March 2010

Today was the first day that I was able to catch up on some sleep. The beginning of the week set me back a few hours. I was reminded that I can’t stay out late with my professional rock and roll performer friends three days in a row and work a day job with out consequence. I used to, but I can’t now. It was worth it though as I got to hang out with an old friend and see Spoon, Deerhunter and the Strange Boys twice each. Read More

I went down to the Mall and Capitol this afternoon to check out the people and situation going on with them impending Health Care Reform bill vote. It was pretty much what I expected. About 500 or so anti-HCR protestors by the steps of the Capitol and several thousand other people doing way more fun and positive things taking up the rest of the Mall. I’m sure there will be figures soon about the numbers of people and I bet the Tea Baggers or whoever the people up by the Capitol were, will exaggerate them. I took a bunch more than what I have posted here with my M6 so I’ll get them up once I process and scan the negatives.

I went to see “Framing the West: The Survey Photographs of Timothy H. O’Sullivan” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum today. He has always been one of my favorite landscape photographers for many of the reasons as most that have been influenced by him. The main one being that for someone making work in the 1860’s and 1870’s his work looks remarkably modern. Most landscape work from that time seems to be straight document and not really have much more to them. O’Sullivan manages to pull off the document and still convey some kind of emotional sense as well. His photographs to me have this great feeling of solitude and vastness. They also seem very bleak, but still beautiful. It was really nice to see that big a group of his work in one place. Inspiring for sure. There is a Flickr stream of a bunch of his photographs that the Library of Congress has here.