I took this picture the day after Christmas . I was playing dominos with my mother, when I noticed the light hitting just right on her wedding day picture. A very small simply framed b&w shot from a random off the street commercial photographer in San Francisco where my parents were married without ceremony as my father went off to war. Not an unusual set of circumstances for a couple of Iowa farm kids who fell in love in high school and took what came their way. I was born in San Francisco two years after this 1942 picture.

For 59 years these two had the most amazing relationship. For real. Alan and Maryanna met at Moville High School. She fell in love with  him because he was tall, handsome AND he had a car she says.  Oh yes, their parents became friends too, lived nearby, had same life. So how many reasons do you need?

My father passed right in this house on Christmas day 2000, family gathered to say goodbye, about a year after my mom and I got into this now 12 year old super competitive dominos marathon. We keep score. In detail. She is 6 games up after all this time. We are a game playing family, with me losing most games most of the time. I travel the world. Lots of adventure. Yet hanging here, with family, is THE  place to be. I have never missed a Christmas at home,  often leaving “important” assignments to do so.

Right after I took this shot, my mom said “Oh David, you had better move that picture out of the light. It might fade”.

I don’t think so mom, I don’t think so.

164 thoughts on “Archival…”

  1. See.. didn’t know about the car bit.. but was right when I wrote: that was the start of “Off For A Family Drive”.. and still going strong!

  2. this photo is too good to add words to it…
    when in greece last month i stumbled upon old torn apart photo albums…
    seeing my mother when she was 16 or my father when he was 21 is a feeling beyond description…
    Nothing stronger than a photograph…
    we usually need 3-5 minutes to listen to a song, 2 hours to watch a movie, half a day to visit a gallery, 45 seconds to have sex, 3 hours to run the bike…but but but ONLY a fraction of a second to look at a photograph.. and that sets photography apart from any other extracurricular activity ;)
    smile people smile..
    its free plus it doaes NOT cost anything either, and above all u dont need to pay anything for it!

    “I’M ALL DRESSED AND OUT OF BED…WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT?”
    Banksy

  3. Don’t we wish texts coming with the essays could achieve in the simplest manner what this one does, net to the pictures?

    One of your best entries, David, certainly the most touching. Happy New year 2012 and beyond to yourself and your great family!

    PS: when Panos says no need for words, his longest comments follow….?!?!? ;-)

  4. Again, terrific photo David.

    This is a wonderful photo of a photo, a tribute to family, a tribute to love, and a tribute to the enduring power and value of a simple formal portrait.

    I will be sending you some portraits in the new year David, along with my thoughts on portraiture.

  5. THE COMMENTS BELOW WERE PUT UNDER THIS PICTURE WHICH SOMEHOW GOT POSTED TWICE…

    Gracie
    December 28, 2011 at 2:35 pm Edit

    We are always left dreaming and wanting to go out and see the world.

    When the most important pictures are the ones that you see when there is no light left in your eyes or the world’s.

    Thanks for this.

    Merry CHRISTmas DAH! To you and yours.
    michael kircher
    December 28, 2011 at 3:17 pm Edit

    “Merry CHRISTmas DAH! To you and yours”

    what an odd placement of CAPS.
    michael kircher
    December 28, 2011 at 3:51 pm Edit

    Very cozy shot, David. Cheers.
    Paul
    December 28, 2011 at 5:04 pm Edit

    Lovely image, actually I find it quite a profound and extremely telling. Somehow or another we human beings all need a family, it’s our identity it’s the evidence of who we really are. Some begin life with a family others create a family later on in life, it doesn’t matter we all end up keeping or creating something similar.
    It’s interesting that I had always held the significance of family in a pretty vague view, something I had always taken for granted and honestly did not value enough, probably because I grew up in broken family. This was quite true until I came across Roadtrips and apart from all I learnt on photography, the stories you told us about your family taught me to appreciate my own young little family and treasure it with all my heart.

  6. GORDON

    i have told you before that i would welcome your portraiture…we lean here towards fairly straight docu, but honestly i would love more variety…i long to be a portrait photographer when i grow up (American Family book will be my first attempt)..show me the way..

    GRACIE

    welcome home!!

  7. David,

    Very nice image! Welcome home.

    The RIO adventure was great, feels like we took the trip too, albeit without the late nights!

    I assume your time in Durango is short and sweet. Perhaps we can catch up once you settle in. I’m tied up for the most part with newspaper deadlines until the weekend.

    Congrats on bringing BURN into it’s third year!

    Best, Jeremy

  8. Panos, big hugs! Yes, that IS the best part – if not, then what do we have to look forward to?

  9. For those who didn’t watch yet..
    Thanks Richard Beaven for posting it
    “this is the secret to working for me” the world of assisting @davidalanharvey according to DAH..
    http://t.co/JyzRYooO

  10. Thanks for that, Roberta. David led me to believe he merely followed the whims of his fixers in Rio. That’s what I thought he wrote. :) To see that he is in fact such a hard, merciless and wilful task-master makes me happy he’s not my boss. Haha!

  11. JEFF

    i have no idea what i said that would lead you to believe i “merely followed the whims of fixers”….how logically could you even believe that concept? i am a collaborator, but very much have very strong personal points of view on everything…at the same time, i am always ready to learn…..those two thoughts are not in conflict….if i am working with others, i very much want to squeeze everything out of them…to take as much energy and to know all that they know etc…i also very much believe in the symbiotic relationship and try to give back way more than i take…this is why the collaborators i had in Rio and i were able to do what we did…i hope you will see it all very very soon…and i thank YOU for being a collaborator as well..we FELT the audience…a one of a kind experience by all accounts….after all riobook was for you…we all appreciate you being a part of it….

    cheers, david

  12. Actually, I browsed through the riobook.com today – Firstly, I appreciated that it is in order, so one can start at the beginning and follow through the whole story, and hey, it was such a great experience, just by browsing through the pictures and the conversations it all came back again.

    It has lots of inspiration and I am looking forward to my own travels to hopefully catch some light there.

    Ah and DAVID, yesterday I bought a NatGeo Magazine, with the Best Pictures of NatGeo – and it has one of your pictures – about the soap parties in Ibiza. Also with a little background story.

  13. David: I don’t know if I should start blushing because I may have hurt your feelings, or if I should roll on the floor in laughter because you didn’t get my lame-ass attempt at humour. I think I should set aside the sarcasm and stick to serious. There was something you wrote about just following your fixers wherever they led you – which I didn’t take seriously – and I was just throwing it back at you.

    But seriously, THE lesson I took from the workshop really does have everything to do with the video Roberta shared above. For months I had the naive idea that the notion of creative immersion – your concept of being filled by life – was somehow reactionary and spontaneous to the moment. In a way, it was just the intersection point you scribbled on your palm. It soon became apparent that the set-up and the tackling of the project from all sides was the part of the equation I hadn’t considered. Preparation, planning and hard work leads up to the moment of passion and creativity. The lesson of the video, the “How-To Manual For Fixers”, is also by extension my lesson from the month, and the lesson for any photographer. Be prepared, in control and then….let it go. It was that first part that was the big reveal for me; having it come so soon in the workshop just made the whole tripping month the joy that it was.

    Seriously, thanks. In the spirit of this week’s dialogue, here is an image of domino players who come prepared to play passionately, much like your mother and you:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/firststream/6111311532/sizes/l/in/photostream/

  14. DAVID,

    Just sent you a phone message. I get off work early on Friday, perhaps I can roll through Durango mid afternoon. Saturday (early) works too.

    We are having some folks out to the house for a New Years celebration dinner, awesome cowboy bar right across the street to ring in the New Year with lots of energy afterwords! The invite is open. otherwise, coffee, beer in Durango sounds great!

    (970)769.2939

    Cheers, Jeremy

  15. JEFF

    i was dipping into comments here, reading way too fast, not getting context etc…but definitely you did NOT hurt my feelings! you have to remember i survive the magnum process and the natgeo process..now, those are often painful of course…big league pain….ain’t no hurt feelings here on Burn amigo….i was just trying to give you an answer…your question COULD hv been serious….and as you know i do attempt to answer all questions thrown at me…my feelings did get hurt when i was about 22 and at grad school at Mizzou…the first time our teacher blasted the work i was horrified..i had never heard critique before…not sure how my reactions come off as hurt here…no intention to sound that way…i will defend various positions from time to time, but all of this discussion here is what it is and i love to totally disagree with someone on point and then go have a beer…as you know that is the Magnum way for one thing..not personal….i do not think hurt feelings are a part of any Magnum photog…at least not toward the work…something like a rejection by a woman might hurt my feelings i guess :) but a question on my work or motives or whatever is all good, all grist for the mill…your comments always welcomed either serious or in humor…

    cheers, david

  16. Mark Tomalty,

    Cheers for the Stanley Greene interview.
    It’s so him, so real and so very true! Aside from his comment on iphonies, he does make a few important points that aren’t, imho, discussed enough. I do love the guy -his very strong personal views and his ‘old-school’ ways that should be more of an example to shooters around…

    Cheers, T.

  17. TANGUY

    i love Stanley Greene…he is a good friend…he lives (or lived) in my building in new york…and i share most of his values…and i would tell him this to his face…honestly his views on the iPhone make him seem like an old man to me..and he is younger than am i..again, who cares how one one captures an image? for heavens sake…if if cannot be published or the quality is too poor, then sure it makes no sense…but we are talking tech…type of camera used..that should never be a journalistic morality issue..please

    cheers, david

  18. David…

    Am I right in thinking or assuming that deep down inside, you knew very well you would manage to create magic in Rio? Thoughts like “maybe” or “we”ll see how it goes” were or are always totally out of the big plan. Is this attitude one of the key ingredients which help the Magnum women and men stand above the crowd?

  19. the fact that Stanley, even in jest, spits on those who use an iphone is enough, for me, to say: good riddance…actually found most of his diatribe empty, useless and beyond curmudgeon….stupid, self-inflated and godlike….who needs that shit….as much as i admire and like much of his work, he can look at someone else’s knees…maybe with all that genuflection…i can imagine anyone of any depth taking that interview anything as absurdly funny (good day) and ridiculous and depressive (bad day)….

    buy hey, he knows how to wear a scarf, shades and rings….

    fuck that kind of behavior, just silly and childish and, if i hadn’t met him prior (only once) would say he’s being funny, but he takes himself profoundly serious….

    better to watch the documentary on The Darkness in Me….a wiser wiser man….and no bling…

    part 1…watch the whole thing (4 parts)

  20. PAUL

    my last shoot in Rio was the “perfect storm”…that is the PERFECT CREATIVE STORM..which had been building building and building….all elements came together..and not by accident but still a blessing…a sublime blessing even after the work that went into making it happen…and then of course there was SERENDIPITY….the ultimate serendipity…but that cannot exist UNLESS one build builds psychologically and then makes his/her own “luck”…

    the imaginary “one night” did NOT exist before i went this time, even though i had many “pictures” from before……but i went to find my AUTHORSHIP….

    it was always around the corner, but around the corner is not enough…close is not good enough …only DONE is good enough…

    as you know Burn Magazine should be called Authorship Magazine….but you cannot “find” something unless you are LOOKING…you cannot know exactly what you want, but you know you want something and then bam MAGIC…magic that comes from hard work, intuition, karma, etc etc…”plan” is not really part of the plan :)

    but creating a mood and an environment where lightning will indeed strike is the move…the effort…the goal…and yet so so relaxed , so so intense, so so all consuming….the REASON for being a photographer…the beauty…the reward….the honest authorship that eludes most of us most of the time…so to get even a tiny piece is GOLD…

    i recommend the effort to find gold…

    cheers, david

  21. but you cannot “find” something unless you are LOOKING…

    Apropos, just came across this quote this morning:

    “You have to know how to look even if you don’t know what you’re looking for.”

    ― Roberto Bolaño

  22. MW

    i love Roberto of course…did not remember his quote, but one way or another many authors have said more or less the same thing…it is indeed the only real true secret to discovering anything…get this, and you will “get” it all…

    hope to see you in new york in a couple of weeks…

    cheers, david

  23. CARLO

    i will have Rio up on the wall in my apartment in new york from about jan 15 to feb 15…this might get cut short IF i indeed go back for Carnaval….hard to resist…been to last two…but right back to the wall upon return anyway….on my loft wall the book will take its final shape…nothing better than having a coffee or beer while looking at the wall..thinking, moving, just enjoying…..stop in…visitors welcomed..

    cheers, david

  24. David.. or Diego, Anton..

    I have a question.. what is the criteria for putting the last two essays one (Akash) in ‘photographic essays’ and the other (Spada) in ‘works in progress’? Thanks!

  25. BOB,

    Thanks for the video clips of the interview with Don McCullin. I have been familiar with his work, of course, for many years, and read his autobiography some time ago, but hearing and seeing him up close has a completely different level of intensity and impact, as Michael Kircher says.

  26. Michael/Sidney: :)

    Hey guys, glad you liked the documentary. it is indeed powerful, moving and so insightful. He is one of the greats, and a tough man too, and yet so honest and so humble and so human in the face of all he has endured and seen. I’ve always admired his work deeply (he and PJG and Burrows were some of my hero’s in high school) and also admired that he left the business of journalism and war/disaster reporting and has always been honest about his ‘importance’ and the ‘importance of change’ (that they do not) with regard to picture taking. It’s more about a job then about moral righteousness, etc. But, what I admire the most about him, and the film, is that while about him, it really is about photography as a human vehicle and not a church. When my friend Teru Kuwayama first posted about the Perp interview with Stanley, it was a bad day and I saw it as everything I despised about that very obvious kind of world photgrapher, which is all too common in the photoworld, especially it seems among pj/doc picture takers (like hollywood directors/producers/screenwriters). when I watched it later that first night, it was a good day, had been writing and reading and so, i just laughed at both the pomposity and the hilarity of it all…i LOVE people who have character and don’t give a fuck about the status quo or what others think (and in this sense, i’ve always kind of like his ‘style’ and persona and even though when I met him and spoke with him briefly in nyc, i ealized that it wasn’t a real conversation but a moment when i was a nobody just ‘listening’ to his rap rather than engage in a chat, because character is also about life and who are any of us anyway) and that kind of bravura personality is cool, and yet i find it incredibly insecure, incredibly infantile and well, funny…..then again, i’ve been called insecure before too because our behavior is always filtered through others perceptions, and so, i always just let that float and lay, no big deal, ever….but god damn, if only people bade more attention to the stories of others, the lives of others than their own rings and high-heeled pronuncements….i’m just not interested, no matter how much i like and respect the work stanley’s done, in either that mentality or philosophy or life style….graduated from that when i was 14…..now, a good day…so laughter, only…

    mw: yes….as i wrote under david’s rio essay, it isn’t about seeing, it isn’t about quenching thirst, but about the thirst itself, the blinking….

    ok, out of here now for a long while, 2012 big changes, big big changes, so be good,…always looking, can’t be writing much anymore….wrote my peace under birthday and The Rio book….

    hoping sidney will pick up the baton :))

    happy new year and be well all…

    cheers, b

  27. ” who cares how one one captures an image? for heavens sake…if if cannot be published or the quality is too poor, then sure it makes no sense…but we are talking tech…type of camera used..that should never be a journalistic morality issue..please”

    It is unclear to me if Stanley is ranting about the iPhone as a camera or the manipulation done by some of the apps. If it is just about the iPhone as a camera, well he is probably being a bit uppity.

    still on the fence about the manipulation when it comes to photojournalism. There are a lot of photojournalists that I respect that sit on both sides of the argument and I see valid points on both sides.

    I have said before, if the image is a good image before and after any app manipulation then I probably have less trouble with it (but still not sold). If the image is crap before and the app makes it look cool and therefore “interesting,” then the success of the image is the result of the software not the photographer.

    I will be interesting to look back on this discussion in 10 years.

    “most of his diatribe empty, useless and beyond curmudgeon….stupid, self-inflated and godlike….who needs that shit….as much as i admire and like much of his work”

    I would agree that his comments were a bit harsh but I guess just saying that you disagree would be too easy… sounds petty (and self-inflated and godlike)

    In other words… “Lighten up Francis”

  28. “success of the image is the result of the software not the photographer”……..Pete it doesn’t matter where the success resides.

  29. in the old days we had to be “good at something”, being “experts” to survive/get a job etc…
    nowadays we have to be good in everything…
    obviously not likable by those that lose that “privilege of expertise”
    etc

  30. in other words we have to experiment with any any any “anything”, new or old that blends past and present or maybe opens a new way…we are moving on nd thats fantastic..on and up!
    Stay positive
    and shoot with whatever u got..
    but shoot..
    and let “them” figure how you shot it..
    (message to ALL):
    just shoot!

  31. And Stanley video wise..i have to admit that i had a quick 10 minute talk with him on David’s couch up in the loft in Kibbutz and blah blah blah..one thing for sure..he was the SWEETEST Man around..I didnt recognize him to be honest..only after we done talking , Diego , whom also i barely knew at the time he sat next to me telling me:” did u know who just wasted his time talking to you?”..smiling..of course i asked “who?”
    it was Stanley etc etc blah blah..etc
    Nicest guy..video makes no justice!
    big hug

  32. Bob; Thanks for posting that. I had seen the trailer but as I’m at a mates place (only dial-up) watching the doco will have to wait til tomorrow. Mc Cullin is one of my heroes; and most of all, seems a thoroughly decent man.

    Stanley Greene’s Black Passport still amazes me; the trailer he did for it (it’s on Youtube) is like being smacked fair and square between the eyes with a shovel! Funny; I was just about to sit down and look through it again this afternoon!

    Reading a book on New Years Eve, now that proves I am getting old…. ;-) Gonna look through Black Passport, Zielony’s “Story/No Story” (again!), Daido Moriyama’s “Shinjuku” and Anders Petersen’s “French Kiss”

    Anyway; it’s hosing down rain here; hasn’t stopped for 3-days (a pretty typical NZ summer!),so inside is the place to be… So; Happy New Year everyone, I hope 2012 is kind to each and every one of you… :-)

  33. David; How do you think your “older” Rio work will fit in with the new work? It seemed to me that you were “seeing” differently. Does that mean that more of the newer work will make the cut for the book at the expense of the older work? Just curious… Cheers :-)

  34. ROSS

    very little of the work i shot two years ago will hold….that was the same with Div Soul…i got on a new roll towards the end….i do not always see the road i want to take right away…i always see of course the obvious “story”, historic context, issues, etc…but finally i tend to see nuance…nothing so mysterious, but i guess it takes me forever to see it….

  35. Yeah I met Greene briefly at David’s too (’cause it’s just that kind of place). I thought he was just real people, down to earth, cool guy. Made a point to introduce himself, shake hands all around, sit down, listen, hang for a minute. Like I said, just real.

  36. DAVID…

    The New year’s eve venue is the Schank House at Vallecito Lake (Formerly the Buffalo Gap), but not before we have had a home cooked meal (family style) and plenty of tequila by the fire at my place – which is a stone throw from the saloon.

    Here are some images from previous “Schank House” celebrations…live music and plenty of local flavor are guaranteed on an evening like New Years!

    http://fedoraphoto.blogspot.com/2008/11/night-at-shank-house.html

    and…

    http://fedoraphoto.blogspot.com/2011/01/ushering-new-year.html

    Good friends from North Dakota are spending the weekend with us, might be a nice addition to your “family” project.

  37. “Pete it doesn’t matter where the success resides.”

    “ah, the song of the truly desperate.”

    It sounds quite the opposite to me, after all isn’t photography just an urge to shout, sing or whisper our thoughts. As long as you tell Pete’s story, Imants his story or my story, all is ok.

  38. How many of us on here are working on a story that matters to them, not for the money, not for the glory, but because of the need to tell it?

    For those who are not, that is my wish for you for the new year!

    And I still would like to understand why the two last essays are classified one finished and the other in progress..

  39. I haven’t seen this posted yet so I wanted to mention that Laura El Tantawy’s
    “I’ll Die for You,” which first appeared on Burn a year ago, is in Orion magazine’s current January/Februrary issue. It’s good to see this work in print, and I’m thankful there are still one or two mass publications here in the U.S. that would take the risk to publish this important work.

    Cheers to Burn, and Happy New Year.

  40. EVA

    sorry…that was simply a category mistake on my part..fixed

    YOUNG TOM

    thanks for the shout out for Laura El Tantawy….the Orion piece is quite nice indeed….perhaps readers here have forgotten that she is on assignment now for Burn in Egypt…..and has been in some rather frightening circumstances of late…we have feared for her safety recently and she did make a fast exit from Egypt a couple of weeks ago when it became apparent that she was indeed targeted by the secret police…however, i will let her tell the whole story here on Burn…again, thank you for the reminder…

    Stanley Greene is as you describe in a social gathering…he can, as i suppose we all mistakenly do from time to time, make pronouncements….one should never make pronouncements…it must be where the expression “eat your words” comes from….

    i am hoping to publish more of your work in 2012….you have always had a flair for strong imagery….looking forward to more…

    PETE

    yes, Stanley is probably ranting more about the effect apps…but he should just shhhhhh. Black Passport is all he needs to say…..

    IMANTS

    Moshe from HeadOn will contact you…and then we can decide exactly the best way to present the young photographers you mentor….

    PAUL

    photography works both ways…it can be a proactive desire to speak, to inform, to create, OR a passive experience of receiving the aforementioned….both are pleasurable IF the content/story/passion is just right….looking at pictures can be as exciting as taking pictures….hearing a good story by the campfire of the experience of another is its own “experience” and rivals with equality the adventures of the storyteller who just MUST tell others of his/her experience…all of us here pretty much do both…some here lean more in one way than the other, but essentially we all receive, we all create….sometimes the listener,sometimes the speaker…

    MOSTLY, if the time pie were to be divided, we are listeners…we crave the “passivity” of hearing a good story….none of us have enough good stories to tell to keep everyone listening….in an entire lifetime if one has two or three really powerful things to say, then i would say that is on the high side….

    the temptation is of course to tell more stories than one really has to tell…and this is where many error….actually all of us error to one degree or another…i think the best way to look at it is this.. IF it is your time to tell a story, make sure it is eloquent…

    i am not talking about day in and day out conversation (or photography)..that is something else and daily “chatter” is totally healthy….i am talking about what you as a speaker stand for..your statement….your story of stories…

    i always thought that the best way to write something, was to go read something…one runs out of breath in seconds in a vacuum….yet so many try to make that work…curious.

    BOB

    thanks for bringing in McCullin….yes, a real gentleman AND he has so much stronger work than some of the shouters…..again, real man, real stories…

    cheers, david

  41. Easy I will skype in a couple of days, Tassie is pretty full on clearing land, building, chasing snakes etc…….. I am asking a variety of educators to assist. I am pretty excited about the prospects and intend to make it an annual event if possible.

  42. IMANTS

    terrific..i am sure our Sydney experience will lead to many things…..clearing land and chasing snakes sounds like fun…and a story to tell :) ..oh , i am going to be totally off the radar screen until about jan 6….i have to edit and write an outer banks piece…so i can tell/show you a story, a short story…

  43. “Beats being the ego ridden like you Pete……. desperately chasing fame and eternity what a waste that is.”

    Once again going off about something you know nothing about. Should not be surprised.

  44. Ας μπορούσα να περάσω όλο το ταξίδι τούτο αμίλητος!

    Μια κούρα πυθαγόρεια. Να καθαρίσω απ’ όλα τα λόγια που άκουσα και είπα,
    ν’ αφήσω τη σιωπή ν’ απλωθεί δροσάτη, καταπράσινη, σαν περιπλοκάδα στα σωθικά μου!

    Μα οι άνθρωποι είναι κοπάδι, δε σε αφήνουν.

    Ζητούν να πιαστούν ο ένας από τον άλλον, ν’ ακουμπήσουν σαν τα πρόβατα λαιμό με λαιμό.

    Φοβούνται τη σιωπή. Η φλυαρία μονάχα μπορεί να στερεώσει την καρδιά τους.

    Νίκου Καζαντζάκη, Ταξιδεύοντας: Ιαπωνία –Κίνα

    (laughing) from GOOGLE translation:

    Let us spend the whole trip so silent!

    A cure Pythagorean. I clean all the words that I heard and said,
    to let the silence n ‘spread fresh upon my soul (Drosato), green as a tree branch (periplokada) in my guts!

    But humans are herd, not to leave alone.

    They want to catch from (hold on to) each other, lean like sheep neck by neck.

    They are afraid of silence. The chatter alone can clinch/cure their hearts.

    Nikos Kazantzakis, Travelling: Japan-China

  45. a civilian-mass audience

    I am in…just arrived back home…I am in Grecolandia…

    HAPPY NEW YEAR…HAPPY EVERYTHING…HAPPY BURN…

    give me some time to recover…oime…I missed you all…
    hope you are ALL ok…
    I am the happiest civilian in the world…cause I found out that happiness is on the small details…
    and it can be achieved…
    trust me…ups and downs in the journey…we have to just focus on the UP’S…hiiii

    OUZO ON ME…VIVA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    your civi always…

  46. a civilian-mass audience

    P.S…I have the secret to stamina…yeap…

    AUSSIES,NEW ZEALANDERS…2012…we are following…

  47. a civilian-mass audience

    PAUL and THOMAS…thank you my people…
    give me some time to change my stinky socks…
    and to have a sip of ouzo and I will be …good to go or should I say …good to be back:)))

    PARTYYYYYYYYYY BURNIANS…spread the news…WE ARE ROCKING!!!

  48. Eva; I agree with your statement about doing the work whatever…I very nearly got sucked into doing a story (to run alongside the farm one) for the wrong reasons. I knew it would be controversial and I suppose thought it would be a good move. However; after thinking about it for a while I decided I was doing it for the wrong reasons. It was more a desire to shoot a controversial story than shooting a story I truly cared about.

    If my farm essay garners some sort of success, then great! But; that’s not the reason I’m shooting it. I’m shooting it because I believe in it. So much so that I’ve spent about 12-months living on practically dole (unemployment benefit) levels of income to shoot it; and plan to spend a busy next 12-months shooting it and 2 or 3 “backburner” ideas in the background whenever I’m in the right place at the right time.

    So; 2012 is all about amping up my self-sufficiency experiment. So far it’s working well alongside the photography/writing; a nice counterpoint. It also means I can live cheaper! Here’s a link to a few pics from the first month. Nothing arty; just a few snaps…

    https://picasaweb.google.com/115095641233118226708/SelfSufficiencySortOf1MonthLater?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNWBgaquztiQCQ&feat=directlink

    David; So does that mean you’ve practically shot a book in the month you were in Rio?

  49. TO ALL BURNIANS,

    새해 복 많이 받으십시오!
    あけましておめでとうございます!
    新年快樂!
    Glückliches Neues Jahr!

    Best wishes to all of you, leaders, lurkers, loudmouths, lounge lizards, lensbabies, the loquacious and the laconic, whether livid or lugubrious, luminous or lackluster, longtimer or latecomer, in this unique online community of BURN, for a healthy, productive, and happy New Year in 2012! May the Year of the Dragon bring you new horizons and discoveries, and the simple satisfactions of warmth and beauty in everyday life…

    Regards to all!
    http://www.telcomplus.net/satkins/photo5.html

  50. a civilian-mass audience

    can someone translate SIDNEY…wow…but he is an ACADEMIAN afterall…:)VIVA!
    AKAKYYYYYYYYYYY…
    BOBBYYYY…

    EVA,VIVA…I crossed many waters…I passed from your home too…BUT YOU were out(as usual):))))
    sending love and best wishes…

    BURNIANS…Wake up…2012 is knocking my door…Europe can you feel it…?!!!

  51. a civilian-mass audience

    10:00 p.m …in Greece…had a shower…ready for ouzo…

    THODORIS…family rocks!

    88 comment…AKAKY…100? is it mine? wake up…

  52. Thinking in a happy new year, I inevitably come back to my 2011 and it is still hard to believe that 2012 has some chance to top it . In general, I carry the answers I was needing. Specifically about Burn, I have David and his influence and the turnarounds he provoked when I feel that 29 years were destinated to that Carnaval, a 2011 interception time, and everythings began to make more sense, to be funnier and simpler.Burn brought so much when all I had was a little and presumptions..photography analysis, new ways to think and rethink on the field,to embrace it, to dig passion and give it the value deserved.And friends, and if not friends yet… people I already respect..so there is no turn back. Thanks for a happy 2011 Burnians , and like I mentioned before it’s hard to believe another year can beat that one, but the challenge is exciting enough to work on..So, let’s keep up! Let’s go for champagne and fireworks! A wonderful top surprising,amazing, killer 2012 for all of us!

  53. Welcome to the year……like Ross been there done that………. I am hoping to find the canis lupus-headed stiped one here and that will make me “famous and eternal” …………….one thylacine is all one needs.

  54. imants shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. i hear steps….
    and don’t show that bag….
    is it camera bag at all??
    ……… no! no! no! foto bag, no foto let

  55. Sounds all good David ………. edit and write an outer banks piece ………….should be interesting the old my backyard ……..lots of thinking, dreaming there

  56. To hell with the new year, I say, I’m still in love with the old year. Just cause some young hussy comes traipsin round about midnight doesn’t mean I’ll go traipsin off with her. Isn’t there a song about that? Why yes, yes there is:

  57. Only 8:51 pm here Miami time.

    heading out but before I do that:

    HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

    Wishing everyone lots of inspiration and projects in 2012!
    All the best to all BURNIANS!

  58. a civilian-mass audience

    Good morning from Grecolandia…

    I guess we are all in…2012 is here…”now what?”

    Let me tell you:

    NOW…EVERYTHING…we are responsible to do our best…
    and yes…we will count too…
    Now,we know…that WE CAN DO MIRACLES…
    therefore
    my BURNIANS…not even the sky is the limit…
    say Thank you
    Be Humble
    Be YOU…

    I do love YOU ALLLLLLLLLL…together we can do it…BURN,BURN…BURN MTF*S

    P.S my true friends

  59. David…

    First of all a very Happy New Year to you and all your family.
    On the subject of AUTHORSHIP is it necessary for those of us still searching to try and recognize what will make our work stand out as OUR’S…like a professional runner or cyclist who knows that once the road starts getting steep he is either at an advantange or his or her flaws will become apparent. Or maybe relax and just create work that is close to our hearts and it will naturally come through if we have chased what really is of Significance to us.

  60. Akaky…

    Sending you a big hug and I’m sure we are all missing your crazy words!! Hope you’re getting better :)!

  61. MW…

    I’ve just noticed your comment on the fractured foot!! Hope it’s healing well, I also once fractured a couple of bones in my usual left foot. Take it easy and use it as little as possible until it’s fixed. The bones in feet are like little jigsaws puzzles once one is fucked it fucks all the others.

  62. my sweet little niece has a State of Colorado official legal Medical Marijuana card…she broke her arm and well a result of doctors orders….she gave me a clinically wrapped “brownie” last night….i took two bites…my 92 year old mother had to revive me ..no joke…some things never change!! yes, a VERY happy new year

    HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

  63. I had one of those, brownies, on Xmas Day, unsuspectingly. No Mom to revive, I will keep….. Drifting in and out, thru 2012!

    Happy New Year, BURN!

  64. a civilian-mass audience

    how come…nobody gives me any “brownie”…what do I do wrong…hmmm?:)))

    EVA…Viva…hugs to ALL my Italian people!!!

    2012 is here to stay
    BURNING around the Uninerse
    oh,ohh…what can I say?

    BURN is home …and you can stay
    Peace,Love and Photography
    keep shooting
    everyday

    BURN is rocking night and day
    hope you are all doing good
    what can I say…ohhhh,ohhh
    ~~~~~
    to be continued…

    civi
    copyright…hiiiihii

    P.S…I will be back

  65. My original Wasilla blog is now an archival blog – still up and available to be read, but I won’t be adding anymore to it.

    Here is my new blog:

    http://www.logbookwasilla.com

    I just put up a post that sort of explains why I made a new blog and named it Logbook. It is at the top right now, but should anyone come to this at later time and be curious, here is the direct link:

    http://www.logbookwasilla.com/logbookwasilla/2012/1/1/logbook-a-title-of-hope-faith-and-undying-dreams.html?SSScrollPosition=0

    I will make at least one more post today, maybe two. Tomorrow, because I finally have this new format, I will finally begin to blog my experience at the David Alan Harvey loft workshop in Brooklyn. Even though it is late, this might interest to some of you.

  66. I might add that there is nothing in the sidebar yet. I had publicly stated that I would launch this blog today, but when I sat down to do it I ran into all kinds of complications and did not have time to work on the sidebar. I will.

  67. a civilian-mass audience

    I am still reading…

    FROSTY give me some time…I am between chickens,reading BURN…laundry…
    but I will come over to your new home…which looks very pro…by the way…
    I have ouzo…

    EVA…oime…you are still out there…safe travels…

    MW…wishing best recovery…

    BURNIANS…I will be back…requesting reports…2012 is here…be ready,I am only getting needier
    hiiiiiihiiii

    VIVA BURN !!!

  68. travel day all day…will try to catch up with all comments tomorrow…Bill Frostfrog, i am your biggest blog fan…silent but a fan……

    to DC all week and to work on Outer Banks selection of pics for NatGeo…this will be hard, this is my home….also the jump from rio to outer banks a big one as well….

    for 2012 here on Burn , there will be some changes…i mean who wants to do the SAME thing year after year…not me…anyway, all good…will try to shake things up…get some blood flowing in this crowd…Burn can never be a “thing” , Burn must only represent an “idea”…or a multiplicity of ideas….Burn means SOMETHING will happen, Burn does not have to mean a “specific” will happen…Burn is moving energy…fire…flame…torch…passion….

    big love for this audience….we have done so so much together…wanna do more…

    hugs, david

  69. i mean who wants to do the SAME thing year after year…
    —————————————

    exactly! lets make some noise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  70. a civilian-mass audience

    I am in…I wanna do more…I wanna evolve…

    BURN the tent down…BURN some cameras…BURN some brain cells

    Wake up dammnit…REVOLUTION…

  71. Oh Yes!!
    HAPPY NEW YEAR BuRNIANS!!!
    I was in las vegas with my daughter, seeing will.i.am dj (from the black eyed peas)
    Great concert and he gave shout outs to BRAZIL!!!
    Brazil was in the house!!!!! :)
    I think he too, is enamored with Brazil..
    GREAT night..
    exciting times…
    VIVA!!!!
    ***

  72. Speaking of which – I am certain all you who have visited here before have taken note of the new, very classy, blog banner. This is the work of Haik Mesropian, a graphic and web designer who works with David Alan Harvey on Burn Magazine and his recent Rio Book.

    Thank you, Haik!

  73. I have made my first, long-overdue post on my experience taking the Loft workshop:

    http://logbookwasilla.squarespace.com/logbookwasilla/2012/1/2/the-david-alan-harvey-loft-workshop-entry-1-logbook-getting.html

    I anticipate maybe six posts, total. Possibly seven, possibly five. Perhaps 8. Certainly more than four. I got carried away, and will try to keep them a bit more brief. I might not succeed at this.

    Pete – it’s done. And thank you for the reminder. I will be sure to get my address in there.

  74. “…Burn is moving energy…fire…flame…torch…passion….” ~ DAH

    YES.. isn’t that the reason why we’re all here?

    (Civi, thanks.. Bill, thanks too!)

  75. Dear mr. frostfrog,
    what kind of point and shoot do you own?
    i figured you saying youre poor and all, you might not own a leica.
    i like your pictures colors.
    figured too that when the shredding occurs, i would like to see the colors be true.
    blog… exciting.

  76. PANOS…

    thanks for the shout out for Haik…the man is a prince…and with the most beautiful family as well…his work on Burn is going to evolve w new creative imperatives…translation: he is going to work even harder!! …he is now on our staff list anyway, but is about to move up….

    thanks Haik

    cheers, david

  77. RIO vs. OBX.. must feel like two sides of a coin.. both part of a whole, but on the opposite poles.. curious to know what NatGeo thinks..

  78. a civilian-mass audience

    YES,YES…HAIK…I told you about HAIK…DA MAN…

    He saved my computer almost 3 years ago…oh,yeah…the same computer…
    he kept civi alive…
    Greek home always open for HAIK and his family…

    and MY BURNIANS…don’t forget …civilian’s home is OPEN for all of you…don’t worry about the economy…
    I kept olives and feta cheese…next to my chickens…hmmm…not sure about ouzo though :)))

    Spread the LOVE, spread the BURN…let’s EVOLVE …

    hiii…MR.HARVEY can a Greek civilian move up too?…:)))))))))))))))))))))

    LOVE YOU ALLLLLLL…

  79. a civilian-mass audience

    “eva
    January 3, 2012 at 4:36 am
    “…Burn is moving energy…fire…flame…torch…passion….” ~ DAH

    YES.. isn’t that the reason why we’re all here?”
    _—————–
    Thank you EVA…!!!

    ANTON,BURN CREW, ACADEMIANS,LOST BURNIANS,FOUND BURNIANS,SILENT CIVILIANS…we will Evolve…inside,outside…
    Hola !

  80. a civilian-mass audience

    welcome home MY GRACIE…have you seen KATIE FONSECA…I was looking with ROSSY some time ago…
    I missed her so much
    GRACIE…THANK YOU,THANK YOU…I will never forget…

    your civi

  81. a civilian-mass audience

    PANOS…how can you write with… i-phone…”this thing” doesn’t want to cooperate …:()

    oime…I know…blame the i-phone now…

  82. a civilian-mass audience

    JARED congratulations…!!!

    Yes,our JARED just got married …RUTH(a new BURNIAN)…may the spirits of Everything be with them…

    BRAVO and VIVA!!!

  83. “for 2012 here on Burn , there will be some changes…”

    YES! change is good…keeps you on your toes in a good way…or it can make you bitter if you don’t accept it.

    Frostfrog,

    I just finished reading your first post about the loft. Such a good read! keep them coming!!!

  84. hi civi,

    ive missed the nightshift… but as we move along to new horizons, you always go back to what you know…
    popcorn, ouzo, diet coke, and the key in the planter and your couch…my dear civi… your couch…

    happy new year to you and yours…

    photographically speaking for me, nothing’s new… but on another aspect… 2012 is MY YEAR.
    i hope it would be yours too…. here’s to another year of beauty and fortune!!!

  85. “I put my brain under the pillow ehen I shoot. I shoot with my heart and my stomach.” ~ Anders Petersen

    PAUL..

    here I think you can find an answer for the question about authorship you asked the other day.. and I might be wrong, but I think DAH’s thoughts are very similar on the subject, not only the sentences above, but also the next ones Petersen says in the interview..

  86. @ All:

    Happy new year everyone!! I’m happy because in 2012, I have one more day to spend in this burnfamily… February has 29 days!!

    motivation, commitement, focus, aim and a lot of photos ahead!
    Patricio

  87. DAH – Just in case you missed it, Pano’s shoutout to Haik was a direct quote that he made from my new blog, where I have the great privilege of having a header banner designed by the greatly talented Haik.

    Also, I have begun my series covering my experience at your Loft. I put up part 1 last night, and will soon begin on part 2. I anticipate 6 or 7 parts.

  88. a civilian-mass audience

    Bring it on FROSTY…tell it as it is…
    cause whatever happened in THE LOFT…doesn’t stay in THE LOFT…

    Good morning BURNIANS…and wake up my GREEK people…what’s wrong with you?:(

    Spread the news…Evolution is not gonna happen…sitting in the couch…
    where the heck is my coffee…oime…I will be ok…I just need my coffee

    LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLL…!!!

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