within reach: new

flute on the t.v. table © kjm

A very quiet New Year's Eve last night, at home in Phoenix with Marilu. We cooked, watched a wonderful movie, and toasted with champagne. Lots to think about from the year past and the one upon us - but for now, the simple enjoyment of closeness, and the sound of tinkling glasses.

time sensitive

© Capucine Bailly, Kelly Shimoda, Neil Harris, and Paul Fittipaldi

Kelly Shimoda emailed today, noting the end of 2008, a year in which she and three photographer friends collaborated on a daily photography blog. It's called Three O'Clock is Always Too Late Or Too Early For Anything You Want To Do, and it's a wonderful collection of photos. I only made it through a month or so, and found all of the gems above.

vacation view

Priests looking at ruins, Rome, Italy © Stanley Marcus, left; Looking at the R.C.A. Building at Rockefeller Center, New York, N.Y. © Louis Faurer, right

After one last, fun editorial job on the 23rd, and more wintery weather, I'm now fully in vacation mode. That means hanging around at Marilu's brother's house in Houston this week, eating, watching lots of movies, shopping, and museum-going. Very little brain activity has been directed towards work, email, the laptop, or picture-making. But two inspirational finds in book form: a Louis Faurer book at the Museum of Fine Arts bookstore, and a copy of Reflections Of A Man at Neiman Marcus.

The coming week? On to Phoenix, and more of the same.

within reach: curl

picture of steve hanging in the studio © kjm

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

elements

little assemblage, ke'e beach © kjm

I've had some less-than-great weather karma lately. First, snow caused the one-day delay in getting to Hawaii; then it rained for most of my week on Kauai (but the shoot was still a success); and due to another snowstorm in Milwaukee, it took me 24 hours to get home.

I normally love traveling at this time of year, because the holidays mean that airports have a little extra buzz. People are a little more excited to be arriving and departing, and I never tire of the sight of old people happily greeting younger versions of themselves. But when I got off the plane today in Milwaukee (where the storm had shut down the airport) everyone just looked tired. The baggage carousel was spitting out ridiculous amounts of backed up luggage (mine never showed), and travelers, four people deep, were diving for their moving bags with the panic of a shoe-dodging President.

But not to complain, of course, and I'm home now. The furnace is warming the place back up and there's a foot of fresh snow outside.

father

sky for patrick and his family © kjm

as seen: just go

(working) stop sign, hanalei, kauai © kjm

as seen: little prince

historical marker in the rain, princeville, kauai © kjm

gathering family

painting by auntie fusa in millie's guest bedroom © kjm

I had just two nights on the Big Island to visit relatives, but it turns out it was enough time to see a lot of family. In Kona, relatives from both sides of my Mom's family gathered at cousin Millie's house. In Hilo, my Dad's sister, auntie Lyn, corralled her whole clan to meet up for dinner. In both cases, there were cute little kids running around - the next generation of the families. It reminded me of our early visits to Hawaii, when we were young. There was always lots of food around, everyone in the room looked vaguely familiar, and the adults talked late into the night.

this is hawaii

flying from Honolulu to Kona © kjm

A much better window view.

this is not hawaii

© kjm

Rather, it's an iPhone snap of my airplane window in the process of de-icing. I ended up missing my connection to Hawaii yesterday, but fortunately had some quality time in Minneapolis with Cheryl, Mark and Supernephew Kale.

At the airport again this morning. Much better weather. Fingers once again crossed.

good, bad, ugly

© Amy Eckert, from the series, Manufacturing Home

Good: Andy Adams posted a photo of mine today on Flak Photo, from my Critical Mass submission.

Bad: I was thrilled to make the Critical Mass first round cuts, but alas, didn't make it to the final 50. It's a fantastic group of photographers, and I'm just happy to have been a part of it. I'm still combing through the disc of all the entrants (only up to the F names), which is really enjoyable. Lots of photographers whose work I hadn't seen before, including Amy Eckert's, above.

Good: I'm headed to Kauai today for an assignment, and for a brief visit on the Big Island prior to see family.

Ugly: It's a lousy day here in Milwaukee, with rainy, sleety, snowy and icy conditions. Keeping all the fingers crossed that I'll get out this morning.

within reach: plucked

grape stem against the Ikea light in the kitchen © kjm

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

within reach: crash

broken dish on the kitchen floor © kjm

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

defrocked

Coon Rapids Blvd. Location © kjm

I don't see too many abandoned White Castles, but was told about this one today while shooting an assignment in Minnesota.

big/small

Starting this Friday, I'll have work in a group show, Big, Big Bangs / Small, Small Bucks at the Dean Jensen Gallery in Milwaukee. I'm pleased to be part of the show, which includes some of my favorite Milwaukee artists, as well as some from afar: Santiago Cucullu, Katie Martin, Susana Raab, Tema Stauffer, Lynn Tomaszewski, Sonja Thomsen and Jason Yi. There are 40 artists in the show, over 100 pieces, and all the artwork is priced at $750 or less.

within reach: night light

back window with light from the kessler's © kjm

This is what my living room window is looking like at night these days.

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

100 up

The show is up at MIAD and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Sonja helped me pin up the prints, and while they're a tad curled today, I think it all looks great. I gave a gallery talk today for students in the photography department, which I really enjoyed. After I explained that these pictures weren't part of my larger projects, but were created with the intention of posted them on the blog, one student asked if I considered the small c-prints more valuable or important than their online versions. What a great question, and one that I hadn't considered. My conclusion: the online versions, in all their 2d, non-handleable, 72 dpi glory. Go figure.

*Note: you might want to mute the sound on the video...

patchwork

zenya's tiny legos © kjm

show-in-a-box

© kjm

Contents:
- (100) 4x5" c-prints
- (200) 1" t-pins
- gallery dimensions map

Can't wait to install it Monday.

dusk, wednesday

sky for steve and jen © kjm

within reach: spectrum

kale plant after bringing it inside © kjm

A few months ago, someone stole a planter from outside my front door. It was an old aluminum flour bin I'd found at a used restaurant supply store, so I was a bit disappointed. But a few days later, a kinder someone from the hardware store next door (the thief stole their flowers, apparently to put in my planter) left a new pot at my door. Marilu planted some kale, which looked pretty lovely until recently.

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

upcoming

© kjm

I'm really excited about a small show of my photographs which will be installed in a week at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. I was invited to exhibit by Sonja Thomsen, who teaches at MIAD, and since the gallery is located in the photography department, I wanted to show work that might have some relevance to the photography students there. So I'll be showing pictures that have been created since starting this blog, and will talk about how it has become a home for personal work - pictures that are created outside the boundaries of my editorial or personal project work. More often than not, they were created with the intention of posting them on the blog, so as a result, it's a source of motivation and a reason to make more pictures. Blogs mean different things to those who write them, but for me, it has been a very real element in my growth as an artist thus far.

There will be 100 small (4x5") prints, and to bring the idea full circle, I'll be giving them all away on the blog in January. Stay tuned!

peakless

N. 76th Street Location, #3 © kjm

I usually go to great efforts to avoid shooting power lines in photographs, and fretted about these. But in black and white, I like the added graphic element. They're working quickly and neatly on this old KFC, so I thought I'd better make as many visits as possible - I'm sure it'll be a check-cashing store by the time I return next.

i love this photo, #25

© Dave Jordano

I love this photo by the photographer Dave Jordano. I only recently found Dave's work, and spent a great deal of time pouring over his website. Dave had a long career as a commercial photographer in Chicago, and for the past few years has turned his focus on his fine art work. He has several wonderful projects, including the series Marktown, in which he photographed people and places in a steel mill neighborhood in East Chicago, Indiana.

Of this particular picture, Jordano says, "Lee was a longtime resident of Marktown, having moved there in 1949 and lived in the same house for over 50 years. On my visits there to shoot I would often call on him to say hello. He was a widower and lived alone so my visits would sometimes last a few hours. We would just talk and shoot the bull until it got dark. He lived an extraordinary life, like riding a horse across the United States during the Great Depression looking for work. I didn’t get any work done on those days but I knew I would be back the next weekend so it didn’t matter. What did matter was that I spent some time with him. He had survived 4 heart attacks and was wearing a pacemaker when I met him. The portrait I made of him through his screen door gave his complexion a shallow washed-out look, almost ghost like. He told me he was always thankful that he had lived as long as he had considering his health problems. Last December he passed away."

within reach: closet

after purging the closet of clothes i wasn't wearing © kjm

my so called collection, #9

Another postcard - this one, a 50¢ antique photo postcard, by an unknown photographer. It's been up on my wall for so long, I'd forgotten how sweet and beautiful it was.

within reach: make

stray bead on marilu's table © kjm

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

(blue) skies

9:10pm MST, Nov. 4, 2008 © kjm

within reach: sweep

flies from the windowsill © kjm

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