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Crossroads! Back before you know it.

© Greg Wasserstrom

I tinkered with the new look of my site a bit more as well as the photographs included in The Doldrums and I’m happy with the results. You can check that out at gregwasserstrom.com. Subtle changes, and I carried the pink through to the blog. Looks ok, I think though I want to redo this entire thing. At the moment I dont really have the technical expertise or the time - plus I should focusing on more posts!

Also, I’m going to start posting more of my writing which hopefully won’t bore you too much (I’ll illustrate whenever possible). I’m realizing, contrary to what I have said in the past, that my passions for photography, writing and politics are all coming from the same place. It’s all the same pursuit - it’s all observational, descriptive, revelatory.

And this just occurred to me. The photograph I’ve included in this post is a newish one, from The Doldrums, and I’m quite happy with it. But a photograph as satisfying as this one isn’t without complication. When photographers take images like this one, are we not literally taking it? What I mean is, since I didn’t this scene up myself, since I came across it in someone else’s apartment, was it not their creative sensibility that makes this shot interesting? Certainly, I composed the photograph, chose what to include and exclude, but doesn’t that make it a collaboration? Can I really take credit for it?

And finally, if i may say so: I’m very happy you’re here. Writing this blog has been tremendously rewarding for me in more ways that I can recount. The reason for this isn’t anything I’m doing at all - it’s you. Interacting with you is wondeful and I’m thrilled to get to know so many people I’ve communicated with through this forum in the real world. This whole thing means a lot to me, so please don’t go away!

Since I moved to New York, most of what I’ve been doing has nothing to do with photography, which has been sort of lame. That’s not really a complaint though, so much as an observation. I’m working enough to live pretty comfortably and there’s nothing wrong with that.  I also spent a lot of time hanging out with a girl I won’t be seeing any more of and I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that, either.

The past couple of days at work have been relaxing and a nice change. My boss asked me to photograph her entire house, room by room. It’s a beautiful place, a four story brownstone in Carroll Gardens, with loads of light spilling in, all freshly rennovated. Since she has this home and gardening show, all the furniture, appliances, paint, bathtubs, pots, pans, everything, were all donated by her sponsors–it’s pretty unreal. So I’ve just spent 3 days with my headphones in, behind my camera working my way from the top floor down.

My love of podcasts has been rekindled. I listen to hours of public radio. But looking through arts related podcasts to enrich the brain as I work I discovered a photo history podcast by a community college professor in Illinois (I think). His entire spring semester is there, and I’m pretty into it. It’s really fun to take in a class on a familiar subject while I’m working. The best part of it: since it’s the recording of the actual class sessions, you get to be as frustrated with the, er, denser students as you were when you were actually in school! What more could a working person want?

© Greg Wasserstrom

I’ve finally gotten my selection for Fjord straightened out, I think. Go check out the project if you haven’t looked in a while - it gets better with every update. I was really giving it all an in depth look the other night and was reminded of what a wonderful project it is. It’s really, really rad to have all these people grouped together in one place; Fjord really provides a snapshot of this moment in the development of fine art photography. Priceless!

The green arrow is me

Soo, I know you’re all just dying to know what it is I’m doing here in the Big Bad City. So far, aside from seeing the big Stephen Shore exhibit at ICP and spending an afternoon at Dashwood Books with Christian, I’ve done absolutely nothing photography-related. Shen Wei and Amy Elkins both have had an opening and closing respectively, and I was unable to go to either and I still haven’t seen the Nina Berman show at jb, let along the thousands of other things there are to do and see in this place every single week. I’ve also flaked on Elizabeth Weinberg twice.

So what have I been doing? Well. After staying at Emily Grenader’s aparment for a little over a week (the cat and I are best friends), I finally moved into this ridiculous building called “The Tea Factory,” (because it used to be one, the landlord told me) on Stockholm in Bushwick. I wouldn’t have named it that and also I’m sort of like the very posterboy of gentrification, but these are the things I’m going to try not to think too much about. But anyway, the place is awesome and my roommate (I brought him with me from DC) is awesome and I’m pretty happy with it. Pictures will come as soon as it’s not such a ridiculous fucking mess.

I’m still working for Wonkette, I may have a monthly feature there pretty soon, which would be pretty exciting and hopefully hilarious. I also picked up a second and more lucrative but perhaps lessed prized blogging gig for the political news site Raw Story. What’s cool about that one is I get bylines from time to time and can do some freelance reporting for extra money. Most significantly though, I was just hired as an assistant for Katie Brown, public television’s home and gardening empress. This is a semi-creative position that going to involve a lot of writing and production work, some photography and probably a whole lot getting coffee and stuff. Most importantly: salary and benefits.

I’m not any less committed to photography. I’m still taking pictures constantly, my new series is almost finished.

A few of my friends in DC have gotten caught up in some pretty scary drama: the Secret Service is going after them for protesting a Karl Rove speech! Four months ago! Arrest warrants and everything. Crazy!

I’m doing some renovating around here so if you stop by the blog and it looks crazy horrible, you know why!

© Greg Wasserstrom

Perhaps you’ve noticed the silence emanating from my particular corner of the internet. This isn’t meant to be a complaint, but this is turning out to be something of stagnant summer for me. I’m here in D.C. finishing the last class for my BA and while I have been shooting like crazy, the film has been collecting in a B&H box under my desk for more than two months due to lack of funds. But! I sent the box off yesterday and I am looking forward to the results. Snapshot stuff, mostly.

I’ve also been working on a zine which is sort of a new thing for me. I’ll make it available through Etsy as soon as it’s ready - it’s about sex, I think.

There’s plenty of exciting news about the the fall, though: The Must Warn Others kick off show has been slated for October 13 and should have a book to accompany it. In addition to yours truly, the show will include Greg Lutze, Bryan Schutmaat, Ian Whitmore, Jerad Knudson, Christina Mei Lutze and Leif Anderson.

I am also going to have the opportunity to travel through Europe for a hefty chunk of time (to be determined). A seperate post on this will follow.

So, that’s the deal on this end. I hate it when I don’t post, so I’ll try and be better about it. Alec and Joerg and Shane have it so well covered sometimes, and who can say things better than they can?

It would be a lie to say that I wasn’t thrilled to meet so many of the people I admire in New York over the weekend. I would recount the whole thing blow by blow but my good friend Shane Lavalette has already beaten me to the punch. He has been far more thorough is his recounting of Friday night than I ever could be. I will say though that among the folks I got a chance to hang out with were Jen Bekman, Eric William Carrol,  Joerg Colberg, Amy Elkins, Shane Lavalette, Christian Patterson, Richard Renaldi (guy’s got serious muscles, by the way), Amy Stein, Alec Soth, Brian Ulrich, Zoe Strauss and Shen Wei. All the photographers and bloggers from all over the country in New York for the same bunch of events made this one of the most exciting weekends I’ve had in a long time.

It’s hard to have any regrets about a weekend like this one, but I do wish I had been able to talk more with Christian Patterson, Richard Renaldi and Joerg Colberg. I also didn’t even get a chance to say hello to Edward Winkleman, Lesley Martin, Paddy Johnson and Martin Parr. Even so though, I can’t say that I have any real complaints. I was amazed that everyone I met was so incredibly nice - it was practically like being with family. I also want to say that Amy Stein is just about the sweetest person on earth.

I also got to spend a good chunk of my weekend apartment hunting in various Brooklyn neighborhoods. It’s still just a little too early to really get serious since I’m not moving until mid-August, but it was really helpful to get a feel for how much you get for your money in the various places. And since I have no money (checking account: $133.60, savings account: $43.60) it looks like Bushwick is my best bet. Luckily, it seems like it’s a terrific neighborhood. It’s a quick shot to Williamsburg and into Manhattan an I particularly like the Puerto Rican flags that fly over many of the blocks I wandered down - it will be like living inside a Winogrand photograph. My friend Emily and her boyfriend Ian were kind enough to let me crash with them for a night at their place in Bushwick and I had a great time.

Now I’m back in D.C., and it’s time to run to the grocery store to get stuff for dinner. Then, I’m going to hit the books. Tomorrow is my last day of Biology.