One week from yesterday: HoverCraft!

One week from yesterday, Laura Gorzek and I will debut our current venture, The Living Photo Booth Project! We will pack up our suitcases and head over to the Bay View Brew Haus for HoverCraft, an event that combines crafts, bands & local businesses to showcase the rad people that make Milwaukee.

HoverCraft

When: Sunday, December 5th.   

Location: Bay View Brew Haus 

Crafting Time: 12 - 6

Music Time: 8- Midnight

Milwaukee's newest artist collaborative studio space

This past Saturday I spent my evening with Sean Bodley at Studio 420b, Milwaukee's newest artist collaborative studio space. In addition to Sean, artists Lindsay Marx, Fred Kames, Mark David Gray, and Asher Gray call Studio 420b their creative space.

The idea of a collaborative studio space has always intrigued me, but I never pictured such a large collaborative space. Immediately, I asked Sean how he felt about sharing a studio with a bunch of other artists. He answered, "The main reason I enjoy it is because I always have someone around to give feedback and critique my work. Its nice having that after graduation."

Sean Bodley's studio space

Among the plethora of paintings, I still managed to find the few photographs that call Studio 420b home.

Located just south of the 3rd Ward, in the 5th Ward, Studio 420b is a great place to stop during Gallery Night and Day. Having the chance to check out an artist's studio is a real treat, especially when they display in progress work. Being inside a space of pure creativity makes me feel energized, excited and inspired to create.

unpredictable moments

I can never predict when something will hit my eye in just the right way. 

2010

Sneak peak!

While running a few errands today, I decided to stop by the UW-Milwaukee Union Art Gallery and check out their current show. Unfortunately, they were in the process of installing a new show, but a friend of mine, Sean Bodley, works there so I got a sneak peak of the upcoming exhibition. Venerate: Collectors of the Human Condition features two-dimensional drawings and paintings as well as three-dimensional sculptures from found items, this exhibition of mixed-media work by Loren Schwerd and Marco Zamora looks to collections of memory and nostalgia.

The work of Loren Schwerd immediately caught my attention. She uses human hair extensions found outside of St. Claude Beauty Supply in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in her commemorative sculpture work.

Check out Loren Schwerd's work in Venerate: Collectors of the Human Condition between November 18 and December 17, 2010. The opening reception will take place this Thursday, November 18th from 5-7pm. She will give a gallery talk on Thursday, December 2nd at 7pm!

The Living Photo Booth Project

I spent the better part of my day creating props for The Living Photo Booth Project with Laura Gorzek.

For those of you who do not know, The Living Photo Booth Project was Founded in 2010 by Laura Gorzek and myself, with the hopes of providing a live photo booth experience from start to finish. The Living Photo Booth Project is a great addition to any type of party, gathering or event. Give us a theme and we will show up with an appropriate backdrop and box of costumes, take fun photos of you and your guests, and print a take home photographic token on the spot for a small monetary cost.

Keeping the physical world in touch, our mission is to remind the public of the joy of interacting with one another and holding onto a printed photograph in this digital and disconnected world.

You can catch The Living Photo Booth Project at HoverCraft MKE on December 5 at the Bay View Brew Haus.

Carousel: The Fourth Annual Milwaukee Invitational Slideshow

Tomorrow evening a unique event will be taking place at the Woodland Pattern Book Center. For the fourth year in a row, Naomi Shersty and Carl Bogner will curate an evening of slideshow images/artworks. This years artists include: Emily Litgens, Stephanie Hutin & Florencio Zavala, Jon Horvath, Patrick Wodsinski, Ken Wood, Annushka Peck & Julia Swanson, Renato Umali, and Matthew Rethaber.

When: Friday, November 12 · 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Where: Woodland Pattern Book Center -

             720 East Locust Street.

             Milwaukee, WI 53212-2547

Cost: $4 at the door - free wine & cookies!

On a black and white kick...

I've always liked Sally Mann's work, but I suppressed this fondness in my early years of school because it seemed like a cliche admiration seeing as I knew very little of the larger world of fine art photography. After being introduced to new photographers on a daily basis, her work got lost in the mix until junior year, when I began research for my senior thesis. This is when I saw What Remains, a documentary film on one of Sally Mann's recent bodies work and it blew me away!

What Remains was inspired by loss of life and what happens when we pass. Sally's literal interpretation of the topic shows her dedication to exploring this topic without boundaries. Based on this work alone, Sally has returned to the top of my list of all time favorite photographers.

 

Every time I view this work,  I regret not taking a large format class in college and I think about how much stronger my work could be.

Simple delights.

At breakfast this morning, a few friends and I discussed our delight in rainy weather. I found it appropriate to post a photograph that I took in a small town along the Menomonee River earlier this fall. There is nothing more serene than the gentle sound of light rain on a quiet river.

Shot with my Mamiya 645E, Provia 100F Film

Duarte Amaral Netto

Filipa. 2007 | 46 x 60 cm

I stumbled upon Duarte Amaral Netto's work through Many, a collective blog project exhibiting fine photography found by fine photographers. His body of work titled, Do que nos lembramos quando nos lembramos de nos, speaks of lost and fading memories. Pieces of the photograph transfers are missing, symbolizing the way pieces of memories get lost in translation over time.

Na relva depois do almoço | 110 x 142 cm 

 

Anything but traditional...

Last night Laura Gorzek and I had the honor of running a photo booth at Heroes in the Night : Inside the Real Life Superhero book publishing benefit. It was our trial run at doing a nontraditional photo booth, and we succeeded! We raised money for the book publishing and had a great time doing so.

 Check out the rest of our photographs on Laura's flickr.

and so the fun begins...

Today was a long day, but it was one of those that flies by and helps you sleep through the night. The best part by far was starting a six week grant writing course at Alverno College. Grants have always intrigued and intimidated me, but I think it is time I learn how to tackle them, not only for my sake, but for the sake of Guildess.

Although this photograph was taken during the summer, 

it reminds me of how the sun felt on my face today.

North Star Camp, Summer 2009

Antique treasures

Over the summer I visited a rather large antique store in Duluth, Minnesota. I explored their collection for about an hour before finding the camera/photography section, which was full of beautiful, old expensive cameras including a few brownies. After drooling over these for quite some time, I decided to stop torturing myself and just walk away. To my surprise, I walked right into a table filled with boxes of old photographs. For those who know me, you can imagine my initial delight, and then contemplative sadness towards these photographs of memories and people who no longer exist. I tried imaging the stories behind each photograph and how the individuals in the photographs felt at the time they were taken. Before splurging to purchase all the photographs, I moved on to the next table where I found something even more lovely... a box full of stereographs! Oh how I have loved these treasures ever since I learned about them in a History of Photography class. Now, I could not pass up the opportunity to own a few of these since I have never seen them sold in any capacity other than on the internet. After a while of indecisiveness, I settled on the following three:

 

I feel connected to each of these for a different reason and love the fact that they are from 1897, 1902, and 1899.

 For more information on stereographs, visit: 

American Antiguarian Society

A Brief History of Stereographs and Stereoscopes

Riverwest ArtWalk 2010

Spent the better part of my day at the Riverwest ArtWalk! This annual art walk is organized by the Riverwest Artists Association as a way to introduce the public to the way artists live and work within a local community. My first stop was at the Jazz Gallery to pick up my ticket and a map. Then onto the Feed Shop space located next door where a friend of mine, Laci Coppins, was showing a small collection of her photographic works created while in residence at RedLine Milwaukee.

My favorite part of the day was touring a few artist's studio spaces. Gallery shows are lovely, as always, but there is something more exciting about being able to peak into the life of another artist and see in progress work strewn about their space. Of particular note was the Studio 731 gallery space. Here, there was a diverse collection of work from MFA grads of the UW-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts. Kristin Haas's studio was open to the public and I was quite impressed by the variety of work she is able to create within the context of her technique. An example of her work:

 You can check out more at her website.

In addition, Leah Schreiber was in the midst of a minimalist performance piece that gained the attention of a little girl who insisted on participating herself:

The Riverwest ArtWalk will be going on Sunday, as well, from 12-5pm. (I apologize for the quality of the photographs, they were taken with my cell phone).

nostalgic for spring

AmeriCorps 2010

A fragment of summer...

Current reading/viewing material...

< Sleeping Beauty II: Grief, Bereavement in Memorial Photography American and European Traditions by Stanley Burns & Elizabeth A. Burns. 

"The proprietor and curator of the Burns Archive, a large collection of early medical and 19th-century documentary photography in New York, Stanley Burns and his daughter, Elizabeth, have produced a sumptuous volume of beautifully reproduced postmortem photographs, expanding on his 1991 volume, Sleeping Beauty: Memorial Photography in America. Photographs from 15 countries, ranging from the earliest daguerreotypes to present-day color snapshots, show that since the invention of photography survivors have sought to fix their memory of deceased loved ones." - Kathleen Collins

Through my research earlier this year, I stumbled upon these volumes and I am strangely drawn to the images inside. This volume also includes a little story/description of each photograph.


 
< On Longing: Narratives of the Miniature, the Gigantic, the Souvenir, the Collection by Susan Stewart 

I first encountered this novel when a professor of photography, Paul Berger, visited our thesis class and recommended I read it. Honestly, I only read "the Miniature" section last time, but this time I plan on reading more because it is a very interesting look into the relationship of narratives and objects. 

Sarah Thornton (Author)

› Visit Amazon's Sarah Thornton Page

Find all the books, read about the author, and more.

See search results for this author

Are you an author? Learn about Author Central

  < Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton

A friend of mine suggested I read this novel about spending time in each division of the art world. The author argues that the art world is a "cluster of intermingling subcultures unified by the belief, whether genuine or feigned, that nothing is more important than the art itself."

Hayward, WI, part 2

This is Neil. 

He is from Manchester, United Kingdom and one of the more interesting people I met this summer. 

Of all the commercial photography I have done, the only type that doesn't make me feeling like I am selling my soul is portraiture. No, not yearbook portraits, but actual portraits where you spend more than 2 minutes with the individual you are photographing. Perhaps I'll pursue this further once I find a studio space.

Hayward, WI

First set of film images taken during my summer in Hayward, WI.

When I photograph places I like to photograph the finer details, objects and locations that are often times overlooked by the people who pass by them every day.

Inspiration: 3, Thomas Doyle

I am not quite sure how I managed to discover Thomas Doyle amidst my internet searching, but I am very glad I did.

"My work mines the debris of memory through the creation of intricate worlds sculpted in 1:43 scale and smaller. Often sealed under glass, the works depict the remnants of things past—whether major, transformational experiences, or the quieter moments that resonate loudly throughout a life. In much the way the mind recalls events through the fog of time, the works distort reality through a warped and dreamlike lens." - Thomas Doyle

His work puts me on edge as if something tragic is about to happen, but he goes about it in a very thoughtful way.

Inspiration: 2, Walter Martin & Paloma Munoz

Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz have amazed and influenced me since I stumbled upon them in 2008. I was putting together a presentation for my thesis class of the many artists that have inspired me when I discovered their miniature scenes, complete with fantasy and close to death encounters.

The first set of photographs are from a their series Islands (2003-2009). I enjoy the forest scenes because they take you closer to the island, which portrays a feeling of endless space.

This next set of images is taken from the series Travelers (2001-2009). These take place in snow globes, which provides a sense of seclusion in much the same way an island does. 

Inspiration: 1, Elizabeth Weinberg

I am not quite sure how I stumbled upon the work of Elizabeth Weinberg, but I continue to go back to her work when I want a glimpse into someone else's life. Recently, she was selected as one of PDN's 30 Emerging Photographers to Watch in 2010 and has photographed for many publications and celebrities. Website: Elizabeth Weinberg.

What inspires me about Weinberg is how she uses her daily life and surroundings as the basis for her work. Sometimes I get stuck thinking that I have to go out and find things to photograph, when there are things right in front of my face.

Happy Accidents

Since May, I have been photographing with my Mamiya and Holga camera's quite regularly. Returning to the mode of shooting all the time was difficult, but for me, it is the only way to produce work that taps into my subconscious. All bodies of work have to start somewhere and a professor of mine, Gina Rymarcsuk, taught me that some of your best work comes from photographing in a way that you don't usually shoot. The following photograph was taken with a Holga and I am fairly certain the back popped off the camera while I was shooting. A few years ago I would not have been happy with the results of the light leak, but another professor of mine, Naomi Shersty, planted the idea in my head that at times, it is more interesting to see the imperfections of a photograph.

reunited with the city, part 2 of 2

Here are some more photographs! A few campers display their final products:

reunited with the city, part 1 of 2

I'm finally back in Milwaukee and now it is time to share some tales of my adventure in Wisconsin's North Woods. Sometimes, pictures tell better stories:

Below is the only photograph I have of the space I worked in. Not pictured: sink area, kiln, throwing wheel, woodworking tools and supplies, and lots of extra supply storage. You can hardly see the funky lounge area on the left, complete with homemade disc ball (my addition to the space). 

The rest of these photographs were taken during project periods: