Question:

How does one acknowledge somethings existence without it being there? Does closure have the same value if it is one sided? Can presence be inferred in empty space? How do we breathe life into thin air?

Chris.

Untitled (Chris and I). 2010.

Another image from I'll Take Care Of You. I'm really enjoying the new direction things are going in, though I'm not sure what it means to me exactly. I have a few shoots set up for the next week, so I'm really excited to see how things start to shape up, especially since I'm photographing my ex-girlfriend from high school and long time friend, Meredith, tonight.

Ryan McGinley for Pringle of Scotland

I normally can't stand Ryan McGinley's work, but this video he did with Tilda Swinton for Pringle of Scotland (whom I LOVE), is really amazing.

Nathan.

Untitled (Nate and I). 2009.

So I've been super busy working on a new project I shot for an upcoming show at Bard College, and unfortunately I can't have any of those images on the web until after the show opens in June, so blogging has been pretty slow. Obviously anyone who follows this blog can see that haha. I've just about finished the work for that project, so it's given me a little bit more time to focus on my other work, and I'll be shooting I'll Take Care Of You again much more frequently starting this week. So expect more entries as the days unfold.

This is an image I took right when I started the project that I hadn't gotten to until now... it takes it in a slightly different direction that I'm really excited to play around with. I really like the movement in my hand and some of the movement in the fabric of my shirt. When I took view camera at Purchase with my professor Jed Devine, I often had a hard time making portraits with my 4x5 because I so often shot in low light. I would end up with photographs of people whose faces were moving and blurry, but whose clothes were sharp and in focus. Jed once said in class how with photographs, portraits could often have a connotation of death involved, with people being crisp and still for the life of the photograph. Portraits with movement often allowed for a little more life - evidence of someone breathing, or unable to sit still, etc. I like the idea of these being an acknowledgement of a relationship that is now in the past, but also allowing for the implied relationship to be seen as something more continuous. There's something about providing a space to look back that feels really necessary and important.