Call Me Imagemaker

I have finally completed and received from Blurb my first hard cover book in five years, Call Me Imagemaker which is about my transition to digital photography. Several years ago I did, The First Half Century, which covered, the analog photography years, 1947-1997. In about 2000/2001, after a fifteen-year hiatus from photography I purchased my first digital camera. The two books overlap to a degree. I included some digital in the first and some analog in the second.

The book is available on Blurb, but for the time being can only be viewed by invitation. The reason for that: I go into detail on stuff that is, or maybe should be, extremely private. If anyone should be so foolish just ask, I will probably send an invitation. [addendum: Okay, after much soul-searching I decided there was only one page I that really made me very uncomfortable. Then after much more soul-searching I said, “Oh to heck with it!” The book is publicly available for viewing all 226 pages. I will only regret this once then I won’t care anymore. I have published it before in greater detail. But that one I did remove from Blurb.

As most know, my books are photography related but they are not about photography—they are about me and the journey I have made with photography. This one gets extremely personal. Much more than most would wish to know. It gazes pretty deeply into the abyss of my early life, but that is okay, it is my abyss. It discusses things that are never ever discussed in polite company. But these things are a part of my life, my photographic journey—so they are there.

I have two quotations that I greatly enjoy about photography. One from the teacher that I consider my mentor, Ralph Hattersley, Jr., “We photograph to understand what our lives mean to us.” And one from Keith Carter, “Your projects follow your life, in some respects. Or at least they do in my case. Sometimes you just stand mute in front of the mystery of your own life.” I love that statement, “Sometimes you just stand mute in front of the mystery of your own life.” What great reasons to own a camera.

That may sound a little, okay a whole lot, narcissistic. That’s okay, it probably is. I know nothing in this world except what I have experienced. I have no other frame of reference. I can empathize but not truly understand things I have not experienced—that is what most all of my photography books are about. Some address and discuss it directly. Some just ignore the words and let the subject matter or the photographs tell the story. 

My plan is to do three books; this one that covers the transition to digital and early digital work; a second on photographing things and a third on photographing my passion, people. I will see if the last two get completed. Call Me Imagemaker took several months to put together so it will be a while before another will be completed. It is 226 pages and available as a hard cover at a price I feel certain no one will pay and as a PDF that is more reasonable but still not cheap. Not counting on a lot of sales, or even any.

I am not sure what gazed back at Nietzsche from the abyss—here is much of what gazed back at me. The only way I will ever understand me is to understand the abyss. Maybe when I get into the religiously themed photography that I do I will dive into the next abyss—that should be a very interesting trip. Then comes all the fascination with death and the abyss gets deeper. I’m looking forward to the exploration.

I probably should post this warning, especially for the ladies: This book contains male nudes, some frontal. I personally feel they are discrete but others might disagree. Just to let you know in advance.