Blake Britton

I met Blake Britton at his show A Time For Lions with Jonny Fenix at Nemo Design several months ago. I was floored with Blakes sculptures. They were hauntingly beautiful, full of subtle imagery and references to masculinity, and commandingly hung at eye level. Jonny's work was equally compelling I just felt drawn to the 3 dimensional aspect of the show. Britton does altered taxidermy mounts with bondo and cast rubber. A few weeks later I met Blake to see his process and hang out. Here are some of the photos from that morning. Please check out his work at bcbritton.com.

"Happy Endings"

Blake Britton

"Boys Don't Cry" left and "Head Above Water" right with Britton.

HAPPY PLAYGROUND

Last week I got breakfast with a photographer friend of mine,Christine Taylor and we had some coffee afterwards at my place. Unintentionally I gave her a coffee cup that matched her big orange hat. Suddenly inspiration strikes and an impromptu photo shoot happens. A special thank you to Christine for having too much coffee with me Thursday and for being a wonderful subject. Next time I'll have better cream for the coffee.

PLAYING WITH MY FOOD, AGAIN

This should stop. My recent fixation with expressing myself through food. Better yet, expressing myself through photographs where I misuse and play with food. Maybe it doesn't have to stop. Maybe I should have been a food photographer. Maybe I should have been a cook. Maybe I should have grown out of this phase years ago.

Donut Dreams

I had a dream last night in black and white. I usually dream in accurate or vivid color so this was a little out of the ordinary. I dreamt of jelly filled donuts. I was up early to make sure Delicious Donuts had what I needed before I headed off to work.

WHITE NOISE

–noun
1. Also called white sound. a steady, unvarying, unobtrusive sound, as an electronically produced drone or the sound of rain, used to mask or obliterate unwanted sounds.
2. Physics. random noise with a uniform frequency spectrum over a wide range of frequencies.

From WHITE NOISE by Don DeLillo (The book I'm currently reading). Metaphor referring to the confluence of all the symptoms of postmodern culture that in their coming-together make it very difficult for an individual to actualize his or her ideas and personality.

Proactive vs Retroactive

After driving home from showing my book to a client I began to contemplate the content of my book. For the longest time my book has been retroactive. Working in photojournalism and editorially many of my clients wanted to see work I've done for other publications. My client base has moved into a different direction, away from the printed weekly and monthly mediums into a more evergreen advertising world. I'm not discrediting the work I have done for past clients, I'm proud of the work, it's just not where I'm headed or at now. I've been doing some shooting work to help me find the voice I have now. The visual voice I'd prefer to speak with. Proactive opposed to Retroactive. As I piece together the work I'm doing now I'm going to publish them here first. This is the first in the series I'm doing now. The working title of the book is 'visions', working title only because 'visions' has a ridiculous connotation. These images are coming from a place that begins in my head an not in a previously published or existing medium. I'm trying to find that happy medium between my early roots in illustration and the photographic medium I've grown into.

HAPPINESS : MADE IN OREGON

Last Saturday I debuted a video at Slideluck Potshow in the newly opened Sandbox Studio PDX. The stop motion video was shorter than most submissions to Slideluck but more coherent and imaginative (in my ever so humble and non biased opinion). It was a fun show with a large turnout. The studio space is quite large and it was good to see it filled with excited masses. I am proud to show the video here. Enjoy.