this last weekend i met some of my family in Colorado..we were so gathered to say goodbye to my youngest brother Craig who died peacefully, but suddenly , saturday before last …i now joined my mother Maryanna, my sister Patricia, husband Paul, and daughters Sara and Maria, and my brother Gary and his 35yr marriage bride Becky….
from birth, Craig has always drawn our family closer…my mother’s last child, Craig, was born with Down Syndrome..a tradgedy to be sure, but either a family "splitter" or a family "bonder" as the only possible results of coping…we bonded then, as now…catalysts come in many forms…
the mantra for my work has always been, authorship , authorship, and AUTHORSHIP…and in "keying" off of something PERSONAL …surely this was something that came to me instinctively or perhaps i just "had" to photograph in this way because of some childhood experiences etched so deeply in my psyche…who can know??
now i draw a big circle… with "edges" out there so far that there are literally "no limits"…..i am full ON for what feels like one of the most important , or certainly the most personal, "adult" project of my life….
i have no assignments to aid in production….nor have i sought assignments …i feel compelled for many reasons to make this essay totally "clean"..preferring to produce this "on my own", at least in the conceptual stage…….in any case, this work will be "pure", ok almost as pure, as the little album (above) i made for my grandparents at Christmas in 1958 (see Gallery section here off of "home page")…my whole American Family project is now "keyed off of " my original ’58 holiday family gift using 6 or 7 rolls of film to document my family at home….it was photographed in the very year that our special innocent always happy always Craig left our home at age 4..forever a "child"…Peter Pan…innocent..only in the last 6 months was Craig re-united with my family, under the care of my mother and sister…a sweet goodbye to be sure…
for the last several months , i had been planning to cross the U.S.and work on the project so explained below…yes yes a "portrait" of America….sure, done before…..and done very well before…Frank, Kerouac, Thompson, Winogrand, Twain, Steinbeck,Least-Heat-Moon, Pirsig, just for starters…i think about these authors… i light a candle to all those writers whose books i devoured and made me both question and respect, or those photographers whose work has given me a "lust" that has driven me for a long time…
it is with this "lust" (and i cannot think of a synonym right now) that i now will spend the better part of this year and maybe next, photographing my country through its families!…vignettes…portraits…fantasy…reality…..med format film…b&w and color neg…..supplemented maybe by SX-70 or disposable camera snaps…anyway, i am planning the exhibit before the first roll of film has been processed…very big prints, snapshot board, home movies, etc etc…and maybe one hand made album for exhibition purposes only….
so i am off….ROAD TRIP !!! i will look in the rear view mirror of course…but, looking down the road ahead, knowing for sure that the unexpected will happen (guaranteed) , a "treasure" uncovered, is where i want to be..
"road trip" , especially a coast to coast trip, is an American teenager’s fantasy…i guess some "adults" stay stuck on the concept as well..
in any case , here is a letter i wrote about my project to our Magnum staff a few weeks ago:
"My plan is to literally drive zigzag across the country from New York
to California. I will meet, photograph and video tape a conglomerate and representative demographic of the U.S.. For example, I could
photograph a wealthy socialite family in the Hamptons , a New Orleans
gay couple raising a baby, an Iowa farm family who lost a daughter or
son in Iraq, a Native American family at a powwow, an exhiled family
from Tibet, a Mormon wedding , a Bar or Bat Mitzvah family scene , a
Vietnamese fishing family, a Muslim executive with her husband, a
Mexican Quinceanera fiesta , Buddhist monks, a Sufi with three wives,
a West Virginia coal miner and his wife, and a surfer dude with his
tattooed 15yrs. old bride and Frisbee catching Lab retriever.All of the people that make this immigrant country "tick" in
the first place. Anyone will quickly see that my American
Family will be (if it works), in fact, a "stylized portrait" of our simmering international stew….
I think our timing is perfect. The U.S. is re-defining itself in a
way not seen since the 60’s. Personally , I am so so curious to find out "who we are" . Let people speak. There is an obvious natural "flow" for me with this new work. I started at 14 photographing my own family , went on at 21 to live with a black family, publishing a small book (Tell It Like It Is) .. in the years that have followed, i photograph all
over the world on a variety of stories all influenced by those
first two "important" projects in my creative developement. So, this
project is an evolutionary step.
Serendipity will play the largest role in this as
will my online forum which I will use to keep my readers "in the
loop" and also perhaps lean on them a bit to help me find a family or two… I will give back to my "reader/collaborators" as well creating perhaps a "traveling workshop" of sorts.. So, this will be a collaboration with Magnum, my on-line loyal readers and , most importantly, all the families I will meet."
ok, i think you get it..i probably over explained…sorry… but , here is the deal….offer me lunch and i give you a portfolio review!!….travel along with us and fill up my car with gas (getting expensive) and you might just get an almost free workshop, or find a great family for me to photograph and get a signed print (see how entrepreneural i have become???)….seriously, all of your ideas are welcomed..
i have given myself the next 6-8 weeks to get started, see how it feels, even some time to think about maybe backing out….it happens….i would hate to eat all of the above enthusiasm right here in front of everyone, but i would if ,at any point, i could see i was going nowhere…
right this minute, this seems "right" ..poignant…i have freedom, i have no excuses…. i am very much "on the line" with all in my peer group (past and present), and my peer group includes my friends and you…part of my extended family….nothing virtual about it…nothing virtual about the "weight" of this undertaking either…
so, come and join me…when and if appropriate….with this kind of project it probably would be easy at times and fun to have some of you around when i am shooting….so, let’s just see how it goes….i can post from the road and keep you updated etc etc..i can fantasize some amazing "on the road" gatherings…
so come hang out….this will not be a "reality show"…… just reality…
i love you Craig…i move forward in your memory…
Recent Comments