The occasional scrivener

I enjoyed this book immensely. Adam’s photographs are so well-known as to be worn smooth of all meaning, elevated to vacuous “fine art”, but reading Adam’s descriptions of how they were made, what he was thinking, what eventual mistakes he made et cetera humanizes them and brings them down to a plane where we mere mortals can begin to think: “I could make that”.

This is of course why Adams is known all over the English-speaking (well, American) world as “the greatest photographer ever”. His career as a teacher, coupled with a subject matter dear to the ideal idea of America, as well as his undeniable rigor as a developer of technique, has ensured that.

But sometimes, reading these stories, you glimpse nostalgia for a youthful life of clambering around Yosemite with glass-plate negatives in his rucksack, and the entire future of celebrity, hard work, and backbreaking labor in the darkroom in blissful unawareness.

Land yacht, sea yacht…

Aug 2017 | Aug 2016 | Aug 2015 | Aug 2014 | Aug 2013 | Aug 2012 | Aug 2011 | Aug 2010 | Aug 2009

DeMuro is a prolific car reviewer on YouTube. This is a breezy read with some amusing anecdotes. I’m currently in a car-interest phase so I enjoyed it.

A readable though academically stringent book about the organization of the Royal Navy from the end of the Republic to the Napoleonic Wars.

A lot about shipyard organization and political maneuvering, but hugely interesting if you’re a Patrick O’Brian buff like I am.

Jul 2017 | Jul 2016 | Jul 2015 | Jul 2014 | Jul 2013 | Jul 2012 | Jul 2011 | Jul 2010 | Jul 2009

The conclusion of the trilogy.

Lukewarm recommendation.

An entertaining account of the 1960s rivalry between Ford and Ferrari at Le Mans.

Jun 2017 | Jun 2016 | Jun 2015 | Jun 2014 | Jun 2013 | Jun 2012 | Jun 2011 | Jun 2010 | Jun 2009

Cathleen Naundorf - Secret Times

Large format (8x10) fashion photography on Polariods. The prints included the tear marks and blotches from the process. The subjects are gorgeous models clad in haute couture creations from the largest Paris maisons.

(The camera was also exhibited, a Plaubel monorail with a Schneider Symmar-S 300mm ƒ/5.6. I nerded out a lot over this.)

In all I didn’t find this very compelling. I respect the photographer for her work and her process, and on some level the combination of ancient technology and modern subjects is interesting. But in the end it’s sort of a gimmick.

Simen Johan - Until the Kingdom Comes

Huge prints of digitally manipulated images of animals and fruit. The new wave of pictorialism - the photographs are just the raw material for making images in a computer to express the vision of the artist. Is it that far removed from making a naturalistic oil painting from a photograph? I don’t believe so.

Evelyn Bencicova - Merror

The subject matter is interesting, but the execution felt unsettling. Probably that is the point.

Linda McCartney & Mary McCartney - Mother Daughter

I’m going to be uncharitable here and say that this is just Mary (the daughter) using her access to her mother’s (Linda) snapshots to enhance her own career.

The prints were not identified by the photographer, which felt dishonest.

Marie Hald - A New Me

Finally a good exhibit. The photographer spent some time “embedded” in a Utah “fat camp” where overweight people went through a crash course to try to lose weight. It’s a typical Swedish young photographer project but the subjects in this stark setting had a quiet dignity that made them human, as opposed to health statistics.

The big comeback tour for The The (essentially Matt Johnson, but with a great backing band) was sadly marked on the day of the Stockholm set by the passing of the singer/songwriter’s father. Despite this the band put on a great show.

The venue was packed by the kind of people (your humble writer included) who discovered the band in the mid-80s, now a bit less whip-thin and a bit less jaunty. One might even say greyed.

The varied soundscapes of the albums was replaced by a traditional rock band, with good results for the most part where the very strong melodies shone through, less so for others.

I’m very glad I went, and I hope the massive global tour will introduce The The to a new, unbeaten generation.

Set list

1. Global eyes
2. Sweet bird of truth
3. Flesh and bones
4. Heartland
5. The beat(en) generation
6. Armageddon days are here (again)
7. We can’t stop what’s coming
8. Phantom walls
9. Love is stronger than death
10. Dogs of lust
11. Helpline operator
12. This is the night
13. This is the day
14. Soul catcher
15. Bugle boy
16. Beyond love
17. Slow emotion replay
18. Like a sun risin thru my garden
19. Infected
20. I’ve been waitin’ for tomorrow (all of my life)

(interlude)

1. Uncertain smile
2. Lonely planet

(via Aftonbladed)