Another brief break between shows…

In San Diego I stayed with an old friend, Nancy and her family. Her younger sister Ingrid Bouchard is my oldest friend. We met in Kindergarten and became close friends at age 10, remaining close friends ever since. She lives in Montreal, where she’s happily married with kids. In our teens and twenties, we had our share of adventures… among other things, she’s one of the many friends I would drag into alleys at night, just to look at them and experience their raw energy. She never once found this odd.

Speaking of energy… Here are some of the many hundreds (thousands??) of wind turbines you see driving through California’s Central Valley. I shot these this morning.

I went shooting last night in San Diego. I found a couple of old abandoned industrial buildings intersecting in a dusty alley. A delightfully haunting scene. The light was only a little interesting, so I had to light most of the scene myself. All went without incident, which was good because I was shooting alone.

In October, I plan to start going through the mountain of negative I shot this year. There are many many good shots in there, requiring a mountain of time to sort through and work on.

This is a very beautiful city… almost too much so. I went looking for a little urban decay today but couldn’t find much. I did find an area that I’ll be exploring further tomorrow night. A detective with the San Diego Police Dept, who I met last year and is a fan of my work, had agreed last week to come along as my bodyguard - what could be better? Better would be an armed cop when I’m shooting in downtown Detroit at 2am. However I haven’t been able to reach him… hopefully we’ll get in touch tomorrow before I go shooting, otherwise I’ll be looking over my shoulder all night.

Here’s another shot from my flight last week. If only we could fly…

I just got these… 

Opening reception for “Four Views”- a group show at LH Horton Jr Gallery, running August 21 - September 18

Tonight I leave for San Diego for Artwalk on the Bay - an 8-10 hr drive from my home. I have to go through LA on my way there; the typically horrible LA traffic will determine how long my drive is.

Road Rage in LA is a reality. Every time I’ve driven in/around/through the city, I’ve seen it. One reason for it becomes apparent the minute you drive into the city. The highway lanes become uncomfortably narrow. You get squeezed in so tight, the cars and trucks next to you are inches away. They probably didn’t start that way, but to accommodate the growing number of vehicles, the city (I’m assuming) added an extra lane, doing away with shoulders, and stripping space from the existing lanes.

Add to this the constant bumper to bumper traffic and now you’re going 70 mph with cars packed in on all sides and everyone yelling at everyone.

California mountains (shot last week):

Lake Erie, near Detroit (shot today):

Enrico Fermi nuclear power plant near Detroit:

I just woke up from a good nap after my long drive to Ann Arbor from St Louis (I fly back to California tomorrow morning - I have a show in San Diego next weekend: Artwalk).  St Louis is an awesome city - I love it. Its one of those hard core gritty Midwestern cities full of friendly people… with the exception of the few insane residents who don’t mind killing other people.

In 2006 I went out shooting for the first time there, scoring 3 good shots in 2 nights. I went alone, watching my back constantly. but feeling relatively safe. All three involved leaving my camera while I walked with my handheld flash, lighting parts of the scene… in other words, I was always making my presence known, and making myself all the more vulnerable. A few weeks later I read in the newspaper that according to FBI figures, it has won the top prize, the Gold Medal, for the country’s “most dangerous cities.” I had to sit and think about that one for a few minutes…

Sgt Tim Hickey, a St Louis cop, bought one of my pieces: Alley 91, Mutant. He plans to hang it in his office. As he told me: “I used to work in the ghetto - I saw this wall [see below] all the time. But now I work in a safe district… I paid my dues. I wanna look at this picture every day.”

He will be returning to the ghetto, however… with me. He’s agreed to escort me the next time I shoot in St Louis! I love it!

And one last thing about St. Louis… the Arch. I never thought much of it until you walk right up to it and look up. It will blow your mind. tip: go at night…

Two of my pieces are in Park Place Gallery  - a Kansas City gallery. The show opened August 29.

Alley no. 91  -  “Mutant”  (2006, St. Louis, MO)

Ok, it was by 6 year old Jericho Cortina, who’s mother had just bought him his first piece of art, but still…

Sent by Alexa, wife of my friend Gerry, after reading of our close call with rednecks many years ago…

Billy Bob and Luther were talking one afternoon when Billy Bob tells Luther,
‘Ya know, I reckon I’m ’bout ready for a vacation. Only this year I’m gonna do it a little different. The last few years, I took your advice about where to go. Three years ago you said to go to Hawaii . I went to Hawaii and Earlene got pregnant.
Then two years ago, you told me to go to the Bahamas , and Earlene got pregnant again.
Last year you suggested Tahiti and darned if Earlene didn’t get pregnant again.’
Luther asks Billy Bob, ‘So, what you gonna do this year that’s different?’ Billy Bob says, ‘This year I’m taking Earlene with me.’

I have to race off to the airport in 40 minutes for a show in Saint Louis. Why am I posting jokes?? I haven’t packed… I haven’t done anything!!! aaaaahhhhh!!!!

Wow, what a fantastic show in Portland… Art in the Pearl! Its a great city with great people…

And wow… I didn’t get a single alley shot. Saturday night I was fired up - ready to dive into Portland’s darker, grittier corners looking for diamonds in the rough. I drove and walked around with Pam for 4 hours through all the main run-down neighborhoods. And I know there were many great images sitting quietly, waiting to be found - I just didn’t find one. Its frustrating, knowing they are around you, hidden within the night’s outlines, and not being able to see them… Finally I ran out of steam and called it a night. Sunday night I was ready to go again but the friends we were staying with, Charles and Drew, had frosty beers waiting to be opened and I just couldn’t say no… So, Portland… til we meet again…

Some of the shots from our drive back.

Mount Shasta:

A wee bird that found a hard corn chip and started dunking it in water to soften it up

Times Square, NYC (both pictures):