Something New From The South

Tree & Truck, Scott County, Virginia 2007 ©jwl

Here is the newest image that I have been looking at. I was pondering a few images last week and decided to spend some time with this one. I made this image while I was at my grandmother's house for her wake.

As a kid, I used to play in the center of tis tree. As the tree has gotten older it has sacrificed the lower branches for the upper growth. It doesn't have quite the cavernous hiding places anymore. The truck belongs to my uncle.

Looking deeper into this image, I would place it in that category of my work getting more and more personal. The longer I work on the Southeastern View portfolio, the deeper I look within myself and my personal history for the photographic fodder. I am also leaving much of the academic idealism behind in the process. Whether or not the images are becoming more successful is still a question for me, but I am feeling more akin to them as I work.

Public Speaking

Abandoned Trailer (detail), Highway 16, Virginia 2004 © jwl

I will be presenting work to a photography class at UW-Milwaukee tomorrow morning. The class is beginning their final projects for the semester and I was asked to speak with them about ongoing cohesive projects. The best work that I could consider showing them is my Southeastern View work. This body of work grows and grows, but I feel more attached to it as it blossoms.

In my way, I have been documenting the region of my birth in East Tennessee since 2001. Much of the early photographs deal with my travel toward the region from WI as well as my explorations while there. As time passes, I feel more interested in the actual towns and roads within that region more so than the traversing to reach it.

I hope that I can provide some insight to the students tomorrow. For anyone who wishes to see the Southeastern View work, I will be showing it at the gallery in March 2008.

Even More NY Photographs

View From Bus, Queens, NY 2007 © jwl

Here is yet another of the new images from my recent trip to NYC. I have spoken about these images recently, so I won't repeat myself. I just wanted to share.

Party Pictures

Untitled, NY 2007 © jwl

Socket, Milwaukee 2007 © jwl

Lamp, NY 2007 © jwl

Artphone, Milwaukee 2007 © jwl

I have been going to a lot of parties lately. Recently I have been wielding a camera at several social functions. In the spirit of sharing new and more playful photographs I thought I'd share some new work. These four images are essentially moments that I took to think about the rooms around me. I created these photographs very whimsically. I literally made the images the moment that I took notice of the color, composition or the shape of the world around me.

For most photographers this is a no brainer. That's how it works; you see it, then you shoot it. For me it is actually a bit harder to connect with this idea. I have a way of producng photographs that causes me to over think or discount what I see and I shoot very conservatively. Because of this habit and the thought of hundreds of lost photographs, I am making a special effort to take the picture anyway and think them through later in the day/week/year.

SO when you see me at a party with a camera, this may give you an idea about what I am doing. OR if you see me staring thoughtfully, these is the kind of thoughts I am having.

More From NY

Yellow Roof, Queens, NY 2007 © jw lawson

Here is another image from NY. This was taken during one of our walks in Queens. There were all kinds of interesting houses throughout the neighborhood. The color and the plants struck me here.

I heart NY

Pink Sky, NYC, 2007 © jw lawson

I am spending the weekend visiting friends in NY and seeing the city. This place is the center of the universe, truly amazing. While here I am trying to be a little more free about image making. What I mean is that I am trying to be less calculated in my ways. I need to be bit more playful with my cameras sometimes.

As I walked up the stairs out of the subway this scene struck me. I had been underground for a few minutes and as I rose onto Houston I was taken with the color of the sky. I couldn't resist shooting this.