Lenscratch Indiana: Mark Sawrie

Mark Sawrie was the first photographer I met in Indiana. We bonded immediately when he opened a small drawer in a display case featuring a taxidermy animal to show me his fingernail collection of two decades and counting. His vastly different experiences are evident in his artwork as he oscillates between a controlled studio setting and astute everyday observations. His latest series, Sublime/Banal, explores a quieter side – uneven coats of paint in a nondescript bedroom, wrinkled dress shirts on a less crinkled sheet, and the repetitive, yet oddly calming, presentation of State Fair beauty queens. Mark reveals subject matter that is easily overlooked and then throws us for a loop with his sardonic titles.

Read the rest of the post here.

H.H.

One of my favorite Diane Arbus photographs and holiday images in general and then...


from Ball State Photo Land's Thomas Kinkaide painting over the fireplace to yours. Image courtesy of Matt Compton.

The Interim: End of Summer

Summer has passed though this 80 degree day is deceiving. I spent an additional 13.5 hours editing Italy photographs before school started in August to add to the summer stipend.



I turned a year older as witnessed by some "real cakes."



A very special birthday present from my friend Maura of my friend Shawn's photograph:



A photograph received that was long coveted (Mark Sawrie from the series Specimens).



A postcard I borrowed from Amelia to scan (my infatuation with horned toads started while living in Tucson):



... and what's this? Two acceptances! I'm a Critical Mass Finalist for these photographs. In addition, Nine Fake Cakes... will potentially appear in a publication coming soon to a photo magazine near you.

Days 47 & 48: Progress & New Camera

I have a new camera! It's a small point and shoot (yikes) but it shoots RAW (which makes it okay somehow).



Thanks to Mark AKA Artist Slash Something or Other for suggesting this one (featured below taking the fifth photograph ever on this thing - i didn't have the one of Kristina set to a good shutter speed & the flash was only on 1/4 capacity so it was too dark to include):



It's hard to know if hours in preparation for a trip count toward the summer stipend so I'll be on the safe side and say no. 6 hours on art stuff the last two days. Many other hours on generic trip prep.

It's been a rough week but it has a happy ending.

Here are the highlights. Postcards in the mail! The second round of the Postcard Collective took place earlier this month. Although I am not in this round (the next one has my name on it), I did receive two cards in the mail. I thoroughly enjoy how other artists are constructing their cards and how they compose the backs. It will be a real challenge when it is my turn without relying on a fake cake. Here is one from William Bragg:





James and Tanya came to visit and despite the heat we had a lot of fun living it up in Muncie. Here is James's second addition to the Postcard Collective carrying on the theme of a previous post with a note specific to one individual but sent to many.





James is having a solo show at Wittenberg University that opens on the 30th August. If you are near Springfield, Ohio, it's a must see! 40 of the photographs in his book Suginami are on view. From the Blurb website: "Suginami is one the 23 ‘ku’ or ‘wards’ of Tokyo, an area of the city where I lived for five years. Houses and apartments there are sited tightly together; narrow streets and even narrower paths wind in around themselves in a maze of walls, fences, gates and plants that carefully delimit private space from public. In, around and through the margins of this place I walked hours every day. Suginami is an exploration of the ways this landscape layers into the edges of a frame, the transformation of light inside the dark box of the camera, and the space of discovery between the viewfinder and the eye."



The most appropriate postcard for this summer's activities arrived from Amelia with a story about it's purchase in South Korea:





The most unlikely/unexpected exhibition(ist) opportunity I've received also appeared in my mailbox:



The cat living in my garage since Monday will be moving to his new home in Indy Saturday. Hooray for Amelia and Drew for adopting him! Here is Amelia with the newly christened Carlos AKA I wish my cats were this nice and I lived in a place big enough to adopt him too.



Mark Sawrie in response to this photograph: "A Girl with a Cheshire Grin... and a Cat."