Catalog from "The Shape of Things" at the Praxis Photo Center

Sorry, this post has been stuck as a "draft" for about 10 months. Here are a few images from Vol. 2 of "The Shape of Things" exhibition catalog:

[click any image to enlarge]

A more legible juror's statement.


A spread I liked.


My image on the left.

Here's more general info on catalogs from exhibitions at Praxis Photo Center. And here are links to the catalog shown above in softcover and hardcover.

In case you missed it, here are some photos from the opening reception of "The Shape of Things" in September of 2021 as well as some exhibition images.

The Loss of a Photography Mentor

Word started spreading yesterday. In the late afternoon, it had been made official:

I posted a goofy photo of John on Facebook (because he's NEVER serious for a photo) and shared a story. Here's the story and people's responses - I took out the comments of people not associated with CVA, so these are only people who knew John in a similar capacity as I did:

Here are a few photos from social media of John and I over the years:

This one was captioned: "At the 2011 CVA Holiday Sale. Henry is
trying to figure out the art, and John is trying to figure out Henry."


Me holding year-old Henry with John smiling in the background at Ellen's house for an end-of-the-school-year party.


Same party. With students and Caroline.


A CVA meet-up at the MN State Fair a year after CVA closed. We're showing off our CVA shirts.


CVA crew outside of the Bailey House at the State Fair where some
Lowell Bobleter prints were on display. (The founder of CVA back when it was CAA.)

And just 3 months ago I posted about seeing Concordia University's darkroom which still had the enlarger stations that John had built for CVA 11-12 years ago:

And here are two of John from this big post of photos from CVA's history:

John talking as a dept head. (2011?)


Leading a critique. (2005-ish?)

Besides that long post, John's also seen helping out with his carpentry skills while hanging a CVA exhibition in 2015, and at the opening of the new CVA photo labs in 2011. And John was also mentioned in my recent interview about my education in the arts in the Concordia University newspaper.

A photographer friend shared this wonderful image of John, and I'll end this tribute with that photo:

Rocket Launch Destroys Camera

I saw this image on the web and had to investigate:

It turns out the story is true, but not how I imagined it.

NASA photographer Bill Ingalls set up several remotely triggered cameras near the launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to capture a SpaceX launch. And he was successful:

Image from NASA / Bill Ingalls.

Ingalls went to pick up his cameras, and he had ones closer to the launch pad that were just fine. But one that was farther away and captured the previous image looked like this:

Image from NASA / Bill Ingalls.

No, it wasn't the blast of the rocket that burned this instantly (which is how I imagined it in my mind). Instead, the rocket launch sparked a brush fire (which is apparently not uncommon) and Ingalls camera fell victim. He said it had continued to take photos "until its demise," and shared one of the final images:

Image from NASA / Bill Ingalls.

Is that the lens hood melting down at the top of that image? Wild.