Day 2 of turning over a new leaf and giving up bad habits and if I start to snap at you or anyone - give me until day 7 or so to get over it. Not a good idea to give up so many vices at one time; you should only get rid of one vice at a time; but nonetheless let's toss them all overboard and see what happens.
What happens is that my nerves get frayed; my back gets tight; my patience wanes; my throat constricts; my span of attention contracts. Oh, what a way to go. Death by denial. I know you have your vices and resolutions against them, and I know that by day two or three of the new year you are slipping back into them.
"Turning over a new leaf," is a phrase that should be updated anyway. Not too many farmers in this land anymore who know what turning over a new leaf is. Today I would say, "putting in a new motherboard."
That's not good.
Oh, I have it. This year I'm going to get rid of my bad habits and completely defragment my drives.
That ain't no good. My mind wants to find a contemporary metaphor for turning over a new leaf but I can't come up with it. You'd think for it to be contemporary it would have something to do with technology - maybe not. This year we're going to stop unlawful wiretaps. No, not all at once, but we'll try and turn over a new leaflet.
Well, whatever you have resolved to do, or not to do - thinking that it would make your or someone else's life better - good night and good luck.
1/02/2006
12/31/2005
12/30/2005
Silver Rag
Thought this was worth a separate post
Hi Guys
Just a quick comment.. First of all curl - Take a look at The D-roller www.d-roller.com
You can make One or just buy the real thing.. It works great! Second Crane Museo Is coming out with a new paper called Silver Rag in January. 100% Semi / Gloss Rag paper meant to be used with Photo Black.. I have Tested The paper and its awesome.. I think that it might be what you're looking for...
Good Luck
Jim Doyle
http://www.shadesofpaper.com
--
Posted by Jim Doyle to Dave Beckerman Photography at 12/30/2005 05:45:01 PM
And here's the blurb from Museo
Also provided at the show was a sneak preview of the revolutionary archival glossy fine art inkjet paper, Museo Silver Rag, which will be available in the coming months. Designed to match the look and feel of traditional fiber based photo papers, Museo Silver Rag was the hit of the show.
* * *
I e-mailed Crane & Co. asking if I could get some samples of the paper and they said they would mail me some next week - that they are still testing it - and it should still be considered beta and would like any feedback. Can't wait to try it.
Hi Guys
Just a quick comment.. First of all curl - Take a look at The D-roller www.d-roller.com
You can make One or just buy the real thing.. It works great! Second Crane Museo Is coming out with a new paper called Silver Rag in January. 100% Semi / Gloss Rag paper meant to be used with Photo Black.. I have Tested The paper and its awesome.. I think that it might be what you're looking for...
Good Luck
Jim Doyle
http://www.shadesofpaper.com
--
Posted by Jim Doyle to Dave Beckerman Photography at 12/30/2005 05:45:01 PM
And here's the blurb from Museo
Also provided at the show was a sneak preview of the revolutionary archival glossy fine art inkjet paper, Museo Silver Rag, which will be available in the coming months. Designed to match the look and feel of traditional fiber based photo papers, Museo Silver Rag was the hit of the show.
* * *
I e-mailed Crane & Co. asking if I could get some samples of the paper and they said they would mail me some next week - that they are still testing it - and it should still be considered beta and would like any feedback. Can't wait to try it.
Got Out
Matt got me out of the house by offering to meet me at the Howard Greenberg gallery to see the Saul Leiter exhibit. Color no less. And I loved it. I remember saying something stupid to Matt like, hey what do you call this style - because it reminded me a lot of my own style and maybe if someone knew what to call Saul Leiter than I would know what I was doing.
Of course, Matt didn't know what to call it anymore that I did, so when I got home I looked at the gallery card for some clues:
"[Saul Leiter has] a way of reformulating the random disjuntions of the urban mores and turning them into decisive artefacts of beauty and fascination..."
"Leiter's essential modernity resides in the dialogue he sets up between an abstract language of flat planes of color and the fragmented unfolding of life in the city. "
"...these street-encounters are transformed into improvisational images of an eloquent, often heart-wrenching poignancy." - Martin Harrison
I expect that this language can be applied to a lot of photographic work.
But whatever you call it I gravitated towards the most expensive prints which were going for $4,500. A very brief image flashed through my mind of having some very expensive piece on my wall - and with the humidity in the apartment I'd wake up and see it starting to ripple.
I told Matt that after the Kertesz exhibit he was now batting 1 for 2.
The good thing, besides the exhibit, was that it at least got me out of "printing mode" which I've been in for the last few months and I actually shot a roll of film. If you haven't shot on the street for a while, it feels very strange. You feel like people are looking at you. But that wears off and 57th and Madison is a great corner for street shooting.
Of course, Matt didn't know what to call it anymore that I did, so when I got home I looked at the gallery card for some clues:
"[Saul Leiter has] a way of reformulating the random disjuntions of the urban mores and turning them into decisive artefacts of beauty and fascination..."
"Leiter's essential modernity resides in the dialogue he sets up between an abstract language of flat planes of color and the fragmented unfolding of life in the city. "
"...these street-encounters are transformed into improvisational images of an eloquent, often heart-wrenching poignancy." - Martin Harrison
I expect that this language can be applied to a lot of photographic work.
But whatever you call it I gravitated towards the most expensive prints which were going for $4,500. A very brief image flashed through my mind of having some very expensive piece on my wall - and with the humidity in the apartment I'd wake up and see it starting to ripple.
I told Matt that after the Kertesz exhibit he was now batting 1 for 2.
The good thing, besides the exhibit, was that it at least got me out of "printing mode" which I've been in for the last few months and I actually shot a roll of film. If you haven't shot on the street for a while, it feels very strange. You feel like people are looking at you. But that wears off and 57th and Madison is a great corner for street shooting.
12/29/2005
Staten Island Ferry
Staten Island Ferry - 1996
I always get this feeling that there's something religious about crossing a river. I'm not sure why. River Hades? I was riding the Staten Island ferry back and forth without ever setting foot on Staten Island. Eventually the man and woman on the left stepped aboard and took their seats. Now I felt as if we were either in a church, or on the way to church (and I do remember that it was taken on a Sunday).
Shopkeeper of the Year
Sales continue to be quite brisk. I don't whether this is because I've been moving the stuff that has never sold out of the Print Store and adding prints that I think are more sellable - or it's just the season. When I told my younger sister about the idea of altering the photography store so that it featured what I thought would be more sellable prints she said, "And it took you how long to come up with that idea... six years?" "More or less," I laughed.
She then went through the store and suggested that I stick the more popular prints in the beginning rather than having them listed alphabetically. She further suggested that I put some sign or title next to the most popular prints such as "Photographer's Favorites."
"But the best-sellers aren't my favorites," I said. "Some of them are, but -- "
"That doesn't matter. You want to have them in front of the gallery - that's for sure. Look at this one - reservoir night - all the way at the end. I wouldn't have even seen that one. Move it to the beginning. And say it's one of your favorites."
"What about calling them best sellers," I said.
"No. That won't be as good. A lot of people want to feel they've discovered something on their own and they don't want what everybody has. Call it - Photographer's Favorites. That way people may look at them twice and say, 'maybe he sees something in it that I don't.'"
Then, to finish me off she said, "Six years?"
Me: Six years.
Her: O.K. gotta go now.
It's fortunate that we have a good relationship because I know she is only half-teasing me. But what is scary - if I don't have the shopkeeper gene (as my sister seems to) then how many other techniques have I missed.
For example: the newsletter seems to be a big "keep your audience" thing - and I get them from a bunch of stores I've bought from but I just find them annoying. There are some shopkeepers if I go back through the family tree - but they were, as best as I can figure, in the grocery business and they generally went out of business and turned to something else.
My father's parents owned a small grocery store in the Bronx. Grandpa Max was a nervous guy who snapped at customers; and made bad business decisions. The story my father tells is that one day during WWII he was talked into buying a huge number of canned pineapples. The sales guy told him that these were going to be very much in demand because of the war in the Pacific and the inability to get pineapples.
At some point, when his little grocery store went bust, the bank officers arrived to divide the spoils and discovered hundreds of pineapple cans in the basement which hadn't sold and gave him a penny a can. Just one a million stories about Grandpa Max and his business ventures.
After that he delivered milk from a horse-drawn cart with a horse that has a gaseous disorder. Then he made hats for a factory that went bankrupt. It goes on and on. The "teaching gene" is pretty strong in the family since just about every living family member is a teacher. But I assure you that none are teaching business techniques.
She then went through the store and suggested that I stick the more popular prints in the beginning rather than having them listed alphabetically. She further suggested that I put some sign or title next to the most popular prints such as "Photographer's Favorites."
"But the best-sellers aren't my favorites," I said. "Some of them are, but -- "
"That doesn't matter. You want to have them in front of the gallery - that's for sure. Look at this one - reservoir night - all the way at the end. I wouldn't have even seen that one. Move it to the beginning. And say it's one of your favorites."
"What about calling them best sellers," I said.
"No. That won't be as good. A lot of people want to feel they've discovered something on their own and they don't want what everybody has. Call it - Photographer's Favorites. That way people may look at them twice and say, 'maybe he sees something in it that I don't.'"
Then, to finish me off she said, "Six years?"
Me: Six years.
Her: O.K. gotta go now.
It's fortunate that we have a good relationship because I know she is only half-teasing me. But what is scary - if I don't have the shopkeeper gene (as my sister seems to) then how many other techniques have I missed.
For example: the newsletter seems to be a big "keep your audience" thing - and I get them from a bunch of stores I've bought from but I just find them annoying. There are some shopkeepers if I go back through the family tree - but they were, as best as I can figure, in the grocery business and they generally went out of business and turned to something else.
My father's parents owned a small grocery store in the Bronx. Grandpa Max was a nervous guy who snapped at customers; and made bad business decisions. The story my father tells is that one day during WWII he was talked into buying a huge number of canned pineapples. The sales guy told him that these were going to be very much in demand because of the war in the Pacific and the inability to get pineapples.
At some point, when his little grocery store went bust, the bank officers arrived to divide the spoils and discovered hundreds of pineapple cans in the basement which hadn't sold and gave him a penny a can. Just one a million stories about Grandpa Max and his business ventures.
After that he delivered milk from a horse-drawn cart with a horse that has a gaseous disorder. Then he made hats for a factory that went bankrupt. It goes on and on. The "teaching gene" is pretty strong in the family since just about every living family member is a teacher. But I assure you that none are teaching business techniques.
12/28/2005
International Shipping
I took the plunge into my code for the cart and expanded it so I can take orders from Canada and England. Frankly, 90% of the international orders I get are from these two countries, so that should be enough for now and let's see how that goes. I haven't upped the shipping charges, but since they go to Canada or England through USPS rather than Fedex - the shipping charges are close enough for now so that I'll eat the difference. This was something on my todo list from about 1999.
12/27/2005
Epson Luster
My apt. has been has humid as a hothouse. I put a stack of the Premium Luster in the 4800 tray yesterday morning. There is an ever so light tendency to curl (away from the printing side). But so far nothing as pronounced or as uneven as what the smooth pearl was doing.
The two prints I did on it yesterday are sitting in a cabinet, and so far no curl at all. I could be wrong but the paper does seem to pick up more detail than the smooth pearl. I can't quantify it, but that's the feeling I get looking at it closely.
***
Couple of days later and the Luster is holding up well in humid conditions. I'm going to stick with it as my main paper.
The two prints I did on it yesterday are sitting in a cabinet, and so far no curl at all. I could be wrong but the paper does seem to pick up more detail than the smooth pearl. I can't quantify it, but that's the feeling I get looking at it closely.
***
Couple of days later and the Luster is holding up well in humid conditions. I'm going to stick with it as my main paper.
Wall-Worthy
That's easy - sell out. I'm going to try a modest experiment. I will go through my records and remove prints that have never sold - some not even in six years - and replace them with images that I think are more sellable.
Ah, don't fret - I will then create a second gallery with all the quirky prints that I enjoy that have never sold a single one and call it the Unsellable Prints That I Like. The purpose of this commercial experiment is not to deprive the reader of fascinating images, but to see whether there's any merit in my previous post about what is "wall-worthy."
As with any scientific theory the proof will be in the pudding. If sales of these less challenging pictures soar or even if people stay longer and purchase more of the usual suspects - then mission accomplished.
The reverse of the coin is that the previously unsellable pictures will continue to not sell but be warmly admired by photographers, students and a few eccentrics like myself.
Ah, don't fret - I will then create a second gallery with all the quirky prints that I enjoy that have never sold a single one and call it the Unsellable Prints That I Like. The purpose of this commercial experiment is not to deprive the reader of fascinating images, but to see whether there's any merit in my previous post about what is "wall-worthy."
As with any scientific theory the proof will be in the pudding. If sales of these less challenging pictures soar or even if people stay longer and purchase more of the usual suspects - then mission accomplished.
The reverse of the coin is that the previously unsellable pictures will continue to not sell but be warmly admired by photographers, students and a few eccentrics like myself.
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