i like to tell stories : 2008 : May

dear camera maker.

i have owned 6 different canon point & shoot. i have owned 3 different panasonic point & shoot. i have owned 1 ricoh point and shoot.

they are all garbage. all have been returned or broken.

one panasonic i have bought and returned, only to buy again a year later, realizing there is no other option.

then:

one canon i have bought and returned, only to buy again 6 months later realizing there is no other option.

less then a month into that one, the sensor went, i tried to return it, they are out of stock or i can send to canon to get the sensor replaced, either way, i am without a camera for over a month or i can get my money back and still, have no damn camera.

this happens the same week i sold my other stand by options on ebay.

sigh.

all i want:

10-12mp
raw, fast write time
28mm or 35mm fixed lens
real size sensor

leica has the tech and won’t do it. canon has the tech and won’t do it. panasonic has the tech and won’t do it. sigma of all places tried, but fell short at basically 4×6 @ 300 dpi for $800. sad, sad indeed, all around.

camera makers = dumb assholes.

i’ll save the bigger slr/medium back nightmare for another day, i can only handle so much.

Environmental Defense Fund.

1:22:35 PM – (their clock).

A Fear of Yellow.

Visuals by Jonathan first.

April 16, 2008. 5:51:19 PM – April 17, 2008. 4:52:23 PM.

135 of 594 images made in 23h 1m 4s.

Audio written then recorded by John second. The thumping you hear, is John’s wedding ring, tapping the microphone.

via : CORPULENT PROCYON LOTOR

I make something, John reacts however he wants. John makes something, I react however I want. This is the process.

Marina Abramović.

I hadn’t been to the Guggenheim in a few years. I went this past Friday, Cai Guo-Qiang had a show I wanted to see. I photographed him for TIME awhile back and have since been randomly finding new work of his in unexpected ways, always smart, always leaving me different then before I saw it.

The last time I went, the best part, was what I saw through this window after leaving the show. I still think it’s one of the more beautiful things I have ever seen. Earlier that night I watched one of Marina’s performances, this one:

November 14, 5 PM to 12 AM 2005.
Marina Abramović, Lips of Thomas (1975, Galerie Krinzinger, Innsbruck). Abramović ate a kilogram of honey and drank a liter of red wine out of a glass. She broke the glass with her hand, incised a star in her stomach with a razor blade, and then whipped herself until she “no longer felt pain.” She lay down on an ice cross while a space heater suspended above caused her to bleed more profusely.

When it was over, she got a loud, long round of applause and cheers from those still on hand. It lasted long enough that security had to force the issue to make everyone leave. I left, went around the corner, and saw a few other people looking though this window. I stepped closer and the small crowd of us respectfully watched and kept quiet. Inside, through this plain unmarked window, you could see her gallerist and her lover or boyfriend or husband (I don’t know which) holding her in a blanket as she appeared to be weeping… joyfully.

Another time shortly after this I got to meet her, she kissed me on the cheek, it was a good moment as well.

40 years today.

Today is my parents 40th wedding anniversary. Tonight, they are seeing Cher in Las Vegas. Yesterday upon their arrival, I sent them champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. An appropriately awkward yet smile inducing gift from your son on your anniversary… perfect. I made my father email me a picture of the room service presentation, again, somehow perfect.

This is one of the cards I made them, click to see it larger:

April.

Visuals by Jonathan first.

Audio by John second.

All images within 23h, 18m, April 4, 2008 – April 5, 2008.

via:

CORPULENT PROCYON LOTOR

NJ Turnpike.

I can drive and photograph planes at the same time on the NJ Turnpike at 75 mph it seems better then I can drive through Times Square at less then 3 mph. Maybe if I had been photographing something at the time, it never would of happen.

pennsylvania = true love.

May 100, Texas.

100 Photographs, Texas, May 8-12, 2008. A family visit.

During this time, I made 868 photographs. Here are 100. During this time I also turned another year older. I have never looked forward to my birthday. I don’t like getting older or marking the years as I grow closer to death, there is simply too much I want to do someday. Today, tomorrow, there is just always something amazing yet to be experienced. As terrifying as that unknown is, it is also quite wonderful at the same time. I am another year older.

5/11/08.

my brother’s home. TX.

5/13/08.

new jersey, new york, new jersey, new york.

5/12/08.

near Austin, TX.

Brian S.

With Out You

Brian Smale – #52

I remember when I first got to NYC, Brian was one of the first photographers I went to meet to assist in 1998. I took the G train from my area of Brooklyn to his, on this ride, I saw a man die only to have the train doors bing bong and leave a small crowd there on the platform staring at the poor man and waiting for help. I only worked for Brian once, the drive home was a fun experience in seeing NYC driving versus NYC taxi driving, no one was hurt, but I was highly entertained. The shoot was of Seth Godin, I shot Seth a few months ago, Brian’s image that I helped make is all over Seth’s gear and site, this many years later, now it was my turn to shoot Seth. Brian was in town today and unexpectedly got in touch, we got food, swapped stories and he let me buy him dinner so I could take his picture. Fair trade, one dinner = 3 frames. This is frame #3, the 52nd person for With Out You.

5/12/08.

new york city.

Dangerous Times.

(for best results, let video load before playing)

Audio by John first.

Visuals by Jonathan second.

All images April 3, 2008. A 4381 second walk to and from Times Square in the rain.

by Jonathan Saunders & John Hutchison – via:

THE FAT RACCOON – CORPULENT PROCYON LOTOR

May 5, 2008.

I never really worry about much on the trains or elsewhere, just passing daydreams of that guy or that bag or that situation potentially being trouble, basic pain in the ass trouble or stupidity over terror or trouble on a larger scale. We all look and we all wonder, maybe someone does something, says something, but for the most part, other then those pass the time fantasies, no one is all that worried about anything or effected, at least, not so much that I can tell.

I do know that while I have never been stopped, the random bag searches at subway stations and entrances for some reason really piss me off. I am not really even sure why, sure, maybe that one thing they stop will matter to someone someday, but really it just seems so pointless and futile.

Today, running my errand, I saw a man get on my train at Times Square of all places pushing a dolly with a medium sized refrigerator on it, covered in random pieces of cardboard and wrapped, (poorly) in what must have a been a whole roll of packing tape. He carried nothing else with him and kinda looked like a mess.

You telling me no one saw this guy? You telling me no one stopped and asked what was in that thing? You telling me nothing could be a better weapon of chaos then a refrigerator wrapped in packing tape being pushed around inside Times Square Station?

Yet other then stare, laugh at the ridiculousness of this situation, and realize that no one else on my train seemed to care or have fantasies of chaos, I did realize that I saw something and I said nothing until telling you right now.

5/6/08 – 4:51pm, 4:52pm, 4:49pm.

Beacon Theater, 1997.

It’s long story, but somehow I ended up backstage with my twin lens, a flash and a giant fanny pack holding expired chrome film to be cross processed. It was an odd vibe back there, I wouldn’t go so far as to say I was ignored or welcome, I just couldn’t place it. I would chalk it up to pre-competition preparing, but I don’t think that was even it. The vibe was simply a dark one backstage in dark halls and badly lit changing rooms. I was kinda the only guy back there and I was certainly out of place. One woman wonderfully ignored me and the others did the most surprising thing… with each pop of the flash, they would turn and say so sweetly, “Thank you.” That had never happen to me before. It occurred to me later that maybe it was a sign to stop photographing them, but in the moment and at that time, it just seemed they liked or were that flattered that I was interested enough to take their picture. As if they weren’t fascinating enough to look at already, saying thank you to me for taking your picture will equal me getting a crush on you…

I flirted with Nicole Bass, she was really sweet and fun to talk to.