Michael Lardizabal

Capa

2011-10-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

I normally don't post news, but I found this discovery to be wonderful in many ways, but saddened by the continuing debate over Capa's infamous image.

As an aside....the idea of Eastman Kodak filing bankruptcy is tragic. Almost all our civilizations most important modern images and films were made on Kodak film....including Robert Capa's.

Eastman Nitrate 35mm film was a new product during his era.

http://backstory.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/13/revealing-the-mexican-suitcase/?hpt=hp_mid

Still looking at America

2011-10-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

...so much to see and take in.

From the Flat Files...

2011-09-07T06:17:00.000-07:00

Point Arena Barn, California 1987 5x7 in Silver Chloride Contact Print

Factory Wall , Hudson NY 2010 11x11 in Digital Pigment Print

Stuyvesant Church , NY 1996 11x14in Palladium contact print

Wintje Farm, Germantown NY 1994 8x10in Platinum contact print

Samascott's , New York 1997 8x10 in. Palladium contact print

At Home, Chatham, NY 2010

Mac , Chatham NY 2010

Paula's House , NY 1997 8x10 Platinum contact print

Ogunquit , Maine 1997 8x10 Palladium contact print

Hudson , New York

2011-09-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

...I can't think of too many towns in America where one can get into a conversation about early whaling , primitive Aleutian art and great Fried Chicken all in one afternoon.

Warren St, Hudson NY 2011

July

2011-07-07T15:22:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like the light after a late afternoon summer storm.

Everything gleams and glows....a cleansing effect if you will. I found myself wandering a few miles from home in my car and came across some sweetness.

Rural Artifacts

2011-06-09T12:16:00.000-07:00

Rural Artifacts

This is what I see everyday. Proof the idea of man and landscape can still happily co-exist.

These are images of the ever present imprints we leave as a culture -modern artifacts in the land , conditions and scenes of normality and acceptance that it can sometimes be hard to imagine what a field must have looked at one time before power lines and fences, as if they were always that way.

Pure landscape to me is boring. A mountain, a perfect cloud with perfect light, meh, buy a postcard.

There is a tangible, pedestrian splendor in the everyday scene.

For my friends that aren't doing so well....

2011-06-08T08:06:00.000-07:00

Robin's Plates

2011-05-31T15:29:00.000-07:00

From the Lakehouse

2011-05-30T14:19:00.000-07:00

The Boathouse , Tamarack Lake, Massachusetts 2011 copyright Michael Lardizabal

The Bridge

2011-04-28T11:47:00.000-07:00

No words can describe Roebling's mastepiece.

Brooklyn Bridge 2011

This was my view from last weekend as we traveled on the Westside Highway.

My tribute to the Lumiere Bros- train at La Ciotat.

2011-04-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

This is just raw footage. Still needs editing and post.

Smile - its cheap !

2010-11-20T17:08:00.000-08:00

I was editing today and came across these 2 images of mine , 16 years apart. Amazing how the Mona Lisa's smile is so similar to the Catholic school girls smiles.

Making the image of the kids was an amazing day. I was outside in the streets close to that church with my 8x10 Deardorff camera over my shoulder, and the lady in the very back of the scene had asked me inside the church activity room to meet the priest and kids.

I can only imagine what they all are doing today.

Paris 2 0 0 6

Saugerties NY 1994

Saugerties NY 1994 8x10 contact print (document view)

Lake Luzerne

2010-11-19T14:38:00.000-08:00

The Good Kind of Bills

2010-11-17T19:28:00.000-08:00

Eggleston and Klein. Gotta love these two .

Bill Eggleston

November Sky

2010-11-16T09:11:00.001-08:00

Self Inflicted

2010-08-03T09:56:00.000-07:00

The artist as subject has long fascinated me.

Lee Friedlander,Robert Frank, John Coplans,and Cindy Sherman to name a few , have pointed their cameras at themselves to document their physical changes thru the decades.

I myself until recently have never been that comfortable or all that interested in what I look like.

I'm going to be 47 in a little over a month - and its starting to show".

Not in a bad way, as I'm in excellent physical shape. I've done an Ironman Triathlon , 7 or 8 marathons and still get my daily workouts in .

What I see are the signs of life finally showing up in my face and hands. I've raised a family and did my best to create a comfortable home........its starting to show.

Not sure where this is going , or how its going to evolve but here's a few to start with.

Be well and take a big ass bite out of the world today.

Driving Range

2010-07-06T14:38:00.000-07:00

America's Oldest Driving Range, Route 9, Saratoga , NY 2010

A Daughter's Eye

2010-07-06T14:28:00.000-07:00

I'm very blessed to have a daughter that never ceases to amaze me.

She's entering university this Fall as an Engineering student, but her skills with the camera show more than just promise. These happen to be on my laptop for some reason. I hope she doesn't mind me sharing them for now.

From her trip to Rome and Switzerland 2 years ago..........

She takes pictures like she writes. Transparent, clear as lake water.

I'm so very proud to be her father.

2010-04-29T09:59:00.000-07:00

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

2010-04-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

Spring Sketches

2010-03-29T14:09:00.000-07:00

Kinderhook Creek at Stuyvesant, New York 2010

Hudson , New York 2010

By mid April I find myself once again drawn to afternoon light, especially in the East coast where it glows around

3:30-4 o'clock in the afternoon.

Falling shadows can take on heroic proportions and lingering light..... loud as bells !

Hanley Road

2010-02-27T10:20:00.000-08:00

Tender is the Day

2010-02-23T12:55:00.000-08:00

Tonality .

For me its everything.

Just the other day I was talking on the phone with a person I've never met.

He was helping me get in touch with a fellow neighbor who used to live in the house that he now owns., I guess its a small town thing where people still freely give up information to anyone asking. " oh yeah Joe ! he moved on down to Spencertown. Let me go grab his new number " .

There was an amazing grace to his voice. One of genuine kindness and caring, almost tender.

I imagined him as the quintessential grandpa, someone's husband of 40 years, a good man.

One to almost emulate in the cadence of life.

The effect of that day is still fresh in my head. Its reaffirming to know that the human spirit is alive and contagious. So much so that its prompted me to put together this group of photographs of my wife and daughter.

Cape Cod 1997

The Michael Lardizabal's , 1999

Halloween , NY 1997

43 Albany Avenue, NY 1997

Upstate NY, 1997

Nestle, Chatham NY 2000

Amanda , West Stockbridge, Ma. 1999

Cape Cod 2000

Claudia , New York 1999

Maine 1997

Florence 2006

2010-02-18T15:43:00.000-08:00

I'm editing a group of panoramic work that most likely will be in my upcoming book amongst other new material .

One of the things I didn't plan or intend on doing while over there was to make panoramics .

After all , Florence and Venice are so densely packed that my original thought was to work the crowds as tapestry in a flat plane but I ended up wanting to take in more.By the end of the first week the marriage of the crowds and architecture were more honest to me .

The test prints so far seem to work in a 65 inch print length., maybe even bigger.

This group was all done w/ a Fuji 6x9 Pro medium format camera. Also known as the Texas Leica to its users.

I think Atget would have approved of the camera.

In my next entry I'll upload some of my studies of Bruneleschi's Duomo which I truly feel is God's house.

My wife and I have this habit where we like to leave nickels and pennies in some nook or cranny of a special place so that we can one day go back and see if they've been claimed or are still there awaiting our return.

Oddly enough...we couldn't find a spot within this area of Florence...but if you find yourself at the Boboli Gardens and Fort Belvedere we left a few there.

The Anti-snow show

2010-02-10T06:32:00.000-08:00

Untitled Thoughts..........

2010-02-08T08:48:00.000-08:00

Henry Hudson's River

2010-02-04T08:55:00.000-08:00

I first saw the mighty Hudson River in 1993.

Back then I was still living out West in California and although I had visited New York several times-

my view of the Hudson consisted mostly from the air while flying over Albany.

That Fall I was photographing the historic manors of the Hudson River Valley .

My first stop was Clermont.

If memory serves me right, this is where I first found myself connected and mystified by the Hudson.

This is the mighty river that captivated numerous explorers, the lifetime obsession of Frederic Church,subject of

countless stories and poems....

It never fails to take my breath away.

Looking South, Clermont view 2010

Livingston's Tree , upriver, Clermont view 2010

Vine Flower , Clermont grounds, NY 2010

Old fence, railroad tracks, Clermont 2010

Visiting

2010-01-21T12:48:00.000-08:00

I've passed on one too many phone booth clusters in my lifetime.

There's something beautiful and poetic about how they're crafted and placed.

One can only imagine the decades of conversations that have taken place within these booths ...

When I was in Los Angeles last summer , I remember how many there were at the UCLA Medical Center. Floor after floor of them. All slightly different.

Its a typology and vernacular that will soon disappear I'm afraid.

These photographs all resulted from a recent visit to very familiar places for me in New York state.

Thinking Out Loud

2010-01-20T09:45:00.000-08:00

Backyard Days

2010-01-10T16:21:00.000-08:00

Lee Friedlander Copyright

Shine on, O moon of summer
Shine to the leaves of grass,catalpa and oak, all silver under your rain to-night ..........................
Shine on , O moon
Shake out more and more silver changes
Carl Sandburg

I've spent the better part of 25 years photographing gardens and backyards and it was only fitting that I join the fold.
My summers are spent tending to it whenever I'm home. Last season I grew sunflower, cabbage and melons, the former due to missing them in Tuscany last time I was there.
My retriever McIntosh is my daily companion for the most part. This is his turf as he knows every square and protects and patrols it as such .
Its changing and evolving like me .

Mark Steinmetz Copyright

Huger Foote Copyright

Gregory Conniff Oneonta,NY Copyright

My dying Pussywillow, NY

Michael Lardizabal

Mac by the grapes, NY

Concords

McIntosh

Last Images of 2009

2009-12-27T17:21:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-18T16:59:00.001-08:00

Roadside Vernacular

2009-11-16T07:47:00.000-08:00

USS Mo, Hawaii 2 0 0 9

Potsdam NY 2009

Rt 89 New York State 2009

Graniteville , Vermont

2009-11-02T04:56:00.000-08:00

Walker Evans was Here

2009-10-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

Back Home.........

2009-09-26T06:59:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-08-10T05:32:00.000-07:00

The Color Work

2009-08-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-08T10:54:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-01-23T12:36:00.000-08:00

Eastham, MA. 1999

Athens, NY 1997

Athens, New York 1997

1-22-09

2009-01-22T08:11:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-11T20:19:00.000-08:00

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....

2009-01-06T07:18:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-02T10:16:00.000-08:00

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.

American Sketches

2008-12-11T06:14:00.001-08:00

Somewhere in California , c. 1988 ?

The Mathilda, Kingston NY 1995

Outside of Stuyvesant , NY 1999

Los Angeles 1990

As much as I love to travel to far away lands, my eye gravitates towards the American Scene.

I need to find more Rubber Stamp shops........where did Mr. Foster's Taxidermy Shop go ?

There's an urgency I feel to seek out these small, non-descript icons of our past. Not just to examine and photograph, but I want to meet and get to know the proprietors.

Was it handed down by their father...grandfather...who landed at Ellis Island perhaps ?

Whatever the case my be....I feel richer for having found these places. I hope my photographs do the job of conveying how American they are.

Michael Lardizabal: Remembering 911

2008-09-11T03:53:00.000-07:00

Twin Towers from Caven Pt. NJ 1999

I used to look at the twin towers from this spot whenever I ran on the Libery State Park course.

One day I went out with my 4x5 Graflex to photograph the environs and came up with this polaroid. Its a one of a kind print.

I still run on this path when I'm in the city and my heart still sinks.

God Bless all the families today.

Wishing for Cape Cod

2008-09-08T15:44:00.000-07:00

Cape Cod 1999

I usually miss the Cape by about this time. Summer is over, and the new season has me yearning for Truro or Eastham.

Perhaps one last trip to the dunes is in the cards.

This 5x7 inch cyanotype is from Orleans if I remember correctly, or maybe Eastham on the bay side. I forget. I know is was around 1999 when I made it.

2008-09-06T07:05:00.000-07:00

Ghent, 1996

I'm baking apple pie today.

My orchard is ready for picking , so pie and cider is on the agenda.

This is an 8x10 contact print that I feel is appropriate for today. Its a vintage print made on Grade 1 Azo.

September

2008-09-05T13:44:00.000-07:00

Backyard,Venice,California 1991

I was born on this month back in 1963.

For the past few days I've been looking at the relationship of space as it relates to environment and light.

Light defines space.

In the image of the backyard I feel there's a whole universe of things to look at. Funny thing is when I made this negative, I was more concerned with sense of place.

Almost 18 years later, I discover its more about the sense of light and how the light is what defines and creates the tapestry of place. Without that amazing Western ,strong California light....there is no place.

I made one finished Palladium print of this in 1991. Printed on vintage Cranes paper washed in Venice tap water that had the most amazing properties. The platinum and palladium prints I made during my years there ( 1989-1992 ) have a glow that is so unique I can almost always tell when I am looking at a print made in our Rose Ave. apartment.

There is 1 artist work print/studio proof of this image available at this time. The image is from an 8x10 negative which is signed and dated by me. The proof is printed on Japanese Vellum. If you are interested in this please email me and I can provide you with a payment link.

2008-02-28T13:27:00.000-08:00

So I've been doing a lot of editing and printing.

The new work from Summer and Fall shows promise, mostly pictures of life around here.

I'll post more in the next day or so......

2008-02-12T06:19:00.000-08:00

Something Old Something New

Walking the streets and alleys of Florence,Venice,and Paris never gets old. The job of a flaneur is timeless.

I made these images with a 60 year old Contax camera . This old magical box was my guide as if it was "back" home again.

The old regime is not old. I feel that the Medici's , Michelangelo, Bruneleschi were all modernists .

Here in New York we are in the midst of a cold winter, harsh light and short days . My only sense of warmth are these paper memories .

I don't mind .......... yearning is good.

Restoration, Florence 2006

The Traveller, Florence 2006

Santa Margherita Station, Italy 2006

Florence 2006

Venice 2006

Leonard Vernon 1918-2007

2007-10-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

I learned today that my dear friend and patron Leonard Vernon passed away Friday.

The last time I spoke to Leonard was back in the Spring and his voice was full of happiness and excitement. His remark that he was busier than ever led me to believe that he was going to be very busy for quite some time.

So needless to say I was shocked when I got the email from my friend Jim Stern that he saw it in the LA Times obit section. Why Jim reads that is beyond me, but thank goodness he does.

Leonard and his late wife Marjorie have one of the most recognized collections of photography. They've loaned their collection to most every important museum in America and overseas. Heavy in the modernist side,especially Western landscapes, the collection has some of the pristine examples of works by Weston,Adams,Strand,Cunningham and Watkins.

Along with the Pages, the Vernons were the first of my "big" time collectors-patrons. I think there are close to 40 photographs of mine in their collection.

I will miss you my dear friend.

Rest in Peace and give Marjorie a big hug for me.

Attempting Summer

2007-07-11T07:15:00.000-07:00

Paris, 7th District, 2006

View of Venice rooftops, Ca' Pisani Hotel, Italy 2006

Do you ever wonder why it is that summer flies by so fast ?

Here we are into the second week of July and I have yet to make a serious effort into printing my work from September's foray in Europe.

All the negs are done with the exception of half a dozen or so rolls . From what I've seen , the group has potential.

But what sticks to me most, at least so far, are the Polaroids I made.

These are Type 667 material, so they are archival and stable.

I love working with my old folder. Its now part of the Tuscan landfill as it died while I was shooting in San Geminiano. I will always regret not being able to use the vintage packs of Polacolor that I had taken along. Then again we will be back sometime in the Fall......so maybe this time my new camera will last a bit longer.

2007-03-31T05:24:00.000-07:00

Spring 1997 New York

Spring 2002

All Things Spring

Its the last day of March and all the harbingers are present.
The sun feels wonderful .
I missed this version of him.
Perhaps I can get through this Spring without the assistance of over-the-counter medication.
I'm almost positive I saw a chipmunk sneeze yesterday.

2007-02-16T12:36:00.000-08:00

Maine 1999 8x10in. Palladium print

4th of July at Jim & Judy's , NY 1999 8x10 in. Silver gelatin contact print

Claudia and Mandy, Sheffield 1998 11x14 in. Silver gelatin contact print

Oregon 1995 12x20 in. Silver gelatin contact print

Claudia & Mandy, Summer, Chatham,NY 2004 8x10 silver gelatin contact print

Paris 2006 6x9 cm. Palladium print

Little Farms,Kinderhook, NY 2005 5x7in. Platinum-Palladium contact print

February Exhibit

Its been a few months since I last updated my blog so I thought I'd start off by adding a group of photographs that I've been looking at these past few days as I contemplate warmer weather.

Most of these exude a feeling of warmth and the luxurious radiance that only Summer light gives off.

Maine, 1999 was taken near the cliffs of Ogunquit, a place that is like no other. This humble porch and how it is juxtaposed against the infinite breath of the Atlantic is what my soul is yearning for ....a personal portal to step into.

The portrait of mother and daughter is a bit of a tribute to Caravaggio and Vermeer. I love the way skin glows during a late afternoon in July- this is what an 8x10 contact print does so well......there is both immediacy and tenderness.

Thanks for stopping by.

Rock City Road

2006-12-08T10:00:00.000-08:00

There's an amazing stretch of hills and woods not too far from my place that one gets to via Rock City Road .

I've been looking at a small quarry of stones and pines nestled peacefully at the peak . Not sure why I haven't photographed it yet, but as I drove by there the other day on my way to Hillsdale I saw it in just the right light. , about 1:30 in the afternoon on a sunny day .

It looks like similar weather for the next few days so I think I'll go back and put it on film. The calotypes of Cuveliers Fountainbleu work came to mind when I first came across that scene.

Books of Note

2006-12-04T05:38:00.000-08:00

Last month I got my copy of Friedlander's new book Cherry Blossom Time:The Complete Works published by the Fraenkel Gallery.
Originally introduced as a limited edition portfolio of photogravures by Thomas Palmer this series didn't surface much and was bought up rather quickly by collectors and museums.
I have never gotten a chance to see the gravures but knowing the work of Palmer, I'm sure they are breathtaking.

The book is an epic tome to this spiritual Spring phenomenom in Kyoto.

The quality of the reproductions are superb ! They remind me of platinum prints in their delicacy and tonal range. Printed in the dry-trap process on un-coated stock -it is not too different from both the Factory Valleys and American Monument books ,Cherry Blossom Time is a joy to look at.

One of the things that keeps me interested in his work is Friedlander's never ending ability to see the world so clearly in such a crazy way. Its almost as if he overdoses on his meds before he goes out with the Leica. I can imagine him tripping over some rocks, falling on his ass, looks up sees a picture and "click".....walk,rinse, repeat.

In Cherry Blossom Time we get to see the softer side of Lee. The sequence is beautiful. There are at least a dozen that just take my breath away. I am sure I will be looking at this book for some time.

The book is a steal at 60.00 ! I've always said that some of Friedlanders best works are his B sides. Hopefully someone will see fit to publish the Shiloh Battlefield work. I've seen that series and it is stunning. You see a side of Friedlander that is hardly ever seen.

Hey Lee ! Please go back to shooting the Leica . The Superwide work is nice, but IMHO the world you know is still out there in 35mm.

When I was in Paris in October I got a chance to see his show at the Jeu de Paume and I couldn't help but notice how much the French embraced Lee's work. They get it !

From the reviews of his MoMa retro back in July Americans in general still don't know what to do with his work.. They seem ( the critics ) to think there's too much of it. To me thats like saying Atget took too many plates of Paris.....why didn't he travel to Rome instead ?

I guess thats why Paris loves him. They get it.

Robert Adams: Pine Valley

I have not gotten this book yet,but saw it at the Bard College Library.

This is one of Adams' new books that has been released in almost series form. The other is the Portrait in the Landscape book and the Interiors monograph.

I was telling Frank Gohlke just the other week that Bob's work in 35mm is my favorite. I love the immediacy and openess of this work.

There's a constant invitation to come along with him to all these fields and woods he cherishes .

I can't wait to get my copy.

As an aside I just got a note from him the other week and it seems as though he still on occasion carves out woodblocks for prints and notecards.

I feel richer for knowing him.

Winter Projects

2006-11-14T07:51:00.000-08:00

Joe's Tool Shack,Christmas,Stuyvesant,NY 2003

I feel somewhat fortunate at the moment.

Having gone thru my archive of prints and negatives these past weeks the reality of how much work I have accumulated seems surreal.
The earliest negatives date back to 1986 in 4x5 and 5x7 in size. During this time I was attending the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena lost in a fog between commercial and fine art studies.
By 1988 I was already commited to the 8x10 and was productive in the American West where I lived at the time.

From 1989 to 2000 the work was mainly 11x14/14x17 & 12x20. I was enamored with the idea of working with such large plate-type cameras,both as a means to a bigger print and also to somewhat carry on the tradition of Watkins,Gardner and Brady. Most of these negatives I have yet to print.

Whether I care to admit it or not....I think my vision has and always will have roots to the Naturalists.

My friend Gordon Baldwin who was one of the curators at the J. Paul Getty Museum's Photography Department once told me during a 1996 exhibit of mine at the Jan Kesner Gallery in Los Angeles ...." Michael your work has an Emerson feel about it ". At the time I really thought my work belonged more to the Atget -Walker Evans school. Ultimately, Gordon was right . Artists such as Peter Henry Emerson,Frederick Evans and my favorite Arthur Wesley Dow are sub-consiously in my psyche. Ghosts from the early 20th century that are prompting me to continue as if it were truly a Linked Ring .

Like them, my subject matter is also the landscape. In particular, marshes,estuaries,fields and forests. Perhaps its a form of escapism from the modern world, but I will never tire of these places.

Being in my 40's ,I must realize that the time is now to make a commitment to championing this way of seeing .Pursue it to the end as it no longer matters to me if this is out of fashion in the arts today. My work has always been for personal reasons, and as long as I stay true to my vision- time will hopefully be kind to the legacy I leave behind.

Thoughts of New England and Paul Strand

2006-11-01T13:39:00.000-08:00

During my bike ride this morning the work of Paul Strand came to mind.

I've been looking at his photographs for 20 years , they remain as eloquent and truthful as the first time I saw them.

Being a converted New Englander- I can easily see why Strand was so productive here.

There's a cluster of barns that I've been passing by now at least twice a week for the last 7 years here in Old Chatham . I see something new and different everytime I go by it.
Strand would have parked himself there for a week I'm sure.

Autumn is when it looks best as the light is more angled by mid day. Its noble lines turn heroic
soon after the lunch hour. If this weekends weather bodes well- I just might take the 5x7 Graflex over there, I think its about time.

"Door, Meeting House, Austerlitz ,NY 2002" is a photograph of mine that I will label as an hommage to Strand.

* Please excuse the double images as my hosting site is doubling up on my files for some reason.

2006-10-31T13:52:00.000-08:00

Sun Prints in Fall Light

One of the inherent attributes of hand-coated paper is how differently each one responds
to its environment.
Variables such as water,ambient temperature, relative humidity.....full moon or crescent all contribute to the final "look" and feel of the print.

So as of late I've been making both Palladiums and Cyanotypes of the new work and negs from my archives. Fall conditions make it rather difficult to produce lush palladiums as the paper stores up static electricity . I've tried all sorts of pre-humidifying and the prints still don't compare to ones made during the summer months when humidity and heat are always in the air.

Cyanotypes are a different story. Not as finicky and the prints I've been getting in Fall light are spot on. In a way , I think the cyanotype is the perfect medium for me as it fits my temperament.
Meaning, I'm a results driven person, and when I need to see something in the positive form , I get all flustered and un-insprired when a darkroom session goes a wry.
The blue process has never let me down, and I have a good supply and source for the perfect paper. I've use it for almost 2 decades and it hasn't changed much.

I made a print of " Samascotts Oldest Apple Tree,Kinderhook , NY 1998 " , an 8x10 neg.
The print has a superb tonal range . The scale was almost similar to that of a salt print. Perhaps due to our water change.My Culligan filtration unit is just about toast and I suspect that the water is full of minerals that play with how the print develops during the wash.

Ever since we moved to the farm in 2000, I would say that most of my prints have been toned by water.

When I get more time I'll post pictures of some of the new prints I've been working on.

Tomorrow looks like another good weather day so I'll get a chance to continue my unusual spurt of productivity.

Career Highlights

2006-09-07T05:50:00.000-07:00

Selected Group Exhibits

2005- Israel Museum,Jerusalem "Camera Sacra-Capturing the Soul of Nature "
2002- The Landscape Show Carrie Haddad Gallery Hudson NY
2001- Selected Works Michael Shapiro Gallery San Francisco CA
2000- " Roadshow " DFN Gallery NY
2000- Recent Aquisitions Show Frances Loehman Loeb Gallery Vassar College Poughkeepsie
1997- "Under the Darkcloth" Museum of Photographic Arts San Diego
1995- P.L.A.N Los Angeles County Museum of Art
1995- The Page Collection Exhibit Monterrey Peninsula Museum, CA

Selected Solo Exhibits

2004- TSL Museum Hudson NY
2002-Libre Gallery
2001-Kinderhook Memorial Library
2001-Jan Kesner Gallery
2000- Carrie Haddad Gallery
1999- Edward Carter Gallery NYC
1998- Jan Kesner Gallery LA
1997 -Michael Shapiro Gallery, San Francisco
1995- Jan Kesner Gallery LA
1992- Ayala Museum Manila
1992- Jan Kesner Gallery CA

Works in Selected Collections

Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Amon Carter Museum
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Daum Museum
Frances Loehman Loeb Museum Vassar College
Brookings Institute
Norton Simon Museum
Museum of Photographic Arts San Diego
Library of Congress Washington DC
Bibliotheque Nationale Paris
Ayala Museum of Art Manila
Page Collection
Vernon Collection
Sack Collection

Monographs

1992- Time Frames: Photographs by J. Michael Lardizabal September Press
2007- Chatham : Photographs by Michael Lardizabal Beagle Hill Ltd.

Grants

1987- Recipient of the Figueroa Foundation Fellowship

Landscape Theory

2006-09-06T07:09:00.000-07:00

Niverville, NY 7x7 inch silver gelatin print

Route 28 , Conrail Tracks, Valatie, NY 9x9 in. silver gelatin print

Beagle Hill,Near Spencertown,NY 8.5 x 8.6 in. gelatin silver print

I am drawn to common space. Since 1996, most of my landscape photographs are made within a 20 mile radius of where I live. There is so much to see , its all important.

Niverville, NY defines how I feel about the relationship of space,form and light.

September

2006-09-02T06:59:00.000-07:00

Claudia at the orchard, 2001

Its a bitter sweet month September. The days are getting shorter ,the bugs are gone , its almost time to put away the patio furniture.

I was born in the month of September , although I stopped celebrating my birthday a few years ago, its still a month that I have to contend with.

September is also the month where work in our orchard begins. I've got almost 50 acres of fruit trees as well as a tiny vineyard that needs help.

I once tried to maintain the whole place myself after reading an article relating to Paul Bunyan like feats. That lasted all of 2 years as I just wore myself down.

Like the seasons, my feelings of this place wane. Its a love/hate relationship.

Thursday Pictures

2006-08-31T18:09:00.000-07:00

Mexican Wedding,Mexico 2002

I took this picture with a P&S camera that has a 22mm lens. Its very small and light,quite wonderful to use really....it takes a big bite out of the world.
I love how happy the bride is.

Mandy and Claudia , Hill House, NY 2004

This is the last picture I took using the 8x10 camera. I have not used it since then.

Summer

2006-08-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

C and Mandy, 2004

Brian,Becca and Mandy 1996

The cameras ability to mark time is unsurpassed . Eight summers have passed between these 2 photographs. I look forward to the next eight.

The Splendor of Summer

2006-08-29T07:47:00.000-07:00

Murphy's Boy, 1997

43 Albany Ave, NY 1997

Brian and Leif fishing for Brownies, 1998

Mandy, 1997

Summer is the healing season for me.

My soul responds to the way light falls gracefully on everything. Nourishing,resplendant,invigorating...I can't think of enough adjectives to properly describe

this season of bliss.

Its also the time when my eye shifts to photographing my family and friends in all our crazy rituals. Skin glows in the summer. Everything is good and safe once again.

From The Flat Files

2006-08-28T13:10:00.000-07:00

Albany,NY 2001

This selection is a sampling of my continued interest in photographing my family and people in general.I first started taking portraits with a view camera back in 1979. Working first with a 5x7 then eventually an 8x10 Deardorff. The incredible detail and tonal structure of the contact print was intoxicating.At first the sittings were awkward due to the cumbersome nature of such a large bellows camera,but eventually I developed a finess for it. By the mid 1990's I realized that I was missing out on wonderful opportunities due to not having the 8x10 ready to go at a moments notice.To remedy this, I started working with both the venerable Rolleiflex and Leica, which immediately introduced a dimension to my work that was not so much lacking but welcomed.

Welcome

2006-08-25T09:27:00.001-07:00

The site will post the first group of images before the end of today.Thanks for stopping by.