March 2008 Archives

Master class: Vanishing Breed

I had the idea that I wanted to use the second book in this series to try and reconnect with a body of work that I had somehow lost track of along my way. Bill Allard's testament to the West and cowboys immediately leapt to my mind on a recent plane ride home, as did the way in which I had heard a lot about in college at Missouri it before I ever found the full project in my hands at my friend Susie Post Rust's house (herself also a very talented NGS photographer). A search on Amazon recently found a ton of first editions in relatively good shape for far, far too cheap for such a book of grace. My copy even included a couple of prints that had been tucked that will find a place of honor on my office wall once I get around to finding a frame.

Vanishing Breed by William Albert Allard

I once knew an old hand, now no longer around, who used to muse about earlier times in Montana, when the country was more open, with fewer fences and gates to slow a man down - restriction in the land of the free. I suppose we all feel more restricted today, regardless of our region. There seem to be gates in our lives that we never get open. But if we're lucky, we have a place, each of us, that is special. Others my see that place differently, of course. They can change it, and they probably will; they can even take it away. But if we love it deeply enough, there is a part of it within us to the end. I guess that's how I feel about this place we call the West. And that is why this book exists. -William Albert Allard (introduction to Vanishing Breed).

Published in 1982 from 10 years worth of assignments and long, dusty trails through the West, stretching from Mexico to Canada, Allard's masterpiece is the documentation not only a fading way of a life, but of a past world altogether; an America "with dew still on it" to steal from Maclean. Like every book that I'll talk about in this series, Vanishing Breed is a deeply personal project that is illuminated from within by the photographer's respect for his subjects. With this integrity the book is lifted above and over the shoulders of the other Western tour de forces, such as Avedon's In the American West, as a project which seeks to record on its own terms and for its own subjects, as opposed to the anthropological collection of "different" for a New York City gallery wall.

Though Allard tells us himself in the early pages, it is immediately clear that this is the record of a "love affair" between a photographer and his subjects and the West. Capital "w" West in the romantic sense of that idea from time past in this country. The West as a place of unbridled life, opportunity and freedom from whatever held you down or back. And with that passion Allard strikes back and forth in the book in a careful dance between reverent simplicity and dizzying compositional mastery, with a whole lot of beautifully lit portraits in between that reveal these honored worn faces. In this dance of editing the photographer is asking us to know these men well as both a metaphor and also individuals whose lives are important.

Grouped together in multiple spreads at a time the portraits are then broken on cue by another explosion of sky and open land. In these wider visions I am enthralled both emotionally and technically by the incredible depth that Allard captures. These are pictures that never end and that a viewer nearly falls into trying to find the point at which the focus fades into the smallest detail. Making the depth possible (along with the photographer's skill of course) is this incredible emotion found in the light. Because there will be some confusion here I want to clarify that this isn't just golden hour, Nat Geo light I'm talking about... its something else entirely. This is light that sings and bounces and exalts and sighs like something rare and filled with grace. Allard's light is a gift whether you believe in such things or not.

Flipping through Vanishing Breed for the first time you will be shocked that so many images that you already know by heart are all here together. The lonely cowboy in the empty bar, the ears of the photographer's horse in front of a rushing sea of cattle, the knife with blood still on its blade, the boy with a piece of bread and honey in each hand, the horse in a blizzard. Seen together they melt into each other and the larger story in a way that is almost disappointing that images this rich could ever be a part of a whole. And to me if there is one problem with the project its that Allard goes too far to show the full lives of the cowboys, taking us home with them, years later and with their wives or competing at the rodeo. It makes me miss the focus of Men at Sea, where we are trapped on the boat and all the stronger for it.

By the closing of the book we have gone full circle in the seasons and are trudging through deep snow which both hides the vibrant colors of the rest of the volume and forecasts the increasing division of the open spaces of our country. The last image is of a young boy next to a fence line and I wonder if he became a cowboy later. I hope he did.

Nothing that Allard has done since Vanishing Breed hit me the same way, and to these pictures I owe a great many lessons of depth and respect. The book is a festival of color and detail that is almost hard to look at at anything less than billboard size, but it is contained within a personal narrative and passionate record that both honors its subjects and converts its readers.

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Give, take

After a bang up first couple of months at JLPFL this year things have slowed lately, just as my personal life has ramped into high gear with wedding and future planning. I've happily spent the time working on some to do list items (I finished the 2007 taxes this morning and dropped them off at my "guy"), and haven't much felt like blogging, though there is no shortage of things to note lately. Such as...

Jackanory calls her the first professional photo blogger... I call her a bit too fascinated with diversion and all of her "amazing" friends (WTF with that 4x5 chick and her comment about the UN?). I guess we all wish Rachel and PS the best with their blogging, but if I was keeping score I would have already called the game weeks ago what with Rob's ever escalating assault on distancing himself from the old guard of publishing. What in the fuck, dude? Can't you give us a few days in between hitting things out of the park? Between the Media phone book wiki, $Free.99/1000 fans piece (the fallout on Editorial Photo is hilarious and sad as fuck), the craziest interview with Chip Simons ever, and now the promotion slideshow (I hope Flickr is going to give you a lifetime Pro membership for getting so many new kids to sign up) I can hardly catch my breath. Uh, maybe you and PhotoShelter should compare notes.

NYC needed another photo happening? Why can't everyone get together instead of constantly creating their own new festival. LOOK wasn't good enough for Magnum, which wasn't good enough for VII, which is now not good enough for Kathy Ryan? Thankfully they got the memo from PDN & American Photography and are charging hefty fees for their first ever photo contest... Hopefully they can get the judges from NPPA to help out. Ahem. Also, are you allowed to have a photo-related event these days without Brian Storm and John Harrington speaking? Is there a by-law?

An editor of mine called me up today to let me know (just in case I happen to see the new issue) that my photo shoot was turned into an illustration at the last minute before production. Uh, ok, sure.

Kevin has just announced a new book(let) of his work, perhaps similar in nature to Allison's zines, though not as official and award-winning (yet) as Andrew's tome. I need to get my shit together and self-publish. Congrats all! You are probably a few short of 1,000 but its a step in the right direction (we hope).

A guy I know just switched back to Nikon after recently deciding that Canon digital is just not sharp enough. He had only switched to Canon from Nikon a couple of years ago. Another friend also recently got rid of all of his medium format digital to go back to Canon because the MF stuff bricked on him over and over again. This all makes me want to sell everything and just rent/lease; if only I was that smart.

To the 14 new co-op photo agencies that started this month with foreign language names meaning "light" or "truth" or "unemployed"... I wish you all the luck in the world!

I received Martin Parr's Common Sense in the mail today after it resided on my Amazon wish list for a coon's age. Love or hate the man, his energy and pairing skills are pretty incredible. Speaking of great photo books, the 2nd in my Master class series is almost ready.

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Super green

Today's New York Times business section features the first half of my work in Costa Rica that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. The article online also includes a nice little photo gallery (with an apt headline) that works better for me than what was chosen in the print edition. I'm still firmly in the I wish I had shot a little better camp, but that's life. Next time I'll just be in better shape!

You can see a whole lot more from the trip in my archive. And here are a few others that I took a shine to in the editing process.

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