Okay, something a little different. I am going to avoid all the third person talk about the work like it is in a museum stuff. Hopefully you read this blog because I am honest and serious about what I do.
I honestly have been developing this series in places all over the world for about eight years. It is a process that is slow and sometimes surprising with long periods where all is working as it should like evolution. To develop a personal language out of all the formal considerations of color, composition, texture etc and personal considerations of time, context and philosophy it just takes time. It is a work that is about direct observation of beauty, and on that premise is really about hope. And hope is something all transplants need to find in the desert.
When I came to Phoenix and started this series I was really pissed off about being here. I had just been moved out here (wife’s work) from Austin, Texas and felt like I never had a chance to fully developed a series of work out of that city. My rules were set up to work in Austin and the ideas that were available for exploration in that city just weren’t available in Phoenix. Like so many other transplants to this city I had to let go of what my previous experience was and embrace the new opportunities that Phoenix had to offer.
Letting go was not as easy, I didn’t even photograph anything for a couple months. I would drive around and all I saw were the sandstone brick walls and the black trash cans. For a color abstract expressionist this was like hell, and just about as hot. However, I kept looking because I knew there must be something out there, and frankly I needed to find it. I needed a creative outlet to survive the isolation that Phoenix, just by it’s very culture of expansion, had imposed on me. I had to learn how to source material from the city I started by walking my neighborhood and then expanded to other parts of Phoenix… little field trips, explorations that didn’t guarantee any reward but were required.
Check out the series in full at tysoncrosbie.com
Please leave your comments and criticisms below I would love to know how this succeeds and fails. If you love it pass it on, if you hate it tell me why in the comments below.
Thanks.
Tomorrow is the online release of my Phoenix 20 series. I am excited and nervous. I am excited to have a new audience that will view the work, I am nervous that I don’t have a strong enough connection to my new audience to get any feedback about the work. I am also curious about how my new online network will aggregate, judge and ultimately ignore or promote the work. I would love to know why or why not.
In the art world if you recommend something to another person and that person doesn’t like it your taste is questioned. This is very bad because “good taste” is the ultimate art collectors, curators and academics commodity. Good luck trying to break into that very tight herd unless you can distract (controversy) or convince (politic) the leaders of the community to support you.
I have a feeling social media may have a more democratic answer to this problem, though I don’t believe it to be an intrinsically better system. I think it has the potential to do great things and level the playing field, which is one of the reasons I am in this space and trying new things. However it is important to remember that democracy in it’s purest form has the potential to be even less forgiving and may be a far more difficult herd to tame.
I knew this shoot was going to be trouble. Ever try to get your dog to do yoga? It seemed simple enough he is seemingly always doing these great stretches and is incredibly flexible, 86 images later we got a couple good ones.
Hello everyone,
Welcome to my blog, where I ditch the constant PR person nagging about every word I write and just write what I want to. I intend to write about things that inspire me as a business person and as a photographer. And to keep it interesting I will complain about a lot of the hacks walking around this town calling themselves photographers. I will tell you the secrets of becoming a commercial photographer and bring you along as I work and play in Phoenix, Arizona.
The first secret is to love what you do. I certainly love photography and it dominates my thinking in everything I do. I am constantly thinking about the light and how I will shoot the subjects that interest me. Lately I am obsessed with taking simple things like eggs or the ghetto car wash and seeing if I can create something interesting out of them. It is always an exercise in seeing and my personal work has it’s foundation in this idea and thanks to twitter and Scoble I know what to call what I have been doing for the last eight years– photowalking. A good image no matter the subject must first be visually interesting and the only way to develop that skill is to practice observing. Especially the simple things.
Recent Comments