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jasonbrownrigg.com

I have just finished rebuilding a friend’s new website (http://jasonbrownrigg.com). There is still some work to do which I will resolve in the next few weeks (agonizing little hacks and some design touches that we are still working on) but the project went better than I had hoped and for this I am so very happy. The process of putting the vision that Jason has online has been one of the more satisfying things that I have ever built and is powered by a fantastic little content management system called Indexhibit. If anyone is looking for a web portfolio solution, then I cannot recommend it enough.

I have been hacking together little sites for myself for going on ten years now but never committed myself to doing it right; settling for the good enough by finding the information that I need to do what I want then reworking it with no plan. This has been fine in the past as I did it for fun and not profit. But this is changing. In my recent projects I have worked towards cleaner markup and a better sense of function and purpose. In Jason’s case I ballparked the basic design of the site (including or maybe especially in finding the right content management system) based on what he needed then honed the idea with his participation until it felt done. This is the best possible way that I know how to put this kind of thing together.

jasonbrownrigg.com

I have spent some time following the interweb and have toyed with the tools that can make this possible. I am getting to a place where I can confidently piece together the needs that any individual, artist or craftsperson, might need to present themselves online. If anyone is interested in developing their site then by all means get into contact and we can work through some solutions.

2008 11 03 Michael News
Webdesign Comments Off Permalink

Fair Portraits

Like I like to lament, Michael still lives in North Florida and I still live in Texas. Every couple of months he gets to come see me. And we have a few romantic and perfect days made more romantic because we miss each other so much. This time we went to the Texas State Fair, right here in Dallas. We liked it, we had fun. The day was long and there were many things to see and do and win/buy and put in your mouth. It can and should get a bit $indulgent$ at the fair. But when your favorite thing to do is take pictures, it never gets too crazy. We made some portraits. Click on the animals.

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2008 10 11 Hannah Big Stories Comments Off Permalink

On Exercising when there’s “nothing” else

A while ago I was supposed to note here that I don’t live in Florida anymore. I’ve taken a job in Dallas for the time being. It’s a nice good job, though it’s not teaching, nor related to my career interests. It’s a means to an end, which is satisfying. I don’t know any one here yet; I don’t have my bike with me, yet. I’m doing the best with my literal feet, getting on my figurative feet, and as far as my photographic work there aren’t any “Big Stories” that I’m working on. I have been keeping a diary of sorts, it’s the most I can do, creatively, having no story to tell but my own.

Often I feel high and low, and in between I might take a picture. But as a diary nothing is really “building.” I feel like these images are very isolated from one another, in fact they’re more like artifacts of the days being crossed off.

I’ve always felt that a determined collection of something small will later be relevant. That is, when you have enough of them, that’s when the second, more enlightening half of your work begins.

When I first started taking pictures, they were bad, but I knew that I wanted to mediate my experience in this way. It was when I was living in China in 2006 that I really started interacting with my camera (a plastic, half-broken point and shoot). For a few months I went around Beijing exploring and trying to tell a story on my blog. But eventually, I came to an impasse, photographically. The idea that my pictures were bad, but my ideas were pretty good occurred to me; and I looked for other photographers from whom who I could steal working methods. I titled one early post, Density, referring to the photographic work of Michael Wolf, specifically his collection of high-density Hong Kong apartments. In the post I ruminated on the basic exercise of finding a daily, simple thing to make pictures of. For me, this worked, I really developed and the picture taking became a lot more rewarding.

Now, this exercise is more apart of how I exist in the world. It keeps me taking pictures, even if rather than simple things I’m trying to make a picture that is emotive and complex. The goal is to develop even when there is seemingly nothing to say.

2008 07 04 Hannah News
Process Comments Off Permalink

No comment

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2008 06 23 Michael Bicycling Comments Off Permalink

The ability to narrow.

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I’ve been working at these spectator events here in Florida and I have gotten a few worthy images out of each experience. But really the images aren’t about showing the event or the existence of the event, despite that I’ve been presenting them in flickr as sets that “are what they are” : Battle of Olustee, Airshow, Demolition Derby, Indy Car Racing.

Actually, I have very little to say about Indy Car racing or the other spectator events. I hardly paid attention to the cars or the event itself. I’m more interested in the people who attend them, like actors in a play, where the event is a stage. And the production reveals something about them that surpases the literal thing that happens. Uhh… you know?

It’s not about who they are, what they like to do, or what their demographic, economic class, or etc. is, but their mere congregation. My isolated everyday life here in America drives this. Congregation is something I don’t see in my everyday America. I want to evoke the texture of what its like to be here. I want to reference real things. This texture is achieved through subject, pacing, tone, and mood, not through narrative. So it’s not entirely through stories, afterall. And here is where my work departs from the story telling of Myopic Pictures.

My impulse is to remove the images from their original contexts and rearrange them to give more meaning to my personal experience, which admittedly is somewhat a mystery. Evoking this mystery can’t be done in a documentary selection of images. My feeling is that 6 great shots from only one place, one night, is 5 shots too many. In my ongoing blog of new work, The City Broke My Heart, I am showing not just my favorite images from being in America, although that is one of the forces of my selection, but the ones that require reading. I want the flow of one idea to the next, within the picture and between the pictures, to leave one feeling what I feel about this place. And what that “is” is you tell me?

2008 04 28 Hannah Process Comments Off Permalink

HOW TO ESCAPE YOUR PRISON

I am enamored with picture sequences, though in practice, I am not as effective as I would like to be. Here’s an example. Recently, while walking through the local community college commons I came across this; near the pool tables:

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I immediately began taking a few pictures. I like playing a little game of balancing elements around the frame. A few feet away two young guys were playing pool, talking tough, that kind of thing. Then one of them saw me and became a little agitated.

Tough Kid: “Ey! What do you think you’re doing?”
Me: Click. Click.

With his pool cue he thrust “HOW TO ESCAPE YOUR PRISON” across the table.

Kid: “Hey, that’s my book.”
Me: Click. Click.

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Kid: I mean I don’t care or anything.
Me: *smile*

The kid then walked away. He mumbled something derogatory to his friend, who laughed maliciously. I had my picture.

2008 04 23 Michael Sequences Comments Off Permalink

Hannah’s Portfolio adds “25 Korea”

My portfolio now features 25 KOREA which is a new series of 25 pictures from Korea.

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2008 04 10 Hannah News Comments Off Permalink

Race Car People

Today ended horribly, and nearly deadly, but the first and middle parts weren’t so bad. That’s how these things go, I guess. I worked at a Indy Grand Prix today. I made these pictures of the Race Car People.

2008 04 07 Hannah Little Stories Comments Off Permalink

Good timing.

If you’re just coming to Myopic Pictures you’ve missed nothing because this blog is new!

If you are familiar with Michael and I (Hannah) because you are our flickr friend, then HI! If you have inadvertently landed here, that’s very good, and let me tell you what this is:

This is the official spot for something official. That is, Michael and I are always playing with all these online tools like flickr, vimeo, blogspot, twitter, tumblr, and though these are fantastic diversions and creativity enablers, what we really want is to tell stories. So here is the story telling corner of our internet world, and we are hand-making it, to boot.

What you see right now are just two stories. Simple ones, simply told. They are the first, and we like them, but they will be better, and this will get both easier and more complicated all at once. This is our dream.

Myopic Pictures is about seeing close.

2008 04 01 Hannah News Comments Off Permalink

Battle of Olustee

In this story, we go to a Civil War Battle Re-enactment in North Florida. I’d never been to such a thing. Michael has, but he was “on duty” and he concludes that this one was better. Click on the horse.

Sitting horse

2008 04 01 Hannah Big Stories Comments Off Permalink