shutters/dead ends/lens/pens

Latest blog posts from shutters/dead ends/lens/pens, click HERE to be directed to the blog post.

Adore Noir magazine

Available Monday, August 4 for digital download "HERE".

No Strings Attached

New blog post for shutters/dead ends/lens/pens, the awesome literary and visual collaborative project with writer David Press. Check out the chapter 12 visual call by clicking on this link:

No Strings Attached



Awakening

copyright William Zuback 2014



shutters/dead ends/lens/pens

Here is the link to my response to David Press's chapter 11 call to shutters/dead ends/lens/pens.

The Pose

Chained

Facebook censored another photo!

Banned from Facebook, Nudity!

Magic is the Child

I wrote a poem many years ago for my son titled, “Magic is the Child”. I often reflect on life through the eyes of a child because it truly is the most pure and honest expression that exists. Children express themselves without a filter of what others think or how they will be judged. They create with a purity of freedom adults have a hard time opening their hearts and minds to. This time doesn't last long though. By the time my son was ready to start kindergarten he had to take a variety of tests. One of these was to draw “in the circle”. He drew in the circle but not in mass, meaning he scribbled inside the circle but didn't fill it with a solid color. This apparently was “wrong” and showed a lack of skill development, so they said. I was appalled by this judgment as well as other things they said. What happened to originality of expression?

Fast forward twenty five years and we are at my daughters college graduation. A family celebration dinner included my mother-in-law suffering from dementia. It was sad to witness that since our last visit she only now recognized her husband, no longer knowing her daughter, son-in-law, or grand kids. What was amazingly positive though was her child like view of our grandson, her great grandson. She fell in love with him even though she didn't know who he was. She kept saying, I want one of those and her expression was so pure and honest. It truly was a beautiful moment.

I've had moments with my personal artwork where I could have taken a path more popular, more relevant to what is reflected in contemporary photography today. Although difficult at times, I persevered and remain child like in the creation of my personal photography. Nothing is calculated and thought out beyond the experience of creation that is relevant to me and my way of expressing my thoughts and feelings in the form of a photograph. My wife who is always supportive reminds me when I get down, “What do you expect, you photograph people nude and creepy dolls. How many people want to hang that in their homes?” She is right but for me to do anything else would make me an imposter. I would loose that purity of freedom I enjoy in the creation of my work.

I've been reading The Art Spirit by Robert Henri and it is filled with so much great advice for the artist. Most pages are filled with wonderful quotes to share with fellow artists. I'll end this blog post with a small excerpt from the book which resonates with me and was the impetus for sharing my thoughts in this post.

The Art Spirit by Robert Henri

If one is a painter this purest freedom must exist

at the time of painting. This is as much as to say

that a painter may give up his hope of making his

living as a painter but must make it some other

way. This is generally true, although some do, by a

freak of appreciation, make enough while going

their way to live sufficiently well. Perhaps this hap-

pens, but I am not sure but that there is some cur-

tailing of the purity of the freedom.                       

I was once asked by a young artist whether he

could hope to make any money out of his work. If

he continued in his particular style of painting. He

happened to be a man of considerable talent and

had great enthusiasm in his work. But I knew there

was no public enthusiasm for such work. I remem-

bered he had told me that before he got really into

art he had made a living by designing labels for

cans, tomato cans and the like. I advised him to

make tomato-can labels and live well that he might

be free to paint as he liked. It happened also that

eventually people did buy his early pictures al-

though he was as far from pleasing by what he was

doing at this time as ever before. He now lived on

the sale of his old pictures and was as free to paint

his new ones as he had been in the days of tomato

cans.                                                                  

Magic is the child, born with open arms!

I meet the coolest and most interesting individuals

Sojourner is a wonderfully fascinating individual who has, and continues to lead, a beautifully rich life. Experiencing it with a passion for learning, observing and feeling.

We share the same interest in meeting new individuals and creating positive and creative collaborations. Our portrait session was nothing short of amazing. Among the many portraits we created, I also had the opportunity to add to my growing series which is, Untitled (The Dress).

It's an exploration of interaction and identity with this one dress and what it represents. Here is one of our collaborations from Sunday morning's photo session.

© William Zuback

Sojourner

Sundays portrait session, Sojourner. What a beautiful, strong, and free spirit she is.

© William Zuback

It is always the journey: an afternoon of fun, history and photography

My sitter on Saturday was a gentleman named Paul. Paul works at a couple different antique stores in the area and enjoys documenting and researching his family's lineage. He looks a lot like his great grandfather and was interested in creating some photographs that expressed his own interest in collecting, as well as, being an homage to his great grandfather. During the afternoon session I showed him an old accounting ledger that I have and after a quick look, determined it's from  Atlanta, GA., civil war era. He pointed out that with the dates of entry and the fact that Atlanta had burned to the ground two years later, he is surprised that this even survived. I guess I have some investigating ahead of me to see what I have in my possession.

 

Untitled (the dance)

© William Zuback 2014

Untitled (the dance)

This beautiful portrait is one of a small but growing series I'll be showing at the Racine Arts Council, part of "Time Share Exchange", a collaborative curatorial project by Frank Juarez and Maureen Fritchen. Opens May 2.

© William Zuback 2014

Somewhere over the Rainbow

Yesterday, my wife had to talk me off of the proverbial ledge. I was in one of those, "why do I continue to do this" moods with my photography. The great thing is that she knows me so well and since writing her first novel, she too experiences all of the questions and doubts that go into putting yourself out there in such a vulnerable way.

I've done a lot of soul searching this year as to "who am I" with the work I create? So far I have decided that I'm more photographer than artist, especially since I've gone back to portraits as my main area of emphasis. So then the next logical step is "who am I creating the work for"? Obviously, first and foremost, it's for my sitter and myself. A collaboration of creative participation that hopefully manifests into photographs that represent the beauty, confidence and imagination of our connected experience. I would be remiss in denying the desire to have the work resonate to a larger audience (whatever larger is defined as). The problem, for me, lies in this last observation.

When I first started to create this work that was different than my commercial work, it was done with child like eyes and behavior. There was no other expectation than the experience of creating a visual that was in my mind and needed to see the light of day. Once that action was completed it was time to move on to the next one. Then someone comes along and asks, "Have you ever shown these to anyone?" and the answer is no but they have a connection to someone who has a gallery and they help get your work seen. Soon you are showing this work that was hidden to the general public and it has a certain amount of resonance. You do more and show that as well but soon your mind becomes corrupted with expectations both self imposed and external and you begin to wonder what happened to that innocence that brought you true happiness when creating your very personal visual observations? Your happiness is compromised and the feeling of the creative process is changed.

This continues to be a year of regaining that child like innocence and naïveté with my work. Making sure that my intention and motivation is genuine and honest to my creative process and personal growth. Magic is the child, born with open arms!

Lia, an intimate portrait

Lia,  copyright William Zuback 2014

Midnight III

What are you working on?

As a creative, this is often one of the first questions asked when you attend an event in the area of your genre whether it be the visual arts, music or literature. It is a way of starting a dialog with your peers that allows for a conversation of similar interest in the arts. I guess it's no different than being asked, "How is work" or "How is the family"? We need to find a common thread that can connect us to a shared value or idea so that the conversation can begin. I open conversations with a line like this often yet when asked of me, I am regularly met with a certain amount of internal angst and confusion as to how I should answer such a question.

Especially of late, I just finished the Identity project which was a two year process from conception to exhibition. Since then I've been in a mode of exploration of both photography and motives. The Identity project changed how I view my relationships and my life experiences. I understand that all art is personal but what is the motivating factor for the creation of the art? Ideally it is always an honor for it to be seen, appreciated and discussed in societal circles but WHAT IF that factor has taken a real backseat to your ultimate goals and expectations? Being seen or heard is like the icing on the cake or the validation of a job well done. How many people do you need to feel that way? Is it the masses or can it be one or can it just be you? Who are you creating for?

For me the journey and the process have always been the most important part of the creation of my images but the accolades are always nice as well. I've been doing a lot of soul searching lately and ask myself often, If I was told that the work I create would never again be seen by the public, would I still create my art? The answer is a resounding, YES!

So, what are you working on and who are you creating your art for?

Sunday's Session

Rough edit from Sunday's session.

State of Being  ©William Zuback

Whats old is new again, analog one year later

It's been almost one year ago that I pulled out and dusted off the 4x5 view camera along with some vintage odd camera's and dedicated myself to exclusively creating my fine art images with film again. With this experiment came a renewed appreciation for the craft of photography, which for people who know me, is very important. I've had successes and failures with this "new again" old process of picture making but the successes far exceeded my expectations and I don't see myself going back soon.

My current work flow process is that I photograph my subjects with my 4x5 view camera and then process the film in my crude but functional darkroom. I do have an enlarger and could take the traditional process through to completion but found the print and paper quality of today's inkjet printers makes my work look like a traditional beautiful black and white print. So I scan my film to an old Epson scanner, one sheet at a time, do my minor tweaks in Photoshop and then make a digital print. I'm loving the results and the process.

It's forced me to renew the discipline of the skills I've learned and leave behind the bad habits I've created from shooting digital for the last 12 years. I'm in love with the process, there is no denying that. I feel that the people that step in front of my camera have also come to love the process as well. Some of them never having been captured with film before.

Everything is forced to slow down to make it work. No more rapid fire of model movements. Each pose thought out, tested, rearranged, "yes, that's it"!, perfect, don't move, click. Sometimes I only use the modeling lights on my strobes and my sitter is asked to hold steady for a one, two, sometimes three second exposures. Sometimes I sync to my strobes and capture the moment in a flash.

What I have found through out this past year is that I shoot less but have a higher quantity in ratio to the amount of captures, that are wonderful, usable images. A normal figure study/portrait session consists of capturing 20-30 images and I've found the results and reward to be unparalleled, at least for me, my methods and my desired outcome.

I listen more and see more broadly, fine tuning each detail to be right in the camera. I experience more, I share more, I am seeing through a new set of eyes!

Current ©William Zuback 2013

Abstract II ©William Zuback 2013

Quiet ©William Zuback 2013

Midnight ©William Zuback 2014

iphone self portrait

I am always looking for  interested and enthusiastic sitters to create beautiful portraits. Message me if interested.