Please Note: New Blog Address!

I recently moved this blog to a new location.

Please note the new address!

http://www.michaeltittel.com/michaeltittel/

Exploration of Bennettwood Cemetery

I recently discovered some interesting old stone gates on some acreage adjacent to my new home. After some investigation it turns out there is a rather old, 19th Century cemetery on a bluff overlooking Markley Road. I doubt many people know it even exists. There is no recognizable way into or out of that area.

This is a photographic documentation and exploration of that area.

The series is posted on Flickr here.

Below is a note from Hamilton County Historical Society. They have minimal information about the cemetery on their web property that archives local grave sites. Another name exists for this cemetery: Liberty Chapel Cemetery.

Bennett Cemetery 
West side of Markley Road North of Bennett Road
Anderson Township
Hamilton County, Ohio

This cemetery is located on the west side of the road, high on a bluff overlooking the valley to the east. Access is by a small wagon road which takes off from the main highway at a 30 degree angle, and it winds up the steep hillside toward the west. A steel rope at the top blocks traffic. A winding lane follows the ridge and finally reaches the little cemetery. The trees have taken over the area and it is very difficult to locate and work in. The names are from the Marie Dickore Research Collection and permission is given by the Norwood Family History Center Director, Alma Ryan, who has possession of the collection.

Adams, Sarah-died 7 Jan 1863/76y 4m 2d/Wife of Louther

Bennett, A D-1831-1903

Bennett, Angeline-1837-1910/Wife of A D

Bennett, Charles-Son of AD & Angeline

Bennett, Della-Dau of AD & Angeline

Bennett, Elizabeth-Dau of AD & Angeline

Bennett, Landon-Son of AD & Angeline

Bennett, William-Son of AD & Angeline

Dawson, Nancy-died 5 Dec 1849/65y/Wife of Joseph

Jones, Mary-died 9 Feb 1847/52y 4m 4d/Wife of Absalom

Jones, Sarah M-died 10 Sep 1837/6m 13d/Dau of Alen & Elizabeth

Kuhn, Angeline-died 21 Dec 1879/62y 1m 9d/Wife of George

Kuhn, Infant-died 2 Oct 1847/Son of George & Angelina/2m 2d

Robinson, Frances M-20 May 1853-8 Apr 1855/Dau of D Robinson

Robinson, Mary-11 Dec 1830-8 Feb 1853/22y 2m/Wife of Daniel

Sheldon, George-died 25 Jul 1854/5m 11d/Son of G & H

Sheldon, Harriet-died 23 Feb 1854/28y 5m/Wife of George

Synder, Walton L-died 26 Aug 1850/1y 8m 10d/Son of James

New work: This Must Be the Place

I am pleased to share some new work. This work was started and completed over the last year. 
This work is about our dependence on safety, comfort, décor and the difference between truthful and false displays of the places that we truly belong. It was completed while traveling, working, selling a home, buying a home and moving.

Explore the work.

The Other Way of Stopping

America is a fascinating and spacious mix of artifacts. I can remember long family trips to Florida and other parts of the south where my eyes would gaze for hours at the things strewn across the landscapes. Archeology as seen from a moving car window, where the practicality of getting to a destination is the priority over stopping, exploring and learning.

Now I am 43 and for the most part I am still rushing around, chasing my own mouse trail, as Joe Strummer would say. But recently I was afforded 48 hours of untethered joy as I drove my youngest daughter to farm camp in eastern Ohio. We not only had a great time together but the ability to, for once, stop and explore, turned out to be a simple gift.

The drive-in theater: an iconic purely American invention that was perfectly born during the post war economic boom, is truly a relic to behold. They are aging monuments to cinema, automobiles and the space to breath and relax. They are so purely American. And it is sad to see them be just a memory now. Although I saw a few drive in movies as a young man, my connection to the cinema was much more solidified around airconditioning and Donkey Kong and Pac Man video games. So these sites are strange and ancient to me.

The scene portrayed here is only vaguely recognizable as a drive-in theater. It is almost as much a billboard pointing towards some forgotten road as it is the massive screen to which a massive projector displayed movies. The vegetation creates an implication that decomposition is occurring. It is believable that five years from now this piece of history maybe nothing more than a pile of rotting wood. Or gone entirely, replaced by a strip mall or parking lot. Yet this is site is no more less than impressive than the Roman aquaducts, the sewers of Paris, or the abandoned artificial harbor of Arromanches. I have no less respect for it than the towering cliff face of El Capitan. It is beautiful, splendid and strong. For me, it is emblematic of the things I passed up, both on the road and in life. It is the passing of time and the beauty of the road.

The Notion of Home

Some recent work I have started has been dealing with the notion of home. Having a home is central to being connected and grounded. Our sense of where we come from is often deep within us. What becomes more interesting is how central this is to cultures and countries. Photographs that are rooted in this deep sense of home (or heimat as the german language defines this notion or sense of longing for) can trigger nostalgia or even memories. We expend alot of effort into making the whole world feel like home. From airport lounges, motels to work spaces we strive to make things feel familiar and comforting.

You can see more of this work in progress here.

This Century's Photographer is Paul Graham

Photographs © Paul Graham

I chanced upon Mr. Graham's work a few months ago. My knowledge of photo history ended squarely with work leading up until the late 1970's. Over the next few decades it felt to me as if the story was more about changing technologies than noticing what anyone artist was doing that was pushing the boundaries of the art form. I lost interest in keeping up with the medium.

Well I think the dust has finally settled. People are back to once again proving that photography is the art form of our time. Old film cameras are back in use as is our cell phones and the latest greatest high-quality digital cameras.

I maybe premature but I think Graham is the man. What is it about Graham's work, that was started in the 1980's, that I think makes him the most relevant photographer of our century? I think he combines perfectly a nod to the formalist tradition, the social documentary view point, with an absurd pop-culture slant. It is almost as if he studied 100 years of photography and created a recipe to launch the next 100 years of imaging.

To me his work builds wonder and excitement out of everyday actions and rituals. It feels rooted in reality but magical at the same time. It isn't about what photography and compositions should look like but instead about how life might really feel if your senses were aligned to the everyday and you took the time to really look. All of this layered over larger social political issues. It is subtle and emotive work.

The best photography is not about the technology, dramatic light or stunning one-of-a-kind views. It is about our world seen through the eyes of someone who has an extraordinary sense of transforming the every day into viewpoints around humanity that cause reflection, thought or feeling.



http://www.paulgrahamarchive.com/

One Image from a Cold Winter

I made my favorite image this winter. The last time I think I said that was in 1992.

The story behind making this image is simple. I was in a car. The drive this afternoon was calm, the weather was cold and bleak which are two words that describe an Ohio winter vey well. But I was energized from a blustery three hours of walking around in the cold. And from 5 feet behind this vehicle I suddenly had a window into someone else's world. Activities were happening inside the Ford. People were moving, shifting, looking out windows. A dog kept raising its head to the left of the girl. It was craziness.

And then the activity stopped, nothing stirred, the dog's head ducked low to the floor of the truck and the young girl in the back turned her head to the left. She paused for a few seconds perfectly profiled and seemingly alone. I took the photograph and put the camera down as the truck pulled away.

As often is the case you never know what the image will be, what life it will have after the moment of being taken. More often than not it is an unmemorable moment and an unmemorable image. In this case, for me, it was remarkable. It feels like life.

My next favorite photograph might come sooner than 24 years from now. But it might not. Regardless i'm thankful to have this one under my belt.