Sunday, April 3, 2011

"In Almost Every Picture" - Kesselskramer Publishing

I found a book at the Wexner Center for the Arts Bookstore yesterday that I am completely enamored with (featured at the end of this post). After conducting research, I learned that the Kesselskramer Publishing company has a number of books in this series. Here are some of the highlights:



In Almost Every Picture 3 reveals a series of photographs of deer and other small animals captured by a camera rigged with a motion detector (above).



In Almost Every Picture 7 features portraits of a Dutch woman at a shooting gallery. Every time she hit the target, a photograph was exposed. See this link at Lens Culture for images starting from 1936 up until 2009 documenting the span of her life at the shooting range.



In Almost Every Picture 8 documents a Japanese rabbit named Oolong who has an unusually large head perfect for balancing objects. Who wouldn't love to look at a doughnut on top of a rabbit's head?



... and finally my purchase, In Almost Every Picture 9 showing one family's (failed) attempts at photographing their black dog. He appears like a ghost in the images, a cut-out silhouette, a nonentity, or a lost pet.







This books comments on so many elements of my personal practice: the love of found photography (and images of the family), memory, and humor yet it is drenched in loss and sadness. The images remind me of Ludmilla Steckelberg's Absence of All Colors (check out more of the photographs here). Steckelberg removes the dead ancestors from her family photo albums (below).



The last photograph of the black dog is an overexposed image revealing his face. Everything in the background is blown out but you see him smiling at the camera.

2 comments:

  1. Note to self: bring rabbit to Kalamazoo for doughnut binge.

    Love love love the images of the dog.

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  2. i look forward to showing you the book. it's AMAZING!! the mantra "expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights" comes to mind.

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