January Round Up

January - what? It does not feel like 31 days have passed this month. It was all at once shorter, yet longer at the same time. Much ground was covered. Let us begin….

Things That Struck Me:

…AI fundamentally alters our relation not only to images but also to the visual world mediated by images…. Just as Walker Evans understood long ago that there is no such thing as documentary photography, only “documentary style,” today we must confront the fact that in AI imaging there is no photography, only “photographic style.” - From the article ‘Generative Style’ by Noam M. Elcott and Tim Trombley, linked in the reading list below.

Things I’ve Done:

• Packed and unpacked, a lot.

Flight over Los Angeles.

• Visited the 1906 Fényes Mansion in Pasadena.

  

  1906 Fényes Mansion.

• Wandered around Hollywood.

Outside Mann’s Chinese Theater.

• Toured the Neutra VDL House.

Neutra VDL House.

• Went to San Luis Obispo and Cayucos to escape the LA fires.

Cayucos, California.

• Tried to help the fire recovery in Altadena, California.

Victory Park. Pasadena, California.

• Started a long term photo project.

Sequencing.

Things I’ve Watched / Seen:

• William Eggleston: The Last Dyes Exhibit at the David Zwirner Gallery in LA.

  • A little video about it

The Last Dyes Exhibit.

• Robert Frank’s The Americans with the Aperture PhotoBook Club

• From 1987: Robert Frank's "Americans"

• Walker Evans in His Own Words

• The Dust Bowl by Ken Burns

• Inside a 1936 Modernist Hillside home by R.M. Schindler in Los Angeles

• Camera Harry A Short Film

• Photography lacks intentionality with Paul Graham

• A good picture is one that is surprising with An-My Lê

• Secret Lives of Animals (my youngest daughter’s favorite show of the moment)

• Saturday Night

  • First SNL Episode

• A Complete Unknown

• Wicked

Things I’ve Looked At / Read:

My coffee table.

• U.S. Camera 1936

• Life Magazine: First Issue

• New Deal Photography: USA 1935-1943

• Marion Post Wolcott : FSA Photographs

• Russell Lee Photographs

• Generative Style: The Farm Security photographs revealed enduring stories of American life. As a dataset, what can they tell us about artificial intelligence?

• Double Click: Twin Photographers in the Golden Age of Magazines

• The Calm Workbook

Things I’ve Shot:

• Sony A850

• Canon Sureshot M

• Panasonic VX980

---

Tomorrow, I will be back on social media and soon after, sharing thoughts on how it felt to take a month long break. Spoiler: it was great, but different than I expected.

In the meantime, here are some of my favorite photos from the month of January.