How this is going to work

   Although this blog has not been in existence for very long I have already discovered that it is really just a look at photography through my own personal filter.  For the most part there is no serious research being done, no theories being proven.  I am putting stuff out there that interests me in the hopes that it might interest someone else.    Therefor, I think it best to more often link to other articles and exhibitions rather than compose my own information.  Someone else has already made the effort to do all of the heavy lifting and probably has more to say about the subject than I would.  So, very often I may just link information that might be of interest to others.  I do all of the gathering of information so the reader has an easier time of it.
   I recently posted about an exhibition of the work of Duane Michals.  I know I mentioned that he is one of my favorite photographers.  I wanted to offer more reading about him and his work in case somebody was interested.  There is this article from the New Yorker.  Another from American Photo.  Lastly, the Wall Street Journal.

The Getty

Let's face it.  If I could fly anywhere and explore a photographic collection for a day it would be the Getty Museum.   It houses the photographic collection of Sam Wagstaff.  If you do not know who Sam Wagstaff was, you need to read up about him.  I'll give you the wikipedia on him, but it would behoove you to do your own research on him.

"was an American art curator and collector as well as the artistic mentor and benefactor of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe (who was also his lifetime companion) and poet-punk rocker Patti Smith. Wagstaff is known in part for his support of Minimalism, Pop Art, Conceptual Art and Earthworks, but his aesthetic acceptance and support of photography presaged the acceptance of the medium as a fine art."

After spending hours appreciating the Wagstaff collection I would like to check out two of the exhibitions currently on view at the museum:

In Focus: Play

Josef Koudelka: Nationality Doubtful

If you are lucky enough to find yourself in Los Angeles take advantage of this great opportunity.

Lone Star

This is going to be one of those posts based solely on my own interests.  This may be of interest to those of you in Texas.  Since I have never been to Texas and do not foresee a visit in the near future, I am making this suggestion in hope that it will inspire somebody in the Austin area to go out and view this exhibition.  It is Wildly Strange: The Photographs of Ralph Eugene Meatyard at the Blanton Museum of Art.  Ralph Eugene Meatyard has always been among my favorite photographers.  I am pretty sure that it has nothing to do with the fact he comes from Normal, Illinois.  I just remember feeling a connection to his work from the first time I viewed it.  That would have been way back in high school.  Something about the children in combination with the masks in those surroundings.  If you are not familiar with his work you should go and check it out.
     As an aside, there is also a contemporaneous exhibition about Alice's Adventures in Wonderland there.  I only mention this because few people realize that Lewis Carroll was a well known photographer.  I am assuming that they will exhibit some of the many portraits Carroll took of the real Alice who was his neighbor.  I am hope they will share some of his other photographic works as well..