Mon - August 6, 2007
You Are Who You've Seen in Concert
I turn 42 today. I thought I'd take a look back
(as we older folks are prone to doing) at what I call my 'former life'. Before
photography, music was everything for me. I officially started playing guitar
when I was 12, but the seed was planted much earlier (at age 6 or so) when I
heard the distorted guitar intro of Bread's 'Mother Freedom' on our family's
little orange turntable.
Ah, all the birthday parties, bar/bat mitzvahs, talent shows, high school dances I played with various earnest bandmates. Later made it to good clubs in DC including the old 930 Club (now at 9th and V St), DC Space (now a Starbucks), the Bayou (under the Whitehurst Freeway in Georgetown, where a multiplex now stands), and the Black Cat. Even had a one-off at the famed 100 Club in London in 1989, where The Who, Sex Pistols et al once played. CBGB's.
Ah, all the birthday parties, bar/bat mitzvahs, talent shows, high school dances I played with various earnest bandmates. Later made it to good clubs in DC including the old 930 Club (now at 9th and V St), DC Space (now a Starbucks), the Bayou (under the Whitehurst Freeway in Georgetown, where a multiplex now stands), and the Black Cat. Even had a one-off at the famed 100 Club in London in 1989, where The Who, Sex Pistols et al once played. CBGB's.
But just as defining as my own modest musical
arc were the shows I attended, starting in the late 70s. They really trace the
evolution of my tastes and the musical times in general, from 70s rock to
mod/ska/new wave and beyond. Anyway, this is nowhere near a complete list, and
doesn't include many great shows by local/unknown bands, but here
goes:
1970s: Aerosmith, Santana, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Doobie Brothers
1980s: Bruce Springsteen, The Kinks, The Who, The Jam, The Police, The Go-Gos, REM, Madness, English Beat, General Public, Simple Minds, Big Country, The Church, Echo and the Bunnymen, Godfathers, Ramones
1990s: ???
2000s: Salif Keita, Youssou N'dour (at his club in Dakar), Baaba Maal, U2, Simon & Garfunkel, Thievery Corporation
Some concerts were fairly unremarkable, especially considering the crappy sound and distant seats of the arena shows. A few are kind of cringe-worthy now (Lynyrd Skynyrd? Doobie Brothers??). But others stand out, usually because of some kind of minor backstory:
- Met Bruce Springsteen before his show at Capital Center (c. 1980), offered him onstage use of my tweed cap. "Thanks, I got one of my own..."
- Tailed The Who's limos after their Cap Center show ('82), managing to meet Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend outside the Madison Hotel. Daltrey gave his half-finished coke can to my girlfriend's friend, who was offered a lot of money for it.
- The Jam at U-MD's Ritchie Coliseum ('82) was a first date. Didn't know a thing about them, though they later became of my all-time favorite bands. All I remember is Paul Weller falling down during the opener, Boy About Town.
- Tailed The Police's limos (pattern emerging here...) to the Watergate, where a friend and I chatted with Sting in the empty lobby ('83).
- Why did I have such great seats for Madness at the Warner Theater ('83)? Because I had won a mod/ska dance contest at the 930 Club a few nights before, that's why.
- Ranking Roger selling English Beat t-shirts out in the lobby before his own show.
- Sneaking a camera into a Ramones show in London ('89). My friend took a pro-active tack with his own camera - he approached the doorman, pleading and sincere, "I need a place to stash my gear during the show'. 'Well, you can't leave it here, mate, you'll have to keep it with you...". Genius.
Maybe one of the greatest rock and roll concert moments I experienced was the Godfathers show at the old 930 Club in 1988. Friends and I had come for the opening act, The Truth, who had been (until then) interesting and dependably mod. But they came out with FM-rock brown leather jackets and new-wave coifs, and a new crop of mediocre songs to match. Clearly they had had a recent image adjustment, presumably trying to 'make it'. The crowd made their disappointment clear, it was really pretty god-awful and depressing. When the Godfathers (who no one knew at all) emerged, they put on one of the most vital, throbbing rock sets I had ever seen. It was unbelievable, and doubly exhilarating after The Truth's debacle.
It was also one of the first good photos I ever took:
Interesting that off the top of my head I can't think of a single show I went to in the 90s. That's when I was playing in my last band, Adam West, and juggling that against my growing interest in photography. With Prague as a constant backdrop. So I guess I was too busy sorting all that out, plus I admit I had already become jaded about the state of music. These days, how do you resign yourself to the era of Green Day when The Jam and The Clash infused your very existence as a teenager? How do you care about Korn when you grew up on the Beatles, Stones, Led Zeppelin?
Strangely, I don't miss playing music. Photography fills that hole quite well, creatively for sure and professionally by a mile. A Leica M6 has the same allure as a Rickenbacker or Fender Telecaster once did. I don't go to many shows, but I would say I have broader tastes in music than before, since I used to listen somewhat narrowly to the kind of music I was playing at the time. My wife got me into West African music. I now listen to a lot of electronica, much of it via my friend Eric from Thievery Corporation.
Rock is dead and a sell-out (just as hip-hop is too often a formulaic disgrace to its noble dissident roots...). So much music seems bland and corporate. Electronica is where much of the creative innovation is. Interesting that its sense of mood and atmosphere sort of corresponds with what I think makes a good picture.
Home
1970s: Aerosmith, Santana, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Doobie Brothers
1980s: Bruce Springsteen, The Kinks, The Who, The Jam, The Police, The Go-Gos, REM, Madness, English Beat, General Public, Simple Minds, Big Country, The Church, Echo and the Bunnymen, Godfathers, Ramones
1990s: ???
2000s: Salif Keita, Youssou N'dour (at his club in Dakar), Baaba Maal, U2, Simon & Garfunkel, Thievery Corporation
Some concerts were fairly unremarkable, especially considering the crappy sound and distant seats of the arena shows. A few are kind of cringe-worthy now (Lynyrd Skynyrd? Doobie Brothers??). But others stand out, usually because of some kind of minor backstory:
- Met Bruce Springsteen before his show at Capital Center (c. 1980), offered him onstage use of my tweed cap. "Thanks, I got one of my own..."
- Tailed The Who's limos after their Cap Center show ('82), managing to meet Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend outside the Madison Hotel. Daltrey gave his half-finished coke can to my girlfriend's friend, who was offered a lot of money for it.
- The Jam at U-MD's Ritchie Coliseum ('82) was a first date. Didn't know a thing about them, though they later became of my all-time favorite bands. All I remember is Paul Weller falling down during the opener, Boy About Town.
- Tailed The Police's limos (pattern emerging here...) to the Watergate, where a friend and I chatted with Sting in the empty lobby ('83).
- Why did I have such great seats for Madness at the Warner Theater ('83)? Because I had won a mod/ska dance contest at the 930 Club a few nights before, that's why.
- Ranking Roger selling English Beat t-shirts out in the lobby before his own show.
- Sneaking a camera into a Ramones show in London ('89). My friend took a pro-active tack with his own camera - he approached the doorman, pleading and sincere, "I need a place to stash my gear during the show'. 'Well, you can't leave it here, mate, you'll have to keep it with you...". Genius.
Maybe one of the greatest rock and roll concert moments I experienced was the Godfathers show at the old 930 Club in 1988. Friends and I had come for the opening act, The Truth, who had been (until then) interesting and dependably mod. But they came out with FM-rock brown leather jackets and new-wave coifs, and a new crop of mediocre songs to match. Clearly they had had a recent image adjustment, presumably trying to 'make it'. The crowd made their disappointment clear, it was really pretty god-awful and depressing. When the Godfathers (who no one knew at all) emerged, they put on one of the most vital, throbbing rock sets I had ever seen. It was unbelievable, and doubly exhilarating after The Truth's debacle.
It was also one of the first good photos I ever took:
Interesting that off the top of my head I can't think of a single show I went to in the 90s. That's when I was playing in my last band, Adam West, and juggling that against my growing interest in photography. With Prague as a constant backdrop. So I guess I was too busy sorting all that out, plus I admit I had already become jaded about the state of music. These days, how do you resign yourself to the era of Green Day when The Jam and The Clash infused your very existence as a teenager? How do you care about Korn when you grew up on the Beatles, Stones, Led Zeppelin?
Strangely, I don't miss playing music. Photography fills that hole quite well, creatively for sure and professionally by a mile. A Leica M6 has the same allure as a Rickenbacker or Fender Telecaster once did. I don't go to many shows, but I would say I have broader tastes in music than before, since I used to listen somewhat narrowly to the kind of music I was playing at the time. My wife got me into West African music. I now listen to a lot of electronica, much of it via my friend Eric from Thievery Corporation.
Rock is dead and a sell-out (just as hip-hop is too often a formulaic disgrace to its noble dissident roots...). So much music seems bland and corporate. Electronica is where much of the creative innovation is. Interesting that its sense of mood and atmosphere sort of corresponds with what I think makes a good picture.
Home
Posted at 11:24 AM
Thu - April 26, 2007
C21
Today is the 21st anniversary of the Chernobyl
disaster. With that our Chernobyl::20 project comes to a
close.
A year ago today we had an exhibition in the
Rayburn building on Capitol Hill, confronting policymakers with some of the
strongest and most thoughtful documentary photography ever made about
Chernobyl's aftermath and its effect on people. Two days later we had a similar
exhibit at the UN, with the opening immediately following a General Assembly
meeting about Chernobyl. The C20 show featured work by Robert Knoth,
Antonin
Kratochvil, Paul Fusco, and many others who have committed
their time and their vision to this
issue.
Thievery Corporation generously donated a remake single, The Passing Stars, to benefit our participating charities. Over the year of sales on iTunes, it was consistently one of TC's top sellers. Thanks to all who bought it, you helped to support groups doing important work in the still-contaminated region. Special thanks to my great friends and colleagues Andre Kravchenko and Eric Hilton for helping conceive C20 from the grassroots, you really delivered when it mattered. Thanks also to Kathy Ryan of CCPI for all of her support and encouragement, and so many who helped us all along the way.
For more info, our project site will remain up at www.C-20.org.
Home
Thievery Corporation generously donated a remake single, The Passing Stars, to benefit our participating charities. Over the year of sales on iTunes, it was consistently one of TC's top sellers. Thanks to all who bought it, you helped to support groups doing important work in the still-contaminated region. Special thanks to my great friends and colleagues Andre Kravchenko and Eric Hilton for helping conceive C20 from the grassroots, you really delivered when it mattered. Thanks also to Kathy Ryan of CCPI for all of her support and encouragement, and so many who helped us all along the way.
For more info, our project site will remain up at www.C-20.org.
Home
Posted at 05:58 PM
Thu - April 19, 2007
Sofia at 1 year
Ok, technically 13 months.
Playlists in heavy rotation, esp. at bedtime:
Music for Native Americans, Robbie Robertson
Hello Waveforms, William Orbit
For daytime music, she seems fond of selects by Gorillaz, Emiliana Torrini, A-ha (oh yeah, you know which song... is there another?), Thievery Corporation, Youssou N'Dour, Beatles... There's definitely plenty of kid-friendly music out there that keeps baby happy and daddy and mommy sane. Of course she likes her singing (French) teddy bear too.
Home
Posted at 03:10 PM
Sat - April 14, 2007
Go Momma Go
This from Step It Up
2007, which helped people organize local actions today as part of a
National Day of Climate Action. Fairhaven is a small community on the Chesapeake
Bay, my mother lives there. That's her right over the 'c' in 'cut'. Way to go,
mom! Wish I could have been there. To her right is her better half and pillar of
the community, Ed Becke:
Tracys Landing, MD, April 14, 2007. Fairhaven community members gather on the western shore of the Chesapeake bay to participate in a beach clean-up.
We had a successful beach clean-up and provided information about climate change to Fairhaven community members. With data collected from reliable internet resources we measured the projected shoreline for the year 2050.
http://events.stepitup2007.org/reports/1459
Home
Posted at 10:07 PM
Fri - April 6, 2007
Stalking Koudelka
When I heard that Josef Koudelka would be doing
a presentation and book-signing at a gallery in NY, I knew I had to go. I
figured it might be a once in a lifetime chance, he never makes these kind of
public appearances.
The place was packed, even accomplished and
famous photographers in their own right came to pay homage. The event started at
7pm, I felt a little obsessive getting there at 5:30 to get a front row seat,
but it turned out to be the right call. There were already a fair number of
people there, and most of the first 5-6 rows were reserved for Koudelka's Magnum colleagues. By 6 it was basically
standing room only.
Koudelka has always been one of my most important touchstones, with his transcendent, intense, surreal images. His work sparked my first interest in Eastern Europe, and was a kind of portal through which I would later discover other great and under-known Czech photographers. He's also a famously anachronistic character, a true modern nomad, proud of never having owned a car, phone, computer... He's never worked for the market, devoting his life (he's now 69) to a highly personal, uncompromising body of work. I think people would agree that the term 'living legend' is no overstatement.
The discussion was pretty informal, mostly covering ground I already knew. But there were many interesting nuggets - for example, it was cool to find out that one of my all-time favorite photos (of his or anybody's), of an enigmatic black dog prowling a snowy landscape, was one where he didn't look through the viewfinder. I got in a question during the Q&A, though I wish it could have been a better one. I asked if he felt a connection to the Czech photo community that he influenced so much, especially now that he's got a place in Prague again (after spending years in France). He sort of deferred about his influence on the other photogs, saying they are all quite different, and implied that while he's happy to be back in Prague, he mostly keeps his privacy and his focus on his work.
Just being in the room with him was worth the trip. But the real payoff was later, after the book signing line finally finished, when most people had left. I almost left too, even started to walk out, but something told me to hang around a bit longer. A minute or two later Koudelka excused himself from a small circle of well-known photographers, walked over and asked my name, started chatting with me...
It was one of those moments where you just try not to be a dork. What do you say to your hero besides "you're my hero"? (no, I didn't say that...) We talked a little about the Czech photographers he likes and respects, like Vojta Dukat and Karel Cudlin. Of course Koudelka's the kind of person I'd want to sit down with for a long, relaxed conversation. But the moment was fleeting, less than a minute, and no profound, burning questions came to mind. I guess in the end there nothing I really needed to say, other than thanks.
photos © Bill Crandall
Home
Koudelka has always been one of my most important touchstones, with his transcendent, intense, surreal images. His work sparked my first interest in Eastern Europe, and was a kind of portal through which I would later discover other great and under-known Czech photographers. He's also a famously anachronistic character, a true modern nomad, proud of never having owned a car, phone, computer... He's never worked for the market, devoting his life (he's now 69) to a highly personal, uncompromising body of work. I think people would agree that the term 'living legend' is no overstatement.
The discussion was pretty informal, mostly covering ground I already knew. But there were many interesting nuggets - for example, it was cool to find out that one of my all-time favorite photos (of his or anybody's), of an enigmatic black dog prowling a snowy landscape, was one where he didn't look through the viewfinder. I got in a question during the Q&A, though I wish it could have been a better one. I asked if he felt a connection to the Czech photo community that he influenced so much, especially now that he's got a place in Prague again (after spending years in France). He sort of deferred about his influence on the other photogs, saying they are all quite different, and implied that while he's happy to be back in Prague, he mostly keeps his privacy and his focus on his work.
Just being in the room with him was worth the trip. But the real payoff was later, after the book signing line finally finished, when most people had left. I almost left too, even started to walk out, but something told me to hang around a bit longer. A minute or two later Koudelka excused himself from a small circle of well-known photographers, walked over and asked my name, started chatting with me...
It was one of those moments where you just try not to be a dork. What do you say to your hero besides "you're my hero"? (no, I didn't say that...) We talked a little about the Czech photographers he likes and respects, like Vojta Dukat and Karel Cudlin. Of course Koudelka's the kind of person I'd want to sit down with for a long, relaxed conversation. But the moment was fleeting, less than a minute, and no profound, burning questions came to mind. I guess in the end there nothing I really needed to say, other than thanks.
photos © Bill Crandall
Home
Posted at 07:14 PM
Wed - March 28, 2007
This Just In
I've just added a gallery from the antiwar march on the Pentagon and a few Berlin
shots to my archive (search keyword Berlin).
Posted at 03:27 PM
The Great Gatsby and Prague
When shooting, I've always liked late-day,
almost dusk light. Sometimes I call it 'Great Gatsby light', though no one has
ever seemed to quite get it. I recently realized that I really didn't either.
Since I hadn't read the book for at least 20 years, I picked up an old hardback
copy to figure out what in the hell I meant.
Actually, I was reminded of The Great Gatsby
when reading something somewhere that compared it with the more recent book
Prague, by Arthur Phillips (see previous post, about Phillips' review of Milan
Kundera's new book). Since TGG is famous for its evocative sense of time and
place, and Prague (the book) promised the same in its story of expats in 1990s
Eastern Europe (actually in Budapest, but longing for unattainable Prague), I
decided get both books and
see.
Ironically, I can't get into Prague. Maybe I'll try again. I stopped and restarted the book a couple times but it's not that interesting to me and I'm not sure why. I mean, I was in E. Europe a lot in the early 90s, met a lot of expats from various countries, and consider it a formative time. I expected to feel a kind of thrill of nostalgic recognition and got been-there-done-that instead. Also I never felt like I was being pulled into an intriguing story, just description and details that didn't really go anywhere. Prague the book certainly didn't fold me maternally into its lap the way Prague the city always did.
The Great Gatsby, on the other hand, still stands up. Atmosphere, characters, story, flow, it's got it all. There's also something that transcends description there, what you go for in any art. And a fairly quick read too, part of the genius of it is that it never bogs down.
I'm still not exactly sure what 'Great Gatsby light' is, though now I think it's my residual mental imagery of the famous Gatsby parties - in a perpetual bohemian twilight, an air of mystery and possibility and melancholy.
Home
Ironically, I can't get into Prague. Maybe I'll try again. I stopped and restarted the book a couple times but it's not that interesting to me and I'm not sure why. I mean, I was in E. Europe a lot in the early 90s, met a lot of expats from various countries, and consider it a formative time. I expected to feel a kind of thrill of nostalgic recognition and got been-there-done-that instead. Also I never felt like I was being pulled into an intriguing story, just description and details that didn't really go anywhere. Prague the book certainly didn't fold me maternally into its lap the way Prague the city always did.
The Great Gatsby, on the other hand, still stands up. Atmosphere, characters, story, flow, it's got it all. There's also something that transcends description there, what you go for in any art. And a fairly quick read too, part of the genius of it is that it never bogs down.
I'm still not exactly sure what 'Great Gatsby light' is, though now I think it's my residual mental imagery of the famous Gatsby parties - in a perpetual bohemian twilight, an air of mystery and possibility and melancholy.
Home
Posted at 03:04 PM
Fri - February 23, 2007
The Curtain
I am a Milan Kundera fan, though for some
reason it seems to have become slightly passé to admit it. I particularly
like his well-formulated ideas about kitsch, what it is and, by implication, why
it should be resisted (though he suggests that resistance is ultimately futile).
As an influence on my sensibility - the great Czech documentary photographer
Viktor Kolar once told me, "develop your sensibility, then learn to make it
visual" - I'd rank him up there with people like Paul Weller, Krzysztof
Kieslowski, and James Kunstler.
So a friend passed me a review of Kundera's
newest book, The Curtain, in the March 2007 issue of Harper's. In one part,
reviewer Arthur Phillips talks about the title and how it relates to the very
mission statement of the novel, or at least Milan Kundera's novels. Or at least
how Milan Kundera would want you to think of his
novels.
Anyway, as my friend pointed out, if you substitute 'documentary photography' every time it says 'novel', it touches on what we as a certain kind of imagemakers are after as well:
We are all born with the realities of life hidden from us, behind a curtain of received ideas - hence the book's title. We cannot see things as they really are. Novels, though, like experience itself, reveal existence to us, and the "morality" of fiction lies in its ability to pierce this curtain and shine light, without judgment, on existence and the range of human possibility, good and bad. The novel says "what only the novel can say," and in so doing, opens our eyes. The novel tears the curtain.
How does the novel do this? By expressing only doubt, never certainty. Kundera has long argued that any novel worth the name is an ironic (in the sense of "uncertain") inquiry into the nuance and complexity of life, overthrowing tired wisdom, showing up easy simplifications, and replacing them only with questions. [...] The novelist's only truth: "Things are not as simple as you think." The novel takes the form of a question rather than an answer, because any answer, by definition, adds a new stitch to that curtain of pretty lies.
And a bit later:
This abhorrence of kitsch is not merely a matter of taste to him. It is a matter of morals, because by exposing our naive desire to view the world in black and white, by cracking our certainties, by making things personal and thus showing the idiocy of generalizing ideologies, the novelist necessarily disillusions the reader [...]. And, by showing us truths other than our own, the novel makes indifference to others less easy.
Home
Anyway, as my friend pointed out, if you substitute 'documentary photography' every time it says 'novel', it touches on what we as a certain kind of imagemakers are after as well:
We are all born with the realities of life hidden from us, behind a curtain of received ideas - hence the book's title. We cannot see things as they really are. Novels, though, like experience itself, reveal existence to us, and the "morality" of fiction lies in its ability to pierce this curtain and shine light, without judgment, on existence and the range of human possibility, good and bad. The novel says "what only the novel can say," and in so doing, opens our eyes. The novel tears the curtain.
How does the novel do this? By expressing only doubt, never certainty. Kundera has long argued that any novel worth the name is an ironic (in the sense of "uncertain") inquiry into the nuance and complexity of life, overthrowing tired wisdom, showing up easy simplifications, and replacing them only with questions. [...] The novelist's only truth: "Things are not as simple as you think." The novel takes the form of a question rather than an answer, because any answer, by definition, adds a new stitch to that curtain of pretty lies.
And a bit later:
This abhorrence of kitsch is not merely a matter of taste to him. It is a matter of morals, because by exposing our naive desire to view the world in black and white, by cracking our certainties, by making things personal and thus showing the idiocy of generalizing ideologies, the novelist necessarily disillusions the reader [...]. And, by showing us truths other than our own, the novel makes indifference to others less easy.
Home
Posted at 11:39 PM
Fri - January 19, 2007
City of Light, City of Darkness
My wife and I spent a month in Paris over the
holidays, introducing some of her relatives to baby Sofia. I admit I didn't know
what to shoot in Paris, maybe the most photographed city ever. I was determined
to do something different (different for me, and different from what we normally
see of Paris). I didn't want to romanticize the place, as most seem compelled to
do. So I promised myself early on - no beautiful buildings, no kissing couples,
kids carrying baguettes, etc. And I didn't shoot black and white this time, so
I'd be less seduced into warmed-over Cartier-Bresson riffs. In this case color
(digital, by the way) seemed more descriptive and abstract at the same
time.
I decided just to take an open, intuitive
approach to the city and see what flowed from there. Paris is certainly bustling
as ever, but there is a background staleness, a creeping malaise (compared with
say, Berlin, which in some ways felt both more relaxed and more dynamic in the
few days I spent there). I don't mean to make Paris look bad or anything, but
the city of light has always had its lesser-known dark side as well. Many
Europeans - French included - seem particularly unsentimental about the state of
Paris these days. So I tried to show Paris as I encountered it, as I felt it,
looking for scraps of truth, mystery and the
unexpected.
Ok, and one Eiffel Tower pic... I'm only human.
archive (licensing/prints)
slideshow (view bigger images - screen resolution higher than 1024x768 recommended, to avoid scrolling)
photo © Bill Crandall
Home
Ok, and one Eiffel Tower pic... I'm only human.
archive (licensing/prints)
slideshow (view bigger images - screen resolution higher than 1024x768 recommended, to avoid scrolling)
photo © Bill Crandall
Home
Posted at 11:30 PM
Wed - November 29, 2006
In the Rome of Our Time
I recently had an interesting assignment from
Das Magazin in Zurich. They were doing sort of an 'inside Washington' story -
behind images of the White House etc, what kind of city is it? The article was
called In the Rome of Our Time, they used 11 pictures over seven pages. It was
great because they let me take a personal approach, shoot black and white (film,
even), look for atmosphere... Basically they said shoot Washington like I have
E. Europe. The shoot itself was for four days, plus I threw some older pics into
the mix as well. Certainly a challenge seeing your own environment with fresh
eyes.
archive (licensing/prints)
slideshow (view bigger images - screen resolution higher than 1024x768 recommended, to avoid scrolling)
photo © Bill Crandall
Home
slideshow (view bigger images - screen resolution higher than 1024x768 recommended, to avoid scrolling)
photo © Bill Crandall
Home
Posted at 04:30 PM
Tue - November 28, 2006
This Just In
11/21/06 - To raise awareness of genocide in
Darfur, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC projects photographs
from the "Darfur: Who Will Survive Today?" exhibition on its exterior
walls.
Posted at 06:14 PM
Fri - August 4, 2006
Cable guy
This Sunday (8/6), I'll have a brief appearance
on a new cable show called I Want That Tech Toy, on HGTV at 10pm.
I was filmed for part of a day recently, using
and talking about a new consumer digital camera called the Kodak v570. I cringe
when I think about some of the corny things they tried to get me to say during
the interview ("The great thing about this camera is...") But at least I got to
keep the camera which is, in fact, a quite nice little tech
toy.
The show is a series of something like a dozen short segments on new gadgets. I think my bit comes on somewhere between Paradigm Rock Monitors (?) and SpamCube. It will re-air on Wednesday 9/6 at 9pm. If I can get hold of a Quicktime version I'll post it here (well, I'll decide after I see it...).
The show is a series of something like a dozen short segments on new gadgets. I think my bit comes on somewhere between Paradigm Rock Monitors (?) and SpamCube. It will re-air on Wednesday 9/6 at 9pm. If I can get hold of a Quicktime version I'll post it here (well, I'll decide after I see it...).
Posted at 07:09 PM
Fri - July 7, 2006
Mozart's wife
Considering our current society's flood of
images, interesting to think about a time when even someone notable may not
leave behind a single photograph. Or in this case, only
one.
Today on the BBC website:
A print of the only photograph of Mozart's widow, Constanze Weber, has been found in Germany.
The photograph was taken in 1840 in the Bavarian town of Altoetting when she was 78. She died two years later. The local authorities say detailed examination has proved the authenticity of the image, which is a copy of the original daguerreotype. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died at the age of 36 in 1791, when Constanze was 29. She later married a Danish diplomat. The print is one of the earliest examples of photography in Bavaria. It was found in the town archives. The daguerreotype was taken at the home of the Swiss composer Max Keller, whom Constanze used to visit regularly.
[...] The daguerreotype shows Constanze at front left, next to Max Keller.
Today on the BBC website:
A print of the only photograph of Mozart's widow, Constanze Weber, has been found in Germany.
The photograph was taken in 1840 in the Bavarian town of Altoetting when she was 78. She died two years later. The local authorities say detailed examination has proved the authenticity of the image, which is a copy of the original daguerreotype. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died at the age of 36 in 1791, when Constanze was 29. She later married a Danish diplomat. The print is one of the earliest examples of photography in Bavaria. It was found in the town archives. The daguerreotype was taken at the home of the Swiss composer Max Keller, whom Constanze used to visit regularly.
[...] The daguerreotype shows Constanze at front left, next to Max Keller.
Posted at 12:03 PM
Mon - June 19, 2006
Thu - June 8, 2006
C20 update
As part of the music phase of our Chernobyl::20
project, Thievery Corporation has just released a new single, The Passing Stars, exclusively on
iTunes.
With the 99 cent download you also get a PDF
booklet with C20 info and select pics. Later this year, a full-length benefit CD
compilation will be released, featuring music donated by international recording
artists and a special expanded presentation of C20
images.
Here's the link again for the main C20 project website. Be sure to check out the blog page for news and pics from our exhibitions last month.
www.C-20.org
Here's the link again for the main C20 project website. Be sure to check out the blog page for news and pics from our exhibitions last month.
www.C-20.org
Posted at 06:59 PM
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Published On: Aug 06, 2007 02:24 PM
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Published On: Aug 06, 2007 02:24 PM