June 27, 2010, 9:02:41 p.m., between 3rd and 4th Avenue.
June, 2010 Archives
What, you ask, does this mean for you? It means you can help a photographer fund an incredibly important project. Yes, YOU! And you can get some pretty amazing prints in the process.
From Mr. Shea himself:
ABOUT
As any artist or photographer can tell you, independently funding a full body of work and preparing the work for exhibition involves constant financial struggle. Receiving a grant to make Removing Mountains in 2007 was amazing, but if I kept waiting for another large sum of money to be awarded, I might never make another project. In 2009, I launched a print sale to hit the road for part one of a two-part trip to Southeast Ohio. The result of that trip is the edit of Plume that is currently on my website. I was able to fund the trip entirely through your generosity.
Plume is almost done. After one more trip to the region this summer, I will be able to make a complete edit and begin showing the work. Later this year I will have my first full exhibition of the work at the Appalachian Center in Kentucky. I’m launching a second print sale effort to fund the return travels to the region this summer and prepare for the Kentucky show and future exhibitions.
If you’re looking at this page, thank you, sincerely. I know not everybody who wants to help financially can, so if you’d like to help me out, post this link on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, whatever. Send an email to your uncle who likes pretty pictures. If you help me promote this on your blog, shoot me an email, and I’ll send you a thank-you in the mail (maybe a print, maybe something else).
This sounds mostly like business, but beyond issues of funding, I’m 100% committed to spending dedicated time in a region that has been the victim of duck-in/duck-out photojournalism and media-driven, grossly misrepresented stereotypes. Additionally, politically, at the center of this work is the issue of energy as it relates to our ability to distribute power in every form. 2010 is a year where I/we can feel one step closer to this conversation entering the public arena in a substantial way.
Did you catch that last paragraph? If you did, and it hit you like it did me, head on over to his site and contribute. Thanks!
When we bought our house six years ago, we knew that someday “the highway” would come within a couple of hundred yards of our property. With the environmental impact study in progress (or complete), it looks like someone’s been given the green light to proceed. We took a walk through the felled timbers and freshly cleared underbrush. The smell of cut wood and overturned earth was overpowering and the silence was deafening. It was a sad walk. I guess that’s the cost of convenience.
So, I hoped to have this post up in time for Memorial Day, but that obviously didn’t happen. I wanted to share some of the war-related photo books I’ve collected as well as links to some of the photographers I think have done a remarkable job covering not only the front lines, but the home front as well. Before I get to the books, here are a couple of links to some incredible war reportage:
David Guttenfelder – Captured Collection and his iPhone photos from Afghanistan
The Big Picture – Afghanistan, May, 2010
Nina Berman, Purple Hearts – Back from Iraq
Trolley, 2004
Hardcover | 96 pages | $5.26 (found at a local book store 2/12/08)
I lucked out by finding this book on my lunch hour a couple of years ago. It’s moving, graphic, and very real. Copies aren’t hard to come by and I highly recommend picking one up. You can see her multimedia piece on Purple Hearts here.
Ashley Gilbertson, WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT
The University of Chicago Press, 2007
Hardcover | 264 pages | $25.55 (Amazon)
Ashley Gilbertson is an incredible photographer and human being. The images of WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT speak for themselves, but Gilbertson’s writing is notable as well. Since joining the VII Network, Gilbertson has produced several other moving pieces of work, including Shell Shock. Be advised, there’s some strong language.
Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, Kael Alford, Thorne Anderson, Rita Leistner, Unembedded
Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2005
Softcover | 192 pages | $13.19 (Better World Books)
This book was another great find. The foreword is by Philip Jones Griffiths and the accompanying text and photos are a harsh visual reminder of the cost of war, both military and civilian.
Last, but certainly not lease (for me), I finally made the switch to a full frame camera body with the Canon EOS 5D. I traded my Canon EOS 1D Mark II, which was a great camera, but for my needs, the 5D works perfectly. I know, I know. The 5D has been out since 2005 and it’s now 2010. So I’m a little slow. I made the switch to Canon in the latter part of 2008 before going to India. I knew at the time I’d someday like to shoot full frame EOS cameras, but couldn’t afford to. Fortunately, I found a local shooter on craigslist who was interested in an even trade and we made the deal. Would I like to own the 5D Mark II? You bet. In fact, if you’d like to contribute to the Take Your Camera for a Walk 5D Mark II Fund, just let me know and I’ll be quite thankful. Sample images will be up soon.