“After R.M., 1985”
When I went to college, I somehow convinced my parents to allow me to be an art major. I never liked art classes in high school….I never really liked art at all. I had a long relationship with photography and my camera, but art was kind of a mystery. The art department at Penn State had no interest in commercial concerns…it was all about teaching the students expression, teaching the the history of art, the history of photography, and giving the students an awareness of the depth of their medium. No internships, nothing commercial was ever brought up. It was all about keeping expression pure, and learning how to tap into where that all came from.
At the same time I started working at the school newspaper. That group of people laughed at the art department…they couldn’t understand the esoteric concerns of that little subculture. They were all about communicating, the craft of photojournalism, and all the students had jobs at big papers lined up for their summer vacation. These folks were into the functional form of art…as functional as it ever really could be.
I was giving a talk to a bunch of students last month and they asked me about my education. I told them about the two sides of my backround, and confessed to them that I really didn’t think my formal education in photography amounted to much….I felt I learned more on the job than any where else. One of the students pointed out that the model I explained to them, this idea of having one foot in something esoteric and dada-ist, and the other foot in a world very funtional and logical, seemed to be a model I have followed throughout my career…even to this day! Looking at the patterns of my career, that observation really has held true: personal projects such as “Sex Machines” and “Echolilia” have been nurtured and blossomed with no commercial concerns whatsoever, while my efforts for hammering out a career with commercial photography were being nurtured with a similar amount of dedication and attention…all going on at the same time.
The happy news here is that the dynamic has shifted…the commercial clients don’t laugh at the art personal projects, they actually have started to embrace them.
“Tethered, 2011”
Like a candy melting in your mouth Timothy Archibald’s series has captured the feeling when you know that it is The Last Day Of Summer.
I never knew that an area code could bring with it such an adrenalin rush, but in thinking back on it now, I realize I’ve been conditioned that each time the 305-Crispin-Porter-Bogusky number shows up, the reaction is immediate and intense—just saying that it validates many of the choices I’ve made to fully participate in this art industry.
Click here for Timothy’s story
We knew it was personal but felt it was more than worth shining a non-commercial spotlight on—first with the birth of the published “Echolilia” and then as prints on a wall at a gallery in North Beach for Taking Liberties, A Fine Art Exhibit.
Though confessing here, because we can, that we didn’t know when the art and the story would be made more public how it would ultimately affect those it touched along the way. But we can now say that there has been such outpouring of such heartfelt feedback by so many that have been enriched as a result of the story—that our return has been a near daily reminder that we as human beings were given a gift in the ability to emote. So we couldn’t be more proud to have participated in all that was and continues to be from promoting Timothy and Eli’s story; also reminding us at every turn that art, be it fine or commercial, quiet or loud, is around to give us some cause for pause.
In listening to Timothy talk about what made a recent production his dream job of 2010, I was surprised to later find myself thinking about Theo. Theo whom I’d met in September 1984. Something about a wild night and about a Harley translated that Theo had a prosthetic leg. In 12-ish years working together, we never much discussed if it ever got in the way, not even when it flew off on the log ride at Splash Mountain. And I hadn’t thought about Theo or prosthesis for the last few years until Timothy was awarded a 4-city, 8-portrait assignment for Otto Bock’s C-leg Relationship Campaign. Otto Bock being a German prosthetics company situated in Duderstadt—it was founded in 1919 by its namesake prosthetist, Otto Bock.
Not only did Edenspiekermann’s US concept want to focus on the patient’s and their CP’s but the portraits would need to reinforce the intense partnership and trust forged in their bond. Final images were to be 4-color black and white. Which meant to Timothy that this one would be all about a creative freedom borne from what he decided would be a very intimate production. When I asked him about what had been different, he shared that a unique component had been coordinating his one-on-one phone interviews that had taken place prior to the shoots. The conversations were ‘very free flow, no discussions of disabilities, only abilities - very human while respecting boundaries’. And why the Canon 1DS, Mark II - ‘It was heavy, a camera to have a relationship with.’
Click here for words from Timothy over at the Archibald blog
A seed of an idea sprouts and makes its way to the light…
Check it out as details grow over on Facebook/TakingLiberties
The summer stretched before us…three long months with a trip at the end. My two boys and I had planned to fly across the country to visit my parents in Schenectady N.Y. just before that start of their school year. Schenectady had always held this iconic place in my mind and heart: I was born there, discovered photography there, went to the same school from K-12 there…and eventually the city was my first serious photography project. My first job was running a One Hour Photo machine in that city. My relationship with Photography and Schenectady had always been closely tied.
Due to co-incidence, due to planning, here I am with a friend from elementary school. She’s a mom, I’m a dad…6 kids between us. We are in a mini van taking the kids to explore Draper School on Draper Avenue. This fortress like structure occupies a city block and holds our childhood within its walls and doors: here is where I first got a speeding ticket…here is where I cried on the first day of Kindergarten…here is where I tried to smoke a cigarette…here is the playground where I really got into a fight with another kid. Oh, our prom was here too. Let’s see if my name is still here under this stairway…I wrote it here once.
We pause and make photographs. The kids are quiet, like they are in a museum. They seem to kind of respect the history they sense is here in this rundown building. My friend and I, we don’t know what to think…we just keep showing the kids the place, small stories about things that happened that don’t ever really have endings.
Two days later, here we are, back in California. My sons’ are in their school uniforms. Eli is in 3rd grade, Wilson is starting Kindergarten. The kids’ memory of my school still fresh in their minds, or so I think, as I drop them off at the first day of school. Again, we pause and make photographs.
Until the next installment, Finis.
Fairly certain that Timothy had to have been a team sports kinda kid. Otherwise, how best to explain an infectious all-for-one, one-for-all spirit. A playful mindset that shows up everywhere in the Archibald world(s).
Seeing these outtake images from a recent Timothy commission, on location out at Lucas Valley Ranch, amidst the Eichler home developments, captures some of that work-as-play; or is it play-as-work with Team Archibald? And come to think of it, real estate developer Joseph Eichler known for unique developments himself. Ain’t serendipity grand, especially at 8:00 a.m.?
Shannon Amos, definitely all heart: Find more of her hearty work here
We couldn’t be more proud than okay, maybe if we had birthed it ourselves. A few years in the making and without further ado, “Echolilia”, a personal, passion project now in book form, published by Echo Press, has arrived:
Click Here for Purchasing Details
Click Here for Further Insights
Usually we strive for something educational but think it wise to just let Timothy’s conversation with himself explain this one…
As this concept took shape, sharing that It took me awhile to create my story around a baby being somehow alone in environment. Knowing my New Year’s resolve was to be able to go the distance with uncomfortable situations vs. a tendency to look-away, this image confronted that resolution head-on. Keeping that in mind, I didn’t turn away but rode the wave of my discomfort and spent time looking for a possibly good reality —that ultimately left me seeing the baby as happy with a caretaker nearby. As to how this series came about and Timothy’s creative thoughts, best to let his blog do the talking from his posting back in March titled “Notes from a Photograph”.
If your BFF’s haven’t sent you there or you haven’t found him yet via the world wide web, link on over to browse around plus get the back stories on these recent 2…
Click this to get to Timothy Archibald’s blog spot
