WILDGOOSE

TEN YEARS ON: Found this nice reference to Zero Degrees, a book I did with the talented Mike Turner of EM Project.
I fell out of love with this book some years ago, as it seemed dated; my photography had moved on (needless to say, Mike’s design remains admirably durable), but now it seems to have found its legs again, which is nice. The book referencing Zero Degrees (seen above) is ‘Mapping’ by Roger Fawcett-Tang he says of it: ”..a beautifully produced book showing the work of photographer John Wildgoose.” While it is nice to have one’s name mentioned in the same sentence as beautifully produced, I know better than to allow any of the same light to fall upon the wrong place.

“ just because you are somehow fortunate enough to photograph talented people does not make you talented. or a good photographer.

—

from Megan McIssac’s blog: Not sure where this came from, but it coincided with a conversation I was having with some one the other day.

There is a strong propensity to attribute the wonder of seeing an image of someone famous to the photographer, a perilous misjudgement. I suggested looking at the portraits of Rineke Dijkstra, Michal Chelbin or Alec Soth (of many) to see the error of this conceit. I think I might have made some nice portraits of regular everyday folk in the recent past, but I have definitely made some very poor portraits of famous people. Like Andy Warhol, Dario Fo, Gerhard Richter, G J Ballard and sundry others. Shame on me for trying to piggyback a mediocre photograph on well known person.

Irving Penn might have been the only example I know where the talent of the photographer might well have frequently transcended that of the sitter. And he is now lost to us, and I can’t think of a single photographer worthy of carrying this torch onwards.

HAPPY SIDE OF A RECESSION: It gives you time to tidy your desk space up.

BETWEEN THE SHEETS: I’ve been adding books to my collection -now numbering 88 photography books (less those lying around the house uncatalogued).

I recently got my hands on Mitch Epstein’s book ‘American Power’, because I love that large format work and I hope it’ll make me feel guilty about the Wista in my cupboard that has twelve sheets of film ready loaded since last Spring.

And I have another book of the little know Saul Leiter (who’s name could not be less fictional were he a photographer in a Raymond Carver short), which is stuffed with gorgeous work, that would have been ground breaking if anyone had chosen to take notice of it in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. A quiet man who deserves a bloody good show somewhere.

AND finally Eugene Richards’ The Blue Room. Listen to this: http://foto8.com/movies/EugeneRichards_blue/index.html
It’s as far removed from Pseud’s Corner as you’ll ever get; this is the man talking about his photography, proving how visceral an act it really is, and no amount of pontificating histrionics from some jumped up fashion snapper will ever compensate for what Richards has in bucket loads: talent. The Blue Room is massive, as it should be, and the repro is faithful, which is great. Subjecting myself to this calibre of work I’m inclined -or maybe even compelled to take Adobe right out of the creative equation.

Here’s the full list if you want it: http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=netgoose

“ Similar to the Richard’s quote on Frank, Adams has the innate ability to shoot pictures that are at the same time political and beautiful. It feels so counter intuitive: from a generation brought up on the concept of militant agitation it seems rather obscure to consider using art as an efficacious medium for dissent and outrage.

— From an email to a friend in NY, about Eugene Richards, Robert Adams and Robert Frank and the particular kind of photography born of the agitprop fuelled and politically misguided 60’s.

COMPLETELY UNSCRIPTED: Shot of a businessman above London Wall last Friday. The gesture is both robotic and oddly dramatic, I don’t think he was aware of me taking the shot, although it was shot on a 50mm lens and therefore I had to be pretty close. I don’t know. But it made a very strange picture.

“ We don’t want to gaze at something mundane; we do want to devour the odd, we want to agonise over the hard to define, and this is what photography does best, gives us the opportunity to really delve into what we may normally turn away from in real life

— Excerpt from an email to photographer Jérôme Lautré:

alexjdsmith:

(via The International Loner)

“ I think it is important to do the research, to self-edit well, to be open to critique, but not to get hung up on technique, critical theory, process or the desire for instant success. One can sense real and unique personality and sincere expression in someone’s work; and it comes from exploring the deep personal motivations for making photographs, spending time and not shying away from the big issues. The best work celebrates what it means to have your eyes and heart open and to be really alive.

— Martin Barnes (via lapuravidagallery)

Try and tell Jonathan Livingston…

BARGAIN BIN CLIENTS: This from Scofield Editorial Inc. a brilliantly incisive illustration of what so many of us have to endure from our clients on a daily basis. Click the image to see the video and feel vindicated, or go:http://lnk.nu/youtube.com/z4f .

“ 1-2ft Cleanish fun wave to be had with light cross onshore north westerly sea breezes

— on-line surf check for our local beach here in Devon. “1-2ft…” sorry, that just doesn’t cut it as far as ‘fun’ is concerned.

“ …I like the Inland Revenue; granted I don’t pay as much tax as I would if I were on a wage or salary, but it is the contribution I happily pay for life in a civilised society, no matter how fragile it is or misguided the politicians are who try to guide it. The alternative I think, would be far more expensive, dangerous and stressful.

— excerpt from an email to my father

Don Hudson’s great pictures of suburban America. Click on the pic and rummage around in his Flickr gallery. Lovely stuff.

GO A BIT DEEPER & YOU’LL NEVER BE BORED: John Bateson’s entertaining presentation to 8x8 London. It’s all about inspiration, and looking more deeply into things than maybe we do these days.
Sadly, having exposed his wedding picture here he will probably kill me, which will be unfortunate as I count him as a hugely important friend. Suffice to say, this was 1973 so everything that happened in that decade is absolutely forgiven, and he is now very cool indeed. This might just save my life.
Click the picture to see the movie.