The Great American Detour

i think you guys will appreciate this

http://current.com/items/89466450_the_great_american_detour


[embedded, just in case you see this via RSS]

more to chew on/

"Photojournalism thrives on conversation. An undiscussed picture from Abu-Ghraib is just another fallen tree in the forest. This is one of the reasons I think it is critical for Magnum to have a dynamic and at least partially transparent presence online. Conversation gets people engaged."
-Alec Soth

From http://blog.magnumphotos.com/2008/10/does_photojournalism_make_you_verklempt.html#comments

Bob, that stuff looks great.

s.y.b.o.

Poster 1

Identity

Logo and Mark

good blog post:

http://www.jmcolberg.com/weblog/2008/10/some_thoughts_on_the_language_1.html

I think that we should consider this criticism of photojournalism and let it influence the "new" direction we try to take this thing (analogue).

Analogue Update

So I went back through the creative statement for this entire project and really tried to nail down what Analogue is visually. What feeling should it evoke in people? Ultimately the way I perceive it is this: Analogue is fresh, expressive, timeless and valuable. In general I felt the presentation went well. I got lots of good feedback for each of the pieces and will be able to start executing things as soon as the identity is hammered out. Take a look through the posts, leave any thoughts in the comments or email me.

A note: the expressive type element you're seeing on the cover of the white case is a temporary resolve to a big issue I've had with the identity. I think the talking punctuation marks are clever but I'm not happy with them yet. They're not particularly fresh, expressive, timeless or valuable to me. I want something that is expressive and exists beautifully within its space. The stories Analogue presents are valuable and very hands on, and I want the identity to be something that is immediately perceived as such. Hence the consistent presentation of active elements on a field of white throughout the pieces. The feeling of this temporary arrangement of a serif typeface (probably replicated through charcoal or paint) is the closest to the feeling I'm after, and in the next couple of days I will be experimenting with various applications of this. 

Book and Case

I'm thinking it might be slick (see very first sketch in first image) to have some sort of nice leather that wraps the white hardcover. There could even be a screenprint or embossing of the identity on it. 

 

Poster 1

The goal of the poster is to publicize for the opening exhibition of Analogue. The first idea is to present a very tight image of a portrait of one of the subjects. This image specifically is of a young man I met in Kakuma Refugee Camp in northwestern Kenya. Visually the goal is to manipulate the image in such a way that the visual flicker and movement of your eye over the piece takes priority over the image itself. The goal is that the heirarchically (sp?) the image works on the same plane as the type, each playing with your eye so that the poster is one expressive piece. The type elements would obviously be telling viewers about the exhibition time, place, location, etc, but also may incorporate snippets of statements from interviews with him. 

Poster 2

This idea stems from a similar feel of several of the other pieces. The thought is an expressive union of type and image, which ultimately is what analogue is about presenting.

Poster 3

This option plays with the numbers 0 and 1 being representative of the first exhibition of analogue. In my mind I'm seeing the "0" and "1" existing a couple of different ways potentially. One is as sort of a hazy conglomeration of various photographs, transparent applications of charcoal or paint that merge from a distance, or written words from various analogue stories. Another is more heavily reliant on color, but similar idea in focusing on this being the first of several analogue exhibitions. 

Archival Slip Sheets / Caption Cards

Not sure entirely what to call these yet...but basically they are 6X8" cards that will exist alongside nicely printed photographs within the hardcover "support package" case with the quarterly book. Each caption card will contain caption/quote information relative to the photograph it accompanies and be numbered sequentially in an expressive way consistent with the typography used in the rest of the pieces.

Supplementary/Informational Poster

This will be a quadfold (you're viewing it flat in the sketch) that will be tucked in the back cover folder of the book. It's based around the theme of Paleo's Song Diary. The top side will exist as a mini poster of sorts - it's a texture composed of the lyrics from the 365 song diary, and a manipulation of the type color (via font weight, face, style and color) to portray a ghostly sort of visual effect that is visible from a distance. I'm thinking either a very simple representation of David's portrait or a symbolic form that represents the passing of a year.

Subscription Card

This will either be a blow in within the printed publication or will be tucked into the back cover sleeve of the book where the info poster will also be folded.

Website

get together

guys:

we should get together and chat, even if nothing huge has changed, say....tuesday. obviously not today..but in a week. i get home "tonight" but dont get back to bham until wednesday and the next day stephanie comes in town...so i vote either late in monday, or tuesday of next week. obviously these things are open to suggestion.

we leave soonish for the airport so i may be MIA for a while.

later

Alright boys. Here's what i've got so far direction for the identity and various design pieces. lots of ideas, nothing actual executed yet. click the image to view the full proposal. bring on the thoughts.

analogue

the why.

so after a brief chat with my friend jared last night i am reminded (remound, i still think the word should be) that despite enjoying what and how i shoot so very much, there is still a decided lack of direction (which has been around more or less my whole career thus far) which i think fits well within one word: why.

the why



not sure how to keep typing.

speaking of analogue...

speaking of analogue...i got this camera today for a whopping €2



so far so good...i've read a couple of things on it and it seems like a decent catch-all consumer camera...we'll see how it holds up to the hip shot. its a 40mm lens (as opposed to the 32mm of the Lomo and the 35mm of the Hexar) but if its decent at all its worth three dollars.


and speaking of "the current project", i figure i should maybe take a few mintues to reflect a bit on what this trip has been so far.

i'll try to keep this "technical"...ie about the work, about the process....but the way i do things it will inevitably being more than that. speaking of technical, i'll note im writing this on a keyboard that isnt american and with spell check that is looking for austrian-german, which is to say it doesnt work...for my purposes.

so i brought my Hexar (which was purchased for this trip because my lomo lca+ was broken) and my lomo (because it got back to me in time from the repair shop. i think its just a new one) and as mentioned i acquired the li'l agfa. the goal here was not only ease of travel (no way i wanted to shoot digital and fill up cards and edit myself with when and how i'd shoot due to space limitations, or worry about dust spots or lenses..or little things like charging) but also, and mainly, to keep myself in a comfort zone. i speak of comfort mostly to the lomo as the hexar was brand new to me, though i am very happy shooting 35mm focal length. i took mostly black and white film (recently having gotten the 50th anniversary edition of robert frank's The Americans (link)) though i made sure to bring color as well, and to that end the trip's photographs will be heavily slanted towards monochrome.

i made a conscious effort try to revert to my "previous" style (á la "dont think just shoot" (link)) and really just react to things instead of trying to shoot things on purpose...does that make sense? so much of my year has been shooting things on purpose (ie portraits, editoral, etc) and not random....clicks. its not exactly reportage but its more than just snaps. its a weird thing actually. using the lomo especially enables me to act on intuition. see it click it. the distance measuring has become so in my nature that i can shoot quickly and without having to line things up (which does more or less disregard composition as a main element, though intuit provides a good deal of it naturally...and more importantly it keeps stuff fresh...i think at least...by no allowing myself to interfere in what my mind sees (versus my brain trying to compose things according to whatever rules it likes to follow).

i've had some whiskey now and as sober as i am i am not sure how many times i've trod the same ground on this post so i'll move on.

fuck i use too many parentheses

so i've tried to be as natural as possible. this excluded the hexar more than i'd have liked. i may end up selling it on ebay but i dooo like it. this could yield a metric tonne of shit but i am hoping for 30 solid frames. thats all i want. a thing im scared of though is the idea that they will be touristy photographs instead of just good work that stands on its own. but what do you do. we went to major cities, on the whole, and saw typically cool things probably 40% of the time .granted we DID go to serbia + albania.

i'll be looking for random snaps of faces, laughs, walking, etc. i'll be looking for buildings, graffiti, bloody cuts of meat, litter, mullets, and more importantly, pictures of people taking pictures of people.

well i ran out of time before i intended to so im just going to stop typing.


/random

Thought we could...

use some pictures on this blog, especially if it is to reflect wherever this project is going.  This frame, and a number of others, represents a completed analogue process for me: roll, shoot, process, scan.  The light leaks are evidence of a lesson I learned along the way.  Or maybe two lessons.  Anyhow, here's to more pictures.

cheers/s.y.b.o.

Bruce Gilden

check this out...I especially like the part at the end about characters.  interesting perspective...

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=kkIWW6vwrvM

s.y.b.o.

The Process

Bob and I had lunch today and I asked some questions about the name, since, though I recommended analogue as an idea, the decision to adopt it as our (collective) name was made by Bob and Cary.

Bob mentioned that we might have to use analoguemedia as the website address since analog was taken (I can't get analogue.com to load...).  That got me thinking about other options, and the the name of this blog, The Analogue Process, came to mind.  I wondered if the process of how our stories come together might not become a big part of our online content.  When we were talking about having audio interviews or talks by the contributors, we sort of hit on this: how the story came to be, what steps were taken to obtain access, what interested the contributor, difficulties, etc.  Cary mentioned (below, I think) the NY Times photographers whose pictures ran in a slideshow format with audio of them explaining the shots.  Perhaps our online presence could focus on that, the how-it-came-to-be, the process, and the print, be it annual, semi-annual, or whatever, the "final" product--just the stories, pictures, etc.  People are interested in what happens behind the curtain, especially in art.  I think that leaves the contributors vulnerable to more criticism (since they will have to explain themselves in many way).  But it also forces them to think about their own work critically, discuss it with others to draw out latent meaning, and have a reason for what they have produced.

maybe there can be a balance between full disclosure and just showing the piece.

s.y.b.o.

The Importance of Local Content

The Photo Editor, www.aphotoeditor.com, had a recent post on how local newspapers need to focus on local content rather than running wire stories that readers can get elsewhere online (this is specifically regarding online newspaper websites, which the blog APE referenced said also needed to make the jump to web 2.0...see www.al.com as an example of a newspaper site that desperately needs changes).  Anyhow, I think the discussion about the importance of local support and community based on geography should be key to how we approach Analogue.

http://recoveringjournalist.typepad.com/recovering_journalist/2008/09/patching-the-leaking-lifeboat.html

s.y.b.o.

so i am sitting in vienna at the table of garrett's brother and have been journaling about my trip so far and how id love to find a "goal" for how and what im photographing here and it brought me back to this project.

its so huge it intimidates me. i love the idea of creating a place for people to tell stories but i am very aware of others' failures in such endeavours but encouraged a little by the idea that the world is changing and media is chaning as rapidly as it is. i feel like its not a bad time to start something, if difficult.



okay so like two hours ago when i started this i had something to say. i am encouraged and discouraged at the same time.

the future of all of everything in all of life

notes to me: nyt online slideshow

[ed]


so i was thinking about how important it is for us to keep an eye out for what is "to come". ie the death of the newspaper, the continuing trend of the people who are going to succeed (new york times) really making a push to provide in depth and behind the scenes, etc, via online media. perfect example is this link:




it talks to a couple of photographers about their covering of both the DNC and RNC and their motivations and stuff. beyond just this content is and insight into what went on, their motivations, plans, and how they executed them....is the idea that this isnt a standard thing yet. that is, a big-pictured [full screen is an option], audio-commentary track that further engage the chronically degenerating attention span of the american and world audience. [immediacy has its consequences.]

just saying...i like the idea of being able to view the images and hear what they have to say.

rob i know we talked about this very fleetingly the other day in context of ABJP, but i think that just cements the idea of trying to embrace the next step. thats one of bryan's things (whether he knows it or not).

anyway...just ideas. just trying to milk every medium for all its worth.

word

I've been trying to think of the word(s) that mean "to see clearly."  any ideas?

(rob)

This is where.

This is where we will write about the ideas, catalysts, inspirations, and stumbling blocks we run into along this path. the analogue process i think is fitting for this time of transition.

commence!









also at some point i guess we should make this less ugly.