Invites: Daylight Blog Residency

Some time ago friend and photographer, Bill Sullivan and I were brainstorming about the blog and what it could and could not do. It occurred to us that far too often many were trying to impose older (non internet) forms upon the photography blogs rather than focus on what they are indeed good at. It also became clear that the blog was a wonderful way to get insight into ones artistic character. With this in mind we came up with the idea of creating a blog residency. Where for one month an artist who normally doesn't do much blogging would be invited to post. We held onto the idea until Taj asked me to contribute to the Daylight blog. Not only could a temporary blog provide accessibility to an artist who normally doesn't have that sort of broadcast, but it could be a further understanding of concepts, influences and working process.

Check in on Invites here. With the first invite being buddy Matt Siber, (make sure to ask him about those creepy weird emails about Floating Logos). Future Invites include Michael Wolf, Andrew Borowiec, Mr. Sullivan himself and many others.

Tracey Baran Passing

Very sad to hear the news of the passing of artist, photographer Tracey Baran.

I first met Tracey when she had a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, later over email and then at the Review Santa Fe at the Center in 2006.

Needless I've always been impressed with Tracey's engaging and personal work and was just yesterday citing it to a student.

A memorial service is planned for this weekend details here:

Lost In the Supermarket

SIGN/AGE: Lost in the Supermarket November 21 - December 19, 2008 Opening reception: Thursday, November 20, 6-8PM

Opening this week is the second in a three part SIGN/AGE series. Assembling works by artists from the Post-War period to the present, these exhibitions mine ideas and images from the rich arenas of advertising and consumerism. Since the Fifties, signs have become extremely complex, functioning not just to fulfill needs but to create them. Signs are designed to sell, and people are lined up to buy, because without our products who are we? Lost in the Supermarket includes works by artists that are in direct conversation with our consumer-based culture, taking on the subject from all angles.

Featuring Work By: Arman, Mike Bildo, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, William Eggleston, Martha Friedman, Ralph Goings, Julian Montague, Claes Oldenberg, Thomas Pfannerstill, Daniel Pflumm, Danica Phelps, Michael Spano, Brian Ulrich, Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann Armand Bartos Fine Art 25 East 73rd Street New York, NY

I'm Diggin'...

Paho Mann
Penelope Umbrico
Michael Wesely
Andrew Borowiec New Work The New Heartland
Greg Miller
Shannon Benine
Richard Renaldi Touches Strangers
Carrie Schneider
Jason Lazarus Election Night Photographs

Big Tripod Equals Little Man

The Death of Ambiguity

Today came the realization that ambiguity in photography is gone. Once one of photography's proud trophies, this tactic could lead us on a psychological journey searching through our own mind-data-banks for a resolution. From the earliest of visual understanding we've been taught to understand visual imagery as narrative. 'Dad, Mom and Me live in this house, under this sun, next to this tree'. The photograph has earned so much esteem and pride for existing sans context. When we come upon an image crafted so well as to be descriptive yet ambiguous enough, our eyes hit the malfunction button, the processes of our brain looking for narrative turns back upon itself. We become trapped in the image all of sudden confounded with the details which may, hopefully, give us a reference or clue to what indeed this image is about or 'trying to say'.

The digital image always has context. The internet (and digital) is built upon photographs. It is the language or the building block of the structure of the web page. When the internet did not have photographs it was limited, boring even, certainly it required a high degree of participation from the user in the form of reading. When bandwidth and connection speeds allowed photographs to be resolved in an acceptable form, be stored, archived, and exchanged with ease, the internet became intuitive, an extension of ourselves because it even could look like us through the photograph.

The issue of ambiguity is that now the photograph always has a context, a reference or the info that leads us to it's source, intent or even some other intentional or misleading content which works to inform the image. In-fact if the image appears ambiguous online it makes us look outside of the image rather than within it for the solutions to our narrative dilemmas. Source code, meta data, ip, web address, file info, date created, now give us all and any clues to not necessarily find the right answer but indeed an answer, enough to move, give up and click next.

In one fell swoop the ambiguous strength of the photograph is disabled, obsolete(?) and merely a reference to the days of print on the wall sitting misunderstood and a mystery in and of itself. However do not fear many of photography's other strengths are heightened by their adaption into the internet. Propaganda and it big sister, voyeurism and manufacture.

Safe

Photography Changes Everything

In Cleveland for the Midwest SPE conference. Made the long drive out here with friends and photographers, Katie Addcox and Shannon Benine. Long drives with good conversation and company makes it easier to leave the piles of work lingering at home (not to mention the lady and the dog).

This conference is focused on the changing role of photography as a medium as it becomes subsumed into digital technology. Last night curator Marvin Heiferman presented a fantastic project he's been working on with the Smithsonian as well as other public collections of photographs held within cultural institutions. Marvin has always been thinking about the photograph and its use as it changes in the culture. Today this discussion seems more relevant than ever as it not only affects us 'art kids' but the education, documentary, journalistic and on the grandest scale our visualized understanding of ourselves.

The culmination of Marvin's recent collaboration with these institutions is a website. It's early stages exist here at the aptly titled;

Photography Changes Everything

(love this title as it's so non cynical)

!!!

Red, White and Blue

Reminding you to vote (esp. if you live in NC, PA, OH, IN, MO, FL, SC and MN, ((and esp. if you vote for a guy named O, we need your vote)).

Seriously participate and make sure to research ALL the names on your ballots. Often the local ones will have a bigger effect on your community. Most major newspapers will have voting guides online.

Best results here.

2 Days...

This Week

It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks with not much end in sight but I'm enjoying every minute of it. I'm in Indianapolis, IN knocking on doors and Getting-Out-The-Vote for Mr. Obama during the days and photographing at night. 

I'll return Tues. to wake early and participate in the @600 project (at 7:42am Chicago time), get in line to vote and then head to Grant Park in the evening to attend The Rally.

Thursday I head back east to my old turf Cleveland, OH for the Midwest SPE conference where I'll be giving a talk on Sat. morning (talking about blogs and internet communities for artists). Some great friends are also giving presentations (Barbara Tannenbaum, Kelli Connell on Friday, Dawoud Bey gives a lecture as Honored Educator on Saturday evening, plus much more). 

They'll be more here soon. And working hard on getting much of my new work ready for the interweb and beyond.

In the meantime I highly recommend a digital dialogue through the Conscientious google group.