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.