Journal- Page #2 (12/07/77 through 12/21/77)
12/07/77
Well, that concluded the Door series. I shot the Door from 8/24/77 through 11/28/77. I have been awaiting a reply from La Crescenta
job application this week. I have been getting ready to move out, and so I have been packing. I have been finding some old
negatives. Some of my early work looks pretty good. I have also decided to sign all of my work with a black Bic pen. I have
been also setting up the book "Trauma". It looks like it will be appx. 125 pages long. (The final book was only about
30 or so pages long) I just hope that the subject matter of the book doesn't get too mundane to the viewer, being that long.
Last Saturday 12/3/77 I shot pictures of the phoney trees and hills across from Huntington Center. Its just under construction.
I even dragged around a shopping cart for the last few shots. Tommorrow I will call to see if I got the job. If not, I will put in
applications at every plant in So. Cal, that is Harbor City, San Jose Creek, Orange County, etc. Tommorrow I will aslo shoot.
I have a couple of free hours from 1-2, and 2:30-6:00 is a big slot. I am still working on roll 77-63, and will probably go into
77-64 w/ some luck. Just think,77 is almost over, and next thing I know, I will be shooting roll 78-1. I hope that 1978 is my year
if not, there is 79, 80, etc.
12/8/77
Today I saw an exhibit of (at Orange Coast College) of A. Taussig's work, and it distressed me, because it is reminicent of
my work three years ago when I was in his Photo 180 Class. His stylw, but my then-there, too bad I destroyed alot of my negatives
from that period. One remedy would be to go into seclusion. (I really fore-saw my future then) Of matter of fact,
going into seclusion will be possible when I move out and get my own darkroom and mounting equipment. I wouldn't let anyone
see my work until it was totally done- books, series, etc. I accidently ran across a negative from February of this year, that I
had not previously printed. I blew it up to 11x14 and will give it to Mom and Dad for Christmas. I also printed the shot from Tom's
bus looking out into a forest. I did no shooting, except for a few shots of 4 Square, (A Pinball Machine) and
a picture of Snails on a Brick Wall. It looks like I will be going to Harbor city to work.
12/9/77
9:30 AM, Today I will shoot.
12/11/77
12:00 Noon. I shot that day, but it was really a shitty day, a Blah winter overcast day. Yesterday was sunny, but I only got off a couple of shots.
Well, its approaching my 1 year anniversary of my re-entry into photography. It was 12/12/76, so today will complete year 1. I think that I did pretty good
my first year, (Of dedication to Fine-art Photography) but I don't think that many people really like my work,
because I can sense when people say that they like it, but really don't, they just try to be polite. (I was refering to people who are not
Art Literate) The people who like my work say "You did these.", "I can't believe that you could do these.", that is they like them but think
that I am stupid or something. Since I don't sell my work, I will start giving it away. When I get a darkroom, I will send work to different people,
people who have made my life livable. I will send 776122 to Guy Ball, one of the only few who I really sensed who like my work.
I will send it to him for Christmas. I am also giving 770733 to Mom and Dad. The shot that I will give to Tom will be the one
of the inside of his VW Bus. If the sun comes out, I will shoot. I have got to be understanding of the fore-mentioned A. Taussig's
series, he probably would have shot then the same if he hadn't seen my work, I wasn't sober when I wrote the 12/8 entry.
12/13/77
Well, it was one year ago today that I finished shooting 76-01, including the "X" shot with arrow. Yesterday, I went back to that
"X" on the Brick Wall, and got the one year after shot. Maybe I'll return next year too. Then I went to that park where the 22 Freeway
meets the 405, the park where passer-byers on the 405 North, can see the tip of the Rocket sticking over the wall. Today, Tom and I went
to Hollywood, 1st to that abandoned estate, I took a roll there, I think that they were good shots, then to Burbank Studios
(Warner Bros) I took several there, I snuck my camera in under a sweatshirt, we walked past the guards, as if we were employees
late for work.
12/21/77
When I take a picture, I will use different planes. This could be the difference between foreground, middleground, and background.
Or the difference between a very near object, such as a branch and a far object, such as the Sky. Or it could be the difference
between a tree, and its own shadow. I make each plane into an abstract plane, and use it in co-ordination with another plane.
To make (a photograph of a Child's Playground Slide (Photo Number 77-65-19)
into) a photograph that is about shapes, and not its subject-matter. This is evident in alot of my work.
Sometimes I will be walking along, or Driving, and at the corner of my eye, I will glimpse an object or shape that looks alive for a second.
It usually flashes, because in an instant it just becomes a shadow on a wall, or a corner of a building.
I will try to give this feeling in my photographs also.
Today is Wednesday 12/21/77 my second day on the job. I am fearful that the change in my life of the move and new job will jeopardize
my photography, both in interest and in quality. I might even have to find a new lab to do my processing, or do it myself, my only alternative
is to go to C.P.S. every third week on my 4 day weekend and leave a batch, and pick-up the last batch, after a 3 week wait.
If I or a new lab can't attain that quality that C.P.S. has, I will be forced to wait up to 3 weeks to print my new stuff.
My Pinball Business is in Jeopardy too. It all happened so fast that the shock factor hasn't worn off yet. That phone call,
and now I am leading a totally different life, or will be. I will keep shooting shots to keep my interest in photography, until
I settle into my new life, and then can easily grasp photography as a dependence to that lifestyle. It will keep making me want to print the prints
from the new rolls, I may build up a good (10-12 roll) bank of shots until I settle in, I can't settle in until I make the
move, then its downhill all the way.
I will plan to shoot during lunch hour as a regular happening. (at least twice a week)
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This web document was written on 12/23/99.
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