Willard Suitcase / Delmar H. / Willard Tour
It has been a while since I have posted any suitcases. It is never far from my mind, but there is a lot going on in other areas of my life. There seems to be an uptick in interest for some reason. What usually happens is that a blog or website picks it up and it starts spreading anew. Greetings to new viewers. / I have always loved cases with exotic travel labels, and Delmar’s had a few.
I wonder when he went to South America.
I will be at Willard this Saturday for the annual tour. I would encourage any of you who live nearby to come. There is a$10.00 admission, and it is a rare chance to get into some of the buildings and wander around the cemetery. There are two tours; 9.00 AM and 1.00 PM. I will be at the one in the afternoon . Here is a link with information. Hope to see you there.
Goats / Tulip
I have always liked goats, and my friend Tania Werbizky really likes goats. I was driving through Hadley this afternoon and I passed these guys. I stopped, took a few photos and then just as I was about to leave, a trailer pulled up with MORE GOATS! That is why most of these ones are looking to the right. The new arrivals were let into the field and all these guys ran over to greet them. Some head-butting was noted.
About 10 years ago I planted a bunch of daffodil and tulip bulbs. At the time I remember reading that the daffs would keep coming up annually, but that the tulips had a life of around five years. This is the last of them to flower; a lone red tulip in the middle of daffs and baby’s breath. I’ll be surprised if it comes back next year, but this one showed some resilience.
Pingry and Travel
I just spent the past four days shooting a project at the Pingry School in New Jersey. The days were very full, the work was great and since it was with my friends at the Herson Group, we enjoyed ourselves tremendously. / I have been photographing Peter Carroll jumping almost as long as I have known him (which is a very long time). And while I was living in Ithaca, I spent a lot of time photographing portable toilets, and had a very one sided postcard correspondence with The Portable Sanitation Association. These toilets were on the high end of comfort and I believe they were even air conditioned.
The spring is much further (farther?) along in New Jersey than it is in Massachusetts, and these dogwood blossoms were at their peak. Ours don’t even have leaves yet.
As I was driving through Springfield, the sky got really interesting and I pulled into a scenic area on the 91 to check out this beautiful rainbow. Not a great shot, but a lot of cars had stopped to watch it and there was a nice little collection of people taking in the scene. / Enjoy the weekend everyone.
Fenway
Yesterday I got a call from my friend Scott Chasan-Taber offering me a ticket to today’s Sox game. We drove in this morning and took the Green Line from Woodland to Fenway. It was a beautiful day for baseball; cool, breezy, and at times even a bit warm in the sun. The Sox lost to Oakland 3-2 in 10 innings, but it didn’t really matter so much to me. It was just lovely to be in the park watching baseball. Thanks Scott! / Wishing you all a great week. Cheers
Sebastian Lindstrom
I have always liked driving people to airports, train stations, and bus stations. I make it clear to friends that if my schedule allows, I am in. One of Cristine’s students is (was) Sebastian Lindstrom. He is leaving Amherst for good and we will miss him. It is always bittersweet to get to know the students, as we know they will eventually be gone. He is already doing interesting work with his organization What Took You So Long. Here he is standing in front of the MegaBus. Gone but not forgotten. Safe travels Sebastian.
Tiny Daffodils
Good morning everyone. The New York Times doesn’t come until after 9.00 on Sundays so I wander around waiting for it to show up. These daffs are just outside the back door so after my third time checking for the paper, I realized I should take a picture and post it here. / I am at the beginning of a week where I plan to spend maximum time in my studio cleaning, organizing, and generally getting rid of stuff I haven’t used in years. I started yesterday and it feels great. Back to shooting suitcases tomorrow and am very excited to be going with Ilan Stavans, as he has an interest in a particular case. Wishing you all a great week, and early delivery of your Sunday paper.
Vivian Maier Movie
I have been wanting to see “Finding Vivian Maier” for a while, so I caught a matinee in Amherst this afternoon. It is an interesting piece of work and I would really recommend anyone interested in art and photography to see it. It goes in a different direction than I thought it would, but that is never bad in itself. Her work was amazing though, and what John Maloof has done in putting this all together is nothing short of remarkable. / It is rare that it happens, but catching a movie in the afternoon can sometimes be just the ticket.
Willard Suitcases / John R
Near the end of a day’s shooting yesterday I asked Peg how many suitcases she thought we had photographed. She went to her computer and checked the database. We were up to 248 (out of 420) with two left to do before we shut down for the day. So we are well past the halfway point, and I was really cheered that we have made it so far. I shot the first case in March of 2011 and haven’t really been paying attention to the numbers, so it was a very pleasant surprise to see our progress.
John’s briefcase is particularly interesting, with a varied collection of items. All of the onionskin papers in the background are English language word and sentence exercises. It is possible he worked at General Electric for a time as he saved the pension and insurance plan brochures. And he was clearly a fan of the Lone Ranger and Tonto, Dwight Eisenhower, Mickey Rooney as well as cheesecake shots of women. The reporter’s notebook is especially interesting as it is full of a stream of conscious like composition in his beautiful handwriting.
Thanks for all the support and interest in the project. Cheers, Jon
Wrong
I’m sorry, but this just seems wrong. Mid April and 3 inches of snow. I’m pretty sure these guys will survive though.
Feist / Peter Pan
I have been a huge fan of the Canadian singer Leslie Feist for a long time. When I heard she was playing the Calvin Theatre in Northampton, I got online and scored two tickets. When I looked at the date, I saw that I was also scheduled to shoot the final dress rehearsal of the UMASS production of “Peter Pan”. A bit of a bummer, but since I have to work, Cris is going with one of her grad students. I am sure it will be great.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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