Blake has gone and done it. A hilarious transformation of a funny little book whose cousin I happen to have on my very own bookshelf.

Blake has conducted a Q&A with John Maloof, Vivian Maier’s archivist, so to speak. He sums up the arc of Maier’s work:

I have good reason to believe she began taking pictures in about 1949. Negatives from this year and even a year later have a beginner look to them. They are either over or under-exposed, out of focus, clumsy compositions, etc. But by the time she came back to New York from France in 1951, she had a good sense of her own interests and curiosities as a photographer. From 1951 to the mid-1970′s, her work was solid with no noticeable learning curve from what I can tell.

She switches to color in the mid 70′s, uses a 35mm camera. Her work becomes more abstract in some respects, but also very literal in others. Her abstract work often involves found objects either on the curb, in a garbage can or a similar setting. Some are quite good but there are so many that just leaving me scratching my head as to what she was trying to get across with the picture. The literal work is usually angled towards political, racial, or religious views. She seemed to be a liberal and of no known religious beliefs and so she would document graffiti, newspaper headlines, and racist slogans on park benches, for example.

And on something that’s been speculated about here and there – his curatorial touch:

Joel [Meyerowitz] cautioned me early on not to slant the work in ways to reflect other photographers such as Arbus or other influences. If I were to post all of only work that resembled, for example Institute of Design photographers, then, although it would still be good work, it would look like derivative work from photographers such as Calahan or Siskin or Ishimoto.

Near the end of the interview Maloof mentions that he anticipates problems with institutional housing of Maier’s work. This is really interesting in terms of the concerns about critical reception and institutional acceptance that were discussed in a previous post. How Maloof handles the preservation of these negatives is going to set a precedent for how art photography can be presented to the public without institutional support. Of course, organizations like the Chicago Cultural Center are still involved, but no one’s really waiting for MOMA and the like’s seal of approval as far as I’m concerned.

Blake on the other hand seems to think that such a thing is key to truly widespread recognition of her work. I can see his point, but I see this moment as more of an emblem of the rise of the web. That something like this could’ve happened without mass media and institutional promotion would be nigh unimaginable before these last ten years. Even though MOMA rejected the body of work, if a Maier show came to Rayko or Pier 24, I think there’s enough online recognition of the work in photo circles that many many people here would make the trek to see it. A lot of this stems from the interesting provence of the negatives, but frankly I don’t see that as detracting in any way from the quality of her work. No more than any star artist’s larger than life personality does anyhow.

Take a look at the post for more juicy details, including how exactly Maloof came to own all of the negs and what condition the undeveloped rolls of film are in. Good stuff.

If you want to personally support the project, you can make a Kickstarter pledge toward the documentary film they are planning and reap some rewards (a download of the film, a DVD, the Powerhouse book…). I have to admit it is the first time I’ve backed a project on Kickstarter; I’m really looking forward to seeing how all this pans out. They have reached their goal, so the film will be made, but hey, there are still 61 days left to go – why stop there? The more the merrier, kiddies!

Mike Avina

A couple of things came in the mail this month… the second one in exchange for this flag picture.

Last year I bought this uneditioned 8×10 from Daniel’s project Removing Mountains to support the beginnings of the Plume project. Now Plume is well on its way and Daniel is raising funds for another trip to finish up the series.

I’m going to take the chance to snap up this photo, which I love:

Check out his print sale for yourself and support the work!

Michael Werner interviews Tema Stauffer:

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

When I first read this question, I laughed out loud and squirmed a little. The notion of a “successful, professional photographer” conjures a mythic figure with a studio, fancy cameras, interns, magazine assignments, and a substantially greater income. It is more accurate to describe me as an artist and teacher whose life is deeply invested in the arts community. What constitutes “success” is subjective.

On a day-to-day basis, I feel acutely more aware of my “struggle” than my “success.” Feelings of accomplishment are rewarding but also fleeting. When the high of one accomplishment fades, it creates an opportunity to work through a set of more challenging feelings towards the next one. For most artists, developing a career in the arts is a series of small steps over a long period of time. It demands the ability to experience rejections, creative blocks, financial constraints, self-doubt and anxiety. And then to brush off the dust, strategize, produce work and move forward.

Family, close friends, therapy, swimming, biographies of artists and writers, steady correspondence and supportive relationships with other artists are crucial to my own survival. I think there is good karma in helping others and I try to keep that principle at the forefront of my relationship to the art world.

It’s called investing in yourself, and not just assuming you’ll do your eight hours and be cool. That’s when you get the job at 7-11 just to pay for this. New York expects a lot from you – it demands that you do what’s required, and I think you have to pony up. Again, you have to pay your dues – whatever it takes to do that, and if you don’t, you don’t have a right to complain.

I don’t believe that in principle all beginners should essentially be hazed because the pros working today had been and so you shall too. But in the competitive market it’s certainly better to be hazed than to not get a start at all.

In the end the consensus seems to be that Nachtwey can probably find some way to compensate the interns with some fundraising or commercial jobs (!), but that it is hard times and the intern has to have the sense to realize that he will learn potentially more about the realities of running a photo operation than he would in college. Not sure that justifies unpaid internships, but an interesting point is that for some kids seeking college credit for the experience, it is against federal labor laws to pay them, so perhaps the listing is only trying to be inclusive.

David Alan Harvey concludes with a bit about getting a start in general:

I don’t know how you tell some kid who spent $50k on an education what they ought to do – we’re all in different places and make different deals. I don’t know what the answer is. There’s no one answer, clearly. There’s a lot of really good work done now, and not being published. It’s getting published on websites, and no one’s getting paid for it. That’s a tough one. What do you do? Bag it, and get another job? How do you get to a point where you’re not going to be at the absolute bottom of the money barrel 24/7? It’s a very tough balance between investing (paying) yourself, and giving something away that’s really of value that should be paid for.