Robin tells me that there have been strange events back home. A fireball in the sky, then a small earthquake, then a big power outage. All more or less simultaneously. The world appears to have shifted, and perhaps that is why mine has too.
I had five reviews today, three in a row, and none before 1:50pm. First up was Jeanne Adams (third generation from Ansel), who greeted me with a "I was so thrilled to see you on my schedule. I remember the feeling in your dance pictures from Ireland." We had a wonderful reunion, and I think she is a treasure.
Next was the curator of the Tacoma Art Museum, who kept his feelings as close to the vest as Jeanne did on her sleeve. He asked a lot of questions about my process of making and choosing my images, which I think I answered cogently. I couldn’t tell what impact my work made on him, but I think I got a promise to let me know of the next Northwest Artists’ Biennial.
Sue Brisk of Magnum was next. She was 57 on my priority list. I think not a lot of people were signing up for her. They should rethink their priorities. I thought, documentary, what do I possibly have to show her, so I downloaded my contra dance photos from my website and made a special laptop presentation page to show her. She loved them. She gave me the phone number of the editor at Life Magazine who needs to see the work, and told me to tell her that Sue sent me.
Anthony Bannon from the George Eastman House was next up. He knows more about my work than I do. I saw him three years earlier at Santa Fe, where he ripped into my Stick Pictures portfolio with, not a vengence, but bearing a standard of excellence that he held up for me to achieve, while showing me where I wasn’t. This was the work I showed him again. With no hesitation he again showed how it wasn’t achieving what it could. "This work is operating on such a fine and deep level that the tiniest bit off affects the whole in a dramatic way." To my panoramics he praised the complex geometry and layering I brought to some, and highlighted the ones where that depth was completely lacking. Snapshots, he actually said at one point. I hope I can let him have at it at my work for the remainder of my career.
Then Volker Hedwig from Palazzi Publishing in Germany. Mein Deutsch ist zehr schlecht, I told him. So is my English, he replied. Palazzi makes high end calendars. He pulled photo after photo from my portfolio, asking, is there more from Paris? is this all you have from Venice? Then I showed him my catalog, a compilation of panoramics from all my travels. Rainforests, he said, how many do you have from here? Seascapes? When he left for a drink of water, Bill the translator said, I’ve never seen him jump around so much, he’s never picked so many categories. I think I’ll have a calendar or two out of this meeting. Stu Levy later told me that they are a dream client to work with.
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