i love this photo, #24

Road To Shasta © Erika Larsen

I love this photo by the photographer Erika Larsen. I've been a fan of Erika's work for a while, and really enjoy the gentle but serious nature of her portrait work. This particular picture, from her series One If By Land, embodies for me the emotion that comes from travel - from experiencing a new place for the first time, and for the unknown journey ahead.

About the picture, Erika says, "I was sent on assignment to photograph the spiritual community of Mount Shasta. Mt. Shasta is considered a sacred mountain. Numerous mysterious legends and psychic messages speak of the significance of Mt. Shasta as a place of powerful earth energies. This was the first view I had of the mountain as I was driving towards my hotel. It was like a beacon."

post kfc

N. 27th Street Location, #1 © kjm

This one is close to home - drove by it last week.

within reach: quack

unlucky ducky © kjm

[within reach is a series of photographs examining the environment of home in detail]

i love this photo, #23

© kurt tong

I love this photo by the photographer Kurt Tong. It's such a delicate and mesmerizing picture - I found myself straining to see every 72 dpi pixel I could on screen. It's taken from his project, People's Park, in which he documents the current state of public parks in China, once an important cultural and societal space in a country that has changed greatly. He describes making the picture this way:

"It was a 6 week trip to photograph fading parks in China and this image was taken right at the end of my trip. I guess I was working harder to look beyond the more obvious stuff, with me running out of film and everything. I first noticed the rows of birdcages (there was about 20 of them) and thought it would make a nice image. As I was 'looking' the shot, I noted the painted mural on the wall, in particular the painted birds. It was such a nice juxtaposition, the real trees with the caged birds against the fake bamboo and free birds. The colors were quite muted too except for the crazy plastic cages. It worked out really well, it just fit in with the theme of the project perfectly. The mural reminded me of the propaganda posters of the communist past and the plastic cages of the new industrial China with its people still caged and controlled."

not just a flyover

Highway 66 location, #1 © kjm

I'll be canoeing all this week in the beautiful Boundary Waters region between Minnesota and Canada, the home to more than one thousand (no lie) non-motorized lakes. I'm really looking forward to meeting up with the old buddies, particularly because our annual trips have been harder to keep on track, what with family and work.

Unfortunately, I'll be missing the opening Friday night of Photography MIDWEST: A Seven State Juried Competition, of which the photograph above is included. The show was juried by Lisa Hostetler, who's doing great things at the Milwaukee Art Museum, and also features work by my friend, Mel Trittin.

While sans electronics this week, I've scheduled a few auto-pilot blog posts...

art yard

© kjm

I love that scene from Hannah and Her Sisters when Max Von Sydow screams, "I don't sell my art by the yard!" There actually will be a yard-ish photograph in my near future (stay tuned), but for now, this is the largest batch, if not a single picture, I've ever produced. Twenty-seven pictures from the Camp Home series, fresh from the framer, for the upcoming Nohl Fellowship show. Today is Christmas early - I'll open them, examine each for any problems, and label the backs.

within reach: color

uneaten tomato © kjm

[within reach is a series of photographs examining the environment of home in detail]

as seen: resin

arcosanti, arizona © kjm

fishing/thinking

sky above where dad fished as a young man © kjm

My dad was a passionate fisherman for many years of his life. As kids, we would open his heavy, brown metal tackle box to look at its strange, colorful contents, and I have early memories of him cleaning Lake Michigan salmon in the kitchen sink. One of his oldest friends recently told me that he still has a fishing pole that my dad gave him 50 years ago. In middle age, due in part, I suppose, to the corporate nature of his work, he took up golf and stopped fishing.

After Marilu and I caught a few fish during the family reunion, I decided to take along some of my dad's old gear along on an upcoming canoe trip. His tackle box, at some point, had changed to a newer plastic one, but I found all the contents as I remembered them: daredevils, rattlers, bobbers and sinkers. I took the contents and 10 fishing rods out to Andy's house for advice. Most of the fishing I've done as a younger man has been with Andy, so this was a fun conversation to have over a beer. He pointed out which lures to take, examined the rods for the best choice, and wound new 8 lb. test onto an old reel. Andy will be on this trip, and I love the idea that we could catch some big lake trout for a shore dinner.

But this is a conversation that I would have loved to have with my dad. It's one that I can imagine quite clearly - with him peering into the tackle box and poking his finger around the lures. He'd know just what I should bring.

[Sky Above is a new small series]

with reach: perennial

wilting glads on the kitchen counter © kjm

When Marilu's here, she spends lots of time working with my mom in her garden. As a kid, our garden was mostly the same from year to year - smallish rectangular areas with tomatoes, peonies, and unruly bushes that my dad tried to tame. But in the past few years, it's taken on a whole new life and scale. We joke about who should be more grateful - my mom, for Marilu's guidance and help, or Marilu, for the access to Northern soil to sink her hands into.

In truth, it's probably me who's the winner. Though I've got a black thumb and am not much interested in gardening itself, it's a real treat to see the two so happy.

[within reach is a series of photographs examining the environment of home in detail]

within reach: read

(last) sunday magazine on the couch © kjm

[within reach is a series of photographs examining the environment of home in detail]

within reach: scurvy

© kjm

Marilu's the fruit eater in our house. I don't hate it, but my face doesn't light up the way her's does when confronted with fresh summer fruit. She left Monday for Phoenix after a lovely week here, and I found this today in the fridge.

[within reach is a series of photographs examining the environment of home in detail]

within reach: wash

soap © kjm

[within reach is a series of photographs examining the environment of home in detail]

happy labor day

Foundry Pattern Maker's Office, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin © kjm