Finally, I have some reviews under my belt. I feel so much better.
My first reviewer was number one in my priority list, which I first thought would be unfortunate. I wanted some starter reviewers so I could get my spiel down on my contra dance project. But she was perfect—the exibitions director at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke. Exactly who I needed to see. She was highly encouraging, could imagine it fitting into her programming, and had some great suggestions for how to pull the project together in editing and supplementation with text. We’re to keep in touch.
My next great review was with Harris Fogel, who, at the last Photo Lucida, was my personal Shiva, God of Destruction. He decisively put the nail in the coffin for my pretty panoramic work. He showed how I was being absolutely safe in that body of work, making unchallenging middle of the road images that didn’t match my ambition for them. This time he was thoroughly encouraging and excited to see the work, and had a ton of suggestions for finding an editor, for seeking editorial placement, for how to make something happen with the project. He saw it as a mature body of work with great depth (I let him leaf through the box of 200 work prints), and that it could go in any number of directions in execution.
Which, of course, is precisely my problem. I’m starting to understand why I’m here—to find the collaborators for this project who can share a vision for what it can be. Someone here is going to be the one who connects me.
Excellent. That must feel gratifying.
Posted by: Eric Hancock | April 12, 2007 at 07:29 PM