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In my pursuit to be a legitimate "art" photographer, I have considered many routes. One of them being a recurring, personal theme , that since I'm an artist, I should at least own a beret.
My wife tells me that a beret involves divorce. So that's out.
But still, I wish I had the unassuming posture as a man to wear a hat like this. He's wearing it proud. I would be hesitant. I should learn from this.
My view over the weekend.I dipped my toes into the world of art festivals this weekend. It was not a spontaneous decision, as most summer festivals require you to submit your work for a juried process months in advance. We (our company) already had a tent, and we purchased an expensive mesh panel system to hang our photographs on (a good purchase as it made setup and take-down a breeze).
There were three festivals I applied for, all relatively local, and all kind of upscale. I made it into two out of three. My reasoning was simple, another revenue source in this lame economy. My biz partner is doing one this weekend (you can’t enter as a company, only as an individual).
I had been to many art festivals and thought I knew what to expect, but found out that there is a whole sub-culture to it. Everyone knew everyone else, they traveled the circuit, discussed the good festivals and the bad. And, they complained about how bad sales have been over the past few years. You know, the economy and all.
I was chatting with another photographer on Sunday (day two) and told him everyone I had talked to reported disappointing sales, except one exhibitor who said it was a great weekend for her. “She’s lying,” he said.
As for me, I sold one unframed print over both days. BUT, I also won a Blue Ribbon for first place in photography, some cash, and an automatic “in” for next year. So I’ve got that going for me.
I have one more festival coming up in about three weeks. I compiled a list throughout the weekend. I will make adjustments. But I have to wonder … is it my photography, is it priced right, is it the economy, is it my (non) sales pitch, does my presentation suck, bad Karma? I’ll report back in a month.
On this Memorial Day, we pay tribute to those who gave their lives in the service of our country.
A few years ago I photographed early morning services at small cemetery in our community. It’s an annual event, followed by a parade. Arriving before the participants, I strolled through the grounds, only about a quarter acre, and read the names on the head stones. Most names were of the early founders of the area.
But one stood out to me, a modest marker that reads “Unknown Soldier, Civil War.” I thought, what an odd place for an unknown soldiers grave. Usually, they would be interred in a National Cemetery. So I decided to ask around.
As it turns out, during the war the body of a Union soldier was washed up on the shore of Lake Erie, literally a stone’s throw away. No one knew where he came from or what unit he belonged to.
Although he didn’t die on some distant battlefield, I thank him for his service in helping unite the nation.
I had a pleasant, long weekend visiting the Washington, D.C. area, on the occasion to pick up my daughter from college. My son and I went down a few days early to say at a friend’s retreat near Antietam. From there it’s just a 30-minute drive to catch the Metro.
It’s always a dilemma for me when I head into D.C. in trying to decide which camera gear to carry.
Since I knew I was going to be walking quite a bit, I didn’t want to be too encumbered with gear. Although my 35mm DSLR outfit (with wide zoom and tele zoom) fits snugly into a comfortable backpack, it’s still pushing 15 pounds.
My pinhole bag is significantly lighter, if I just take my mini-pod. No big loss because there are many places you can’t set up a tripod on the street (like in front of the White House). But I had made numerous pinhole photos in the past, the process can be a bit time consuming, and I feared it would cut into our tour time.
So I opted for my Canon G9, in addition to snapshots with my daughter and son and other things that struck my fancy, I had the opportunity to pursue some “reconstructions” at various places. I photographed the Capitol, the Washington Monument, the White House and the Museum of Natural History.
I tried to make some at Fords Theater but there were too many school tours going in and out, milling on the sidewalk, crossing the street in front of me, that it just didn’t work. And I think it really needs to be photographed (notice I didn’t say shot) at dusk for the best effect.
Directly across from the theater is the house where Abraham Lincoln passed from this world (now, he is one for the Ages). Unfortunately it was under renovation and had all sorts of scaffolding and workers in front. Next door, well known to any student of history, is Lincoln’s Waffle Shop, where he and Mary polished off a stack of Belgians before heading across the street for the play.
Is nothing sacred in America?
This week marks the start of the Sesquicentennial of our American Civil War. Prepare to be inundated, over the next four years, with stories, films, news articles and the like. I've always been a student of the Civil War, at least back to my childhood. I'm sure I have read hundreds of books on the topic, and related areas, and have a modest library of my favorite titles and a small collection of vintage photographs.
Halloween, 1962.Oddly, I can pinpoint the moment I got hooked. It was on a family vacation in the summer of 1962. We had stopped at the Manassas visitor’s center. We probably stopped so that my sister and I could stretch our legs, but I think my folks knew I had some interest. My sister and I started walking around and strayed a little bit up a hill. As we came up over the crest we were confronted with a long, solid row of Confederate soldiers advancing up the hill towards us.
As it turns out, it was members of the Virginia National Guard, in full rebel uniform, practicing for the upcoming Centennial reenactment of the second battle of Manassas. I became an official buff then and there.
Flash ahead 15 or so years to where I'm working in Jackson, Mississippi and met another fellow traveler, Bob Zeller, who shared my enthusiasm for the subject. Aside from being regular visitors to Vicksburg, we found the time to "invent" a Civil War board game based on the Battle of Antietam, my friend’s favorite battle. He built the map, I made the markers and together we hashed out the rules. Over the next few years, both of us had moved to different states, so we played the game by mail. Yes, snail mail. We haven’t played in 30 years, but still have it.
I even managed to work in a visit to Charleston, S.C. and the Bentonville battlefield in N.C. on my honeymoon. I implore that if you ever meet my wife, do not bring up the subject.
I learned that both my grandfather and his brother served in 64th N.Y. Vols. My great uncle died of wounds received at the battle of Fredericksburg.
My friend, Bob, went on to found the Center for Civil War Photography, and is a leading expert on Civil War stereo views, the original 3D. Recently, he asked my help, and others, in researching and restoring photos in the Library of Congress to be used in a new documentary for television (it aired this week on the National Geographic channel). It was work, but it was also fun and a learning experience.
But I can't help but temper my enthusiasm of the Civil War’s Sesquicentennial with a little doubt and fear about how the war will be interpreted this time around. There is much opportunity, given its peculiar set of circumstances and events, for the usual over-dramatization, misinformation, shoddy research and commercialization. I hope that’s not what happens. It's important to know where we have come from as a country.
One of my favorite, recent, Civil War images. This is the Battleifield of Antietam, taken early one morning from the deck of my friends place on Red Hill.