cabrini green (before razing)

i was here
i was raised here
and played here as a child and
now as a adult i'm leaving here
after 30 years
with a lot of love
and memories

god bless
a child
with her new
home and now
i'm leaving my
love here and
taking it also
to the new home
god bless this house

back at the MCA chicago and in the projects too!

just found out the image down below will be in an upcoming exhibit at the mca chicago entitled mapping the self...more is at mcachicago.org

getting ready for LA show opening nov17th, info at d3projects.net. anybody with advice on buying a gps unit for my rental car and future road trips?

also, broke into chicago's infamous cabrini green housing complex with aron gent (arongent.com) to look for a living with a portrait. we found no abandoned portraits, but a mess of abandoned mattresses, shoes, books, garbage, postings, scrap wood, broken glass, peeling paint, etc. the one thing i did photograph when i was in there were some poignant text scrawls we found on walls/ceilings that sentimentally spoke of the years residents spent in the projects. regardless of the failed idea cabrini was, it speaks to the attachment we form to places, whether entirely livable or not. hopefully you'll see a successful image from that jaunt posted soon.


Greg's Geronimo portrait for the road



also bought a danny lyons book today on amazon for cheap!!!

any recommendations for photo books??? my recommendation for you is larry clark's tulsa, which you can find cheap in a newer reprint. as a teacher it's great to share when thinking about editing, text, full bleed images, contact sheets made into filmstripped images, the introduction of new characters in a narrative, the role of time in a series, explicit images to tell a story, the idea of a participant/observer...

last, i am reading ralph ellisons's invisible man...intense stuff out of '52

oh pps: i am working on an artist book of the Last rose series, if you ever need a handmade artist book or custom photo box for a series, loveleafpress.com and ask for julie anne!

pps: thanks aron for tagging along to cabrini...

cheap art!

14 out of 50 are gone, selling each 4x8" of this piece for $50.00. if you're interested let me know: jasonlazarus.photo@gmail.com


"Michael Vicks abandoned public apology note in my own handwriting" 4x8" 2007

also available as pricey 42x70", ed of 3!

my self portrait assignment for my b/w kids on the southside (teachers: copy and paste for yourself if you like!)

Shoot! Self Portrait


Make 5 self portraits, due in 2 weeks.


Suggestions:

∑ beg, borrow, purchase or steal a tripod
∑ Use reflective surfaces
∑ Find these reflective surfaces in interesting places, spaces
∑ Use your camra’s self timer function
∑ Ask a friend to dedicate some hours to help you
∑ Mark off your camera frame with little pieces of tape (so you know, if shooting by yourself, where the left, right, top, and bottom of the picture will be)
∑ Buy a cable release, pay attention to the length on the package, is it long enough?
∑ Start analyzing spaces as so highly personal they could act as a ‘self portrait’
∑ Previsualize, what depth of field is appropriate?
∑ Think of your composition/vantage point…what is included in your picture? From what angle will you shoot?
∑ Be funny/be romantic/be sarcastic/be diaristic, be brave
∑ Think about spaces that are representative of you
∑ Shoot a place you spend a lot of time
∑ Write something down, then photograph it
∑ Hang out with your shadow…where can you place it, what could you communicate?
∑ Use your body as an index, rub it in the grass, smush flowers, leave your mark somewhere
∑ What is something that means a lot to you? Where could you put this?
∑ Who means a lot to you? How could they be your self portrait?
∑ Think of your title
∑ Experiment lots, then edit
∑ Have fun my friends