Scenes from The NY Art Book Fair

Charles Lane Press just finished up 4 days of exhibiting at the NY Art Book Fair. It was a really amazing weekend. There were many great finds amongst all the book dealers and a really friendly and interesting crowd. If you didn't make it this year make sure to make it next time.

Hassla Books



Seems Books






Brilliant Michael Light Edition for Marks of Honour brought to you by Schaden



AA Bronson



Regis Trigano



Saeki Toshio



Manpurse IV



J. Morrison, Slava Mogutin, and Paul Mpagi Sepuya

Aperture’s 2009 Benefit and Auction

Check out the site for Aperture's 2009 Benefit and Auction.
I have donated an image from Fall River Boys to help raise some funds for this vital organization.
They have lots of talented artists that have contributed and there are always great deals to be found at benefit auctions. You can preview the works here.

This is F**kin Crazy

I took the photograph of this couple (strangers to me) at Burning Man on Friday September 4th.

09/04/09
Nine days later I made the portrait of this young man (who had been juggling knives) at the Saturday Market in Portland, OR. Yesterday, while looking through my pictures I realized that the guy in Portland might be the same guy from Burning Man. I did a side by side comparison and sure enough it was the same guy. I photographed the same person 500 miles apart and did not know it. I do remember a feeling of familiarity when I met him in Portland but never connected that feeling to actually involving me and my camera.

09/13/09
Circumstances like this are really precious.

Nebraska State Fair

August 29, 2009

Charles Lane Press at The NY Art Book Fair

Come see us at our booth next weekend at P.S.1!

Charles Lane Press Summer Raffle Winner

Congratulations to Rob Wyatt who is the winner of a 16" x 20" B & W Silver Gelatin Print!

Javie and Omar 2004

Back Home

I returned home to New York yesterday after over 3 1/2 weeks on the road. Seth & I drove from New York to the Oregon coast and back. 7990 miles to be exact! A big milestone was that our car (the Prius) rolled over 100,000 miles.
I made a lot of new work and created an exciting new project in the process. I also shot some large format portraits at Burning Man which I am looking forward to sharing. Below is an image from Burning Man which I think captures some of the magic...

Cross Continent

One of the greatest things about driving across country is witnessing the climatic and geologic changes from one part of the country to another. Driving from east to west you encounter; deciduous forests, prarie, plains, mountains, high desert, and desert. The amount of precipitation that falls in the east and does not in the west is reflected in the changing colors and flora of the passing landscape. The cross country trip bears witness to these shifts in the landscape and reveal so much about each regions history and the history of American westward expansion. I think there is lots to be learned just looking out the car window...


Iowa



Nebraska



Wyoming



Wyoming



Utah



Nevada

Burning Man

I'm off on a cross country trip to the Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert of northern Nevada. The blog will probably be quiet for the next couple weeks but when I return I will have lots of new work to post...

August's 19th century photograph

Benjamin J. Falk (1853-1925), Portrait of strongman Eugen Sandow (1867-1925) on a bicycle.

Surruralism by Steve Anderson

Charles Lane Press receives submissions from time to time and this particular body of work caught my eye.
They are surrealist photographs made "on the farm". I haven't seen a lot of people working in the surrealist tradition as of late and I was delighted when I looked through Steve's work and saw his unique approach to the genre. I thought I'd share some of his photographs here.

RSD

I shot an assignment this past June for People magazine on a very rare neuromuscular disorder called Reflex Sympathetic Disorder. It was a situation where I followed the subject John Roach from the time before, during, and after an "experimental" treatment that he underwent in a hospital in Monterrey, Mexico. John and his wife Rosemary are lovely people and I felt very invested in the outcome of John's treatment and struggle with RSD. John developed the syndrome (which took nearly five years to actually diagnose) after a work related shoulder tear injury. Instead of the pain associated with the tear subsiding, his got progressively worse to where his entire left side was debilitated. RSD affects the skin, muscles, joints, and bones. Just the sensation of air passing over John's hand was extremely painful and he was unable to hold his wife or hug his grandchildren. Having exhausted his treatment options John, with Rosemary's tenacity and persistence enrolled in a treatment program in which other patients with his affliction had found relief. The treatment involves large prolonged doses of the anesthetic ketamine to be administered over the course of several days - a voluntary coma if you will. Because this treatment is not FDA approved John had to seek the ketamine therapy in Mexico where they had just begun the program at a hospital in Monterrey. I also went to Monterrey and was with John and his family prior to his going in the coma and witnessed the hope and fear that this courageous couple had experienced. In what was and could have been an awkward situation as an outsider with a camera - I was made to feel welcome and appreciated. John's treatment lasted for five days and he experienced very intense hallucinations during that time. Only a couple days after John came out of the coma he started to feel better. He returned to the states and when I saw him about three weeks later he was like a new man. The treatment had worked. Though John and Rosemary are taking it one day at a time they have a new future together that at one point seemed so unlikely. It is a hopeful story and I am proud to have had the chance through my editorial assignment work to be a part of it. Unfortunately, I recently heard from Rosemary that John's RSD pain has flared up again-though not as bad as before the treatment. They are very much in my thoughts.
See the story from People here.


John at home May 5, 2009



John and Rosemary May 5, 2009



John at hospital in Mexico May 24, 2009



John and Rosemary at home June 17, 2009

Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki is the greatest living animator today and has a new film titled Ponyo just released here in the U.S. this past weekend. It is a story about a goldfish and a boy who fall in love and how the goldfish wants to become a human being. It is delightful, very sweet, and beautifully animated. Miyazaki is the director and creator of Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, and about a dozen other films that are all treasures. Most all are available on DVD. Miyazaki frequently explores in his films the theme of humans' relationship with nature and how our man made technological world is upsetting the balance of the natural world. His respect towards woman and feminism are revealed by his protagonists who are usually strong, independent girls or women. Despite these heady themes Miyazaki wants us to have fun watching his films and I guarantee that on that he delivers!

Many of Miyazaki's films are hand drawn including Ponyo.




Ponyo

Ponyo



Howl's Moving Castle



Spirited Away

Arbor

Michael Mazzeo Gallery has a new online exhibition up titled Arbor. It is a curated collection of images to do with trees and quite a lovely show. One of my images happens to be included.




Amanda Friedman Elysian Park #2, 2008

Milton Rogovin

In case you missed it the NY Times had a lovely piece on photographer Milton Rogovin who tuns 100 this December! Milton Rogovin is in my opinion one of the greatest photographers of the past century and had been until recently overlooked by the art establishment. Regardless, Mr. Rogovin's photographs are obviously important as a social document of the American underclass and immigrant communities in the second half of the 20th century but he also runs with the best of them when it comes to making powerful and engaging portraits. I suggest reading this article in the NY Times and checking out the multimedia presentation on Lens Blog. Listen closely to what he has to say about respecting his subjects.

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times



Milton Rogovin from Lower West Side

Nephews

2 of my 7 nephews - from summer of 2009

George IV



Chris