6.29.2009

pcnw!














© kjm

I'm really happy to be part of Photo-Op, the upcoming annual group show at Photographic Center Northwest. The show includes work by 20 photographers (links below), and was juried by Jen Bekman. It's been a goal of mine to show work from the Camp Home series in the West and Northwest - and this is particularly special, since my father was living in Tacoma, Washington, when he was sent to Tule Lake.

Photo-Op, Photographic Center Northwest
Opening Friday, July 17, following a 7:00pm lecture by Jen Bekman, Curating & Collecting Contemporary Photography, at the Seattle Art Museum.

Artists: Jowhara Alsaud, Andrea Bakacs, Mary Ellen Bartley, Katie Baum, Magda Biernat, Colin Blakely, Tim Carpenter, Onejoon Che, Thomas Holton, Stephanie Kirk, Brian Knappenberger, Alex Leme, James Luckett, Liz Obert, Colleen Plumb, Shawn Records, Tom Reese, Andy Reynolds, Rebecca Sittler, Lacey Terrell, and Ian Whitmore.

6.27.2009

i love this photo, #29

















© Leilani Wertens

I love this photo by the Chicago photographer Leilani Wertens, from her series, Forget Me Not. There's an interesting statement about the project on Leilani's website, and she had this to say about the image, above:

"People often ask me if the woman in the portrait is my grandmother or my mother. No, we're not related, but we do share the same dark, wavy hair and large brown eyes. This is her story, or what I've managed to piece together of it:

She lived for over forty years in a brick, 2-story townhouse in Hyde Park, an affluent neighborhood near the University of Chicago. Several of her neighbors that stopped by the estate sale mentioned a connection with Marshall Field's, once the city's premiere luxury department store. The stories differed, one said she was a worker there and loved going to a special employees-only merchandise boutique to stock up on the store's goods, another said she was just an avid shopper. Either way, she was definitely a hoarder - three closets of the house were crammed full of dresses, a majority with the tags still attached. The clothes spanned several decades, from the 1940's to the 1970's and ranged from silky cocktail dresses to sturdy cotton house dresses. She had multiples of everything - five of the same dress, backup pairs of her favorite style of shoes still wrapped in tissue paper in their original boxes. The basement held shelves of obscure kitchen implements and the kind of gadgets you'd see advertised in the back of a catalogue. Despite the eccentricities, her habits were not all that different from others of the same generation that had struggled through the Great Depression.

A shopper at the sale had dug the framed glamour shot out of a dusty box in the basement; she agreed to let me borrow it before making her purchase. I hung it among a row of empty picture hooks in what once was the master bedroom, where she seemed to belong."

[See past 'i love this photo' entries here.]

6.25.2009

within reach: roll



















morning sun on toilet paper © kjm

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

6.23.2009

within reach: fallen























tulip petal on the living room windowsill © kjm

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

6.21.2009

father's























Dad's Dresser © kjm

Wishing a great day to Zenya's dad, Kurt; Kale's dad, Mark; Eli and Elena's dad, Andy; Molly, Addison and Piper's dad, Ace; Jason, Lauren and Kevin's dad, Dave; Winnie and Stacia's dad, Patrick; Molly and Emma's dad, Duane, Caitlin's dad, Craig; and Kieran and Nani's dad, Christopher.

6.18.2009

food group











© kjm, left, Susana Raab, right

The first time I chatted with Susana Raab was in an email hello, raising of the idea that we show our fast food images together somewhere. We brainstormed a bit and nothing resulted, but we became email pals. While at Review Santa Fe, Crista Dix from wall space had the same exact idea, so I think we really were on to something (any curators listening?).

I'm happy to report that both of our work is included in The Un-Natural Nature of Food, a group show curated by Melanie McWhorter at Fraction Magazine. There are 30 photographers in the show, including Paho Mann, Brian Ulrich, Melissa Kaseman, Jon Feinstein, Mark Menjivar, and Erika Larsen.

6.15.2009

flak'ed


















I'm thrilled to have a photo from Camp Home featured on Flak Photo today, part of a series of daily posts featuring photographers from the just-completed Review Santa Fe. The man behind the Flak curtain is Andy Adams, a new friend and fellow Wisconsinite, who's making all kinds of things happen online. Be sure to bookmark or add Flak to your reader, as there's new and interesting photography to see every day.

6.13.2009

as seen: flag day


















storm blowing in, bayfield, wi © kjm

Yesterday I photographed a young girl eating an apple cider doughnut, a (delicious) specialty of her grandparents' apple orchard and shop. When I was done, she pulled a small American flag from her pocket and handed it to me. Later in the day, I found myself staring at a larger version on the edge of Lake Superior, feeling the wind picking up and wondering if my day would be ending sooner than planned.

6.10.2009

up north fast



















Highway 51 Location, #1 © kjm

Found today while heading through the Wisconsin north woods.

6.08.2009

context & community








© left to right: John Mann, Claire Beckett and Emily Shur

A lot to process from Review Santa Fe - I have images and words mingling in my head and a small notebook filled with scribbles of inspiration. The reviews were really helpful in further understanding my motivation and the potential of my project work, in creation, context and presentation. Lots to think about for both Camp Home and Fast Food. What I take away most though, from this experience, is the chance to meet such a diverse group of photographers. In most cases, it was a brief chat and a peek at prints, but there were also longer, interesting conversations. I feel fortunate to have met Claire Beckett, Jonathan Blaustein, Lydia Burkhalter, Cori Chandler-Pepelnjak, Katrina d'Autremont, Amy Eckert, Jeffris Elliott, Elizabeth Fleming, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Meggan Gould, Deborah Hamon, Alexandra Huddleston, Jeff Hutchens, Dave Jordano, Hiroyo Kaneko, Melissa Kaseman, Jimmy Lam, Billie Mandle, Mark Menjivar, John Mann, Graham Miller, Kaycie Roberts, Emily Shur, Aline Smithson, Kurt Tong, and Susan Worsham.

6.06.2009

as seen: attraction










gift shop outside of Petrified Forest National Park © kjm

Don't get me wrong - the 200 million year old crystallized wood was pretty interesting, too.

After a great trip to northeast Arizona with Marilu, I'm now halfway through Review Santa Fe, and enjoying meeting such a fine group of people/photographers. Thoughts and plenty o' website links to come...

6.02.2009

tinytinygroupshow, #8























Adam Bell
Evan Baden
CĂ©line Clanet
Caleb Cole
Kevin Cooley
Juliane Eirich
Whitney Hubbs
Noah Kalina
Amanda Kirkpatrick
Astrid Kruse Jensen
Marten Lange
Sebastian Lemm
Joshua Lutz
Jonathan Smith
Will Steacy
Sarah Stolfa
Michael Vahrenwald
Hannah Whitaker
Sarah Wilmer
David Wolf

[ tinytinygroupshow is a mini electroexhibit of photographs based around a basic theme. There are no gallery hours, lengthy wall texts, plastic-coated price lists, or attractive gallery attendants. tinytinygroupshow is a 72 dpi place for a brief, and hopefully thought-provoking look at some beautiful photography. View past shows here. ]

Note: you might need to click on your screen a second time to enlarge the show