Archive for category photography
Mike Bender on Awkward Family Photos.com
Posted by admin in comedy, photography on November 4, 2009
Awkward Family Photos.com
Since arriving on the web earlier this year, Awkward Family Photos.com has amused, struck a chord and/or sparked an interest from a variety of people. As described at the site: “Let’s be honest– we’ve all got them. At some point in our lives, someone close to us has made us pose for an uncomfortable photo. Well, here’s your chance to share your family’s awkwardness with the world. Submit family photos, wedding photos, vacation photos, engagement photos, baby photos, etc! …Although this site is all about having a sense of humor, our intention is not to be mean-spirited. This is a celebration of awkwardness. ” Recently I caught up with Mike Bender, who along with Doug Chernack co-founded the site. My thanks to Bender for his time.
Tim O’Shea: You just finished up the Awkward Family Photos book for Three Rivers Press, is it still on target for a May 2010 release? What was the biggest challenge in compiling the book?
Mike Bender: Yes, the book is still on target. The most challenging part of putting the book together wasn’t so much finding the photos, but making sure they were all cleared legally and high-resolution enough to meet publication standards. These were things we didn’t fully understand when we started the process, but are fairly complicated. However, the publisher has been great and really helpful in moving these things along.
Bill Keaggy on 50 Sad Chairs
Posted by admin in photography on September 29, 2009
50 Sad Chairs
Before I start this interview, I have to apologize to author Bill Keaggy. This interview was completed in early 2008–and I promptly misplaced the interview. Don’t ask me how. But I still think, while it’s late, it’s still a great interview (thanks to Keaggy’s answers) and an interesting book. So here’s the interview. But first some background (from the publisher, BlueQ) before getting to the questions: “Bill Keaggy witnesses and documents tired and tossed chairs in downtown St. Louis. Each image is a mixed bag of forlorn and funny, a veritable commentary on our culture of consumption (at least as it relates to chairs). 104 pages.” The book’s a real bargain at $5.99 and is available from the publisher or Amazon.
Tim O’Shea: How did you come up with the idea for the book? Did this project predate the grocery list book?
Bill Keaggy: The sad chairs project predated the grocery list book but the grocery list project predated both the sad chairs project and book 
…the project started in — as they all do — a moment of silly serendipity. This is what happened: 1) I saw a broken, beat down chair. 2) I pulled out my trusty pocket digital camera. 3) I took a picture, thinking, “Wow, what a sad chair.” 4) I liked the ring of the phrase “sad chair,” but I knew that I tend to get carried away with my projects so I decided to put parameters on this one. I’d only take 50 pictures of 50 sad chairs. About 500 chairs later (I posted the first 50 to my site) the weird and wonderful folks at BlueQ asked me if I wanted to turn the project into a book. I said yes.