It's a sort of (very) good news, (not so) bad news thing...
First the good news: The hand-made, first-edition of my book, "the lawn was like a hay field", sold out on the first day that I announced its availability!
I am extremely grateful for all of the interest!
So the bad news is that they're gone. I am truly sorry if anyone was disappointed because they were not able to snag a copy.
The news may not be SO bad though. I am actively researching commercial printing options for a 2nd edition. I really enjoyed printing and hand-binding each of the books in the 1st edition, but it is really an investment in time and materials, so “limiting” the number is essential. A commercially-printed edition would obviously be more like a mass-produced art book than a hand-made one, but it would not be a limited one.
This idea is currently just that, an idea. A 2nd edition doesn't yet exist, so my ramblings here are not a commitment. Today though I would like to conduct an extremely unscientific survey. As many of you know, my blog posts feature a "like" button at the bottom of each post (it looks like a heart). You don't have to log into anything to register your opinion and I cannot see who presses the button. I only see a number of clicks. (You can always leave a comment for me though) But if you like the idea of more books being available, especially if you think you would like to purchase one, I would ask that you press the "like" button in today’s blog (look for the heart). There would be no commitment on your part either, but the raw numbers would be a fairly useful data point for me.
Thank you again for all of your interest in, and support of my work!!!
Adrien
The Book, Part 4
All 18 copies of my limited edition, hand-made photo book, "the lawn was like a hay field", are finished!
The books are 8.5 x 8.5 inch, 72-page, hand-made, hard-cover books, and the pages are all ink-jet-printed, so the photographs are just that, not reproductions.
The content, design, and printing of this piece is something that I have been working on for more than a year; in a way, actually for 55 years. Some of the photographs in the book are ones that I had created when I was a teenager in the small town in which I grew up, sequenced along with ones that I made there in the last couple of years. It’s a story of my growing up in that time and place, and how we both have changed in some ways, and both have stayed the same.
I have a few more logistical details to work out, but in the coming days I will have some of the edition available for purchase through my web site.
I will post the link once the page is live.
Today I am also publishing a new gallery containing some of the images from the project here on the web site. You can view the gallery here: https://adrienbisson.com/the-lawn-was-like-a-hay-field
Breathe
I realized yesterday that I am constantly just this far away (I'm holding up two fingers to show a small amount) from ripping the head off of anything that irritates me. Just this morning I have already cursed out a bar of soap and a box of tissues. Nothing good came of that. I read an article yesterday that described my state as "languishing". In fact, if someone asks me how I am, rather than saying that I'm "fine", or "doing well", I am supposed to say "Honestly, I’m languishing". I'm not sure who that is supposed to help, but there you are.
I need to breathe!
All winter, the Covid Winter, I had been trying to cope and remain creative by just trying to accept where we were and make some art. And remember to breathe through it all.
I have put together a gallery of the work here. I want you to click that now and breathe with me. There's nothing profound there. Nothing challenging. No irritating tissue boxes. Just some images that I made and that I hope will help you breathe with me.
If you missed the link to the gallery, click here.
Alone Together
Long, long ago, in December of last year, I signed up for a workshop/class at the Griffin Museum of Photography, in Winchester, MA. I have been a member at the museum for a number of years and have taken several short workshops during that time, but I had always wanted to take what is called the Atelier, a 12-week portfolio and project building course. I had decided back in the Fall that I would 'retire' from my commercial photography business either at the end of the coming fiscal year, or the calendar year of 2020, so knowing that I would be cutting back on things in the Spring, I wanted to take the workshop.
Then in March, things changed a bit. The first class was held, in person, on March 10th. I remember there being nervous discussion at the class about 'the virus', but we all pushed forward. After that first meeting it was decided that the next week's class would be cancelled until things were sorted out. We ended up meeting the following week via GoToMeeting, and did so for the remainder of the class. I initially thought that this would not go well, but everyone who was willing to try the on-line meetings, and especially the instructor, Meg Birnbaum, made it work.
Unfortunately, none of us have formally met in person since that first meeting, and while The Griffin will be holding a virtual reception on-line, and a physical show at the museum, it will certainly not be the exhibition that we had hoped for. Anyone can visit the Griffin and see the show, once it is hung, but must make an appointment, and the showing is private.
On a happier note though, the workshop was really inspiring and mind-opening. I especially enjoyed watching the other participants work thought creating a body of work for the show, as well participate in the back and forth critiquing that we did each week of each other's work. Meg does a fantastic job of inspiring, coaxing, and directing the class's efforts. A subset of each body of work will be shown at the museum, as well as on-line (see the links below). After the show, I will create a gallery of my full set of images here on my web site.
Coming back to my 'retirement' story, by the end of the first quarter of 2020, work stopped for photographers. I did have one shoot on June 1st that I had booked back in March, but otherwise things came to a halt. That was when I decided to step back and not worry about returning after the sheltering. In fact, my project for the Atelier is called "Alone Together", and tells a story of those first three months in which Amy and I isolated ourselves back when we were all working through so many unknowns. I have retired from my commercial business, and have let go of my Western Ave Studio, which I will write about at a later date, but I plan to continue working on personal projects that will find their way to the web site.
I hope you look at all of the images of the other participants, as well as possibly go to the Griffin to see the work in person.
Showing: September 5 – September 27, 2020
Virtual Reception: September 13, 2020 4-6 PM
2017 - That Was The Year That Was
I usually do an end-of-year retrospective of my work, but this year I am running a little late. But it's not really TOO late, is it? So here, without any excessive wordiness, are some of the things that I was involved with in 2017. I hope it is fun to skim through!
Melissa 2016
My friend and colleague, the excellent Richmond, Virginia wedding photographer Melissa Desjardins came to my studio again on her recent visit. I hope you enjoy the photos and that you check out her work!
