From Russia with love

The Guardian has a wonderful little 10-picture slideshow keyed to a London gallery opening for Russian photographer Boris Savelev. I've never heard of him, but I was attracted to his images. And you should be, too, right here.

Photo: Boris Savelev; Broken Slide, 1982

Go ahead and shoot

So, I think my friend Katherine Dynes has one of the best eyes for photography of anyone I know. She loves William Eggleston and Stephen Shore and other folks who I have blahgged about here. She loves my work, gives me compliments and says I inspire her to shoot more. And then she doesn't.

You can cruise quickly through the couple hundred photos Katherine has posted on flickr. You'll see inspired trips by plane, train and automobile. You'll hitch a ride with a couple rock bands and a fun grandma and you'll be in more than one bar and more than one bar bathroom. And through it all you'll admire the composition and attention to color from someone who might share only one or two photographs a month.

I told her I would post an item with a couple of her photos, provide a link to her site and tell my vast audience to urge her to take more pictures.

So go check it all out right here ... and encourage more of the same.

Stephen Shore

American made

There's a beautfiul photo project by Tadd Myers linked off a site I visit regulary, A Photo Editor.

The project is A Portrait of the American Craftsman, and it's really beautifully laid out and captures the true essence of quality craftsmanship. There are portraits of a ballglove maker, a guitar maker, a cowboy boot maker and more.

It's just a nice little project to reflect on as American auto companies, spewing out inferior products for decades, continue to look for government handouts.

Eggleston and the Book Review

I'm not much of a blogger, I guess, if I have to link to other blogs that are blogging about something I would like to have blogged about. But, it's my blog, so, I'll link to whatever I want.

The New York Times never ceases to amaze me with the nuggets of goodness put forth everyday online and every Sunday in print, on my doorstep. I noticed the photo on the cover of the Book Review this past week and was pretty sure I knew who took the image, but didn't bother going inside to check the credit. My friend Eric took care of that for me and forwarded this link.

I certainly count William Eggleston as one of my favorite photographers and am not shy about admitting that I try to recreate a lot of what he does when I frame my own photographs. It's nice to see that other people out there, including Eric, appreciate his eye.

Photo: William Eggleston, “Los Alamos Portfolio” (1965-74).