Saint John Fisher College Suitcases Exhibit
Hi Everyone. Just a quick announcement about an exhibit of the suitcase photos at Saint John Fisher College in Rochester, NY. It has been amazing working with the folks there, especially Ryan Thibodeau and Cathy Sweet. The seminar on Saturday the 19th should be amazing and will be streamed on Zoom. I’ll post a link to the url soon.
Best and thanks, Jon
American Demographics / Hope and Feathers Exhibit (Image #8)
I never did know if the selective hand coloring on this image was Mike Rider’s suggestion or that Robby Aceto was pinched for time when he did the work. I do know that when he was doing these for American Demographics he was also very active as a touring musician. He has worked a lot with guitarist David Torn and quite a bit with David Sylvian. When I saw Robby recently he talked about doing a gig in New York City and then coming back to his hotel room to work on photos for the magazine. It is always possible that he just ran out of time before this issue went to press. I look at this and imagine the sky being blue and the grass green, but the more I look at it, the more I like the fact that only the banners are colored.
The exhibit opens up in about a month. I am really looking forward to it.
Willard Suitcases / Charles F. / Update
I’ve been busy with the Hope and Feathers exhibit and quite busy with my freelance work, but the suitcases project is never far from my mind.
I am working on an interesting collaboration on Charles’ cases and hope to have some exciting news soon.
He had an interesting collection of ties.
There are quite a few Penny postcards in the collection as well as some interesting hand- written notes. You can see the New York State Museum’s catalogue number (in pencil) on the upper right side of the white paper.
Thank you all for following this project. I will be devoting a ton of time to the suitcases later this month as I continue to develop ideas for getting the photos out to a wide audience. And Peter Carroll, Deb Hoard, and I are beginning to work hard on a preliminary short film which we can send to funders for the larger documentary that we plan to produce.
American Demographics / Hope and Feathers Exhibit (Image #5)
I started going to presidential inaugurations back in the 1970s. I think the last one I did was Clinton’s second. I am going through my contact sheets to identify the specific dates of each photo for the Hope and Feathers / American Demographics show, so I can’t yet say what year this was taken. I should have all the dates by the time the exhibit goes up. I especially like Robby Aceto’s hand coloring of this shot. Really nice.
American Demographics / Hope and Feathers Exhibit (Image #3)
I really like this image a lot. This is Dan who was a friend of Don who was a friend of Herman’s when we all went to a Mets game at Shea. If I remember correctly, Dan was a scientist of some kind and I think he might be an academic somewhere. If I can track him down, I’ll give him this print. Today Herman sent me Don’s phone number, so I’ll text him to see if he is still in touch with Dan. Robby Aceto did a great job hand coloring this one.
We are in the process of finalizing the Hope and Feathers show. Looks like the opening will be on 5 October and I will be giving a gallery talk sometime later in the month. Details to follow. I am really excited about this.
American Demographics / Hope and Feathers Exhibit (Image #2)
This photo was taken in Columbus, Ohio in late December of 1981. I almost felt compelled to knock on the door and see if they wanted to interview me. It was an unsettling time in my life. / Those Millar Mitts do go way back.
I’m working on my statement for the exhibit and will continue to post here whenever Hope and Feathers start putting details online. Have a great weekend everyone and thanks for following.
American Demographics / Hope and Feathers Exhibit
I’ll write more about this later, but I wanted to start posting some of the images that will be in an exhibit at Hope and Feathers Gallery in Amherst this October. The photos were all featured as illustrations for articles in American Demographics Magazine and were hand colored by the amazing Robby Aceto. I put this photograph up on my Instagram a few days ago (jonkcrispin) and got a great comment from “thepunchandjudyman” identifying this fellow as Percy Press II. Check out this amazing clip. Classic Punch and Judy with a Christmas theme.
The exhibit opens on 4th October and runs through the month. Opening reception on the 4th. Hope (and Feathers) to see you there.
White Lightning /Alex Ross
I bought 3 Paul Buff White Lightning Ultra strobes sometime in the 80’s. I always liked the company and Paul Buff designed them to last forever. He was a really interesting fellow who started out on the West Coast doing recording and engineering work with Frank Zappa. He saw a need in the photo industry to have a strobe system that was simple and powerful, so he moved to Nashville and started building these. I still have my original 3 units, and they work fine.
At some point during the time I was shooting the suitcases my dear friend Alex Ross gave me 5 of his Ultra 1800’s, which are 3 times more powerful than my original set. I used them for the majority of the project. Yesterday, I pulled out one of them to do some quick shots and saw his somewhat cryptic notes on it. It is never a bad idea to thank the people in your life who have made a continuous and positive impact. I wouldn’t be the photographer that I am without Alex’s influence and support, and he might never really know just how much he means to me. Thanks Ace.
Willard Suitcases / Madeline C / UTMB
I apologize for the long gap in posting about the suitcases. It has been an incredibly busy time. I have been devoting most of my mental energy getting prepared for a series of talks at the University of Texas Medical Branch that are scheduled for next week. This is a huge honor for me, as I will be a visiting Osler scholar. When I was in Galveston in 2016 presenting to NAMI Gulfcoast I was approached by Dr. Dwight Wolf about returning to speak at UT to the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences department. Cristine and I fly out on Sunday (weather dependent), and there are events scheduled for the whole week.
Here is a rundown.
Monday the 15th – I’ll be speaking about the suitcases and my other work at the Galveston Arts Center from 6-8 pm.
Tuesday the 16th – Osler Club Grand Rounds, Temple B’nai Israel, 3008 Avenue O, Galveston. I believe this is open to the public but reservations are required.
Earlier that day I will present the project to residents at UTMB. This is not open to the public.
Wednesday the 17th – IMH Colloquium at UTMB during the lunch hour. Jennie Sealy Hospital. This might be open to the public, I’m not sure.
That evening I’ll be speaking at the Galveston Historical Foundation about the suitcases and my other documentary institutional work. 6-7 pm at Menard Hall, 3302 Avenue O, Galveston.
Thursday the 18th – There is an open mic event with Dr. Steve Fisher with a display of photographs of both of our work. Dr. Fisher has been photographing the collection of medical specimens at UTMB. Should be interesting. 3rd Floor Old Red. I’ve been told it is an amazing building.
That’s it for now. Thanks for following.
Willard Suitcases / Herman G
Herman G was featured in the 2004 New York State Museum exhibit on the suitcases. His story is interesting in that he was a patient at the “Craig Colony for Epileptics” before he came to Willard. I had posted about him around the time we photographed his box of photo gear and correspondence in 2015.
I have just uploaded the complete edit. You can see the collection here.
I’ll start work on Rodrigo L. tomorrow. His story is amazing. Thanks for following.
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