considering pictures | sean justice > open journal

All photos copyright Laurie Lambrecht A terrifically exciting component of any photo festival, aside from the portfolio reviews , is the range of exhibits you'll see. One of my favorites this year at Fotofest was Laurie Lambrecht's project, Inside Roy Lichtenstein's Studio , from her days as Lichtenstein's assistant. Roy in Red Interior , 1992 Laurie worked in Lichtenstein's studio in the early 1990s, assisting in the daily routine, and occasionally making photographs. About the experience: One of my greatest joys was that Roy appreciated the photos I was taking.  He liked the way I used the elements from his work in my compositions.  His work was so often art about art and my photos were reflecting, revisiting and honoring his art.  I remember exactly the day I photographed "Roy in Yellow interior".  It was a very pleasant morning in Southampton.  He arrived in the studio a few minutes after me.  After greeting each other he said " today woul...

This month I went to Houston to show my portfolio at Fotofest. This is essential: show your pictures. There are many different photo review events; I wrote about the fun at Photolucida last year ( here ). Previous to Photolucida I'd been to the review in Atlanta, and to several other reviews here in the New York area. Wherever you live, whatever photographic stage you're on, attending a photo review is a valuable goal. The structure of each review is fairly similar: photographers register and pay a review fee; the organizers distribute a list of the curators, critics, and gallerists who will be attending; you research their biographies and decide whom you'd most like to see; a few days before the event your appointment schedule arrives. (Some of the smaller, one-day events don't distribute a list ahead of the event itself; rather, you sign up for appointments when you arrive at the venue.) The day of the event (or days — Fotofest and Photolucida are multi-day ev...

In Chelsea with Diana and Connor, walking the Highline, reading and breathing. In the deep shade of the park on 22nd and 10th, friends chatting, small kids running and swinging, this old Abelardo Morell photograph appeared in front of me. He must have left it. I'll give it back to him when I see him. You've seen Morell's pictures in class if you've ever crossed paths with me. I find his way of working endlessly inspirational and intriguing. I had the great good fortune to cross paths with him (in person) back in April at Photolucida in Portland. We only chatted briefly but I laughed when I realized that the stuff I say about his work (stuff that I make up in class to illustrate ideas about light and material and the universe)is the same stuff he says when he talks about it. Some kind of synchronicity. Very fun.

Almost three weeks without writing here....April has been the cruelest month. But with reasons enough for two months. The picture below was taken last week at the public portfolio walk during Photolucida Festival , a four day extravaganza of portfolio sharing and networking that happens every other year in Portland, Oregon. For the past month I've been cloistered in my studio printing the portfolio I showed there. Then, for the past week, I was cloistered at the Benson Hotel in Portland with appointments all day and night with curators and gallerists and photographers, discussing and sharing pictures. Exhilarating. Exhausting. A marathon of photography intensity. But now it's back to regular life, which means that there's less time to look at and talk about photographs, and that the focused drive that took us there in first place has to get in line again behind doing the dishes, helping the kids with homework, and preparing for teaching class (or for whatever day-job suppor...