Thank you, Boonville, New York!

Photographing Thomas Rauscher, Boonville, NY, November, 2007

Two great articles came out the day before I left town. Read The Rome Sentinal's (Rome, NY) take on the project here. And read the follow-up article in the Boonville Daily News. PDF only, Download here.

A few days ago I left the lovely Boonville, NY. My time there was plentiful. I shot tons of film and met some amazing people. I also spent a lot of time on my own. Coming off of Boonville Missouri and N. Carolina with no break was exhausting. I needed time to reflect and explore my ideas. I probably spent a few weeks in NY hiding out, reading, writing and thinking. It made my time in NY different then the others but very worthwhile. The work is growing, and I am getting more confident in my everyday routine. I'm at a very good place in the project right now. Thanks again to all who have supported me and this project. It really would never of happened without you and all the wonderful people I have met along the way.

A huge Boonville, NY thanks to Wally Low, The Beasock family (Mark, Sandy, Sarah, Chris, Kody, Hanna), Lisa and Craig Trainor at the North Country Manor, The Raschuers, The Hulbert House, Mitchell and Desiree at Charlie Brown's, Rosemary and Bob Healt, Bob Jones, Kristi Mead and the Chamber of Commerce crew, Kathy at Chatty Kathy's, Joe Kelly, Judy Roultson, Mercer's Ice Cream, and the many people that took out the time to show me around and those who let me photograph them, it was an honor.

Thank you all...I will return soon!

2:31am

Brooklyn! A few minutes past schedule. But good timing nonetheless. I'm going to bed...

Boonville to Brooklyn

9:06pm, leaving town, going home, should arrive at 2:06am. I had a blast in B'ville NY!

I'll be sending thank yous and a link to a new article soon. Last few days have been rushed, lots going on. Grants to write, photos to take. Today was a blast. More woods! More portraits! More soon...

Missing You, A History of Inspiration

Roaming the woods, Boonville, NY, November, 2007

This project is a dream come true. Traveling across the country, working on what you wish, when you wish; It all sounds very romantic. And it is! But not without some debate. I am grateful and very excited to be doing what I am doing. But it gets lonely.

At times I find myself down and uninspired. Yesterday was one of those days. This is the first time I have done a major project on my own. The only thing that comes close is a self-portrait series I did in May of 2005, titled Lycanthrope (example below). Otherwise, I have always had subjects that I often photograph for days or weeks. Johnsie, Sidne, and Jason, I am missing you!


Self-portrait, from Lycanthrope, 2005

Together, those three people have probably been apart of 50% of the images I have ever taken. They are my closest friends. Some of my favorite work was taken long ago of Johnsie. Unfortunately, none of it is digitized. Johnsie was my best friend in High school. We have not seen each other on a regular basis for eight years, but he plans on coming to visit me in Boonville, Indiana in December. Maybe we can rekindle that photo-love!


(L) Jason, Boonville, NY, 2003 (R) Sid & Chris, outtake from Vacancy

Sidne is by far the prettiest of my muses and has been letting me take photos of her on a regular basis since 1999. The last time we took photos together was in 2006 for my series Vacancy. Sid is now a photography undergrad at Columbia College Chicago. Not sure if I had anything to do with it, but I like to think so. Sid would spend days and nights letting me photograph her. One time, I think she was only 17 and I was 19, we drove to Chicago and spent the entire night, until sunrise, roaming around town looking for little cracks and underground garages to take photos in; She was fierce and not afraid of anything. Sid would let me take photos of her doing almost anything. I don’t have that luxury with strangers.


Sidne, from Vacancy, 2005-2006

Jason Covert is the latest in the line of muses. Jason and I met in 2000 while working for a photographer. We bonded over how much we hated that job. Ever since then we have continued to cause trouble and get on each others nerves. In 2003 Jason and I went on our first-annual photo excursion. We made our way up to a little Village named Boonville. That trip was the inspiration for this current project. Jason spent ten days letting me photograph him. Without Jason, “Boonville” would not exist.


Jason Covert, Boonville, New York, 2003

As I said before, I was a bit down yesterday. I miss home. I am on day one-hundred-and-six and a I'm bit photo’d out. After lunch, rather then just giving up for the day, I decided to take a left out of the restaurant’s driveway instead of a right. I followed a road to another road and found myself on a very long dirt path surrounded by woods. I ended up having to turn around about five miles in, but as I did, I found a path that lead me to inspiration. It was a tree, two trees actually. Nothing really special about them, but I could tell they wanted to be photographed.

Inspiration comes in funny ways. I ended up shooting past sunset and then made my way back to the car. As I was driving back, surrounded by the woods being illuminated only by my head-lights, I thought of the below image: A portrait Jason took of me on our second photo excursion. As I thought of that photo, I thought of how lonely it can be creating this work and how I miss my friends, family and muses.


Timothy Briner, 2004, Copyright Jason Covert

I awoke today and quickly ran back into the woods. I will do the same tomorrow. I am very antisocial this week, and rather then forcing myself to find people to photograph, I am roaming the woods for inspiration.

Boonville, NY: 1911 vs 2007

Boonville, NY, 1911, H.M. Beach
Boonville, NY, 2007, Ben Hughes

This morning I received an email from Ben Hughes. Boonville is Ben's hometown and he wanted to share the above photo with me. The color photo is Ben's. It appears he set up exactly where H.M. Beach took his famous Panoramic. Thanks Ben!

Day 22 vs Day 36 vs Day 99

Day 22, Boonville, Missouri
Day 36, Boonville, North Carolina
Day 99, Boonville, New York

Behind Boonville (updated)

Are you a photo geek? Yes! Then read on, this is a geek-out session. "Behind the scenes of Boonville" is brought to you by Slims Restaurant, Boonville, NY and the beauty of hacking into a WiFi signal.

Photographing Thomas with tractor and spreader, Boonville, NY, 2007

Almost all of the equipment found above and below was provided by my Alma mater, The Hallmark Institute of Photography, or HIP, located in Massachusetts. After a year of talks and going back and forth to MA, they excepted my proposal and they became the largest supporter of the Boonville project. They also provided a portion of my film! I cannot thank them enough. It's huge!

Before I knew that I received this equipment, I was ready to take on the trip with what I already had. My old 4x5 camera and home-made lights, made from florescent shop/work lights and an older strobe setup. It would have been a lot less gear, but a lot more weight. I decided that If I was going to ask for new equipment, it needed to be light and portable. That is exactly what I got.

Everything you see below is able to fit into two bags, and on my back; Tripod and stands included. It's heavy, but if I need it all and I need to get somewhere remote, I can do it.


Toyo-View vx125 (modified) 4x5 camera.
Images: Expanded, compressed, and disassembled,
4x5 Lenses: 90mm, 300mm, 210mm and 150mm

My Toyo-View 4x5 camera is my most prized possession. For those of you that know what I am talking about, it is a field/studio camera. It has full range of swings and tilts and folds up to the size of normal field camera, and even weighs less then most. It nice!

The four above lenses were provided by a friend and fellow photographer in New Jersey. Thanks Dave! I use them all often.


(R) Large-Format Camera bag and equipment.
(L) Minus light meter: Extra cable release, loupe, Film holders,
Polaroid Back, Head lamp (for seeing in the dark),
Radio Slave, Folded reflector.

The above image shows my bag filled with everything that is in the above (L) photo as well as my camera and all lenses. It's not easy to close, but it does close. Only in situations that call for it do I pack my camera in the bag; Like hiking, etc. Otherwise, the camera sits on my tripod and then is tossed over my shoulder, or on the front seat of my car (see below).


4x5 and Mamyia 7II, with roll film and iPod, passenger seat.

My tripod (not pictured) is a new Induro Carbon Fiber tripod. Because It is Carbon Fiber, and because I continually throw it over my shoulder with camera attached, the column has come loose three times. After sending it back twice, I decided to modify it myself. I took a steel rod and put it all the way through the center of the column, and then bolted it on both ends. It hasn't budged since.

I also received a Mamyia 7II, seen above with 4x5. I use the camera for situations that I cannot use the 4x5. Tight spots, lots of action, quick shots, etc. The Mamiya 7II is awesome! I only use it about 5% of the time. Buy it is a great thing to have for that 5%.


Middle: Profoto 600 B (battery) with Flash Head, and 3 batteries.
Left: Folded soft-box strip with speed ring.
Right: Flash equipment in backpack.

The above is my lighting equipment. When I need a light, this thing is amazing! It is small: it fits in a backpack! And it gives me great consistency and output. The soft-box strip is essential and adjusts itself nicely for different light qualities. Good stuff.


Photo equipment, Joe's backyard, Boonville, NY, Nov. 2007

Above image is all of my equipment. And it all packs up into those two bags. It's great. But, with the 4x5 on my front seat or on my shoulder, all ready to go, it provides me with the opportunity to quickly respond to any situation. While in Boonville, Missouri I was walking through a park and found a young man that I desperately wanted to talk to and photograph. He wasn't into it. I asked him if he had ten minutes, he said no. "five?" I asked. "I've got one," he said. I didn't hesitate, and to my surprise, I got the camera set up, framed, focused, took meter readings, and shot, all in about 120 seconds. Surprisingly, the image is a winner. He was already doing everything for me though, I just had to click a button.

Looking back it seems I could not be able to get the work I am getting without this stuff. That is true, but the work wouldn't be bad, it would just be different. The equipment is amazing, but photography is obviously only what you make of it. This equipment doesn't make me a better photographer or artist, it just puts more weight on my back, while doing a few other things.

A Field Guide to the N. American Family

Garth Risk Hallberg, B'ville going-away party, July, 2007, Brooklyn

Garth (above) is the author and visionary of A field Guide to the North American Family: an illustrated novella which tracks two families through the wilderness of modern life. Their stories unfold in 63 entries, each comprising a chapter of text and a visual artist’s response to the entry’s title: Adolescence, Boredom, Chemistry, etc.

Garth and I become friends after I submitted work into his then online photo/book project. Which I am happy to say is now a book! I have one photo in the book, representing "Privacy." I am lined up with some amazing photographers and friends, including: Jason Lazarus, Brian Ulrich, Tema Stauffer, Amy Elkins, Jonathan Gitelson, Shane Lavalette, Kevin Sisemore, and many more.

I have not seen my copy of the book as I have been on the road. But the last time I was in NY Garth showed me a sneak peak of his advanced copy. It was literally a peak, but from what I saw I was very intrigued and impressed.


"Privacy," From Vacancy, 2004-2005, Timothy Briner

See if your local book store can order it! I have to advocate supporting the little people. If not...go to Amazon.

See the website here

vs Boonville, NY

Christopher, Watercrossing, Boonville, NY

I have gotten many emails from NY residents that are "concerned" or disappointed with my lack of positivity on this here blog. I assure you, it's not you, it's me...

I've heard that before.

Seriously, this is a blog, this is in NO WAY a representation of the project. I can't stress this enough. The work is private. Only four or five people have seen select images from Missouri and North Carolina and only one person other then myself has seen it all. Other then Drew, my film developer, no one will see the full project until at least July of 2008.

Yes, the NY posts have been sparse, the last one was a bit of a downer, but that's the way this entire project has been. Are you only looking at the writing from NY and comparing it to the end of the Boonville, NC trip? The last week in NC was great. The first two were horrible! And much of Boonville, Missouri was horrible, I was a wreck. Read a bit more before you start judging.


Large Format bag, Mamyia 7II and jacket in field, Boonville, NY

I have (according to Drew) been producing some very interesting things while in NY (I get the work in the mail tomorrow). I came off of sixty straight days before arriving in Boonville, NY and I was very tired. Physically: I was strong like bull; Mentally: I was completely out of it. It took a while to get myself back up. I'm now just getting on my feet again and I have extended my stay by two weeks to take advantage of that.

Boonville, NY HAS been great. I've met some fantastic people and have had some great times. While I was in Boonville, Missouri I was being spread thin, I met so many people that I was finding myself running out of time; My thoughts and ideas were jumping all over the place. These days, when arriving into a town, I find and focus on only a select number of things. Otherwise, I'd get one-hundred OK or terrible photos rather then ten or twenty great ones. It's a process.

I'm not documenting Boonville, I'm documenting my interpretation of the current state of small-town America, and I'm using the six Boonvilles as my inspiration. I don't need to, nor could I, have my hand in everything while here.

Plus, I'm coming back...this way I can focus on twenty more things and get a new outlook at a different time of the year. I may have overdone this, but I hope this helps clear up any doubt or expectations anyone might have had about me, this blog, or my time in B'ville, NY.

P.S. If you get up everyday and check this blog and keep being disappointed: Stop getting up, or stop checking my BLOG!

Home-Cooked Meal, #17 & #18

The Beasock Family, October 20/29, 2007, Boonville, NY

Boonville, day 90

Seven days ago I was feeling good. Seven days later, not so good. Nothing significant has happened between now and then. I feel like I'm on a roller coaster. Up, down, up, down, sideways, repeat. I'm writing a lot. It should be interesting to read this stuff in five years. My mind is racing. The work is suffering. I want to go home. Challenges suck.

I feel great again!

...

Boonville, day 83

Eighty-three days...wow.

I have fallen. I have picked myself up. I have grown. New friends. New work. New ideas.

The journey has been amazing. The work is forming it's own ideas. A few key things have popped up and sparked my interest and past memories. I am running with these three or four recurring themes.

The journey is almost half-way there. I'm just getting into it and it is starting to really feel good.

Thank you to all I have met along the way, and to my friends and family for truly believing in me and the project.

Walden Into The Wild

Chris McCandless, self-portrait, July/August, 1992

Last week my mother sent me Jon Krakauer's Into The Wild. She said it reminded her of me and this project. A stretch, but a nice comment nonetheless. I don't think I have ever finished a book so quick in my life. It touched me. I think I was at the perfect point in my life, and in this journey, to have read that book. Thanks Moms.

Rather then love, then money, than fame, give me truth. I sat at a table where were rich food and wine in abundance, an obsequious attendance, but sincerity and truth were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board. The hospitality was as cold as the ices.

Henry David Thoreau,
Walden, Or life in the Woods
Passage highlighted in one of the books found with Chris McCandless's remains. At the top of the page the word "TRUTH" had been written in large block letters in McCandless's Hand.

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary.

Henry David Thoreau,
Walden
Passage highlighted in the copy of Walden I'm traveling with. Highlighted at some point in the past by my girlfriend; Laura.

Story of an artist, Daniel Johnston

Story Of An Artist, Daniel Johnston

This song found its way into a mix a friend made me for my travels. I've heard it in the past, but it resonates with me now more then ever. I cannot stop listening to it.

The video is very distracting. HERE is a link to just the song, if you prefer.

Greetings from New York!

Raccoon, Greenwood Avenue & Prospect Park SW, Brooklyn, NY

It's great to be home! The last time I was here was about forty-five days ago. I love it. But I have gotten these weird and sudden urges, or ticks. The closest thing I think they resemble is guilt mixed with a few shots of self-doubt. I have learned my lessons in the past and I am giving myself breaks now and then. But the guilt still rears its ugly head, especially now that I'm on "vacation" for a few days. I'm learning to ignore it, just like all my other feelings.


View from Daniel and Dana's wedding, Battery Park, New York, NY

Yesterday, Laura and I attended her brother's wedding. It was in Battery Park City, and it was a brunch wedding. There is nothing like drinking at 11am and not feeling bad about it. It was a blast. It couldn't have been a better day: The sun was out, puffy clouds were strolling by, happy people were running around Battery Park, and I was drunk by 1pm; A good day.



I learned to truly love photography when I was photographing skateboarders and rollerbladers in High School. So I had to stop when I spotted a few skater kids while Laura and I were walking in the Park.



A few minutes later, a Park Patrolmen started in on the situation, so I photographed him as well. He didn't like that and made a few smart remarks in my direction. So what did I do? Any one of my friends or family could finish this story and tell you that I confronted him and explained that I was legally in my right to take that photo, and it is not appropriate for someone of his authority to speak to me that way, or to bug these kids. Except it didn't really work out all that well. I walked away as soon as I realized I was three inches from his face and we were yelling at each other. Not really cool. Fun day though!

Boonville vs Reality

This project started out as a document of small-town America. I realized, not so quickly, that my goal was impossible. I could not truly document these six different Boonvilles, not in the way I thought I wanted to. It's obvious, now that I think about it, but it was only two months ago that I was struggling to make this project into something that a photograph could never represent: A real moment. A true document.


Geese flying South (maybe South-West), Boonville, New York, 2007

Because of my presence, regardless of the situation, I could never truly capture a scene as it was. Yes, I am creating a document, but it is flawed, mostly by that fact that I am there with a specific intention, to create something, therefore manipulating something. But there is more to it: The photograph itself is only an object; It is an object viewed and judged differently every time it is seen, therefore it separates itself farther from reality.

I first started thinking about Photography vs Reality when I read this passage in Camera Lucida, by Roland Barthe:

"Now, once I feel myself observed by the lens, everything changes: I constitute myself in the process of ' posing,' I instantaneously make another body for myself, I transform myself in advance into an image."

Photographer and subject, photographed by a subject.

What does all this mean? Nothing, really. It just means that my thinking has changed. There has always been a level of fiction involved in my vision for the work (the idea is to take selected images from each town and juxtapose them together, creating a fictional "Boonville"), but it has always been based on real people, real stories and real moments.

After lots of discussions and thought, I realized that the journey to Boonville is the story, not Boonville itself. How could it be? I am manipulating every place I walk into; I'm causing a ripple in the normality of a situation: I'm on the cover of the papers, I'm hanging out at parties (above), etc.; The scene is automatically flawed. By excepting this, I am starting to create a document that represent something real: This journey.

The Boonville Herald

I have never been on the front of anything in my life! This is the fourth feature article that has been written about me and the project, and I've only been to three towns! Weird, bizarre, awesome and more awesome.

No link available to this one. Download the PDF HERE.

Home-Cooked Meal, #8-#16

Wally Low, October 3-7, 2007, Boonville, New York

Village Idiot

Kristina and I, Pie-eating-contest winners, 10/06/07, B'ville, NY
(yellow was a coincidence, and may be the secret weapon.)

Yesterday was the Village of Boonville's Fall-Arts Festival. I accepted an invitation to be in the no-hands pie-eating contest (not to be confused with the Boonville, MO pizza-eating contest).

I won! Well, it was a draw. Kristina was the other lucky winner. See a fantastic picture of her here. I think she got more on her face and on her shirt then in her mouth. But I wasn't the judge.

Next week, along with a feature article in the Boonville Herald about the project, I could be featured as the Village idiot, covered in pie of course.

Boonville, New York, Day 2

Mr. low's Guest Bedroom, Boonville, New York, From Left to Right:
The New Testament, Slapstick, Mistral's Daughter,
The Case of the Daring Divorce, You are too Much Charlie Brown,
Batman, Moby Dick.

I am currently staying with Wally Low. Wally is in his 80's but acts like he's 30. He has already made me four home-cooked meals, he drove me all over town yesterday and last night he made me one of the finest Manhattans I have ever tasted. After Wally's "Sparkln' " Manhattan, we capped the night off with a New York made Indian Pale Ale. Wally is great and his house, built in 1906-ish, is stunning. His living room is filled with paintings, old photos and tons of book about or referencing Boonville; All this is right next to his Mel Brooks DVD collection!

The Ripple, again!

Jonathan David Phillips, my buddy (and associate editor) at the Yadkin Ripple, Boonville, North Carolina's local paper, just can't get enough of me. Read tomorrow's front-page article titled: Goodbye with a smile: Boonville says goodbye to New York photographer...for now.

Greetings from Boonville, New York!

Boonville, NY, circa 1911 (click it!)

The columned structure to the left is the Hulbert House, built circa 1812. Today, inside the Hulbert House, I spoke about the project during the Town's Chamber of Commerce meeting. Business included: Me, The Fall-Arts Festival and advanced planning for the Christmas decor in the town square. They bring in six real-live reindeer and a real-live Santa during the holiday season! For about four weeks the Village of Boonville is full of Rockwell-like cheer. They also have a Snow Festival, complete with a snow parade and fireworks. Sounds like fun!