Joshua Lutz's site, www.youarenotevenhere.com, and his project on the meadowlands totally blew me away. Especially since i am from new jersey and have a pretty special attachment to that reedy swampland (and some sweet scars from being stabbed by such reeds. Which reminds me- there is some photographer who did a project on deer runs- the subtle parting of reeds and grasses and such just barely visible. where can i find these photos? ) (or maybe it was these photos from Katherine Wolkoff). If you want to read an awesome book: The Meadowlands by Robert Sullivan
©Joshua Lutz
©Joshua Lutz
©Joshua Lutz
©Joshua Lutz
©Joshua Lutz
©Katherine Wolkoff
I never wrote about my NYPH experience. Oh well. Just now, I spent lots of time looking at tinyvices.com This site is starting to feel like it will become like the infamous Henry Darger text (an "illustrated fantasy novel manuscript, typed single-spaced with 15,145 pages in 10 volumes"- it is believed to be the longest novel in the english language)- it's swelled to infinite proportions. And I feel like it will someday have a crack team of interns spending years of their life cataloguing and archiving...
Because- it is, i believe, the singular most defining source for everything that is great going on in photography right now (and everything that photography SHOULD be- the emphasis on the work and the emotion conveyed). And therefore, speaks volumes for the reality of today. And isn't that always what we're looking for- a little insight into this world of ours? Where would we be without seeing all those images, reminding us of our environment and the people and all these little constructions that speak of the diversity and infinite-ness of life? whoa. Humans have this great ability to ignore the everyday (a necessary evolutionary trait?). I guess some of us are fascinated by that.
John Baeder has won my heart over. I recently found a used copy of "Gas, Food, and Lodging: A Postcard Odyssey Through the Great American Roadside." And in the same week, ordered a book i've always wanted to get called "Sign Language: Street Signs As Folk Art" (go buy one for $.01!!), without even realizing he was the man responsible for this beautiful little slice of magic as well. As time goes on, i can't help being drawn more and more to primitive art, creative things that aren't considered creative, etc. We will see where this goes.
On that note, another one of my favorite books- Folk Archive: Contemporary Popular Art from the UK Nuff said.
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