In the aftermath of 9/11, I became obsessed with photographing people in gasmasks.
Category: Black and White Photography
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From The Archive: Fear, NYC
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Video of Botanica Obscura Gallery Opening
Here’s a short video of the Botanica Obscura gallery opening on 8-24-12. You will probably want to click on the gear icon in the lower right corner of the YouTube window and select one of the HD versions:
Here is a version on Vimeo.
Thanks to Charlotte at Anderson’s for the event and Robert at Same Room Records for the music!
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From The Archive: West Seattle Totem Pole
~ Click To Enlarge ~ I shot this totem pole in the late ’90s in Viewpoint Park in West Seattle. It was shot on my all-time favorite (but a pain to work with!) film: Kodak HIE Infrared. Looks like with a Canon 24mm lens on my AE-1P. Interesting story: one day a crew with a crane pulled up and removed the pole. Stolen. Just like that. It’s back in place, and it has been restored. Quite a beautiful piece of work.
Totem pole.
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Free Botanica Obscura Fine Art Postcard and Print!
Dramatic headline, eh? So, here is the deal: First Like My Facebook Page and then come to my August 24th Botanica Obscura Gallery Opening. Each person that does this will receive a postcard printed with my Botanica Obscura #2 image–with postage already affixed! In addition to that, one out of that group of people will walk away with a signed 8×10 print of their choice from the Botanica Obscura series.
Here is a .pdf of the postcard.
Easy right?
Botanica.
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From The Archive: Triptych From The Production Of “The Arm”
~ Click to enlarge ~ I shot some set photos for a small horror movie production called “The Arm.” I’m not sure if it ever made it to the screen… (more…)
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Flyer for my Botanica Obscura Gallery Show at Anderson’s Store Gallery
As I wrote here I’m having a gallery show of my project Botanica Obscura at the Gallery at Anderson’s on Guemes Island.
Here is the flyer for the show.
Please Like Me on Facebook and I’ll probably buy you a beer.
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Botanica Obscura Gallery Show Schedule 2012
I have two gallery shows of the Botanica Obscura project coming up in the next few months. If you are in my neck of the woods, please come by and take a look at some art, have a drink, and enjoy some great music by my old friend Robert Sarazin Blake.
Anderson’s Gallery
Guemes Island, WA
Opening Friday, August 24th @ 6pm – 9pm
Show runs from August 24th until September 30thGallery Hall, United General Hospital
Sedro-Woolley, WA
Opening TBA
Show runs from October 1st until November 30th
Fundraiser for permanent art collectionIf you can’t make it to either show, take a look at the images via the link above. I’ll also be posting a link shortly to a slideshow of the images on YouTube and Vimeo.
Gallery Show Schedule.
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9/11: My Images From That Day
I’m not sure why I’ve never posted the images I took on 9/11. They are always sitting there on my hard disk, tucked away in a safe little folder. The experience was something I’ll never forget, as much as I might like. I was lucky. I wasn’t physically hurt, and I didn’t lose any friends or relatives. But just like the images on my hard drive, the experience is tucked away in a little spot in the back of my brain. It occasionally rears its ugly head.
A small project came out of this experience, one I was driven to do. Please take a look at the images here:
https://jonwitsell.com/gallery/ixxi/
And, if you wish, follow the link at the bottom: Take a look and see what it was like on the ground from very close up… and take a peek into that safe little folder in my head.
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Mounting My Images on Plywerk Bamboo Panels
I have two solo shows coming up in the next few months (stay tuned!) and I was trying to find a non-standard way of mounting my images. I do like the typical matte board and black-museum-frame look, but for the Botanica Obscura work, I wanted to try something new–and, well, something more fitting. Right about that time I had been researching Dane Creek’s covers for the folios I am making (stay tuned some more!), I came across his post Plywerk Mounting Panel Review.
Long story short, I ordered a few test pieces and for the most part have been favorably impressed. Attaching your image is a straight forward process, if a little nerve wracking at first–you have to get the print on the ph-neutral adhesive correctly the first time, or the whole assembly may be ruined. You also have to be quite careful when trimming the edge of the print to the edge of the mount. Clear mounting and trimming instructions are included with every order. Plywerk mounts are offered in a large number of sizes and thicknesses, and in Birch and Bamboo–architects and builders will recognize the Bamboo base material as Plyboo. Plywerk also offers Photoshop .PSD files on their site here, that are designed so you can add your own image on a layer, for marketing and sales and such. That’s a nice touch. Here are two different versions of one of my Botanica Obscura images:
I’m using 310gsm Canson Infinity Platine Fibre Rag which is the inkjet version of the paper platinum/palladium printers have used for years. It has a nice surface, is acid free, and contains no optical brightening agents (OBAs). One of the reasons why I picked this paper was that this type of mounting is designed to be shown–not squirreled away in a collector’s dark cabinet. No OBAs means that there won’t be a shift to yellow as the brighteners lose their ability to fluoresce over time. I gave the mounted image 24 hours to let the adhesive set, then sprayed the image with two coasts of Premier Print Spray to help prevent scratches and finger prints on the image surface.
To sum up, I really like the Bamboo mounts for these particular images–they make for a more intimate, organic presentation.
Plywerk Bamboo.
