Nothing happened today
To start things off I want to announce a second iteration of my 9×9 masterclass. This is an online masterclass in which 9 photographers meet up with me over the course of 9 meetings to take a deep dive into photography, in particular into how to read photographs and photobooks, and how to develop one’s work. You can find all the details here.
The first iteration was a lot of fun, and it was extremely productive. Best of all, at the end, the group decided to continue meeting up among themselves.
In the masterclass, everything is very interactive. Lectures from my end are being kept to a minimum because it’s when you speak about photographs that you’ll learn something.
If you’re interested, please feel free to be in touch. The new masterclass is scheduled to begin at the beginning of November.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=tSGWzvsOFYY
For no reason other than a whim, I decided to see whether there was new music by Yo La Tengo. I had listened to them a lot around 25 years ago. But my interest dropped when most of their music became, well, very laid back and tender (because, you see, I didn’t).
Much to my surprise, I found that there latest album continues where they were when I was following them. I guess you’d describe them as alternative rock (maybe?). But I really think of them as indie pop where the guitar is always close to a nervous breakdown.
In that video above, you get a good feel for what they sound like if you don’t know them.
A few days ago, I remembered that when I was much younger (barely a teenager), I decided to write a diary. But I didn't quite understand what a diary might be. So I ended up writing "Nothing happened today" for a few weeks before quitting. I wish I still had that diary.
I also wish that the days of “nothing happened today” came back.
There’s a great video about Rob Hornstra that I can only recommend. I think that you want to watch it even if that’s not your style of photography. There are a lot of lessons for photographers in general.
I suppose I would argue with Rob about his ideas around portraits, what he calls using an August Sander approach. I can see where he might be coming from, but… Well, it would certainly be an interesting conversation. You can come to your own conclusions after having watched the video.
I quite like the interviews on that channel. For me, they’re hit or miss — but so is art, isn’t it? Some speaks to you, and some doesn’t. But often, it’s not the people that you think might have good advice that actually do.
There is a long conversation between Mahmoud Khalil and Nan Goldin that is well worth your time. “Personally, my career tanked,” Nan Goldin says, “my market tanked from one day to the next because of my support of Palestine. […] It comes down to economics, and they just want me to shut up. And I’m absolutely not going to shut up. I boycotted the [New York] Times and some collector called the gallery and said, ‘That’s the last straw, I’m sending her work back.’”
The following is a really depressing read, but sticking one’s head in the sand isn’t going to make the problems go away, is it? Visual artists, illustrators and graphic designers share their stories about how AI is being used to lower wages, degrade work and even replace it altogether.
This quote stayed with me: “I feel cheated, like if I could go back in time and tell the younger me in high school that all the practice, all the love, and all the hope from your parents and friends for your future gets you is carpal tunnel and poverty, I could have gone into a better job field.”
Lastly, despite the occasional jargon, this article about artificial age limits in the arts (one of the worst problems of the world of photography) is well worth your time: “artists have always modeled other ways of living in time. We change mediums, circle back, recommit. We emerge at 25, at 40, at 70. We resist straight lines. If the art world is serious about equity (as it often claims to be), it has to learn from that. It has to stop equating emergence with youth and start building structures that reflect the multiplicity of artistic timelines.”
And that’s it for this 28th day of September, just a few short days before October and the onset of what I refer to as the grim season (I’m not a fan). Maybe I’ll see you in my masterclass. Or maybe you know someone who might be interested (in which case: tell them about it, please).
Either way, I hope that you’re doing well, wherever you might be and whatever you might be thinking about October.
As always, thank you for reading!
— Jörg