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.