Cairo 2015 | Rivertowns

 Abandoned Building, Cairo IL 2015

Back in March, I made a visit to Cairo, Illinois. I left Memphis and followed the river up to a town I had seen before. I had photographed there in 2006 while traveling the Delta with a poet friend. He had gone to school nearby and thought it was a perfect place for me to see.

This was once a prominent Rivertown at the Southern tip of Illinois that had been plagued by race riots and flooding and emigration to other cities to the point that it had become a shell of what it used to be. Shamefully so, seeing as how most of the rivers I follow are full of towns that are the same age and size, yet have become artist or antique enclaves for suburban wealth to visit or retire to. Nothing like the economic and architectural devastation in Cairo.

The images I made in 2006 are part of the Delta Work series, since then I have lumped that work in with a broader body of work about Rivertowns.

Empty Storefront, Cairo IL 2015

In returning to Cairo the things that caught my attention the most were how much less was there and how differently I saw it. My first visit was pure awe, I photographed most things that caught my eye. My most recent trip was more surprise at what was gone since the last visit and more casual in my stance, like I had seen it all before. I still found some great images but my eyes were tuned to different things this round.

I am looking forward to a third trip and a more concentrated effort to tackle the idea of the Rivertown.

 Buy 1 Get 1 Free, Highway 11W, TN 2011 © jwl

Transmissions, Pittsburgh, PA 2008 © jwl

 Goal, Memphis, TN 2015 © jwl

Fun!, Highway 79, TN © jwl

 Wall Mural, Memphis, TN 2015 © jwl

Elvis & B.B., Memphis, TN 2015 © jwl

Words Are Hard These Days

Bass, Cadiz, KY 2015 © jwl

Due to a bit of traveling, a death in the family, my marriage & a traumatic wrist injury I have been away from the blog for a bit. Sorry about that.

I have a few posts scheduled for the next few days, so stay tuned!! Sadly, my wrist makes it very hard to type, so there won't be quite as much wordplay. I may go back and add some banter later, but for now (and a few days after now) enjoy the images.

feel free to comment, I love to know what you think of my work.

-jwl

No Place Like Home

 Burned Out Home, HWY 30, TN 2015 © jwl


This week I had a nice Saturday Drive. Once again Eli Johnson sat shotgun and we wandered South West. Not your typical photographer's SW, like O'Keefe and the majestic desert of Tuscon or what have you, no we just drove SW out of Knoxville.

I hit a couple of familiar roads and took notice of a few things, Eli was all charged up with that fresh look kinda face. One familiar road that I traveled, albeit very briefly, was the digital photography road. Even though I had given myself some 'film only' rules early in the year, I broke those rules simply because I could. Also, It's at times nice to see some fruit after a trip to the market. Everything doesn't have to be mail order!

The main reason I took out the D200 was because I have been analyzing my images a lot of late and the photos that my digital unit produces are very sharp. What I have to make a point to do while I am in the field is to NOT use the same viewpoint of a subject with multiple cameras. I have found that I have several versions of the same subjects and I am starting to get a little disorganized. But that is my problem, not yours, enjoy the show!!

How I See It...

Abandoned Building, HWY 90, MS 2014 © jwl

My girl Kim spotted this beauty from the co-pilot position on our way back from New Orleans. She has a keen eye. I load a lot of that trip and being with her into how I feel about this image. I see this photo and I immediately think of Kim, then I remember our trip and toward the end I look at the beauty in the color and the light and I wonder what this structure was before it was art.

What do you see?

The Spirit Compells Me

 Abandoned Building, HWY 70, TN 2013 © jwl

Here are a couple that I found on my way back from Nashville. I guess as compositions they are the same picture, but each one has it's own power. Being compelled to make images  isn't a terrible thing.

Green Truck, HWY 70, TN 2013 © jwl

WARNING!!!

Warning, Highway 25W, KY 2014 ©jwl

Here's the New News.... I have been back in Tennessee for almost 4 years now. I haven't been producing photographs, but I have been collecting them. As I try to get back into a consistent habit of making and processing images I am also starting to take notice of the patterns that emerge from this work. One such pattern is turning out to be a very strong attraction to roadside religion and all it's signage and statement. I thing I am giving this collection the title of Found Gods for now.

Since I feel that an entire collection of Jesus & Crosses and all that might get old as a body of work unto itself, I am probably gonna throw another couple of ideas into that mix like the idea of Hand Painted Signs and/or Manufactured Nature images mingling with God in this photographic party.

4 Deer, Highway 321, NC 2014 ©jwl

The idea of the hierarchy of hand me down creativity really excites me. Like God creates Man & Nature, Man creates Nature images & Icons and alters the natural landscape, then Man turns around and worships God and all the has created. Kinda, right?

However you see it,  I am gonna investigate these themes all at once and see where I end up photographically.

New Orleans

Window Queen, New Orleans LA 2014 ©jwl

In the early months of 2014, I took a vacation with my (soon to be) fiance to New Orleans. I hadn't been there since before that big flood. In fact, I didn't have too good a time the last time I was there, so I didn't think I was gonna go back.

Luckily, Kim and I took the trip. It was a fine time for she and I to have a little adventure. It was also about time for me to dust off the Mamiya 6 and see if I could get it to make some pretty things for me. I reconnected with this beautiful city and it's uniqueness both visually and spiritually. I look forward to a return trip.

I saw this Lady after brunch and decided to harness the power of Chad Pelton and hopefully inspire him to join me in NOLA to add to our everlong Rivertown project. We have yet to clear that up, but we have plenty of time for that.

Payphone, New Orleans LA 2014 ©jwl

I found this delightful reminder of a bygone time after seeking out some beignets & coffee in City Park. I am starting to re-categorize my images. I have a lot of repeated offenses of the American Landscape, several different disposable themes all over the country. Empty Phone booths are in no short supply.

I know it was almost a year ago, but I want thank Noah Antieau @ Red Truck Gallery for his incredible hospitality and guidance while we were in his fine city. It was also great to have a few talks with Noah regarding art and the making of it. I met him years ago at Art Chicago and I put him high on the list of True Humans. He is a connection I hope to keep for years to come.

What Comes After A Long Wait

It has been over a year since I last posted. It's time to change that. Get back on the horse, as they say.

It's safe to say that I have been less than prolific for the last 3 years. Not that I haven't been taking photographs, I just haven't been processing or producing them. In fact, a couple of months ago I processed many rolls of film that had been patiently waiting their turn. The time has come! I have several new images to share and possibly some new ideas about them. I hope you enjoy what I have to offer.

Billboards & House, Near I-75, KY 2014 ©jwl

I have been taking drives every Saturday to look for images in the surrounding region. I am trying my best to get into a working habit of spending Saturdays working either on finding and collecting images or dealing with the fruit of that labor. I have learned that I am a Man Of Habit and so I need to schedule myself Work/Studio time or I just won't be very productive.

Playing with my old Billboard theme while also trying to expand my formal sense, this is a new photograph that I am proud of. I rather enjoy how it gives an idea of the Southeastern landscape as well as a glimpse into the ever evolving roadside environment. I guess that's what I am looking to accomplish. If you see something more, feel free to share. I look forward to some feedback and engagement with art again.

Mining The Past #6

Tire Repair, Four Mile KY 1999 © jwl

So this is a good one. During one of the first trips home to work on my Southeastern View photographs, I blew a tire in KY. Luckily the Brooks Brothers were open late on a Sunday. I think if I would have had this experience today, I would have been more adventurous and photographed the interior of this place. Alas, I only busted out the XA and played outside for a minute while the Brothers did their work getting me back on the road.

Mining The Past #3

 Abandoned Gas Station, HWY 41 IL 2001 © jwl

As I continue to dig and dig through the negative archives I am pulling a lot of interesting images back out for a second or third look. Early on in the search of the American Vernacular I used the automobile as a thematic device in photographing the built environment. I have found a few of these archetypes in my digging.

There are hundreds or thousands of unused gas stations in this country. When bigger roads get built and the traffic is diverted to the new path so does the business. My interest is peaked when the building is derelict and forgotten, yet the soul of the idea is still in place and tomorrow is in question.

Checklist Fodder

Farmhouse With Kudzu, HWY 92 TN 2013 ©jwl

I am nothing if I am not an obsessive collector of the things I love. Records, Coffee Mugs, Shot Glasses, Books, Art, Pop Culture Minutia.... The list goes on. This habit is most obvious for anyone who looks into my work. I have a running checklist of subjects that I gravitate toward as I go out into the field to work. Mind you, not every billboard or tire store or decrepit/hand-painted sign or house covered in kudzu always make the cut. At times there are photographs that just get edited out, but I will shoot them when I feel the need to add them to the family.

With that, I give you my newest baby! I took a rainy day drive last weekend and came home a very proud father.

Momma's Boy

 Arrow / Mower, Blountville TN 2012 © jwl

Over the last decade (gulp) of working on the Southeastern View book, as well as any work before and since, which required me to drive the back roads of East TN, Southwest VA & Northwest NC, I can blame a lot of those miles on my Mother. You see, Mom has maintained a house in rural NC and TN much of the past 15 years. While living in WI, I traveled to see her regularly and also used those family visits to generate volumes of photographs. That's mainly how the Southeastern View work came about.

 Abandoned House, HWY 88 NC 2011 © jwl

Some of the reason I relocated back to Knoxville from WI was to be closer to my Mother a well as my muse in these back roads, foothills & mountains. Living back in the Southeast gives me many opportunities to make photographs of all the things that I have fallen in love with in the last few years. I also am lucky enough to be able to visit my Mother and get back home within a day. A drive that once took 15 hours is now a mere 3.

Jesus Saves, HWY 88 NC 2011 © jwl

Even though I have been much less active in posting or showing new photographs in the last couple of years, I have been looking and capturing images. Like a match hitting gas, I have been feverishly digging into the treasure of the last couple years and discovering a great many wonderful new photographs. Here are a few of the new crop, specifically taken as I drove to visit my beloved Mother.

Time Slips Away & Leaves Nothing

Shed, Crab Orchard TN 2012 © jwl

A great friend visited KNX while he was on a trip South last year. Rather than letting the time slip away and let him bus it to Nashville, I took the opportunity to drive him to the airport. We had a a hell of an afternoon listening to music catching up and seeing the 2-lane America in Eastern-Middle TN. I grabbed this shed along the way.

I Swear I'm Working

 Alley Way, Knoxville TN 2012 © jwl

I got this pretty baby on a walk to work a couple of weeks ago. Since moving back to Knoxville last year, I have tried to re-relate to my old stomping grounds by taking walks and making photographs. Much like the work I did in my neighborhood in Milwaukee for the WALKING PICTURES book, these images are intimate and delicate and very telling of where I am and what I am looking at.

Knoxville has a great many little alleys like this one, filled with a variety of outbuildings, garages and sheds. I am considering a small run book of these structures in the near future.

Chair & Blocks, Myrtle Beach SC 2012 © jwl

I took a quick weekend trip to the beach last weekend for some fun & sun. It never fails, I will always find a chair somewhere! I grabbed this one after taking a wrong turn in search of a skatepark. It goes to show that you can find some sort of art in the damnedest places.

I wonder, who's throne is this and who are his or her minions?

Just Going For A Drive

 The Blue & The Grey, HWY 321 TN 2012 © jwl

Out Front, HWY 321 TN 2012 © jwl

I went for a drive on Thursday toward Newport TN & Gatlinburg. The weather was right and I just thought I would look for something new. I stopped and found these images after a pit stop, a twix & a grape Nehi. After this we found some good sandwiches and Hillbilly Golf!

Telling | Beginning

Enter, Near I-75 TN 2010 © jwl

This seemed like a fitting beginning to making some new work while traveling for the holidays. The weather has been a challenge and a lot of moving around has taken it's toll on my creativity, but I still have a few days to work. I can only hope that I can get through the rest of the trip without too much bad weather on the way back. Wish me luck.

Ken Is My Co-Pilot

Outbuilding, Wallis TX 2003 © jwl
During my Gallery Night reception on Friday night, I was trading stories with my friend (and favorite co-pilot) Ken about some trips we had taken together. It made me think of an image that went along with the story. Incidentally, it is another photograph that never got printed or used in any way.

This is for Ken.