I once was lost, but now am....

....still lost. More on that in a bit. As for the camera shown above, more about that at the end of this post (can't get the image to post in the right place for some reason).

So, after a crappy workout and a "challenging" dinner with the kids, I got to Starbucks about 45 minutes before close. Should be enough time to catch everyone up.

Quick day-job comment - I was reading an article from the August issue of PDN, and ran across something that hit a little too close to home. And before you comment: I know, I'm a little behind on my reading - if I read every magazine that routed to me at work, I'd never get a thing done!

Anyway, this issue had an article called "Life In The Faster Lane" - which basically talks about online photo editors, and how they have to be faster and more versatile (the article uses the word "hybrid", among others) than print Photo Editors. Well, I'm primarily a print photo editor, but I have done both - and agree with the "faster" part. Those of us in print have an actual production schedule- while a lot of online photo editors actually have to post in "real time", or at the very least, a much tighter turnaround. I have a lot of respect for my online counterparts - it's a different mindset and the ones I know are quite talented.

But as far as being busier or more of a "hybrid", I'll just ask PDN to spend a day in my shoes as the only photo editor for a book publisher that puts out 150 titles per year. I'm thinking (or at least hoping) they'd see things a little differently.

Ok, enough of that stuff - this isn't a work bitch-session.

Blogging music today - Pete Yorn. Great singer/songwriter in my opinion - my sister-in-law Lindsay deserves props for helping me discover Pete so many years ago. Lindsay was my concert buddy before I moved to PA - very similar tastes, etc. Of course, since I left, she saw some of my favorite bands without me, and then rubbed it in my face - very uncool. I still love her though...

Ok, onto art, and the title of tonight's blog entry. So, my boss at work saw some of my stuff a month or two ago and said something that really stuck with me: that she saw a real sense of "loss" in my work. Nobody has ever said that before, and I actually never really thought about it. I always thought I worked through the themes of childhood, memory and human recollection by hinting at what's there, or giving an essence of something - not accentuating what was gone.

But then, I looked back through my work and saw exactly what she was talking about. Knowing her, I'm sure she was primarily referring to the mood of my work, rather than strictly content - and I totally see where she's coming from. It just goes to show that no matter how much you think you understand your own work, another opinion is always waiting out there to enlighten you.

So, the above picture is a new Diana camera that I am seriously thinking about buying. Super-cool looking, (right down to the retro-looking flash) - it has a 75 mm. lens that detaches for conversion to a pinhole camera. Mr. Carlton is still first-string, but I may be looking at Miss Diana for a first-round draft pick. She might have to sit on the bench for a while, but I'd

definitely get her some playing time.

Funny final note: I was in a show once called "Carlton, Diana, Holga." Obviously, this is because all the work was created with one of those 3 cameras. But, one critic actually called the gallery to find out more about these "people" and to get their last names. At that moment, the gallery director knew she chose the perfect name for the show...

Ok, they're kicking me out - my how time flies...

-Marc