These are my favorite Flickr photos from the last month. Shots from the annual Ghouls Gone Wild Parade make this the semi-Halloween edition. (See plenty more ghouls here.)

Flickr Gallery: Visual Diary, October 2009.

See what else I’ve Found on Flickr.

I’m getting really into food pictures, even making some of my own (to be revealed). The Bento Box group(s) on Flickr are a great place for food inspiration, aesthetically and nutritionally.



bento 8.14.09 by Flickr user Mamichan. Click image to view source.

The construction of a bento meal ranges from pragmatic to wildly artistic. It works for any kind of food, from anywhere in the world.



Brad’s Lunch and Dinner, by Flickr user flit. Click image to view source.

I’ve been in a bento-mindset since I’ve been spending a lot of time at my new studio at the OKCCoCo. I’m getting a ton of ideas from other bento fans.



Preschooler Bento #227, by Flickr user Wendy Copley. Click image to view source.

What’s this bento thingy? Think of it as the classier predecessor to the tv dinner. Explore more Bento Box Flickr pools here.

See more of what I’ve Found on Flickr.

My dear friend Mely Mitchell is one of the artists in the upcoming exhibition Through The Lens, a photographic examination of historical and contemporary Navajo culture.

This show will be at the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, Arizona from August 28 through March 27 2010.

Yay Mely!

Please join us for an opening reception this Thursday July 23, 5 to 7 pm. The closest street entrance to the Underground is at Leadership Square.

When I went out for the shoot, I took my digital camera along. (Only 36 frames? On a roll of film? Don’t fence me in!) romy has carefully concealed the 60 shots she has chosen, so I don’t know which of my photos will be in the show. (If you are Facebook friends with romy, you can see the runners-up in her photos.) However, below are some of my favorite “other” shots from that day. Click any image to see larger.




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Tiles



Jesus Saves Bindery I

Andy Mattern is a photographer currently living in Minneapolis. His starkly composed images capture ordinary spaces of our lives as though human presence has been removed. In his work we feel absence and presence with equal weight.

I first met Andy when we went to high school together in Albuquerque, NM. I thought I’d check in and see what he’s up to artistically these days.

SA: What kind of camera(s) are you currently using? Traditional film or digital?

AM: For the past few years, I have mainly worked with digital cameras, but I keep a 4×5 and a film cooler on hand just in case. The process of shooting digitally is frenetic and cerebral. I savor that speed and control, but I appreciate the meditative process of large format film, it’s like a dream in slow motion. Part of the allure of photography is that there are all these choices of ways in which to work. It’s easy to fetishize one method, but each has its benefits and, thankfully, it’s not necessary to pick only one.

SA: Your technique is very formal. Is your composition entirely in-camera? Do you do any digital augmentation?

AM: I am not against cropping when necessary, but generally I compose in-camera. I spend a lot of time inspecting the edges and considering the frame as a whole before making a picture. Afterwards, if I notice something in the frame that shouldn’t be there, I will remove or replace it. Working on a tripod and making numerous exposures lets me easily edit later.

SA: Why does formalism appeal to you over other techniques?

AM: Photography is an organizing tool for me. I use the camera to collect and consolidate my immediate environment into visual containers. I am not inclined to make abstract pictures because I am preoccupied with looking precisely at what is before me.

Information, 2009 photograph by Andy Mattern. Click here to see more images like this.

SA: How did you become an architectural photographer? Do you continue to do this as a business?

AM: I had been photographing buildings at night in Austin as a way to explore the new city for a few years when a photographer friend of mine referred me to an architect who needed a dusk shot of a new residence. I did the job and ended up getting more work by referral. In the lead up to graduate school, though, I have slowly tapered off my work. For the next three years I intend to focus my efforts on creative projects and teaching.

SA: What role has art played in your daily life in recent years?

AM: I am constantly stopping whatever I’m doing to make a picture. Whether it’s with my tiny point-and-shoot camera, which I keep with me, or with one of my more official cameras, I get distracted by things I see and I can’t relax until I photograph them.

Peaches and Potatoes, 2008 photograph by Andy Mattern. Click here to see more images like this.

SA: The Leland St. series is photographs of your home (I presume). These photographs are less formal than much of your other work, yet they retain a detached, impersonal feel. What was the impetus for this series?

AM: A former professor of mine once said that if you are really good, you never have leave home to make pictures. Maybe Leland St. is an attempt to exercise that idea. As in my other series, I prefer to look directly at my subjects without distortion or visual inflection. I think it’s interesting to take a step back and remove the actor from the scene in order to focus on the character of the place and provide room for new narratives to emerge. In the case of photographing my own space, a found a tension between this clinical way of seeing and depicting personal objects like toiletries and dishes. When I review these pictures, they appear to me like crime scene photographs or continuity images from a film set.

SA: You have just moved to Minneapolis. What will you be doing there?

AM: I am starting the MFA program at the University of Minnesota this fall.

SA: What are some of your current influences?

AM: I really like these books right now:
An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar by Taryn Simon
River of No Return: Photographs by Laura McPhee by Laura McPhee
The Nature of Photographs by Stephen Shore

I’m also taken with these artists:
Cara Phillips
Michael Vahrenwald
Myoung Ho Lee
Jake Rowland
Dan Boardman

SA: Where can we see your work?

AM: I am always updating my website. But to see physical prints, please visit Stephen Clark Gallery in Austin, Texas. Also, I have a show coming up in Houston this November at the Lawndale Art Center.

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This post is part of NaBloPoMo for July 2009.

Not only are these fish wonderful to look at, they have excellent names as well. There’s the Puddingwife Wrasse, the Puffcheek Blenny, the Threeline Basslet, and the Schoolmaster Snapper, to name a few.

Click here to visit the Smithsonian Institution on Flickr.

Related:
Previously in Found on Flickr
Piscatorial, a set on Flickr
Blog posts in the Piscatorial category

This post is part of NaBloPoMo for July 2009.

Eliza Lawson, May 1845, photographed by George Goodman. Click image to visit on Flickr.

Found on Flickr this week: From the Flickr Commons, a collection from the State Library of New South Wales.

These two photographs are from a subset of the collection called “Costume and Dress.”

Dulcie Deamer in leopardskin costume, 1923, Swiss Studios. Click image to visit on Flickr.

The Flickr Commons is an amazing, growing repository of historical photographs from libraries and institutions around the world. Most of the photographs in the Commons have little or no known copyright restrictions. It’s a great resource for artists, students, and casual browsers alike.

Sunrise, Downtown OKC, by Flickr user Paul L. McCord, Jr. Click image to visit on Flickr.

60 Artists to Hit the Streets of Downtown

Downtown OKC – For one hour this Saturday, 60 artists will be on a mission to capture their perspective of what Downtown Oklahoma City is all about. The event is in preparation for 60 Artists : 60 Minutes, an exhibition in The Underground Invited Artists Gallery this summer.

On June 6 from 11:00 a.m. to noon, 60 people will meet on the corner of Robert S. Kerr and Robinson. Each preselected participant will receive one disposable point and shoot camera and one hour to photograph Downtown as they see it. From the 1,620 photographs taken, the best one from each roll will be selected, printed, and ultimately included in the 60 Artists : 60 Minutes exhibition on display from July 23 to October 15.

The search for artists was done via the social networking sites Facebook and Myspace, and through word of mouth. All 60 artists were selected on a first come, first served basis. The only requirement for participation is that the photographer has to live in the OKC metro area and be age eighteen and older.

“It only took 24 hours to get 60 participants,” said show curator Romy Owens. “The artists are all really excited about this show. 60 Artists : 60 Minutes offers all artists equal parameters: same time limit, same equipment and same presentation. It will be intriguing to see what they come up with.”

The Invited Artist Gallery, located in The Underground, is made possible through a sponsorship by Devon Energy Corporation. Entrances to the gallery are located at the corner of Robert S. Kerr Blvd and Robinson, and inside Leadership Square. The Invited Artists Gallery sits underneath the intersection of Robinson and Robert S. Kerr with entrances from all adjacent buildings. The Invited Artist Gallery is produced by Downtown Oklahoma Inc.

For more information on the Underground or Downtown OKC, Inc, please visit DowntownOKC.com or call 405-235-3500.

[Press release info courtesy of romy owens (contact here) and Kim Searls: (405) 818-2726.]

Read NewsOK’s article about the shoot here.

Update: Another article about the shoot, from the Journal Record.

As the London Shop Fronts blog reveals, every place in the world has a unique character that may be difficult to define, but is instantly recognizable. It’s one of the things I love about Oklahoma City.

I’m drawn to the flat, almost clinical documentary style of these photographs. Although these are architectural spaces, the frontal perspective flattens the real-life objects into an abstracted array of color and texture. And the homebrew typography is always wonderful.

Related
Paho Mann, photographer. See particularly the Reinhabited Circle-K series.
Bernd and Hilla Becher, architectural photographers. See the Framework Houses series at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts for examples.