That's a lie. I do like to read. I almost finished up King Leopold's Ghost today, which is the true story of Heart of Darkness and what really went down in the Congo. I've been a little bad because I remember buying that book when it was cold out. Oh well. It's not really a tossup between photo books and normal books; I think photobooks will suffice when there is not enough room on the wall for a full body of work. (no really?) Otherwise, the prints themselves are amazing and I think anyone would agree with me on that. When I was at the Aperture Building this past Friday I saw them taking down Richard Ross's Architecture of Authority and wow did that print look amazing! The cover of the book, which was right next to me, had a bluish tint to it and sadly lost it's effect when confined to the 'borders' of the book itself. It looked beautiful on the wall. I never really liked that picture until that moment.
Before I get to Fiday, I won't to complain for a short paragraph. After the last post about Heima/McGinley I broke down and ordered Heima from this website. I looked all over online and no one had the limited edition booklet except them. Not odd at all this random site had it right? No. Yes, actually. It turns out it isn't the special edition at all. I got jipped. Now I have to call and get my money back, go to the post office, ship it back...etc. Pain in my ass. I really want that damn book.
Friday consisted of going to a few galleries with my good photographer friend Camilo Godoy. He's a great photographer - really creative and pretty regular with the amount of work he turns up. (probably the #1 way to improve) Check out his flickr stream here.
We went to a few hundred galleries, had paninis next to my dorm, almost got out cameras stolen and had crepes under these 3 amazing buildings next to the NYU campus. First place we checked out Cancelled, Erased & Removed at the Sean Kelly Gallery on W29th. This was probably the most interesting non-photography show of the day for me. All of the work echoed the title of the show; all work was either erased, tore down, removed or manipulated in some way. Very cool. I'm not going to list the rest of the non-photography shows but I have to say they taught me how to look at art. A lot of the time I was disinterested but after the conversation in my head ended I settled on the obvious but nonetheless enlightening realization. Thank god that happened before art school. (Speaking of, my loan is still in limbo. I'm trying to get the best rate possible.)
Before we even went to The City my recommendationwas Asako Narahasi's half awake and half asleep in the water. I'm not sure if I've blogged about this before but it's worth mentioning. Overall the show was pretty satisfying. Along with Narahasi was The Hyena And Other Men and Horizons by Szetsong Leong. Some of the work was just okay but the rest of the gems make up for it. I'll post some of my favorites.
While we were watching them dismantle the whole exhibit at Aperture I thumbed through some books for sale. One that caught my eye was Uncommon Places by Stephen Shore. I don't have much to say about that besides I liked what I saw (which was little.) One book I've passed over before which caught my eye again was Topologies by Edgar Martins. I remember when it first came out I snubbed it because I didn't immediately like the whole 'black sky' deal he had going on. I figured it was some cheap photoshop work that was trying too hard to be art. On second viewing I read no photoshop was involved with the whole image making process. Does that make the picture better for me? Yes. I won't touch on that part now... arguing the specifics makes for a very long (but at the same time very interesting) post. Now to be fair I really enjoyed the black sky set the second time around, before reading it wasn't a cheap photoshop trick. There were a few amazing shots that made me fall in love with the book in that brief encounter. I'll try and list some here (i haven't seen much.)
At the end of the night, sitting down on a concrete wall, I realized living in New York City will be one of the highlights of my life. That day made me love the city I was really unsure of if you asked my opinion last year.
Not to extend my post even further but I have a lot to cover! I haven't been home in three-four days! I don't like to split up post-subject matter too much but separate posts would make no sense at this point. I went kayaking today and as expected, I loved it. It was a four hour trip but nearing the end I was wishing for more. I'm really happy I've found another great hobby. And no, I did not bring my camera... I was too scared. I wish I did.
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