Found In My Mailbox At CVA

I pulled this new catalog out of my faculty mailbox at the College of Visual Arts today:

Guess why I'm pissed.

"Art AND Photography!?!" Like it's 2 different genres! What is photography, then? Arts ugly little brother? Visual barf? These things drive me nuts...

New York Times Magazine: “Universal Faith”

If anyone has the New York Times Magazine from August 26th (a week and a half ago), take a look at the first article on page 13. I was asked to provide an image for a report by Noah Feldman entitled “Universal Faith.” The tag line is “Religion can have a place in public school. It just can’t be for believers alone.”

I know this is late notice, but this project came up quickly. I wasn’t even sure when it was going to be published until I saw it myself. Here’s my image on the first page of the article:

I was contacted by Stacey Baker who works for the Times. I got to know her a little bit from when she worked with the Golden Light Awards in Maine a year and a half ago and I won the “Golden Light Award.” She actually bought a piece of mine. Now, she’s working at the Times, and knew that I had an image that could work for this article. So she gave me a ring. Funny how things work...

Inspiration

(Note: This post appears on both of my blogs. For those of you reading from my Triathlon Blog, you need to know that I am a photographer and a college professor by day. For those of you reading from my Photo Blog, you need to know that I’m a triathlete, and that I’m training for an Ironman Triathlon in September [under 3 weeks - yikes!]. There are pieces of both artistic and physical ideas in here, and I thought it’d be best to have it on both blogs. The following are a few issues that have been floating around in my head for years.)

Chuck Close, the famous American painter, recently said the following during an interview with Charlie Rose: “Some people wait around to be inspired. The rest of us just get to work.”

What inspires people to lose weight? To start eating right? To share their vision through photography, painting, sculpture, etc.? To go back to school and continue their education? To run a marathon? To compete in a triathlon? Are they external forces? Or are they all internal influences?

Why is it that on my way to making photographs, I need to listen to certain music? What is it about Dave Alvin, Johnny Cash, and a few no-name folk bands that place me in the right mindset to make my photos? It’s music and photography: a purely audio medium and a purely visual medium (before you even bring it up, I know we could argue the truth of this statement all day). What happens in my head when I connect certain music with my photography? What causes this link to occur that makes me crave a certain kind of music before feeling ready to make photos?

The problem is not that I’m not making enough photographs, it’s that I’m not inspiring myself in the correct way that will make me WANT to make photographs.

Maybe inspiration comes from carrying an emotion, a feeling, a thought, or an idea in your subconscious and needing to expel it. It’s our way of dealing with being bombarded internally for too long. It could be that inspiration comes out of us as a way of dealing with some internal conflict, as a way of venting.

I watched a random video on a friend’s blog on July 17th of last year. I didn’t know what it was about. The only text that accompanied it was “Puts things right in perspective, no?” I didn’t know what to expect, and my curiosity got the best of me. So I clicked the play button. It turns out it was a 4 minute video about Team Hoyt, who are a father/son team who do Ironman Triathlons, marathons, and all other kinds of races and events - they have nearly completed 1000 races together. The son had complications during his birth, and was without oxygen for quite some time. Because of this, he can’t walk or talk. For the Ironman Triathlons, the father pulls his son in a raft for the 2.4 mile swim, sets him on a seat at the front of his bike for the 112 mile bike, and pushes him in a wheelchair for the 26 mile run. They do all of this to try to integrate the physically challenged into everyday life by making people more aware of the issues that the disabled face everyday. It moved me to tears the first time (quite a ways past tears, actually). I watched that video 5 times in the first few days after discovering it. It was inspiring all times except for the third time. The first, second, fourth, and fifth times, I cried my eyes out. I’m talking about bawling. Salty rivers running down my check. Puddles-on-the-floor weeping. Those times it really moved me. But why not the third time? What made that time different for me? Now, I’m not saying that crying equals inspiration, but it has moved me many times. Was I so moved because the first time I watched it I had just completed my first official Olympic Distance Triathlon 2 days before? That was probably part of it. Definitely part of it.

That video not only inspired me to want to compete in an Ironman Triathlon, but it also inspired me to be a better person. It made me want to get off the couch, turn off “Big Brother 8,” and go make some photos. Or go update my resume. Or go out for a long bike ride. Or take a French cooking class. That video stirred me on almost all levels.

In case you’re curious, here’s the video (the original has been removed, but this one is quite similar). If this doesn’t do something to you, you must be dead:

Here’s a big issue inside my head right now: Does one need to be open for inspiration in order for it to strike? Do we sometimes live our lives closed to possible inspiration without being aware of it?

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I wish I could remember the exact moments: the moment that I knew I wanted to go to school for photography; the moment that I knew I wanted to marry Sarah; the moment that I knew I wanted to go back to school to get my Masters in photography; the moment that I made the crazy decision to sign up for Ironman WI. I wish I could remember what was going through my mind. I wish I could go back and feel the state of my body and soul when I had those revelations. Maybe that would give some insight into this little rant. The problem is, these thoughts and inspirations don’t hit me like a bolt of lightning. They slowly sneak up on me, hanging around until the time is right, much like a 45-year-old internet predator on MySpace. Inspiration doesn’t strike me instantly like a ton of bricks. Something may inspire me, and that seems to set off a chain reaction that may last a few days or a few months. After that, the inspiration has sunk in, and voilà, I have been inspired. I suppose you could say the manner in which I become inspired is a little uninspiring. Great...another hurdle...

When I see an exhibition of great photographs, I’m inspired to go out and make photos. But each time, I’m inspired to go make photos close to the same style of the photos that have just inspired me. After seeing the Diane Arbus show at the Walker, I wanted to go make photos of "freaks" and transvestites. While viewing an installation at the International Center of Photography in New York, I wanted to be a mixed media artist. While cheering on Sarah at all of her marathons, I’ve been inspired to train for a marathon (although I haven’t). Watching Sarah and all of her new blog friends compete in Ironman WI last year absolutely moved me to want to train for Ironman WI 2007. It always seems to go hand in hand: I see it, I’m inspired by it, and I want to do it myself. Is this a normal form of inspiration, simply wanting to copy something else? Is inspiration in league with imitation? Is there really that much difference between the two?

So why is it the Team Hoyt video inspires me on many levels? That video has (obviously) helped inspire me to train for my first IM triathlon (I’ve turned to this video a few times in the past months when I’ve wanted to quit training). But it’s more than that to me because of the father/son bond that is in the forefront of their story as well. And that idea that they are doing something for "the greater good" and not just for themselves. They inspire me on many levels because they are touching me on many levels.

I’m not trying to write a ground-breaking essay on this subject, and I would question anyone who has claimed to. These are just a few of my thoughts (many of them cheesy or corny), and I hope you’ll add your views. Do you have any insight? Thanks.

Faribault County Fair

About 2 weeks ago, I was able to get out to do some shooting. Nothing too spectacular, but here are some images to consider:

Show at the College of Visual Arts Gallery

Just a quick note that I’m in a show that’s opening this Friday evening, June 29th. There’s an alumni show at the College of Visual Arts Gallery in St. Paul. The opening runs from 6 pm – 10 pm, and I’ll be there for part of it. Which part? I don’t know. I’m a busy man.

Below is a tiny version of the postcard along with a tiny version of the image that I have in the show.

I’m on a “tiny things” kick right now. I'll get over it soon.

I'm Back!

Hi all-

I don’t really know if anyone out there is still visiting this Blog anymore, but I want to let you know that I hope to be posting regularly again. The spring semester is over, and I turned in the last of my grades about a half hour ago! Now I can start making more work (maybe).

Here’s a rundown of the last few months events:

• I taught TOO MANY classes between CVA and MCAD this past semester. I only have 3 classes on the books for fall.

• My wife and I recently purchased a home in St. Paul in the Merriam Park neighborhood (I keep telling everyone that it’s in Mac/Groveland, but it’s Merriam Park). It’s 3 blocks from the famous Izzy’s Ice Cream Shop. We’re not fully moved in yet, but we hope to be soon. And I have a dedicated studio in the new place!! More on that to come...

• I’m currently training with my wife to complete an IronMan Triathlon this fall in Wisconsin. An IM is a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run. Training isn’t going that well. Check out my Triathlon Blog for more info (more than you’d want to know!).

• I’ve just started turning this IM training into a new photo project. Look for some images shortly.

• Just over a month ago, I had a scary incident where I passed out on the sidewalk after teaching a class at CVA. I woke up in the ER. You can read about that by clicking here. Scary.

Show at the Minnesota Center for Photography

I interrupt my photo blog spring hiatus to invite you to a show. “Photocentric 2007” opens this Saturday, March 31st at the Minnesota Center for Photography. The opening is from 6-9 pm, and I’ll be there for at least the first half of the event. The show runs through May.

Also, I just found out that one of my pieces in a show in Texas was awarded a “Purchase Award.” Super-duper! OK, back to our regularly scheduled blog-pause. I’ll be back by June.

Slowing Do..w...n....

There won’t be many new photos for a while. I’m deep in the thick of teaching 5 different classes, and it’s hard to find the time to think about making photos. I’m still working on submitting my work to shows and other self-promo such things; I just don’t have the time to be making new work.

So this blog will be taking a little hiatus. It should be back in the summer. Until then, you can check up on some athletic progress of mine. I’m training for an Ironman Triathlon in September (and I’m still figuring out how to turn it into a photo project). So, until this blog starts up again, take a moment to check out my Triathlon Blog.