Had the good fortune of being featured on Brian Ulrich’s blog Notifbutwhen. He also mentioned another photographer Stephen DiRado and we had a brief exchange in the comments section. Looking at his pictures I get a clearer idea of what I was after, but often could not articulate. The project was not so much about Malls but more about human nature, and also about the emotional weight of the environment. That is something I can really put my finger on now, fifteen years later, but at the time, I really did not know what I was looking for.
Later I will attempt a wrap-up of 2006. Happy holidays.
Update: the newyawkers get to see Brian Ulrich up close at Julie Saul, opening this Thursday, Jan 4 from 6 to 8pm. That was for my five friends who read this…:)
I had a studio instructor in grad school who was the first person to propose to me that the creative process is one of doing, then figuring out. She felt that the most profound creative statements, no matter what the art form, came from deep inside the creator and could only be understood after they were expressed. Lest you think she was some bead and berkinstock wearing type (not that there is anything wrong with that), she was actually a very serious, sober, and quiet Finn. She had been imported to the mountains of southwest Virginia to try and get us spastic americans to actually quiet down and actually design.
While the lesson made sense intellectually at the time, it has only been recently, almost ten years since I last spoke to her, that I now understand it on an emotional level.
Your project sounds like a case study in her thinking.
In case you are wondering, I’m an architect who on occasion thinks he can take a pretty good picture. A very common creature, I know.
Great pictures all around. Keep up the great work.
Ciao,
Richard
Thanks for the encouragement. I went to Ikea yesterday on Long Island, and inbetween getting distracted by shopping, it’s like crack in there, you can’t stop, I tried to do some work. By the way, really really loved your work, especially the bw, do you think there is such a thing as the “chicago school?” Also #85 is wonderful.