view

5076A-19617 (view) © kjm

return

Looking west down County Road 100 © kjm

I'm back in California, continuing my work on the Camp Home series. Frankly, I've been disappointed that it's been so long since my last visit, so it feels good to be back. And things seem to pick up just where they left off - by now the roads, landscapes, farms and family names are familiar.

Basically, when I'm here I drive around a lot, down a series of small county roads, in search of buildings to photograph. It's apparent to me this visit that I've covered most of the ground here, but there are still farms I haven't approached yet, or found. Again this year, I've been pleased that the people I've met have been so kind - and in the best case scenario, a little conversation arises about my dad, the camp, and the history of the homesteaders.

More in the days to come.

first person

© Brian Widdis, left, Romain Blanquart, right

I had a long stretch of editorial work on the road recently, and was able to carve out little bits of time (one has to eat, right?) to connect with friends in other cities. In Detroit, I met up with Brian Widdis and Romain Blanquart, whose project Can't Forget The Motor City is really wonderful. In Minneapolis, I had a nice dinner with photographers Kristine Heykants and Raoul Benevides, the man behind the curtain at Flashlight Photorental. Amy Eckert, a recent winner of a McKnight fellowship, met up for a coffee and filled me in on the details of her latest show. And in Dallas, I finally met Allison V. Smith in person (after years of being blog buddies) and had a very fun dinner with two of my favorite art directors, Korena Bolding and Melanie Fowler, who design the lovely Virtuoso Life.

within reach: clean break

broken plate © kjm

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

and close

cut peony after three weeks © kjm

father's day

Dad's workbench © kjm

collect.give: kerry mansfield

Untitled No. 59 © Kerry Mansfield

Today Kerry Mansfield offers this lovely print from her Borderline series on collect.give. Kerry, a breast cancer survivor, has pledged to donate 100% of the proceeds to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists.

open

white peony from the backyard © kjm

When I was young, the only flowers I remember in our yard were peonies - batches of purple, pink and white varieties which had been there when my parents bought the house. I used to find them incredibly creepy just before they bloomed, when big, black ants would crawl around on the buds. The flowers that followed were lovely, though, and always came just before the end of the school year. When I was little, my mom would cut a bunch and have me bring them to my elementary school teacher.

as seen: balance

toy horse © kjm

collect.give: lacey terrell

© Lacey Terrell

Photographer Lacey Terrell offers a print today on collect.give. The photo is from her series, The Passing Ring, in which she travels with and documents the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus. Lacey pledges to donate 100% of her print profits to School on Wheels, an educational program for homeless kids in Southern California.

visit

grave of my grandmother, who died before I was born © kjm

I hadn't been there in many years, and a maintenance worker offered to help me find row 50. He found the gravestones before I did, and kindly brushed dirt off of them with his gloved hands as I made my way over.

as seen: upside

plane reflection, Lake Harriet © kjm

memorable

© Eugene Richards

Thank you to Pete Brook, who recently discussed my Camp Home project and the Tule Lake internment camp on his blog, Prison Photography. I'm also grateful to Pete for his Facebook page link to this World Press Photos talk by Eugene Richards. It's a bit long, so watch it in bits and pieces, as I did, or settle in with a favorite beverage. Richards' work is so compelling and thoughtful - and the structure/composition of his photographs is remarkable. In his talk, he discusses the subjects in the photo above, which I have to say is one of the most memorably powerful pictures I've ever encountered. I saw it (15?) years ago, as a double-truck in Life Magazine, and it simply blew me away. In the documentary realm, photos from Larry Towell's book The Mennonites had the same impact at first view, as did Duane Michals' This Photograph is My Proof.

It's great when a photo stops you in your tracks, but even better when it stays with you.

collect.give: david wright

Peter, 2009 © David Wright

Today David Wright offers this lovely print on collect.give. 100% of the proceeds from the sales of Peter, 2009 will go to A River Blue, a school in northern Uganda providing psychosocial counseling and intense vocational training in topics like tailoring, agriculture, and arts to vulnerable youth. David is also the co-founder (with Ethan Jones) of a wonderful project, Pause, to Begin.

new acquisitions

Abandoned Apartment, Konigsbrucker Strasse © Fredrik Marsh

One of the fun benefits of membership in the Milwaukee Art Museum's Photography Council is the annual party, where members get to cast their vote for a new acquisition. Last night, we voted on three pictures selected by curator Lisa Hostetler, who discussed the artists, their individual pictures and how they would fit into the museum collection. The winner was a beautiful picture by Anna Shteynschleyger, but my vote was cast for this interior by Fredrik Marsh. Happily, it was also added to the museum collection when several generous members stepped forward to donate the funds.

within reach: splash

water in the bathroom sink © kjm

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

art chicago snapshot

A tardy recap of some of the photo goodness spotted at Art Chicago:

Jason Hanasik at Aperture; Curtis Mann at Kavi Gupta and in conversation with Brian Ulrich, Karen Irvine and Leslie A. Martin; André Kertész at Vintage Works; Timothy Briner at Humble Arts Foundation; Laura Letinsky in conversation with Stephanie Smith; Colleen Plumb at Photo-Eye; Yoshihiko Ueda at TAI Gallery; Jennifer Ray and Leilani Wertens in the New Insights show for MFA students; Jonathan Blaustein at Zane Bennett; Suzanne Opton and Lisa M. Robinson at Light Work and Barbara Kasten at Monique Meloche.

within reach: sit

chair shadow in the office © kjm

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

collect.give: elizabeth fleming

Hammock © Elizabeth Fleming

Elizabeth Fleming offers a print today on collect.give, in an edition of 20 at just $40 each. All profits will benefit the Austin Children's Shelter.

within reach: union

prop on unidentified photo book © kjm

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

within reach: button

living room couch © kjm

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

within reach: drip

unwashed mug © kjm

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

within reach: saturation

mold on organic tangerine © kjm

In my defense, I've been traveling a lot lately.

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

as seen: flags and fathers

in st. louis: hardware store, left; museum, right © kjm

annie marie musselman on collect.give

Angel in Blue, 2008 © Annie Marie Musselman

Annie Marie Musselman offers up a beautiful print today on collect.give. The photo comes from her series Finding Trust, in which she photographs animals at the Sarvey Wildlife Care Center in the Cascade Mountains. Annie has pledged to donate 100% of the funds raised from her print sales to the center.

i love this photo, #38

© Michael Wolf

I love this photo by the Hong Kong-based photographer Michael Wolf. While there, I thought of his images often - in his project work, he has captures the details, faces and the density that is Hong Kong as I experienced it. This particular photo comes from a series of portraits of copy artists.

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

as seen: fin

pond, Nan Lian Garden © kjm

as seen: bow

Causeway Bay escalator © kjm

jon feinstein on collect.give

8 Grams © Jon Feinstein

Jon Feinstein, photographer, curator and co-founder of Humble Arts Foundation, today offers a print on collect.give. Funds raised from the sale of his print, 8 Grams, will be donated to Housing Works, a community-based AIDS service organization supporting homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV and AIDS.

Simply

shop on Tin Lok Lane © kjm

I'm working in Hong Kong this week, and this is my first trip here. As always, I can't show any of the images I'm making for the editorial assignments I'm working on, and my brain is a little drained to make many personal pictures. But I'm so amazed and impressed by this city. For its size and density, I find things wonderfully organized (maybe the best subway system I've ever been on?), calm and non-threatening. Tonight a police van buzzed by me, and I realized that I've been here for 5 days, and it was the first siren I'd heard. More thoughts to come...