming soon..

    cheers, david

  46. Well said, David. Yes, I am greatly anticipating our blog reunion but even more than that I long to see the recent workof Kyunghee and the other workshop participants, Alessandra and Paul, and your own Family series. This is what I am driving 1300 miles to see…

    And now off to jury duty. PLEASE don’t pick me!!!

    Patricia

  47. david b

    have a film camera and all necessary equipment to develop & print… fibre based paper… even still some XTOL and agefix… want me to arrange sth to get it over to you? i can miss them for a couple of months no prob… need them back in the long run though… i’ll mail you a list later on today

    cheers
    anton

  48. To: David Bowen
    I’ve got an old bulk loader somewhere in my boxes. The handle broke off years ago and so I used to use a tweezers to crank it. Took a while. No need for it now though. I’d send it to you but for the broken handle.

    To: David Alan Harvey
    A gathering of colleagues and friends to discuss and enjoy fine photography is, to me, the ultimate party.

  49. DAVID (alan harvey)! :))

    Please know and PLEASE TELL YOUR WORKSHOP STUDENTS that Marina and I are coming to New York on that Day (next Friday) BECAUSE OF THEM AND THE SHOW! :)) Marina and I thought a while what would be best (come when you are not working, alone) and we both felt that coming TO SUPPORT YOU AND TO SUPPORT YOUR WORKSHOP STUDENTS was the best plan. Each of your workshop films that i’ve seen (Look3, last week’s and past shows) have been so inspiring and rich, that there is no way that i would want to go any other time. Add to this the fact that our good friend Kyung-Hee will be showing work just makes it all the more important. That we get the benefit of seeing Paul and Allesandra’s work is just so delecious a treat…and the possibility that you will show us some of Family Trip (you’d better not take this back after the coin i’ve dropped on our very limited family budget to make this road trip) is just such a delicious disease, we can not contain ourselves!

    Please let them know that I look forward to seeing their show immensely and that we’ll be there in full-on support…

    as for the live hook-up, i can’t think of anything better :))))…

    looking forward tremendously :))

    hugs
    b

  50. Uncle Dave – I don’t know whether you wonder why I call you Uncle, but where I come from it is a title I was brought up to give to those older and wiser than myself, with no familial bond implied.
    As for the work in the ‘lands’, it’s a continuation of my life’s journey… I suppose from growing up in a small mining town in the Western Queensland Desert , a place with a reputation being more or less equivalent to the deep south of your own great republic in that its issues of race are not entirely undeserved.
    Growing up we were 50 /50 white and black, kids together with no sense of the greater world being any different… then one day, almost overnight we stopped playing, started separating, started fighting. I suppose that my attentions to this issue stem a lot from the casual racism that I was brought up with – the pressure to conform to hate and ambivalence, and a deep underlying curiosity and suspicion about my own attachment to the land, this country, how can it be valid when the first Australians, AUSTRALIAN CITIZENS and let’s not forget that , are living in conditions you would’nt keep a bloody dog in.
    I remember walking through a refugee camp near Quetta, Pakistan full to the brim with Afghan refugees, thinking that somehow none of this was new to me, the smells, the children so excited, desperate for the diversion that the tall white fella provided from the crushing boredom of a life without hope. The adults, shamed into lethargy by their inability to pull themselves out of a mire not of their own making… I’d seen it all before on faces that were friends to me, the Aunties who helped raise me and the first girl I fell in love with when I was 14, I was all at home.
    There are many photographers who shoot in the Aboriginal world, sympathetic and capable but somehow not offering a window of a ‘future’, only a tragic reflection of the past that is lost and without hope.
    I suppose that I moved here to this vast space, the Northern Territory to be closer to the work I see as mine. I, like the body of pictures, am a work in progress and I use my position as a plugged in member of the Australian media as a tool for awareness and a tool for showing that this wide expanse of land north of Alice Springs is not empty, but full of what makes this country special and where some hope for the future lies.
    I’ve thrown a few pics together here

    http://www.digitalrailroad.net/glenn/Production/PhotoGroupView.aspx?pbid=4&msa=1&pgid=13865640&ipp=64&sort=0&page=0

    I made myself available to the only story that really matters in this country and I’m plugging away ,still hopeful , still learning .
    thanks for your interest Mate

  51. DAH

    what a superb idea..
    ‘EPF’ in-kind is just a brilliant idea.. and could help many more people.. if there is a way of magnum subsidizing people, or in other words paying a proportion of the expenses, that could even be a tax right-off for them.
    any further thoughts on aperture for the EPF book?
    the more i think on it the more it makes sense, if possible.. established distribution.. market and fine printers with quality across the board..

    i really wish i was taking these approaching workshops.. just no money.. no time.. a baby is dropping..
    please do another next year if you can.. the Europe ones would be good, however the NYC ones would be just perfect for me.. (me, me, me), with the contacts i could see and combine with a working trip.. having not photographed NYC nightlife for 4 or 5 years.

    ANTON & PAUL

    thanks for the kind offers.. i think thing will be okay..
    i am really interested in a bulk loader if the handle is working :o) and canisters..

    in any case – we begin this week.. printing on friday..

    it is just brilliant.. teaching darkroom just feels right if the students are to have a full and complete education in photography.. some of them will take to it and probably carry on.. some will not and that’s cool.. everyone will at least be able to reference ideas back to it.

    on and on.
    i’m going chemical shopping.:o)

  52. glenn

    you’re a legend.. MAXIMUM respect.. keen on.. keep on..
    some here are looking for what has become termed their ‘venice beach’ and some – you – stand out as having climbed into a project a long while ago.. for good reason.. with personal interest.. with an open heart and mind..
    how many years has it been?
    do you know some good writers with a passion for the same?
    it has helped me to speak to a couple of good writers who know my field well.. turn over book ideas and that brings up idea’s on what i need to do in order to complete the body of work.. because as i have found, completing a journey which has been going on over many years is a challenge.. regaining focus and forming a ‘whole’ has had me stalling for a month now with th edit.

    love your work glenn – like the patient approach.. you’re building something authentic, over time, which will stand among it’s peers.

    there are lots of books about Tibeten refugees – i’m the only one i know who photographed one village over 6 years..
    lots of books about music – i’m the longest standing electronic music freelance working worldwide..
    find something to take a little pride in – an angle you have covered which others have not – and that could be the selling point to publishers and the rest.

    that could all be garbage, *disclaimer* and of course i’ll always bow to a differing opinion..

    pea’s n chips

  53. i do not mean to say you seem to lack pride.. i am just thinking of angles myself, and so that has bled through..

    i think as your work stands – in terms of quality – you already have a great collection.. some wonderful moments, portraits.. a unique study..

  54. ALL:

    Patricia, Lisa, Andrew, Eric, Anna Marie, Rafal, David B, Audrey, Anton, Katherine and all the others who’ve written me privately, i just want to say thank you so much for the loving support and words. I do not have a lot of words at the moment (surprise?), but just know that it means a lot to me. I am still conflicted about the work, mostly because it is unfinished and must be fleshed out (about my mom, dad, something dima added the other day in a word), but it’s nice to have such support. As David mentioned, i’ve never really cared about whether people get what i do or what is going on in my head. The photography means much much less to me than the way i’ve tried to live, the relationships created. Same too with “narrative.” This essay began from seeing my dad crying, sitting on his hotel bed, and immediately i was a child again. 2 days later, when my son was attacked in front of his school by guys with a knife, and i was in nc, the same: the idea of how to express or protect..immediately, i struggled with the futility of that and then when David announced his assignments, i thought: i’ll show that even as convoluted and abstract as my work is, it is born of specific feelings and specific moments and people, that documentary photography can be born of a conceptual heart, or rather what else can a photographer do except tell the stories around her and in the way only she knows how to tell. I’ve never been imitative and have always been a pretty emotional kid, and i appreciate that there are some pics here that might make sense, some not, but indeed it is about memories and about how my life as a young boy in many ways now mirrors my life as an adult watching his own young boy or watching his father…and can “family” be passed by something other than dna or family bones…dima and i do not share dna, but we share something that probably is even closer…i’ll put back some of the other images that i loved into the story (not on flickr) that i cut last week, thinking they would be too hermetic…anyway…

    i appreciate all your kindness and patience…

    if it makes any sense, the question i always ask myself is this: we all see and experience and remember so differently and yet we somehow sense the universality of all our lives, so what is that that binds…

    for me it has always been a simple thing:

    courage (or idiocy) to hold strong to your vision, even when it begins to crumble…

    thanks for everything :))

    hugs

    runnings

  55. UNCLE GLENN! :)))))

    u know where i stand :))))…im happy you’re showing dah and others these links ))))))…love all the new ones there too…as i just wrote Sista L this morning…there’s songs in those dreams that but never get put down :))))

    j-hugs
    b

  56. Dave B , Brother Bob – I’m staggered , I really don’t know what to say! I had thought about private e-mailing my response but in the interests of the blog and in defference to those who continue to inspire me , goad me and thrill me – I spill my guts here , to this band of merry tricksters.

  57. A video feed of the projections would be awesome – not so much for the images themselves (which would look, obviously, awful over a low-res feed), but to hear the descriptions and talk beforehand….

  58. Glenn

    Your pictures always make me dream about australia!!!!
    I hope I will go to your country someday.
    Maybe my good friends will move back to australia and I will have good reason to visite them.
    some excellent works you have.

    marcin

  59. andrew b, all…

    thinking that many peeps will want to peep… what other (tech) options do we have? i seem to remember adobe offers something too, more geared towards many participants… hmm will look into it tonite

    anybody have a streaming server wa can borrow? :))

    this IS gonna be fun.

    a

  60. Love to see a live feed of this gathering , with a section for random skype shots of those who are at the ends of the earth
    ??? we’re not talking shoe phone here! make it happen oh “Mike The capable” !

  61. AKAKY IRL

    You must go to DAH’s kibbutz for the slideshow and fiesta and work a Skype video feed for those of us who cannot attend….I can only imagine (actually, I bet I can’t) viewing that event through your visual narration….

    :D

  62. glenn

    genius indeed… lived in australia for some time… good on ya, mate… keep it up, you’re building something great for sure…

    cheers,
    anton

  63. Anton,

    I haven’t tried multiple video calls, but Skype easily allows multiple participants on voice calls….

    There is always yahoo or AIM…but people tend to have one or the other….

  64. Shoot. Skype only allows video calls with 2 participants….multiple viewers is something they are working on.

    MIKE!
    Any ideas? I will look around for something that would be easy as well….we really only need a feed out to multiple participants…although it would be cool if participants could show random images/feeds to those there as well….

    Yahoo chat would do it….

  65. i know mac os x has a quicktime broadcaster built in right into the system… we only need to find a kind soul offering a quicktime streaming server for a couple of hours…

  66. All,

    Yea, can’t wait to see so many of you in NYC. Patricia, thanks for the name of the hotel you are staying at. I have been thinking about making a reservation and so far had not done so. Maybe we will be staying in the same place.

    Bob B, your work…I can’t wait to meet you and your family. I understand your angst about Flickr. I don’t like the difference between my screen and what comes out on Flickr either. I’ve commented on your work before and it still stands. David is right about your audience. It is above a lot of people but we here on this blog are so fortunate to have been involved during the process and gotten peeks and bits of the story as it happened. See you in NYC.

    Andrew B, address is eelprod@yahoo.com. Looking forward to sharing work when I get to your area.

    Andrew S, can’t wait to see you and Erica at DAH show.

    Today is my birthday. I am spending it with an aunt that I have been reunited with that I have not spent time with since I was 5. She is 13 years older than me and I remember she would sneak me out of the house and take me on adventures. This is probably where all my adventure seeking began.

    I have been out of contact a lot of the time but every few days I at least catch up on the comments. Today I move to a hotel for a few days before I leave for NY and I will be spending that time printing out the rest of the photos to show to DAH on Saturday. Gulp.

    This weekend the town of Fayetteville, AR (where I am at present) hosted their annual Bikes, Blues and BBQ. Some estimates were 400,000 people came in and it felt like that many bikes. I was on the street both days (once good light hit) and just last night finished my first pass through for finals. What an absolutely amazing culture–people of every walk of life ride bikes and were deliriously happy to be driving up and down Dickson Street strutting their stuff. From the hard core tough beat up to the well-to-do professionals to mom and pop in their coveralls. Total fun. I hope to have them posted by end of day with a link so you can see.

    Can’t wait to see you all. It would be good to have a group get together someplace like Bedford Avenue for dinner and drinks.

    Lee

  67. Bob

    First of all- amazing works!
    You have so many pearls there!
    High level stuff!
    I will say only one little critic…
    as a person who will never take so art photography.
    who will never have so visible style.
    as a person who should learn from you.
    You are writer… intellectual…
    You choose great theme. Very intellectual.
    You show some answers for word “bones” but for me (very subjektive) it should go further or deeper.
    You show some extinct animal, something what die what was strong and big and what has disintegrated, some bones as a construction of everything- animals, humans, cities, economics, fairy tales.
    There is so many answers for “bones” you show us!
    I hope you know what I mean. I don’t want write more.

    Why I write it?
    Because I treat you as a high art photographer and I wish to see your book “bones”.
    I will buy it!!

    I hope you don’t mind me it.

    Marcin (modest fan)

  68. hey lee! of course many many more if you like… and hugs too… just don’t ask me to jump out of a cake in my green mankini :)

    enjoy today!

    hugs :)
    anton

  69. Just a quick hi over here. I’m submitting my PhD tomorrow, so I’ll probably have some more time for shooting while unemployed! Cool to see that Maciej is popping by the fiestas and so, he’s a cool guy. Going to catch up for beers with him tonight (after weeks hiding in a hole writing and proofing and reanalysing data). As a sidenote to the thesis, the slideshow from Arles is going to also show at the first photography festival of Phnom Penh (Cambodia). I would love to see what is the reaction of the average Cambodian to my shots of wild nightlife in Cardiff!

  70. LEE :)))))))))))))

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :))))…have a great, sweet 28th! :)))))…looking forward to meeting you :)))))

    AKAKY-DAD! :))))

    yea, i know…after a couple shots, the mechanism just failed (not all pics are out of focus), but the damn camera keeps getting fixed and busted…but, know you can make up for that Dad by buying me a new one :))))))))))))…pretty please :)))

    MARCIN :))))

    TOTALLY TOTALLY AGREE, 100%! :)))0..and i totally understand…that’s why i feel frustrated: it’s only the beginning…begun as an assignment for David…but that’s why i included other pictures of “bones” (barber chair, young girl singing on the street, sign of missing teenager, fish, got lots more that are not bones, but important, but took them out to make edit manageable :)) )…so, how will this work: it’s gonna be united with some of my old work and new project (water)…and hopefully, i’ll flesh it out when my mom comes…it’s only a beginning, but i am thankful that David encouraged us to do something for him, as an “assignment”…now, what magazine would ever want to publish my assignment, or my “interpretation” of bones/museum/childhood ? ;)))))))…thanks so much Marcin for the important insight :))

    hugs
    b

  71. GLENN

    I’ve seen this series before and written briefly about my reaction to some of these photos in the past (you already know I love them), but let me say again that I think you’re really on to something here. DAH is thinking book, I was thinking maybe book AND travelling exhibition AND extended multimedia piece… why not think big? I agree with DAH that this is YOUR BIG STORY that you need to pursue as far and as deeply as you can. Already, you own this story… now, you need to make your name and the story of Northern Homelands synonymous in the public mind.

    I am not up to snuff on the grant money situation in Oz but there must be a way to get subsidy funds for a book, an exhibition, or a multimedia film… or all three.

    We also talked about the possibility of your working with a writer, or doing the writing yourself… how’s that coming along?

    After watching the multimedia piece twice, something I noticed was a lack of ‘livelihood’ shots… you had the land aerials, magnificent portraits, and the kids playing in the water… don’t get me wrong, for something that short I thought it was self-sufficient, but when I thought about how you might extend it into something longer and more articulated, what I personally wanted to see were people making a living on the land and water… working, hunting, fishing, cooking, making things, their dwellings… in the series of stills you linked to above, there are such pictures… speaking only for myself, I would like to see more of them… and I’d like to see them be as powerful as the classic portraits are, as powerful as the ritual dance-face paint-ceremony-rock art pictures are. I think that is an important part of the message of a present and future for these people and not just a past that is remembered.

    Keep at it mate, this is important!

    G’day.

  72. AKAKY IRL: Robert, I fear a new camera is entirely out of the question, given that you broke the last one. Until I see you assuming some personal responsibility for your belongings, there will be no new cameras for you. You cannot going around breaking photographic equipment whenever you take a notion to and then expecting me to pay for replacements. Maybe if you start buying your gear yourself, you’ll start taking better care of it.

    AKAKY: You’re a real shit, you know that, right?

    AKAKY IRL: So people keep telling me.

    AKAKY: Well, just so long as you know.

  73. David B.

    Your in the UK. I could problerly lend you a couple of D90s Let me know A.S.A.P I’m off for 6 weeks on Sat but could send them before then. If your interested give me a bell on 01295 277452.

  74. BOB!

    you’ve been using that eye again…… (1)

    :-))))))))))))))))))) (you, all of you actually, are now used to my sick irreverential sense of humour now, hopefully)

    I never talk about your images, Bob, because I think this is not exactly to be talked about as photography, and because the communication forced upon us, if we really look (and eventually see), does not come as words, and as thoughts (non-thought, finally) FIRST. They also deserve many visits, and indeed the eventual format you are bound to present them with. I like the idea of seeing them alone, intimately, so a book maybe.

    But I also think that the journey of BONES as a work of emotive and self-cognitve expression is not over. Maybe the mere introductory flickR format does that to me, and there will be a text also, I understand.

    In many ways, your images are visiting us more than we seeing us, and they in return invite lingering, lulling even, rather than description and deciphering, which al eyes are dying to do. But we are not talking eyes only, here, after all.

    (1)Actually, on the very contrary, I found the “sharp”, “real” photos broke the gripping spell induced by the others.

    Late for work….

  75. This is rather off subject, in fact totally off subject (whatever that may be at the moment) but I have a question about maneuvering on this blog. I remember briefly a note of how to get to the end of the pages without having to go through them all. Anyone remember how?

    Lee

  76. lee

    happy birthday :o)

    i click ‘next page’ at the bottom, then in the address bar at the top replace the page number.. i normally put in \’10’ instead and it takes me to the most recent page..
    unless there are more than 10..

    and then i leave the page open in a tab.. i did along with a bunch of others i refer to daily.
    good luck for the year ahead..

    harry
    – thats really kind mate..
    i used to live in the uk although not anymore..
    it’ll be fine.. going to do a camera obscura workshop and hire a couple of medium formats i think.. then i have a couple of film camera available.. if i’m short someone will have to use my early box-brownie.. :o)
    very strange though – to them this is some freaky magic from the past.. to me it is the essence of photography, from where i came from..

    all

    my negatives and books and junk arrive from the u.k. on monday.. and will enable me to continue editing down the music work..
    fantastic.

    joni

    nightlife in cardiff.. tough, tough.. i love the place in general.. and the welsh are a great bunch.. nightlife though.. has a tough rep.. looking forward to seeing more.

  77. AKAKY :))))

    WELL, DAD, even if you’re a shit, i still love you :)))…what’s a child to do? ;))))

    HERVE :)))))

    thank you very much (can i use your blurb on the back jacket) :))…I want to tell you, with all heart-felt sincerity and richness, that i appreciate deeply your words and your reading of the work. You’ve hit the eye with your finger on the hope of this work, as i imagine it to be…your reading, insight and suggestions are all what i hope stay with the viewer, after all, the hope was that indeed it’s not just about bones, but about the nature of seeing…of not only seeing the world, but trying to see how we are and of what we come….i really appreciate your words immensely :)))) (and yes, i finally get your humour, after all this time :))))

    and yes, the “sharp” images are my least favorite too, but i think i need them to show (at least for me) that vision and all the world around us is always in a state of flux ;)))…(and besides, dima ask me one day while i was photographing a woman with children (removed from the edit at flickr), “dad, you’re not making them all blurry and weird are you…” ;)))

    running

    hugs all
    b

  78. LEE

    Happy birthday, dear woman! So we’ll be together during your “birthday week.” Fantastic!

    ALL WHO WILL BE IN NYC THIS WEEKEND

    We’re working on plans to gather for an early dinner on Friday. Everyone is invited! We’ll post the time and place here as soon as it’s been decided. Erica, Mike, NYers, any ideas???

    Patricia

  79. BOB

    After having traveled more slowly through Bones of Time, I need to say that I long to see ALL the images you cut at the last. And I want to see this flowing dream/memory/present moment/premonition on a BIG screen with one image dissolving ever so slowly into the next, accompanied by music and followed by silence, a time of silent meditation. For this body of work IS a meditation, a meditation with the flashes of dreamlike images our minds produce when we finally sit our our bodies in stillness and stop trying to corral or make sense of our thoughts. This work could only have been created by one who meditates with intentionality and purpose, someone like our Bob. It is a landmark work and we should feel honored to have been here for its pregnancy and birth.

    in awe-filled gratitude
    Patricia

  80. Thanks Joni,

    I do tend to leave it up during the day but when I open after being shut down it was always tedious, especially when there are 700+ comments.

    Patricia, yes it will be a wild time. I don’t know any restaurants except the one on Bedford Avenue where I took a couple photos that made it into the show. Can’t remember the name though.

    Bob, I like your math.

    Lee

  81. The short of it is this:

    I would be in New York now… But because of visa problems — because of *imaginary lines* — I was denied the chance. The flight was Rome – Amsterdam – NYC and back. Travelocity would not refund my ticket after I found out about the visa problems despite many phone calls (buyer beware). So I flew the first leg of the flight and spent two days in the Netherlands instead (there’s something for Panos in these photographs!): http://simongriffee.com/wip/taab

    In the meantime, to keeping moving and working, to bring something good out of it all, I present you: http://imaginarylines.org/

    In addition to the writing on the website, Imaginary Lines will be a long-term photographic project. It’ll likely be a mixture of conceptual and documentary work, and I am thinking that it will merge with the ideas of my Libero Pensiero project.

    Love to ALL, and thank you David Alan Harvey—your light illuminates far away… I am looking forward to seeing the student work and your Families work.

  82. SIDNEY – Mate Thanks AGAIN,
    The slide show was’nt really fleshed out due to the short time spent on that particular assignment , As for books and such I’ve only returned to this work after it’s been shot and filed on assignment , some shot my own visits ,some as shot opprtunities present themselves , I’ve yet to tackle the work in any focused manner….
    moore soon

  83. GLENN

    I just looked at each of your 64 images one by one. I am left shaking my head in wonder. However did you gain the trust of these people, people whose experience of “tall white men” must have often been negative.

    I’m with David when he urges you to “drop everything and just concentrate on this for at least some reasonable period of time.” I don’t know if that is possible but it would be a path that could make a significant difference in how the future unfolds for Australia’s aboriginal peoples. What you are doing here is what every photojournalist worth her or his salt longs for–to develop a photo essay/book/exhibit that could change attitudes and policies towards an oppressed people.

    Excellent work!!!

    Patricia

  84. SIMON

    That pisses me off royally! The “imaginary lines” between the US and other countries have become all too real since 9/11. Homeland Security is doing little to keep us “secure” and all too much to give our sisters and brothers from around the world reasons to dislike America and Americans.

    I am so sorry this happened and am terribly disappointed that it means we will not meet in person…at least not this weekend. May it happen some time some place sooner rather than later.

    You used your time in Amsterdam well! I love how you mix abstraction with reality in your work. It gives a dreamlike quality to the whole. And your “Imaginary Lines” web page is inspired. Please keep us posted on how it develops…

    Patricia

  85. Too hard to catch all the comments…arghhhhhhhhhh

    DAVID BOWEN
    I’m happy for you that you teach darkroom ;-) good luck and enjoy it!!!

    BOB
    GREAT!!!! Bones is online ;-) i’ll look it carefully tomorrow (it’s 01h30 am in France…)
    Good fiesta in NY!!!

  86. DEAR ALL,
    I’d just like to pose a question for you…
    for those of you shooting digital…do you find that your digital files “live” on your computers/hard drives, and rarely get printed? I’m having a bit of a problem with that, letting my images exist in the nether world only. I KNOW that I edit best with physical prints, and I know that my emotional understanding of my work has much more depth when I make prints, but I never put the funds aside for prints! Shooting film I always make the contact sheet, make the little prints, but with my digital files, I perpetuate the unsatisfying practice of just looking at them on the computer.
    Somebody break me out of this cycle!

    Just wondered if I’m alone in this…

  87. ANNA MARIA

    You are definitely not alone in this. I’d rarely printed any of my pics except for magazine submissions or portfolio reviews until David asked me to make 4×6 prints for him to use so he could do an in-person edit of my self portrait/daily life series last July. When I first saw that series in hard copy it was a revelation. Yes, they were real. Yes, I’d really taken photographs not just computer images on my monitor. Now my task is to keep making prints to use for edits. It’s hard to do! I get lazy…

    Patricia

  88. joni

    i know some of cardiffs nightlife :o)
    if i were still in nottingham i would certainly chip over.. there was once a young woman in cardiff who i admired..
    photoed gil scott heron there a bunch of years ago.. must have been 96..

    jean

    too many comments.. yes indeed.. indeed… :o)

    patricia.

    lesson planning to billie.. love it.. thanks.
    i love strange fruit.. brilliant.

    simon

    WTF is wrong with u.s… what does a border look like? i’ve yet to see one.. someone wiser than me stated that borders exist for people who hate.. and business i guess as well.. what a rubbish turn of events.
    i have not worked in north america since 2005.. first worked there 2001 after september and it has become more and more uncomfortable getting into the country year on year.. and now.. i would happily not work there again..
    last time i was there i was photographed, fingerprinted, interrogated and generally felt like a criminal for no other reason than i was arriving..
    rubbish .. rubbish.. and does a great disservice to you good people who live there..

    *ramble on continues ad-nauseum*

  89. ALL…

    have a question i am struggling with… is i have no experience whatsoever doing projects with $$ involved, i was wondering if anybody here could offer some advice or ideas…

    for some time now, i’ve been planning to do a project on japanese yakuza members in tokyo… gaining access, finding out if there is an interesting story to tell, explaining my angle on the story to the peeps involved.

    what i basically want to do is illustrate the dichotomy in the life of a yakuza member who also has a ‘regular’ life, a family, kids, and the like… and the (possible) contrast between the “light” and the “dark” side in his life, and the way he/his family/his kids deal or struggle with it…

    anybody mention tony soprano? :)

    my brother, who lives in tokyo, is doing a lot of incredible legwork to make this happen and he knows (and trusts) a guy who can get us ‘in’ (so to speak) to places normally not accessible, and has found a few people in various layers of the organisation to allow me to follow them in their personal lives.

    now the question which i am struggling with: the people i’d like to follow ask money in return for me photographing…

    what do i do? i am perfectly aware that in a commercial context, this is part of the deal, using model releases and paying day models and such,

    but this is a not a commercial context, and i just don’t have the money to “pay my way photographing the project”… i’d go broke in a split second…

    BUT i also realize that i have to take into account that the “culture” of yakuza is one of money, gifts, in return for favors or letting me photograph…

    a gift should be mine to give, not someone to ask for… even if i would have bucketloads of cash (which i don’t), i would still have a deontological problem doing this (in a non-commercial context, that is)…

    so what to you think? is it ‘normal’ to do things like this in a non-commercial/documentary project? doesn’t it ‘skew’ the real story into somehing else, something, dare i say, “dirty”? or is it simply a part of any deal, and do i have to grow up and get over it, and start looking into some funding (and approach this story potentially very differently)?

    i know i might be asking very naive questions… but this is a first for me…

    cheers,
    anton

  90. ANNA MARIA

    yes you are not alone here… i look in my “former” darkroom where my prints are stored and there have been very few additions since digital came into my life… it makes me feel very uneasy…

    what patricia said goes for me too: my images took on another life once i printed them to edit… so this is something which has to be done…

    thinking… thinking… i think i will start now keeping aside ONE day a month for printing… collecting all that (potentially) has been done the month before that is worth printing… send it to the lab, do archival quality prints… store them in acid-free boxes…

    and one day a month will keep the costs ‘manageable’ i guess…

    or not?

    the first time doing this would be a pain of course, having to catch all up…

    cheers,
    anton

  91. anna marie

    even work shot on film, developed and scanned directly at the lab very rarely make it into print form these days, beyond a set of postcards i keep in my bag to show when people ask.. it’s something i am going to rectify very soon and print a new folio / plan exhibit.

    anton.

    thats a very difficult question, givin the nature of the subject..
    all i have ever offered is a print, or a set of prints.. i would not do work where the subject demanded money.. payment in-kind through a nice set of prints is enough i think.
    for you it’s different obviously.. i could not presume to know what you need to do.. it’s very difficult..
    on model releases – i have never used them.. never asked anyone to sign anything and thats fine for use in an editorial context for work shot in public spaces, far as i know.. if the work is to be used for advertising i always make sure that the client understands that the burden of and resulting court action for the use of work without release is upon them.. thats to say that in the contract i note that it is understood that no model release exists for the work.. in the past it’s been fine, or you could say i have got away with it.. either way..
    so diffficult for the project you want to do. the outlay of funds to do the work is going to be huge and so paying to actually photo could be the end of the project.. it’s also may be fair to consider that if you begin paying, where will it end? especially if you are photographing his friends and dark-side associates.. tricky.. very tricky..
    i would tread carefully with money and offer some decent prints were it me, explaining that the project simply wold not happen if payment was needed and hinting that either the subject gets some great prints and coverage he could show to his grandkids or he gets nothing..
    empathise with you mate.. hope someone else here has a different perspective to lend, and subsequently help you move forward with it.. will be a superb study if you can pull it off..

  92. Anton,

    Its a feeling I’m not *that* comfortable with either, paying for access. However giving of gifts is different, it would be a poor visitor that brought nothing for his hosts! Normally I would make some enquiries and bring something that is hard for them to obtain and trivial for you to obtain (there are a few families around the globe with a haggis and no idea what to do with it…) alternatively you could offer to do some family portraits and give them prints. Japanese culture may view this differently so some research is in order. Most guidebooks offer advice for what to take a host family, so that would be a start.

    Sounds like a cracking project, good luck!

  93. ANTON,
    Interesting project, but I wouldn’t do it. Pay to shoot a project? never! It’s OK to do it for yourself and on your time and fund it with your own money, but not to pay for getting access. This is just me..
    If they want money I don’t think it’s little money either.. And remember it’s a dangerous organisation and you don’t want to run out of money.. Be careful here..

    Cheers

  94. PATRICIA,

    I hear you… I grew up moving around a lot and vever had any problems from South America to North Africa to Europe… I look forward to meeting you at some point — you and your work inspire me — I point my parents to it whenever they say “we’re too old to do anything new”! And to be clear, I am NOT saying you are ‘old’—you are very, very YOUNG!!!…Younger than many people my own age that I know (I am 30)!

    Thank you for looking at my photos from Amsterdam, and for your nice words about them and Imaginary Lines… I’ll certainly keep you posted.

    PANOS,

    I had been to the US before, but the story of the visa problems is simple in human terms yet complicated in bureacratic terms, as is usual with these things… I have been told that it is best for me not to discuss it in public on the ‘net since what I write may be used against me in the future.

    I ran into Snoop Doggy Dog coming out of a coffeeshop in Amsterdam. There was this huge guy stopping everyone from going in, so naturally a crowd began to form around the place and word got around. When he came out with his entourage they got on bicycles and cycled down the street with a mad crowd in pursuit knocking over restaurant chairs, flower pots…pandemonium in the middle of the day!

    ANNA MARIA BARRY-JESTER,

    I’ve taken to printing out 10cm x 6cm contact prints after a first or second edit of the photos on the computer. I then use these for further editing on a table or on a corkboard/wall (inspired by David and several other photographers). It is a great feeling to hold the pictures in your hands, to move them around, and even do a little exhibition wherever you go!

    I’ve also found that the size of pictures give a different feel…and I find it is easier to see relationships between pictures when they are all small…also easier to edit if you don’t have a lot of wall space…

    I try to keep in mind that each picture should be able to stand on its own…the difficult part…which means I need to shoot a lot (and even then, I am not usually successful)!

    DAVID BOWEN

    I agree with the person that said that borders exist for people who hate and for greed…

    I will be writing about all this and more on Imaginary Lines, but the main point is that if one considers oneself ‘American’ or ‘English’ or ‘Costa Rican’ or anything associated with a flag or a label above considering oneself a human being, then one is dividing oneself from the rest of humanity and essentially committing a violent act (violence does not need to be physical…) and contributing to the world’s state of affairs as much as the persons making the policy decisions and the persons physically building the walls and barriers…

    Thanks for your words—I had the same feeling of being treated like a criminal when I last visited the US. I trust in individual people however, and do not judge anyone based on what ‘one’s country’ does.

  95. @david bowen: I bet Nottingham is rough compared with Cardiff… not been, though… going to visit Manchester at some point soon…

    @anna maria: I scan my film but produce prints from scans quite regularly to edit and keep track. Nothing beats producing 5×7” prints regularly in the darkroom, though.

  96. Consider Joe McNally on the tarmac of a cosmonaut training center somewhere in Russia. He hands several thousand dollars to his fixer, who signals the “Vomit Comet” aircraft to take off with him and trainee spacemen inside. He was’nt going to get access any other way…

  97. BOB
    I looked at Bones! I liked it. Of course, as said DAH, it’s not for everybody. I don’t like the photos “with skull”, but i like the rest. And it seems to me that you achieve to translate your deepest feelings about your son and father in photographs; THIS is true photography!!!

    Congratulations.

  98. DAVID B, NEIL, MARTIN

    yes… that is my main concern… IF one starts doing this, where will it end? i guess it comes down to taking a stand and saying ‘this is something i, as a rule, do not do…’

    of course, paying the fixer makes perfect sense to me (and will happen of course), as he is actually working hard to make everything happen, gaining access, looking for places, involving people, places, angles…

    so i understand the Joe McNally thing too… making a $$ deal with a fixer is “in se” not a bad thing i guess, and one could leave it up to him to decide what he does with his earnings…

    but paying “subjects” directly seems like a dangerous path to walk… it makes me feel not at ease…

    contact sheets/prints/book/exhibition is what i had envisioned to give to all people involved, as a recognition of their involvement…

    difficult one… pff i’d be very discouraged if this would be the only thing left standing in the way of this project actually having a chance of happening…

  99. ANTON…

    straight cash out is a bad idea…it leads to jealousy, more cash out, no respect…

    better to spend the money indirectly..small symbolic gifts, dinner, prints…this shows you care and show respect, but sets you up on a “higher plane” that just cash in a brown envelope…

    rushing now, but back to this topic soonest amigo…

    cheers, david

    i have spent a lot of time with the yakuza…

  100. David

    nice, I will come on friday night. That’s gonna be the highlight of my trip to the US ;) It is a pity I didn’t know about those grants.
    Will bring you a small gift – my first self-published book – http://www.blurb.com/books/342113

    and some people mentioned Cardiff nightlife. I have been working on this project for quite some time, there is the current state of it, a rather loose collection of best images:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/maciejdakowicz/sets/1391696/

  101. DAVID

    yes… good point… the mutual “respect” part should always play a major role in any project i guess…

    and something that yakuza members are especially familiar with…

    ps. i’ll be picking your brain about your adventures in japan soon :)
    i’m really curious…

  102. ANTON…

    I dealt with this same issue when photographing some of the tribes in Africa.

    For the Maasai, I had arranged to provide some “gifts” for the village (cooking oil, sugar, beer, etc…) which felt like the right thing to do and wasn’t that bad.

    For the Hadza tribe, I had to make a small monetary donation for the group; I also had to bring them some weed. Again, felt like the right thing to do and wasn’t that bad.

    The Surma tribe in Ethiopia were much different in that they demanded $ every time I clicked the shutter. I tried to negotiate some gifts or donations for the village as a whole but to no avail. That’s just the way that it’s done and being out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by AK-47 touting men, I felt I should comply.

    The entire experience did leave me feeling uneasy but for them it is a simple matter of give and take. Needless to say, my 2 week planned shoot lasted about a week as I ran out of “photo-money”

    Having gone through various levels of having to pay for access, I agree with DAH that it’s a bad road to start down but sometimes there is no alternative.

  103. MARC

    thanks for sharing your experiences… i would feel uneasy too if i read you describing the Surma…

    i’m glad i asked the question here… i would have rushed in jumped at the chance, not thinking ahead… i realize now that this would have killed the project very quickly, and mostlikely would’ve jeopardized future projects in the area or longer relationships with the same people…

    wow only thinking about shooting is definitely not enough… building up and maintaining interpersonal relationships, friendships, mutual respect, planning, walking the fine line of getting things done without compromising (artistic) integrity, all things that now suddenly became much more important on my to-do list…

    AK47AKY!!!!

    laughing :)))))

  104. Paul,

    The website works very nicely. One comment, it took me a bit to figure out how to navigate through the photos and I don’t understand the numbers on either side of the photos. Loved the shots. This is a good commercial site for marketing people to get those random shots they need. Some were very funny (the two guys sitting next to each other except for one thing–I can see you in the mirror). Good site. Thanks for sharing.

    I’m starting to remember where everyone lives now and it is wonderful to be such a world wide web member.

    Lee

  105. And now for something completely off topic:

    Now, you may find this a little hard to believe, but gentrification has had some fairly unusual effects here in our happy little burg. In the years since our economic turnaround began, we’ve had an influx of people from the metropolis to the south. Most of these folks are artists of one sort or another, the type of people who refer to well-known holes in the wall as spaces and who often wonder aloud why they can’t buy their favorite coffee here. Their favorite coffee often has a very long name, which causes no end of confusion hereabouts, as most of the indigenous population thinks of coffee as a beverage that either comes black or with cream and sugar. But what really sets the gentrifiers off from the gentrified is the worldview of the former. They are a well-traveled, cosmopolitan lot, on the whole, dropping the names of obscure Parisian restaurants in conversation in much the same way as our stout yeomanry drop dollar bills on the lottery and nodding knowingly at the mention of artists whose work is so obscure that their parents haven’t heard of it yet. With all of this sophistication, you may well wonder why these people would want to spend any amount of time with a provincial yutz like me. The answer, I’ve found, is that for all of their worldliness and sophistication, most of these people have never actually met a Republican.

    Yes, it is a good time to be a Republican here in our happy little burg; I know that my party registration has improved my social life immeasurably these past years and I am positive that being a Republican can do wonders for your social life as well. Rock-ribbed Republicanism will help you get girls and be the life of any party you attend. It won’t help you clear up your skin, of course, but in the main, you will be a more exciting, more fascinating person when you finally stop procrastinating and register in the GOP.

    You are probably asking yourself, but Akaky, how is this possible? I’ve tried everything from industrial strength Clearasil to online blind dating with Filipino transsexual lesbian dwarves to improve my social life, how will my being a Republican make me a more interesting person and help me score with chicks, which, as we all know, is the main purpose of any male’s social life, no matter what their party affiliation. Let me explain what happened to my social life.

    The vast majority of our gentrifying influx was, as mentioned, from the metropolis, a well-known one party state where Republican are few and far between, and when they do win elections, they have to compromise on vast swathes of the GOP agenda and pretend that they meant to register Democratic when they were filling out the voter registration form but that the form was confusing and the guy in front of them in line farted loudly and so they accidentally checked the wrong box. So most of our gentrifying influx has never actually met anyone who fundamentally disagrees with just about everything they hold near and dear to their hearts. Your average cosmopolitan knows that Republicans exist, of course, but they know that they will probably never meet one in the course of the day and so long as they remain ensconced in their island home they need never think about such people. So they ignore them, and by them I mean people like me, in much the same way that a Cairene ignores the Great Pyramid of Giza or a hungry dieter ignores the food pyramid with pepperoni pizza. But when the siren song of modern art calls to the cosmopolite, they must follow, even if it leads to our happy little burg, which hasn’t gone Democratic in a presidential race since Zachary Taylor won handily here in 1848. This was an anomaly, of course, and one the local historical society usually attributes to Taylor’s enthusiastic support among local Mexican War veterans. Faced for the first time in their adult lives with the much dreaded Other, many a curious cosmopolite will seek to grasp just why it is that the natives believe in the odd things they believe in and so they often ask me to explain the hows and the whys of what is going on here.

    I don’t mind, of course; many of these people are quite sincere in their curiosity, although I am also quite sure that many others invite me along merely to shock their friends and add a bit of a political frisson to their dinner parties. It seems a strange fate for any Republican to be a suces de scandale, but it seems I have managed this difficult task on more than one occasion. I am not sure how I managed to get the job as token Republican in the first place; I suppose that some of my Democratic friends recommended me as someone who was reasonably intelligent, reasonably knowledgeable about what’s going on in the world these days, and could be trusted not to blow my nose in the tablecloth between the soup and the main course.

    In some ways, of course, I am a bit of a disappointment. I am not, for example, a member of the National Rifle Association. In fact, I do not own any firearms at all—I am, however, like a good many other civil servants, a dangerous man with a rubber band and a paper clip—and I have experienced my share of crestfallen looks from people who thought that I must, like the Republicans they’ve seen on television, have several years worth of canned goods next to the arsenal I have stashed in my own personal bomb shelter. I don’t actually have a bomb shelter, either, and this and the fact that I believe that if you wish to possess0 a 155mm howitzer of your very own, then the government ought to take a polite interest in what you intend to do with the thing (you might, for example, be planning to overthrow the constitutionally elected government of our happy little burg, or worse, plan to do a little target practice on Saturday mornings when I am trying to get some sleep), has led more than a few people to believe that I am not really a Republican at all. Nor am I an evangelical Christian and I am not completely sure I could identify with any degree of certainty the significant theological points of contention and agreement between Fundamentalists and Pentecostals, except for a somewhat unfortunate taste in hair styling. I suppose I am not atavistic enough.

    Still, I’ve learned over the years that one mustn’t completely dash people’s illusions, and I have managed to epater les avant-garde on more than one occasion. There’s nothing quite like the reaction one gets from pointing out to some cosmopolite with a home in Vermont who has just spent an hour expounding on the racial problem here in AmeriKKKa that the reason many white liberals love living in Vermont is that it gives them the opportunity to decry AmeriKKKa’s racist treatment of African-Americans for hours on end without having to live anywhere near actual African-Americans. The sound made on one of these occasions is a sort of a low moan, similar, I think, to the sound one makes when you step out of a car wearing brand new shoes and step right into a pile of fresh dog crap. Your average host or hostess loves this sort of political spat; it livens up the conversation in what, in other circumstances, would have been yet one more dull dinner party. They’ll denounce my obvious idiocy—this simply goes without saying, naturally; they have to keep their Vermont friend happy too, you know—and it almost certainly means another dinner invitation in the not so near future so that I can politely mock the shibboleths that they and their friends hold most dear. Hearing someone praise Karl Rove can be a mind-altering experience for some people, however common such praise may be in some GOP quarters. I guess everything sounds a bit shocking if you’ve never heard it before.

    My perplexing adherence to what these folks often refer to as the Repugnicans, the Rethuglicans, etc. causes no end of cognitive dissonance among the cosmopolitan population—they think, of course, that by all rights, I ought to be a Democrat, the same as them, and they will often ask, in their confusion, if there is anything I wouldn’t do for the GOP? To comfort them I say, yes, there is: I will not give money to a candidate for political office, even to a Republican candidate. You may not have noticed this, but campaign contributions only encourage politicians, a particularly noxious breed of peculating parasite, to run for political office in order to do whatever it is they do on the public payroll, and to continue to run for office long after the rest of the population has gotten tired of listening to them and wish that they would simply go away and leave the rest of us alone. Our Great Republic will only survive if and when vast numbers of American citizens treat running for public office in the same way that they treat jury duty: as an onerous task to be avoided whenever possible, and if political office becomes inevitable, to be gotten out of as soon as possible. I mean, really, would you want the leader of the Free World to be someone too dumb to get out of being President? I didn’t think so.

  106. AKAKY

    Now I know why we want/need you to be at David’s on Friday…because you’re a Republican!! Those folks are hard to come by in gatherings of artsy fartsy types or even serious war photojournalists. Give us a break. We’ll even let you wear your McCain/Palin button…

    DAVID B

    That is SOOOO COOL that the folks at BJP read your blog…and quote it on THEIR blog! Hey man, you’re more famous than you’ve been letting on. Don’t worry. We love you anyway ;=)

    Patricia

  107. david b

    cool cool. i remember reading that, and smiling while picturing you tirelessly going around the bar asking for the guy :))

    and thinking: however funny, david b can make things work. a good spirit is a blessing for sure.

    great stuff.

    cheers
    anton

  108. PAUL

    yes like your site. like the “no fuss” big images. only minor gripe is what Lee said: it takes a while before you see the numbers to navigate next/previous…

    other than that: good one.

    oh and yes: your images make me smile :)

    cheers,
    anton

  109. ANTON>

    the reason i posted that story is that i was reminded of it by a student who wanted to photo a sheep from the green fields to the dinner plate.
    no permission from the slaughter house was gained.. he did not think the project would be completed as he had hoped.
    but he carried on regardless..

    for 3 days he went back to the fields to get the ‘right’ picture of the sheep there..
    he ended up gaining a great snap.. and the farmer saw him doing this tirelessly..

    the farmer turned out to be the owner of the slaughter house.. the boos of the woman who had refused him permission to shoot there.

    the farmer finally gave him permission at the 11th hour.. and it also looks like the whole story, or folio of images, produced for collage will be bought by the slaughter house.. because they like them.

    none of this would have happened if the student had GIVEN UP when told he could not photo in the slaughter house..

    the world most definitely turns for those of us that try to help it turn.. dig our feet into the dirt and push hard..

  110. AM HOME

    thinking of you all and the family reunion soon to happen, and of those who will be there in spirit, and of all the students who are in the thick of it now, searching, struggling, awakening and finding that something that was hidden or blocked or misplaced or unknown just days ago..

    BRO BOB

    Will have to see and speak Bones when you are here, am in a time crunch now with the job assignment..

    AKAKY

    Please come..

    ERIC

    fantastic that you were able to do the interview..am very happen for the project’s evolution

    PATRICIA!

    Holy smokes, can’t believe you are coming, can’t wait..

    DAVID B

    Are there things you still need?

    DEAR DAH

    What a wonderful idea, about the EPF and Workshops, absolutely lovely…

    ALL COMING TO NYC

    We are working on dinner plans in Brooklyn before the Slideshow, drop me a note at erica at ericamcdonaldphoto.com if you want to be in the loop..LEE, I don’t think I you are in the email loop yet..I can’t keep straight who all is coming, so please write if you want to know..

    XO

  111. Hey Anton,

    IMO, as long as nobody knows who you are, PERSONALLY, over there, moreover in both an asian and margin culture, it seems that surely enough no one has to make you gifts. Even if unspokingly, or not accounted by the penny, there is often a “barter” situation in dealing with people from which you want something, in Asia.

    Probably one of these aubjects where going in and making yourself known (even to one guy/family), spend time to show your mettle, WITHOUT a camera, is paramount…

  112. ALL,
    Just pulled over at a AM/PM gas station
    for a quick snack..
    They told me I can’t use my ATM card,
    neither credit.. ONLY CASH..
    The cashier told me:”sorry the whole
    ATM / credit system is DOWN..
    looking for coins to buy water….
    Something really nasty is happening here..
    or is about to happen!!!!!!!????
    Driving to another gas station..

  113. “the whole ATM system is temporarily
    down in the WEST COAST”..
    the cashier yelled really loud to the huge
    desperate line of customers… Outside
    the am/pm…!!!
    Any other west coasters with the same problem????

  114. It is a good time to live if one is not obsessed with money, Panos.

    When having is more important than being, then the rooster is due to come home to croak every once in a while.

    The sooner we get this in our heads, the better life will be….Like borders! Give it another few hundred years….Yes, you are right, I am quite an optimist by nature. :-)

  115. hey erica

    i think it’s all together for the darkroom sessions..

    funny – the pro shop in this city does not stock multigrade..
    i was taken into a dusty basement to look for chemicals and paper.. only graded paper..
    no thermometers.. very strange how quickly the darkroom has passed.

    still – guaging the energy of the students for a bit of printing, i think there is bound to be a redressing of the balance.. and with so many of us still enjoying film .. darkrooms.. standing in a red room.. with a beer.. and playing all the fine printing games.. a little dab of cotton wool with hot water on here.. some cold here.. there is a great feeling to fine tuning a print i’ve yet to get through PS.

  116. 7 major Greek banks
    “collapsed” today..
    Reason: huge investments in our stock
    Market system ( globalization)…
    Someone said :” when the US catches
    a cold, the rest of the world gets pneumonia…”
    :-(((

  117. Moshi moshi fellow photographers

    PATRICIA and AUDREY

    Thank you, that was exactly the feed-back I was hoping to hear! I am aware that I don`t always change my perspective when I`m shooting, I will get my bum up and moving and do it better. Good idea showing only parts of my mom, I have a good feel about this.

    ALL
    Thank you for an really exiting blog. It`s hard for me to integrate with your current conversations, since I just joined in :) So please do excuse me if I misunderstand something.

    About my project about my mom ( http://acfoto.no/mom/mom.html ) . I would like to add some elements into this story, to make it more understanding and to really tell the secret of our family life. So I was thinking that it might be good to have hints of my father with me (drug addict), and my siblings when they come home. But I`m not really sure how to angle it so that I still have the focus on my mother?
    I will have my Afghan warscapes out as soon, will need to go through aprox 9000 photos from my 6month fieldtrip down there.

    BOB

    Your series bones is really neat :) The pictures really sent me in a state of tranquility. My favorite pictures was definitely “boy with skull” and “Bear: fear “. Boy with skull really reminds me of my childhood playing in my dad`s garden, they were digging up the entire garden to get rid of some mountain and me and my brother stumbled on a skull, funny thing, I almost pissed my pants. :)
    Is this pinhole btw?

    DAVID

    Can I bring beer in the darkroom on Friday? :D

    -Alex

  118. Moshi moshi fellow photographers

    PATRICIA and AUDREY

    Thank you, that was exactly the feed-back I was hoping to hear! I am aware that I don`t always change my perspective when I`m shooting, I will get my bum up and moving and do it better. Good idea showing only parts of my mom, I have a good feel about this.

    ALL

    Thank you for an really exiting blog. It`s hard for me to integrate with your current conversations, since I just joined in :) So please do excuse me if I misunderstand something.

    About my project about my mom ( http://acfoto.no/mom/mom.html ) . I would like to add some elements into this story, to make it more understanding and to really tell the secret of our family life. So I was thinking that it might be good to have hints of my father with me (drug addict), and my siblings when they come home. But I`m not really sure how to angle it so that I still have the focus on my mother?
    I will have my Afghan warscapes out as soon, will need to go through aprox 9000 photos from my 6month fieldtrip down there.

    BOB

    Your series bones is really neat :) The pictures really sent me in a state of tranquility. My favorite pictures was definitely “boy with skull” and “Bear: fear “. Boy with skull really reminds me of my childhood playing in my dad`s garden, they were digging up the entire garden to get rid of some mountain and me and my brother stumbled on a skull, funny thing, I almost pissed my pants. :)
    Is this pinhole btw?

    DAVID

    Can I bring beer in the darkroom on Friday? :D

    -Alex

  119. ALL: this will be quick…running like Panos to finish everything before i head to nyc

    SISTER L :))))))…THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE BEAUTIFUL AND KIND WORDS…now, i hope YOU TAKE MY ADVICE AND PUT YOUR SHIT UP, LIKE NOW! :)))))))…I LOVE IT SO MUCH :))))

    PATRICIA :))))…you make me blush….i guess you’ll see that part of me in real life too…soon, i’ll have it in a way for people to see it as a slideshow on blackbackground with music….it looks not itself on flickr, but i really appreciate your support, love and ability to stay with my wilding and mad thoughts :)))

    JEAN: MERCI BEAUCOUP :))))…i appreciate it…my son said: “dad, i love all those skull shows…how did you know what i was thinking” ;))

    LEE: I was always good at Calculus, can’t yu tell ;))))))))))….

    ALEXANDER :)))))…THANKS SO MUCH…yes, i used a pin-hole for this project…actually, i used 5 cameras: my old 35mm classic camera, my lomo, my holga, our diana (really my wife’s camera, but i use it too) and a pin-hole camera…1st picture is pin-hole, and yea, you can tell (the one with boy and skull is pinhole, both are actually)…i wanted to push cameras…some of the total abstract pictures i took out, thinking david might not like…so i’ll put them back in soon :)))

    ANTON: i agree with what everyone says here…..paying for pay per se aint always kosher and the respect thing gets lost, but DANA is so so important (in buddhism, this means gift, which can mean money, or food, or flowers or prints or housing, whatever)…come to people with respect and they invariably respect you…paying a fixer is totally cool and important (it’s a job/servie)…anyway…i hope u can do this…would be great to see :)))

    SIMON :)))…god damn, im with you: I HATE BORDERS. CHECK THAT: I HATE NATIONS!!!…i am often very embarrassed by my own countries sense of identity…i hate passports, i hate borders, i hate it all…i think unrestricted travel should be the norm and i hate chauvinism, nationalism all that shit…i can’t believe you were rejected for a visa: COME VISIT US IN TORONTO: IT’S A GREAT CITY :))))….and i love the photo story anyway…and the new blog idea :))))

    PANOS: YOU KNOW I’M WITH YOU…SENDING YOU GOOD THOUGHTS FOR ALL THAT SHIT….

    ERICA: GREAT TO TALK TO YOU (damn, those caps again)…look at bones later, late at night, before we come…but hurry, ’cause i’m taking it down before i get to nyc….

    DAVID B :)))))…great story….

    AK47AY: :))))

    WILL READ YOUR WAR&PEACE POST TONIGHT :))

    god, ok, that’s it…

    SORRY IF I MISSED ANYONE, I CANT KEEP UP ;)))

    running
    b

  120. ALEX

    Regarding including pics of your father and/or siblings in a project where your Mom is the primary subject, I think it will work well. You might also consider including shots of yourself either with or without your Mom.

    What you want is to bring us INSIDE your Mom’s life not just show us your Mom as seen from the OUTSIDE (from your perspective as photographer). You want us to feel what she feels so if your father–whether he lives with you or not–is a player in your Mom’s life, we need to see him.

    I think of an example from my self portrait/daily life series. There is one pic where I’m not present at all, but my husband is. Interestingly, that is the one photo that most people pick out as their favorite and they always see it as part of my story. The URL is

    http://www.pbase.com/windchimewalker/image/101547620

    Another way of bringing someone into the story is through the use of shadow or reflection. Here’s one of mine where I use that technique:

    http://www.pbase.com/windchimewalker/image/101588625

    Let me say this: we each start a photo project with an idea of who is the subject and what we want to say. But after awhile the body of work takes on a life of its own, and we need to be ready to follow where it is taking us. That was certainly true for Bob Black and his “Bones of Time,” and is true with my project as well.

    You have started your project with the intention of having your Mom as the primary subject. Don’t be surprised if the focus shifts as time goes on. It might shift to your family as a whole, or even to yourself and your life. As artists we must be open to where we are led. It may not even be where we want to go. In fact we may really NOT want to go there, but go we must if we’re going to be true to ourselves.

    Please let me know if I can be of any help as you proceed on this exciting path. You can either post entries here or contact me by email at croneart@comcast.net

    I’m so glad you’re with us…

    Patricia

  121. ALEX C :)))

    GOOD ADVICE FROM MS. PATRICIA :))))…a quick look at your series about your mom (looked 3 times)…my first thought was this: where is your relationship to this woman, this story…i mean, the pictures look lonely and this woman transmits isolation and struggle (which is most likely at the heart of the story you are telling)…but, those emotions and struggles and the consequences for her (and for you, if you wish to incorporate your own reltionship to this story) are not yet availabe to us visually…the only advice i can give you about how a story “works” or how to “get further into” a story is a simple one:

    time time time…work work work…spend time with your mom MINDFUL AS A PHOTOGRAPHER, but dont shoot her…see her as a photographer covering but unable to shoot her, this will/can mix with your thoughts as the son…eventually, she and you will collide and open onto things you hadnt imagine, or more importantly, hadn’t “seen”….it’s amazing how much more you see when you start to “train” yourself to “see” and be patient…

    the one rule for me is this:

    A CAMERA DOES NOT TEACH OR SHOW US HOW TO SEE THINGS, WE MUST TEACH OURSELVES FIRST HOW TO SEE…

    and then we use the camera…camera’s dont replace seeing or the expression of an emotiona or idea or moment, then only TRANSMIT :)))…

    you’ve already have a great subject, now just be patient…give u an example:

    the first day i was supposed to meet my son at the ROM (royal ontario museum) for the first day of shooting (i was just going to walk around with him, watching and talking to him, nothing pre-scripted, just simple), he NEVER SHOWED UP…he left me waiting for 3 hours in front of the museum…after buying 3 rolls of film and lugging 2 cameras and a camera bag around…at first i was scared (i dont have a cell phone) then i was pissed then i was confused (what should i do, wait, go home)…so i decided to just walk around and watch people, imagining i was with my son, i photographed people, parents, bones, animals…all trying to see the museum a new….but by then i had already learned to see mindfully…later, when i went back to the museum with him (2 more times) and with my students and alone, all was prepared: both what i wanted to find (hoped to find) and also what i was ready and open to discover….

    it’s all about time and time spent talking and observing and thinking and LISTENING to her…and seeing, as Patricia says, not from the outside, but as a part…

    hope that esoteric shit isn’t too pompous…

    enjoy!
    hugs
    bob

  122. hope that esoteric shit isn’t too pompous…
    ———————–

    …..

    (what? Did I say something?….Bob, I must go back to work….)

    :-)))))))))))))))))))))

  123. AKAKY

    It would be irresponsible for me to not admit that I’m a Republican sympathizer—or at least fiscally conservative at the core, favoring the side that abides by low taxes, small government, personal responsibility and free markets. I do, however, fall into a rare group that actually thinks we have two good candidates to choose from, despite their different ideologies. By no major act of either administration, there will be an economic upswing in their term. It really has no other place to go.

    Then I have these really trite reasons for favoring the conservatives. First, I get a great deal of pleasure when the Barbara Striesand, Hollywood crowd is infuriated en masse, and an Obama loss could be the mother of all that. They always promise to leave, but never go anywhere. Secondly, I usually have to inform whoever liberal girl I happened to be dating at the time, that it’s my duty to “cancel out her vote.” You’d think such antagonism would be social suicide, but I guess their kind hearts keep them around. (I actually have a really poor voting record.)

    I think I know what’s going on here. You’re both softening the blow and spinning your conservative celebrity in a way that will have you walking into the party like a legendary cowboy—a dark knight—to that I say, bravo!

    So go, and conquer if you must, definitely stir passions—but in a bi-partisan effort I say, photography before politics forever!

  124. david m..
    wanting to comment.. not wanting to put my foot in my mouth even more.. lol.
    but.. the work of documentary photographers, war photographers, shooters during the great depression, etc.. are these photographers putting photography before politics, or getting right into the middle of things and outwardly saying the government/certain policies are wrong (and here is my photo why…)?
    slippery slope.. am not advocating a blind eye or indifference.. but yeah..
    photography forever! :-D

  125. Alicia

    I hope I was a little bit funny, but you never know. I think different photographers have different motivations—for now I align myself with those taking account. I’ve got to tell you though, it’s bittersweet to be shooting a story about this economy, but these next few weeks are going to be a fascinating time for me. Plus I think I picked up another Obama gig for Thursday.

    Strange times we’re living in, but I’m happy to have an eye on it.

  126. All,

    Here is the link to the Bikes, Blues & BBQ event in Fayetteville, AR that I promised. Just for fun. I am going to post this link to a web page for this event so that the bikers can view them.

    Hope you enjoy the fun; it is long (174 photos) and is not in any order except chronological.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/27850900@N03/

    I will catch up on comments now that this is done.

    Lee

  127. David M —
    No worries. I was laughing. “Politics before photography forever!!!”
    I consider myself to be more bi-partisan than solid one-party politics (ducking again). Any side can be difficult these days, though.
    I think it is interesting to talk to other photographers and figure out what side of the line they fall on. Photographers can be a different breed.. :)
    (But really… The question somewhat remains: By shooting conflicts, wars, specific political issues, aren’t we somewhat taking a stance, one way or another, even when trying to have an open photographic eye, or put photography first?)
    I find with journalism in geneneral, it is hard to have a truly open and non-biased stance when taking on harder topics. It always seems to seep through, regardless of the medium. And sometimes we shouldn’t stop it, you could say.
    These times are changing, yes, but I’m one to roll with it..
    Good luck with the Obama gig.
    ~a

  128. Panos did I read you were coming to NY? I also thought I read you were already there. Confused. Would love to see you again and get to know you better in person.

    Lee

  129. DAVID M,

    You are a very good photographer, you are a computer wizard I can tell, you seem to be a real nice guy on top….but….you are a Republican sympathizer….I guess nobody is perfect :):):)!!!!

    AUDREY,

    Je ne sais pas si tu vas voir ce message mais je t’ai envoye un mail que tu n’as peut-etre pas recu… Ce serait super si tu pouvais m’envoyer par e-mail les photos que tu as prises avce David pendant mon edit… J’espere que tu vas bien et que ton project avance….

    ERICA,

    How are things going? Do you see the end of the scanning and editing?? Is this shaping as you had hoped? I am counting on you and Patricia for the report on Friday!!!!

    Cheers,

    Eric

  130. Alicia-

    I’m house sitting at a place that has good cable, so I kind of overdosed on news/talk this afternoon.

    I’m probably a little more aloof than I indicated earlier, but no doubt the more politically motivated you are personally, the more it has the possibility of coming through your photography—especially if you’re shooting social issues. But I think photography itself has no political bias—there are good and average photographers on both sides.

    I’m honestly not placing blame with my garage sale project, but observing a side effect of the mess we’re in. I don’t feel informed enough to assign responsibility, so let’s just pin it on the political monster for now. There are the usual suspects.

    People having garage sales for economic reasons have all sorts of political opinions. Those employed tend to be decided in their vote. Those unemployed tend to have faith in neither party.

    So it doesn’t surprise me that there’s a hugh lack of consumer confidence in this $700B so called bailout. The guy on the side of the road selling his stuff with his family hanging out in lawn chairs, who has already lost everything, doesn’t care if Wall Street is preserved—that’s why 40% of the dems and most of the conservatives voted against this bill. Their constituents are calling in 200 to 1 against it.

    I bet they could restore consumer confidence though, if they worked on a bill that didn’t only preserve main street, but literally rebuilt it. Wouldn’t it make sense to pump that money into creating labor jobs that focus on our infrastructure, as a way really put money back into middle America? And at the same time prosecute and hold accountable the illegal practices right where Wall Street meets the political machine?

    I saw that Eric!! :):)

  131. and yes.
    I will be in NYC..
    Brooklyn .
    Thanks to DAH,
    ANNA MARY B-JESTER
    ANDREW SULLIVAN
    .. and of course thanks to ALL OF YOU!
    ;-))))))))))))))£)$€€€€….

    I will do my best for full coverage in BROOKLYN…
    I promise…!
    Peace

  132. 12:00am… or MIDNIGHT… or
    MIDNITE….
    Thursday night waking up Friday
    morning I’m arriving….!

    ( whatever that means…;-)))) )

    Again thank you Andrew , Anna and
    of course… Who else…
    THE USUAL SUSPECT
    himself…
    Mr David Alan Harvey……!!!!

    Thank y’all!
    Peace

  133. david m —
    i think it is hard not to overdose on news right now. a lot is going on and the elections draw nigh.. panicking, placing blame, jumping ship — whatever you want to call it — before all plays out is another story.
    just back from capoeira.. thinking and pondering for some moments…
    ~alicia

  134. Anton,
    I also think that the money is the bad beginning, but I have already heard that a very great photographer (I do not remember to myself any more his name, would have I to look for him) had given a money to reach an African tribe what me gene more in your case, it is the real physical danger! But I am happy to abandon that you gave up for the moment…
    also think that you have to continue Brigit who is a magnificent and personal subject, your 7-year-old niece if I do not make a mistake, Brigit, so brave and so smiling, her has many things to learn us…

    Eric,
    oui, j’ai bien reçu ton mail et je t’avais répondu, je viens de te renvoyer les images, j’espère que mon mail est bon… le bonjour à toute la famille!

    Amitiés, audrey

  135. DIGITAL IS WEIRD

    Just finished the rough edit for the job-assignment I did this weekend..it was meant to be on film, but the weather and light made it impossible, so I shot all but 12 frames digitally..and all I can say, is

    DIGITAL IS WEIRD but fun..couldn’t stop snapping.

    ANNA MARIA

    yes, you are not alone..I can’t afford to have contact sheets made, so I scan everything, and the only time anything gets printed is for exhibit or portfolio..

    ERIC

    There is NO END in sight, and this whole week with getting sick and then traveling for the assignment has left me stopped at only 1/3 of the way through the first edit..I can’t think of it yet..must not stress or panic, it will be what it will be, and that’s that. Yes, of course, will report as best as I am able.

    BOB

    This would be a great time to look at BONES, but am scared it might mess up my FTPing and it’s already 2 am..can’t risk it now, but I will see BONES when I am meant to, eh? Maybe am meant to meet the MAN first.

  136. HERVE

    thanks for your insights… yes i will be spending a lot of time without a camera getting to know first before actually shooting… it’s just that my fixer signalled that this might come up in a conversation pretty soon… so, more than anything, i guess, i want to radiate confidence in what i am doing, and that “respect”, not money, is the basis of it all. but you are right, “barter” situations will arise up from time to time and i should know/have enough confidence to be able to deal with them on the spot i guess…

    BOBONES (sounds mexican :-)

    i get you on the DANA… yes that is every bit my intention too…

    AUDREY

    yes don’t worry dear… my brother and i will never ever put ourselves in any physical danger…

    yes, i am continuing my work on birgit as we speak… making more images.. i went to a theme park with her and a bunch of her friends this weekend, and we had a blast… not many good images, it seems to get harder every time…

    through your images you also inspired me to look more at my own family… so i will definitely continue work there… mother being on top of my list…. maybe soon…

    love
    anton

  137. Anton,

    As David said to me: “i am thinking your parents to be perhaps the best..first of all, photographing your parents cannot wait til later……you cannot take your parents for granted…..you should photograph them now…now is all we have…… you cannot find other parents.if your parents will let you really dig in and work, then i would say go with them for your essay….you have nothing to lose by trying….and the worst you will have is a nice family document…the best you can have will be a beautiful personal essay…”

    Thank you David, thank you Anton and Aex, I would never have thought I could inspire one day somebody, I begin to believe in me!

  138. audrey

    yes… yes… you are right! i remember david saying that to you about your project… it stuck by me too, like your images did…

    anton

  139. ALEXANDER…

    yes, you may bring beer….just do not spill any on my negatives!!

    DAVID M..

    fiscally conservative?? hmmmmm, weren’t we in the black (surplus, no war) with Clinton and aren’t we going down the drain w Bush???

  140. DAVID MCG

    WOW, you and my dad Akaky, republican spies ;)))))))))))….well, i can tell u that i dont hold or love less anyone for their politics, ;))))…in the same, there’s only one political game for me:

    http://www.budtempchi.org/8path.html

    I love to feed these to Bush and especially Veep-Chairman Cheney…but, all politicians could do with this breakfast :)))

    http://www.budtempchi.org/12prin.html

    who knows if this election will rememdy the economic ills or the spiritual/moral ills of the, as Dad Akaky always describes, “this great nation” of ours…but my hope is that, the nation will someday consider itself less great and worry instead how all places are great…

    anyway…for me not photography before politics, but love and compassion before all :)))

    please pass the bong ;)))

    hugs
    b

  141. Uh oh…..

    I have always heard to not talk politics or religion in mixed groups like this….

    But you are right DAH. All we had to worry about then was what he was doing under the desk. And who really cared?

    Lee

  142. ANNA MARIA…

    yes, this is a big problem…the “instant gratification” aspect of digi often makes us feel there is no need “to print”…since all hard drives eventually fail, i really try to print as much as i can…i pretend a digi file is a negative and i must print it to see it…it is too easy to let those hard drives sit on the desk and not “do anything”…a cardboard box sitting on that same desk full of negs and contact sheets beckons…

  143. DAVID:

    got an email from Jason Eskenazi. i invited him to the Fiesta this friday. I left a note to the blog 2 week’s ago about Jason’s magisterial and brilliant book WONDERLAND:

    http://www.amazon.com/Wonderland-Fairytale-Monolith-Jason-Eskenazi/dp/0974283673

    IT IS AMAZING! :))))…

    anyway, i dont know if you know Jason (marina and i will meet him for the first time at your party), but if not, i’ll introduce you…this man is a brilliant and poetic and important photographer….

    see how far the love spreads :)))

    see u soon

    hubs
    b

  144. Hey I don’t claim any alliances to the Bush administration (or a party for that matter.) He’s no conservative. You can’t combine the Bush tax cuts with at least 5 times the spending of Clinton and expect the results to be good. And the war and lack of energy independence is exactly why were in trouble.

  145. DAVID M…

    yes, we could re-build main street and a whole bunch of other neighborhoods too, if we did not have the billions, which could have been used for this, going into a totally senseless war…it amazes me how those people sitting in their lawn chairs selling the family sofa will vote AGAINST their own self interest..

    i cannot imagine how anyone who is making less that 1 million dollars per year could possibly vote Republican.. the Reps know how to push all the “right panic buttons” on the very people who get totally screwed by their own policies…

  146. Well if we don’t have it, then where is this 700B check coming from that they’re about to sign? They seem to always have a blank check whenever they want. Rebuilding main street is just one example—the point is job creation, which is what we desperately need.

  147. DAVID MCG:

    the problem with the old “job creation” is that it’s just another political slogan, tossed back and forth by both arms of the corrupt body politic…the world has changed, and the problems are systemic to the american body politic and economic…

    people need jobs (especially in the regions once prosperous from manufacturing, where you live, and which ironically makes up a great deal of Ontario too), but…

    real help for these folk comes from a nation and a governing body (executive or congressional) that understands that to make jobs, the economy and the spending habits and the priorities of the nation and the people must change…

    im neither (repub or demo)…though i’ve always voted either for democrats or independents…

    but the mess the nation is in is more profound that even the polticians speak…you should see it from afar, once you’re living in another nation…

    hugs
    b

  148. DAVID M…

    well, admittedly, i am not sure about the bailout.i am talking about the policies that got us in this mess in the first place…how in hell we get out of it, i am not so sure…

    not sure what you mean that middle Americans do not give a damn about Wall Street…they are Wall Street!!!

    ok, running to class….

    cheers, david

  149. David

    I didn’t say that the middle class doesn’t give a damn about Wall Street—my comment “The guy … who has already lost everything, doesn’t care if Wall Street is preserved” suggests that people who have bottomed out would prefer that those on top feel the pain as well, rather than this “golden parachute” as indicated by the overwhelming calls and emails congress is receiving.

  150. Bob

    “real help for these folk comes from a nation and a governing body (executive or congressional) that understands that to make jobs, the economy and the spending habits and the priorities of the nation and the people must change…”

    Yes, yes—wouldn’t it be ideal if our government led by example with good spending habits?

  151. DAVID MG,

    This is a dilemna for a government, the problem coming from changing the spending habits of the people is that the people do not spend enough anymore => not good for the economy… However the way a government spends his money is a different story… Don’t worry about the 700B check, the US already have something like 70000000B debt :)

  152. yes… as an onlooker from ancient europe i do frown quite often lately…

    but then again, i frown at politics in my own country too…

    and then a funny (political) story…

    having a master’s degree in political philosphy, i’ve always taken pride in having a thorough insight into political & ethical issues in society in general. so more often than not i keep my personal political views to myself, limiting my take in ongoing discussions to the “analysis” level. and when it comes to voting, i vote for a person, not a party (granted, this is not possible/feasible in many countries due to particular election systems & political landscapes).

    a couple of years ago i went to Documenta in Kassel (huge art exhibition in Germany) and there was an “interesting” installation where one was asked for 15 minutes of one’s time to answer a set of questions (mostly regarding social issues). rather a long questionnaire … and difficult questions… after that, a computer would calculate what your “political conviction” would be…

    now ok, nothing surprising here, this has been done many times before, and i am quite familiar with these kinds of studies/questionnaires…

    then i looked at my own result… i ended up being a “strict egalitarianist”

    not just a ‘regular’ egalitarianist. no sir. a strict one.

    ‘strict’ meaning that i would favor “forcibly re-destributing property and wealth”.

    suddenly i felt like robin hood :)))

    could this be the reason why i’ve always frowned at the illusion called ‘free market capitalism’?

    “don’t worry! the free market will regulate itself! we’ll all be fine!”

    :-/

    peace
    anton

  153. D A H

    alexander C is one of my students here in norwayland.. he did some work inspired directly by patricia and audrey.. a new angle for the blog perhaps..

    his work-in-progress link again – http://acfoto.no/mom/mom.html

    anyway – it’s me he is hinting towards about beer in the darkroom.
    i am teaching it next week and for fear of loosing my job i have to outlaw alcohol, potions and herbs which allegedly may, (or may not), on other occasions, (outside of collage hours), aid the printing process..

    *i would not know*

    although – i think everyone is better at playing pool after a few beers drinks.

    so.. apologies.. no beer alex – despite the ‘main man’ harvey saying it’s cool-and-the-gang.
    *smiley*
    not yet, at least..

    now..

    i’m packing an overnight bag for hospital.. charging the camera btteries.. having a shave.. beate thinks i’ll be a father this weekend may be the weekend.. and she knows much better than i..

  154. Lee

    I don’t think political discussions, especially during an election year, have to be taboo—as long as they don’t turn into seeing who can spew the most clever rhetoric back and forth. I just hope I didn’t stereotype myself, because I’m quite happy with whatever party set us on the road to peace and prosperity.

    I just fall on the side of low taxes and low spending, of which Bush has been a horrible example.

  155. DAH

    One reason a small business owner making less than a million might vote conservative is if an increase in business and payroll taxes causes a compromise in the number of employees he/she can maintain.

    Yan

    Are you in the States? It seems that reckless consumption on credit rather than real dollars has stalled an economy based on cash flow and consumerism. So yes, not spending is bad for the economy, but there’s not much confidence out there right now.

  156. DAVID MCG :))

    spending habits of both the governing and the governed could be improved…and that starts at home (the largess of most politicians on all sides of the aisle directed toward themselves and interests is just morally numbing…i know, i was a speech writer as my first gig, for some folk that were both senators and reps…my former boss is now office manager/stategist for Senator Jack Reed of RI, so i’ve seen gross evil on both sides)….

    though, in truth, i dont mind government spending my money on the health, education and welfare of the nation’s people…

    hard to go wrong when one follows those 8-fold steps…but alas im a dreamer…so i give up on politicans and prefer to do my small part locally, communally and with those i can help…

    in truth, i dont trust anyone who aligns themselves with a party as a mantra…

    people hurt for real and should not be used as fodder…which, alas, politicians do…

    but, for the record, i have to say this adminsitration and the last 8 years has been the most corrupt and most deleterious …we have ourselves, each of us, to blame..

    anyway…i dont judge others on their political pursuations or their economic/social theories:

    action speaks to my heart :)))

    cheers
    bob

  157. Bob

    I’m with you in thinking that the best governing body is the one that we create, that maintains the comfort of those closest to us—that’s what I think makes this such a charming group.

  158. DAVID MG,

    No I am not in the US, but it is a little bit the same here in Europe, people get more and more debts… And you know, if there is a crisis in the US, there are big chances that it will arrive here, sooner or later, this is called globalization… Most of the banks here invested in the sub primes and lost (and will more) a lot of money as well as the fundations taking care of our retirement… They loose money, increase the rates that we have to pay each month and start to play again, 5 years later they loose again and start for a new round… It seems that playing with other’s money is easy…

  159. AKAKY,

    I had thought of walking across the North American imaginary line, but from the north rather than the south—less Patriot Patrols I hear… Unfortunately my ticket wouldn’t be refunded or changed, and I couldn’t afford to buy a new ticket to Montreal.

    BOB,

    Check check check!!! I would love to come to Toronto, and might do so next year…You are welcome, always, to come and visit me wherever I may be (I currently live in Bracciano, near Rome, Italy)… I want to see your Bones work in print…My favourite photos are Self-Portrait Son’s Graduation, Dream – Icarus, Boy with Skull, Boy and Camera, Boy Dreams of Fish and Bones, Geometry and Portrait of Brandon, though I like most all and am looking forward to reading your words relating to them as well.

    HERVE,

    “Like borders! Give it another few hundred years….”

    Yes… I often hope for an attack from Mars to speed things up…

    PATRICIA (and BOB, too),

    Thank you for your comments about DOING and WORKING and SEEING and letting it all lead the way, even to places that you might not want to go, but that you probably need to go… I love those two pictures of your husband, Patricia, particularly the one in the pool.

  160. Regarding the election..
    I almost think the rest of the world should get a vote in this election.
    The US has such an enormous impact on the rest of the world and it’s sad to see how imcompetent leaders gets chosen in a clown election. It’s a f-in circus, that’s what it is.
    I think that the world is starting to get really really tired of the US and how they act.
    This is not a personal attack on anyone here.

    Cheers

  161. Before we worry about the rest of the world voting in the US elections, shouldn’t we worry about members of our own country voting in their own election?
    I would bet most here know at least a handful of people who aren’t even registered to vote, even though the next election (and whoever gets the headache of fixing problems from the last eight years) will have a huge impact on their lives, freedoms and pocketbooks.. and yet they will just sit back and wait to see what happens; who gets elected; and then will complain and point fingers.
    But who am I to talk? During the last elections, I lived in Athens, Ohio, and the country watched Ohio because we were a swing state and would ‘decide the election’.. Now I live in Wyoming and my vote is hardly a drop in the bucket in comparison, but I’ll still be there on election day..

  162. AKAKY: Oh hell, politics has raised its ugly head.

    AKAKY IRL: It always does. Why do you think I keep telling you not to bring it up?

    AKAKY: It wasn’t my fault. Bob told everyone about the web site. I had to do something or everyone would think I was some creep from the FBI spying on them.

    AKAKY IRL: Dude, the best way to make any given situation even worse than it is to try to do something about it. Go with the flow, grasshopper.

    AKAKY: You’re channeling Kung Fu again.

    AKAKY IRL: Damn right I am. Kung Fu was great. David Carradine would go into some benighted hick town and everyone there thought they had to do something about his being there when all he wanted to do was spout off fortune cookie wisdom and get some sleep. He didn’t want to do anything except go with the flow, but no, everyone else got their panties into such a tight twist about his being there that the only way he could get out of Podunk alive was to nonviolently beat the shit out of half the town. I’m telling you, guy, going down there is not a good idea. David M. brings up small government and more personal responsibility and they’re treating him like he suggested that the Army should use cute little kitty cats for target practice. You’re going to get eaten alive, bubba, no two ways about it.

    AKAKY: All right, it’s official: I’m depressed.

    AKAKY IRL: Me too.

    AKAKY: Who are you kidding? You’re always depressed.

    AKAKY IRL: Yeah, I know. It gives me something to do and keeps me off the streets.

  163. AKAKY: On the other hand, that property redistribution thing doesnt sound like such a bad idea.

    AKAKY IRL: Trust me, it’s a bad idea.

    AKAKY: If you say so.

    AKAKY IRL: I do say so. And if it can’t be stopped, make sure you get a Leica.

  164. AKAKY :))))

    Master Po: [after easily defeating the boy in combat] Ha, ha, never assume because a man has no eyes he cannot see. Close your eyes. What do you hear?
    Young Caine: I hear the water, I hear the birds.
    Master Po: Do you hear your own heartbeat?
    Young Caine: No.
    Master Po: Do you hear the grasshopper that is at your feet?
    Young Caine: [looking down and seeing the insect] Old man, how is it that you hear these things?
    Master Po: Young man, how is it that you do not?

    sorry for outing you, but remember Oedipus ;))))))…but i stilllll loooooove uuuuuu! :))))))))…

    DAVID MCG :))

    yes, i wish the entire nation would re-consider how it lives/spends/treats others and treats the world…but im not holding my breath…..

    will be sending my ballot next week….even living in canada, i still vote!!!

    running
    b

  165. AKAKY

    I was wondering where you were. No casualties here as the result of raising the “p” word. But they do have me that it’s difficult to tout conservative ideas with the backdrop of the current administration. I mean, what is Bush? Conservative—no. Liberal—in spending, yes. A complete mess? Clearly.

  166. Quite right, Alicia. The fact that just about 50% of the US electorate votes is both a symptom and a cause of the problem with american election and politics. You’ve got 2 or 3 alternative parties in that missing percentage…

    I agree with Martin though. At the very least, having a good chunk of the world vote would take care of our most idiotic candidacies, which seem to come back at pretty regular intervals since I moved to this country.

    Come to think of it, any candidate could be from anywhere in the “free” world. Think: Vaclav Havel as leader of the free world. Or maybe even, the Dalai Lama….

    Come on! Think! Wouldn’t you have a president deep in meditation rather than in deep…..Shit!

    :-))))))))))

  167. Herve… Whaat? ???
    You prefer Dalai Lama ???
    Instead of George W.B????
    You crazy??

    Then Paolo pellegrin would
    Have no Quantanamo prisons
    to photograph.. Paolo would starve!!!

    And how about Abu Graib torture
    chambers beautiful photos ??? All those emerging
    Photojournalists/ marines…
    They should also apply for EPF
    next year…. Who can top of
    Their photo work???
    Especially the one in color..
    Intimate photos, almost sexy but classy..
    Thank you George we are all proud…
    Emerging phitographers everywhere in
    our army…

  168. Abu Graib ( or whatever it is..)
    Loved the animal / man photos ..
    You know .. The dogs .. The sentimental
    almost nostalgic Red colors ( blood stains),
    – a little oversaturated for my taste-
    but the blood stands out..
    Altough I would prefer a little more
    Movement on those photos..
    Maybe slower shutter speeds..
    Just a thought…

  169. Herve — LOL — Yes..
    Knowing a number of folks from the UK, and having talked politics amongst them, we never would have ended up with the two candidates we have now had the rest of the world been allowed to vote and steer the election process.
    It is becoming harder and harder to feel truly represented in our Dem vs Rep system, and tends to make those of us ‘somewhere in the middle’ seem like we are on the fence, or lacking in knowledge to make a firm decision on one side or the other.
    However, Akaky, IRL and David McG from last night — Photography before politics for the win?

  170. … But either way…
    I’m so glad we won that war..
    WE WON
    WE WON
    WE WON…
    That’s the only thing that matters..
    Victory… By any means…
    ( oh by the way.. Holocaust never
    existed.. Neither did Hitler.. Neither did
    the Nazis.. It’s all fiction..)
    So let’s all go to B&H today and
    order the $20000 leica S..
    Let’s keep our economy strong..
    LETS GO OUT AND SPEND MORE
    MONEY… Let’s help all the brothels and
    stripclubs in this country..
    More food for Antoine D’Agata..
    ;-)

  171. ooh.. panos..
    interesting you should mention.. there was just a documentary on abu ghraib yesterday.
    scary scary scary stuff..
    and the photos.. :-?

  172. LADIES and GENTLEMEN, BOYS and GIRLS, CITIZENS and NON-CITIZENS, BLOGGERS and LURKERS, and EVEN PANOS…

    Five weeks to go before the US election and already this forum is deteriorating into a political vent-fest?? To all your apparent needs to express yourselves on topics political, I say “Basta!” “Genug!” “C’est suffit!” もうたくさん!곧충분하지!太过了!
    Some of us who live in or near Canada are also being forced to listen to the inanities of their national election as well.
    I wouldn’t want to discourage anyone from exercising their freedom of speech or rights (and duties!) as a citizen… but on this particluar forum, is that really the most appropriate or constructive, or mutually supportive, discourse? Aren’t there more than enough other places, other venues, other internet sites where you can vent your political spleen to your heart’s content? I thought we agreed that this site is preciously different. Wouldn’t somebody really rather talk about photography?

  173. Alicia hi..
    My one and only concern about
    all of those new Emerging Marines Photographers..
    They have been mistreated..
    They promised them Leicas M8’s
    but all they got were some cheap
    point & shoot little toys..
    But they still managed to pull their
    assignments of.. Even with disposables
    and pinholes..
    I hope they will make one website with
    all their work in one place.. Tired looking
    around..
    Glad they found their “VENICE BEACH”
    :-(

  174. PANOS

    Forgive me, mon ami, but I posted the above before I saw your previous three comments… actually, I think this time you are right on the money in the subject and tone of your comments on the Abu Ghraib photos!

  175. but Sidney;-)
    Politics is the way to see the world..
    Is photography…
    How can you photograph the real
    Quantanamo ( pellegrin) if you don’t
    see the truth and the torture??
    How can you be honest ( photographically)
    if you agree?? Who is going to
    Expose the Chinese atrocities in Tibet??
    A Chinese photog that belongs and work
    with their government .. or a foreigner???
    ( third unbiased eye..??)

  176. do you believe that
    a republican photographer would ever expose
    atrocities from this government ???or hide them???
    Would a republican photog.. Even
    realizes what happened ( and still happening )in Quantanamo??
    Or do they think that’s another regular
    county jail????
    Please people visit the magnum
    Website and check Paolo Pellegrins
    PODCAST.. Hear it , not just see it,
    but hear it..
    Please

  177. panos —
    again back to comments of yesterday — there are good photographers on both sides of the fence who aren’t afraid to show the world when something is wrong with the system.. republican, democratic or otherwise.. in this wide wide world?
    highlight their works when we can, even if that photographer happens to be you.. ;-)

  178. a republican photographer would ever expose
    atrocities from this government ???
    ————————

    Hola, Panos, how many legs on that beast, Republican photographer! Shit, you make it sound like concentration camp kapo.

    I mean: Republicans have sex too, they go to brothels, airport restrooms give money to strippers, for Godsake!!!!

    ;-)

  179. ALL

    Two photography competitions of interest to us:
    ………………………………………………………………………

    1. 2008 Raymond Weil International Photography Prize

    http://www.raymondweil.ch/club/Templates/RWCLUB/RWCLUB1/layout.asp?MenuID=877

    –Submission dates: upload 3 photos between 01 October 2008 until 01 December 2008, 11h00 GMT.

    This third edition is open to all photographers (professionals and amateurs) members of the RW Club who wish to use photography as a mean of artistic expression. There is no entry fee to enter the competition.

    Theme: Independence

    There will be two awards:
    – The RW Club International Photography Prize
    – The RW Club members’ special award

    The RW Club International Photography Prize will be awarded by the jury:

    – US $ 15,000
    – Exhibit in the Aperture Gallery – New York City
    – Exhibition on the RAYMOND WEIL’s booth during BASELWORLD 2009 / The World’s Leading Watch & Jewellery Show
    – Exclusive interview with the international press
    – Entire webpage

    The RW Club members’ special award:

    This prize will be awarded by the RW Club members after the first selection made by the jury. The vote will be available online from the 19 December 2008 to 19 January 2009, 11:00 GMT. A member can vote only once for her/his favourite artist.

    – Entire webpage
    – Exhibition of the awarded picture on the RAYMOND WEIL’s booth during BASELWORLD 2009 / The World’s Leading Watch & Jewellery Show
    – RAYMOND WEIL will support the artist by communicating the artist information to the press, professionals or potential clients.

    **You can register online to become a RW Member. There is no cost or obligation.
    ………………………………………………………………

    The National Geographic International Photography Contest

    http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/photo-contest/photo-contest

    Who May Enter

    The Contest is open only to those individuals who have been selected as First Place winners in the local National Geographic International Photo Contests conducted by National Geographic publishers in various countries around the world during the period from August 1, 2008, through October 31, 2008 (“Local Contests”). For a list of participating local contests, visit http://www.ngphotocontest.com. CONTEST IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

  180. Busted in airport restrooms .. caught by undercovers
    .. Redhanded
    playing with the boys..
    Catholic Priests Molesting thousands
    of boys and girls ( but prefer mostly boys)
    … Spitzerwhores…
    Conservatism at it’s glory..

    At least Bill Clinton was Honest..
    ( .. I never, had, sexual relationships
    with that woman..)

    Honesty is very important ,
    especially in politics..
    Oh, fuck’em all!

  181. Panos

    I think if someone is going to call themselves a “Republican Photographer” or a “Democrat Photographer” they’re going to favor their party, but I don’t hear a lot of photographers doing that. Regardless of party affiliation, if one has any inherit honesty, they will simply take account of the issue that exists. I’d be happy to expose atrocities in either party, given the opportunity, because such things benefit no one.

  182. Alicia,
    You are right..
    There are great photogs both
    sides of the fence…
    some also sitting On that Fence…
    and some could care less about fences!
    I’m with the last bunch..
    ;-)

  183. David McG,
    I agree…
    It’s all in the INNER human
    being.. The sense of being fair..
    The sense of good karma
    ( but not fear of god).. or fear of punishment..
    The need to be honest ..
    You can be embedded with any side
    of the fence and still be honest..
    and I agree with you..
    We need less government..
    Less KRATOS…

  184. Sidney

    It gets to be too fascinating to not say anything, and I think the maturity level is pretty high here—I like to know what people think, and I’ve not been offended by anything.

    I do like the photography related to politics discussion, though.

  185. “i’m packing an overnight bag for hospital.. charging the camera batteries.. having a shave.. beate thinks i’ll be a father this weekend may be the weekend.. and she knows much better than i..”

    Of all the back-and-forth postings about politics today what excites me the most is the above quote from David Bowen. Could it be that baby boy is going “drop in” on DAH’s Slideshow fiesta weekend??? Wouldn’t that be a kick!!!

    Know you three are being held in good birthing energy…

    with love from
    Patricia

  186. Hey Panos

    If you’re going to be responsible for some “coverage” friday night, it would be cool to see a live video feed through iChat or something like that. (I think someone already mentioned that?) Maybe just through someone’s laptop with a built in camera. My iChat account is riverlife68 if that works out.

  187. DAH

    Back for a moment to the topic of archiving and the need to make prints… Could you tell us exactly what you are doing these days in the way of making archival prints… what process? What kind of paper stock? What SIZE? And how do you store them? This may have been covered some months ago, but I missed it if it was… Very curious what you (and others) are doing… When you get a moment free!

  188. David McG..
    Great idea.. But how can we make it
    possible to transmit live for ALL???
    Any techies out there??
    Ryan, help!

    I was thinking to do the old school recording
    and then break it down to small YOUTUBE
    movies.. But that’s not live..!
    Hmmmm.. thinking!

  189. Well that’s why I mentioned iChat video, which would just be turning a laptop with a built in iSight to the slideshow and linking to the account. The quality wouldn’t be that great, though.

  190. ALL, LAST MESSAGE FROM ME UNTIL AFTER Y TRIP TO NEW YORK….

    SIMON :))))..yes, please come visit whenever you wish :))))…thanks for the great words about bones…appreciate that alot :)))), but would love to have a beer: beer is great here too :))))

    PANOS :)))…we’ll your posts are more like you (that’s a relief) ;)))))…am still worried about you…and since you are BOTH A STRIPPER AND A PHTOOGRAPHER, as i told you, maybe you need to root in NYC…we’ll talk in 2 days amigo :))))))

    DAVID B: :))))))))))))))…GOOD LUCK DAD (TO BE)…I’LL SEND U AND YOUR PARTNER AND YOUR SOON TO ENTER THE WORLD JOY LOTS OF GOOD THOUGHTS….

    DAVID (ALAN HARVEY): SEE U IN 2 DAYS AMIGO (how long as that taken to write, 1 1/2 years?)….

    PATRICIA: DITTO AS FOR HARVEY :))))))))

    PANOS/DAVIDMCG/ALICIA/SIDNEY/ALL:

    I know a Republican photographer (great photographer, great,..famous too, but totally obnoxious in person, but i cant out him, cause unlike Dad-Akaky who i love, this dude aint fun to chat with)…

    ERICA:

    WILL WRITE…NEED DIRECTIONS…

    HUGS ALL,

    OVER AND OUT!

    B

  191. DMcG

    I mentinoed live feed on the last thread – seems everyoen wants it….Skype would be easy but doesn’t allow multiple views to view the feed…AIM or Yahoo chat would work, but we need to pick one (if that way) so everyoen can make sure they have an account to view….

    Not familiar with iChat…can multiple people view the feed? can people on the viewing end send feeds back (so those at the fiesta can see those of us who aren’t there?)

    There’s gotta be a way!!

    A.

  192. hmm, typepad ate my post, it seems….

    DMcG
    I mentioned a live feed for the fiesta on the previous thread….thought Skype (it won’t work, multiple peeps can’t view at same time). AIM or YaHoo chat would work, but we’d need to pick one so everyone knows to have an ID to view…never used iChat, so know nothing about it – can multiple people view the feed? can they post images/video back?

    That would be very cool….

    best to all,
    A.

  193. DAVID

    Hoping we bloggers will be able to spend some time with you and with one another on Saturday. Maybe we could have our own North American version of the where-does-the-blog-go-from-here conversation like you folks had in Perpignan. I’m also bringing 4×6 prints hoping for an edit/sequencing of old & new photos for my self portrait/daily life project.

    Regarding the Slideshow Fiesta, will call you about 5 p.m. on Friday to firm up the time you want me to get to the kibbutz that evening. I’ll have my two portable ramps with me but if they can’t handle the steps, we’ll need a chair and two strong sober men or women to carry the African Queen (me) & her black leopard (scooter) into the building. Thanks for making the extra effort to help me do this.

    My friend Pat and I will start off on our drive early tomorrow (Thursday) morning and arrive at the Nu Hotel in Brooklyn that night. Can’t wait to see you and all my soon-to-be-real-not virtual friends on Friday night! Safe travels to all…

    ALL ACROSS THE GLOBE

    Please know you are with us in Brooklyn this weekend. Wherever one of us meets, we all meet. My camera batteries are charged and ready, and I promise to be camera-crazy! I’ll show you everything I can…

    love to all
    Patricia

  194. Ryan
    Says that there is a way..
    Using the iChat
    Theater presentation feature..
    But it requires everyone to have
    an iChat or Gmail account..!??
    Ok.. Now I’m lost..
    Let me call Ryan again…!

  195. ALL, techies …
    Ryan emailed me back
    with the Answer regarding live
    streaming…
    Amazing..
    No mac or iChat or anything fancy
    required.. Just a cheap USB web camera..
    Attached to any laptop…

    For details ALL, click below :

    http://www.ustream.tv/

    Up to a million users can get linked
    and watch live…
    I think we got an ANSWER..

    THANK YOU RYAN…!!!

  196. … Ryan already tested that tv thing
    and it works…
    How spectacular would that be..
    If we can transmit LIVE THE WHOLE
    FIESTA.. Imaging this..
    DAH.. Live…
    Blog ALIVE …
    Now I’m psyched….
    Imagine if we have ONE MILLION
    VIEWERS THAT NIGHT…
    We can beat the SUPERBOWL…
    We can beat CNN speed wise…

  197. DAVID

    I just talked to Erica and she suggested that the bloggers who are meeting for dinner before the slideshow fiesta can be Patricia’s helpers to get into the kibbutz. That leaves you free to get things set for the big event. Sounds good to me. So forget about being the African Queen’s carrier. It will all be taken care of by our Road Trippers. See you Friday…

    Patricia

  198. imagine if we beat SUPERBOWL..
    That means that next year we can
    Have Janet Jackson and Justin
    Timberlake to perform in the Fiesta break..
    We can even have PEPSI or GM sponsor
    us…
    Or how about a commercial for the
    Marines.!why not????
    ALL., rich lurkers out there!!
    WE NEED SUPPORT!( financial support)…
    WE HAVE THE BEST BLOG OUT THERE!!!
    And we will get even better..
    With live shows..
    Radio and now TV… Yes live UNCENSORED TV…
    but we need support..
    Help us out…
    YOU WONT REGRET IT
    peace

  199. Patricia mentions a Natl GEO contest. I was pretty upset when someone last year mentionned here on the blog that by submitting a shot, you lose ownership/copyright (not sure how it was presented, but in short pix became property of Natl GEO. Like Allard’s!!!).

    That’s why david started to tell us retaining copyright of our work is the first priority.

    I followed amteur contests for a while, even if not participating. The panels winners are always fitting an idea of how a shot, a subject should look. Predictable, boring and superbly shot (or edited)….

  200. Video feed rocks. PANOS I am counting on you tomake sure that the right people make that happen. I’m sure someone has a laptop with a cam built in or a digicam that has a usb link (MOST CAMS WILL WORK AS A WEB CAM!!!).

    and maybe a place to put vid feeds or stills from those of us who are on the other end” of the wire.

    Personal update
    I’m in the low country of SC…trying to be inspired to get shots, but spending much time on the beach just watching the dolphins swim by and writing internal thoughts out…need to find MY VENICE Beach…

    The sunset light from where I’m staying is amazing, though….studying it….

    good light to all
    A

  201. DINNER PLANS PRE FIESTA

    A group of us are meeting for dinner at 6pm Friday, Oct. 3rd, at a Japanese restaurant in Park Slope before heading over to David’s Fiesta and slideshow. Would love to see you there, please give a rsvp with me (erica at ericamcdonaldphoto.com) if you are planning on coming.

    Mura is at 369 5th Ave
    Brooklyn, NY 11215
    (718) 965-1288

  202. Arriving tomorrow
    FLIGHT 16… From Phoenix AZ..
    ( transfer flight from LA )… 11:01 pm
    ( before midnight NY time …
    Heading for BROOKLYN…
    with Andrew Sullivan…
    and maybe Anna M B-J…
    ( what a cute voice.. and brilliant mind
    – just talked to her on the phone….)
    It’s gonna be the “usual mess”…
    in
    BROOKLYN….
    Tomorrow night… AFTER MIDNIGHT..
    Kibbutz … !!! Do NOT meet me there…
    ;-)))))

  203. JEAN

    your forum template looks like a good idea.. simple to find what is needed.. would it run alongside the blog or would it need to be integrated?

    BOB and PATRICIA and DAVID MC and ANTON

    it’s amazing how the warmth of relative strangers is just as nurturing as the warmth of a long time friend.. thanks for the wishes.. passed on to beate.. exciting times..

    NEW YORK MSSV

    have FUN.. hope everything goes smoothly.. will check for any kind of video link here.. and of course post live on the blog if i can see it .. talk about the EPF and book.. see what could work out.. great..
    enjoy
    enjoy
    enjoy

    REGARDING U>S> POLITICS

    colonialism fails in time, all empires have crumbled.. good luck to you, and get out and vote.

  204. Jean,

    Like the blog reader/searcher… have’nt fully tested it, but could you make the search button bigger or more prominent? I kept reaching for the Update button because it was bigger.

    How do I select different subjects?

    Good stuff. Keep going!

  205. DAVID B.
    thanks for your feedback! I hope darkroom teaching is ok for you!!!

    It will be a good thing if my system was integrated to the blog; but i think typepad is not ok, so for the moment it will run alongside (i have made an update system which is quite easy, just click on the button ;-)

    NEIL
    Thank for looking my reader! I made some modifications, tell me what you think…

  206. it works a treat jean.. for reading the blog it’s perfect.. i’ve bookmarked it.. used it.. the perfect ‘catch-up’ tool perhaps.

    so – now it is there does it just work independently? do you have to do anything to keep it running?

  207. DAVID B.
    thank you!
    I have nothing to do to keep it running. When someone clicks on update, the comments of the selected David’s post are updated (for everybody, in a database).
    The only thing i have to do is filling a form when David makes a new entry, to make it appear in the “SUBJECT” list.

    NEIL
    for the moment, i only added “sunday morning ramble”, as it was current post, but the next posts will be added as David adds them…

    JOAN
    ;-) yes, new David’s post will appear, no problemo!!!

  208. JEAN

    Your reader is a nice idea and I like some of its features, but it does not handle Japanese, Korean, or Chinese script properly (which, miraculously, Typepad does). This may seem like a minor consideration for most forum members, but for me it is a big issue. What comes out may look like Asian scripts to those who can’t read them, but it is pure garbage.

  209. I just got done shooting another series with BaRock Star Obama (nice guy!) It went much better than last time—no secret service there telling me which way to shoot. I’ll try to get a gallery up later.

  210. … And a Tecate..
    Aim & purpose of the day..
    Arrive in NY drunk.. Let’s see if I can
    pull that off.. Sorry Andrew S.
    Maybe drunk but not obnoxious..
    Just a touch..

  211. Anna M B Jester…
    I will call you from Andrew’s car..
    Can’t wait to hear your voice again..
    You make me laugh!!!
    Can’t beat that…!

    I wish I could bring some LA Chronic
    With me.. I called that airlines..
    They said it’s prohibited..
    Even if you have a valid marijuana licence..!!???
    What the fuck.. I’m not allowed to bring my
    meds with me???? Not fair…
    Why the guy with his tylenols and
    all those weird medications is free to do
    whatever he wants but I’m not allowed
    to smoke a little Mary Jane In the airplane..
    That’s super fucked up and unfair..
    I think.. Fuck it ..
    Another BLOODY MARY please..
    It’s only 11am.. and still sober..
    Is AA ( alcoholic anonymous) behind all this airport fiasco???

  212. AKAKY: And now, an hommage to my boy Bob.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/akaky/sets/72157607670260935/

    AKAKY IRL: A what?

    AKAKY: An hommage.

    AKAKY IRL: What the hell’s an hommage?

    AKAKY: You know, it’s when you pay homage to someone.

    AKAKY IRL: If you meant homage then why didnt you just say homage?

    AKAKY: Everything sounds better in French.

    AKAKY IRL: Says you. French people pay hommage; when an English speaker says hommage instead of homage he’s just kissing someone’s ass.

    AKAKY: Really?

    AKAKY IRL: You bet. Which one is Bob, anyway?

    AKAKY: The kielbasa.

    AKAKY IRL: Oh, okay, I gotcha. And you’re paying homage here?

    AKAKY: Yup.

    AKAKY IRL: With a bunch of out of focus pictures?

    AKAKY: Yes I am.

    AKAKY IRL: It’s not much of an hommage, is it? I mean, really, what did he ever do to you?

    AKAKY: Nothing.

    AKAKY IRL: And this is how you pay him back?
    It’s pretty thin stuff, bubba.

    AKAKY: You know, when I got of bed this morning I was feeling pretty good about life and everything.

    AKAKY IRL: That’ll teach you to get out of bed, won’t it?

    AKAKY: I guess so.

  213. AKAKY

    Here I thought all along that this Dad-Son thing between you and Bob Black was all a put-on, but after looking at your photos, now I see the close family resemblance. Love the skull…

  214. love you Lee…
    They let me in…seat 22C…
    I’m scared of heights , airplanes ,
    Bin Ladens, etc…
    They understand.. They are very
    sympathetic…
    I see what you mean though…!

  215. lol.
    in the better interests of dah’s party, panos: i hope you dress nicely and look semi-sober for the happy airline people.. we wouldn’t want you to get lost in transit..

  216. ERICA DEAR,

    It’s also pronounced “Bay-jing” (Beijing), not “Bay-zzhing”, as I’ve been trying to teach NPR and the CBC for the last 10 years (without much luck).

    I think by now the word “New-cue-lurrh” is almost of a badge of honor, and certainly a badge of solidarity, among a whole class of Americans who deliberately pronounce it that way just to thumb their noses at cosmopolitan elitists like you and me. These people know who their base is…

  217. juuuuuuuuust Landed..
    I was over manhattan for a second..
    Not anymore…
    Still sitting in the plane..
    thinking of YOU…!

    David McG.. Cool .. Got the photo..
    :-)
    Andrew S.. calling you in a sec..
    Anna B J.. I’m in your land..
    DAH.. Open the Brooklyn Doors…
    NY, NY..
    ( Frank in my earphones…)

  218. nice work patricia..

    panos – it’s the only way to fly..

    erica – palin pronounces it nucular..

    6.48am.. sideways rain.. charging my camera.. off to teach soon.

  219. I was posting last night…
    The typepad got crazy ..
    Anyways… First night in the Kibbutz..
    I need to get it together…
    I woke up at 5am, LA time to help
    at the workshop… Hanging photos on
    the corridor wall.. From student work…
    Just hit the cornpipe…
    It’s gonna be a long day..
    I was photographing D, shooting
    a girl on rollerblades last night..
    A lot to report..
    David woke me up this morning,
    “look at the skyline.. Look at the light..
    the best light, right now.. Get up…!!!”

    I will never forget this morning…
    I will email ANNA B, an iPhone
    photo from that moment…

  220. now there is a NatGeo lecture going on…
    Then critique…. Of the work..,
    I will jump in..
    I just met K.Lee…
    Hang a Buddha photo on the wall..
    Amazing..
    I slept next to the printer last night..
    Printing all night long…
    David was sleeping few feet away..
    He doesn’t snore.. But even if he did ,
    who cares, because the printer was..
    I woke up this morning in a sea of photos…

  221. This is a test of the emergency broadcast system. This is only a test. In the event of a real emergency, we are going to get our asses out of this neck of the woods as fast as we can; for what we’re getting paid to do this you people can go suck eggs. This concludes this test of the emergency broadcast system.

  222. Like I said, I could’ve done worse than to spend my last night in NYC at David Alan Harvey’s place- on rollerskates, no less! Don’t forget to send me the photos- and the limited edition prints, of course. I’ll let you know when I get an address in Prague.

    xx
    A.

  223. ALL
    thanks for your feedback on the blog-reader!
    (http://jnss.x10hosting.com/dah_reader/)

    As i have already explained, i have no photos to share for the moment, i re-think my “photographic path”, exploring archive, thinking…BUT if i can give to the community a bit of my technical knowledge, and make blog life easier ;-) it’s a pleasure!

    BOB
    ;-) avec plaisir!

    ANTON
    thank you! Is Birgit project going on???

    ANNA MARIA
    Thank you!
    I love your ‘Evangelizing Nicaragua’ photos! One (stupid?) question: how did you achieve to photograph such moments, how did react people? Because in France we have the same kind of communities, and i would like to do something, but it seems difficult, no?

    SIDNEY
    thank you. I’ll try to solve your problem. Could you give me a complete description, with screenshots maybe??? because i don’t understand chinese ;-))))

    peace

  224. AKAKY: So?

    AKAKY IRL: No.

    AKAKY: Why not?

    AKAKY IRL: Because.

    AKAKY: That’s not a reason.

    AKAKY IRL: It works for me.

    AKAKY: Everyone else is.

    AKAKY IRL: If everyone else jumped off the bridge, does that mean I have to jump off the bridge too?

    AKAKY: That’s not really germane, is it? We’re not talking about doing something life-threateningly stupid here, just going down to the city.

    AKAKY IRL: It was the best excuse I could think of on such short notice.

    AKAKY: I thought so. So you’re going to concede my point then?

    AKAKY IRL: Which point is that? There were a lot of them as the cars went zipping by.

    AKAKY: That there is no real reason, other than your usual stick stuck firmly in the mud attitude about going anywhere, for not going to the kibbutz.

    AKAKY IRL: You know, that’s a valid point; I hadnt thought of that before. There is a certain bias in favor of the familiar around here.

    AKAKY: Tell me about it. And you know that travel and new experiences broaden the horizons and expand the mind, or so I am told.

    AKAKY IRL: That’s what I hear too.

    AKAKY: So then you agree that going to Brooklyn would be a positive experience that we would benefit from enormously.

    AKAKY IRL: Yes, I do.

    AKAKY: So, can we go?

    AKAKY IRL: No.

    AKAKY: Why not?

    AKAKY IRL: Because.

    AKAKY: Oh, for crying out loud, why do I even bother?

    AKAKY IRL: Beats the hell out of me, guy.

  225. AKAKY IRL: You mean, he has the car keys.

    AKAKY: Yeah yeah yeah, that’s what I meant.

    AKAKY IRL: It’s just as easy to get these things right as they are to get them wrong, you know.

    AKAKY: Oh, go pound salt.

  226. Just bought some iPhone splitters..
    Try to hook up more speakers for the tonight
    fiesta… I’m in a Limo… Not a cab..
    A Limo..
    Rock Star shit..
    I love LA, sorry, I meant NY…

  227. JEAN-
    Not a stupid question at all…basically it took a while. I had to get to know a few people in each community, spend time there, etc. I’m not sure anyone ever understood WHY I wanted to photograph them, but so it goes. In some ways the access was easy, found a few people, found some more, but it was also a lot of leg work, over several months in Nicaragua. And it’s still not done! For me it always starts by getting yourself there, then finding someone you connect with. I won’t say there weren’t issues…I am not evangelical, and I did sit through many conversations about why not….hope that helps. If you have more specific questions feel free to email me!

  228. go get ‘m panos bro…. thanks for the beer by the way!! having one now: a KRIEK BELLE-VUE (yeah i know it’s a ladies’ beer – but nuttin’ rong widdat!)

    ALL

    thanks for the feedback regarding never offering $$ to shoot… made me stronger, learnt a lot from all your experiences… my bro met our fixer just now and we got a major breakthrough… great great news… if it works out (fingers crossed), i’ll be spending a lot of time in japan starting january

    JEAN

    “birgit” is going along just fine… am working hard hard hard to turn it into something ‘real’… in fact i am at her place right now, we’re playing spooky spooks… i’m real proud of her

    i will have my final edit done in 1 month, working hard on the different sto..

    ok she’s calling me, gotta run!

    peace to y’all, love y’all, and please please please put a live feed up from the fiesta…

    wish i was there

    a

  229. ALL

    It’s 4 pm here in Brooklyn and my friend Pat is taking a nap, which is where I should be too. But first I wanted to share just one of the 150 pics I took today on Brooklyn’s streets. What an amazing place this is! Interesting people everywhere you look. Much more diverse and a trillion times more real than Manhattan. I love it! Here’s a link to my favorite photo of the day…so far that is. Meet Sergeo the barber

    http://www.pbase.com/image/104024365

    And now for a little nap before the BIG NIGHT…

    Patricia

  230. in another limo , this time with DIEGO..
    cute Italiano … From the real Venice,
    Not My Venice…
    Just got 24 cases of beer…
    Need to carry them to 6th floor..
    Any help???

  231. ALL.

    Just walked in the door…from FIVE DAYS IN TEXAS. Could be the name of a movie…it would have to be a horror movie though. :((

    Glad to see politics being discussed here. Let me add this…

    Don’t know about Lance or any others here who may live in Texas but I would highly recommend that Akaky or any who are of the Republican persuasion to go there immediately. It is your mecca.

    FOX news RULES there!!! And let’s not forget about “Christian values” but…where is the tolerance? We could not get CNN turned on in any hotel, bar, restaurant…public place. Evidently all TV other than Fox news is banned in Texas. YUCK big time!!!

    Happy to be home. LET’S PARTY Y’ALL :))

  232. David McG..
    Bummer… All the speakers want to
    Speak uncencored ..
    I didn’t take the ok for “free”.. Transmission..
    Paul Fusco is speaking right now…
    I was ready… But… The people here are more
    famous than I thought …
    Bottomline…
    I do not have permission..
    Sorry.. Nothing I can do at this point..

  233. patricia…
    Photographed me extensively..
    She made me feel like a super model..
    Pat is great..

    KATHARINA…
    Yes , bob & marina..
    Are right here next to me!!!
    Ready to smoke..

  234. Just tried to call Panos and Patricia. Phones are off or inaudible. Can’t find david’s number in the myriad previous posts. Needle in haystack…

    Cheers to all if you ever happen to read the blog as you party…

  235. david MC

    that man just looks like a good man.. good vibes.. not a trace of the narrowed, dull and cynical eyes politicians practice..
    some great snaps.. hope you’re selling a couple.

    14 stuck me.. love the disjointed arm with the camera..

  236. It’s 10:00 AM in Brooklyn… and none of our journalists are awake yet?

    Dav. McGowan:
    Nice bread and butter work! Thanks for the post.

    Tom Hyde:
    The Fall storms have started early, grey gloom, rain and wind have set in for real in Puget Sound… don’t even think about coming back here from Greece!

  237. SIDNEY / ALL

    Just waking up..wonderful bouyant evening and a very late night..will write SOON, I took lots of notes :)

    Bob and Marina are already out at the galleries..

    I finally met sweet Panos

    Patricia took lots of pictures

  238. OCT 3 2008 Workshop Fiesta

    Part One

    BOB and MARINA arrived by overnight bus and had spent the day in the city, I hear they met with MIKE and SPENCER and then went to the MOMA before arriving on my doorstep beautiful, exhausted and a bit late as someone had pulled the emergency break on the subway over, a true NYC experience…Because we were running short on time, introductions between us were a little rushed and I left them to rest and went to the Japanese restaurant to meet with..PATRICIA and her co-pilot and dear friend PAT, shining GINA and old friend and photographer KIM, LEE, exactly as I imagined, ANDREW S in recovery mode from helping out with the workshop all week, compadre PRESTON and ED L. (of LS fame) and my good friend / photographer NANCY S as well as the ever wonderful SANA. I think that was everyone..god forgive me if I am forgetting anyone..Sushi was fantastic, I’ll spare you the menu..BOB and MARINA met us after their rest and we headed off to the KIBBUTZ.

    Here I will omit the intricacies of an hour of harried back and forth phone conversations between cars traveling separately toward one destination, in very separate directions..the good news is that we all eventually arrived before the show began.

    When we all had arrived, the loft was really overflowing with bodies and conversation, and it felt great..we all moved downstairs to the projection room, navigated for seats on the floor or in the few chairs, and i realized though I had smartly remembered to tote along a bottle of Prosecco I had dimly forgotten to bring a notepad and pen, so ANNA B ever ready loaned me hers for the dark room scribbling session.

    Room was too loud, DAH trying to get everyone’s attention..finally finally there was a hush..

  239. ok, able to write now.. 1pm, NYC. today is my second day ever in New York, and what a bad hangover, gosh……
    anyway, it was a crazy night. it was great meeting David, Panos, Bob and others. a lovely bunch of people. David is a great host, there was so much beer.. but I brought a couple of bottles of course.
    I wish I shot more photos at the party, but somehow I felt a bit overwhelmed, here is one:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/maciejdakowicz/2912636926/
    oh well, time to find sth to eat and shoot a bit, NY is calling me. but no rush today, it is gonna be a slow day. my head…..

    Panos! you are the man!

  240. PART 2

    (had my pancakes, with fresh raspberries and maple syrup, again, all my apologies for any errors in words actually said by anyone being represented here.)

    DAVID opens with..

    “This may be my last workshop at home here in my loft..”

    “I’d like to introduce PAUL FUSCO, a gentleman and a great photographer, and I don’t know in which order to say that. I can describe him in one word..he’s a humanist.”

    DAH gives PAUL a big deep hug..

    PAUL..

    “My voice is leaving me..”

    (and indeed he spoke in a whisper)

    I want to explain a little to put in to context what I am showing you..what is important is the photographs, what is REALLY important is the people in the photographs, because they are living their lives affected by the 1986 fallout from the nuclear reactor in Chernobyl. The experts say this problem will remain for 2,400 years. Chernobyl had LOTS of victims, people who were living peacefully when tons of radiation, caught up in by a storm system over Europe that picked up all this stuff, was moving toward Moscow..The higher ups chose to seed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_seeding) the cloud system and 90% of the radioactive particles fell on Belarus, though they had ZERO to do with it.

    The effects didn’t go away..everyone eats it in their food, drinks it in their water..The areas were condemned but the people didn’t trust their country, they thought the government was trying to steal their land, and they were happy to move back, to grow their own food.

    I photographed one man who told me “You get strong, it doesn’t affect us..” (And you could see the pain that this man’s naive and hopeful thought caused Paul, just remembering it..)

    (The photos start..we see a building in black and white, It’s Reactor number 4 of the Lenin station, I think)

    It’s covered in a shield of lead and steel, the building filled with leaking radioactive material, in a rotting abandoned city filled with poisonous radiation.

    (we see heart ripping stunning grainy grays of imagery, bathed in telling light, the slight framed man wit his tired compassionate eyes and weak voice doing his best to make us understand..we see a photo of a man..)

    The man told me “I fell unconscious when a cloud of black smoke covered the moon. I woke up the next day in a hospital.”

    (Paul tells us of a man photographed who chose to return to the contaminated areas who is a strong man, someone who thinks of himself as someone beat the system. He is self-sufficient, grows his own food, so everything is radiated. We see a photo of a fisherman among his polluted fish, head down. We see another image of a man who worked to clean up “the mess” who has lost his leg because of it.”)

    They saw their houses being taken by by trucks down to the Black Sea, being resold..they thought this must be a lie that they were all radiated if the houses were being resold, everything must be okay, it must be safe to go back. Nothing works in these villages. The river is loaded with radiation. (We see a photo of two men poetically dipping into the river, with other worldly light falling on their car parked on the bank.)

    (must take a break..more to come..)

  241. Patricia… Is telling her ideas about
    the blog…
    DAH , just said ..”stop making everyone
    Jealous…
    OUR CIRCUS WILL BE IN YOUR TOWN
    SOON…
    To be continued …
    ROAD TRIP BEGINS… again in a month..

  242. PART 3

    PAUL

    The government is small, the government is poor, but they do take care of their people. The poor parents give their kids to the state. (we see children drastically and permanently affected by the disaster, living in an institution)

    Now, for the kids who ARE very…(Paul seems at a loss for the right way to say this)..who LIVE very difficult lives because of the radiation..these kids are helpless. They are kept clean, they are fed, but they are just breathing little robots. They crawl, they slither, they roll, but they don’t walk..At the age of 20 they go to the insane asylum .

    There is an incredible commitment of the nurses working very .. to me, it seems hopeless..

    (and we see an absolutely unbelievable image of 2 children..and then we see gorgeous emotional tearful light falling on the head of a 10 year old victim, who Paul said was devastated when she first came to the institution, that she cried all the time, who now welcomes the new children, telling them it’s going to be better..We see a 3 year old with a tumor as large as the child himself growing from his lower back, the child is sitting on a table, completely encumbered by this behemoth..Paul starts to explain the photo, stops, and then looks back at the image of the boy as if he is looking for an answer of how to do this..)

    The doctors had no plan to operate. They didn’t know what to do. They thought his kidneys were in there, in the tumor. The nurse said that she sometimes thinks she loves these children more than her own children.

    (We see an image of a woman with a child, a single strong tear running down her face. Paul said this was the first time he saw a parent at an institution.)

    There is no evidence that the daughter is aware of who the mother is. Everyday she comes and everyday she leaves knowing she doesn’t really have a daughter.

    NEXT.

    (We see a boy he had photographed earlier, now in worse condition.)

    That’s him, again. While I was photographing the interpreter told me a story about a friend of this boy. The friend had asked, “Why am I dying?” (The answer to the child from a nurse?, which Paul now yells, his whisper gone for one moment) “Because of Chernobyl, what else could it be?” (And this story was told in front of the boy we see on the screen now..) I think she’s telling this boy he’s going to die, and I think he already knows..

    (We see a photo of a child from a more affluent background who had played in the black rain all day..then the girl is in the hospital..)

    This girl has had care all over the world. She said, I don’t want to be photographed in my hospital clothes. Fine, I don’t do anything people don’t want, so I arranged to photograph her the next day in her own clothing. During the night, she got very sick, she was in a coma, she was dying.

    (We see the photo of the girl in the coma..Paul had asked the mother if he could photograph, and the answer was “Yes, I want everyone to see what they’ve done.”)

    It was a terrible day. The mother cried over and over “Daughter, daughter, don’t die, don’t leave..daughter, daughter, don’t die, my love, my light..”

    (We see sequential shots of a mother’s abject anguish, undesirable except for the photos and images themselves..)

    (The slideshow from Paul is over now, DAH salutes Paul with big wide applause, starring the man in the eyes..)

    DAH

    You’ve probably already figured out it is going to be a very special night.

    (And a man who I believe is Ruckus from DAH’s Hip Hop work Living Proof, gives up his seat to Paul, and says “You put a lot of work into that, and touched my heart.”

    (Taking a break..)

  243. ALL…

    The “Traveling Circus”…reminds me of something from the 60’s.
    Hey, why not??? :))

    Why not get a big bus, paint all over it, do the Woody Harrelson alternative fuel thing such as using french fry oil, get a batch of psychedelic mushrooms..and hit the road with DAH bloggers. Anyone up for this? I missed the original 60’s …always wanted to be a hippie….still trying :))

  244. ERICA….

    Don’t know how you do it. Shorthand? :))
    “Reading” a slideshow rather than watching does not sound like it would be that great but you REALLY describe it so well I feel as though I have not missed anything. T

    Thanks to all of you there who are including the rest of us.

  245. ERICA

    You’re only halfway into the evening, and already I must tell you that once again, even more this time, I am in awe of, and we are all in debt to, your reportorial skills and energy. Thank you, thank you, so much… but don’t stop now, please dear Erica!

    CATHY

    As someone who definitely DID NOT miss the Sixties, in any shape or form (I will spare forum readers the gory details), I have to tell you that for me and many of my contemporaries the transformative energy and magic of the events of the Sixties have been highly overrated and hyped in retrospect… the real personal excitement, growth, enlightenment, and deep magic came in the 70s, and it was all dispersed in small groups, or one-on-one, or solitary, and rather private but far more special compared to the mediagenic mass movement frenzy of the Sixties. True, the 70s would never have happened without the 60s, but I for one have no desire ever to reboard the psychedelic bus. For one thing, at this stage of my life there’s nothing I appreciate so much as a quiet night’s sleep.

  246. WYTHE ave & S 5th St..
    Brazilian restaurant. ..
    PEOPLE PLEASE COME OVER..
    We have 5 tables..
    So far 15 of us are here…
    Paola, the Brazilian assistant is ordering
    food… Good times..
    Patricia is right next to me…

  247. PART 4

    DAH

    In my workshops I try to impart (access to one’s own) authorship, and caring about something or THINKING about something, or at least looking in the mirror. Tonite there are 2 photographers speaking, both are in Magnum, one for a long time, one new, and they represent diversity.

    I’ll tell you this Alessandra, On the Sixth Day is my favorite new book.

    (Alessandra stays in the middle of the room, by the projector, instead of coming up front..her voice is small and laced with an Argentinean accent)

    ALESSANDRA

    I am going to show some videos I took while doing a story on farm animals, when I met Guille and Beli. I met the girls when they were very little, but they were 9 and 10 when I paid attention to them. It was their voices that attracted me to them, it wasn’t visual, it wasn’t an idea of a project. I just enjoyed being with them. Since I was 9, whenever I enjoyed something or was afraid of something, I photographed it.

    (We see a homemade video, the quality of which Alessandra is apologizing for, saying she never meant for these to be used for anything..)

    The girls at 10 are talking in Spanish, I asked them to imagine what your life would be like at my age, at the time that was 30 years.

    I filmed many many hours, not to make a video or a documentary, but because I needed to. It made me think and it also set them (the girls) free a lot. They had a privileged childhood; they were healthy, they were free, and they were loved.

    (Guille and Beli at this age are unabashedly genuine, they reveal to Alessandra’s lens a range of best friends forever type of intimacies and glimpses of the adults they will become, encapsulated in their magical but transient childhoods. We see them role playing, dressing up, acting in dramatized ways that show this transition into women, we see intimacy and play, we see the girls own pleasure with themselves and their performances.

    BELI

    I dreamed I was a princess, and I married a prince, and I had a lot of jewels..

    GUILLE

    It scares me to have a boyfriend..that he leaves me. I am abandoned..nothing more.

    (Guille is in her underwear, comfortable in her flesh despite her fullness, and is singing a wonderful full throated song. Beli is wearing just her underwear bottoms which reveal her tiny frame; she is sporting a painted moustache, and she is dancing some sort of flamencoesque gyrations..the footage is TOO GOOD, too amazing in the sense that it could not be conceived, it has been realized because Alessandra had followed her heart and her life into this rich reality, and it made me think about how DAH is talking always of making your life and your photos ONE…the girls are dancing now a coupled dance, and are staring intensely into Alessandra’s camera..this is a good image, but more so a powerful acknowledgement of the connection between Alessandra and the girls, I look behind me to see if I can see this recognition of the moment now in Alessandra’s eyes..and i see patricia, beaming in the the lamp light of the projector..)

    (MUST go enjoy the day for a bit..more to come..)

  248. it’s gonna be fun tonight..
    It’s gonna be a private, very intense..
    Edit of the new work of Eric Valli..
    He did a book about the Himalaya..
    Lot of NatGeo.. And an amazing movie..
    Hit in Europe ..

    Now DAH editing Pat once more on
    the brazilian restaurant..
    Dope..
    Anna M B J..
    You know the restaurant???
    Come here.. Or I can call you when
    we will be back in the Kibbutz..

  249. … David,
    Explains why Fidel was not a communist..
    My question was..
    “what is C.I.A…?”
    Yes.. It’s a political conversation goes
    right now in the Kibbutz…!
    Please tune in!

  250. I’m looking at my camera right now..
    I’m literally into every pic…
    Erica shot some really really loose
    photos of me…
    I can’t believe I posed..!!????
    Erica can convince anyone …
    to pose..
    She has the CHARISMA!!!

  251. MORNING ALL

    okay that was a crazy night last night at the Kibbutz, but more on that later..and for now I’ll just say jees’um crow Panos!! I am so glad you all are enjoying the report..pages of typing to go, but I just ate and have a cup of tea here, so here we go..

    PART 5

    ALESSANDRA

    The work is only staged in the way that children stage their play; I’d give them an idea, and they’d have the freedom to create. I’d direct so it didn’t fall into chaos..I wouldn’t do this with other photo work; for them it worked because it gave them greater freedom.

    (We are watching video of the grandmother of the girls, it’s shot low from the ground, there are chickens running around in the field, the grandmother is tossing feed around in her old world dress; it is a bucolic scene, almost idyllic or idealized..and then she looks knowingly at Alessandra and says “Look at the photo you’ll take..you’ll get a “10” ”

    (Exit camera right, running rooster.)

    (The audio is crap, the wind is blowing..the recording is non-professional, and Alessandra has made it abundantly clear that she is aware of this. Despite all this and also perhaps in part because of this, the videos are incredibly personal, intimate, connected, engaging, and a fascinating look at another reality. Now the girls are performing a mock funeral, they can hardly keep straight faces, Beli raises the book she is ‘reading’ the sermon from to cover her wide smile that moves into laughter..I think we are looking at video now from 5 years later, and the girls are dancing again, this time in a more self conscious unison, no more of the free hip swaying but instead an anticipated step by step that leads to an “I’m tired” and a quick end to the dance. I see myself in Beli, the one who tries to keep going for Alessandra, but suddenly realizes she is carrying on conspicuously alone, and steps abruptly out of frame..and that is the end of Alessandra’s slideshow)

    DAH

    As photographers, we need to have something to say, and if you can look in the mirror, so much the better. And you, Alessandra, definitely look in the mirror..

  252. PART 6

    I’m going to do something no one in their right mind would do – I am going to show you a four minute piece of something I am working on. I had a strong desire to do something on the family. When I was ?(did he say) 14 I made handmade books with silly captions..my world was my family..

    (We are seeing these absolutely incredible snapshots that David took of his family back on Lover’s Lane and Market Street in Warren Ohio, in black and white, small, perfect and revealing his genius 100% into full view in the way that a seed contains all the information for the great Oak that will grow..)

    We had each other..

    (These images, into which David sometimes steps with the aid of the self timer,are looking to me like LIFE photographers, which of course they are, in the full sense of the word ‘life’.)

    LIFE, LOOK, Gene Smith, Fusco, Cartier-Bresson, Frank…these are the people that i was looking at. I knew 1/2 way through a pretty hedonistic lifestyle on the beach, I had to DO something.

    (We are seeing images from David’s early book “Tell it like it is”, taken in a Norfolk slum, in black and white 35.)

    I think it ended up that I shot 25 rolls of film for this, it was the first time I had an experience outside of my own culture. It changed everything for me, it has lead to everything. I’m going down to try to find this same family for a piece for magnum in Motion..I won’t find them, but I am keying off of this experience and my own family, and seeing what comes. I am using a medium format film camera, because I want to make it hard, I want to get back to snapshots. It’s hard, I can’t quite get the picture, with my snaps it was the same, and i am mixing up black and white and color which you aren’t supposed to do.

    (The images of diverse and disparate families come one after the other, the unity, the tension, the love, the insecurity, the fragility, the strength..these somehow make me mournful, the sense of potential for loss is too great, in the hand’s that are tightly clutching the pet hamster, or in the arms that hold the newborn child, in the promise in the day at the beach with your parents and in the man holding so tightly to his beer..)

    I’m with friends, I’m finding life, and I’m just getting started..it’s so much fun to meet all these people, like my good friend Patricia.

  253. PART 7

    DAH

    The most important event of the evening is my student’s work..people think it’s crazy to bring in these big names as the warm up, but we are no different, we are up against the same wall, we’re no different..what I may have is a little more experience with authorship.

    (DAH gives a very long list of thank yous for the people who spent time with the students..)

    The best show tonight is the one that was just shot in the last few days. I’m really proud of them..I’m also really mad at them. :)

    (We see Kristen Field’s work, Down on Our Knees, showing what I believe is the look at the struggle and uncertainty experienced around Wall Street and Trinity Church? in this time of financial crisis..we see Kerry Payne’s Where the Bands Are, looking at the music that flows from under the ground out of the subway system, we see Body Language by Andrea Gjestung, vibrant up close color work of ??a female impersonator / transgender individual I am not sure but lovely..moving into boxing beauties, GRIT without the gritty wow shots..We see If You Get There by the gentle and kind Doug MacLellan, work that plays with light and dark, moves through the subway using chiaroscuro. We see a continuation of the ongoing work Little Senegal by Judith Quax, emphasizing the movement and the rhythm of the people in the streets..NYCAB a zoomy series by Laredo Montoneri, checking out our yellow cab system. There is a portrait of the the face that is looking for Change in the hope of Obama by Jennifer Chase, The Crossing by Tim Ripley, a direct, interpretive and somewhat confrontational portrayal of the ferry service..America is Waiting by Allen Bryant, a beautiful crazy Hopperesque bad Norman Rockwellian dream..American Heroes, pitch perfect over the top editorial looking interpretation of heroism by Cliff Volpe..It’s Hard being a Faggot by David Keenan..a see-saw of the straight and tragic, a personal, sad tension of inner and outer, public and private, a self exploration of desire, fixation loathing and confusion..and I Dreamt by sweet love Kyunghee Lee, who i finally had the pleasure to meet..her work is poetry in motion..in STILL MOTION if you can understand what I mean, they are fixed images but not..these are images you need time with, I don’t think they are suited so well to the quick flip of the slideshow format, they are complex narratives organized in harmony..the slideshow ends)

    DAH

    Let me introduce you to the photographers..

    (no one is moving, David is still standing alone up front, where are they?)

    Can you JUST be on time this ONE TIME?? See, they don’t even show up for their own introduction!

    (David points out the photographers, who are peppered throughout the crowd, exhausted, exhilarated, shy, who knows what..but they stayed in their spots instead of coming up front, which Ruckus then announces is “What they should have did..”)

    (and that my friends, takes you to the end of the slideshow..will think if there is anything from the fiesta itself or last night to share later..)

  254. And there, of course, photographs of all of this, arent there, for those of us who are compelled by circumstances beyond our control to live vicariously through the lives of others?

  255. Masterful again, Erica. Thank you!

    looks like everyone from the fiesta (except you, Erica) is either sleeping, recuperating, driving home (Patricia?), or having sex with… Ashe (Panos!) :-)

    The WS essays have wetted my appetite, i hope they will end up in the movie section of your personal site,David.

    Frankly, after the work Erica has just done, it’d be a shame not to share the images with us.

    I wonder about Tchernobyl, do people in Russia know the extent, do they trust the un-sovietic “new” gvnmts to care enough to avoid a re-peat? Is Fusco’ work hung or published somewhere in Russia?

  256. Anna B
    Is going to Africa ..
    For a major project..!
    I talked with her a lot the night
    Before… I go to NY…

    We are in a taxi with
    DAH, Diego… & Eric Valli..
    Just left the B&H..
    HE bought a new camera bag..
    Going to Union Square now..
    Beautiful warm afternoon..
    Polish parade.. Polka..

  257. I wonder if anyone has ever considered the possibility that the only reason Jimmy Sturr keeps winning Grammys for Best Polka Album is because the voters at the Grammys have never heard of any other polka band than his and he just wins by default?

  258. ERICA
    Thank you so very much for taking the time to be our “man on the scene.” When you going to post some images from your own project?????? We are anxious to see, even those of us who read but don’t comment :-)

  259. Well…that was positive workshop experience. Thank you so very much DAH, Mike, Diego and Paola, the eleven fellow students, returning students, visitng artists, industry professionals and the ‘Road Trip’ Bloggers who showed up in person.

    I hate leaving and I like to remember last moments. We were two groups walking to a restaurant. I remember coming to the corner of S 5th and Berry and saying I had to leave. I gave DAH a hug, a good one. Meanwhile I was trying to keep from tearing up while saying goodbye. Finally its Kyunghee’s turn and I had to say ‘you are the one I’ll miss the most’ and I hugged her and I’ll always remember her smiling face, watery eyes and her tiny, quick hand wave.

    David has created a most wonderful community. Or maybe a circus. Actually yes, a circus. Its outrageous and connected and so full of life (and coming to a town near you). It is also powerful resource for those interested in getting a better handle on their photography. We learn by participating and to the extent I can, I am willing share thoughts, insights, information, photos and my time with the Road Trip community.

    Doug MacLellan
    Windsor Ontario Canada
    macgalka@sympatico.ca

    By the by, Panos is taller than I thought….

  260. DAH

    tried calling you with a question, but your mailbox isn’t being receptive..if you have a chance, would you ring me tomorrow?

    YES

    it does seem everyone is wiped out or on the road..

    JD

    It’s going to be awhile yet, between trying to work ($) and obviously play (a la this weekend) a little..but I am touched you are anxious to see. I yself haven’t looked at them for over a week..maybe tuesday I will have some time to get back to work on them.

    ALL

    So..some tidbits..

    BOB and MARINA were my lovely houseguests, and though we were all taken back by how little actual face to face time we had because of all the goings-on, they are clearly kindred spirits and not so very different than I imagined. I had the chance to finally see some of BONES last night on a proper screen, and I was fully moved by what seems to me to be a real ‘coming home’ by Bob..can’t wait to see these large, exhibited, as I am sure they will be. I had said that I would see BONES when it was meant to be, and in the loft last night among friends was the perfect time..The Blacks thoughtfully came with a gift for me, Jonas’ The Places We Live, and I am very much looking forward to reading every word that accompanies the powerful work.

    GINA is a bright light, and I think she and I could talk forever like sisters..she certainly knows how to loosen ones’ lips (eh hem, GINA, I KNOW you know how to keep hush too, yes?) I am very happy to have had some real time together, and I am so aware that you, GINA have a real gift for bringing illumination to foggy spots in ones’ consciousness.

    LANCE arrived as a surprise..and i took it for granted that he was there. I turned around and saw him at the fiesta, and thought, oh, hi Lance, as if we were neighbors. Am really getting used to having him around :)

    PATRICIA seemed so happy and radiant; everytime I glimpsed her I felt so pleased that she and Pat had made the journey..she seemed to be exactly where she was meant to be. I am only sorry we didn’t have more time to talk.

    PANOS really is Greek..I wasn’t expecting the accent..I thought it he was Greek the way I am Scottish, but no..There is much to write about who is this Panos, but have to run now..and am not sure I’d have the right words anyway!

  261. Is anyone still going to be around this upcoming weekend? I did live vicariously thru Erica’s updates but I will be coming thru NYC for the Eddie Adams workshop soon and I do think meeting some of you in person would be really cool. David will you be in town still? Are any of you guys going to Eddie Adams?

  262. ok, i am not sure which i am more exhausted over the 9 hour bus ride back to DC (stranded for 5 hours with a flat tire) or the amount of time it took me to catch up on the blog….

    ERICA – where do i begin???? how did you take notes like that. MY GOD, i was there and i was just as riveted by your description as i was watching it live. i did not remember half of that. honestly, did you tape record it – or write it down???

    ERICA (again)…. i may be a real twin – but i think you and i were separated at birth! although you got the kick-ass tight stomach… wow – you are amazing. i could have talked with you all night. and yes – it is all in the vault!!! i want to continue our talk forever though….. you are a gem!!!

    PANOS – i need to save this one for last…. not quite ready to talk about him….

    BOB & MARINA – i could hug you all day. you are both beautiful human beings. i wish we could have talked more – but loved our time together. i look forward to seeing you again SOON!!

    PATRICIA – you are one hell of a driver when you are lost and time is ticking by to get to the fiesta. it was wonderful meeting you and your dear friend pat. you are such a beautiful person who gives off amazing light and energy! a thrill to meet you…

    “plain MIKE” – you know who you are! loved talking with you – you made me laugh – would not give up his last night – just “plain” mike….

    DAH – they broke the fucking mold with you. i do not know how you do it. as usual – you are a ROCK STAR. thank you for a great time!

    LEE & ANDREW – it was great meeting you both and getting to know each other over sushi!! i lost you once we got to david’s though….

    PANOS…. hmmm, still not sure i am ready….

    LANCE – charlottesville, perpignan, france…. what is next for us my friend!! had the BEST saturday in nyc with you and james – THANK YOU. and you better lock that vault too!!

    ALL – it was truly a fantastic weekend. friday night meeting everyone, reuniting with a friend from high school that i had not seen in 24 years, paul fusco signing my book (finally), exploring nyc galleries with lance and james pomerantz, buying photo books at strand, seeing everyone again at david’s saturday night, catching up with jim nachtwey at david’s, opening up with erica about life and loves, photo shoot with panos, breakfast with mary ellen mark, and then a long fucking nightmare of a trip back to dc. i miss you all already!!

    PANOS – let me sleep on this one and get back with you all….

    god, is this posting as long as bob’s are????

    xox

  263. i really hope i did not forget anyone (besides panos). i am just so brain dead, hung over and exhausted from my trip home today.

  264. ALL

    It is after 2 a.m. and I must be crazy! After 13 hours driving back home to Detroit from Brooklyn, and a weekend filled with more activity and less sleep than I’ve had in years, I have just stayed up for the last three hours downloading 450 pics and then preparing/posting the start of what promises to be a mammoth gallery of snapshops…all from one night & one day of LIFE in DAH’s world!!!

    I long to share with you the fullness of my heart & mind that were both expanded beyond belief, but now I MUST get some sleep. Here’s the link to just a few snaps from Brooklyn…

    http://www.pbase.com/windchimewalker/brooklyn1

    love to all
    Patricia

  265. i just changed my first ever nappy.

    it’s been a long, long night..
    Tor Capa Stavang-Bowen was born 6th october at 7.40 am.. average length, weight.. all fingers.. all toes.. remarkable experiance.. just remarkable..

    photos and fuller story soon..

  266. DAVID BOWEN – CONGRATULATIONS OLD SAHHHN!
    October Babies are something else , I’ve 2 myself on the 8th and the 25th with my fine wife Judith from the home counties the nappy thing is all in the wrist and constant eye contact to stop the little buggers rolling around , that or a well placed forarm, I’ve been looking at your music work and wondering who the hell is having more fun …you or the punters?
    http://www.bophoto.co.uk/music/music.htm
    Loving it!

  267. PAT – Thanks for the most timeley and lucid account you and steno queen Erica , looks like annother party I’ll never get to go to,
    BOB , goddamn son , you and the Mrs cut a fine pair , you must be as lucky a bastard as I am , I spoke to my son Miles about my mate Bob who shoots dinosaurs and he demanded to see the pictures, you now have 2 fans in Fannie Bay!

  268. David B,

    Is Tor Capa a boy or girl? Congratulations. There is nothing like parenthood. Hang on you are in for a ride.

    Patricia, felt like I was back in Brooklyn viewing your photos.

    I am heading out tomorrow for a road trip to visit my daughter and will be taking a break from the blog. On the way to Tennessee I will be stopping in to visit with a biker I met at the rally who is going to teach me how to drive a motorcycle, then a visit with bachelor #2 for some more photos of him. Today I revisit bachelor #3 for some shots Patricia suggested were needed in his essay. Thanks Patricia for all your input. Glad you are home safe.

    A lot of questions are being answered as to what I don’t want to do which is narrowing the field for my future. I actually am feeling like I want to go home, finally.

    Lee

  269. WELCOME HOME TOR ;~)))))

    We are SOOOO glad you’ve arrived safe & sound.
    We love you already…
    Sending BIG hugs & kisses to you, your Mum & Da
    (((((((((((((((((((((((***))))))))))))))))))))))))))

    much love from VG (virtual grandma) Patricia

  270. patricia.. glenn.. anton.. lee..

    brilliant wishes.. thanks you.
    feeling a little surreal still.. he’s only 5 hours old.. beate is in great shape.. a 12 hour labour.. but a relatively simple birth..

    making a quick slideshow for the gramps and you guys will have a look see too.

    lee – Tor (thor, pronounced Torr) capa, (yes.. until this year there was only one and then there were none.. till now) is a good looking young fella.. with northern european eyes and good cheekbones..

  271. I enjoyed meeting you also Gina. I didn’t see you at the party either. I did go up on the roof for quite some time and really enjoyed the view and talking with Prescott and the woman who works for the NY Times (sorry, you name escapes me). The Sushi dinner was a great way to meet everyone; thanks Erica for taking care of that arrangement.

    Bob and Marina–so wonderful to have a face for Bob now and Marina I recognized immediately.

    Andrew S, as always it was so good to visit with you again.

    DAH, thanks for the opportunity to meet all these people.

    Cliff, your photos on your tacticalimages site are amazing. So glad we connected and I hope you are able to connect with my son-in-law; would love to see your capture of him and his unit.

    Loved meeting all the workshop participants and having lunch with you; and mostly seeing that glow that comes with a successful completion of a workshop in the loft.

    Lee

  272. and anotn – you were right.

    my negatives and books arrived from england to my home in stavanger at 8am.. only just after tor.. a good friend called hans saved my life by meeting the lorry..

    what a rush.
    sorry ot barge in.. will read back comments soon as i’ve slept and changed my second nappie.

  273. ERICA,

    I’m stuck in a hotel on an island off an island
    at the bottom of the world on a job feeling a long way
    from the place that it feels like it is all happening.
    Your words are a gift.
    Thank you.

    Matt

  274. Dear Patricia,

    You know how much meeting you meant to me. I will definitely stay in touch and when the essays are fluffed out again I will post.

    David, a boy, what a joy! I had all girls but they produced lots of sweet boys.

    Lee

  275. home……

    in the middle of writing a long long long long long post….will post later today when i get home….

    just send off a thank you note to david and to erica….gotta get one to partricia panos brother lance and the rest….

    but, holly fuck, do i got lots to say :)))))))))))))))…

    hugs and love until later today (DAVID, ERICA, CHECK YOU EMAIL)….

    gotta say this too, PATRICIA YOU ARE THE MOST FULL-OF-LOVE LUMINOUS 17 YEAR OLD I KNOW :))))))))…broke my heart you were gone when marina and i went to David’s on saturday night…letter later today….GINA: hugs, aint the 1/2 of it…marina and i are totally drag-down in love with u…and i dont think ive met a more even-keeled, hilariously non-pretentious filled with light person there, and any person that can carry 4 bottles of wine AND STILL HUG AND KISS AND SMILE, is my kind of person!…

    ok, gotta so myuch to write and say…with y’all by evening time with a full full report on the proceedings, impressions, all that too…

    but, yea, fuck it…as i told Panos on saturday night: he and lance are 2 of the most handsome of heart-beautiful creatures i’ve ever met…and remember Panos (check your email) no fucking workshop can create what you already got in that 4 chamber heart of yours, dig what im saying>?…..

    Lancew: picture on the table…abuzz with light and love inside my body…dima’s too :)))

    running for the day….later later later…

    b

  276. DAVID B
    Congrats to you and Beate! Welcome to the club….my son is now 10 and never ceases to amaze….you will have many good adventures, and make many memories.

    Erica,
    Amazing reportage…scribbling in the dark or no! I will email soon, still digesting my trip…

    Patrica,
    Thank you thank you thank you for the images…somehow, it is not at all as I imageined, and exactly like it!

    Lee,
    Please make sure to let me know as you get close up here. I am in and out this week, but if you get this far, Keeneland (historic horse race track) is in it’s first week of the 4 week fall meet. Weather is perfect.

    PANOS
    Where are you? Staying in NY for a while? Road trip back? Wake up and tell us!

  277. Andrew B,

    I am leaving Fayetteville and making my way to Tennessee and then to your area. I am going to say around the 13th or 14th. I thought the horse races were finished for the year. I am very glad to be able to see the horse races; I have never attended one. One branch of our family in Ponca, Oklahoma were racers years ago but we never seemed to get there to see it. Really looking forward to meeting you.

    Lee

  278. Lee,

    Will send you email, but in case you’re traveling and miss it, Keeneland will still be running then. They only run twice a year, spring and fall, for 4 weeks each time. No racing on Sunday or Monday, so take that into account for planning if you really want to get to the races. Otherwise, the “backside” (stables, etc) is very accessable and during sessions there is something going on there 7 days a week.

    Looking forward to meeting you as well!

  279. PRESTON

    My apologies, friend! After all you did for me–carrying me up & down the stairs & taking fabulous pics with my camera–and I STILL misnamed you in last night’s exhausted posting of pics. I know your name and can’t understand where “Prescott” came from! Please forgive.

    hugs & kisses
    Petunia (you can now misname ME)

    P.S. Thanks, Erica, for setting the record straight!

  280. Want to be sure Preston sees this…

    PRESTON

    My apologies, friend! After all you did for me–carrying me up & down the stairs & taking fabulous pics with my camera–and I STILL misnamed you in last night’s exhausted posting of pics. I know your name and can’t understand where “Prescott” came from! Please forgive.

    hugs & kisses
    Petunia (you can now misname ME)

    P.S. Thanks, Erica, for setting the record straight!

  281. 5 hours old and you came to tell us on the blog. That’s family awright!!!!

    Wonderful, David, the big Day has happened, but it is truly only the first one of many big Days to come. Your life has just changed forever.

    Best wishes to Mom!

  282. BOB:
    with y’all by evening time with a full full report on the proceedings, impressions, all that too…
    ——————

    Yes, facts, anecdotes, words spoken, and no freakin’ metta, or Zen Zubin or…Yeah, you know what I mean!!!

    A report as tactile as that bottle in your hand on Patricia’s Pbase pix.

    GET THAT BOTTLE (UNCORKED AND SPILLING!) IN YOUR REPORT…

    PS: you look like a young Coluche in that pix. Audrey, Jean, Pierre-Yves, what do you think? No?

  283. damned, Browzed myself short again, I got stuck in the other thread again, the one before, when all of you were “here”, already.

    Panos, San Francisco? Is that a transit? You wouldn’t drop by in Fog city without telling me…. Yes?

    Do you ever answer your phone, BTW? It’s not like I call everyday, but…..

    David B, if you missed it, lots and lots of happening with this new little soul, and gift to the world.

  284. What a freakin’ idiot, that last post above was for the new thread.

    I AM STUCK, do not leave me here, take me with you everyone…To the new thread at least!!!! :-)

  285. ALL

    Hi, and sorry for being toatally away from keyboard lately. I`ve been photographing, alot. Alot of work, school, the part-time job in the photoshop ,my own business and my “mom” project is all going excelent.
    And for you who don`t know me, I`m quite new to photography, and even more newer to this forum.

    BOB AND PATRICIA

    Thank you very much for the feedback. I`ve done some new, I have used alot of your tips and tricks. I`ll put up a new link soon.
    New, and interesting things that I`m photographing now is my mother`s trial – her late husband`s kids want the house she lives in, for money. My older brother came home yesterday, after beeing away for 6 weeks, with no mail or phonecalls to us (recovering drug addict) and came home totally free from drugs, don`t know the english word for it. Haven`t seen him like this in many years.

    And once again congratulations to the father of Tor Capa.

    – I get really excited every time I hold a camera ;)

    Alexander

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