the return of the return of Dr. Frangst

My projects typically have a run of about four years before transitioning to the next body of work. From the summer of 2001 until about 2006 I worked under the rules of staged cyanotype self-portraiture creating a fictional character name Dr. Frangst. The project came to a stand-still in late 2005 when I replaced the character's usual white lab coat with a cyanotype photogram coat with gingko leaf patters covering it. I made a few more images after that but nothing really "took". Gingko Photogram Lab Coat is currently on view at Kenyon College in an exhibition titled Material Message curated by Molly Bondy and Marcella Hackbardt. The exhibition can be found Kahler Gallery which is in the Studio Art Building and will be on view now through April 12th. Kenyon College is located in Gambier, Ohio.

Other artists in the exhibit include: Brian Andrews, Cheyenne Cardell, Ashley Cummings, Dennis DeHart, Kelsey Dillon, Kate Fraiman, Meredith Friel, Jon Funder, Rory Hamovit, Clare Hodgdon, Sarah Kaufman, James Luckett, Jack McKenzie, Ashley Moore, Elizabeth Myers, Patricia Lois Nuss, Selina Roman, Jacinda Russell, Ally Schmaling, Morgan Ford Willingham, Emily Witosky, Zeslie Zablan, and Maria Zarka.

A sensitive man

Yes. I am a sensitive man. Last month I ran into a lot of trouble trying to ship Iris Peignoir with Hidden Shorts to Arizona in a frame. I packed it so that it would be within UPS's height and girth restrictions but my avoidance of dealing with the UPS store resulted in a lot of driving around and a lot of packing and unpacking of a large box with a smaller box in the parking lot outside the UPS customer center.

Severely defeated, I called up Gina at Art Intersection who gave me the go-ahead to send the unframed piece in a tube. When considering fourteen dollars vs. 200 plus dollars and all the heartache, my artistic vision is compelled to be OK with hanging a fugitive work on paper on the wall unframed.

Which is how it is being shown at Light Sensitive on view at Art Intersection now until April 19th. The exhibition juried by Tom Persinger of f295 is billed as a celebration of images from the darkroom. There is nothing dark about the grassy area I exposed this piece in during three weeks of Vermont sun. But it is light sensitive.

respond in kind

I had an interesting twenty minute session with Mary Virginia Swanson during session two of Fotofest's 2014 Meeting Place. MVS is one of the most down to earth and knowledgeable consultants regarding the business of marketing photography. She didn't have the opportunity to go over my website but did discuss photo books as a better "leave behind". One thing stuck in mind from the session. The concept of linking back. This can be considered a twenty-first  century version of "respond in kind".

In February I had the good fortune to discuss my photographic projects with Lauren Pearlman Sugita aka Paperwoman who is the heart of Paper Connection International. This is where I purchase the Kozo Unryu for the Vandyke brown prints. She ended up selecting me to be her artist of the month which resulted with an entry for my photography on her blog.

It is now March and Lauren is featuring Joan Son as her March artist. After meeting with Mary Virginia Swanson I felt compelled to do a belated link back.

February Artist of the Month

and the blog front page can be reached here.