Last Images of 2009

They say sometimes you lose a whole year.

2009 started off in a catatonic way and really didn't pick up until November.

Truth be told , I've been in a transition period for sometime now. I hit the proverbial " Old Fork in the Road" period and really didn't know what I would do next. Sometimes I can be a text book- card carrying, membership dues always current Virgo, but not when it comes to my craft.

So I puttered a lot. I didn't look too much at photography or my own work for that matter. I was on a sabbatical of some sort, but in the back of my mind I really wanted to figure out what to do next.

For the better part of 25 years I've been working mainly with an 8x10 and 12x20 inch view camera making platinum palladium prints .

I thought I'd work that way for the rest of my life, but as life would have it, I stopped seeing and my interest in the medium I've loved for almost 30 years waned.

But all is not lost as I've rekindled my love affair with examining life and the world . This time with a new tool.

I'm not saying its the end all, but at least I'm in love again.........sometimes, that's all that matters.

Sometimes you just have to tell yourself to just shut the fuck up and take pictures.

I attached a new series called " Autoscapes " . Sometimes the best view is from a moving car.

Happy New Years to all out there ! See you in 010.

New Jersey Turnpike I 95 , Dec 25th 2009

Cumberland Farms , NY 2009

Roadside Vernacular

USS Mo, Hawaii 2 0 0 9

Potsdam NY 2009

Rt 89 New York State 2009

Graniteville , Vermont

Walker Evans was Here

Hudson Storefront, 1996 Michael Lardizabal 8x10 in silver gelatin contact print

Walker Evans, Warren St ? Hudson NY

1933-34










I need to thank Melissa Stafford who's the director at Carrie Haddad Photographs in Hudson, NY who I just saw this afternoon for pointing out to me that Walker Evans worked in Hudson .




Hudson is near and dear to my heart since its only 15-20 mins from where I live and is truly an American jewel.



All those years I studied Evans' work at the Getty Museum study room I never came across any of the Hudson material, but it seems as if the Metropolitan has a group in theirs but didn't end up in the major Evans book they did.





Here's one of my favorites from the Hudson group at the Met and one of mine from Hudson.

According to the annotation attached to the archive it was made w/ a 35mm camera, so at that time Evans had both a Contax II and a Leica IIIC. I have to admit I would've loved to have seen the old man prowling the alleys and streets of Depression era Hudson w/ a Leica on his neck.

Road,Cattle,Pole,Taft,Ca. 2009

Back Home.........

Who says you can't go back home again ?

I was out in California a few times this summer and got a chance to reaquaint myself with the flatlands of Central California where I spent many years making photographs.

These open expanses of land have fortunately remained un-developed. Its still beautiful and mysterious. There are some valleys that are pristine with just cattle .

The heat is dry and therapeutic.

James Dean died not too far from where I made these images. Edward Weston also worked near Taft and Coalinga as did Morley Baer and I think Ed Ruscha. Where I stood I felt the same ancient vibes and whispers I first experienced in 1988 . Nineteen years of looking at this landscape and it still captivates me to the core.

X- 2 0 0 9 33x55 inch Pigment Print copyright 2009 Michael Lardizabal

The Color Work

Untitled # 1 2 0 0 9

Untitled # 2 2 0 0 9

Untitled # 3 2 0 0 9

I've been thinking of color for some time now.

The immediacy of it appeals to me , as does its honesty.

All the images above are un-corrected proofs.

Venice

Moving Day, Near Venice 1991 8x10 inch contact palladium print on Vellum

Baseball Field, Venice 1992 8x10 inch palladium contact print of Tissue paper

Not that one.

The one in Southern California.

I'm somewhat drawn to ordinary places with far away names and one day I'll compile a body of work from towns like Athens,Troy,Geneva,Mexico, and Venice, all towns and villages in New York and California.

I love the ordinary. To me, these place speak volumes.

July

Madeline's Place, Peach Hill, NY 1995 Palladium on Swiss Opaline Parchment

Montgomery Place, New York 1994 8x10 in Palladium print on Tissue

Pasadena 1988 8x10 in Platinum on Tissue Vintage print

Landscape off Route 9H, New York 1999 11x14in Cyanotype print on Cranes

I love the month of July.











The light is stunning by mid afternoon. Everything looks grand and pleasing. Here's a selection of work that I was looking at this morning. These are all images I made more than 10 years ago .











I still see the world this way.

Eastham, MA. 1999

Athens, NY 1997

Athens, New York 1997

1-22-09

Nuclear Plant, Washington state, 1995
12x20 inch silver gelatin contact print

Sacramento River, California 1995
12x20 in. silver gelatin contact print

New Work : New York

New York Dam 2009

This is my first photograph of 2009, and the first piece I've liked in over a year.

Standing in front of this scene instilled a sense in me that all will be well.

10 yrs apart...thoughts on new books....

Venice Backyard, Ca. 1989

Hudson , NY 1999

So I picked up the new Annie Leibovitz at Work and the Patti Smith Land 250 book.

Both surprised me .


Ms. Smith has always intrigued me as a musician.

I had heard rumors that she took pictures w/ a Polaroid., has so for years.

Her book is well laid out. The images are clear and transparent., I'll enjoy this copy for years to come.

I wonder how the health of the overall book market is, especially the photography book audience.


There's an awful lot of new books coming out these days. Some artists are releasing monographs at a rate of 1-2 per year. How can publishers afford to make any money these days ?


Whatever happened to less is more ?


I think William Klein is one of the last holdouts to publishing his work on a regular basis. Good for him.


As much as I love Friedlander.....I just got a notice on yet again, another new book from him. The New Mexico book. Wow !

I still haven't gone thru all the pages of my Friedlander MOMA retrospective book.

The above images are two that I've been looking at lately.

I made them 10 years apart, but seeing them together makes me realize that I'm somewhat drawn to structures that have survived. Tired, but still eminating pride and beauty.

The scene from a Venice backyard is probably long gone. Property values have shifted dramatically since I made that image. I only hope that my photograph stands as a reminder of a once noble place. Feel free to conjur up your own thoughts of what this backyard used to be like...

2 0 0 9

Chapel Route 9 NY 1998

What an exciting time to be alive in America.





As a culture we've taken an epic step forward . A lot of walls have been torn down, and I feel very strongly that we're going to come out of this stronger.





Its good to be humbled, we have a lot to learn. Lets embrace this situation and dig deep.





I made this photograph in 1998 . Its a chapel off of Route 9 along the Hudson River corridor. A very American roadside landscape if there ever was one.





I hope its still there.