Journal 0064 – 0067

April 17th, 2012

Tank at American LegionSelfWater street fire


Journal 0060 – 0062

April 13th, 2012

Failed SRAD emulsion and PH papers

Failed naked bull


Journal 0056 – 0058

April 8th, 2012


Journal Appendix A0001 – A0026 – Physical Works

March 26th, 2012

AppendicesAppendix A - Physical WorksIrinaIrina 2

Kelly

Butterfly

Butterfly description

Le Crane

Le Crane description

Self PortraitSelf Portrait descriptionWildebeestWildebeest description


Journal 0049 – 0055

March 13th, 2012

I have lived in the Binghamton Area most of my life, but never celebrated parade day, which is Binghamton's 2nd St Patrick's day.  I thought I would make a go of it this year, & started out with scotch and coffee for breakfast.Looking out the window of my loft, I imagine this must have been what Binghamton was like 100 years ago when people lived here.Along with my camera equipment, I carried a bottle of scotch with me, and of course a full assortment of micron pens.  Unfortunately, the scotch won, and neither my camera nor the micron pens got much use.The next morning I was reminded of the lesson from the night before.  F*** LUCK.


Journal 0037 – 0048 – Statement

February 5th, 2012

Journal 0037Submitting myself to photography, will force me to lead the type of life I know I should live.  Photography is commonly thought of as the easiest art form, and for a long time not thought of as an art form at all.  I understand this sentiment.  But there is something very special about photography that makes it different, that I have never seen written or heard talked about.  Photography puts a demand on you that no other art form does - what I would call 'the demand of presence'.   For example, you could paint or draw a picture of the Eiffel Tower, write a story or poem about the Eiffel Tower, create a sculpture of the Eiffel Tower, and all the while, never have even stepped a foot in France.  But photography requires your presence.  You have to meet the Eiffel Tower, experience her, and seduce her.    If you are a photographer of people, you have to meet people.  If you want a photograph from the peak of Mount Everest, you better have a parka.

Because of this demand of presence, photography is in its very nature autobiographical. By looking at the photos, you can learn: where the photographer has been, with whom he as talked, whom he has fucked, and if he is willing to risk his life in his endeavor. When you view the photographers work, you are seeing with his eyes, not only where he has been, but what he found worthy to photograph - and in that, you are also seeing behind his eyes. To me, the photographers who embrace photography's autobiographical nature are my favorites, for in the end they create the deepest connection with me and are playing to the strength and uniqueness of photography. Ultimately in art, how can we care about paper, silver nitrate, paint, or canvas. What I care about is people, and it is what I should care about.

How can it be otherwise? Why would we want it to be otherwise? I am all about the artist. I am all about the artist. I am all about the artist. That is ultimately what I want to know: The Artist. To someone who says that they only care about the art, and not the artist, ask if they would feel the same about the work if it was created by a computer. To me, art is almost just a way to find an interesting person. Art doesn't matter to me so much as a way to find someone to make a connection to, and then to make that connection through the art. A body of work can give an indication as to whether the person is someone whom I want to know more about. It is that first hint, a brush against the shoulder, or an enticing scent. And photography excels at this. I feel I know much more about the photographerlooking at her photographs, then I do about a painter looking at her paintings.  Did the artist lead a full, manly life, like Hemingway - hunting big game, drinking excessively, then putting his favorite shotgun in his mouth and blowing his head off at 61, or did the artist lead the life of a troubled young Francesca Woodman and kill herself at age 22 by jumping out a loft window in NYC after not receiving funding from the N.E.A.?    I find both lives fascinating.  I want to connect to both.  After I know something about the person, their artwork then becomes more important to me.   Who the artist is, and how they live their life, THAT creates a connection with me.  Then after I have that connection, as a collector, I want to own their work.  I want a piece of that person.    As a collector, I am a cannibal.My realization about the nature of photography, and what I love about it, leads me in one direction with my work -  in the direction of presence, and in the direction of biography.  This I fully accept is part of my job as a photographer.  If I want to make great photographs, I have to seek out, find, and photograph great things.  In this, I have to become the kind of person who experiences great things.    Being the photographer of my dreams, forces me to live the life I should.  As a writer or painter, I could sit in my favorite chair for 12 hours every day, creating compelling stories or beautiful paintings.  As a photographer, I can't.  Photography demands something different.  I have to gain access.  I have to have balls.  I have to climb mountains or climb inward.I need to carve out my life using the camera as a chisel.  If I want my artwork to be autobiographical, which I do.  If I want my photographs to be interesting or beautiful, which I do.  Then I must live a life surrounded by, and in search of interest and beauty.  As a photographer, if I don't do this, what good am I?  If I sit at home at night watching reruns of Seinfeld, what good am I?  If I don't have the balls to talk to a beautiful woman on the street, and the game to convince her to model for me, what good am I?  If I am too afraid to enter the combat zone, what good am I?  If I want my work to be autobiographical, and I don't carve out an interesting life, what good am I.  Am I going to be a good story, or am I going to be milquetoast?


Journal 0033 – 0036

January 19th, 2012

How can I expect to bethe photographer I want to be, when being bad for meis going to Dunkin Donuts


Journal 0021 – 0032

January 14th, 2012

How do you make something that lasts forever?Journal0022 - How do you make something that lasts forever?Journal0024 - How do you make something that lasts forever?Journal0026 - How do you make something that lasts forever?Journal0028 - How do you make something that lasts forever?Journal0030 - How do you make something that lasts forever?Journal0032 - How do you make something that lasts forever?


Journal 0017 – 0020

January 9th, 2012

Bucky


Journal 0013 – 0016

January 8th, 2012

Teknari Hand Written Photography Journal General Electric Flash CubesTeknari Hand Written Photography Journal 0014Teknari-Hand-Written-Photography-Journal-0016