Fighting for Scraps

Over at OnTheCusp I made a post about public arts funding in Indianapolis. Please join the conversation, and don't hold back.

The Great Julius Shulman

This is a repost of a comment I left at Atomic Indy about the Great Julius Shulman who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 98:

As an architect and photographer, I have always admired Shulman's work. I have seen him speak a few times and spoke to him briefly after a lecture in Houston. What a gem.

He half-jokingly referred to himself in lectures as "The Great Julius Shulman," a moniker I'm sure he picked up by hearing himself referred to as such. But he was actually an enormously down-to-earth, hardworking artist who was one of the first to share the vision of the early modern California architects. The Case Study House Program owes a great deal of success to Shulman's vision of modern living.

What I remember most about his lectures and what inspires me most today is the complete dedication to getting the shots and getting the work done regardless of itchy business realities such as whether he would be paid or not. He did this casually, cheerfully, and jokingly, and he knew how important it was to represent California modernism so ideally in pictures. Philosophically, he knew that success would come if he just continued to do good work. And he was right. Shulman came to the site, he spent the time, he waited for the moment, he got the shots. The amazing shots.

What is lost in our hindsight and reverence for the Case Study House Program is the fact that it was groundbreaking, difficult and financially stressed. Yet Shulman brought his best because he believed in the art.

Not only that, but he continued working well into his eighties (maybe later?). Lugging view camera equipment around and staging shots is not for the meek, even with assistants.

I don't feel that he will be missed the way I often do when people pass. For Shulman, I feel that his amazing legacy will continue to be revered after a long and fruitful life. What more could a person want?

I'm looking forward to seeing this film about Shulman... it would be great to see it screened in the Toby at the IMA (hint, hint).

Ruins of Truth in Content

The most blogged-about topic on photography blogs this week is The New York Times Magazine's publishing and subsequent pulling (from the web) of Edgar Martins' Ruins of the Second Gilded Age which the Times commissioned from Martins last fall. One blog commenter compared this charade to the Oprah-James Frey incident.

Martins is a 32-year-old Portugese photographer who has produced an incredible body of minimal, conceptual photographic work. He has advertised his work as being "without digital manipulation," which is quite a cavalier statement, even taken liberally. With few exceptions, every large format photographer who prepares museum-quality prints utilizes some level of post-production for the simple ability to remove dust or other aberrations from the picture which are natural and inevitable to shooting. This is really no different than the analog tedium of dust removal and retouching of prints in old-school wet photography.

Claiming "no digital manipulation" and no post-production is very ethical high ground in photography. Most who genuinely do this shoot large format (up to 8x10) or ULF, ultra-large format (up to 20x24) film and contact print or still enlarge wet - primarily black & white. Martins' work however is pristine color work, and frankly it's difficult to believe that it is without digital post production. Analysis of Ruins of the Second Gilded Age at PDN seem to agree, and now bloggers are combing through Martins' earlier photographs and pointing out bits of editing in the work.

Which brings us to the most interesting question: Why? Why do this? If you are Martins, you are a fine artist whose work is strong enough that it does not need further justification by claiming no digital manipulation. If you are the New York Times Magazine, why hire a Portugese fine art photographer to document an American housing crisis? I can think of quite a few who could have produced this project exceptionally well in the required editorial means (no manipulation to change the content or meaning of the work). Why did these get past photo editors - was there some gambling with grace or did they really not catch it?

This incident is also a lesson on the ubiquity of the blogosphere and it's ability to affect change at the highest levels of media. Image posted above by Edgar Martins, 'raw flip' evidence animation by a blogger here.

One blogger on APhotoEditor claims that Martins will soon respond. I look forward to the dust settling on this one.

Pining for Texas

I miss Texas a lot. It's one of those places that you grow to love : the smells, the heat, the genuine friendliness of the people, the slow and articulate cutting edge - in its dullness, sharper sometimes than the competitive edge of the east coast, and more tangible and relatable.

I really dig photographers who can speak Texan in their images. One of my favorites is Allison V. Smith. Her work feels like Texas to me.

Judy Levy Memory Cloud @ IMA

My pal Judy Levy has a fantastic installation at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in the atrium. If Orly Genger made you nervous, you'll like Judy's installation. I only wish I had stilts to see more.