A few weeks ago I was able to go see the MXGP of Trentino for the third time. I recently purchased a used 28-300MM Nikon lens for my D-750 and the race was a great excuse to go try it out—MXGP never disappoints. I didn’t have access to the track infield, so the extra reach on the lens over my 18-125MM made a HUGE difference! For the sand corner shots I was actually laying flat on the ground shooting under a gap in the bottom of the fence. Whatever it takes to get the shot! I’m still learning how to push the boundaries with ISO and shutter speed on my camera to capture the action. I’d say as action photos go these are probably my best yet! Getting in the zone photographing makes me feel like a kid again—I love this stuff 🙂 That’s all for now. Hope you all enjoy the photos—ciao!
I have a quick 35mm photo post for today. I recently had roles processed from trips to Venice, Italy and Valencia, Spain. Ugh, there’s just something different about shooting with film 😀. I took these photos a few months ago, but as always I am behind on both processing and posting. Things have been busy around here and everything is feeling pretty chaotic right now. I hope everyone is hanging in there—for now take a moment or two to enjoy the delicious film grain. Ciao for now.
A few weeks ago I had the incredible opportunity to print for three days at Tipoteca Italiana(for more images of the museum and more about my letterpress history refer to my previous post.) I worked for three days straight and stayed in our camper van near the museum at night. It felt so good to be back in the studio. I was a little worried I’d be too rusty to remember the entire letterpress printing process, but as soon as I started grabbing materials everything came rushing back after years away from the press. I was able to document more or less everything for my Graphic Design and Art + Design Fundamentals students at West Texas A&M University—this was definitely an added bonus to the whole experience (see the instagram reels above if you dare). The selection of type and overall quality of the studio at Tipoteca was, as one could expect, unbelievable.
To prepare I selected 10 bits of my writing—some old, some new—and simply threw everything into a text edit document on my laptop. I also created a digital template that captured the basic ” Unsolicited Public Service Announcement” (PSA) framework I wanted to create. This turned out so be super helpful, given I needed to work fast. I selected type intuitively from the catalog for pairings. Some lock-ups turned out more successful formally than others—in particular regarding proper typographic weight/color on the page. I learned a lot in a very short period of time and worked to make improvements with each small edition. I felt like a kid again—it was great. My goal was to produce as many small editions out of the 10 pieces of writing as possible. I ended with 5 editions—given the spin-up time I was super pleased with how productive I was with the studio time. I think the writing more or less speaks for itself—it’s all centered around navigating the pitfalls of modern technology—in particular social media. The value of going through the process was invaluable for me as a creative practitioner, but more importantly it was deeply therapeutic working through these ideas with my hands and body. It goes without saying everything is feeling very unstable right now. This was grounding in such a human and wonderful way. Anyways…I have all of the pieces. If you’re interested in acquiring anything please reach out to me! That’s all for now—ciao.
I had the opportunity to visit both Ferrari Museums (Modena & Maranello) a few weeks ago. I have so many more photos, but this is probably already too much to share for one post. The lighting in both museums was great—so I had some fun with my DSLR. Gorgeous cars, super interesting history, outrageous price tags 😅. These photos will be the closest thing to actually owning a Ferrari I’ll ever have, lol.
A few weeks ago we got to steal another night at one of our favorite places in the world, Flora Alpina Rifugio. The rifugio is situated right on the border of the Veneto and Trento Alto-Adige Regions in Northern Italy. The views of the Dolomiti from the numerous trails around the property are stunning. We were blessed with great weather—I had my Nikon D750 with me, so we had some fun. That’s all for now—alla prossima!
⬆︎ Minolta SRT 201 / Fresh Fuji 400(📸 of me in the final image by Amanda)
⬆︎ Canon EOS 650 shot on expired Kodak Gold 200
⬆︎ AGFA Silette II shot on expired Kodak Gold 200
old film + old cameras = new fun
I’ve been sitting on three rolls of unprocessed 35mm film for hot minute, but I finally got the chance to have it all processed. One roll was fresh Fuji 400 shot with my trusty Minolta SRT 201. The other two were expired Kodak Gold 200 shot with two new thrift store finds—an Agfa Silette II from the 1960’s (basically a toy camera) and a much newer Canon EOS 650. The Canon came with a bag that had two rolls of Kodak film that was at least 20 years old—probably older—the bag smelled older at least! The images are from recent trips to Valencia, Spain (we loved it there) and Venice, Italy. I was pleased with the results from all three rolls—in particular the dreamy quality of the expired film. Shooting 35mm is just flat-out fun and the tactility is so satisfying. Hope you enjoy the images. Also, just a shoutout to Camerapedia. I stumbled upon it linking in this post and it’s awesome! Alla prossima 👋
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit a new studio / exhibition space in Venice called Ca’Buccari. Amanda and I were excited to visit because they were hosting Experimental Jetset for the space’s inaugural exhibition. While there, we met one of the owners, Erica Overmeer. Long story short, Erica is Awesome. She was generous with her time as we discussed the show, the new space, and Experimental Jetset.
Ca’Buccari is a mixed-use space situated in the incredible residential neighborhood of Sant’Elena in Venice . It is uniquely tooled as a studio / exhibition / living space—this is not common in Venice (at least to my knowledge).
One of the most unique features of Ca’Buccari is the large, arched portico running the full length of the space. This allows for shade and protection of the gallery/studio when the wall-sized doors are fully opened during the day. It also makes the breezeway space attractive for walking in the heat or rain. All that said, the open areas of the portico created an amazing opportunity for Experimental Jetset to play with the concept how “walls” can function. The flags they designed successfully combine key concepts from their Provo research and the site-specific film set mostly in Venice, “Don’t Look Now.” The flags are responsive to environmental factors, physically—and perceptually—opening and closing the space with the breeze coming off the nearby lagoon. Even the experience of being in the closed gallery space felt different when the flags were up (see photos below ⬇️).
We very much enjoyed our visit. If you’re ever in Venice, walking the Sant’Elena neighborhood is a must! That’s all for now—in bocca al lupo, Ca’Buccari.
I had an opportunity to photograph a rally race held near Polcenigo, PN in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy. I only got to spend about an hour watching, but really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed open access to the track. I don’t have a tele-photo lens for my camera that’s good for photographing action from a distance, so this guerilla style of photography suited me quite well. It’s definitely easy to see how people end up getting hit at rally races, though. I could see the drivers’ eyes I was so close lol. Lots of fun-loving spectators as well…I saw bottles of wine being carried around in cargo pockets, which was pretty great. Anyway, short text post for today. Hope you enjoy the photos!
This motocross shot from the Arco Trentino GP and this Ostrich guy from Slovenia where on the end of one of my Spain Rolls 😂
Local Late Winter Hike ⬆️
Another straggler on the end of one of my rolls from my last visit to Texas in December ⬆️
a random assortment of film goodies:
I’ve had this folder sitting on my desktop to post for too long now. They span from Texas, to Florida, to Slovenia, to Spain, to Slovenia 😮💨. It feels good to post them and move ahead. Lots of change and tough transition lately, but it feels like we’re getting on the other side of things. We made a local move and have taken on a lot more responsibility in terms of home care. More photos of that to come. Or no? To share or not to share. Some days I want to be selfish and keep it all to myself (or is it just fear?) and some days I want to share with everyone. I’m still thinking.
We headed back into the Trento-Alto Adige region in the van last week for a weekend trip. I decided to take the digital SLR for a change after a stint of shooting 35mm film. I have to admit, switching back to digital after awhile without immediate image feedback felt like cheating, but in a good way. Adjusting ISO on the fly and processing raw files felt nice, too 😀. The weather was uncharacteristically warm for February in the mountains, but it was still incredibly beautiful none-the-less. We made a stops at QC Terme in Val di Fassa and Rifugio Flora Alpina. The rifugio is situated in one of our favorite areas in Trento-Alto Adige—just over the border from Veneto. As you can also see, their food is excellent.
I got away from shooting digital for awhile to re-engage with analog processes. My plan is still to shoot more film—and—have an exhibition where I show work created without the aid of a computer—probably screen print + mixed media collaging using wheat paste as a binder. It’s not necessarily a protest against generative Ai, but it is an intentional move to keep my eggs in more than one basket when it comes to making things.
I remember having a conversation with visiting artist, Giles Lyon when I was at the University of Tennessee…the gist of our convo was about paintings or drawings being a more powerful form of art than prints or anything digital. At the time, I argued that any kind of work could have potential impact on an audience regardless of media as long as the context was right. While I still feel that is more or less true (in good and the worst of ways), I think the rise of generative Ai has helped me understand what he was really getting at—in particular with painting. I remember he spoke about laying paintings down in the studio on purpose so they would gather dust and grime from the floor and things that fell on them—so they become sort of a time capsule. He also had a piece where he had literally painted a collection his deceased father’s neck ties into a piece. I’m not really sure where I’m headed with this, but I think the aspect of a piece of art having the ability to literally hold time gives it an authenticity that somehow feels safe from Ai. I was lucky enough to see a collection of Egon Schiele’s work in addition to works from the Vienna Secessionists at the Leopold Museum in Vienna recently. Seeing the brush strokes and pencil marks in the work felt more powerful to me than ever. Even seeing the ink raised off the page on the prints just made me feel damn good—like I was a part of something human.
I’m certainly not sure what the future has in store for us makers, but I’m doing my best to embrace as much as I can. BUT… maintaining the ability to move slow, sit with process and make physical things that can hold time is high on my priorities list these days. I tried to bring that slow mentality into the digital space with how I shot and edited these photos. I’m not sure if that’s evident in viewing them, but even having that mindset during the process of shooting and editing somehow made the whole thing feel more enjoyable—even if I might have just been tricking myself. That’s all I have time for today. More soon—ciao.
