Ruhrgebiet by Ulrich Mack

Utilizing a recently developed printing system from Dieter Kirchner, the Munich publisher Moser Verlag has just released Ruhrgebiet from legendary photographer, Ulrich Mack. The new printing system provides a remarkably vast tonal range with the deepest ink-on-paper black range to date.

In 1959, Ulrich Mack left Hamburg with his Leica to roam the industrial region between the rivers Ruhr and Emscher for several weeks. He proceeded to photograph the industrial architecture which consumed the landscape.

With adoration and fascination as his ambition, he gazed at the expansive horizon of factories and coal processing plants, their mammoth form breaking the skyline as they sat heavy upon the earth. Soaked in the diffuse light of an ever-gray autumn sky, the structures shimmer with a dull and toxic gloss, frequent among 20th century industrial landscapes.

Perched high atop the ironwork, Mack peers from elevated vantage points, composing his frame with genuine curiosity, celebrating every sweeping arch and sharp right angle. If only I could leaf through the pages of this masterwork every evening before bed, but alas, to fetch the plates would cost some five hundred Euros, but hey, a guy’s gotta have a dream right?

+ www.schaden.com

Simen Johan – Religious Sci-fi

If I were directing a live action version of The Book of Revelations, I would certainly ask Simen Johan to be the art director. Such a unique enjoyment in thinking about God, reality, and this bizarre place called Earth.

+ www.simenjohan.com

WHAT LIES BENEATH THE SURFACE

“We talk far too much. We should talk less and draw more. I personally should like to renounce speech altogether and, like organic Nature, communicate everything I have to say in sketches. That fig tree, this little snake, the cocoon on my window sill quietly awaiting its future—all these are momentous signatures. A person able to decipher their meaning properly would soon be able to dispense with the written or the spoken word altogether. The more I think of it, there is something futile, mediocre, even (I am tempted to say) foppish about speech. By contrast, how the gravity of nature and the silence startle you, when you stand face to face with her, undistracted, before a barren ridge or in the desolation of ancient hills.”

–Goethe

Sometimes people have eyes for reality. Guy Sargent really knows what matter is. Say it fast and it rings truer still.

+ www.guysargent.com

Mr. Matthew Feyld from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

I’ve driven through Saskatchewan a few times. It would have been nice to have known about Matthew Feyld then. How often do Canadians make good decisions? Very often.

+ www.matthewfeyld.blogspot.com

Your shoes are too *** damn big young man

We drove with Ben out to Iowa because it was awful having him leave the city (cue Magnolia Electric). We wanted a few extra days with the guy so we went out there for a seriously memorable weekend. You don’t even care how much fun we had so I won’t bother you with the details, but this little place was a real treat three-quarters of the way from Chicago to Iowa City.

They call it Nopoulos because some Greeks went out to Iowa a couple hundred years ago to open up a soda fountain shop. Not surprisingly they did a real fine job and the place hasn’t closed since. This place is actually the oldest ice cream slash soda fountain shop in the whole of North America, no kidding.

The guy behind the counter made fun of my shoes and I still don’t get the joke.

Photo courtesy of Liz Hazle

Cake stays with you

I tore this photograph out of the New York Times magazine probably four or five years ago. I have always dreamed of recreating this image.

The cake looks so good. I just want to sit down in a shaded room looking out at Lake Michigan eating this cake with an Arnold Palmer at my side. Please note that I did not say with Arnold Palmer himself, rather the drink which goes by his name. Lemonade and black tea.

Anyways, I love this image. Sometimes you come across an image and it isn’t wowwy zowwy or anything like that, but for whatever reason it sticks with you, for a long long time. I am interested in such seemingly mundane things. Not entirely interested as in the way that Bernd and Hilla Becher were interested in silos and water-towers and what not, but more in the way of companionship, as if these things were some of my closest friends. This isn’t about make-believe or anything, it’s about subtlety and honesty, the real nitty-gritty beautiful stuff that someone put a lot of effort into because they really meant it.

There’s stuff like this all over the place. I love that about life. This sort of thing is just lying around all over the world, waiting to make your day.

White balance makes all the difference in the world

I would love to say that I am always on top of my white balance setting—but truth be told, I am not. In fact I don’t even have a digital camera so what am I talking about?

When I do eventually acquire a digital camera, I will try hard to pay close attention to white balance. A well calibrated custom white balance setting tailored to whatever environment you’re in truly makes all the difference in the world.

I absolutely adore the image above. It is perfectly white balanced thanks to the brilliance of Mr. Krauss and a bit of assistance from a pocket grey card. Cheers to high fidelity.

+ Mr. Krauss via Flickr