Jörg Colberg - CPhMag.com

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workday.hr photocorp

Welcome to the 96th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#97
September 16, 2023
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The Long Shadow

Welcome to the 95th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#96
September 7, 2023
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The Masterlist of 15 Differences

Welcome to the 94th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#95
August 29, 2023
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Cold smoke and chronic desperation

Welcome to the 92nd edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#94
August 26, 2023
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RIP Balltze

Welcome to the 92nd edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#93
August 21, 2023
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We need to de-white-cube our culture

Welcome to the 91st edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#92
August 12, 2023
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That's a $79 printer for you

Welcome to the 90th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#91
August 3, 2023
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A History of Darkness

Welcome to the 89th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#90
July 31, 2023
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He and it are dead and he and it are going to die.

Welcome to the 88th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#89
July 29, 2023
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Looks like supererogatoriness isn't an actual word

Welcome to the 87th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#88
July 15, 2023
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Fake pictures that look real, and real pictures that look fake

Welcome to the 86th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#87
July 8, 2023
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There's something wrong with us

Welcome to the 85th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#86
July 1, 2023
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I could have figured that out myself

Welcome to the 84th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#85
June 18, 2023
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Ever wondered what the rest of this email looks like?

Welcome to the 83rd edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work. The 2023 shinchas have just come out -- that's the first teas harvested, and they're usually a real treat.


#84
June 11, 2023
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Three Weeks in Budapest

Welcome to the 82nd edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#83
May 30, 2023
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Missing Link: Death of an Artist

I just realized that there's a link missing in my latest email. I quoted Heinrich Holtgreve but forgot to include the link to the piece. You can read the interview with him here.

#82
May 2, 2023
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The Death of an Artist

Welcome to the 81st edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#81
May 2, 2023
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Fish-skin images and more

Welcome to the 80th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#80
April 19, 2023
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Ripping off the future

Welcome to the 79th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#79
March 29, 2023
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Very convincing nonsense

Welcome to the 78th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#78
March 16, 2023
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News from the bricks in the mud

Welcome to the 77th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#77
March 13, 2023
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The quality of his defiance

Welcome to the 76th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#76
February 27, 2023
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AI, oy!

Welcome to the 75th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#75
February 16, 2023
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Painting by the numbers

Welcome to the 74th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.

#74
January 30, 2023
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Sliding/Slipping into the New Year like...

Welcome to the 73rd edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#73
January 21, 2023
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Happy New Year!

Welcome to the 72nd edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#72
January 1, 2023
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The oddly coloured past

Welcome to the 71th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#71
December 17, 2022
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The Mythology of the Algorithm

Welcome to the 70th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#70
December 14, 2022
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A Life Well Lived (According to GPT)

Welcome to the 68th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#69
December 10, 2022
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Anne Brigman, Nan Goldin, and Workshops

Welcome to the 67th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#68
December 5, 2022
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Cats are the ideal form of life

Welcome to the 66th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#66
November 23, 2022
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The problem with infinity snark

Welcome to the 65th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal. I'll use the funds to pay for the fee the service provider of this Mailing List charges me every month. If there's money left, I'll invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#65
November 15, 2022
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How to get your work out

Welcome to the 64th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal, and I'll re-invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#64
October 29, 2022
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Angry walking, trees, algorithmic kisses, and hyperart

Welcome to the 63rd edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal, and I'll re-invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#63
October 19, 2022
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This is not a real picture

FeigeThisSoil00.jpg

As you might know, I have long been looking into Germany's complicated recent past in order to better understand what it means to roam the world as someone born there. Over the course of the past decade (or so), I noticed that there was a noticeable uptick in German photographers looking at Germany's past and present. I had always been puzzled by the fact that unlike painters, say, or writers, German photographers had been reluctant to deal with World War 2 and the Holocaust. But it seems that a younger generation of German photographers has come to the conclusion that it was time to do make their own country the focus of their work. Therefore, I decided I would speak with a number of these photographers to learn more about their motivations and biographies, in part to be able to place my own into that context.

The first photographer I spoke with is Jonas Feige. I published our long conversation this past Monday. I hope that you will find it interesting.


#62
October 2, 2022
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It’s a privilege to see how we all behave

Welcome to the 61th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal, and I'll re-invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#61
September 14, 2022
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Everyone has a story to be told

Welcome to the 60th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I'm hoping it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal, and I'll re-invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.

TerraceHouse.jpg

#60
September 6, 2022
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Pizza Flavoured Japanese English French Toast

Welcome to the 59th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I hope that it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal, and I'll re-invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#59
August 29, 2022
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Dead artists behind the camera (and more)

Welcome to the 58th edition of this newsletter!

With each email I'm sharing material that has inspired me recently. I hope that it will inspire you, too. If you want to support my work, you can sign up for my Patreon. This will get you access to exclusive material every week.

If Patreon is not your thing but you enjoy what I'm doing, feel free to send me a little something via Paypal, and I'll re-invest it into the Japanese green tea that fuels much of my creative work.


#58
August 14, 2022
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Tools, tools, tools

Witkacy-Autoportret_1938.jpg

This is a self-portrait by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, a Polish artist more commonly known as Witkacy. I first came across him when I saw a 1912 photographic self-portrait in an exhibition in Warsaw in 2017:

Witkiewicz Autoportrait 1912.jpg

As it turned out Witkacy was a prolific artist, working on photography, paintings, plays, texts... Given his wicked sense of humour, he produced an enormous amount of incredible material (note: "wicked" here as used in Boston, please). If you want to learn more about an artist you definitely should know more about, this article offers a good introduction to some of his work (and ideas).

#57
August 3, 2022
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sensations that fade (or: the white cube isn't life)

_DSC4298sq.jpg

You usually don't know when you're seeing a person for the last time. When they're gone, you might ask yourself whether you could have done more, should have acted differently...

I find it terrifying to imagine that one would go about one's daily life encounters as if they were in fact comparable to, say, seeing a person in palliative care: wouldn't you place too much of a burden on what might merely be a simple encounter that your whole life would be loaded up with anxiety?

Alternatively, you could simply make sure that the sum of all of these encounters adds up to much ("simple" -- it's a lot of work, but it's worth it).

#56
July 24, 2022
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Yes! Workshops!

JMColberg_boring.jpg

By now, you know that every once in a while (but not too often) I advertise what I do as part of this Mailing List. Today, I want to tell you that I'm offering two (online) workshops.

The first workshop centers on Image and Text. The idea is for participants to develop the beginnings (or possibly more) of a text-image piece: how do words next to pictures, how do words work with pictures? If you're curious about that and you've always wanted to try it, this workshop will be for you. For this workshop, you will want to have some pictures already. That way, you can then focus on creating the text.

The second workshop centers on Boredom. Here, we'll look into what boredom actually means. We'll find out why dismissing something as "boring" usually doesn't say anything about the thing we're talking about. In a nutshell, we'll vastly enrich our idea of what art is and/or can do. This workshop will include some readings, and participants are going to produce a small "boring" project (which obviously won't be boring at all). I'm really excited about the idea of this workshop, because I think all-too-often, photographers struggle with trying to make pictures of things that are mundane or maybe very familiar. Isn't the mundane boring? Well, no, and we'll find out why.

#55
July 15, 2022
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The artist may not necessarily understand his own art

Camnitzer.jpg

The other day, I remembered that I had started Luis Camnitzer's One Number Is Worth One Word a while ago. It's a very good book, especially if you're interested in the relationships between art, teaching, and the larger world. Even as the book focuses on art (or conceptual art) it would be a mistake to think that it doesn't have relevance for photography (which, as we all know, has the potential to be art). One piece in the book is called Sol LeWitt Revised, which is an "update" (the book's description) of a 1969 piece by the American artist entitled Sentences on Contemporary Art.

Here are a few gems that photographers might want to consider (just replace "art" with "photography", "artist" with "photographer," etc.):

"If the artist changes his or her mind midway through the execution of the piece he or she compromises the result and repeats past results. Better to finish consistently and then throw it away."

#54
July 11, 2022
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The Power of a Documentary

Gladbeck.jpg

Various streaming services have been churning out documentaries about all kinds of things. For personal reasons, I don't watch much TV. I never got into the habit, and now watching TV mostly bores me. But every once in a while, something interesting comes along. Netflix just released Gladbeck -- The Hostage Crisis, which might well be one of the very best documentaries I have seen in many years.

If you didn't grow up in Germany and/or if you were born in the 1980s or later, the title might not tell you much. I was aware of what had happened, but I had forgotten all about it until I saw the documentary. I don't necessarily want to give away to much. As horrible as the bank robbery that turned into a hostage crisis actually was, that's not at all what makes events so gruesome. In particular, if you're one of those photographers who really believes into the "bearing witness" idea, for sure you want to watch the documentary.

The way the documentary was produced greatly enhances the state of shock (if not terror) you'll be finding yourself in. There is no narration whatsoever. One hundred percent of the material on the screen is archival, taken from footage produced around the time (including a fair amount of photography). Nothing is being explained.

#53
June 28, 2022
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Yasumasete agetai

Cyanoteape.jpg

Early last month, I mentioned my idea to create something visual from the Japanese green tea I drink. In part, my motivation was conceptual (of sorts). Photography is a way of translating one experience into another. How can this be done when it comes to the tea I enjoy every day?

I don't want to bore you with all the details, but in the end, I concluded that if I insisted on a perfect translation I would chase the impossible. I had started out with cyanotypes, given that I still had the materials available in my work space. Furthermore, given that you can see differences between green teas by simply looking at the tea leaves, following in Anna Atkins' footsteps seemed like a good idea -- or at least a good way to start.

Long story short, all of my initial ideas were much too literal and reductive. It was largely a number of mistakes and accidents that brought me to what I'm doing now. You can see an example above (shot with my iPhone).

#52
June 11, 2022
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Where Photography Ends

Censor.jpg

The other day, I started work on what I'm hoping to become my next book. I've had the idea in my head for a while, and I'm excited about getting started. In part, the work involves revisiting a number of books I read over the past few years. One of these books is called Hitlers Eliten nach 1945 (Hitler's Elites After 1945). Edited by renowned German historian Norbert Frei, the book looks into how former Nazis made it into positions of power in West and East Germany. As it turns out, the reality is a little bit more complex than you might imagine. But for certain areas (including, crucially, the legal system), a lot of former Nazis continued their careers in West Germany.

Given the book is very interesting and given that I think more people should read it, I posted a photo of the cover plus a short comment (something along the lines of "current research") in my Instagram Stories. Last night, I received the message that you can see above. Instagram's algorithm treated the cover of a book written by a number of respected German historians as supporting "Violence or dangerous organization". Let that sink in.

I "appealed" that decision (they give you a link to click), and much to my surprise, they took it back. But there still is a major point to be made. That point also concerns the incessant harassment of women and people of colour who somehow do not conform to what the company calls their "community guidelines".

#51
May 31, 2022
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Twenty Years

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I'm not particularly interested in anniversaries. I'm happy to celebrate other people's; but in my own life, I prefer to look forward -- rather than back. But on and off I have been thinking a little bit about the fact that I started what originally was called Conscientious in 2002.

It wasn't the first blog about photography. In fact, originally, it wasn't even supposed to become photography centric. But it did within a few short months. There was a small number of other blogs I followed and looked up to. James Luckett wrote Consumptive (which ceased operations years ago). I don't remember who wrote Coincidences; I seem to remember it was anonymous, and it sadly stopped getting updated even before Consumptive did. I did a Google search, you can still access it (last entry: 2005).

(If you've ever wondered why my blog was called the way it was, the above might give you a hint. In retrospect, I'd never start anything else again with a name that was that hard to spell -- for natives and foreigners -- and pronounce -- for foreigners.)

#50
May 22, 2022
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Photo 101, MFA-student paralysis, and more

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A few years ago, when I was still posting my own photographs on Instagram, I posted a series of pictures where I had placed the same object somewhere in my kitchen, with the winter light creating shadow play. For every picture, I would modify the object more. It started out as a blank sheet of paper, and I started folding it and adding a few needles to it. It was a creative exercise that had me make a picture every day, and it helped me deal with winter itself, the most dreadful of all seasons.

I don't know where the pictures went. They must be somewhere on a hard drive. I didn't make them for anything other that particular moment. Posting them on Instagram gave me added routine: there was, after all, something I'd do every day.

At some stage, some photographer left a comment underneath one of the photographs and wrote "photography 101". I knew what he meant. It was the kind of snark that unfortunately is too common in photoland. And it stung. I didn't stop taking the pictures, but I felt that that comment had soured what had been an exercise I enjoyed doing.

#49
May 8, 2022
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When your own trash is your treasure

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I might be one of the few people who's genuinely not interested in the planet Mars. I get it, it's a large planet. But realistically speaking, there's not much going on there. Photographs from Mars have been looking more or less the same ever since the very first ones produced by Viking 1 and 2 in the late 1970s. I still remember seeing those first photographs. For a ten year old boy, that was exciting. Now, their resolution is a little better, and they're not quite so orange any longer.

These days, there's this rover or mini-robot, and there's that rover or mini-robot, all of them featuring names that make the writer in me cringe. There probably is an article to be written about those mission names, but I can't make myself do the work. Regardless, there are only so many photographs of tire tracks on Mars I can get excited about (that number is close to zero). And I'm writing all of this as a former astronomer (albeit a cosmologist, which sits at the opposite end of the spectrum from planetary science, if you think in terms of scale).

When NASA just published the photograph above (the remains of what helped them land their current mission), I actually felt a pang of sadness. Is there a location anywhere that's not some convenient dumping ground for our trash?

#48
April 29, 2022
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Odds and Ends and the Past

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The other day, I realized that I needed to advertise the fact again that I'm mentoring photographers. I'm basically doing what I used to be doing when I taught in an MFA program, but I'm now doing it on my own. It's very flexible, depending on what a photographer might need. So far, I've helped a number of photographers develop their projects. But there also have been a number of books in the making.

If this is something that might interest you, check out the website -- or simply be in touch.

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#47
April 19, 2022
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