Posted on January 19th, 2010 in Art & Theory, Education, Europe | Leave A Comment
If there’s one constant in life and art, it’s change. And I’m learning to embrace it.
After some serious soul searching, I’ve come to the conclusion that my work falls under one main idea - one thought - “the other”. I can’t distinguish any longer between a portrait of a mentally challenged trash man in Utah or an image of a smokestack next to a (former) concentration camp in Germany. The theme and ideas are the same to me now.
To my mind, my work is about difference (I often refer to this as, "the other") and memory. It’s an investigation about how we see each other and what that means in our daily lives. The memory is both personal and universal - do we learn anything from the past, or is it something we ignore and/or deny? I want my work to question self-consciousness, too. I request that the viewer think about themselves from the inside out, not outside in - a unexamined life…
I heard a comment about the words, "equal" and "the same", last night on the radio. It was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so it was a good time to reflect on equality, difference, and sameness.
I came to realize that I don’t want everyone to be the same, but I want equality. In a perfect world, we would all be equal (rights, respect, etc.) and we would embrace one another’s differences. That’s in a perfect world. I suppose that’s what I try to do. In a circuitous way, I try to celebrate the differences between us. I enjoy a unique face as much, or more, than a "beautiful" face, etc. etc.
I am infinitely infatuated with difference (in a good way). I think I equate difference/uniqueness with awareness somehow. I don’t mean that in the sense of trends or fads, but in the sense of being who you are, fully aware of that (internally) and letting the world deal with it - not the other way around.
That brings me to the intent of my blog; a Spanish online magazine called, "1:1Foto Magazine" out of Madrid has featured some of my work in this issue. You can see it here or click on the image to go to the site. They are a great group of people and actually understand what I’m doing and have done. Muchas gracias!
I’m very happy to be making work, thinking, dreaming and living more as an artist now. I will continue to work toward being more self-aware and not being disconcerted about being who I am. And I’ll continue to make work in that context with the hope of teaching myself, and others, tolerance.
Thomas Huxley said, "Try to learn something about everything and everything about something."
Tags: collodion, Quinn Jacobson, Spanish magazine
Posted on May 7th, 2008 in Collodion Workshops | Leave A Comment
On Friday (May 2) we hopped on a flight (Ryan Air) to Glasgow, Scotland (UK). It was about an hour and forty minute flight. Too easy.
I meet a lot of people through my wet plate photography interests and this is how we ended up in Scotland. Carl Radford and his wife, Liz, (and their dog Lewis) welcomed us, put us up in their beautiful home, fed us, walked us around Glasgow and even picked us up and dropped us off at the airport! How kind is that?
We had never met Carl until last weekend. He is hosting a wet plate Collodion workshop that a Californian bloke named Kerik Kouklis is flying over to teach. Kerik and Carl have been friends for a couple of years.
It was great fun to be involved in the revival of wet plate Collodion in Scotland after 150 years of it being gone. Carl and I made the first plates in Scotland since (probably) the 19th century. It was a blast.
After the wet plate Collodion events, we wandered the streets of Glasgow and went to a great Japanese restaurant (oddly enough) called Wagamama. It was really good. It seems to be very popular in the U.K. The Radfords also cooked us haggis and traditional Scottish meals. Scottish food is outstanding, very, very good. And yes, haggis tastes excellent.Enjoy the photos (click to make them larger) and video (below)!
Bagpipes, bagpipes, and bagpipes galore!
A wee bit nore…
Our friend, Carl wandering Glasgow.
Carl, Liz, Jean, Summer and Quinn in
the Glasgow subway.
Downtown Glasgow.
Jean points us out on a 3-D map.
Scottish pounds. 1 pound = $2.05 (USD)
More bagpipe players - great stuff!
University of Glasgow.
Tags: bagpipes, collodion, Glasgow, Scotland, workshops
Posted on July 15th, 2007 in Collodion Workshops, Europe, Family | Leave A Comment
Saturday July 14, 2007 - Marigny le Châtel, France!
We took off Friday after work and ended up in Marigny le Châtel, France! Me, Jean, Summer, Denise and Lucky loaded the camera gear and piled in the car and took off for the weekend. It was one of the best (if not the best) trip I’ve had.
Marigny le Châtel is about 1 hour southeast of Paris. It’s a small village in the country. The people are nice and the wine and food is yummy!
Katrina brings more wine as Thierry and Jean wait patiently for another glass.
I really like this image - Jean, Denise, Lucky and I were out walking before breakfast Saturday morning and I saw this reflector disc - I love to shoot picture in them - this one made it so painterly!
A wet plate (5×7) Ambrotype of Dr. Thierry Queinnec. He is a retired medical doctor that worked with amputees and handicapped people in his village for 25 years. He wanted to learn (and see) the wet plate process. We met him last month at the Paris Foto Show. He told us that the “tripod” of France is bread, wine and cheese. Look at the relection in his glasses in this image. I like that connection!
Denise and Thierry having coffee after lunch.
A cool French butcher sign I saw.
Having coffee after a seven course French meal - it was unbelievable!
Denise and Summer checking out a plum worm - it came from a fresh plum from the tree.
Jean says, “Prost” enjoying a couple of different French wines.
“The French Table” wife Katrina (left) and daughter Judy. Wet plate 5×7 Ambrotype.
Talking shop with Thierry - I can’t speak French but I can say - Oui, Oui - Merci!
The gang having coffee Saturday morning with croissants! Magnifique!
Driving into the village.
The hotel we stayed at - we will be back again!!!
Tags: collodion, France, French country side, Marigny le Châtel
