Hey everybody — Andy here. That’s me hiking in Italy last fall. I just wanted to say thanks again for following me here. I plan to continue showing photography in 2024 in my Substack newsletter and hope you’ll tag along with me. You can read my 2023 Year in Review here.

The FlakPhoto newsletter is still the best place to stay in touch. You can subscribe here. (It’s free!) I hope the New Year is treating you all well. I’m slowly getting myself back into the regular workweek flow this morning. It’s not easy! I know you can relate.

Finally, I always love hearing what each of you is working on. Please feel free to email me anytime at flakphoto@gmail.com. Okay, that’s all for now.

Take care!

Please join me on Substack was originally published in FlakPhoto Projects on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Hey everybody! It’s been a while since I’ve written anything here — Apologies for the radio silence. Are folks still hanging out on Medium? I write about photography on my blog and hope you’ll subscribe to my posts over there. You can read my full archive over at FlakPhoto.news. It’s free! ***SUBSCRIBE HERE***

To begin with, I’m Andy.

I have been fascinated with pictures all my life. It started with comic strips and storybooks. My mother was a prolific amateur photographer, and her family photo albums were legendary. Like every kid in the 1980s, television and movies captivated my attention. Eventually, I found painting and photography, and I never looked back. I’ve been studying visual media for most of my life. I’m fascinated with imagemaking and deeply inspired by the people who practice it.

Years ago, I published a blog called FlakPhoto. That was before Instagram devoured the scene and ate my blogging habit. I love social media, but lately, I’ve been feeling the urge to log off and get back to basics. So, I’m writing a newsletter to share community news, recommend books, show pictures, and talk with the artists I admire. I hope you like it.

So, how will this work?

Good question. FlakPhoto Digest is a mix of photography news, online ephemera, and recommended reading. I play with short-form posts and publish longer stuff, too. I’ll share the highlights here on Medium, but you’ll get the full experience if you subscribe on my website. Finally, I’m open to your ideas and suggestions as things take shape. If there’s something you’d like to see here, let me know!

Sometimes a cartoon says it all — I’ve been working through some ideas about photography and experience, and Anjali Chandrashekar’s latest helped connect some dots. You can read more about seeing (and being) here.

Sincere thanks to each of you for being a part of this. I hope you enjoy your Labor Day holiday. Have a great weekend!

Do you like looking at pictures? was originally published in FlakPhoto Projects on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Hey book, geeks! I’m teaming up with Kim Beil to give away three copies of her new book…Who wants it?

About the book

While Instagram has made it easy to see how quickly trends come and go in photography, photography has always been faddish. The rules for making “good pictures” change rapidly, just as they have ever since the earliest days of the medium. Sometimes a new style saturates the market, and people get sick of it, inspiring a backlash, like the #nofilter movement. Sometimes styles return or effects that were once considered accidents of the medium are repurposed as artistic effects, such as motion blur, lens flare, or vignetting.

Good Pictures identifies 50 of these trends that have been popular among photographers of all kinds, whether amateurs or professionals. The book’s 200 full-color illustrations include snapshots, commercial and art photographs, and material from vintage how-to manuals. Organized chronologically, each of the short chapters addresses a different stylistic trend, explaining its original appeal and how it was accomplished, as well as the reasons for its eventual decline in popularity. Everyone is a photographer now, making this book a comprehensive history of the practice and a source of inspiration.

3 chances to win

Submission is FREE, and you have three chances to win :

• Comment on my Instagram post »
• Retweet my Twitter post »
• Comment on my Facebook post »

I’ll draw 3 random winners from the submissions on Wednesday, May 26. I’d love for more people to hear about this — tell your photography friends about the giveaway? Good luck!

Win a copy of Good Pictures: A History of Popular Photography was originally published in FlakPhoto Projects on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Hey book, geeks! I’m teaming up with Dr. Rebecca Senf to give away three signed copies of her new Ansel Adams book…Who wants it?

About the book

One of the most influential photographers of his generation, Ansel Adams (1902–1984), is famous for his dramatic photographs of the American West. Although many of Adams’s images are now iconic, his early work has remained largely unknown. In this first monograph dedicated to the beginnings of Adams’s career, Rebecca A. Senf argues that these early photographs are crucial to understanding Adams’s artistic development and offer new insights into many aspects of the artist’s mature oeuvre.

Drawing on copious archival research, Senf traces the first three decades of Adams’s photographic practice — beginning with an amateur album made during his childhood and culminating with his Guggenheim-supported National Parks photography of the 1940s. Highlighting the artist’s persistence in forging a career path and his remarkable ability to learn from experience as he sharpened his image-making skills, this beautifully illustrated volume also looks at the significance of the artist’s environmentalism, including his involvement with the Sierra Club.

6 chances to win

Submission is FREE, and you have six chances to win :

• Comment on my Instagram post »
• Retweet my Twitter post »
• Comment on my FlakPhoto Network post »
• Comment on my Facebook post »
• Comment on my FlakPhoto Books post »
• Comment on my Flickr post »

I’ll draw 3 random winners from the submissions on Wednesday, December 23. I’d love for more people to hear about this — tell your photography friends about the giveaway? Good luck!

Win a copy of Making a Photographer: The Early Work of Ansel Adams was originally published in FlakPhoto Projects on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Like a lot of you, I follow politics closely. The 2020 Presidential Election is critical to the United States’ future, improving BIPOC and LGBTQ lives, responding to the climate crisis, improving global relations, and countless other issues. Voting isn’t a magic pill, but it is a step toward progress. I’m excited to announce a new project and hope that each of you will participate…

Our photo community is joining forces to support and encourage Americans to vote this Fall. We invite our friends and colleagues in the photography world to join the cause by showing us what voting means to you.

The 2020 Presidential Election is critical to the United States' future, improving BIPOC and LGBTQ lives, responding to the climate crisis, improving global relations, and countless other issues. Voting isn't a magic pill, but it is a participatory step toward progress.⁣ ⁣ Our photo community is joining forces to support and encourage Americans to vote this Fall. We invite our friends and colleagues in the photography world to join the cause by showing us what voting means to you.⁣ ⁣ How it works: Use your Instagram feed to share an image that shows why you're voting in 2020, and include the hashtag #PhotographersVote on your post.⁣ ⁣ You can post a single photo or a series of images and use the caption to elaborate on why this election matters to you. And you can post as many #PhotographersVote stories as you want between now and November 3. Our goal is to create a photo community groundswell around getting out the vote. A picture is worth a thousand words, and socially networked images can travel like wildfire.⁣ ⁣ We're looking forward to hearing from you and seeing your #PhotographersVote stories. Let's work together to make The United States a better place. #vote2020 (📸 @indigonyx)

How it works: Use your Instagram feed to share a visual story about why you’re voting in 2020, and include the hashtag #PhotographersVote on your post. While you’re it, follow PhotographersVote on Instagram.

You can post a single photo or a series of images and use the caption to elaborate on why this election matters to you. And you can post as many #PhotographersVote stories as you want between now and November 3. Our goal is to create a photo community groundswell around getting out the vote. A picture is worth a thousand words, and socially networked images can spread like wildfire.

Between now and the election, I’ll share the images that catch my eye on the FlakPhoto Instagram, and many of our partners will be doing the same on their Instagram feeds — always with a credit and the hashtag.

If your organization wants to join our list of supporters and help us spread the word about this campaign, please email me at hello@flakphoto.com or send a DM to @photographersvote on Instagram. While we’re at it, check out this voting resources list.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you and seeing your #PhotographersVote stories. Let’s work together to make The United States a better place for everyone. Let’s get out the vote!

Participating Partners

A New Nothing • A Yellow Rose Project • Art F City • Artists for Puerto Rico • Atlanta Celebrates Photography • Black Women Photographers • Blue Sky Gallery • Booooooom • Candela Books + Gallery • Candor Arts • Cumulus Photo • Center for Fine Art Photography (Fort Collins) • Daylight Books • Diversify Photo • Filter Photo Festival • FlakPhoto Projects • From Here On Out • Humble Arts Foundation • In The In-Between • Kris Graves • Lenscratch • The Luupe • Medium Photo Festival • Minor Matters Books • Olu Company • Photo Emphasis • Photo-eye Gallery • Photographic Center Northwest • Photograph Magazine • Photolucida • Photoville • Soft Lightning Studio • Too Tired Project • Treat Gallery • Vibrance Art Exchange • Women Picturing Revolution • Yoffy Press

#PhotographersVote: A Photo Community Movement to Get Out the Vote was originally published in FlakPhoto Projects on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Hey Photo peeps! Jess T. Dugan sends word about a raffle fundraiser they’re doing in collaboration with Catherine Edelman Gallery:

I’m holding a raffle for a framed, editioned photograph from “Every Breath We Drew” to raise funds for organizations working for racial justice. Photo info: Jillian, 2014, 18” x 24”, Edition 1/10, Retail value $3200

To enter, make a donation of $25 or more to any of the organizations below, email Jess your receipt at jesstdugan@gmail.com, and they’ll enter you into the raffle. Every increment of $25 = one chance to win.

ACLU — https://www.aclu.org
Arch City Defenders — https://www.archcitydefenders.org.
The Bail Project — https://bailproject.org
Black Visions Collective — https://www.blackvisionsmn.org
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund — https://www.naacpldf.org
Southern Poverty Law Center — https://www.splcenter.org/

Donations must be made between June 8–16, 2020. Jess will draw the winner on Wednesday, June 17. They’ll cover shipping within the United States. Thanks in advance for participating. Good luck!

Photographer Jess T. Dugan is raising funds for social justice was originally published in FlakPhoto Projects on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here and even longer since I’ve had a hand in organizing an exhibition. Like a lot of you, my focus has been on showing photography on Instagram and, for better or worse, that’s been the place I’ve been hanging out in recent months. I’m excited to announce a new exhibition project I’m jurying: The Center for Photography at Woodstock’s annual Photography Now show. Here, some details:

CPW’s annual Photography Now exhibition celebrates the plurality of photography. All photographic techniques and approaches are welcome, from analog to digital, fine art, directorial, narrative, documentary, political, social justice, identity, portrait, landscape, still life, mixed media incorporating photography, photographic installations, digital imaging, and collage! Submissions are accepted from all over the world. Professional, amateur, and student artists are all welcome to apply. Photography Now showcases current trends in photography. Submitted photographs should, therefore, have been created in the last five years or be part of an ongoing long-term project.

Click here to learn more and submit your application »

And this is kind of cool: In addition to the application, the $40 submission fee includes a virtual portfolio review with CPW. Here’s how it works:

We are excited to offer everyone who submits to Photography Now 2020 a complimentary 15-minute one-on-one video session with CPW staff and perhaps some surprise photo world colleagues as special guest hosts. Following submitting to the call, you will receive an invitation to sign up for a Virtual Handshake meeting on Zoom. The Virtual Handshakes may be used in any way you like: to look over your portfolio, discuss an upcoming project or works-in-progress, ask us for advice on professional development, or just to virtually shake hands and get to know each other a bit. During these long days of social distancing, we at CPW are hoping that our Virtual Handshakes will create connections and spark new dialogues among our community.

Click here to learn more and submit your application »

I’m looking forward to doing another physical show and would love more people to hear about this. I’m especially eager to see new and previously unpublished images and very much want to encourage young and emerging imagemakers to submit. No themes, no rules — Anything goes.

Please share this call with friends and students. Questions? You can email me hello @ flakphoto dot com. Cheers!

Call for Work: Photography Now! was originally published in FlakPhoto Projects on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This week: I’m featuring work from Brad Rimmer’s new book, Nature Boy, on instagram.com/flakphoto. Like a lot of photographers, Brad’s work is autobiographical. This book features Brad’s writing as well as his imagery so I wanted to share some of his words with you today. He writes:

Nature Boy is a story about the ordinary; failing high school, the romance and fantasy of falling in love with almost every girl I knew and the sadness of never giving too much away in the pursuit of it. It’s a narrative about the past and its recurrence in the present. Normality is never far away; it’s a narrative that plays out over and over again in a small town.

It was 1981; I was nineteen, in limbo between teenage and adulthood, in youth and boredom drawn to the heady mix of cars and speed, sport and alcohol, any of life’s extremes that presented themselves. That year changed me.

You cannot be untouched by a landscape of absence. I was working on the wheat bins in the north-eastern wheatbelt. An unforgiving land of Mallee and Eucalyptus woodlands and red earth on the edge the grain belt. Where decades of over cropping and droughts create struggle that changes people, mentally and physically.

The memory of impacting incidents and this landscape still resonate with me today, like the red earth that stains everything. Events taken for granted while testing the fragile line between life and death in becoming a man, struggling with the timeless question of ‘should I stay or should I leave’, all a part of finding your place in a small rural fringe community. It’s our history, all of it, including the long-term effects of a single action on subsequent generations, where memories continue to resonate.

How does our history, our experiences and our emotions shape us? How do we arrive at a time in our lives when we can find a comfortable balance between looking back and looking ahead? How does our sensory archive collect sounds, music, smells, colours, shapes, and the tiniest details to trigger memories, almost cinematically?

Over the past five years, I have returned to the places where I worked on the wheat bins. These visits are still fraught with mixed emotions and disengaging with the past remains difficult. The subjects in my photographs are local young people, the same age I was in 1981. Our meetings are brief and intense. As they surrender to the portrait I can feel that sense of integrity and enquiring honesty that I felt as a teenager, though these subjects have no direct relationship with my past. The people in these photographs own their own histories and their presence speaks of resilience and a personal human condition. Each one is creating their own story, making choices, collecting and storing their memories.

On the last day of summer 2015, in that same Wheatbelt landscape, a tragedy occurred. It was personal and while the circumstances leading up to it were sadly predictable, as tragedies seem to flow effortlessly from one generation to the next, it is still hard to accept. Maybe revisiting was a way to reconnect with that reality of place and circumstance that is never far away, reminding me where I came from and why I chose to leave. Now there is another scarred tree on a familiar country road that I can never pass without the memory of loss.

I think that some of you will really enjoy this book — You can learn more about it at the top link here: https://linktr.ee/flakphoto. Cheers! -AA

A Landscape of Absence: Brad Rimmer‘s Nature Boy was originally published in FlakPhoto Projects on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Hey book geeks! I’m teaming up with University of California Press to give away five copies of Tyler Green’s Carleton Watkins: Making the West American this week…Who wants it?

About the book

Carleton Watkins (1829–1916) is widely considered the greatest American photographer of the nineteenth century and arguably the most influential artist of his era. He is best known for his pictures of Yosemite Valley and the nearby Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias.

Watkins’s photographs helped shape America’s idea of the West and helped make the West a full participant in the nation. His pictures of California, Oregon, and Nevada, as well as modern-day Washington, Utah, and Arizona, not only introduced entire landscapes to America but were important to the development of American business, finance, agriculture, government policy, and science. Watkins’s clients, customers, and friends were a veritable “who’s who” of America’s Gilded Age, and his connections with notable figures such as Collis P. Huntington, John and Jessie Benton Frémont, Eadweard Muybridge, Frederick Billings, John Muir, Albert Bierstadt, and Asa Gray reveal how the Gilded Age helped make today’s America.

Drawing on recent scholarship and fresh archival discoveries, Green reveals how an artist didn’t just reflect his time but acted as an agent of influence. This telling of Watkins’s story will fascinate anyone interested in American history; the West; and how art and artists impacted the development of American ideas, industry, landscape, conservation, and politics.

5 chances to win

Submission is FREE and you have five chances to win :

• Comment on my Instagram post »
• Retweet my Twitter post »
• Comment on my FlakPhoto Network post »
• Share my Facebook page post »
• Comment on my FlakPhoto Books post »

I’ll draw 5 random winners from the comments and retweets on Tuesday, January 8. I’d love for more people to hear about this — tell your photography friends about the giveaway? Good luck!

Win a copy of Carleton Watkins: Making the West American was originally published in FlakPhoto Projects on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Hey book geeks! I’m teaming up with University of Texas Press to give away five copies of Dawoud Bey’s Seeing Deeply this week. This book is a gem and a perfect addition to your library…Who wants it?

About the book

Dawoud Bey: Seeing Deeply offers a forty-year retrospective of the celebrated photographer’s work, from his early street photography in Harlem to his current images of Harlem gentrification. Photographs from all of Bey’s major projects are presented in chronological sequence and leading curators and critics — Sarah Lewis, Deborah Willis, David Travis, Hilton Als, Jacqueline Terrassa, Rebecca Walker, Maurice Berger, and Leigh Raiford — introduce each series of images. Revealing Bey as the natural heir of such renowned photographers as Roy DeCarava, Walker Evans, Gordon Parks, and James Van Der Zee, Dawoud Bey: Seeing Deeply demonstrates how one man’s search for community can produce a stunning portrait of our common humanity.

5 chances to win

Submission is FREE and you have five chances to win :

• Comment on my Instagram post »
• Retweet my Twitter post »
• Comment on my FlakPhoto Network post »
• Share my Facebook page post »
• Comment on my FlakPhoto Books post »

I’ll draw 5 random winners from the comments and retweets on Thursday, November 15. I’d love for more people to hear about this — tell your photography friends about the giveaway? Good luck!

Win a copy of Dawoud Bey’s Seeing Deeply was originally published in FlakPhoto Projects on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.