I am in negotiations with the owner of a great space for a small solo show.  I hope to hang the event for an August opening  running through Labor day, but I may have to skip that weekend as it would make it difficult for the owner to sign a lease with anyone else beginning on the first of the month.  I will be flexible with this and take what I can get.  I will also have to pay rent, which is a cost I had not anticipated, but in the long run do-able and necessary if I want this show in such a short amount of time.  I will have have 12 figure studies and twelve ‘rural views’, all medium format and all sized in an intimate manner that draws the viewer into the image.  We shall see, we shall see…I am ‘acting as if’, however, and prepping my work for the show.  This means matting, framing and having it gallery ready.  I will not push away any other opportunities for other viewings.  Once again, the Universe is in charge.  I can only do the footwork and accept the results.  Some of the new images can be seen on my photo site, so I won’t post them here.

More to come…JDCM

Other big news:  I have been offered a chance to return in the fall for the fall term here, which begins in Tuscany for September and then returns to Paros in October for another 2 1/2 months.  This is something I wanted to do last year but could not let go of my responsibilities at home, emotionally speaking.  Now I can and I am grabbing hold of this chance with both hands.  This term will be more historical in nature and will obviously focus a great deal on the Italian Renaissance. So I will return  to America on June 22nd and turn around and leave again on September 1st or close to it.

More to come…

JDCM

Longnook

I leave for Athens in 59 days.  I am going back to the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts for another term.  I have been courted by both the digital printing guru and the darkroom sorceress and have chosen the ways of the darkroom for my work-study program.  I will be working with my 4×5 and medium format primarily.  I’ll bring my new digital–oh yes, I have upgraded to a Canon 5D MkII.  It is lovely and full-frame which finally allows me to use the L-Series lenses to their full effect.

I have submitted 5 pieces for a juried show in Hudson, NY to be exhibited in the old Opera House in February.  I hope that at least one is chosen and they give it a good space to see it.  The pieces are all 11″x14″.  As you can see by the image, it is following the abstract path I have been on for the past year.  Whether I stay there, I don’t know.  The Aegean Center will see to that.  If this spring is half the catharsis that last spring was, then I should be in good shape for whatever the arts world throws at me.

I recently had the chance to visit a friend’s home and look at his art collection.  I was unimpressed.  Yes, it was all “very important” art and the artists were all “very important” but the work itself left me cold and uninspired: Modern art devoid of warmth, life and verve.  It left me grateful that I love the work that I love and this work varies throughput the ages.  Trust me, there is some very modern work that blows my mind as well as some older pieces that find dull and insipid.  I think that actually it was the collector that I found dull, with his repetitive phrases of “important” and which museum wanted which pieces when he died. Very tacky.

The light is very flat today, but I hope to get out and shoot a roll or two.  Tomorrow is supposed to be sunnier and I will take the 4×5 out and make some exposures.  I am working on farm images these days.  I have to call a nearby farmer and get permission to shoot on his property.  That’s all I’m saying about it.

JDCM

Our spring break begins next week.  I’ll be heading off to Paris for a few days to visit my father who is there for the spring on sabbatical from school.  He is there with his wife until June and they have a nice place in the 4th Arrondisement.  My goal is to shoot at least one roll of film per day while I am there and a lot of digital to work on when I get back.  Of course if I need more film I’m pretty sure I can get some there.  I’ll check on-line and find out.

Just a side note…How lucky am I to be living this life?  What blessed stars shine down upon me and guide me through the wilderness and into the light!

JDCM

The rest of the course load is a series of hour-long lectures that run throughout the week. These are, in order, Creative Writing Workshop (twice a week), The History of Photography, The Camera (a tech course), Art History, Classical Greek Literature, and Documentary Photography. As a school, we all go on a hike on Fridays. This is the Socratic method at work, with time to not practice out crafts, but to have time for the self as well while we absorb the knowledge that is heaped upon us all week. There are other courses such as painting, figure studies, vocal ensemble and basic drawing, but that will have to wait until next time. At this point I want there to be a next time.

I was in the darkroom the other day I developed a roll of film and the metal tank leaked, not light, but developer. So this teaches me to check my gear before I work. Last night we all got together and had an amazing bar-b-que/cook-out/grill. A real potluck for 20 and it was a blast. I made grilled Dorado marinated in garlic, rosemary and olive oil. Others brought salads, kebabs, sausages, peppers stuffed with feta and oregano…Super! After that a few of us went out to see a jazz duo (piano and baritone sax) from Athens. What a great time we had. I was able to close my eyes and let the music just flow through my head, savoring every note and movement. As I listened I wrote the second half of a short story I am writing, but in my head. When I returned to my studio apartment I put most of it on paper and revised this morning. I’m doing pretty well.

The director of the Center, John Pack, had a meeting with us all the other day and he reminded us that for whatever reason, we all ended up here. I was directed here by a friend, and so many others are here due to some other twist of fate or fortune. We are all woven together like a creative fabric.

JDCM

In regards to that, and Greece, if the river don’t rise I’ll be flying off to Athens in 29 days.  I am very excited and have begun to do some test-packing.  I packed my camera bag once and will do so again until I get the optimal set-up.  I am taking my Canon 50D and the two L-series lenses I have for it.  I am also taking my Voigtlander with the 35mm lens I bought with it and a new 21mm lens that is arriving today.  A light meter, some lead film bags, batteries, etc…all round out the gear.  There is plenty of room for my notebook, documents, a book, pens and pencils, and some other odds-and-ends.  I’ll re-pack the night before I leave, I am sure.

I am going to buy a small refrigerator for my darkroom. This way I can put all my chemistry, paper and film away safely before I leave.  I have looked on-line and I can get a good one for less than $300 new from Lowes.  I can also get one locally from Campbell and Keeler in Millerton for a little more and support a local business.  I think I will do that.  Maybe even today!

Below is a new image.  I used Efke (ADOX) CHS 100 with my Voigtlander R4M.  For printing I used Edwal Platinum II for the soup on Fotokemika paper at f/16 for about 3 1/2 minutes.

"Farm #5, Window #2"

In a little over two months I head back to Greece, this time for school and not just travel.  I am pretty nervous but I have certain confidence that reminds me that if I keep on doing what I have been doing for the past few years everything will work out better than I could hope for.

A close friend in Millerton has also contributed to my darkroom gear.  Stephanie Stanton is a wonderful photographer who is highly skilled and currently making her living as a photographer.  She offered a trade for the gear she gave me: that I be her wedding photographer next September.  Of course I said yes, and will work on the inexpensive side since A) She and her partner do not have a lot of dough and, B) she is also offering me a chance to work as her assistant throughout the summer at weddings.  This will give me a large amount of experience and possibly open some doors for my own career.

My small portfolio for the Greek school is expanding.  I have been trying to print at least 5-6 pieces each week, if not more.  I have about 24 images so far and want to bring 48.  I am choosing different subjects and examining qualities of light, shadow and and textures.  For the next week or so I am working exclusively on my series “Farm” .  It is self-explanatory.  The point, however, is to remove agricultural elements from their traditional spaces to show qualities of time and aging of organic compounds that have been artificially constructed, i.e. old barns, rusting metal, etc…In b/w the tones can be rich and deep.  There are also some landscapes as a way of depicting the space around us and the distances (time as well) ahead and behind.  I have added a new image that I developed last night.  It is called “Farm #5–Window #2″ .  I used Kodak Tri-X 400 on a cloudy day.  For the darkroom I had some glossy Ilford Multi-grade IV fiber paper developed in Dektol.  I like it.  Nice textures.

JDCM

I had the good fortune to grow up in a very artistic family, surrounded by art and literature.   Painters and photographers and artistic people were fixtures at my parent’s cocktail parties. I was one of those young kids you see running around art openings in New York, Provincetown and Wellfleet while their parents schmooze.  And, of course, they made sure that I learned how to look at a piece and talk about it intelligently. It was not enough to say I liked or disliked it but to explain why.

There were always cameras in the house.  I think my first was one of those Kodak Instamatic things with the cartridges.  In the beginning, I wasn’t concerned with ‘taking pictures’ – it was more about liking the feel of the camera in my hand. As a little boy, I enjoyed the winding up and ‘click’ of the shutter, plus the little flashcube that you stuck on top. When I began to shoot, I suppose it allowed me to step back and think about the world as a ‘subject’ of sorts.  So I took pictures of friends, summer camp … whatever I came across.