Sore Backs | High Expectations

I got my keys this week for the new studio. I have spent the last 2 evenings taking loads in my car, just grabbing what is easy and will fit. We are coming up on brass tacks, though. I am gonna spend the afternoon breaking down desks and equipment and getting ready for what will go in the van.

I am really excited about the new spot. Lots of legroom & lots of light.

I plan to have the printer offline for less than a week. If there is any concern from my clients, fear not. We will be running again soon.

Back From Bristol

Turn 4, Bristol Motor Speedway, Tennessee 2008 © jwl

For the first time in 6 years I made my way home to East Tennessee and didn't make art. I am going to use the fall and winter to move into a new studio, work with negs I have already shot and finish a couple of books. Somewhere in there I am going to try and apply for grad school. I don't see how adding negs to the pile will help.

What I did do, however, is have a lot of fun. I went to two races last weekend at Bristol (Thanks to Wes for the Friday hookup). I drank a lot of beer and I howled at the moon. I can't wait til next year. If you get the chance, head to Bristol. It's everything they say and more.

Phones, Off Interstate 75, Kentucky 2008 ©jwl

I am in Tennessee for the weekend to see the races @ Bristol. I have made a decision not to make this trip a full -on artmaking journey. I am down here to relax and have fun. Saying that, I will admit I spent a lot of time prior to leaving packing a camera bag and getting ready in case I found something.

I found this in Kentucky yesterday. I was taken by the booths and that yellow in the background. I am always examining the environments surrounding the many gas stations I use. They are very surreal at times. So blank and utilitarian.

Off To The Races

I am leaving Wednesday for a trip back home to Tennessee. I am going to go to Knoxville for a day, see my Mom for a couple of days and head over to Bristol to see the races this Saturday. I went to the August race last year and had the time of my life. As far as I am concerned, I want this to be my August vacation for the rest of my life. It is F'n Awesome.

This might be the first time in the last 8 years that I haven't made photograpy the main agenda for heading south. Not tht I don't have other reasons that I go, but I always make time for the beast (art). This year, I will have cameras, etc, but I am not agendizing my trip around them. I am going strictly for the going.

Who knows, maybe I will make the best art of my life by not trying. Wish me luck.

Untitled, Highway 347, Tennessee 2007 ©jwl

It's been a bit since I worked on new images. The gallery and other work have taken a hold of my time so much that my work has been on hiatus. I am also gearing up for a big move into my new studio before I buckle down to work all winter. So maybe I am on vacation as well.

Next week I am headed back to Tennessee to see some folks and go to a race, so the hills and glory have been on my mind. I pulled this one out to have a look. I was enchanted by this scene when I made this image and it still holds a bit of mystery for me. There's something about the light, the creek and that table that give me pause.

Myself, Then

8.14.4, 2004 ©jwl

As part of my series of year long projects I tried to take a self portrait everyday between April 2004 and April 2005. These projects are completely rigid and seemingly disciplinary acts with the idea to keep me active in a project without losing focus over time. They are successful at times and not in others, but for the most part I generate work in a completist's sense.

This project of self portraits moved from my attempts at understanding the act of portraiture from the sitter's position to a more direct portrait of myself. If I didn't make a portrait on a given day I was to write a page of whatever spilled onto the page. Some are banal and some are extraordinary. All of them describe me in a particular time and place.

I found this image while looking over the work today. It was taken 4 years ago today.

Disposable?

Every time I go to a wedding I make a point to grab up one of the disposable cameras off the tables and go to work. I don't take pictures of the people or the family, but I make photographs of what I find interesting at the event. When the camera is full, I place it back on the table and I am done. Since I never see how they turned out, I think of it as an active exercise of seeing.

A couple of weeks ago I photographed a wedding and the clients figured out which camera was mine and gave me the negatives. I tried to explain that wasn't what I wanted, but they insisted. I am glad they did! Looking over the images I love the idea of a time limit as well as a frame limit to the work. I basically had 27 shots and a few hours to make something happen.

I recently went to a lecture by Stephen Shore and he mentioned some book projects that he has been doing in which he photographs for a day and makes a book of that work, done and done. Between that idea and revisiting the American Surfaces book this week, I am really happy with these images.