Love In The Time Of Coronavirus

My hair is getting shaggy and I don’t get dressed until noon most days. My son, blissfully unaware of the goings on, is quite literally, at times, bouncing off the walls. Thank god we at least have a small back yard. Yesterday he ate part of a succulent plant.

It’s April, not that it matters, trying to figure out where the time went. Not complaining, I find the statement cathartic. I’m overwhelmingly fortunate.

My wife is a physician for San Francisco Department of Public Health and is currently in charge of a massive effort to move the staggeringly large population of homeless people off the streets and out of shelters to stem the spread of Covid-19. General consensus is it’s already too late, damage done, the losses will be catastrophic.

No. 0737_03A - Castro Station, September of 2019.

Attempting to reconcile the acute depression and lethargy with the fact that I should be on the street, making pictures. Responsibilities prevail.

Finding the leadership on a national level to be entirely lacking, as well as completely devastating. Thankful that I live in California. I worry for the nation.

Will be making an effort to roll out some new(ish) work that I’ve yet to share, in an effort to stem the boredom, to feel (moderately) productive and to (hopefully) provide some escape, if only temporary, to anyone out there who may be paying attention.

Be safe everyone. Stay healthy.

Word On The Street...

Sifting through a back log of negatives from the street. Here’s a few choice frames from the past couple months… More on the way…

#0713_29 - Muni Train, San Francisco

#0714_15A - Market Street, San Francisco

#0714_35A - Market Street, San Francisco.

#0714_07A - Castro Street, San Francisco.

#0715_02A - Market Street, San Francisco.

#0715_21A - Market Street, San Francisco

Signs and Other Grievances...

I’ve had a little project on the back burner for awhile now that I was calling ‘Signs’ but Lee Friedlander stole my title… can’t really compete with that. Drop me a line if you’ve got a good title you’re willing to part with.

#0504_16A

0513_24A

#0693_27A

Posted a few images to Instagram on a whim, haven’t really kept up with it at all. Promptly lost a bunch of followers. #blessedbythealgorithm

Slowing catching up on film and scans and editing. Have a few other projects in the works that I’m picking at. Watch for the signs project soon, or whatever I end up calling it. Seriously though, if you’ve got a good title…

July, July...

If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? If I make a photograph and don’t share it on the internet, does it really exist?

While I continue to create new images, circumstances have kept me from the scanning of, editing and sharing of said photographs in digital form. Does that make the work any less relevant? Do we now base success solely on likes, presence, reach, and the ability to game ‘the algorithm?’

As someone who has shared the vast majority of his work online in digital form, this is something I think about a great deal, especially when it no longer becomes viable, interesting, or even entertaining…

The internet no longer seems to be the place for me, or my work, or for anyone pursuing a labor of love for that matter. Unless blessed by the algorithm, or enhanced by a marketing team, or backed by some juggernaut of the media industry, independent creators seem to toil away in obscurity the way we always have. Gone are the days of the weblog of the prolific artist, the unregulated world of tumblr, or even the simple chronological feed of Facebook or Instagram.

I see less and less draw to sharing work online, beyond a simple record, or to augment a ‘brick and mortar’ project. My photographs have always been rooted in the analog, the tactile, the three dimensional object. I will of course continue to share work here, though my interest lies largely in the printed image.

Not bitter, just realistic. I leave you with a recent image of the catalyst for this rant.

Thomas, 8 months old - 2019.

June Update...

Knee deep in re-writing curriculum, summer travels and 8 month old boy management, with little time to scan or print or post. I have a few things I’m picking at on the back burner, still in search of linear feet for a 35 piece show, looking to start work on a short series I’ve been developing…

#0140_35A - From the series Midnight, 2012

#0140_35A - From the series Midnight, 2012

For now, a small gallery update, from a little book project I put together some years ago entitled Midnight. Have a look in the gallery archive.

http://josephszymanski.com/midnight

#0183_01 - From the series Midnight, 2012

#0183_01 - From the series Midnight, 2012

#0416_17 - From the series Midnight, 2012

#0416_17 - From the series Midnight, 2012