As previously mentioned, I have quite a bit of work from the last year to go through.

Here are a couple of photographs from Fountain Square in Indianapolis. Yep, color photographs.

I need to get back down there and make more pictures.

Lake Michigan Sequence

Here's a sequence of Lake Michigan on which I've been working - from our last trip up in July. Mike, I know you will want me to explain what I am trying to express, but I'll wait until we again meet to discuss this with you and Karen. My guess is that Karen will see it immediately, but her focus is so much better than mine.

Click on the sequence to enlarge.

Portrait & House

Here's more new work. These photographs were made in Nashville and Beanblossom, Indiana a couple of weeks ago.

Don't forget to click on the photographs to enlarge.

New Photograph

Since I have been so focused on editing the Clowes exhibit I haven't delved back into work that I've done over the last year. So, when time allows I'll post some work from the recent past.

That being said, from the past couple of weeks I have a little new work. Here is a photograph from just northeast of downtown Indianapolis. As per popular request, I am titling this photograph "2-B."

As always, click on the photograph to enlarge.

Dan Grossman, art writer and critic of Nuvo, has written a review of the Clowes Hall Grand Lobby exhibit, "New Work: Photographs by Ron Kern.

Here's an excerpt: ...you see a statue with trees and the sky in the background. But the sky itself seems to bleed into the foreground statue. This photograph seems to have an unexpected quality of depth -- beyond the mere surface of things. Check out the rest of Dan's review here. Click here to view the entire exhibit online.


It sure great to see so many photography exhibits in Indianapolis. Heart be still, now through March 21, 2010, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, in the Golden Gallery, has an exhibition of photography - "Paired Photographs." IMA has an excellent collection of photography and it's about time that it is starting to see the light of day. There have been many changes since Maxwell Anderson took the reins at IMA. He has some critics but all of the changes I've seen are positive. Since his arrival, we are already seeing the second significant exhibition of photography. The first was the amazing set of prints from Robert Frank's "The Americans" in conjunction with Kerouak's "On the Road" manuscript. Maxwell and his staff have been sensitive to the needs of the musem going public by revising the food service. I'm starting to go way off on a tangent here. On another day, maybe I'll post more about IMA.

It's been a while since I've made a post here so I thought I'd put up and photograph that I really like - the "skyline" of Indianapolis taken out of an upstairs window of a building east of downtown - made with the Holga.

I'll be making a post or two about our reception, the invasion of the relatives and the Neko Case concert as I get a little more time. The exhibition at Clowes is going very well. James Cramer has made everything incredible and has handled our consternations (is that a word?) in the nicest possible manner.

Photography Archive

I have started a blog that I am going to use to present my archive. Going through old negatives I realized that I should digitize many of my old photographs. There are many negatives that were never printed and this is a chance to play catch up. From time to time I will lump a group into an online gallery. All photographs are from prior to 2000

As always, I welcome comments and discussion about the pictures.

Ron Kern Photography Archive

Clowes Hall Grand Lobby Portfolio

I have posted an online gallery of the Clowes Hall Grand Lobby exhibit. More about that and an announcement later.

Happy Fourth of July.

First Friday, July 3, 2009

We attended the First Friday opening of "Black and White" at the Dean Johnson gallery last evening. The gallery was filled with photography, black and white photography, of course. Two of the exhibitors are good friends of ours, Dale Bernstein of McCordsville and Andrew Johnston of Greenwood. In the past, I've written about Dale here on the blog. Dale is exhibiting three pieces from his wet plate work - work that always blows me away. Andrew is an excellent young photographer that is working very hard and is succeeding in developing his art and craft. Andrew is exhibiting four pieces, one of which I witnessed at the click of the shutter. Congratulations to them both. Their work, IMHO, is the class of the exhibit.

We also attended the final First Friday opening at the Ruschman Gallery. Mark Ruschman, one of the most respected gallery owners, and a leader of the arts community, in Indianapolis will be closing his gallery at the end of July. Here's an article from Nuvo where Mark gives an "exit interview." And, you can view the Farewell Exhibition here.

We ended the evening with a wonderful dinner at Amici's. Accompanied by our friends Robert, Steve, Naomi and Linda, we enjoyed the best Italian food and wine in Indianapolis. Special thanks to our host Robert.

Personal Influences - Part 2C

Bizarro World

Reach Through the fog that fools us all.

Reality is not man-made. The literal world that we see and
know every day is deceptive and fast disappearing.

Walk carefully the path of solid ground: discipline,
friendships, faith, and love of self and others are
your only hope.

From Poems: Solitary View

Karen Bruner Stroup

The photograph to the left is "Tryke" by Mike Stroup. (click on the photograph to enlarge)

This is the last post about my personal influences.


Mike and Karen Stroup are long-time friends. Mike is an excellent photographer (get busy Mike, we are waiting to see new work!) and Karen is a very talented writer.

Mike and I go back to the middle 1980s as members of Photo Venture. We hung several shows and worked on projects such as "A Day in the Life of Broad Ripple" together. Mike was also a charter member of Invision. To this day, he is a member of that organization and only because of him does Invision continue to exist.

A couple of years ago Mike shared a book with me that he had made of his photographs. He encouraged me to do the same. This started me back on the track of making photographs. I had stopped photographing because of reasons that I don't need to go into here. But, I had bought a digital camera and had been amassing plenty of digital files with which I had done nothing. So, thanks to Mike, Satch and I decided to do a book together with a selection of her current work and an edited selection of pictures that I had made over the past five years.

On a trip to Michigan I photographed at the Sunset Junque Shoppe (SSJS). Feeling a sense of renewal that day I decided to again make photographs. Again, later in the year, I made more pictures at the SSJS. I felt very good about the work and sensed a turning point in my photography. I decided to do a book. I asked Karen if she would write something for the book if I sent her the images to view. She asked what I wanted and I replied that she could write whatever she cared to write. Karen wrote six beautiful poems that got at the essence of what I was trying to convey in my photographs. The collaboration turned out wonderfully. I hope that we can do something with the book in the future. Time will tell.

The bottom line is that Mike and Karen provided me with a creative kick in the pants and a lot of what my work is about today is owed to them.

My wife Satch bought a Diana+ (a plastic camera) for me as a Christmas present. I had been struggling with what I wanted to convey in my photographs. I used Adobe Photoshop to work on the pictures from the Sunset Junque Shop to gain the feeling that I wanted but felt that was not going to work for the long haul. Digital photography was great, but it fell short with what I wanted in my photographs. Satch didn't want to see me go back to straight photography, She felt the technical side held me back, and she was correct. So, she thought a toy camera that had very few adjustments and a plastic lens was just the ticket and would free up the creative aspect of my picture making. I haven't turned back since. As I mentioned in an earlier post, David Michael Kennedy suggested using a Holga. So now the Diana+ and the Holga are the only cameras that I use creatively. These were the tools for which I had always been searching.

Ted Orland came to Indianapolis via the Eiteljorg Museum to give a couple of lectures and a workshop. Ted was an assistant to Ansel Adams for many years and knew all of the players in what I term the golden age of photography. Ted is an excellent photographer and an exceptional writer. Having the chance to speak with Ted about many of the great photographers that I have looked up to and get the real story was both interesting and inspiring. He gave a short workshop on Photoshop which opened my eyes to some available techniques that fit right in with the work I was doing. And, his book "Art and Fear" is necessary reading for anybody that wants to produce creative work. Ted got my juices flowing and opened my eyes to many possibilities.

That wraps up the posts about my personal influences. Whew.

Postscript: Earlier today while I was putting this post together, I thought about a fellow photographer that has since passed, David Lee Miller. David's photography was both poetic and lyrical. I miss David.

Clowes Hall Grand Lobby Portfolio Book

I've just completed the finishing touches for the book containing all of the photographs from the Clowes Hall Grand Lobby Exhibit.

The first edition is a softback book printed on premium paper and is limited to 25 signed copies. Copies will be available for purchase at the gallery talk/reception on June 28, 2009 from 1 - 5 PM. Anybody that cannot make the gallery talk/reception and is interested in purchasing a copy can also contact me via email at ronkernphoto@gmail.com.

I've taken a little time off posting here as I've had some catching up to do. We took a quick trip to Michigan right after we finished hanging the exhibit at Clowes Hall. I really didn't make many photographs as the time was more about R&R.

But, I did revisit a subject that I had photographed on our last trip. I liked the photograph that I posted here on May 6th, but wasn't completely pleased with it. So I approached the subject in a different way with a different attitude.

This is a much more realized image and conveys more of what I was visualizing and feeling about the subject matter. It is a triple exposure made with the Holga. (I haven't spent the time to fix the dust spots, so please bear with me.)

I will return soon and finish up, as promised, the post about my influences.

Clowes Hall Exhibit Opens

The Satch and Ron Kern exhibit, a part of the Art @ Clowes Hall program, has officially opened. Thanks to all of the fab folks at Clowes Hall, including James Cramer, who gave us this opportunity and has made sure everything has run incredibly smoothly, and Jay, who did all of the heavy lifting hanging the show. Thanks to my brother in law, Ed Satchwill II, who made the frames for my photographs.

Don't forget about the gallery talk and reception (party) on June 28, 2007. And, feel free to contact us at ronkernphoto@gmail.com if you would like for us to meet you and view the exhibit.

Here's a photo of Satch with one of her pieces, My Little Darling.

Personal Influences Part 2B

Many years ago I founded the photography group INVISION. The idea was to form a group of photographers that would support each other and, as a group, occasionally exhibit our photography. Thanks to that loosely formed organization I was fortunate to make friends with a group of folks that, in various ways, have influenced my perspective, understanding and appreciation of photography. Recently we had a casual reunion of sorts and have hopefully started the process of renewal. Here are some brief comments about these talented people.

Dale Bernstein - Dale is an incredibly accomplished photographer. His understanding and control of his craft and and how he applies that craft to making creative images is inspiring. Using some of the most difficult photographic processes, such as daguerreotype, ambrotype and wetplate collodion, Dale has produced amazing images. His ability to expertly combine all of the elements that he chooses to make an expressive image led me to think more deeply about the entire process of making a picture.

Dale printed and assisted for several of history's greatest contemporary photographers - Avedon, Penn, Horst. He has always been willing to share stories, etc. about working with these great photographers thereby giving insight into the creative process of a world that I can only imagine.

Stephen Rose - Steve was a professor of photography in Boston and has been a dealer of fine photography for many years. Steve's understanding of photography is on a plane far above mine. His perspective, comments and observations, to this day, cause me to evaluate my views and look deeper into many aspects of photography. Steve also makes excellent photographs. Studying the images that he produces, realizing his vast understanding of the art form, is always interesting and makes me realize that making an image should be a very personal thing rather than an impersonal amalgamation of what one has learned and studied.

Denis Ryan Kelly Jr. - It's really hard to know where to start with Denis regarding his influence on my work. Is it his incredibly warm, welcoming and friendly personality, his unflagging dedication to his vision and art, his willingness to share? With Denis, all of these elements are parts of the entire package.

Denis has traveled the world making wonderful photographs capturing the essence and spirit of his objects of discovery and study. Trying to find words to adequately describe Denis' work is beyond my limited writing capability. At this time he is installing his large format, multi-media exhibit, "Holy Lands, Journeys of a Pilgrim Artist" at his alma mater, Wabash College. He is presenting a colloquium on Friday the 5th of June at 1:00PM in Hayes Hall.

Part 2B, about Invision members Mike and Karen Stroup, and Ted Orland, will continue very soon in a future post.

Two books now available

We have made two books available for purchase from Blurb's bookstore - Sunset Junque Shop and Perspectives of Intent. Information is in the right hand column just below the Clowes Hall exhibit notice. Creating these books was a labor of love and we are pleased to be able to now offer them for purchase. If you have any questions contact me at ronkernphoto@gmail.com.

Putting it all together

Satch and I are in the final phase of getting the work finalized for the Clowes Hall exhibit. The house has turned into one big studio and as one can see in the photo, the kitchen has been converted one of the main work areas. This is an exciting time for us and it's fun to see the last year's worth of work come together. BTW, Satch's work is pretty amazing.

Influences Pt. 2A - David Michael Kennedy

The photograph at the left is by David Michael Kennedy and is titled Tres Tecolotes from June, 1988.

I am the fortunate recipient of so many personal influences that it is going to be difficult to discuss them in a brief manner. Many of the influences go back many years and are complex. Maybe the best way to accomplish this self ascribed task is a list of sorts, in no particular order. There will be more than one installment of part 2.

This is part 2A - David Michael Kennedy

Where to begin... at the beginning! - I knew some of David's photography long before I met him. His 1975 landscape photograph for Springsteen's Nebraska album cover perfectly set the stage for the music on arguably Springsteen's greatest LP. The photographs inside the album, and the ones used for promotion of the album, revealed Springsteen stripped away of any corporate packaging. But I had no clue about who was David Michael Kennedy.

Satch and I were in New Mexico sometime in the late 1980's, probably 1988, and stopped in Madrid on the way to Santa Fe. At the Madrid Supply Company we saw some amazing photographs by David Michael Kennedy. Printed in palladium, the prints were beautiful. The light was perfectly captured in all of the photographs. And there were photographs of Springsteen from the Nebraska session. Aha!

When in Santa Fe we went to Andrew Smith's Gallery and, to our surprise, we were able to view many more of David's photographs as a big exhibit of his work was going up. (Ask Satch about the Snow Owls). We simply loved everything about the photographs.

The next day we headed out to the Santa Fe Flea Market - which at that time was incredible - and while winding our way through all of the amazing stuff we happened upon a bunch of David's photographs spread out on a door that was supported by a couple of sawhorses. These photographs were silver prints rather than the palladium prints that we had viewed at Madrid Supply and Andrew Smith's. David's former wife, Lucy, was selling work prints to make some money. We were in heaven. Being of modest means we actually found some photographs of David's that we could afford! Among others that we purchased that day were a portrait of Bob Dylan and an outtake from the Nebraska session. We were on cloud 9 and pretty much hooked.

That same evening, at Andrew Smith's, there was an opening reception for an exhibit of David's work. We went but I was too nervous to actually talk to David, I mean, c'mon, he photographed Springsteen for Nebraska, which was pure magic for a Springsteen freak like me - AND he photographed Dylan in a way that I had never seen - I wouldn't have the nerve to actually talk to him. After a while Satch broke the ice. Like I said, ask her about the Snow Owls photograph. We had a nice short conversation which led us to keeping in touch over the years of triumphs and tribulations.

David's body of work is nothing short of incredible. His photographs of Native American dancers, portraits and landscapes show the versatility, compassion, sympathy and expertise of his artistry and his craft.

Over the years there are many, many things that I have learned from David while viewing and appreciating his work.

His use of light in combination with the composition of a subject is something that I never tire of.

David's understanding and skillful use of his tools and materials to present his work completes his vision.

His dedication to what he is artistically pursuing is something to behold. Overcoming tribal politics, his amazing portfolio of photographs of the Eight Northern Pueblo Dancers took a constant effort of seven years. His most recent project, traveling the back roads of the United State for two years in a vintage Airstream camper, photographing a large part of my country that is mostly unseen, and maybe even forgotten, has produced an incredible body of work.

Last year in a telephone conversation, while Satch and I were in Chicago, David encouraged me to try the Holga. I had been using a Diana+ which I still love for multiple exposures. Immediately upon returning home I purchased a Holga which has been my camera of choice from that point on. The Holga was the key for which I had been searching for many years.

After coming off of the road and a couple of brief detours, David now lives in El Rito New Mexico. I really do encourage anyone reading this blog to take the time to delve into David's work and story on his website. Photographers and fans of great photography will find many articles, photographs and excellent information. And, the blog of his two year road trip, well I've used enough superlatives - when you dig into it, you'll understand.

Finished Printing

Well, the photographs for the Clowes Hall exhibit are finally printed (only a very little spotting to be done). We had a couple of problems with the printer grabbing the print surface and leaving kind of a tread mark. After a few tweaks and a little good Karma everything turned out great.

Printing and Influences Pt. 1

Printing for the Clowes Hall exhibit has begun. It's going to be exciting to put the entire exhibit together on the frames made by Satch's brother, Ed Satchwill II. (click on photograph to enlarge - made in Michigan)

I mentioned earlier that I would post something about my influences. In two parts I'm going to briefly write about photographers and others who have had an impact on my work. It's not easy for me to put into words much of what I feel about this subject, but here goes...

The spirituality of Minor White's photographs is what tripped a switch inside of my brain that photography could transcend the simple recording of a scene. He was able to combine Ansel Adams' Zone System with the idea of equivalence as put forth by Stieglitz. Minor has an exceptional ability to see past the obvious of his environment and record scenes and portraits within exceptional light that reflected memories and the elusive inner spirit.

From a letter to Ansel Adams (May 17, 1964 Rochester, NY):

Semantically I make or accept and try to understand the esoteric use of the word Life and the opposite word Spirit. The first refers to all of nature and man that meets my senses both inner and outer, and which I am born into and also an CAUGHT in. On one hand it is to be avoided, and on the other hand it is all I have by which to encounter the seed of Spirit. The world of Spirit is practically unknown to me, maybe the tiniest speck has been seen, and it is quite different than Life, very different, to my state it seems quite the opposite.

In this preface to an unknown manuscript (1964 Rochester NY) Minor writes about Equivalence:

Equivalence - Recollections of the past with love balanced the greed. And I have blessed the metamorphosing power of camera because it thereby yields images corresponding to my memories of things past. Equivalence grew out of this. Equivalence in camera whereby the invisible is made visible to the intuition, the invisible organic, the invisible spirit.

Below are two examples of Minor White's work:


Seeing Robert Franks's original prints from the "The Americans" at IMA last year reaffirmed my view that photographs can transcend simple documentation.

Other photographers whose work I admire: Paul Caponigro, Edward Weston, Brett Weston, Paul Strand (esp. his work in New Mexico and his garden in Orgeval, France), Stieglitz, William Christenberry and many others.

The best advice that I have read:

“Concern yourself not with the question whether the medium of photography is art. The question is dated and absurd to begin with. You are art or not; what you produce is or isn’t. And don’t think about that either, just do, act.”

William Christenberry

In part two I will write about personal friends that have influenced my work.

Clowes Exhibit Printing - Close...

The painstaking process of dust removal from the digital files is nearly complete and printing of the exhibit should start tomorrow. I don't want to post the entire Clowes exhibit online as I'd like there to be a surprise or two for those who come to see the finished framed prints. That being said today I'm posting one of the major images from the exhibit as a preview.

Today's image was made in Nashville, Indiana. It is a multiple exposure of elements within a small area, including the sky. If I remember correctly, this is a combination of five or six exposures.

The Diana+ broke just minutes after the image was exposed. We were able to superglue it back together thanks to the help of a nice local lady. Since then it has broken again and has been agressively re-superglued. I'm hoping that the camera holds together as I really love the quality of image that comes from the plastic lens.

I hope to make a post about those that have influenced my photography in the next week, if time permits...

(click on photograph to enlarge)

Last Photo From MI

This is the last photograph that will be posted from the recent quick trip to Michigan. It is a multiple exposure and was made in Harbert.

(click on the photograph to enlarge)

Lake Michigan

From this past Wednesday, another photograph of Lake Michigan.

(click on the photo to enlarge)

Michigan

Spending a couple of quick days up in Michigan this past week I had a chance to make a few photographs. Here is one of Lake Michigan.

(click on photo to enlarge)

Final Stages

Editing the Clowes Hall exhibit is 90% complete. There are still a couple of little things that I am working out. As I discussed earlier I leave the interpretation of an image to the viewer. With that in mind, I do not title my photographs. The location and date of the photograph is all of the information that I provide. I got (stole) this idea from Brett Weston.

Here's a photograph that will be in the Clowes Exhibit. It was made at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2008.

(click on the photograph to enlarge)

Editing

With the help of Satch, I've begun editing the Clowes Hall exhibit. There are a couple of different directions that we are considering. The final idea has not yet revealed itself. In time it will. I hope anyhow, because I've got a lot of work to do to get to final prints!

All multiple exposure photographs are made in-camera. They are not layered in photoshop.

Here's another photo from this past weekend's session.

(click on the photo to enlarge)

Finished

Finishing up making the photographs for the Clowes Hall exhibit this weekend - at least that is what is intended.

Here is an image from that session.


(click on the photograph to enlarge)

Equivalent 2008

Alfred Stielglitz' Equivalents are alway a source of inspiration.

They are generally recognized as the first photographs intended to free the subject matter from literal interpretation, and, as such, are some of the first completely abstract works of art.*

This photograph was made in Indianapolis in the Spring of 2008.

*From Wikipedia

(click on the photograph to enlarge)

Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan has a multitude of personalities that can change from hour to hour and season to season. For the last several years the lake has been a source of renewal, escape and inspiration. This photograph of Lake Michigan was made on a morning in August 2008.

Many times I am asked what a particular photograph is supposed to mean, what is it's significance, etc. Each photograph that I present contains intendment and was made as a reaction to a particular stimulus or inspiration. But I do not desire to impress any preconceived idea onto a viewer. Rather I entreat the viewer to find their own interpretation and meaning within the photograph.

(click on the photograph to enlarge)

Minimalism

Continuing on with the Clowes Hall exhibit, today I worked on two photos. There are two additional photos to process from existing negs and one or two more to make. Soon the printing and editing process will begin.

The photograph posted today was made in 2008 with a Diana+. The location is just north of downtown Indianapolis. One of my current projects is to present, in a minimalist fashion, the manufactured environment that has been created within my sphere of life. I'll post more on this another day.

(click on the photo to enlarge)

Welcome

Welcome to my new photography blog.

Work is moving forward for the Clowes Hall exhibit June 1 through August 3, 2009. In total there will be 13 (maybe 14) images presented. The photographs were made with Diana+ and Holga cameras. The archival inkjet prints are mounted to frames designed and constructed by Edward Satchwill II. Final print selection will be made very soon. I have one more subject that I want to photograph for consideration.

I have a couple of ideas about subject matter for this blog leading up to the exhibit. Time will dictate whether any of the ideas come to fruition but I will endeavor to update the blog as the process leading up to the exhibit takes place.

The photograph shown on this post will be included in the exhibit.

(click on photo to enlarge)