Eat Your Heart Out Gary Winnogrand / Diane Arbus / Lee Friedlander / John Szarkowski / etc...

As summer comes to a close, I've begun to archive the Gitelson family photographs. When my grandmother Esther died in 1997, I inherited her archive of family photographs (being the photographer of the family). After many years, I've finally begun to scan all of the images, many of which are starting to decay. The above picture is of my grandmother Esther Gitelson. This one goes out to Minneagrapher Colleen Mullins.

Hey Hot Shot

I just received word that a selection from my series "Dream Job" will be featured in the show "Hey Hot Shot" at Jen Bekman Gallery this September 13 - 16. If you find yourself in NYC during those days, swing by the gallery and check out the show.

If It Were Left Up To Me

When I returned from Guatemala in 1997, I was really confused about what to do with myself. That being the case, I drove up to Boston to visit my friend Cable. Cable has been one of my best friends ever since the sixth grade. We met in gym class where our lockers were next to each other due to the proximity of our last names in the alphabet. We both had Led Zeppelin patches on the back of our jean jackets and have been friends ever since.

During my visit, Cable tried to convince me to move up to Boston so that we could spend time together and work on our art (Cable's always been one of my biggest influences). On my way out of town the following week, my head was still cloudy about what I should do.

Somewhere on the Mass Pike I popped in a cassette (yes, a cassette) that I had dubbed off of Cable and the song "If It Were Left Up To Me" by Sly and the Family Stone came on the stereo. It was one of those weird experiences when you hear a song at exactly the right moment and something clicks in your brain. By the songs end, I had made up my mind to move to Boston where I was to live for the next four years and develop my ever lasting loyalty to my beloved Boston Redsox. This one goes out to Cable, hoping to do the same for you as you once did for me.

In A Land Far Far Away ...

Next month, fellow Chicagraphers Brian Ulrich, Matt Siber and I are flying to Munich where we will be exhibiting our work at Galerie f5,6. The three of us met the director Nicole a few years back in Santa Fe and have been working on putting the show together ever since. The above image is the postcard that I created for the show. If in Munich . . .

The Visitation of Papa Git

Chocolate Lover

I was looking through some old hard drives today and came across this video that I made in 2003 back in Grad School. At the time I was really interested in found materials and when I stumbled across a torn piece of manuscript, making this movie seemed like the obvious thing to do. Because the sheet of text was torn, sentences were abruptly cut off. Chocolate lover features me (as the man on the stairs), Donna Rickles as Kendra Ann, Dustin Mertz as Cameron and Jen Davis as Sharon. I'll be posting more lost videos as I unearth them in days to come.

Radi-O-Go!

Each morning I have to sit for roughly three hours in order to watch all of the surveillance video from the previous day. That being said, I'm always looking for new things to listen to in order to pass the time. Three of my favorite radio programs are This American Life (this weeks edition is about the dark side of the art world . . . spooky!), Radio Lab (find out if Ghengis Khan's your daddy) and Sound Opinions. Check them out free on line . . .