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!

Rancho Santa Margarita – work in progress

copyright 2013 Douglas Stockdale

I just realized that it has been a few years since I last scanned one of my film transparencies with the Nikon L8000 film scanner. Rusty skills, but thank goodness, it is quickly coming back. Perhaps much like riding a bicycle. This is a 1x scan resolution and I am not sure about the color cast. If this photograph makes the final selection, I will rescan it again at 16x.

I will be doing much more of this scanning for a while as I work on my current project. One of the nice things about working local, fewer worries about transporting film through the airport and the security systems.

Cheers!

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

Ciociaria – Limited Edition Book + Photograph set

Copyright Douglas Stockdale 2011

I recently published two small versions of a Limited Edition Book + Photograph set in conjunction with my hardcover book Ciociaria. The edition size for both versions is 25 and I choose two photographs which were not included in the design and printing of the book. Both the photograph and book are signed and numbered, with the photograph printed on archival stock. After a number of discussions with Susan Burnstine during the development of this Limited Edition set, I opted to go with an inexpensive version to keep my costs low and a reasonable for this Limited Edition, which is priced at $150.00 per set.

The initial interest in the two Limited Edition sets is good and I am nearing the halfway point for selling the editions. I can’t say they are selling like hotcakes, but doing well enough and building a small reserve fund to finance my next book that I hope to be able to announce shortly.

The Fiuggi Edition, photograph below, was an interesting turning point for me while working on this project. I had been deferring to a more topographical investigation of the memories of this area, which is to say photographing the landscape without the presence of any individuals. As this scene unfolded before me, it spoke of another way to create a narrative as to how memory is preserved. But as book designs go, with the choice, pairing and sequencing of the images, this photograph did not find a good home within the book. So it seemed a nature to include this as a special edition.

Fiuggi Editon

 

The other version of the Limited Edition is the Morolo Edition, which includes the photograph below. I saw this lyrical web of branches with the different phases of the decaying fruit and hints of the surrounding residences. It speaks to the past memories intersecting with the current moment.

The Limited Edition Book + Photograph sets will be available from speciality photographic bookstores.

Now available at:

Ampersand, Portland Oregon

Coming soon to photo-eye > UPDATE now available at photo-eye

The standard hardcover book at $55.00 is currently available at both Ampersand and photo-eye.

Additiona interior photographs from the book and links to some of the book reviews can be found here.

Check back as I expect this bookseller list to grow.

Best regards, Doug

Morolo Edition

MACRO acquires Ciociaria Limited Edition Photographs

Photographs copyright Douglas Stockdale 2012

I am now able, as well as extremely happy, to share some wonderful news. Over the past month, I have been in discussions with Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma (MACRO), the largest contemporary art museums in Rome Italy, regarding the acquisition of three Limited Edition photographs from my photobook project Ciociaria. This week I received the really grat news that the acquisition has been completed. The three photographs that they acquired are provided in this post. The photographs will become part of the museums permanent collection of contemporary photography.

What I am finding out is that with many museum acquisitions, the process can become very complicated. In this case there was a need to balance what the museum wanted in the number and size of the photographs with their acquisition budget, which initially did not add up very well. Thus I brought into the process a small group of my collectors who provide underwriting (financial gifts or now museum patrons) assistance with the museum’s acquisition. And the deal slowly came together.

This is my first museum acquisition as well as my first inclusion into a permanent photography collection. To now be a part of the MACRO’s contemporary photography collection is an honor, as the MACRO is becoming a very well-known contemporary art museum in Italy as well as in Europe.

Ciociaria – Karen Jenkins review – photo-eye

Ciociaria copyright 2011 Douglas Stockdale

photo-eye just published Karen Jenkins review of my book Ciociaria. Jenkins goes into considerable depth, and grapples with an undercurrent of memory that weaves through most of my photographic projects, where she states; the theme of the memorial also emerges, wherein nature is shown as an inextricable part of how we commemorate loss and reckon with the passing of time, seen here in wilted bouquets, neglected fountains and shrines embedded in the rolling hillsides.

She states: A dichotomy is suggested between this variation on street photography and unpopulated landscape or topographical views. In this guise, Stockdale rejects both narrative reportage and the purely picturesque. He instead delves in between – seeking places where the strange becomes familiar and the familiar strange – creating touchstones of personal symbolism that transcend the particulars of Ciociaria. Within this realm, Stockdale takes a deadpan look at the human-altered landscape, finding in the banal a cross-cultural link to broader metaphorical meaning. Yet the book is also studded with heavily lyrical images (not least of which is the final view of a misty, open road).

I appreciate her observation: What I liked best about these photographs is how simply they capture the relentless and sometimes beautiful, sometimes bewildering encroachment of the natural world on man-made environments. I find Stockdale to be a keen observer of how people attempt to compartmentalize and contain nature for both practical use and domestic enjoyment.

I invite you to read the review in its entirety, then perhaps be moved to purchase the book!

Ciociaria – now on YouTube

Fiuggi copyright 2010 from Ciociaria published by Edizioni Punctum

One aspect of publishing my book Ciociaria that was entirely unexpected was the upload on YouTube by Tomas de Teresa, who publishes the Spanish photobook review blog Libros de Fotografia. Tomas has made a nice choice of photographs from my photobook in conjunction with an interesting Spanish guitar background. The video does not run long, so take a quick couple of minutes and check it out!

Thanks Tomas!

Libros de Fotografia – Ciociaria review

More web ink for Ciociaria, with a photobook review by Tomás de Teresa on his blog Libros de Fotografia.

The text for Tomás’s review is in Spanish, but in my humble option, I think the efforts to translaste into English are worth it, e.g. “Douglas has traveled the area as a flaneur, wandering in the rural and urban areas with the aim of deciphering the landscape through photography. His images capture the essence of Ciociaria, a place that is perceived at the same time familiar strange.”

While at Libos de Fotographria, check out some of Tomas’s other photobook reviews, such as Nan Goldin’s  “The Beautiful Smile“, published in conjunction with her 2007 Hasselblad Award.

best regards, Doug

Ciociaria – published! & other updates

me & Marco Delogu, Ciociaria copyright 2011 Douglas Stockdale published by Edizioni Punctum

Last weekend in Rome during Fotografia Festival Internazionale di Roma, I finally was able to hold my book, to see it actually in print. Really a bunch of mixed feelings, ranging from really elated to an almost anti-clamtic let down. The best part, the interior plates in the book were a match to my photographs from the project, they looked awesome!

In Rome, I had a nice meet up with Alec Soth, who was also published this month by Edizioni Punctum, at the Punctum studios where we had an interesting discussion while swaping copies of our freshly minted books. Clement Kauter left Rome for Paris with three signed copies to sell at his bookshop (Plac’ArtPhoto) and I brought a few copies back to Southern California, while I work with Marco to ship the reminder of the books, which I hope will arrive by November.

Meantime, the book is available now for pre-order off my web-site as well as photo-eye. This weekend, photo-eye featured Ciociaria in their “New Arrivals” email news-blast, and I like what they had to say about the book:  (Stockdale) displays the photographer’s natural ability to create a series of images that reflects his own interpretation of an unfamiliar land. The photographs in this book navigate between urban and natural landscapes and depict an honest dialogue between an outsider and a seemingly close-knit world. Beautifully printed, the photographs here are an inspiring investigation into a personal journey that has manifested itself as a series of engaging images.

Also this weekend Susan Burnstine published our interview on her blog underexposure and provided me the opportunity to talk about my photography, book reviews and what led up to publishing Ciociaria with Edizioni Punctum, as well as what the future holds. very nic.

It’s been a very busy week. I was able to re-photograph one of the In-Passing memorials as I continue to re-develop this Aftermath project.

Best regards, Doug

Susan Burnstine’s underexposure – interview – Ciociaria

Ciociaria; back, spine & front covers

I was featured today on Susan Burnstine’s wonderful blog underexposure.  Susan has recently started providing her interviews that she has previously published in a monthly column for Black & White Photography Magazine (UK) entitled American Connection on her new blog.

The interview by Susan is focusing on the events leading up to my publication of  Ciociaria. As you read her other interviews, you will probably note that she has a structure to her interviewing process; from the photographers early beginnings, influences and then the particulars around the project that subsequently evolved into a published book or exhibition. Thus it was a little easier to prepare for our discussion, unlike my live interview with Brooks Jensen, editor of LensWork, in 2008 with the publication of my project In Passing (LensWork #74 Jan/Feb 2008). Susan afforded me the opportunity to provide an edit of the interview before she published it, which was very nice. Actually, it gave me the opportunity to perhaps appear a little more polished than perhaps I am.

I will also have to say that Susan is also a very accomplished photographer, having recently published her own book Within Shadows.

So a very big Thank You Susan!

best regards, Doug