Persuasive
Photo: Jan Bernhardtz
10 April 2008
Jim Harrison, Writer
In 1996, I attended a writing conference in Key West whose guest authors included Rick Bass, Annie Dillard, Gretel Ehrlich, Jim Harrison, Thomas McGuane, John Nichols, Doug Peacock, Peter Matthiessen, and Gary Snyder. Snyder and Matthiessen were prevented from coming by huge winter storms that stopped air traffic west of Colorado. I had looked forward to seeing them, though I had met Mr. Mattiessen several times before. Still, the conference was a hoot, and Jim Harrison and his old friend, Tom McGuane, stole the show. It was by sheer dint of intelligence that they were able to do so. They are geniuses, that much was evident and clear, each in his own way.
McGuane, handsome and intense, seemed focussed and irritated as he listened to other authors speaking while Harrison seemed laconic and bored. Just when you thought that he might have fallen into sleep, however, he would espouse some learned gem that made the afternoon worthwhile. Harrison wore the same jacket and t-shirt each day, both frayed and dirty. He was large, leaning toward amorphous, but there was a broken power in his presence that seemed, even in its diminished form, greater than mere mortal.
I took this photograph just before a very frail, elderly lady introduced herself. It was John Steinbeck's widow, and she had been in the audience for a number of days, unrecognized and unnoticed. I had only my Olympus XA with its attached flash, and the automatic exposure caught something in the foreground, so the picture I took turned out to be unprintable. It was an historic occasion and it is lost.
There is nothing intimate about this portrait, nothing to recommend it but the fierce presence of this author. We see him here a gourmand and a glutton, plagued by gout, limping as he walked with the aid of a cane, his famous wandering eye pointing toward some distant star, his fierce passions at last overtaking him. He once said, "I no longer know if I am thinking or writing." I look into that one good eye and begin to understand.
Text and photo: Wiliam Schmidt
If you want to know more about Jim Harrison, this interview in The Morning News (2004) could be a good start.
09 April 2008
Gliwice House of Photography: My world, my reality
Gliwice House of Photography is honored to invite to vernissage of two projects: “My world, my reality” and “My world, my city” were realized by group of handicapped artists from the Center of God’s Mother in Knurów, under supervision of Krzysztof Gołuch with help of volunteers (Marcin Liberski, Arkadiusz Gola, Adam Hiltawsky, Krzysztof Szewczyk and Staszek Heyda).
Authors of photos: Krzysztof Wyszyński, Krzysztof Piszczelok, Damian Cięciek, Marek Skrzypek, Jacek Krzemiński, Henryk Pawełczyk, Janusz Przyklenk, Robert Mioduszewski, Michał Hein, Antoni Klon, Adam Sadlak.
Authors of photos: Krzysztof Wyszyński, Krzysztof Piszczelok, Damian Cięciek, Marek Skrzypek, Jacek Krzemiński, Henryk Pawełczyk, Janusz Przyklenk, Robert Mioduszewski, Michał Hein, Antoni Klon, Adam Sadlak.
Projects „My world, my reality” and “My world, my city” were realized by group of handicapped artists from the Center of God’s Mother in Knurów. Genesis of those projects comes from simple question how does the world looks in the eyes of disabled people.In the first project “My world, my reality” disabled artists were showing their internal world of the Center, in the second project they went out with cameras to picture the city where they live. All of the works in the projects are full frames to show complete picture of the world seen by handicapped photographers.Those photodocuments were already shown and impressed the viewers, press titles speak well about the feelings of the guests of this exhibition: “See to understand”, “Handicapped artists are showing themselves without ornaments and avoiding stereotypes”, “We are all the same”, “I’ll show you who I really am”. Those headlines are free from compassion and protective tones. Authors of those photographs became active creators of art, full right members of artistic and social community.Another, perhaps even more precious value which left after those projects – this is the magic curiosity of the world injected to our handicapped friends…/Krzysztof Gołuch
photo: Jacek Krzemiński
photo: Krzysztof Piszczelok Vernissage will take place in Fabryka Drutu, April 11th 2008 at 17:00h (Dubois 22, Gliwice, PL). Exhibition will be open till April 27th all the week at 16:00-19:00h, except Mondays.
Exhibition was organized thanx to help of Mrs. Grażyna Grzesik from Gliwickie Centrum Edukacyjne HALO!GEN
www.domfotografii.org
www.halogen.org.pl
F blog junior staff
F blog junior staff focuses not only on photography but also trains graphical art techniques and composition rules.
08 April 2008
Exhibition: Markus Jenemark and Christofer Grandin
We invite you all to this exhibition taking place in Uppsala 26/4 - 17/5. You are all most welcome! For more info please check out uppsalafotografiska.se.And yes, there will be snacks and beer at the opening. Maybe wine to for Dr Tarkini...
07 April 2008
Kulturhuset this summer: Gunnar Smoliansky
Nalen 1959
Södermalm 1959
Stockholm 1978Gunnar Smoliansky, born 1933, is one of the most influential Swedish photographers of our time. He has practiced his "slow photography", "subjective photography" or whatever you may call it for around 50 years, mostly exploring the surroundings of Stockholm.
The exhibition "One image at a time" will open on 14 June. It is a major retrospective exhibition of Smoliansky´s work and will be on show until 14 September. Gunnar Smoliansky is a favourite among many of us working with the F Blog. He was one of the students at Christer Strömholms legendary Fotoskolan. If you love photography then Kulturhuset, Stockholm is the right place to be this summer. Also visit the site of Gunnar Smoliansky.
all pictures©Gunnar Smoliansky
06 April 2008
Docu 08 - Line Number 38
Tramcars of "N" type had been produced in three series in 1949 – 1956 in Chorzów's "Konstal", Gdansk Shipworks and Coach Factory in Sanok. Their construction was based on German war tramcar type "KSW". They had been used widely until 1980's in the Upper Silesia region. Currently two "N" type tramcars are used in Bytom in line number 38. Cars number 954 and 1118 are the only and the last vehicles of this type in revenue use. Enjoy the trip through Bytom in 38 line tramway car number 1118 with charming crew and Bytom citizens.
Text was taken from Line Number 38 Tramcars brochure created by Paweł Lison and Jakub Drogoś. Photos taken in march 2008 by Grzegorz Lizurek
House, Tystrup
This is the house where I lived until my third year. It's me in the window and my sister looking in. I think I remember the actual situation very well. But as with other memories from my early past, I'm not sure if it's an real memory or if it's just a fake memory I build upon the picture.
story: Werner Heyckendorff
photographer: most likely Werner´s father
05 April 2008
invited guest: Joakim Eskildsen
India - Baji and Kusba, Samod
Finland - Hannu, Helsinki
Joakim Eskildsen´s recent project "The Roma Journeys" was exhibited in Kulturhuset, Stockholm last summer. The journey is right now on show in Berlin, Hamburg and Iserlohn, Germany. It is an impressive collection of photographs taken between 2000-2006 in seven different countries. Joakim travelled with writer Cia Rinne aiming at getting an insight into the living conditions of the Roma. The project has also resulted in a book in English and German (separate editions) with a foreword by Günter Grass. It includes a CD of field recordings and music recorded on the journeys. You should visit joakimeskildsen.com to find out more.
Russia - Leskovo III
Russia - Rosalind, Krasnodar
In an interview recently published by Consientious, Jörg Colberg´s blog, Joakim explains how he selected pictures from the vast material that he had collected during six years of photographing:
Q: Editing is one of those aspects of photography that is hardest to do. Given the sheer number of photos in the book, I cannot even imagine how many others you must have rejected. How does one go about editing such a vast project?
A: The way I went about working on “The Roma Journeys” was that of all the film I took on each journey, I would make contact sheets that I spent weeks studying. I would then mark out all pictures that were of interest, and scan them in a small resolution to make a quick fine-looking file. Then I printed all of them in the size of 6x7 cm and cut them out, so I ended up with a bunch of ‘cards’. These bunches of pictures I used a lot as they look like fine prints, and I worked a lot with them, combining pictures and simply putting aside the ones which did last. I must have several thousands of these small prints.
Greece - Nissan, Veria
Romania - The Long Plaits, Tirnaveni
The following text is an orientation written by Joakim Eskildsen. After living in Finland for several years, he has now returned to his native country; Denmark.
"My interest for photography started when I was fourteen years old. My brother had learned to print pictures at school, and we both tried to make it work. The pictures were grey and blurred, but still, I felt that it was exceptional, and from this day on I knew that I wanted to be a photographer. I have grown up in the countryside, and nature has always been my great interest. My grandmother lived in a house that was over two hundred years old. She always told stories about her childhood in Sweden. Her garden was an adventure in itself, and there was always a lot to do - chopping wood, picking apples, flowers, strawberries, digging up potatoes, cutting trees, painting the house.
My grandmother got water from a well, and a telephone very late. At her house, everything was understandable. The fire gave warmth, the house gave a shelter, and the sky gave sun and rain. After school, I became an apprentice at the Royal Court’s photographer Rigmor Mydtskov in Copenhagen. Here, we made portraits of famous persons in Denmark, and I learned that photography consists of a lot of different handicrafts. I continued to make my own pictures, and started travelling in the North. When I had finished the education after four and a half years, I did not know anything else than that I had to continue working with my own photography.
Hungary - Winter V, Hevesaranyos
A turning point was Ritva Kovalainen’s exhibition in Copenhagen in February 1993. Here, for the first time, I saw Finnish photography. Apart from Ritva Kovalainen’s own pictures I saw books and portfolios by Jyrki Parantainen, Jorma Puranen, Ismo Hölttö, Pentti Sammallahti, Kristoffer Albrecht and Pekka Turunen. All this Finnish photography was overwhelming to me. In Denmark, I only knew few photographers to which I felt related, and suddenly I realized there was a whole crowd of photographers that I felt connected to. I was immediately convinced that I had to move to Finland. A few weeks later I travelled to Helsinki, went to see Ritva Kovalainen, and applied to the University of Art and Design to make the book “Nordic Signs”. Since then I have been living in Finland. To me, it is essential to believe; in a better world, in mankind, and in that there is a sense with it all. There are so many problems in the world nowadays - poverty, illness, pollution, environmental disasters, war - that it requires discipline to be an optimist.
France - Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer I
I try to collect photographs of a world that I can believe in, which gives me hope, and moments of magic. The people I photograph are usually persons who I admire, and from which I wish to learn something. I mostly try to live with the people for longer periods of time in order to get a better understanding of everything, and to be able to photograph more peacefully. Usually, I am working closely together with writer Cia Rinne who is very gifted with languages. Without this cooperation it would be impossible for me to live and communicate with the people I photograph.
Photos and text by © Joakim Eskildsen
invited by ulf fågelhammar
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