IT IS WHAT IT IS!!!!

I think maybe its time to knock the whole self publishing problem on the head. After Joerg's post and APE's intervention, in regards to the hazards associated with trying to reproduce a Rizzoli product for $30.00, here's where we stand. In the same place as yesterday and the same place 15 months ago. Its self publishing for Christ's sake. Nobody has the perfect answer. For $20 to $60 what do you really expect. You have a book in your hand that that you didn't have a week before. Could that have happened 3 years ago, NO. Some people thinks its great, some don't. Its just another tool. If you cant get the color right, try another company. Is that a pain and really quite disappointing, Yes, but since when has anything come easy in the arts and especially in photography. Only a few months ago I had to go back to my printer 4 times to get a print right that I was making, and these guys are one of the best in the city, and I was standing next to the to the printer. It happens. Oh, in case you wanted to shell out more that $30 you could go to LeLivre d'art, and get the most beautiful color reproduction. I'm sure there wouldn't be any bitching and moaning. You got $10,000.00. It is what it is.

SUMMER PROGRAMES, continued

Early last month I listed some of the great galleries and shows in Upstate N.Y. for this summer, well on that thread here are two long running programmes that I have never had the chance to attend until this week.
The first is in Garrison N.Y., a little ways from my upstate haunts, but really worth the effort, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. The group performs on the grounds of Boscobel, one of the finest examples of Federalist architecture in the country. It is quite breathtaking to walk onto the grounds and have the Hudson river greet you in such a a majestic manner. The stage is situated so that when you are seated the backdrop is the panoramic Hudson valley view in the image above. Very dramatic. The rest of the season is Twelfth Night, go if you can.
The other event I have been remiss in attending is the Music and Film night, back in the city, at Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City. A banner turnout Wed night for the Red Balloon, their largest in their 10 year history. Along with the Museum of the Moving Image, the Socrates gang put on a very intimate big city evening. It has 4 more showings into Sept. I have to say we are very lucky to have such terrific organizations working for us locally.

McCARREN POOL (over and out)

A couple of weeks ago I started to shoot some work in McCarren Park, Brooklyn, and posted some images with the feeling that I could put together some sort of project or at least create a collection of interesting images. Not long after, word came back that the Architecture agency, who were getting the designs ready for the new look pool, they weren't so crazy about my project anymore. Whaaaat??? The police had asked a member of the management team to leave the premises even though he had keys and id. So another project falls through, wasn't the first wont be the last.I then find out yesterday that the reason behind all the police activity is.... DEAD BODY in the park. Nobody is quite sure who it is yet or how long it was there but I had stuck my head into a few if the old changing rooms, just to have a look. That would not have been fun. The Gothamist blog reported it back in July. I have only come across one other dead body in all my time in New York. I took a photograph. It wasn't my best day. So, the remaining images of McCarren Pool circa 2008 will be some nimrod, in a stone cold stupor, shakin his ass to a reformed Devo. Wooooooo

NOW AVAILABLE AT.........THE NOGUCHI

After spending quite some time diligently shooting, cataloguing and producing SLEEPING GIANT | 11101 REZONED, my Large Format project on the urban uprising in Long Island City, N.Y., it is with great pleasure that I can announce that the uber prestigious Noguchi Museum in New York has decided to to carry my self- published book in its museum store. I feel very honored that this weighty institution sees this project as one that fits their artistic sensibilities. The book itself is 13x11 hardcover, made by Blurb. As we all know feedback is the litmus test for our work and so far it has been terrific.
Some history on SG's new home. Created by Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988), the Museum opened in 1985, presenting a comprehensive collection of the artist's works in stone, metal, wood, and clay, as well as models for public projects and gardens, dance sets, and Akari Light Sculptures. The Museum--chartered as The Noguchi Museum--is housed in thirteen galleries within a converted factory building and encircles a garden containing major granite and basalt sculptures. In addition to housing and exhibiting a collection of Noguchi's works, the Museum also serves the international art community by loaning works to other institutions for special exhibitions, organizing traveling exhibitions, and offering scholars access to the artist's extensive archives, including his records, correspondence, manuscripts, and photographs. The Museum also collaborates with The Isamu Noguchi Foundation in Japan.
Great thanks to Bonnie Rychlack and Douglas DiNapoli for making this happen.