Thursday, May 31, 2018

Right place right time

It doesn't always happen like this, but occasionally the photo gods offer up just the thing you need at just the right time. That's what happened yesterday when a copy of Mark Klett's Revealing Territory dropped into my life out of nowhere.

After a day of darkroom printing I was eating dinner at a nearby Laotian food truck when a stranger struck up a conversation about my camera. His name was Robert Petersen. We chatted about how you don't see many film cameras bla bla bla and his old Leica which he missed bla bla bla the usual bla bla bla lenses bla film bla body bla technical bla bla bla. 

I should probably point out that Robert didn't look like a photographer. Not that a photographer is supposed to look any certain way, but he looked a bit like The Dude from Big Lebowski, plus twenty years and some hard luck. In other words he resembled the demographic that's slowly getting weeded out of Portland by the yuppie professional class. I want to say this class tends to look more like photographers, or at least like the popular conception of photographers, but maybe I'm wrong. Sometimes it can be The Dude.

"What type of photographs do you make?" I asked. His schtick: portraits of women through frosted glass. Turned out he'd just published a book of these portraits, one of several books he'd made. Okaay. I must put out book-loving pheromones or something, because these guys always find me. I don't know how but somehow he could just tell. No sooner had I said, "I love photography books," than he was off. "Be right back," he muttered, melting through the food truck lot to his home nearby.

When he returned Robert was holding Revealing Territory by Mark Klett. "For you," he said, placing it near my food. 

What? You're just giving me this??? I don't even know you? WTF? "It's ok," he said, "I've got another copy at home." He'd tried to sell the extra but Powell's didn't want it, and since then he'd been trying to find a good home for it, and here I was near his house exuding pheromones, and so Boom! 

Just the week before, I'd donated a box of unwanted books at St. Vincent's. Was this my book karma payback? Is that how it works? I sat there kind of stunned, and before I could really process the chain of events Robert walked away as suddenly as he'd appeared, leaving me with with my noodles, camera, and Klett.

I've spent some time with Revealing Territory today and I must report that it's fucking wonderful. Before this book I'd mostly known Mark Klett from his Rephotographic Survey Projects (RSP). Revealing Territory was published in 1992, just on the cusp between the RSP Second View and Third View. It shows large format photography of the 1980s southwest, made with a very sharp eye and wit, and captions handwritten directly onto the photos. 

The reproductions are beautifully done, so finely detailed they almost exude the whiff of darkroom chemicals. And you can certainly catch a whiff of the RSP style, but in a less prescriptive form. Klett's visual fingerprints are everywhere, sometimes literally. The photos provide a sort of Ur-stone to his general photographic approach —the view (which I share) that all photographs are essentially self portraits, even the most seemingly evidentiary— well articulated by Klett in the afterword:
"Timothy O'Sullivan, William Henry Jackson, and other nineteenth century photographers whose work I had rephotographed, taught me that pictures are never just topographical. In following their tracks, I found that their individual visions emerged. It didn't matter if historians argued that they were scientifically biased, or aesthetically influenced, or culturally constrained. I came to appreciate the sense of journey which permeates their photographs. Just like them, we moderns it seemed were doomed to be passers through in the West, trailing artifacts but ultimately owning nothing of the land but the time we spent."
You can spend a bit of time plus $6 to find this on Amazon. Or if you're in Portland I understand Powell's has a few copies. Best $6 I never spent on a photo book gifted to me by the photo gods via Robert Petersen. 

Monday, May 21, 2018

Email Correspondence

Hi,

My name is Olivia Byrd and I work with Perennial Relations, a PR firm based in NYC.

I have a client who is interested in getting some basic exposure on your website via a guest blog post, or even just a quick mention of them within one of your articles. This is a reputable, well-known company that I'm confident you'll be comfortable mentioning on your website.

I'm authorized to offer up to $40 for the post and can pay by Paypal. Please let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to hearing from you!

Thanks,
Olivia

Oliva Byrd
Perennial Relations

If you don't want to receive emails like this from me, please let me know here.



Hi Olivia,

The offers sounds interesting. What should the article be about?

-B



Hi Blake,

Thanks for getting back to me.

My client is Agora Financial, a company who focuses on providing independent economic commentary, analysis, and education through print and online publications. We can provide you with an article based on any topic you choose, as long as we can include a link to their company. Or if you prefer to write the post yourself, we offer $65 for this option as we understand that maintaining brand voice is important to our bloggers.

Let me know your thoughts!

Best,
Olivia



Hi Olivia,

How about an article about monetizing blogs, including potential opportunities, benefits and drawbacks?

Thanks,

-B



Hi B,

Sounds great! Do you want me to assign that topic to one of my writers or did you want to author the post?

Best,
Olivia



Hi Olivia,

I can author the post. I'm thinking of doing a Q and A about blogging monetization with an expert in the field, exploring some of the potential pitfalls and opportunities, and of course I'll add a link to Angora. 

Based on material I've developed so far I believe this could best be structured as an email correspondence. Would that work with what you're envisioning? Or do you foresee any potential pitfalls or opportunities?

Thanks,

-B



Hey Blake,

Yes, that sounds awesome! I look forward to reading that.

Please work the following URL into the text anywhere (preferably to something with the words "finance", "Agora Financial" or something similar to that):

https://www.indeed.com/q-Agora-Financial-jobs.html

Please also send me the link to the article once it is live along with your PayPal email address and we can get payment squared away upon review!

Best,

Olivia



Thanks Olivia, 

In writing the piece it might help to know a bit more about Agora. My blog is basically about photography and I'm having a hard time connecting Agora's financial services jobs with that subject. I suppose one possible connection is that creating blog content with paid links is a type of job, even if unconventional. But that logic might be a stretch for some readers. Do you have any suggestions? Any more specific info about Agora's ties to photography?

Thanks,

-B



(No Reply)



Hi Olivia,

It's been a few weeks. Just checking in to see how the piece is coming. Any progress?

-B



Hi Blake,

I apologize for the delay in my response. I didn't realize that your site was photography based so I don't think Agora would be a good fit for your site.

I will be sure to reach out in the future if I have any clients that are a better fit.

Enjoy your weekend!




Hi Olivia,

I don't understand. You've already hired me to write the article, which is nearly complete at this point. Now you want to renege on the deal? 

Does this mean I don't get the $40, or some portion of the amount we'd agreed upon?

Efterklang,

-B



Hi Andrew,

I apologize, I meant to respond to another person with that last email where I told you I didn't think Agora was a good fit for your site.

Please continue to keep writing the article! I look forward to reading it. 

Best,

Olivia



OK, that's great to hear!

I've recently catered several blog posts to the burgeoning Equationistic demographic, which I know a lot of advertisers are trying to reach. It's beginning to pay off and I think this post will dovetail nicely with the new direction.

So just send the article when finished and I'll get it posted right away! 

(Also the $40) 

Thanks,

-A



(No Reply)

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Death Panel

A photo related panel from Asaf Hanuka's wonderful collection of cartoons The Realist, which I've enjoyed recently.