mere cat

Other People’s Photo News

Although I am working my way through a backlog of unprocessed film stretching back decades (probably got a good shot of Elvis in there somewhere), I have nothing to show yet, so I am taking this opportunity to deflect attention away from my lack of accomplishment and point out just some of the notable achievements of some more-or-less-local photographers.

First, belated congratulations to Kathleen Connally for winning a Photobloggie earlier this year, “Best American Photoblog.” It’s just another recognition for her paean to the haunting beauty of Durham Township, PA. She must be shopping for a bigger mantle.

Albert Yee has had a photoblog for years, but recently he quit his day job, won the Metro photo contest (among other honors), and built a killer portfolio site (thanks mainly to an abundance of killer photos). Call me crazy, but he could make a living at this stuff. Seems like a good plan.

The photographer behind Luminous Lens recently launched a lovely new photoblog.

This isn’t breaking news, but I finally got a copy of Kyle Cassidy’s Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in Their Homes. I was privileged to meet Kyle through our shared interest in Leica cameras. He would have a place in my personal pantheon if only for his wonderful cat pictures, but he does more challenging projects from time to time, you know, just to pay the bills so he can keep taking cat pictures. His portraits are both imaginative and sensitive, exhibiting wide-ranging creativity, but always in the service of portraying his subjects and their guns. He is working on a new book about veterans and their tattoos, called War Paint: Tattoo Culture & the Armed Forces.

Finally, huge news from Zoe Strauss, who won a United States Artists Fellowship, conferring a substantial grant worth (in the universal currency of photographers) well over ten thousand rolls of Tri-X. All I can say is, What took them so long?

For me, it’s back to developing. I processed five rolls yesterday (Elvis wasn’t on any of them). I’m changing my film processing procedure a bit, and I feel a post coming on about that, so I think I need to go lie down until it passes...