Symbiosis video

Discussing the Symbiosis books - their construction, the meaning of the symbolism involved and the genesis of the series of images.

Symbiosis books are finished!

After months of work, my limited edition handmade monograph Symbiosis is now finished and available for sale!

Embossed pink paper cover


Title page, signed and numbered in an edition of only 24.  Typography and layout by Howard Forbes - http://www.misanthrope.com

Introduction by photographer and curator Danielle Ezzo - http://www.danielleezzo.com

Printed on Hahnemuhle smooth rag 308 gm paper.

Rather than post a million images here, I'll say that there is more information (and images) here:

http://www.rikgarrett.com
http://www.facebook.com/rikgarrettphotography

books, projects, life..

Nearly a year ago I thought I would pick this up as a way to document all of the things that I'm working on.  Apparently I'm not very good at this.  Besides being busy, I also don't seem to like showing things before they are finished.

In March I finished a handmade book, Vitriol.  It's something of a minor work in my long-running Alchemical book cycle.  Here is a video where I discuss it a bit:


A month ago today, I got engaged.  It's true.  Jane and I are going to get married next summer.

After working on my Symbiosis series for nearly a year and a half, I finally put some of images online.  I've spent the past month or two preparing a series of handmade Symbiosis books which contain 14 images.  The pages themselves I've printed on Hahnemuhle smooth rag 308 gm paper - archival, no optical brighteners.  It's a nice, thick paper that closely resembles the watercolor paper that I like to use for some of my handmade book projects.  The book contains a wonderful introduction written by Danielle Ezzo (http://www.danielleezzo.com/), which typographical assistance by Howard Forbes (http://www.misanthrope.com/).  The pages are bound with a soft pink cover, and the whole series is limited to only 24 copies.  The books will be released on the summer solstice (this Tuesday).  I've been offering an advance order until then.  On Tuesday I will release more information, and then the price rises just a bit.  For more information, visit:  http://www.rikgarrett.com/symbiosis.php

Last week I finally put some more images from my Earth Magic series online.  Here is one of them:

The rest are on my website:  http://www.rikgarrett.com

A couple of weeks ago, I found this camera from around 1915 at an antique store:

It's undergoing minor surgery to prepare for the trek out to the woods.  Soon!

Also, there are always more regular updates here:  http://www.facebook.com/rikgarrettphotography

"Symbiosis" series premier, auction

Symbiosis (Figure 3)

Acrylic paint over analog c-print

Finally able to begin showing images from this series.  This original work is now available for auction via Daniel Cooney Fine Art.  It is part of a curated auction, "Shades of Grey," which has been curated by Danielle Ezzo.

http://rikgarrett.com
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Rik-Garrett-Photography/195893806921

Earth Magic (#4)

Codex Maleficarum - handmade book

I hadn't mentioned it here, but I spent some time working on a new handmade book.  Completely unrelated to my Alchemical book series, this is called Codex Maleficarum, a work regarding witches and witchcraft.  The title is a reference to earlier books on the subject, including Malleus Maleficarum (from the 15th century) and Compendium Maleficarum (from the 17th).  Continuing in this tradition, I've treated the material similarly by compiling information from other sources and editing it to fit my own beliefs and biases.

The book is 96 pages and hardbound (approximately 11x11 inches).  It includes quite a few original photographs from my series "Earth Magic" (most of which I've not shown publicly yet), along with text and images collected from numerous sources. 

Please forgive the varying quality of these snapshots.

family and cameras

It's easy for photographers to get carried away talking about gear.  I've done it, despite all efforts not to.  Some people seem to like talking about their camera more than they like using it.  Having said that, I'm about to write about cameras here.

This was my Christmas gift from my parents.  It's a Hasselblad, a camera I never thought I'd own.  More importantly, it was my mom's. 

I've written before about how my mother was a professional photographer, and how I used to use her darkroom when I was a teenager.  There is a bit of camera gifting history in my family.  My mom got her first camera from her grandfather.  My parents gave me my first camera for Christmas when I was six years old.  Since then, at least five of the cameras I've owned have come through my parents, generally being passed down from my mom.  The rest of them were stolen in 2006 when someone broke into my apartment, a month after I moved to Chicago.

This particular camera was originally a gift from my dad to my mom.  Now it's mine.  I feel honored.  I can't wait to use it.

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I may not be posting a lot of new images here, but that doesn't mean that I'm not busy.  I've finished quite a few things recently.  It's just not time to share them yet.