Curator: 10 x 10 American Photobooks

10 x 10 American Photobooks, selection by Douglas Stockdale

Over the weekend, the second phase of the 10 x 10 American Photobooks reading room project was provided at the PGH Photo Fair held at the UnSmoke Systems Artspace (Braddock, PA). The reading room photobooks are now being packed for the final installation at the Tokyo Institute of Photography (Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan), which will take place September 11 thru October 6yh (2013).

For those not following this on Facebook, this is the second 10 X 10 Photobook project. For 2012, the 10 x 10 Photobooks program was focused on Japanese photobooks. This year, 2013, the focus was on American Photobooks. For this year, one group of 10 curators who selected 10 photobooks to be available in the various (3) reading room venues, as well as 10 of us who made our selections and provided these via our blogs. I had posted my selection of 10 photobooks on my blog The Photobook.

An interesting, diverse and broad selection of photobooks, perhaps enough to create an interest in building your own collection of photobooks. I would be interested in knowing which books you think we might have overlooked.

Cheers!

Doug

Adjusting to the Fujichrome change

copyright 2013 Douglas Stockdale

With the demise of Kodak 120 Ektachrome, I have made the required change to the 120 Fujichrome, in my case the Fujichrome Provia 100F, considered a Super Fine Grain film. This also means that I might need to make some changes in my overall workflow, including the film scanning on the Nikon 8000 in conjunction with the Photoshop toolbox.

So far, I will have to say that I am impressed with this film. At the advice of John at my photo-lab, I did not change my image capturing processes. Ever hour or so (more often in the early morning and late afternoon), I do an exposure check with a Kodak gray card and my spot meter. At the moment for this film, I am using an Exposure Index (EI) that is the same as the manufacturers 100 ASA in conjunction with the labs standard E-6 film processing.

First indications are that the Fuji film appears more color saturated and the blues of the sky appear more as I remember them. In retrospect, the Ektachrome (E100, daylight transparency) seemed almost desaturated and I continually had issues with the colors of the sky.

Additionally, the scans of the Fujichrome film with my Nikon film scanner appear to require less correction and a lot closer to what I remember than the Ektachrome scans (maybe I have a Fujichrome memory??). I will not go as far as to say that the Japanese film and scanner companies are in cohorts together, but it does appear that the film scanner seems to be better calibrated for the Fujichrome film and not as well for the Kodak films (scanning both color negatives and transparencies).

So at the moment, I am enjoying the film change and having no regrets.

As to this photograph, I created this just before I was the bunny hero last week, as a part of my investigation project “Gardening for Ordinance”. I think that this bush is in the midst of its Spring bloom, but regretfully I do not recall seeing it until now. Another one of the beneficial aspects of working on conceptual projects like this is that it does increase my awareness of those things around me. Very cool. As to the composition, in the view finder the sky was not evident in the upper left corner when I made this composition. I had purposely tried to fill the top of the frame with this flaming bush. In retrospect, I think that this bit of sky adds some mystery and creates a more interesting photograph. So at the moment, a keeper.

Cheers!

Milan Fashion Week – blog-photobook update

Walking the Red Carpet copyright 2009 Douglas Stockdale

In September of 2009 I developed a photographic concept that I thought might be well suited as part photobook, part performance, what I am calling a blog-photobook. Recall that this was about the time of the first iPad launch, some two and a half years ago. So rather than trying to develop a iPad app, which was pretty rough in those days, I decided to go a little more public with an open book and available to all who had an interest to read it.

The project itself, Milan Fashion Week, was borne out of two consecutive years of attending Fashion Week in Milan, Italy. Well kinda. I actually was in Milan in September at the same time as Fashion Week was occurring. So I decided that since I was in Milan during Fashion Week and I did not have a fashion portfolio, why not develop one? I have noted that some artist are being commissioned to do some edgy contemporary fashion layouts, so why not do a self-assignment of my own? My portfolio should show all of those photo editors and creative types that I do editorial fashion photographs.  And this portfolio should lead to a ton of assignments and big bucks that would end up paying for all of those artistic concept projects that I want to publish. Can you say win-win?

Okay, maybe I did appropriate a couple of fashion shots, but I did it in a very creative way! If you look at each photograph, I hope you will eventually find a little irony. I did contact a couple of real fashion photographers and editors to write an essay about the juxtaposition of my project and the fashion world and for some reason they did not want to come within a ten-foot pole of this project. hmmmmm. So lately I have been tweaking it a bit and making some trade-outs of some of the photographs. Perhaps a work in progress.

As part of the performance aspect, I designed a blog so that all 36 posts would show up in consecutive order, starting on the top and working sequentially down, without having to click between pages. Which meant that I did all 36 posts on the same day and posted them in reverse order, as the last post (start of the blog-book) is on the top of the stack. Not a difficult photobook layout task. And taadaa, the blog does function just as intended. Now go look at it here.

So in the last 2-1/2 years, no fashion commissions have been flooding my in-box. hmmmmm. odd.

I am now thinking that after the final tweaks, one option is to continue to allow the blog to stay public until the 3rd anniversary date, then poof! eliminate it. Sort of like Cristo’s “running fence” performance project. Now it is here, but soon gone.

Another option is to actually publish this project as a real book. I have already poked a few publishers, but no interest yet. Maybe after I make the final tweaks the interest may grow. Or not.

Interesting to see what comes of this.

Cheers!

Book design in progress: Flow of Light Brush the Shadow

Untitled (PingHu) copyright 2008 Douglas Stockdale

I have completed the first edit for my photobook project Flow of Light Brush the Shadows and have embarked into the early stages of developing the book dummy. Thus I am giving a lot of consideration to sequencing and image pairing to establish the flow or narrative aspects of the book. For this investigation of memory & dreams I want to incorporate gate-folds into the design of this book. For some reason, the first set of gate-folds was just very obvious to me, almost like a no-brainer. The second set was not initially as obvious, but while being open to this design element, it seemed that the a specific pair of images worked in a similar way. So now I am looking for a third set, but I want to add a slight twist to it.

I guess that this is about when I should also be starting my interest list for those who want to acquire this photobook project when it is published. This may help me with targeting the quantity of books for the first run, whether this should be 100, 300 or more. So leave me a comment as to your interest and we will see where this goes.

cheers!

Photobook design

Ciociaria copyright 2011 Douglas Stockdale published by Edizioni Punctum

I recently read a post from another photographer asking other photographers if they have any regrets with a photobook that they published. For me, three small details come to mind that I wish I could retrospectively tweak. 

First I would like to have listed my web site in the credits and regretfully I was offered a chance to edit this and I missed it. My bad.

Second, I should have deviled into more about how this project was a part of my ongoing investigation into memory and its preservation. As I wrote my essay, I have only myself to blame for what was stated. My advice, if you are considering the publication of a project and you intend to include your own essay, start developing it early, such that you have time to allow to mature. Then have others read it and provide feedback as to the message they perceive. (Yep, I did not do that well enough, as I had only one review of my written narrative).

Third and last, both Marco and I should have also taken credit for the design of this photobook. Marco agreed to this project while looking at my early galleries, but it was my book dummy that sold the final publishing, a direct reflection of my editing, image pairing and sequencing. For the final book design, fortunately I was provided the opportunity to again provide image pairing and probably 80% of the image sequencing, as Marco concentrated on the leading and first quarter of the photographs in the book’s photographic sequence. As you might suspect, photographers are not always allowed a say in the book design process by a vast number of publishers.

It was also my idea for the page layout for the paired photographs, with the left image surrounded by traditional white margins and the facing photograph a full bleed. For the pairings, I was able to provide changes as to which photographs were paired up and which side of the spread the photographs were positioned. I was able to provide input, if not approval, of the book cover and dust jacket design and graphics. Lastly, I also had a say in how the images were cropped if that became necessary, as it did with all of the full-page bleed photographs. So perhaps I was a bit shy about suggesting this change in the design credits, but looking back, I think that being listed as a part of the design team would have been fair.

I suspect that I will get these parts correct for my next book, but I will probably miss something else. Meanwhile as I work on my current photobook project, I have the book design that I want well in mind.

Cheers!

Instant Nomad – In Transit

Instant Nomad (Italy) copyright 2010 Douglas Stockdale

While working on the Ciociaria project, this composition was interesting to me as the empty bench created a sense of anticipation. This bench under the cover was meant to be used by someone. The broken path through the fallen leaves on the sidewalk indicates that someone has alredy been by here before. It was also a late Fall morning, thus the slight overcast sky provided an additional sense of moodiness and very different feeling for me than when there was bright sunshine.

What I did not anticipate was the appearance of the car, as I was rather “focused” on this composition and did not hear the car coming up the street behind me as I making my exposure. My first reaction: bummer! So I patiently waited until all of the cars were no longer in sight and made what I wanted for my pre-visualized composition. Before moving the camera set-up, I made a quick check of my exposures, including this one, and found that this photograph, above, was more interesting to me than the one devoid of any humanity. hmmm.

So I patiently waited for more cars to pass, attempting to capture them at various points as they moved through the frame. Interestingly, the serendipitous accident is the photograph that I keep returning to. Although this photograph is not as elegant a fit for my book, it is now taking on more life for my project Instant Nomad.

Cheers!

Instant Nomad – Italy

Instant Nomad (Italy) 2010 copyright Douglas Stockdale

As an itinerant and transit worker (as I am an Instant Nomad), I end up frequently eating alone in distant restaurants. The downside: one is a very lonely number. The upside: eating in little family owned restaurants can be delightful and interesting. This small Italian pizzeria off the plaza in Fiuggi Citta was another lonely evening but did not provide a delightful meal nor a memorable glass of Chianti (which I guess is also another side of “interesting”), as they did not carry any of my favorites wines. I ate here only this one time, as in Italy, there are a ton of alternative pizzerias and small family diners.

Nevertheless, this evening did offer me some opportunities to explore the concept of being a transient, as I did not sense that this would be a place or an eventual photograph for my book. In this case, my model was the unknown owner, who I do not remember other than the few photographs I made. Likewise, I know he has no memory of my presence and I was a blur in the sea of regular customers. At the time, I even felt like a ghost, as he hardly acknowledged my presence, a quick hesitation to accept my order of pasta and Chianti and then gone, only to momentarily return with the glass of wine and the plate of pasta. As I know a minimum of Italian, there was not much of an opportunity for him to discuss what was in progress on the two televisions. I don’t even remember what specifically I ordered that evening, the meal a blur of uneventful food that was fuel to keep me going. My only impression was that I would not be back, as there were other and better opportunities in the local area.

I did reposition myself to another table to set this composition up. The supporting post divides the interior between the dinning area and its larger television) and the view into the kitchen and wine holder and smaller television. Essentially representing the two worlds within the restaurant: customers and cooks.

Cheers!

Fotografia photobook exhibition – update

photographs copyright the artists

I find it interesting as to how much of my available time is required to curate the photobook exhibition at Fotografia di Roma. The exhibition opens this Thursday at 8pm and runs through the end of October. Whereas I had plans to be in Rome for the exhibition opening, my travel plans unraveled and I will not be present after all. Bummmmmer!

Nevertheless it appears that this will be an interesting photobook exhibition that will broadly investigate the theme of “work”. At this time most of the books have been delivered and my concept for the photographers to rephotograph their books interior for a related exhibition has been met by the vast majority. Nice.

Likewise, I have reviewed most of the photobooks that I have selected on my blog The PhotoBook. I still have a few more commentaries to complete. I have a couple of additional photobooks that were not included in the exhibition, but merit a book review that could be grouped with the others, so I expect to publish those later this month.

Last, since the vast majority of my photobook selections were in my library, I am going to provide a one-evening display of this exhibition at the Irvine Fine Art Center (Irvine, CA) at 6:30 pm on October 18th, along with a short presentation about the books and there relationship to the “work” theme.

Now I can resume work on my own photographic projects! I still have some trade and Limited Editions of my book Ciociaria available for sale and like other artists, seeking venue opportunities for exhibition.

Best regards, Doug

Guest Curator – 2012 FotoGrafia PhotoBook Exhibition

I have a new and unique opportunity, as my proposal to curate a photobook exhibition for the XI Edition of FotoGrafia Festival Internazionale di Roma (FotoGrafia – the International Festival of Rome) was accepted. Very nice!

The theme for this festival is “work”, which is an interesting subject and in my proposal, I addressed it rather broadly. I now have to articulate my concept for the exhibition catalog, but essentially a contemporary investigation into workers, what we do as “work” and the working we do, as a process or activity of “work”. Work as a noun and as a verb, eh?

The other part of my proposal is that each photographer will photograph a double page spread of their photobook, their personal choice, then I will have these photographs printed and hanging in the exhibition room to provide another dimension to the book object and photographic work. As the photobook is also a work of art by the photographer. Another layering of the theme of the festival.

As a first step, I had to determine if there were enough contemporary photobooks available to constitute an exhibition. Focusing on a contemporary investigation of the theme, I am also looking at recent published photobooks over the last three or four years. Examining my photobook library, I already thought this exhibition was feasible.  After a couple of Facebook shout-outs, I became aware of even more book titles that were interesting and warranted further investigation. As such I now have my shortlist of photobook titles that should provide a very interesting exhibition. cool!

Now I need to make my final exhibition selection and then notify the photographers. I am also publishing a brief commentary of each photobook selected for my shortlis on my photobook review blog, The PhotoBook.

Which means that for the next couple of months, an emphasis on the photographic work and photobooks of others while my own photographic projects linger. Maybe a transition to a new career, eh? Or maybe create some opportunities to sell my photobook, Ciociaria?

The exhibition in Rome, Italy will take place at the MACRO Testaccio (Museo d’Art Contemporenea di Roma) in the Pelanda exhibition space from September 20 to October 28th. Maybe see you there?

Best regards, Doug

L’Instant Nomade – The Instant Nomad

photograph copyright 2012 Douglas Stockdale

For the last four or five months, I have been quietly working on a project about work and identity. No too much ado, but just posting an occasional singular image and a brief reference to what it might be about. For me, there is an interesting interplay between the photographs, the intent of my artistic investigation and the title of the project, with sometimes the latter taking on more significance for me than perhaps is warranted. Then again, it can be the cover of the book that attracts one’s interest enough to desire to know more, eh?

So for this project I have been banging around with a number of potential titles related to the subject for my concept; the constant global traveler who bounces from business meeting to business meeting. It is a subject that I know intimately, as this is what I do for work over the past twenty plus years.

One of the potential titles that had been lingering for the past month is “Business Nomad”, an individual who wanders the terrain in pursuit of business endeavors. I was really becoming attached to the word “Nomad”, but the word “Business” was a little too cut and dried and did not create enough ambiguity. The “Business” aspect seemed to focus in on the “work” as a noun and did not allow much space for “work” as a verb. This was regrettable, as I wanted to explore both aspects of work, how it defined a profession but it is also a process that required unique efforts. I did not want to become too boxed in for what I was exploring, although it did open another alternative pathway to investigate at a later date.

So while very briefly passing through Paris last week, I had one of those serendipity eureka moments. I was waiting for my taxi and decided to photograph an adjacent building interior. I found a subject of interest and I was framing it very tight. When I stepped back to observe the larger context I then caught sight of the sign on the wall: L’Instant Nomade. My French is steadily improving, but the translation to English is not that challenging: The Instant Nomad. In order to suit my taste, I truncated it to “Instant Nomad”. Nice.

The highlighting and underscoring of the word L’Instant is wonderful, creating separation and visual emphasis on the first word. Part noun, part verb; I think I have the title to my project and perhaps the cover of the book, a very nice two-fer one.

Best regards, Doug