film

FAVORITE RECENT OLD PICTURES

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It seems lately that I am finally able to catch up with myself in the strangest of ways. I am slowing down, thinking about and doing only what is most important to me, spending time with those I haven't crossed paths with in years or those who have just crossed my path and stayed firmly in it for whatever reason. 

And in this process I am examining vernacular artifacts, ephemera long-enough outdated to qualify as "old pictures." Some rolls just never got processed, some film never scanned, some simply forgotten in a box, only resurfacing because I am spending so much of my time in studio practice, allowing myself to be slow and thoughtful, remembering being given permission for my studio practice to be whatever I was doing in the studio at that time, in that moment, right then. Right now, my studio practice is in the taxonomy of memory with regard to human interaction and geography. 

  • Vernacular photography is the creation of photographs, usually by amateur or unknown photographers both professional and amateur, who take everyday life and common things as subjects.

.. here are some of my favorite, recent, old, pictures:

the Black & Whites: Ilford 100 Delta Pro damaged by salt water / the Color: CR100 (both rolls Summer 2012) / unedited

 

List #2 – to be completed by Saturday August 3

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LET IT BE KNOWN: I did, in fact, drop off three rolls of 120mm color film earlier this week and scan in all three of those rolls (the only undone items from the last list before Paris..) 1. Set up new scanner and scanning area of studio now to spend the next 398709348 hours scanning film!!! (7.29)

2. Take Paris film to Colortek done! And picked up and scanned! (7.29)

3. hand-process BW 4x5"

4. Figure out what to do with slides

5. buy more resin to finish cicada pieces

6. write: new thesis, proposal, etc.

7. POST pictures, writing, new list for next week!

8. since I got off brunch today, GO TO SOWA! done! that was easy!

9. Plan Cailin's Bridal Shower and Bachelorette (papergoods &c done by Thurs.!) papergoods done by Tuesday! I am awesome. // invites mailed, RSVPs pouring in, menu in the works! (7.29)

10. think about ESB's housewarming suggestion does two friends and three bottles of prosecco count? (7.29)

11. plan out the three-month calendar... UGH. kind of done... At least wrt Ryan, work, and school. (7.29)

Motivation :: and the Art of staying productive

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How many times have I said "This Summer I am going to _____ " or "This weekend I am going to knock _____ and _____ off my to do list.."  ?

There are all sorts of organizational and motivational guides and jump-starts, from Apartment Therapy's January Cure to the ubiquitous Martha Stewart's Good Things for Organizing, but realistically, even if I get a good foundation, I rarely follow up. 

lydiasee-leftdesk

This is my desk right now, a dozen rolls of un-conquered film from California to the left on my lightbox and in the window, my lunch, coffee, piles of photographs, a moleskine filled with lists and one filled with ideas. 

Whether writing, archiving my photographs, or finishing a to-do list, managing my household and life has never been something I felt adept at - it always seemed so overwhelming. Recently, however, I have been trying to tackle those feelings of enormity, that the task at hand is too immense to complete. Because you know, in order to write, my desk has to be tidy. And in order to tidy my desk, my outdated mail has to be opened and filed. And in order to deal with that mail, I have to get online to pay some bills. And then I get stuck in that rabbit-hole... 

But realistically, if I can set my mind to one task and complete it, I feel a whole lot better, and ready to move on to the next, as opposed to half-finishing a bunch of stuff. 

That said, I'm focusing my energy this summer into #summerprojects in the simplest of ways. Every week I'm going to be listing the projects I aim to complete, and crossing some off. Some weeks might be as simple as a cleaning project or buying flowers for our home, then other weeks might be more involved: working through my archive chunk by digestible chunk or building something for one of my installations. 

It is my hope that by putting my intention out there (where I can hold myself a little more accountable because other people have seen it) will light a fire under my ass, motivate me to not only begin to be more productive, but complete the tasks I set out to do, rather than leaving a whole slew of half-finished ideas around. The year I did a 365 Photo Project I took more photographs than ever before. They weren't always the best, but the frequency kept me moving, progressing my skills and my understanding of how I work with the camera. I think Stevie Wonder said something about how he wrote every day and most of the songs sucked but every once in a while he'd write a good one (I just googled it and can't find a quote so maybe it wasn't Stevie Wonder... but still) and Pablo Picasso said "Inspiration exits, but it has to find you working." So yeah. 

Let's get this party started. 

looking up :: Maudslay State Park / fairy pond :: 4x5" / Graflex

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lydiasee002-trees On this particular day, after six or so hours of teaching art outside, in Maudslay, to tykes and teens alike, my assistant Stephanie and I decided to walk back down to the fairy pond to where we had come across an owl pellet earlier in the day. A "nature moment" as I am prone to call any time our outdoor classroom yields unexpected learning opportunities, the owl pellet allowed us to explain how the scatological cycle of owls differed from that of other birds the kids were used to, and from themselves, for that matter. Unfortunately I was ill-prepared to dissect the pellet with the kids, so Stephanie and I went to retrieve the bones later in the day.

IMG_1773  IMG_1806

We brought my Graflex along, as Stephanie is an aspiring photographer and had never really shot any film before. After collecting the tiny bones from the owl pellet, I explained the basics of large-format film and operating a light-meter to her, and let Steph shoot a couple of sheets with my 4x5".

Right before we left to head back to the Gatehouse, I laid down on the ground and took the above image looking up into the pines.

{pictures of the owl pellet and some of my kids' Andy Goldsworthy-inspired environmental sculpture}

presspauseplay :: check out this documentary, download for free

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The industry as we know it is collapsing, we as artists have a rare opportunity to move forward on our own terms. The task at hand is being the speck of quality in the black hole of digital dissonance.PressPausePlay is relevant to anyone in a creative field: from graphic designers to photographers, musicians to filmmakers, artists in general. Hoever, it's larger potential effect is the consumer, who may now begin to understand the difference between music and the "music industry," or a singular, independently produced, released, etc. feature film compared to the "film industry."

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