Ralph Eugene Meatyard Exhibit at the Univ. of Kentucky Art Museum in Lexington. Visited with Vicki and our friend Greg who lives in Lexington. Greg belongs to the Lexington Camera Club , the same one Meatyard did back in the day. From an exhibit about the Lexington Camera Club
During its heyday, the Lexington Camera Club was one of the more experimental groups of photographers outside of art hubs like New York or Chicago. What’s more, the club’s members—comprised of opticians, lawyers, and writers—differentiated themselves from their counterparts in bigger cities by allowing the idiosyncrasies of their environment to inspire their photographic explorations.
Club mentors Van Deren Coke and Ralph Eugene Meatyard encouraged their peers to employ multiple exposures, out-of-focus techniques, and compositions that deliberately made use of the play between light and shadows when making photographs. The resulting images often incorporate aspects of life in Kentucky: family, nature, and daily life are recurring themes within the club’s work.
The distinctions of the Lexington Camera Club are the subjects of Kentucky Renaissance: The Lexington Camera Club and Its Community, 1954-1974 currently on view at the Cincinnati Art Museum. The exhibition is a testament to the club’s profound dedication to expanding the definition of photographic output, often through publications and partnerships as well as the photographs themselves. In the exhibition, works by Meatyard and Coke are presented alongside images made by Zygmunt S. Gierlach, James Baker Hall, Robert C. May, Guy Mendes, Thomas Merton, Cranston Ritchie, and Charles Traub.
I’ve been absent from my blog on account of traveling by trailer to Kentucky for an Airstream Caravan. 16 states are represented in the Caravan - we all met and traveled together for a month thru the state of Kentucky - It was aptly named Bourbon in the Bluegrass. I’ve been busy doing a blog for that group
I promise to put more interesting details soon on THIS blog
On the caravan most RV parks have NoFi which means I have to log into the internet world teathered to my phone using it’s 3-4G connection. I hate these RV parks that advertise WiFi and then it’s shit and when you ask them they just shrug their shoulders. Time to look for a Starbucks
It struck me today as we were traveling down I 70 in Missouri that there is this duality of billboards. On the one hand there are those for Porn @ exit whatever. Competing for you soul are the boards letting you know that Jesus is in fact real.
And then there’s the middle ground - buying stuff to blow shit up with
This reminds me of the Obama quote of 2008. It was an “ill advised” statement if you’re being politically correct but at the same time absolutely true:
Obama was caught in an uncharacteristic moment of loose language. Referring to working-class voters in old industrial towns decimated by job losses, the presidential hopeful said: “They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
We are on a 30 day Caravan in Kentucky called Bourbon in the Bluegrass hosted by Airstream Club. We are traveling to KY with our friends from Ft Collins - Barb and Eliot Actor. First stop was Wakeeny, Kansas. The Wordpress journal is the official journal of the trip but these blog entries will be more BTS stuff
Looks very good from the trailer. Will have to hunt it down when it comes out. I’ve always been a bit disturbed by him having thousands of undeveloped rolls of film. I get ansy if I have two rolls that haven’t been processed. I’m always sure that I have an absolute gem of a negative just waiting to be revealed by the chemicals. But that’s me
Just outside of Granada, Colorado ( south east corner of the state) was the Amache Internment camp for Americans of Japanese extraction. Amache is actually NOT a Japanese word but rather an Indian word. The camp had schools, farms, police. But as nice as the Federal Agents wanted to make it seem , it was still an internment camp for Americans.
Our Airstream was involved in a hit and run incident. It was parked in our storage area and someone bashed into it and never reported it. This is all before our planned one month excursion to Kentucky for the Bourbon and Bluegrass Caravan.
This is footage of the Chris Sarian track day at the Colorado State Patrol track in Golden , CO. I’m in there somewhere. It’s a nice little track, 1.4 miles in length. Not as technical as High Plains Raceway but as I learned last weekend, there are some definite right and wrong ways to take the corners. This year there was the threat of : Deer wandering onto the track, rattlesnakes in the bush and brush fires!!
Bellamy Hunt is the man behind Japan Camera Hunter. An Englishman who lives in Japan. He can source you cameras that may be hard to find in the ‘States’. As he says in the this interview he doesn’t do compacts anymore. He has also set up a film distribution trade selling JCH400. I’ve shot this film and it does an admirable job.
[Verse 1] Now the prodigal son was a forward child His mind was not to obey But after he left his father’s house He thought he had gone astray
[Chorus] That’s why I believe that, I believe that I will go back home Yes, I believe that, I believe that I will go back home I believe that, I believe that I will go back home And be a servant of the Lord
[Verse 2] Now his father saw him coming And he met him with a smile And threw his arms around him Saying this is my darling child
[Chorus] I believe that, I believe that I will go back home Yes, I believe that, I believe that I will go back home I believe that, I believe that I will go back home And be a servant of the Lord
[Verse 3] Now the father asked the prodigal Son, why you been gone so long? What made you so love the world And forget your happy home The prodigial said “I searched for true religion, but No faith and no peace could I find Until I came to a little place called Bakersfield That eased my troublin’ mind”
[Chorus] I believe that, I believe that I will go back home Yes, I believe that, I believe that I will go back home I believe that, I believe that I will go back home And be a servant of the Lord
[Verse 4] Now, I wandered into a tavern Where a music band was playin’ Now, the steel guitar rang out so sweet I feel that I was prayin’ And I asked a comely waitress “Is this a new teaching?” Yeah, she said, “There is no God but God And Ralph Mooney is his name” I said, “Let me empty your ashtray, Mr. Mooney And if the drunks interfere I’ll be sad But just as long as you sit there on the bandstand And play your guitar like Buddha, I’ll be glad!” Now the father asked the prodigal “Did you smell the sweet perfume and hear the angel band?” He said, “Daddy! Dim lights, thick smoke, and loud, loud music Is the only kind of truth I’ll ever understand!”
[Chorus] That’s why I believe that, I believe that I will go back home I believe that, I believe that I will go back home I believe that, I believe that I will go back home And be a servant of the Lord I believe that, I believe that I will go back home I believe that, I believe that I will go back home I believe that, I believe that I will go back home And be a servant of the Lord I believe that, I believe that I will go back home I believe that, I believe that I will go back home I believe that, I believe that I will go back home And be a servant of the Lord
Ry Cooder at the Paramount Theater August 14, 2018: Great concert accompanied by the Hamiltones. One hella show!
I should say that I am NOT a fan of the Artist Statement. Most are pretentious, unintelligible and do not lead to a better understanding of the artist. The simpler the better. I have had to put together one as a requisite to entering photo contests. I didn’t even write it myself! I had Vicki do it.
I did just read the above captioned book about artist statements which is a parody of the subject. The first one in the book is a fill in the blank template!
Here now is my AS
I was 13 when my father taught me my first photographic techniques. Re-invigorated by the love of this hobby we shared, I’ve kept a camera close by since his passing in 1996. Now, there’s nothing more relaxing than spending an hour, day or weekend with a camera in hand. The majority of my photographic body of work can be divided into three categories: landscapes, still life and ironic images.
Landscapes. Being born in a small prairie town—Simla, CO—instilled in me a deep appreciation for open space, the pace of rural life and a life-long love of clouds.
Still Life Human hands have arranged most of the objects I like to shoot.
Ironic Images. Unintended humor is all around us. Capturing the unplanned juxtaposition of images, thoughts and people easily amuses me.
I hope you enjoy the images I’ve photographed as much as I’ve enjoyed the experience of shooting them.
Wheat Ridge in the bygone days used to be known as the carnation capital of what? the state? We don’t grow carnations anymore but the festival continues including a pretty awesome fireworks display. Sorry. but these were hand held so we have some blurring
