for anyone unable to make it to Larry's memorial(s)--

last post on Larry- I swear-

I know of a lot of people who would have liked to make it to these events but could not, so I did a little documentin' and thought I would share it here for everyone;

Earlier this week a "pin up" (not what you think...) show was put together in honor of Larry in the Oliver Arts Center (CCA campus, Oakland). The evening after the opening was an open memorial for him at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, where several people including Robert Mailer Anderson, Sandra Phillips, Jim Goldberg and Larry's wife, Kelly, spoke to a crowd of over 500 (more details about the memorial are written here by Lifestyle).
It was a really touching ceremony. I have to say Robert Mailer Anderson took the cake... he was first to approach the podium, open bottle of 1946 Old Crow in hand, and immediately belted out "Anywhere I Lay My Head" by Tom Waits. It was great. I think everyone agreed Larry would have approved.

Here are some images I took from the Memorial Pin-Up Show in Oakland:









...I have questions about this...
!me and Larry at Sue's





Unfortunately I was less shutter-happy at the actual memorial in SF, but again, more details about the evening can be found at the link above.

(... I did get one photo.)


On another note I feel compelled to account for myself a little bit...
After a completely undeserved 33-day Christmas vacation home in California, I have finally returned to Portland and have officially entered the unemployement rat-race! ...!!!
I have dropped off roughly 7 to 10 resumes in the past two days. I think I would be a great hotel concierge. But my resume and hairdo disagrees with me.

I've also started up production of a bunch of new cards I've been negotiating selling to a local paper/ stationary/ letterpress shop here in P-Town, which would be exciting. I find it difficult to be creative and clever on command (...not such a good sign for an artist in this particular situation...), which I feel success at that kind of thing involves... but who knows what I'm capable of after begin stuck in my apartment for 5 hours with animal collective and lots of caffeine. I'll post some things tomorrow (or the next day or the next day) and see what you all think.

I'm currently in a muggy coffee place where Oprah Live is on TV and there's at least two people playing world of warcraft on their macbooks. Am I really in a position to be critical when I am blogging? I must have been crazy to bike here in this weather but I didn't want to pay for parking... I've decided it's kind of my punishment for not having any income but still buying music I've never heard on iTunes and a third bag of unground coffee.

Valentines day is coming! This is a good excuse to A: make and sell cards and B: listen to this great song:


enough media. Later, friends.

aand speaking of Alec Soth...

I don't mean to rip off his blog -...(twice...)- but I was catching up on some of his older entries and found this beautiful response to Larry Sultan's passing. He posted an excerpt from a message Larry had sent out not too long ago.
I was so moved and comforted by this small intimate blurb from the past (he writes so beautifully), I can't help sharing it too.

“After hellish days and nights in hospitals, I have chosen not to be medicalized, but, instead, be here at home. Here in this house with my family, full of sleeping kids and wrestling dogs, and French toast cooking while next door in my studio, Dru is laying out a box of prints to edit. This is where I want to be. I realize whatever grace I’m ultimately leaving with is directly linked to my deep understanding that I have led a charmed life. So many charms, and the more there are, the easier it is to let go – at least today while I write this.”


once again, rest in peace Larry.


to read Alec's entire post on Larry, click here.

the dust and the pixels

First of all, Merry belated Christmas, y'all---

I am a little embarrassed that it has taken me so long to express my sorrow for the loss of Larry Sultan. I'll try to redeem myself a little here,

He passed away from pancreatic cancer on December 14^th. He was a tenure track professor at California College of the Arts where I went to school, and was an icon not only within the contemporary photography community, but the art world as a whole. He was, to me, truly one of the last among the great dirt-under-the-nails photographers that has practiced throughout the extremely diverse and quickly evolving span of the art itself.

In the projects class I took with him in my final year of school he was really inspiring to be around. He was totally the kind of guy that could deliver crushing criticism and smile at you like he was your awesome grandma... the effect being that the blow to the ego was softened... but certainly not deafened. He was sharp as hell, an effective communicator and very nurturing without letting you get away with any bullshit.

In the throws of the digital age it's difficult for me not to feel nostalgic pangs when I consider the way a great craft was once done before technology arrived and de-mystified (my cynical side might like to say cheapened) the process. I think Larry comprehend it through and through.

And even if he didn't, who cares? His great contributions have and do reverberate throughout our art world, and the rest of us are left in the dust and the pixels in this awe.

Rest in peace Larry. Thank you-

"...so go get to work, damnit"

(above photo is by his wife Kelly Sultan, I believe. His obituary in the Times can be read here)