avalon …..

i am not a fisherman….if you want to catch a fish, do not go fishing with me… i bring almost as much bad luck to fishing as i do to computers…i did catch a pretty good sized bass once with my grandfather, but that is about it….but, never mind, i  do love the thought of fishing….and i live in a place where if the talk is not about surfing, it is about fishing…and i end up staying  pretty silent on both…down here on the Outer Banks, my trade is just not in the conversational mix…in New York of course, photographers have some clout, but here, well, if i wanted to talk photography,  i would have to take a picture of the locals with a big fish, or riding a big wave…

i do however gravitate towards the 7 fishing piers here, and most often the Avalon Pier….if this pier did not exist, then it would have to be invented…a classic structure from the 50’s which has survived many a storm and not survived many a storm…but, this old pier just keeps getting re-built and is a cultural haven if fishing, pool playing, fuzbol competition and people watching are your game…the latter is my sport of choice…someday i suspect this primo waterfront property will end up covered with time-share condos or whatever, but in the meantime i can go have a beer and watch the waves roll in between rounds of 8-ball…

the beauty of Avalon for me is that it is a total diversion for whatever i am supposed to be seriously doing…i suspect all of you have your Avalon…an escape from the must do activities of your day….a place where nobody really knows what you do, nor cares,  and you are only judged by whether they like you or not…well, in the case of Avalon, if you have a big jacked-up pickup truck, that helps, but i just have to go on eye contact and a decent game of pool….

now, i basically have not worn shoes for weeks….but the  summer of my content is almost over…..and the timing of the sun working its way towards the south each day pretty much matches my mood to get back to New York…funny, but when i tell the guys down here that i spend lots of time in New York, they really give me a look of sympathy…..and having spent weeks here this summer i am starting to see what they mean…

it is a good thing i had so much leisure time this summer…because now i go full bore into a very busy fall….i receive so many private emails from readers here asking for my schedule, so here is the official dah program…

first order of business will be your Burn gallery shows in New York and Washington (contact for you: Michael Courvoisier)…simultaneously i have my fall workshop schedule starting in San Francisco where i do a short weekend shooting seminar – starting September 25th – with the Momenta folks organizing(see Workshops)……

then comes  my annual loft seminar  “At Home” in the now historic “kibbutz” where about half the readers here have been at one time or another, and the other half are on their way…we will also do your Burn gallery show right around that time … incidentally, i have our first Burn intern, Vivek Manik, who has come all the way from Calcutta, to give us a hand with the show….Vivek will be a work/study student in the loft class….from now on i will always choose someone from the readership here on Burn to be an intern either in New York or with me on assignment…

after the  New York Burn show, i  roll back down here to the Outer Banks for my first gathering of photographers at my beach home who want to publish books or work on an essay …we will do hand-made books and discuss and prepare layouts for mainstream books as well….others may just want to shoot instead of make a book…their choice…my darkroom will be set-up…the pigment printer at the ready etc….my Outer Banks beach cottage will become for sure my #1 workshop location, but for very small selective classes…

at the end of October, i roll down to Oaxaca, Mexico for the colorful Day of the Dead class (see work from students last year on workshop link) …. and finally, capping off my month of mentoring, i will join my friends Ira Block and Kris LeBoutillier, both NatGeo photogs, in Bangkok and Phnom Penh in early November…

so anyone wanting to join me with my obviously eclectic lifestyle has a few choices……afterwords i plan to disappear into a magazine assignment….shhhh, secret…. and  work only on my book project which is a bit behind…well, i am always a bit behind on book projects……anyway, lots going on…

all this world travel and setting up of exhibit space for your work is hard work , but fun work…but, without Mike, Michelle, and Marie,  i just could not make it…Mike Courvoisier  makes my collectors prints, will manage the Burn shows,  and runs the New York loft workshop … Michelle Smith and Marie Arago run the OBX beach and Mexico workshops respectively …Michelle has produced ad shoots for me which is the test of all production tests…Marie worked for me every day in NYC before she moved to the warmer climes of Miami…. now, all of this has to do with balance….my main mantra…balance…making hard work fun and making fun hard work….or, actually , just getting the most out of life…

ok, enough said…. it is about time to head for Avalon…the wind now is starting to clock around from the northeast…that means  good fishing, poor surfing,  and winter is coming…

do all of you have your Avalon???  i do recommend creating an Avalon if you do not have one…to catch a fish??  maybe…but, that is not the point…the act of fishing is more important than catching fish…or, at least that is what i tell myself when i am fishing with my camera and it just is not happening…

-david alan harvey

one of my old camera bags goes to the first person who can name the movie that featured this house….