Three images from a wonderful Monday afternoon walk in Fontenelle Forest...
On influence
As an artist, it is all but impossible to avoid influences. The world is full of them, from the obvious like other artists to the smallest details of everyday life. An artist is an observer, someone who takes in everything around him / her and attempts to create something unique from the many disparate parts. The combinations are limitless, as are the personalities of the observer. What one person revels in will go completely unnoticed by another. It is this aspect of creation that makes art so interesting. One artist's talents will be different than another's, as will any number of different aspects of a work of art, from the methods to the materials to the mood to the presentation.
Taylor’s Place, near Greensboro, Alabama, 1974 by William Christenberry
In my case, influences will also vary over time, some replaced as I grow and others sticking with me for the long haul. But my work is still mine, however slightly different than it was a few years ago and unknowingly undeveloped compared to what will follow in the coming years. For instance, the work of William Christenberry (photo above) was one of my first influences. Christenberry's aesthetic and focus on a sense of place and time remains a big part of who I've become as an artist. On the other hand, I was once very much into the work of Jason Fulford. Fulford takes rather mundane scenes and creates quirky photographs that may lack depth but are highly entertaining. His aesthetic is very visible in my work for ninety-three but doesn't show up much in my more current work.
El Paso Street, El Paso, Texas, July 5, 1975 by Stephen Shore
And then there are influences that evolved themselves, creating work that carries through from one stage of my life to another. Stephen Shore is such a photographer. His earlier work, including American Surfaces, is more along the lines of Fulford's work: Less depth and perhaps a bit gimmicky. As time progressed, he developed a much more complicated sense of composition and began to capture images with many more layers to them. Shore's Uncommon Places remains a big influence on my work, especially as I attempt to become a little more nuanced in my use of composition and depth in photographs. His use of color for such photographs was also considered ground-breaking in the 1970's, something that has had a big influence of art photography in general ever since.
Beyond photography, I have been influenced by many other artists, none more than some of the musicians I have come to love. Artists like the Mountain Goats, the Weakerthans, Wilco, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, etc. have all had a big impact on who I am and how I choose to live my life. The Mountain Goats' John Darnielle writes lyrics that tell a story, generally with a strong sense of place and a touching level of humanity that I'm afraid that I will never be able to achieve in my work.
Jazz has become a big influence for me over the past year or two, slowly moving me away from all of the rock-based music I've been listening to for as long as I can remember. Right now, I'm stuck on almost everything Mose Allison did, especially at the beginning of his career. Jazz is about listening and observing, taking the time to allow a composition to become familiar and part of you in some small way. It's best enjoyed in a certain mood or moment, such as on a long, rainy day. I'm learning to look at photography in a similar way, attempting to find a way to achieve the same aesthetic in what I create.
Victor, Iowa from Familiar Places
Of course, the biggest influences on me have little to do with art or photography. It's everything else, all the personal experiences and people in my life, that shape my work (and my self) in a multitude of ways. My parents have had a huge impact on everything I've done, as have many other friends and family. Familiar Places, for instance, was my exploration of the places in and around where my parents and grandparents grew up. The photograph above is of the home just outside of Victor, Iowa where my grandfather lived when he was born in 1927. To me, family means a lot, and I've tried to remain true to that in some of my concepts and photographs.
All of this adds up to me and my photography.
In the summer's when you really know
July generally brings nearly unbearable temperatures to Nebraska. This summer, on the other hand, has been relatively mild with record lows forecast for the upcoming week. I still can't shake the feeling that we're in for a nasty heat wave at some point...
I took a short road trip to northern Missouri this past weekend, just exploring places I've never been and attempting to keep my skills sharp. Here are a few images from the overnight trek.
Albany, Missouri
Harrison County, Missouri
Mystic, Iowa
A name from the past
I'm definitely one for nostalgia in its many forms. Memories of my past and pasts I never even knew are a big part of my life and work as a photographer. Some of my best memories are of my somedaynever.com days, a website I started at the turn of the century (sounds cool, eh?) that eventually became a concert promotion company, record label and more over the years. somedaynever was dedicated to the local Nebraska scene and I'd like to think we helped play a part in at least some people discovering great music they might not have heard otherwise.
somedaynever.com, circa 2005
The screen shot above from late-February 2005, shows the last design that I used for the website. It also has banner for one of my favorite shows that we booked, The Hold Steady with the Oranges Band and local heroes Ladyfinger. The Hold Steady's lead singer, Craig Finn, was incredible, spitting his half-spoken lyrics into the microphone while convulsing on his feet. And if you've never heard Ladyfinger, you're missing out on one of the best, most criminally unknown rock bands out there. The best part of booking shows was finding bands that were fantastic yet either nearly-unknown or not-yet-known. Within a year or two, the Hold Steady would be playing all the late-night television shows and much bigger venues.
March 14, 2005
Although it feels as if a lifetime has passed, somedaynever has only been gone for roughly seven and a half years. It was my life and my identity for a long time, something that I wasn't so sure about giving up at the time. I had operated music websites of one sort or another for over a decade, dating back to my senior year in high school. In the end, I came to realize how burned out I really was, and have attended an average of maybe one concert per year since then. Not that I have given up on music, as I still listen to it constantly and maintain a large collection spanning everything from the punk rock I listened to at 18 to the mid-century jazz records that I dabble in today.
As for somedaynever, or sdn as was used for a shorthand, I'm happy to say that I'm now going to use the moniker as a publishing company for my photography books. sdn books will likely never amount to much more than an homage to my past, but it's something. Think of it as my way of helping an audience discover great places and details they might have otherwise missed. The first sdn book will be my upcoming project entitled Fontenelle that I hope to have ready for everyone this fall. Fontenelle is a big departure from much of my work and is the first time I have really worked in black and white since school. I'm excited to share it with you.