many of you have seen this book before, but i am sure many of you have not….my first work in print….i publish it again here now only because my friend Masaaki Okada, who was the designer/editor, died on December 21….Masaaki was a tremendous influence on me as a person and as a photographer….my first collaborator…
i met Masaaki my senior year of high school….he barely spoke any English, had few friends, and had come from Japan to help out his uncle who ran a gift shop in Virginia Beach, Va…Masaaki and i ended up as college roommates and close friends…Masaaki was the most talented person i knew at the time …a brilliant man with a sketch pad and painter as well…from Masaaki i learned about Eastern art and about the concept of not making anyone lose face…the single most valuable concept i know….later, i went with Masaaki to Hamamatsu, Japan and met his whole family when i did a story on the Japanese kite fighters….
just after undergrad school, when Masaaki and i did Tell It Like It Is , we were idealists….the $2. contribution was to go to the local church and intended to buy food for the residents of the neighborhood where i did this story… i lived with this family for the better part of a summer….our goal was to save this Norfolk, Va. neighborhood and eliminate poverty with this book…Masaaki and i were both 22…
Bruce Davidson is leaning on me to re-print this book (it pre-dates publication of East 100th Street by 3 yrs)…for only 4 copies of this book exist…..Masaaki and i threw away dozens of copies of Tell It Like It Is, not thinking they were of any real importance at the time…we sold few….after all , we were not important…living in a small Virginia town and not sensing any “place” in the photography world…Masaaki did not think it even appropriate to have my name, or his, on the cover….small type on the back jacket was all he would allow…i agreed…this was not about us, but about the people in the pictures….eastern humility…
a few weeks ago, i stopped by to see Masaaki in Richmond , Va. where he lived, a retired photographer from the Richmond Times-Dispatch…….in recent years i saw him rarely, but we picked up right where we left off….he thanked me for coming and gave me another one of his paintings from the outer banks where i now live…Masaaki was an avid surf fishermen and often painted the land that surrounds me…we talked of him coming down …i knew he would love the house, the space…but, that is not to be….
Masaaki’s paintings will grace my home always…more importantly his influence on me is forever….i did tell him this many times….he always shook his head in disbelief…..i wish i had told him even more…
Erica;
Congratulations; very nice work. It’s nice to see square format for a change too, it works well.
Cheers
John Gladdy
Naw, it’s not you John. It’s just the photographic variation of the “imposter syndrome”. Apparently, even the high and mighty suffer from this sort of self doubt. It’s what spurs us on to try harder. Just a question of finding balance.
You do good stuff. The show will be great, just drink a lot before you go and be your chaming self.
Erica..make the call. He wouldn’t have invited you to meet if he didn’t think you were “there”.
Patricia’s tweet and my tweet to Estrin / NYT Lens photo mob experiment – who else posted?
http://twitpic.com/1690sf
http://twitpic.com/1697li
John G;
It’s the photographic equivalent of shadow boxing… Everytime you shoot a picture you want to do better next time; ad infinitum. A bit like a dog chasing its tail! :-)
erica. i think you should make the call. Nothing in your work is any reason not to.
All. Thanks…went well….I think :) must wait and see.
Aitken. Yes.
ERICA
A Place For Us is a very important work, one that highlights a longstanding injustice in our country. Your work is part of the change that is happening and it is all about seeing each individual as filled with dignity and worthy of respect. Laws can change but it is attitudes that have a tendency to lag behind. The way you see and portray the residents of Surf Manor shows the new attitudes that must evolve in all of ouur consciousness. You are making a difference and I commend you for that. It’s one thing to be an excellent photographer and quite another to use this creative gift to benefit others. Brava to you!
Patricia
Nothing like a spot photo assignment on tight deadline to get the blood going…
http://twitpic.com/1693s6
Jim would fire me.
Gordon, John…if it were an email…
I know it’s lame, but you asked, and I told – maybe I will call – in the Spring :) when hope is alive
but should add, john – re: nothing in your work is any reason not too…i feel the same about you
we should rep each other
ERICA
“..i have here in front of me the phone number of one of the world’s most savvy photo collector’s, who invited me to meet with him, and i just can’t, cause I always feel my work isn’t there, though there’s no there there….”
If he invited you to meet with him, it is because he sees something there. You should respect his judgement and take a deep breath and dial the phone, and then meet. Do not hesitate…
Perhaps Shakespeare said it best: “Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.”
good light,
a.
KOOL STUFFF ERICA >>>>>>> CONGRATULATIONS \m/ ……
erica
indeed maybe there is no there there, as far as your work being “there” goes… but you know when you look at what is published and what is exhibited, don’t you feel that a lot of it is just politics or who you know or who the flavor of the month is? why not call this guy? your work is excellent. simple as that. there’s a lot of room at the top. maybe this person wants to see some prints as in introduction, and will suggest another meeting in another year to judge your progress… or maybe some funding will come your way via print sales. so many of the decision makers and self-appointed “curators” in the photo world have no real credentials other than saying, hey, listen to me! i’ve got the right black pants and cool glasses and i had dinner with david aan harvey once and stephen shore is my second cousin and i shined john szarkowski’s shoes in 1983. BFD. if someone likes your work meet with him/her. make the call, step up, enjoy the glow.
been updating my random big picture blog..
http://bophoto.co.uk/wpbigpicture/
David Bowen. Some real gems in there. Slags wanted, need money for drugs…little classics.
David Bowen- Nice set man! Nice pictures as well!
Slags wanted? – Try Saarf Laandan Moi Sahn!
INNIT, yeah like – ya get meh?
Great photos DB…
brought me back in my younger days…ahhh
panos..
yeps.. younger and fitter :ø)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtqDB2spyG0
Papa’s got a brand new bag
webster – nice one
Patricia – you break my heart :)
all re: about making the call, thanks, it’s now on the to-do list
Thanks Erica, yours too. I know that Brooklyn view. Know it all too well. And I guess I’m not caught up on congratulating you for all your recent successes as they are coming so fast and furious. So congrats for it all and preemptively for all that will surely come. It’s nice to see good work by good people recognized and rewarded. And finally, I’d never presume to tell you to call the frick’in collector, but call the frick’in collector already! Just kidding. You seem to be making great photo career decisions on your own. No need for input from these parts.
We love you MASAAKI…
SPACECOWBOY …take care our MASAAKI …I know he is smiling …aha…
VIVA ,VIVA,VIVA !!!