Newsletter #2
The difficult second album (Spring ’24)
Hello friends! I hope 2024 is treating you well so far. Pretty terrifying that March is upon us already, but it’s nice to have longer days and some (slightly) better weather here in NYC.
I’ve been busy with a few things over the past couple of months, so do read on for more of that. I also don’t want this newsletter to be just me banging on about myself, so I’ve added a little section on some art projects I’ve enjoyed too. Enjoy!
GCCA Shortlist & People’s Vote!
Firstly, I’m very pleased to have had two images shortlisted for the Global Concrete and Cement Association’s Concrete in Life competition (yep, it’s a thing!). This year they’re running a people’s vote alongside the main judging and that, dear reader is where you can help me out!
Click the button below and locate my image of the old Armstrong Rubber building (it should be on the second row) and give it your vote. Voting is open until March 15th. It’s greatly appreciated!
Interview With Michael Kirchoff
I was delighted to speak with Michael Kirchhoff for Catalyst: Interviews last month. We discussed LIGHT/MASS and The Great Outsiders as well as my processes and inspirations of making images. Click here to read the full interview and huge thank you to Michael for having me.
LIGHT/MASS in Zero.Nine Magazine
Another feature for LIGHT/MASS, this time from the wonderful folks at Zero.Nine Magazine - click here to read. It’s a relatively new online publication with a wonderful curation of contemporary photography. Definitely one to add to your bookmark list!
Albany Visit
My highlight of the year so far (and it’s going to take a bit to beat it) was visiting Empire State Plaza in the state capital, Albany. The plaza, for those unaware, was commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller to the tune of 2 billion dollars and completed in 1978.
For that kind of money, you’d expect something impressive and let me tell you, those architects were not messing around! The plaza is HUGE, occupying 98 acres of Downtown Albany and features some of the most insane modernist and brutalist architecture I’ve ever seen. The jewel in the crown being The Egg Theater, which instead of describing, I’ll just drop in my photo:
Crazy, right? Well the Plaza isn’t done yet. Here’s the brilliantly named Erastus Corning Tower, standing at a whopping 589 feet.
Oh and on the other side are 4 more towers lining the central reflection pools. Here’s Agency Building 2:
And buildings 2, 3 and 4 for more context:
As you might be able to tell, I had a lot of fun photographing this place. So much so that I made two trips in the same weekend to make sure I got to shoot on a sunny day. A big thank you to my wife Rowena for putting up with the detour on our weekend upstate!
If you want to see more of the plaza, you can follow me on Instagram.
Queens Plaza Mall
Another fun location I visited in February was the Queens Plaza Mall, a giant, round spaceship of a building with two surprisingly beautiful spiral ramps leading to the parking lot.
Getting this shot required the slightly unorthodox method of hoisting my tripod-mounted camera about 5ft over my head and triggering the shutter via my phone, all while attempting not to drop everything. I’m dubbing it the He-Man and I trust most of you are of an age to know that reference.
Here’s the front side of the mall, viewed from across Queens Boulevard.
Recent Findings
This newsletter isn’t completely all about me. Here are a few things I’ve been enjoying recently.
American Glitch at Palo Gallery
Caught this fantastic exhibition by Andrea Orejarena and Caleb Stein which looks at the blurring lines between fact and fiction in the landscape of the United States. The work explores similar themes to my own and it really resonated with me - highly recommend checking it out. It’s on until April 6th, so get down to Palo Gallery if you’re in NYC, or order the book if you aren’t!
Between Two Rivers/Giữa hai giòng sông at MOMA
Another photo exhibition with themes that cross over with American Glitch, this wonderful show from An-My Lê spans 3 decades of her work exploring the meaning of perpetual violence, war’s environmental impact and the significance of diaspora. It’s one of my favorite exhibitions I’ve seen in the last year and her beautiful large-format images really need to be seen in person to fully appreciate. Catch it quick as it closes on March 16th!
Greetings from the Parisian Jungle
My friend and photographer Ludovic Gaillard has launched his latest project Salutations de la jungle Parisienne (Greetings from the Parisian Jungle), which explores the impossible ideals of wild ecology in the city of Paris.
I’ve been lucky enough to see this body of work develop over the past few moths and it’s great to see it out in the wild. Do give Ludo’s instagram account a follow for more and if you’re ever in Paris, be on the lookout for his mobile postcard stand!
Rob Stephenson Neighborhood Project
Another project I’ve been enjoying a lot lately is The Neighborhoods by Rob Stephenson. Rob has taken on the absolutely mammoth task of photographing every neighborhood in New York City - over 250 across 5 boroughs! He does a great job of introducing each location with some historical background and the images he makes, asides from being beautiful, give you a real sense of the neighborhood.
Highly recommend you all to follow along on Rob’s Substack.
Johann Johannsson - Drone Mass
A final non-photography find is the wonderful Drone Mass by the late composer Johann Johansson. It’s a stunning exploration of the human voice and experimental sound design, from the person who made the equally incredible soundtrack to the movie Arrival. It’s been on a lot in the studio recently and I highly recommend you get your best headphones and try it out.
Looking Ahead
In April, I’ll be taking a trip down south to photograph new locations for The Great Outsiders. I’ll be visiting Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee if time allows. Really looking forward to being back on the road and making some more progress on the project.
I’m also in the (very) early stages of an entirely new project that’s going to be centered around the sinister-looking Brooklyn Tower (below). It’s going to be more of a story-driven body of work with a mixture of landscape and portraiture. I’ll share more when I can!
That’s it for this newsletter. Thank you for taking the time to read and let me know in the comments if you enjoyed it.
See you on the next one!
Owen
I was going along, obliviously enjoying your newsletter when I came across a picture that I thought I could have taken. Then I realized I had taken it! Thanks so much for sharing! Really enjoying your newsletter so far, especially your Albany pics and the JJ recs. Loved his work since I first heard Sicario. Still can't believe he died so young.
Great second newsletter and I am a big fan of your Albany photos! Going to register and vote for your concrete photo next. Keep up the good work. Do let me know if you come up the Hudson Valley in the near future.