Jason Wilder

Infinitely Curious and Mildly Amused

links I like/endorse

Doyers
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greenwood books
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sun ra arkestra
vernacular social club
wayofm

  • Had a pretty poignant conversation about photography with another local photographer. Specifically, the art of it and what is subjectively good/great artistic photography and what’s just amateur photography. We both think that lines have blurred so much because the democratization of cameras. Blurry lines bad, democratization good. I also believe art criticism when it comes to most photography is not welcome anymore, especially among people who like to show their work. I’ve seen it at group meetups where the whole point was question making and criticism. I’ve seen it in person.

    Everyone is capable of artistic and amateur photography but very few people I come across only want/need praise. If you are unwilling to be thoughtfully challenged, whats the purpose then? What I think is the worst is the gamification of photography. Likes, comments, numbers of shows, podcasts, books, zines, followers, tagging, emojis as comments, hashtags, reels, updates, algorithms, etc., it’s all corporate metrics, overwhelming and cultish. And much of it is not thoughtfully done.

    Thinking out loud, but maybe that’s just society now and my friend and I should just accept it..

    Back in the photoblog book in the late 90s and early 2000s, everyone was an amateur. It wasn’t an insult or a badge of honor. Now everyone is a Picasso. Or in this case, a Cartier-Bresson. It doesn’t feel like that anymore.

    I do feel like a decent selection of amateur photography can make a great artistic statement. I also think a decent selection of artistic photography can feel generic. Am I talking out both sides of my mouth?

    I guess my point is that we aren’t thinking about photography, we are thinking about everything else that shouldn’t be important. People are afraid of losing “a community” if they leave the cult. And people who leave the cult never hear from the cult members anymore.

    I should point out this is not about or directed at anyone. I just watched a video about how some photographers feel it is harder and more dangerous to make photos in public. Some of the points made in the video also correlated with my other conversation. I like to think and philosophize about this stuff.

    Anyways, the photo above was made when I still was bringing my camera on the three minute walk I have to work. I had a couple minutes so I stopped at the corner to mill around and heard something in the sky, so I made a photo. It’s definitely a snapshot and not intended for anything other than being a snapshot of a moment only I remember. Never did see anything in the sky. Probably just a plane. No one else seemed to care.

    Artemis was all pretty damn amazing. Right up there with all the recent UFO related news. My wife and I will chat about this stuff for hours after listening to podcasts with astronauts, physicists, doctors, researchers and experiencers. I never imagined when I met her that we would watch the Dodgers together and have passionate conversations about UFOs. Ten years ago a couple weeks ago, after I went to a Gerry Szymanski photography showing (A Clear Midnight), we met for the first time and stayed up all night talking, drinking champagne.

    Red Wings back in town this week. If you like baseball, me, and/or want to follow along in my project, take a look at High and Inside.

    Had a little movie marathon.

    Sometimes I Think About Dying.

    Sick of Myself.

    Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person.

    Nightide.

    All very fun movies for different reasons.

    Rewatching for me, and first for Beth, the Firefly series. Word on the street there is an animated version coming soon.

  • internet presence

    Changing up hosting, for cost and convenience. Expect some delays, changes, etc. around here.

    Soon I will be blogging like the good ol days on four separate websites.

    This domain will just be my photography archive, CV, and probably a photoblog.

    Fantastic Voyage is due for some updates. I have a few album reviews in the can, show notes to add and update, and some non-music show related stuff. This will definitely be a nod back to my mp3 blog days.

    High and Inside. This is my photographer’s sketchbook, if you will, for the baseball project I’ve long been working on.

    adieu au photography. Everything vernacular photography and photo books.

    There will be some cross-posts between High and Inside and adieu au photography.

  • Weird

    Tonight, I helped this movie ‘s overall rating on Mubi.

    Which is kind of weird / coincidental with another rabbit hole I’ve been diving into.

    Also, this will be my view this summer at the ESL Field at Silver Stadium. Great view of the whole park. Feel right at home here. Last night a guy was boo’d because he raced a little kid to a foul ball and kept it for himself.

    This my favorite shirt in the gift shop. I’ll be cutting off the sleeves and rocking that this season.

    The heat hasn’t kicked on all day. But three inches this Tuesday.

    Weird.

  • that time of the year

    Despite the rain, the beer is hoppy and the people watching is <insert chef’s kiss emoji>. I have a great seat this year behind home plate. Red Wings do a great job. We are lucky for the Silvers and the team’s leaders and staff.

    Gonna be transferring this and the Fantastic Voyage websites, soon, to a new server. So my five readers here may see some interruptions.

    Have some fun stuff, at least for me, in the future photography and music wise.

  • Magic Records

    My cousin made some brew from some hops from his backyard in Brighton. He put it in a German brandy bottle for me that his sister brought him. We met to see Three Days of Condor at the Dryden last night. The movie is 49 days older than me. And wildly prophetic.

    Tonight I’m listening to Magic Records debut on WFMU and cataloging some 7 inches. Got a great deal on stuff from Bop Shop to chop up for use on Fantastic Voyage.

    This Casuals on the Square 45 is pretty sweet. It’s a fictional recording of taking a “charter flight” to the moon.

    Opening day in LA this Thursday. Opening day in Rochester, next Tuesday.

  • honkbal

    baseball
    béisbol
    bàngqiú
    honkbal
    yakyū
    yagu

    Been enjoying spring training and highlights from the World Baseball Classic. Had to get a free trial to a streaming service watch the semi-finals of the WBC, as I felt I was missing out on some great games. The atmosphere of these games feel electric. Kiké Hernández was right, they do seem bigger than World Series games. Well, some of them.

    I’m also a season ticket holder, again, to the local AAA team after the past few years of having a press pass. This is, of course, to go watch the games and to continue to work on my baseball photo project. This year I plan on putting ten plus years of baseball photos into something tangible. I guess the best word would be prototypes. Last year I was pretty much on the IL all season, so I am anxious to get started again.

    One of the benefits of not having a photo pass and bringing what I can carry in? Well, I could say the same old tired tropes about one camera, one lens, and to not overthink and plan and blah blah blah. Photographer influencers are the worst. Anyways, I can now get autographs again. That was against the rules of having a press pass. My job’s hours did not allow me to be at the stadium during the times I could engage personally with the players. There’s a key portion of the chaos I started that has an autograph format.

    Saw Father Mother Sister Brother recently. Three vignettes about family and how families interact with each other, with an awesome, believable cast that played their roles so well, I not once after the initial introduction think about their real names or other movies/shows they are in. Mubi has a sweet essay about the movie.

    img_8775

    I pay rent in this building. I have started taking photos of the various signs the property manager leaves around the building. It’s a lot of fun seeing these littered around the building when you have company. Having the photos makes for great memories. Ugh.

    I got jealous of the guys who made the movie Grand Theft Hamlet. So much so that I want to watch it again. It’s wonderful that blokes like that exist and do stuff like this. Winter in Sokcho was a bleak beautiful cold film. An Art House Lost in Translation. Did I mention I watched Sinners too? I’d watch that again. It was so good. Weapons was a great turn down the lights with popcorn movie, extra butter. My kind of horror. Conan O’Brien spoofing it on Oscar night was the chef’s kiss. Watching Three Days of the Condor with cousin Eric. Seeing movies at the Dryden rules. The only other theater worth going to is the Little. Booo to every other theater in our area.

    Been enjoying this Jason Samosa guy. Someone thoughtfully presenting on Jacques Vallee will always draw me in. Maybe when I’m older and not moving around much, I will read Vallee’s Forbidden Science journals.

    I want to draw, paint and make a lego diorama (in no particular order) of this scene from the I Want To Believe poster. This is a Top 10 photo for me. Yes, ever. I wonder how much it would cost to get good at drawing vs. painting vs. lego this diorama. Which would be the most expensive (supplies, training). My guess lego would be the most expensive. I’d bet on myself making a frame worthy oil painting before I get the room, money and time for the lego.

  • my brain’s liner notes

    I thought via my radio show I would learn what genre of music most defines space more than others. Some might argue space rock. Some might argue ambient. Some might argue disco. Some might argue jazz. Some might argue prog. It’s hard denying any one genre more than the other. I really do think funk, though, is the natural music of the universe and very other worldly..

    On the bright side, I found out very quickly that not only was I not the expert I thought I was of space related music. This is the most fun I’ve had with music since my early 2000s music blog.

    Working from home this week, I was able to listen to two or three records a day. On in the background. Registering enough to make me happy but not distracting to my work. It’s the ideal setup for me. I also have a view of the Kodak tower and the ballpark. I can see planes flying by on their way to the airport. Cars on the interlope float in the distance. As does the train.

    I’m surrounded by my books, music, art and art supplies. If I need a short break that stimulates me, I have it here. Our cats too. All my distractions at work involve modern technology. I’m more analog, and happy, at home.

    I enjoyed this PBS special about the history of funk music.

    I, of course, saw this Sun Ra doc as it aired.

    Anyways, all of this is just to distract me from the unsettling world we live in. Printing photos, making a zine, some collage … all while listening to music. Refreshing my browser every so often, seeing if we are overtly at war with Iran. Reading foreign press because the media here reads like government press releases from everyone you hated in high school.

  • reptilians

    I can’t tell if these are crocodiles or alligators but I do recognize an idiot walking among them. I also see a baby on the railing.

    I’ve started writing liner notes for albums I own that came with no liner notes. I have a bunch of 4×5 and 5×7 photos that were test prints or prints that didn’t sell. I just flip them over and write while listening to an album. I know I get excited when I see someone’s name written in the liner notes or cover of a record. Surely other people like this too right? Anyways, my records will end up somewhere after I am gone. Hope whoever finds it likes it.

    I have made photos for a couple local band’s record covers. After the idea and the shot, it was left to the band and whoever made the decisions about the cover. The above cover was shot at the Bug Jar on a very cold close to Christmas morning back sometime in 2010. I love how there’s life going on behind Casey. I also love how she’s holding her glass. A stylistic decision she naturally chose instead of gripping it or holding it like a cup of coffee. Well after the fact, I do wonder if she had her purse and some stuff on the bar that would have made the photo better.

    Adding liner notes to my vinyl collection made me think of the idea of creating a cheap service doing cover art for indie bands. Give me $50, let me listen to your music and I’ll make something for your cover. Could be a photograph, a collage, found photos, a drawing, a painting, etc. I’m tired of AI covers, sad font decisions and lack of originality in album covers. I’m not saying I could do it better or maybe I am. If you are doing a physical release, fork over an extra $50 and I will make photos for your liner notes. Or if you ask nicely, I’d do it for free.

    Been rewatching Twin Peaks with Beth, who hasn’t seen it. That’s been dominating my tv habit lately. I did see Winter in Sokcho. Here’s a review I sent my cousin:

    It was very subtly shot.  Lots of blues.  Themes and tropes were done in a way that both humanizes and makes the characters more interesting.

    I gave it 4/5 on Mubi. Anyways, it’s the type of movie I love. Full of impactful nuances by both the cameras and actors. In all of these types of movies, you want a sequel. In the movie an artist moves into town at a local boarding hotel to draw/write his next book. He doesn’t know how long it will be. He just knows he likes to poker around for inspiration. That reminded me of one of my favorite recent-ish photobooks:

    Dogbreathe by Matthew Genttempo.

    Blake Andrews introduced the book in his review:

    Matthew Genitempo’s method has always relied on intuition. He approaches photo projects with no clear finish line in mind. Instead he settles in somewhere and pokes around, secure in the faith that his gut will lead him to photographs. Gradually he learns the lay of the land and meets a few locals. One thing leads to another. Acquaintances string together, rhythms flex, and passing moments deepen into portrait sessions. After a while he’s got a book.

    Tonight I listened to Kath Bloom and Velvet Underground while writing this post and looking at Dogbreathe.

    I also had weird ideas. One was to record a roaming tv show on VHS and ask random people questions. The whole episode will be talking to people about that question.

    For instance, a sample question would be: “What do you do with all your Christmas cards?”

    I’d roam anywhere and ask anyone and everyone that question and keep trying to talk to them until they walk away. If I see kids or a young couple about to get married, I’d rephrase the question. “What do you think you will do with all your Christmas cards?

    Another idea I had was to recreate found photos. Try to recreate as close as possible the photo but in real life. Models would have to be hired to stand, or in this case, lay in pose. I found his online obituary. Someone wrote:

    With our deepest sympathy. You all are in our prayers. Find comfort he is in a better place now.

  • Seen on Walks

    Back in 2015 around my 40th birthday I was contacted by someone for a show of my candid street photography. I was very excited seeing as how it would have been a solo show in a pop up gallery of sorts that was just a gallery, not a coffee shop or another additional business with some space on their walls. It would also be, technically, my first time exhibiting.

    There was room for 200, give or take, 8×10 photos I made from 2001 to 2015. I made this playlist as a mixtape for the show. Each photo would have a title that was the song on the mix.

    Anyways, as with most things for photographers, it was too good to be true and the show didn’t happen. The playlist still exists, though, minus some songs that are no longer streaming. I doubt I will ever get a solo show in the future as I’m no longer on social media peddling my photos and my id. That’s all ok, though, because keeping up appearances on social media is exhausting and bad for your health.

    Looking at photos that were going to be in the show is like seeing a past that does not exist anymore. I have mixed feelings about all of that. One of the more sad feelings is that I’ll not be able to make the same type photos again in Rochester. Most so called street photography done in this area are pretty landscapes with minimal people and with almost nothing that says anything about the human condition or the times we are living in. Or they are posed. That’s not a complaint, just an observation, and a reminder of the reality photographers face in smaller towns.

    Now that I’m ten years older, I have different photographic goals that I am ironing out due to a burst of inspiration from the movies I’ve been watching and the news I’ve been reading. I’m itching to get back out there and try to make something of meaning, despite the dangerous reality we all face at the moment in our country.

    https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/seen-on-walks/pl.u-LdbqqeBTqqqyxW

  • My Hermès Handbag!

    Working on my studio loft. It’s giving me an outlet to move around and not read the news. Gonna make it nicer/comfortable and start having people over to look and talk about music, art, and collecting or play chess on the floor with the cool rug I picked out.

    After getting it settled, I have to organize my found photography collection. I also have zines/books in progress. Add that organizing my collage source material. I going to have to cull and sell some of that.

    I’m already tired of winter. You’d never know I am a North Country native. We got mail saying the landlord didn’t pay their RGE bill.

    Been digging this band:

    I’m seeing a lot of AI art on album covers. Pretty gross.