Thursday, February 07, 2008

Here We Go Again


Well it is moving time once again. Robin and I just found a great new apartment on the north side of town and are getting ready to make the big move on March 1. For me, the first step of moving involves sorting through all of the stuff that I've accumulated in order to pair down and organize. Yesterday was day one of "Operation Nostalgia" and I came across some lost gems.


"The Three Bad Girls." During the summer of 1997, I had a job as a cook in the nursing home where my mother works in Croton NY. In August I moved to Guatemala where I felt more than a little homesick and where I eagerly awaited letters from back home. This photograph is of three of my co-workers from the nursing home, a real gem of a photograph (taken my Mama Git).

This photograph was made in the Spring of 2001 and is from my very first nude photo shoot. I was working as a bartender in NY prior to relocating to Chicago and was one day approached by a waitress who asked me if I would take some nude photographs of her. I was excited for all of the obvious reasons but also because I had always loved the old nude photographs of Andre Kertesz. As excited as I was, I was also very nervous. So on one of my days off she came to my parents house, took off her clothes and asked me what she should do. Feeling that I should be "pure" to my art, I set about shooting a few roles of the most conservative nude photographs you've ever seen. The whole thing was incredibly awkward, she wanted Playboy Centerfolds and I gave her images straight out of the urine stained apartments of a Dostoevsky novel. Oh young Git, so much to learn . . .

This photograph is from 2003 during a road trip with my friend Matt. I was helping him with a film that he was making as well as playing the role of a balding alien. This haircut was truly disgusting although it did get props in a Minneapolis dive bar where a punk rock girl came up to me and told me how much she loved my "Drunk Uncle."


This is a photograph that one of my parents took at their home in NY. It's the view of the back porch under a heavy blanket of snow. I love this shot.


So boys and girls, believe it or not there once existed a currency in Europe before the Euro!!! This is a two Franc piece from my first trip to Europe. As an undergrad, my studies had been devoted almost exclusively to the writings of Albert Camus. Camus has always been a real hero to me and I nearly wet my pants when I found myself in Paris walking the same streets that he had once traversed on a bicycle dressed in a nun outfit during the occupation.


Here we have a shot of Young Git reclining on his Grandmother's couch in Yonkers NY (circa 1986). I used to think this pink polo shirt was "The Bomb" (eat your heart out Kanye West!)


And finally, here we have photograph by the young Brian Ulrich from back when he was a mere student in grad school. I'm not sure if he ever did anything with this photograph but I've always had a real soft spot for it (this is from around the time that he was first beginning his Copia project).

And so, I'm off to pack some more. I'm sure there will be plenty more artifacts in the weeks to come.

3 comments:

Joseph Rynkiewicz said...

so many little treats.
i love it.

Mel Trittin said...

But will there be a Garbage Can Project - North? Or is it site specific? And by North... does this mean you're moving into Wrigley Field?

jonathan Gitelson said...

Hey Mel
Yes, phase one of The Garbage Can Project will be coming to an end. Then I have to sit, evaluate the data and complete a catalogue for the project (if you know anyone who likes to invest in self published catalogues, send them my way!). We're moving up to Ravenswood, you'll have to come over for a bbq!