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.

American Sketches

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

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

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.

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.