Random New Developments

I’ve been BUSY. Here are some thing going on right now:

• Yesterday, I just sent some work off to the Silver Eye Center For Photography in Pittsburgh, PA. I’m going to be featured in a 2-person show in their “New Works Gallery.” (I’ll also be featured on their online gallery too, and I’ll post that link when it’s up.) The show will be up from mid-October through mid-November. Here’s some matted work in my studio that I was getting ready to box up:

All of these prints are (about) 15” x 18”, and their matted size is 20” x 24”.

• Today, I finally had some time to get caught up on some contact sheets. I had 3 “outings” to make photos in the past month, and I hadn’t had a chance to make contact sheets of any of those rolls. So I made 22 contact sheets at CVA this morning/afternoon:

I’ll scan some negs of some promising images shortly. Come on back for those.

• Finally, WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE PHOTO WORLD IN THE TWIN CITIES?? This is what I'm talking about:

- In July, the Minnesota Center for Photography closed its doors for good. Our biggest and best “photo-only gallery” in the Cities is no more.

- About 2 months ago, ProColor stopped processing film. I can’t go visit Dan anymore! Procolor was my place!

- Digi-Graphics still processes film, but only 3 days a week!

- I swung into the National Camera in Roseville a few weeks ago, and I learned that they stopped processing film at that location. It would take 10 days to get my processed film back. Today, I stopped there for some 8x10 color paper for contact sheets, but they don’t carry color paper anymore. So I figured I’d get a few Kodak Pro-Packs (film), but THEY WERE OUT! Why bother being a “photo store” anymore?

Contact Sheets Suck the Life Out of Me

Thanks mildly in part to the harassment of 2 friends, I finally had some film processed yesterday. I biked to ProColor and met an interesting person on the way back. Now I’m sitting at MCAD printing contact sheets - always the most pointless and tedious step for me. Don’t get me wrong, I see the point in making contact sheets, I simply hate making them. Stupid color processor, wasting my life 4 minutes at a time.

Also, I think I need to have a point to each trip that I go on to make photos. Sometimes, when I have a free day to make photos, I just pick up and drive to some town and see what there is to photograph. I don’t think that’s a good strategy. In fact, as I write it, I feel like it’s making me dumber.

Of course I need to have a point; I can’t just randomly drive up to a random town and make random photos. Or can I?... It HAS worked in the past. I don't know anymore.

Contact sheet favorites coming soon.