90 Days In Paris

 

I have taken pictures for more than 40 years and written things for more than that. These documents are verbal and visual notes, curiosities and comments on my travels, freedom, fears, and boredom. Except for my only other book, Everything I Don't Know, I haven’t shown many of the pictures or words until now.

 

While on sabbatical in Paris I didn't have a studio space and needed to activate somehow. I decided to attempt one of my own school projects that I give students who are stuck or lost. 

 

Take at least 100 pictures a day, shoot anything, anywhere….shoot everything - no thinking, no planning, no set-up or light sensing - just shoot and see what you see. Look at them at the end of the day and do it again the next day and the next day and the next….

 

Words have always been around me-coming in and flowing out. Sometimes I can catch a few and then a few more…and if I'm lucky, I write them down. I like titles and the first lines of novels. I like country and western songs, weather reports, jokes, wisecracks and prayers. They’re simple and direct and sometimes, given a little twist, take you further. The best ones go far beyond their initial meaning.

 

The Paris project gave me 7000 images, 240 video clips and 26 pages of text. The words and pictures began as separate little brooks flowing in their own path but mysteriously merged along the way, to form interesting bonds. Their connections are not always sensible but when they work for me, they work...

 

I want to thank Frank Siteman for all his talents in the picture world. With his wonderfully obsessive attention to details and willingness to help, I have been able to present this work.