within reach: cling

dryer sheet © kjm

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

20x200!

Kauffman Avenue Location (left), Xenia Avenue Location, #1 (right) © kjm

I'm thrilled to announce that two photos from my Fast Food series will be released tomorrow as 20x200 editions. I'm not allowed to say which pictures they are (not either of the two new ones above), but they're definitely two of my favorites.

I've been a fan of 20x200 for a while now (from the collecting side of things) and have bought work by Kelly Shimoda, Bert Teunissen, Carrie Marill, The Starn Twins, Don Hamerman, and Brian Ulrich. I missed Andrew Hetherington's picture, because I made the mistake of blinking, and poof!, it was gone. If you don't already know, you can sign up for their email list, which gives you notification a few hours early. If not, visit the site at 2pm Eastern time tomorrow!

within reach: study

desktop © kjm

My dad used to bring home unwanted furniture - wooden chairs and metal desks - from his office when we were kids. I didn't think much of it then, but they were 50's and 60's era pieces, so I came to appreciate their design. One chair even has "save for Jim" still scrawled on the bottom. As a result, I currently sit at the same desk I didn't study at 25 years ago: a green, metal Globe-Wernicke. I have an appreciation for objects (maybe especially a desk) that have had different homes and owners in their lifetimes.

This weekend, I did some deep cleaning, removing mountains of papers from it's surfaces. I'm not sure what the material of the desktop actually is, but it's hard to clean and has a memory to it's soft surface. This is just one particularly ugly and beautiful corner.

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

arrival

© kjm

Two of my best friends had new daughters this month. But I've yet to meet either Stacia or Elana yet, as I can't get past being slightly sick for the past few weeks. This Winnie The Pooh was made for me by my Auntie Jan on the occasion of my birth, some (cough) years ago. It's on indefinite loan to my nephew Kale, and I had a chance to see it again recently. With the exception of a little missing stitching around the face and nose, it's held up remarkably well.

i love this photo, #26

© Tim Gruber

I love this photo by the photographer Tim Gruber. It comes from Tim's series, Life in Appalachia, which, he explains,

"... started out as an essay about coal and what coal means to the people of Appalachia. Most of the pictures are a result of my essay class in grad school where my classmates and I were all sent out to shoot the same topic (coal) in our own ways. It quickly became the most competitive and grueling endeavor I have ever experienced as a photographer. I tell people it was like watching a class of overachieving second graders all vying to be the kid who got the star on their paper or in our cases photos. It also made me realize just how much one can grow when you surround yourself with talented and passionate people. With time the essay drifted into a much broader project about life, the people, and the gritty charm of the region.

This particular photo was from an abandoned school in rural Virginia. I'm not sure what the old letters were from, but I thought it served as a fitting metaphor to not only the decay of the school but the slow erosion of Appalachia that has taken place over the years because of mountaintop removal."

signed, sealed,

© kjm

All the prints from 100 Very Small Observations have now been spoken for. If you sent me an email already, don't forget to send me your self-addressed, stamped envelope. As of today, I'll have mailed out about half of the prints. Thanks to all who participated!

within reach: steeped

teabag © kjm

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

beginning

watching the inaugural in mom's family room © kjm

My favorite line from President Obama's wonderful speech today: "... we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals."

shipping

© kjm

I'll be sending out a first batch of prints from 100 Very Small Observations this week. The picture above is heading across town to jw lawson, who wins bonus points for including a cardboard mailer, and also for his artistic use of 2¢ stamps. Thanks to everyone who's participated so far (and thanks for the tiny gifts sent!). If you'd like one, please see this post and send me an email.

** All the prints have now been spoken for.

within reach: beauty > cold

negative seven degrees © kjm

I've shot my front window before during the winter, once with snow and once through the front shade. But this picture, made this morning, might be my favorite. Man, it's cold.

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

found

In preparation for a gallery talk I'll be giving on the Camp Home series, I asked my Mom if she knew of any old photos of my Dad with his family. We've always had lots of beautiful vintage photographs of my Mom's family in Hawaii, but scant few from the Miyazaki side. She found a box of photos containing pictures I'd never seen before. To my surprise, there were pictures of my Dad, aunt and grandparents at Heart Mountain (in Wyoming), the internment camp they were moved to from Tule Lake. Internees weren't allowed to have cameras in camp, but possibly the rules were relaxed in later years - I'm not sure. He would have been 14 or 15 years old at the time these were taken.

After thinking so much about my Dad during that time period, and seeing so many camp buildings in person and in historic photographs, I'm thrilled to see these - both as a photographer and a son.

Here's the information for the gallery talk, though the high temperature on Thursday is supposed to be a bone-chilling -3 degrees (which would even keep hardy Wisconsinites at home). If you make it, I promise to do my best to inform and entertain!

Thursday, January 15, 6:00 pm
Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowship exhibit
Inova/Kenilworth gallery, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
2155 N. Prospect Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53202

within reach: darling

clementine peel on blue plate © kjm

Maybe it's because I'm sick and my body's craving the Vitamin C, but I think it's accurate to say that I'm currently obsessed with clementines.

within reach: in the rock

six year-old (solid) honey © kjm

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

prints for postage!

Let's call it 42¢ x 100.

Here's Part Two to my recent show at MIAD, 100 Very Small Observations. To recap: The show was installed in a gallery in the school's photography department, and my goal was to impart on the students the role that this blog has played in my work and process. To that end, the show consisted of (100) 4x6" digital c-prints, the images having been created for, and initially seen on the blog. You can read earlier posts about the show (and see the pictures) here.

To bring the whole thing full circle, I'll now be giving the prints away to readers of the blog. If you'd like one of the pictures, email me with "100" in the subject line of your email (not just a comment below, please), and I'll email you back with instructions (you'll need to send me a self-addressed, stamped envelope). The first 100 people to email me will receive a randomly selected print, mailed back to you in the envelope you provide (in about 2 weeks).

** All the prints have now been spoken for.

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.