Mass Pike / Willard Suitcases / Rodrigo L / Rochester
I started the day very early driving west on the Mass Pike on my way to shoot suitcases.
We were able to learn quite a bit about Rodrigo from his papers. He came to Salt Lake City from the Philippines to attend high school.
He was always active in Filipino organizations in the US. After Salt Lake, he moved to Chicago for a time, then onto Buffalo before ending up at Willard.
I did a quick search for Herbert Ray Olmsted and found this on RootsWeb.
OLMSTEAD HERBERT R., Portrait enlargements and kindred lines of Art Work, studio and office 5 Delevan, h 11 Gaylord (See adv
Love Herbert’s stylish handwriting.
I am in an EconoLodge in Brockport, NY on my way to meet some Erie Canal folks to spend tomorrow shooting the autumn inspection of some of the locks east of Buffalo. Stopped in Rochester for a bite to eat just as the evening was arriving.
Heritage Center of Clark County
This ⇧ model (made out of corn kernels) is of the building in my previous post. It is displayed at the Heritage Center of Clark County. Incredible Richardsonian Romanesque architecture which houses one of the most interesting local museums that I have ever seen. Really, go check it out if you are ever in this part of Ohio.
So much of downtown Springfield is gone by way of the wrecking ball, which is really sad to me. But the Heritage Center has a fantastic recreation of downtown streets as the were decades ago. When I first came to Wittenberg, my friends and I used to stop in to Sons bar for a beer or two.
Off to the Wescott House now. I can’t wait to see it.
Springfield, Ohio
Much of the time when I stay in hotels, I get crap views out the window. This is a bit of an exception. The black streaks in the sky are crows, which came out in droves as the sun was going down. (Is that what a shitload of crows would be called? A drove? Hold on, I’ll look it up. Oh dear, it is a “murder” of crows.). There were hundreds of them, all making quite a ruckus. AND, when I was walking around town before dark, I heard what I was sure was a very loud hawk. It turns out it is a recording (!) of a very loud hawk, probably in an attempt to scare off the crows. What a world.
Mr Turner and More
We made it to the Tate Britain today to see the Turner show. It was amazing. No photography in the temporary exhibits, so no pics, but oh my, what an exhibit. He was it.
The rest of the museum was nice. All Brit artists and huge, with lots of variety.
Walked around London afterwards and saw these coots in St. James’s Park. I love coots.
Long bus ride out to Hammersmith to have a few pints at The Dove.
To me, it is the nicest and most welcoming pub in London.
John and I have a long history here. We never made it to the V and A for the Constable exhibit. Maybe tomorrow or Friday.
Tilghman(‘s) Island/DuPont Circle
I have spent the last two days on Tilghman Island shooting more artifacts and a bunch of really interesting artwork. It is a remarkable place, and I just love working there. The above shot is a detail from a very old linen map of oyster beds near the island. It was literally falling apart but is an amazing remnant of work life on the bay.
After 6 months of really hard work, it looks like Peter has found a job. It will be a few weeks before he starts, but we are so happy for him. I took a quick shower after the drive back to DC from Tilghman’s and we went right out to buy him some work clothes. There is a GAP practically next to Nando’s so we ate some chicken and then went to Larry’s for ice cream. It is a wonderful place on Connecticut Avenue. I had lavender, which was probably the most interesting flavor I’ve had in years.
Home tomorrow.
Travels
It has been a while since I’ve posted. I think it was a combination of having the Kickstarter campaign wrap up and feeling a bit of “Kharma Congestion” as my friend Alex would call it.
Last week Cris and I drove to Toronto. She was presenting at the annual CIES Conference and I was tagging along for fun.
We went out to an amazing South Indian restaurant called Udupi Palace and it was the best. Cristine’s favorite food in the world is a paper masala dosa, and Udupi has the best ones she has ever found outside of India. After we ate, we were waiting for a streetcar to take us back downtown and I saw this window display. Love the hands.
I was very excited to get back to Toronto to be able to see the Thompson Collection of Cornelius Krieghoff paintings at The Art Gallery of Ontario. Here is a previous post about my relation to him. The museum has a ton of his work. I was really jazzed to see so many in one place.
This is a detail from one of his paintings that is a sort of self-portrait of his family (in the sleigh).
I especially liked reading the bottom paragraph here. It helps to explain where I might get my own disregard for authority.
After Toronto, we drove to Pittsburgh for another of Cris’ conferences. On the way we had to stop at Niagara Falls. I hadn’t been on the Canadian side for years, and it was a beautiful day. (Unlike many, I also really like the American side.)
In Toronto we scored some of these great Roots mittens. And I bought this hat in the Soviet Union in 1982, a very long time ago.
Next stop was Eddie’s Footlong Hot Dogs on the Lake Road just outside of Meadville. I grew up eating these and was thrilled to see that they had opened for the season just a few days earlier. I rarely post pictures of food, but oh man are these good. Too cold to eat at the picnic tables, but two with the works hit the spot.
We got to Pittsburgh in time for a nice walk along the River. It is a fantastic city that somehow remains largely intact. The downtown is full of beautiful buildings that are mostly in good shape, and it seems, just waiting for a revival of sorts. It is hard to imagine why young artists aren’t flocking here and making it home. It is such a cheap place to live, with amazing loft spaces right in town, and tons of culture. And the rivers!
So many beautiful steel bridges. This one leads to PNC Park, just across the river from downtown.
Here’s a view looking back across the water.
Our hotel was very near to Penn Station and on Sunday morning I took a walk over to check it out. As a kid I had traveled through it on the train, and the upper floors are now converted to “luxury” apartments. This is a section of the dome which used to be the main entryway from the street.
It was sad to see the “modern” waiting room like this.
With only two trains a day, and nothing running North/South there isn’t much activity. And the times aren’t particularly convenient.
Thanks for checking in. I’ll try to get on a more regular schedule of posting. Tomorrow Peggy Ross is coming over and we are meeting with my friends at Small Batch Books to start work on the Suitcases book reward. I’ll keep updating progress on the project, and plan to be back shooting next week.
Miscellaneous Stuff
It has seemed that for the past three weeks, my life has been consumed by the Kickstarter appeal. It has been a great, if not intense, experience. What I like most is that I am meeting such interesting people who are drawn to the project. Paul Mullins is a professor of anthropology at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, and he just posted a great piece on his wordpress site. Here is the link. I like how serious academics have taken to thinking and writing about the suitcases.
Last Wednesday I drove to Exeter, NH to photograph the poet Willie Perdomo for Poets & Writers Magazine. He is an amazing guy, and we had a tremendous dialogue about art, creativity, and life in general. The story will run in the May/June issue. I’ll post a link when it is online. He generously gave me a copy of his new book and I had fun reading it on the train back from New York on Saturday evening.
I was in the city for a memorial service for the husband of a good friend who I met through the suitcases project. I am reminded again and again how way beyond photography the cases are for me. The service was very moving, and as these events often do, it reinforced the idea that friendship, love and a simple appreciation of being alive and healthy are what it is all about. So thanks to all of you who are reaching out. The connections mean so much to me.
Recently
Sometimes I get a bit frustrated when I don’t post here as soon as I have some interesting (to me) photographs. / We were up in Maine for Thanksgiving at my brother and sister-in-law’s house. They live near to Higgins Beach in Scarborough, ME and on Thursday the ocean was really kickin’. I went for three separate walks to the beach the next day and each one was interesting in its own way. The surf was up (especially by East Coast standards) and at one point there were at least 40 surfers out.
On the morning walk I noticed that tons of sea creatures were washed way up on the beach, including this guy. Very alive and, I hope, happy to be put back into the ocean. Would have made a nice little lunch though.
On our way home on Saturday, I finally stopped to take a shot of this structure on Route 1 in Scarborough. I liked the light, and it is nice to see how helpful the owners are in identifying just what this thing is.
Further (farther?) down Route 1 is Bob’s Clam Hut in Kittery and since Peter was with us it seemed a nice time to stop in for a bite. As usual, amazing fried clams.
Next stop was in Boston for our annual walk around the outside of Fenway Park. So sweet to have the 2013 World Series banner hanging.
And I have always liked this statue, especially Dom DiMaggio’s specs. / We ended the Boston leg of the trip with a stop at the Blue Ribbon. For Peter, this day was a triple play; clams, Fenway, and Blue Ribbon. He was a very happy boy.
And finally, there is this. Image-wise it is kind of an orphan here, but I love the floating cone in the middle. I spotted this on a walk with Pete yesterday afternoon. / I take him to the train in New Haven tomorrow, and as usual, it will be difficult to say goodbye. Cris and I have had so much fun being with him for the past few weeks.
Union Station, New Haven
Peter took the train up from DC yesterday and I drove to New Haven to meet him. He arrived at about 3.30 and the light was beautiful. / England were playing Germany in a friendly and we found a great pub in the downtown called Christy’s and were able to watch the second half of the match (England 0- Germany 1). Great place.
Elmira Prison / South Church
Craig Williams sent me a link to an article that ran in the Trumansburg, NY weekly paper, and I wanted to pass it along. It is a very well thought out editorial on the potential closing of two Southern Tier psych centers (Willard is also mentioned). Here is the link. I thought of the above photo when the writer spoke about how the alternative to folks getting help in psych centers is to house them in prisons. The above photo is from a project I did in the 1980s photographing early 20th Century New York State prisons. This particular shot was taken in the Elmira Correctional Facility which would undoubtedly end up hosting some of the very people who would not be able to get treatment in the psych centers that are meant to close. I accept that it is all very complicated, but some logical planning on the State’s part should be encouraged.
On a somewhat connected note, yesterday I photographed a very moving interfaith service at the South Church in Springfield called “Creating a Peace-Full City”. There has been an awful spate of gun-related violence in Springfield this year, and many have come together to see if something positive could be done about it. I had never been in this church before and it is stunning.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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