ImageGuy

April 23, 2009

Trumansburg Drama Club does “The Boyfriend”

I’m finally catching up a bit with my blog posts. April has been a terribly hectic month. I have so much to put up with this post and the next. These teenage drama kids are wearing me out. The beginning of the month was Trumansburg High School’s Drama Club presentation of “The Boyfriend”. These kids went through weeks of rehearsals, not to mention all the work behind the scenes by so many to create great sets and costumes. I know Sally Priester and Anne Bialke put in a lot of over time. So to everyone, I say a fabulous job well done. The show was amazing! I am always blown away by the talent in our little town. Bravo! Bravo! So here are the pictures!

Thanks T’burg for another fabulous show!

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March 29, 2009

“175 Photographers” is finally published!

I just wanted to put up a short post to say that 175 Photographers, A Collection of Contemporary Photography from JPGmag.com is finally complete and available at my Blurb page. This is a book I’ve been working on for three months, pulling together images from my favorites pages on the JPGmag.com website. 175 photographers from all over the world have graciously agreed to allow me to collect and print their photographs in a beautiful book. They have all contributed this work so that I might make it available to the public and hopefully find the support to turn this collection into a fantastic show of contemporary photography.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with JPG, it’s another of the internet’s photography sites where photographers upload images to their pages, often based on specific themes, to share them and to compete for a spot in the print version of JPG Magazine. Members vote on the images that best fit the themes, and can also comment, contact the photographer, or tag images as favorites and build their own collection of other photographers’ works. I have been placing images there for almost three years and have collected over 300 favorites. I always felt they would make a great book or show, and when it looked as though JPG might shut down at the beginning of this year, I decided, in a bit of a panic, to try and make this happen. And so success. The book is published and available to all. You can purchase a copy directly from my Blurb page at cost. So we all make it available to you now. There are over 200 images in color and black and white punctuated by quotes from famous photographers. Over 240 pages in all and a listing of every photographer and with URLs for most where you can see more of their work or contact them directly if you are interested in purchasing images. I would post some of those photographs, but have only a license to use them in the book and will respect that.

So if you are looking for one of the most interesting, stimulating, complete and diverse collections of contemporary photography today, go to this page and order a copy of 175 Photographers, A Collection of Contemporary Photography from JPGmag.com edited by me. You won’t be disappointed.

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March 21, 2009

Beware the Ides of March

I have been away from my blog for a while. Not by conscious choice, I just haven’t had an extra minute to sit and gather my thoughts. I have posted a couple of posts from Running To Places performances. That’s a must after I shoot those. But I have been so occupied with other things this first part of 2009 that I have hardly been able to do much of anything that I usually do when I’m not at work.

My daughter is applying for colleges right now. That is she’s already applied, we’re just waiting to hear from everyone. She applied to ten schools. We’ve heard from seven. Accepted at six and wait-listed at number seven. The other replies are due any time. She’s a smart girl and has received good offers already. So she will have a tough choice to make soon. She’s applied for a major in Zoology at all but one, DeSales University in Pennsylvania, where she’s applied as a dance major. I had the wonderful opportunity to take her down to visit and audition for the program.

I can say that I’ve never been around so many positive attitude students ever. These kids had nothing negative to say about the school, except perhaps that there’s not much around the campus for entertainment, so the school brings the entertainment in to them on a regular basis. My daughter had a friend nearby, so spent the night with her while I stayed in our cheesy little motel.

At work, we installed a major exhibit of Australian Aboriginal art and the George Eastman House’s show Picturing Eden. Both very big shows and amazing work. The Aboriginal show include the construction of a ten foot square sand box which we filled with two tons of sand that we dyed red. Three artists flew in from Australia to create a design on top of the sand in the traditional ways they do it at home using dyed plant fiber.

I’ve tried to grab a few shots on the highway the few times I’ve been out with my cameras. The weather here has been so cold until late that I just had no desire to be out shooting. But the buzzards are back (my robin of spring) and the cat is leaving the entrails of small rodents on our floor two or three times a day now, so I know Spring is really here.

Last weekend my daughter’s dance school celebrated another 5 year milestone with a big dance party for all. I wish I had the energy of these kids. They danced for about 5 hours straight and I was thankful that I got to simply be a bystander with camera. I love being around them all though because they are so full of life.

The main reason that I have been so unable to keep up with blogging, however, is that January 1st I began a project that has been all consuming. I am a contributor to JPGmag.com on a regular basis and at the beginning of the year it looked as though JPG was going to close. I had always wanted to put together a book or show of the photographs that I have tagged there as my favorites, so when thinking that might be impossible if the site closed down, in a bit of a panic, I decided to do the book. It took almost three months to pull it all together working almost every night, but two days ago I sent it off to Blurb for publication.

175 PHOTOGRAPHERS, A Collection of Contemporary Photography from JPGmag.com will be available to the public soon. It has the work of 175 photographers from every continent around the world (except Antarctica of course). Over 200 color and black & white photographs. It’s an amazing collection and a tribute to the fabulous photography at JPG. It appears now that JPG will not shut down after all, but I am so glad I took the time to make contact with all these people all around the world and pull this together. I have another blog that has been keeping the contributors up to date and I will post there about any other books I produce as well. If you’d be interested in buying a copy, it will be available at cost (no profit markup) from Blurb soon. Watch this blog for the announcement.

Oh! and the reason for the title of this post. On Tuesday I was notified that my job at the museum is being eliminated because of the economy. Retirement when I least expected it.

A very eventful month! Nice to be back. Looks as though I may have a little more time to keep up now.

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February 27, 2009

R2P Does “The Man Who Came To Dinner”

The fabulous cast of Running To Places performed the second of this season’s offerings last weekend at the Trumansburg Elementary School Auditorium presenting Kaufman & Hart’s “The Man Who Came To Dinner”.

Joey Steinhagen again directed this fantastic cast of young people who present extremely high quality theatrical performances. I am always amazed at their talent and professionalism.

Nathan Hilgartner gave a masterful performance as Sheridan Whiteside, the sarcastic, ill-tempered, radio celebrity with connections to everyone famous and notable. How he managed to remember hours of lines and present them with such verve and style, and so naturally and believably, was simply remarkable for a high school thespian. Nola Booth as Maggie Cutler was equally amazing and at ease as Whiteside’s personal assistant and the one person who could put him in his place and yet still cared for him in spite of his ill mannered behaviors.

Harriet Stanley, played by Sarah Plotkin, was a scene stealer on stage and an audience favorite every time she appeared, wide-eyed and lost in her childlike world, waltzing ghostlike slowly across the stage. She was a delightful contrast to the gruff and cranky Whiteside.

Jennie Kinkel played a wonderful Lorraine Sheldon, the flamboyant actress. Kevin Hilgartner kept the audience laughing as the wild and hilarious Banjo. And everyone else in the cast gave masterful and totally enjoyable performances. My hat’s off to all of you.

The show looked fantastic as well with beautifully constructed sets (including a custom constructed piano) from the designs of Eliza Vann on her first foray into set design. Well done Eliza! And, as usual, the crew and managers pulled off the show like professionals.

Running To Places, as I have said in past installments, is a wonderful organization that brings together high school and middle school age students from schools throughout the communities around Ithaca, New York. They operate on grants, donations, volunteer, and business sponsorship allowing any student the opportunity to participate free of charge. These kids learn everything there is to know about every aspect of theater production from mentors and theater professionals, preparing many of them for advancement to theater arts schools and careers. It’s a place for friendship, work ethic, character building, personal growth and self-confidence.

A big round of applause for Running To Places! Bravo!

Photos from “The Man Who Came To Dinner” can be purchased at http://www.georgecannon.printroom.com/Running2Places2009 with 20% going back to Running To Places.

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January 24, 2009

Running To Places does Once Upon A Mattress

Running To Places, the Ithaca youth theater group that I shoot for, put on another spectacular series of performances this month at the Ithaca High School Kulp Auditorium. This season’s first production was Once Upon A Mattress, the farcical tale of the Princess and the Pea. Emily Goodell was spectacular, as she usually is, as Princess Winnifred, a part she had played before for a Trumansburg School performance.

Emily has such spunk and pizazz, with tireless energy, a wonderful Broadway voice, and expression that just won’t quit. Opposite Geoff Peterson (another Trumansburg student) as Prince Dauntless, they knocked ’em dead during “Song of Love” ( a girl named Fred). And Emily’s performance of “Shy” was equally amazing.

Geoff gave wonderful, expressive performances as the love struck, eager to marry, Dauntless. Whether being pressured by the Queen or interpreting for his mute father, the King, Geoff was funny, entertaining, and commanding. His vocals are always stunning and he gave great life to the part.

Shauna Belokur played the evil, manipulative Queen Aggravain well enough to love her and hate her equally. The cast cowered as she demanded silence and obedience, only to be foiled in the end by those who believed in love. Cole Tucker pantomimed himself into everyone’s heart as the nonspeaking King Sextimus the Silent, chasing the maids of the castle, and trying desperately to explain the facts of life to Dauntless.

Eliza Vann and Adam Beckwith gave beautiful moving performances as the lovers Lady Larkin and Sir Harry with beautiful vocals and sweet duets.

And certainly I cannot help but rave about the performances of Elias Spector-Zabusky as the Jester and Sarah Beckwith as the Minstrel. Elias has this amazing hair that simply stood on end for the part. Many would have assumed this was some spectacular wig, but it is his own incredible locks. His dancing, singing, and wonderfully expressive humorous performance was nothing short of magical.

The entire cast was fabulous. Great dance numbers and wonderful choreography, and as usual, terrific music from the pit band, made this a performance worthy of off Broadway.

My congratulations to everyone in the cast and backstage. My applause too for direction, sets, lighting, and costumes. You guys do this so well. I enjoyed every minute (twice!).

Images from this show are available for purchase at http://www.georgecannon.printroom.com. 20% Goes back to Running To Places.

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December 30, 2008

Once more in Willimantic

As we usually do, we spent Thanksgiving and Christmas in Columbia, CT at my mother-in-law’s. There was more family participation this Christmas than last or than at Thanksgiving, so it was nice to see the brother and sisters who hadn’t made it the last couple of times. The Christmas eve drive over was really nasty with sleet and freezing rain and rain. Cars in ditches and the windshield washer squirting constantly. Traffic from Danbury on very heavy. Crazy drivers. What is it with people on the interstate these days running twenty miles an hour over the speed limit and passing in every lane like lunatics? They scare the crap out of me some times. What ever happened to patience? What happened to leave early and enjoy the ride? These people are nuts.

I rose early on the holidays and drove into Willimantic. I’m not sure why I love photographing this town so much. But on the holidays and Sundays when I usually do, the streets are almost deserted and I feel like it’s a big stage set there just for my camera. And all the details are authentic.

I paused to shoot a house for my “Ornamental America” series and the woman who lived there came out to talk. She told me the story of the metal peacocks on her wall. It was enchanting. I love these ornamented yards and porches. How every object has a story to tell.

Willimantic has always exhibited that old mill town, depressed economy, aging and surviving look about it. The ethnic mix, the varied businesses just hanging on, the common working class American streets and houses, the old and run down, the restored history, the proud and the struggling. It’s all there in a fairly compact area and very visually stimulating.

Like larger cities, Willimantic has its homeless walking the streets, lonely on these cold holiday mornings. Graffitti on the walls painted by youth who dislike the police and need to exhibit their presence. The wind blew empty cups and cans across the quiet streets as I wandered through the city. It alomst has the feel of a ghost town.

The alley ways, the clutter, the detritus of city life. I momentarily imagine myself like Wil Smith in a city where I’m the only survivor.

It’s a pallet of color and human existence. It’s age, and wear, and struggle, and survival in an America that has outgrown its industry. And it’s beautiful in its own right.

I wish everyone a prosperous and happy new year.

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December 12, 2008

Looking back at 2008 – a year of great images – vol.2

As usual, 2008 began cold in New York and here we are back in the cold again. As I get older, I dislike the cold weather more and more and I begin to understand why people retire to Florida and Arizona and warm places. I tend to take fewer pictures when it’s really cold. Maybe that’s why I dislike the cold so much. But it still has it’s moments.

In the winter the lake is low and the shore is exposed. The steam rises from the power station. And when the weather is clear, the sky can be as blue as a summer day.

I was called for jury duty this year. Oddly enough, it’s the first time I’ve ever had to actually report. I wasn’t picked and was dismissed, but it gave me a chance to take some time shooting on the streets of Waterloo, NY.

In April I took some time to go down to Florida to work on promoting my photography there. I love shooting there and have produced a whole line of postcards from along Route 30A. I love the architecture there. It is so fresh and clean and precise, and the landscape is beautifully planned out and tended in these resort communities. There are artworks at every turn.

I drove back along my usual route but took the time in a way I have always wanted to, but haven’t because I’m usually not traveling alone, to get off the interstate and drive a while on the foggy back roads of Virginia in the early morning. This image felt so Eliot Porter – ish.

In May I had the good fortune to courier a piece of artwork back from the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain. It was my first venture to Europe and, although hectic traveling, I had time to explore Bilbao for a couple of days. It was glorious.

I made my way back through New York City and had a morning to walk through Central Park before the FedEx truck arrived for the painting I was escorting.

In July I was back in Florida for our regular vacation time there. I always come home with images I love from Florida.

Summer in upstate New York is prime time. The lakes, the wineries, the gorges and waterfalls and trails. It’s what makes this area so special and what keeps people here in the winter, the thoughts that summer will be back.

I was back in Florida at the end of August. A slide show of my work was included in Digital Graffiti, an outdoor multi-media exhibit at Alys Beach. So once again I had the opportunity to shoot my favorite beaches and landscape.

In mid September I spent a little time in Atlanta, my boyhood home area, and had a chance to visit the Georgia Aquarium and some other areas of downtown. Atlanta is a great city and filled with a lot of memories for me.

New York this fall was a showplace. I can’t remember a more perfect seasonal show than what nature gave us this year. That’s the other reason to withstand the cold here, the change of seasons is so dramatic. In the south, fall was not the showy colorful display it is in the northeast. And the area around Atlanta, and even in Florida, doesn’t have the amazing roadside color of the farm fields and sumac and blackberry and maple trees. It was a grand display this year.

And Ithaca, small town, city streets provided some images. I took the time to wander a bit in my own small town area as I do every year at the holidays when we are in Connecticut and I wander the streets of Willimantic. I love the cityscape and urabn landscape. The places where we really live and the mark we make there.

It was a very good year for images. I’m satisfied.

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December 6, 2008

Looking back at 2008 – a year of great images – Vol.1

I’ve been very fortunate this year. It’s been a year of wonderful images and I feel so lucky to have collected so many. So many that I had a very hard time choosing and keeping this look back down to a couple of posts. But I do have my favorites, and I’ve pulled a select few out to go back and remind me of why I take pictures, why I love recording those moments and those visions and those places that have made up the past year that I don’t want to forget and that I want to share with anyone that will look, and possibly see the beauty and color and design of the world around us each day the way I do. And of course, those special moments with other lives that are part of the fabric of our own.

My greatest joy, as is no surprise, derives from my daughter. A senior in high school this year, I can’t help feeling that pang parents feel as they begin to realize how their lives will change when there are no children left at home and how close that time is getting. As much as she wears me out with late night transportation and looking at her room that I would love to organize, but dare not touch. Still, hearing her play her piano at night or typing at her keyboard, watching her dance, hearing her laugh with friends, or singing with her favorite music, having her ask me to help her with ideas for an English essay, or sharing her photos and poetry with me. These are things I will miss so much on a day to day basis.

But this year I have seen her dance, so beautifully. With her dance team at Armstrong School (another year of wonderful performances),in school plays, and with Running to Places, the youth theater group she has been a part of. I’ve become a big fan of these kids, and am dazzled by the talent in their company.

And I’ve begun shooting senior portraits for her and her classmates. These kids are so beautiful, and I love this time in their lives. I hope they know how special it is.

I shot Hannah and Mike’s wedding this year. A fun shoot, though these jobs can be so tiring. But I love the atmosphere of a wedding and the love that exists there among everyone. I also realized this year that it’s the bridesmaids and the kids that make the party.

We spent Thanksgiving this year at my Mother-in-law’s house, as we always do. She has several cats but “Tiger Eye” is the alpha cat in the house.

I love calico cats and this year we unfortunately lost one of ours (we had two sisters). Rea was a roamer and wandered for days sometimes but would always come home eventually. This year, she didn’t come home. I miss her.

So a year of changes (as they all are) and of joys. Of discoveries and losses. Of sharing. Of being an audience. Of memories.

In the next post I’ll look back at travels and home.

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December 2, 2008

From Image to Abstract

For the last year I’ve had two blogs going. This one, which I have to admit I have not kept up with as frequently as when I began. And my other blog, Artcards, which was to be a once weekly image that had been manipulated to some degree in photoshop to make a photograph into photoart. It’s been almost a year now and the Artcards site has over 160 images up now, so once a week has become more like three times a week. But as an exercise, it has led me to some interesting results and helped expand my knowledge and comfort levels with photoshop, given me a much better understanding of the many nuances of the program, and also shown me how much more there is to learn about this powerful artistic tool.

So over the last few months, as I have worked with more and more of my old and new images, I have also begun to build a collection of abstract art that derives, through many, many layers and multiple steps, from a single (or sometimes multiple) image to evolve into an abstract piece of art. The goal here is to create images that will work on large canvases.

Working in an art museum, I see so many large contemporary paintings, and feel like photography manipulated in photoshop to the point of abstraction, can have the same kind of feel and impact when applied to large canvases through today’s large format inkjet printers. In fact, the detail possible would be very hard and time consuming to obtain if working with brush and paints. So through the technology of computer and camera and high resolution printers, a new world of contemporary art emerges.

All of these images began as standard photographs. I use a variety of actions to apply multiple adjustments in a single stroke. I build layers upon layers, often inverting and changing hue balances, then blending those layers, to create color combinations and textures that achieve a look I like. I will flatten several times, taking snapshots as I go so that I can back up or look at earlier versions. I might crop and only take a small piece. Then I might apply filters and styles to enhance the feel even more, or to refine dimensional qualities. Some of these images might go through a hundred steps before I’m satisfied with the result, or I may save three or four versions of the same image, unable to decide which is my favorite.

This is a sample progression of an image as it takes shape. Begin with a photograph…

Crop, build several layers and color effects…

Add blur layers…

Build more layers, adjust colors and blend modes…

Add filters to create texture or definition…

and finally overlay an additional color shape with stroke to frame and isolate the center, then blend and adjust opacity.

I stopped here. It just felt right to me and didn’t seem to need anything else…

…except that big canvas and a large blank wall.

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November 4, 2008

Time To Catch My Breath

It’s been a month since my last post. When I began this blog, I wanted to post every week, but the past four weeks seem to have been so jam packed with things to do that sitting down to write has just been impossible. Tonight, while my daughter is at dance class and my wife is out with friends, the TV bristles with election speculation, and I feel like I can stop and catch a breath.

I’ve been shooting a lot this month, with fall color, plays at school, and senior portraits. I’ve been enjoying this so much, and the results have been so satisfying. I also published three new calendars for 2009 that are available now through Lulu.com. One is all nature and landscape, one is strictly images from the 30A area on the Florida Gulf coast where I shoot a lot, and the other is general photography. Mostly images that I feel strongly about that are rich in design and are favorites from this past year. Please check them out if you need a beautiful photography calendar (and everybody does, right?). Here are a few of the images.

As I said before, the fall color has been magnificent this year. I just can’t get over how beautiful it’s been and how long lasting. One of the most spectacular fall seasons I can remember. One of the primary things that attracted me to the Northeast was the change of seasons, and having been born in September, it’s always been one of my favorite times of year.

This year, with my daughter becoming a senior in high school, I was also asked to shoot some senior portraits for her friends. It has been a most fulfilling endeavor and will certainly be a part of my professional work that I will continue to pursue because working with these beautiful young people and attempting to capture their spirit and personality feels so rewarding. Plus it has also given me the excuse to spend some great quality time with my daughter, while shooting her pictures, at a time in her life when she is so busy I hardly ever see her and all the while I know how close we are getting to the time when she will be leaving us to go off to college. These kids that I’ve watched through birthday parties and years of school functions since kindergarten, so grown up now. So mature and beautiful, young adults on the verge of life changing events. I love feeling a part of that and helping them to leave behind an image of the way they see themselves best.