Oh my, has it really been that long?! I have been busy lately with a lot of stuff, so sorry for the lack of updates. Been trying to enjoy the summer, riding out some hurricanes, enjoying my first earthquake, etc. But besides those things, I have been up to some more interesting things as well.

First, my work is now currently hanging downtown at the Warwick Hotel (1701 Locust St). I have to say that it looks great. I have never occupied an entire space before with my own work and it came out really nice. If you are in the area and want to check out the work while enjoying a delicious Wells Banana Bread brew, then have at it! You won’t be sorry. You might decide you don’t like the work, but the beer is delicious.

Secondly, I found out yesterday that the Open to Interpretation project will be moving forward. They had a kickstarter going to try to raise money for the printing and it looks like the goal was met. So thank you to everyone who contributed. Can’t wait to see how the book turns out.

I have been shooting a lot of stuff over the summer . Still trying to figure out some details on a long-term project as well as taking the random photos of daily life. I will update here shortly with new photos. Until then, go see my show and let me know what you think!

I have been very busy since my last post around Memorial Day. It always seems like things always in bunches, and the last 3 weeks has been no exception. The following has happened:

Wine Thief
I was finally able to get my prints and framing done for my photos to be displayed at Wine Thief in Mt Airy. For those that don’t know, Wine Thief is a local restaurant with good homemade food, great atmosphere and, as you might have guessed by the name, wine. I was speaking with the owner a couple months ago about displaying some photos and he was very receptive to the idea. While on my honeymoon last fall, I visited one of the oldest vineyards in Spain who still does everything the same exact way it was done 130 years ago. I thought this would make for a great little series to display here given the name and atmosphere. It could not be any more topical. So that is what I did and it came out great. If you have a chance and would like to see them hanging, as well as have a decent bite to eat, head on down.

Art of the State
This year I was able to participate in the Art of the State show at the State Museum in Harrisburg, PA. It is an annual juried exhibition of Pennsylvania artists that is sponsored by the Greater Harrisburg Arts Council. This is the second time I was chosen to display work in this show, first time was in 2008, and I was pretty excited to be involved. For the most part the work was very good. It ranges from photography to painting to drawing to sculpture. The opening reception was last Saturday night (6/18) and there as a decent number of people who came, estimated at around 600. Met some nice people, drank some wine, saw an old friend, and enjoyed some artwork. If you are interested in seeing the show (you really should), it will be on display through the middle of Septemeber.

Warwick Hotel, Coffee Bar
It looks like I am going to be having my first solo show! The Coffee Bar at the Warwick Hotel (located at 17th and Locust St, Philadelphia, PA) hosts bi-monthly artist exhibits and I will be displaying my work starting some time in July. It’s a great space with lots of room to display a decent amount of work. They will be having show reception one evening where they will be serving some beer, wine and probably cheese. All are welcome (please come!) and I will be sure to let everyone know when the date has been set.

Open to Interpretation: Water’s Edge
Lastly, I recently found out that I will be part of a great book project. The name of the project is called Open to Interpretation and it involves both photography and writing. First, a theme is chosen and there is a call for entries put out for photographs that somehow follow the theme. The interpretation is up to the photographer. Once the set of 30 or so photos are picked by the jurors, the photos are then posted online. At this point, there is a call for entries put out for writers to choose a photograph and interpret what is going on through either short story or poem. Well, of the 1500 or so images submitted, one of mine was selected as one of the final 31. The book will be printed once the project has completed and layout are done. They are looking to have everything wrapped up and distributed by December of 2011.

I also updated the portfolio section on the site. I broke it up into People and Places & Things. I think it flows a lot better now. It’s still not perfect, but it’s getting there.

So that about sums up my last 3 weeks. Lots of cool stuff happening and definitely more to come.

It’s that Tunkhannock (Pennsylvania) time of year again. Nothing like hanging out with close friends (and new ones) in a field while playing lawn games, drinking beer, watching dogs play and lighting fires. Took some photos from the weekend. You can see some below and more after the jump. Also added some more photos to the portrait project. More to come on that in another post. Long live the Mt. Airy Mogeler!

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Took a walk through Center City today, saw some interesting people.

Oh hai!

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There is an old stone building that is in ruins near my house. For years I have driven by it but never stopped to check it out. That is until the other day. It was interesting to see a couple things happening. First, the building was being repurposed by kids who want to party and/or do whatever else in there. Second, it was interesting to see how the vegetation was reclaiming the space.

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Today I was looking through the photos of the day presented by Magnum on www.slate.com and could not help but notice the similarity between one of the photos they had posted and one I posted yesterday. See the comparison below. Weird.

Over the last year, our Boston Terrier, Milo, has sent many a fun and fuzzy creature to the great big plush toy hotel in the sky. This was the most recent.

Well, after some 11 or so years, I have finally decided to put together a right portfolio site. There have been many ill-fated half versions of sites in the past. Start one design only to never finish it, or just simply update with daily random photos for a month only to have it fall into the abyss. I have never been able to see a collection of my photos within one place. Like I said, it was time for this long-overdue project to happen.

It’s been a journey going through a lot of archived photos, to say the least. College house parties, midnight skate sessions, random trips, vaguely familiar faces, forgotten shows, change in clothing, random picnics and brazilian dancers. It’s all in there. And in the end I think it culminated into a rather varied and interesting body of work. Throughout the years I have never really had one particular focus or subject. I always just liked shooting what or who was around me at the time. I never really gave it much thought, just shot what I felt like shooting in whatever style or medium I felt. As I look back through all of the photos, and especially the collection of images I eventually settled on, I am proud of the familiar yet extremely diverse group of images that has emerged. It’s a pretty close representation to the times and experiences I have had.

Since this is really the first time I have put such a collection together, I would love to hear your feedback. Leave a comment, tell me you like the work. Or tell me it’s the worst thing you have ever seen. Either way, please be sure to tell me why.