Connection

Photo by Kirk Jones

"Without a connection to your natural surroundings it is difficult to connect to feelings of being alive. We are fortunate to live not only in an area of amazing natural beauty, but in a country that (hopefully) will continue to pursue the protection and respect for nature. It’s a fight." --Kirk Jones

Read more about Kirk in the latest installment of Eye on PDX now up at Prison Photography.

Posthumous Post

Hippies on Corner, Louis Draper

The Louis Draper Project is just getting off the ground. There are a few images on the fledgling site but not enough to form a strong impression. Is this the next Vivian Maier? Gordon Stettinius and Candela would like to think so. But so far the jury's still out, although judging by what I've seen so far I tend to doubt it. Nevertheless I look forward to seeing what develops. I have a soft spot for these posthumous discovery stories. I think we all do.  

More Navel Gazing

Eugene is hosting this year's SPE NW Regional Conference, November 1st - 4th, 2012. It should be great fun. Photographers from all over the Northwest will be in town. Speakers include Arthur Tress, Lucas Foglia, Justyna Baydach, Dan Powell, and many more including myself.

Wait. What? Me? Yes that's right. I've been roped into public speaking, which is definitely not my forte. 

Fortunately I think my topic --Innie/Outie: A Photographic Profile--  may be stimulating just by virtue of the fact that it doesn't get discussed much. In fact after many months recently researching this topic I have found no evidence of previous study. So my talk on Saturday may be the only opportunity for photographers to inform themselves.

Classic Outie: Photographer best suited to direct recording
Photo: Barbie Plankenhorn

My basic hypothesis is that there is a strong connection between belly button morphology and photographic style. If we divide photographers into two camps --Innies and Outies-- those with Innies generally tend to shoot introspective scenes while the Outies tend to prefer direct recording. If you want to put this in terms of the classic Szarkowski study, Outies shoot windows while Innies shoot mirrors. 

If that sounds a bit crazy, consider for a moment that Paul Caponigro, Jerry Uelsmann, Danny Lyon, Ralph Gibson, Judy Dater, Nancy Rexroth, Robert Mapplethorpe and Robert Rauschenberg all had Innie belly buttons. What about Lewis Hine, Gary Winogrand, Henry Wessel, Tod Papageorge, Walker Evans (Reportedly a 3 cm deep belly button), Diane Arbus, Lee Freidlander, Robert Adams, Stephen Shore, William Eggleston, Edward Ruscha, and  Joel Meyerowitz? I probably don't need to tell you. Outies. All of them! Coincidence? The learned scientist knows that there are no coincidences.

Classic Innie: Photographer best suited to introspection 

Of course it's not a hard and fast rule. There is some overlap between the styles. But generally the relationship holds true far beyond what might be expected statistically. My studies demonstrate a clear cause and effect. 

The exciting thing is that my findings are not only descriptive but potentially prescriptive as well. Clients might use belly button shape to choose a wedding or portrait photographer, depending on their needs. Or photography programs might use the shape of a person's belly button to guide students to their best-suited areas of interest. Innies might be led to conceptual or sculptural photography, while Outies would take courses in straight documentary photography. I know what you're thinking, and don't freak out everyone! I'm just throwing out examples of how my study might be utilized. If you don't like it you're more than welcome to come up with your own belly button study, so long as it's supported by science.

This is just a brief summary. I will go into much more detail during the lecture about my exact research methods, belly button measuring tools, the potential for changing belly button morphology, and what this all means for photographers of the future.

My lecture is this Saturday, 11/3, at 3:30 PM. Location TBA. Come up and say hi after. I'm always available for belly button consultations, whether informally or by appointment.

Dreams Are Free

If you're a street fan and you have a few thousand extra dollars burning a hole in your pocket, eBay currently has several Winogrand prints for sale at discount prices. They're offered by photo dealer Katrina Doerner, from an edition of 80 portfolios printed under his supervision in 1981. Note that discount is a relative term here. The Buy-It-Now levels range from $1400 to $3200. That's still a lot of money, but it's actually not much for an original Winogrand. Assuming you're loaded.

from Women Are Beautiful, Garry Winogrand

The prints are all from Women Are Beautiful, which is probably the Winogrand series I'm least familiar with simply because the book has never been reprinted. Not only is it his least acclaimed book, it received quite a bit of flak when it was published (1975) for objectifying women. All of which drove the work into partial obscurity. We've seen glimpses here and there but they've always been overshadowed by his more famous images. Sadly the monograph which was timed to mark the pinnacle of his career has instead become a sort of dead zone for him.

I don't really know how these things work --maybe a large collection was liquidated or deaccessioned?-- but for whatever reason Women Are Beautiful seems to be having a resurgence. They've been exhibited here and here and here recently. I expect to see some of them turn up at the big Winogrand hullabaloo next Spring at SFMoMA, along with a lot of other long lost treasures.

I can't wait to see them in person. In the meantime I've had fun exploring them online. The eBay images are large and well-reproduced so one can get a pretty good sense of what's in them. Even though they're out of my price range a guy can still dream for free, right?

0 FT.

Nickelodeon Hotel, Orlando, FL

Total WTF? picture. It's probably my favorite of the year so far. First person to request it gets a fiber print. (Sorry, no longer available)