ANTHONY R. VIZZARI | ARCHTOGRAPHIST

At the Carousel #1: Gelatin Silver Print: 5x7: October, 2011 While it often seems like there is nothing happening... at least, from the silence between posts... I've been busy as ever. We just expanded to a new Chicago workshop, increasing our business footprint to about 15 employees, 1 studio/office with retail, 2 workshop/fabrication facilities (WI and Chicago), & one big old storage space. We are now hovering with somewhere around 60-70 photobooths in our stock (and they need homes, hence the expansion). So... yeah... I have not given in or given up. I push forward every day, strong as ever! I say, whose butt shall we kick next? As I noted in a previous post, Catherine Edelman Gallery recently included my "Scrapbook Studies: The Burn Series..." in their Chicago Project. They recently posted a small selection of the project on their site. Give it a look-see when you have a chance. There are also some other really amazing photographers included in the Project. Other...

Scrapbook Studies: The Burn Series: "Lipstick, Smoke Stacks & Pearls" : 8"x10" ( 1 of 1) Silver Halide Print/s; 2011 Scrapbook Studies: The Burn Series: "Yosemite": 5"x7" (1 of 1) Silver Halide Print/s; 2011 After a long break from the blog, an entry is surely due. The business has been going well. We hired a new group of employees this summer and they are fabulous. The new crew is great, all of whom are excited and working hard. Our in-house shop in Wisconsin is manufacturing booths at break-neck speed (thanks to our skilled and dedicated guys). We have recently had sales to England, Hong Kong, Spain, Texas, Alabama, North Carolina, D.C., and New York... to name just a few. I also just refurbished some more classic chemical photobooths...bringing them back from the dead. We also acquired 30 more photobooths this summer (including 9 Polaroid booths secured for our friends at The Impossible Project). All these units and a TON of parts are no...

I'm not a religious person (at all).... but I love folk art and iconography. I hung these pieces at the highland house this weekend. Both are from thrift stores, of course! We had some workers take up some of the flooring to do a plumbing repair, before we came up (long story). We found out that the main part of the house is one of the oldest homes built in Highland. There are layers of flooring built up, for which this was one... I wish it wasn't covered. I love this design! (Also, part of the house is built on unmilled log timber joists... very cool.) UPDATE: The results of my recent MRI were not exactly what I wanted... it was what I had expected, but hoped would not be the case. My liver seems to be stable, which is the good news (i.e. tumors same size). However, the epicardial lymph node tumor, which became cause for concern in December, is very much progressive. From December to March, the tumor has increased in size from 0.9 x 1.6 to 2.4 x 2.9cm. Therefore, the node ha...

I've been slowly working on a new series of collaged negatives... But this time.... I'm mixing it up. I physically alter the negatives then head into the darkroom for printing. I then further work and collage into the final print. -This is a new for process for me. With this particular piece, I currently have 9 variations. Each one is entirely unique. I've also been printing on Kodak vintage paper that I got from a good friend of mine. Some of this paper must be at least 30+ years old . I just love the way it fogs and has a real antique feel. Technically, the paper going bad and the silver content somewhat fugitive. Nevertheless, I just love how inconsistent it is! On other fronts, the studio and store front is looking awesome. We now have all of our Impossible Project ("Polaroid") film out for sale. I'll be posting some images of the shop shortly. Tomorrow, I have another MRI. From there, if we see further growth and/or tumor aggression, we move toward chemo...

I've been working on some new prints. I'm not in love with this one, but it's still a work in progress. This is image is a scan of the negative, 4"x4". It's a mix of color 110 film and medium format. I've been working on getting the print right in the darkroom. I prefer to have a very muted gray, rather than try to correct out with variable contrast filters. I like how the color negatives give off that soft gray when printed in B&W. Overall contrast of black and white is not required for this work. Seeing as though I'm printing with distressed negatives, there is a splendid imperfection. No need to toy too much with trying to find a full range. Instead, I rely more on dodging, burning, masking, and exposure / development times to get the print right. So far, I'm still working on the masking for this one. It's been a while since I've had time to print in the darkroom. So, even if I'm not happy with this piece, I'm just happy to ...

We're about ready to head back to Madrid. I had no idea that Gaudi was hit by a bus... During the biggest comission of his life, and greatest monument in Barcelona... he is hit by a bus. That just sucks.

My 3oth B-Day Candles Andrea and Sylvie: Bedroom @ the Highland house... in progress. A vintage chemical photobooth we installed last week at a new location, The Charleston Pub, Chicago, IL: Michael is checking out the booth.... Farmscape: Highland, WI. Highland, WI sign: Entering the town. Andrea threw me a small, albeit great, 30th b-day party for me on Friday at our house in Oak Park. Afterwhich, we skipped town and headed up to Wisconsin... we went to Mineral Point, then to our "cottage" in Highland. After 3 days of no phone service and limited email, I was starting to get a little stir crazy. (At&t is the worst up there!!) The house is coming along well. We still have a lot of work to do before we can start deocrating, but we're making progress. We did some painting and worked out some of the floor finishes. The bathroom is almost done too! Our friend Sylvie just moved to Madison, WI for 6 months and she came out to meet us in Highland. She was our first guest ...

I've been meaning to post some of the images I found in Omaha during our last trip. This is a great albumin piece, about 6x10 mounted on board. I've been slowly amassing a new sub-collection of photographs of "people in front of their homes..." I think it's a great little window into how we use the camera, pose, and link our property with identity . I'll be writing and posting more about this later... but for now, just absorbing it.

Illustrations from: Nos. 1 & 1A Autographic Kodak Juniors Manual : Pages 24 & 25. "When making instantaneous exposures with any Kodak, hold it firmly against the body as shown in the illustrations, and when operating the cable release, or pushing down on the exposure lever, hold the breath for an instant." I love that... hold the breath, take it in, and release the shutter, as if everything just stops for a second, or really, a fraction there of. I found this manual at a local yard sale this weekend... yes, I took off from work for a few hours to scout with Andrea. It was well worth the find! I also picked up a few rolls of old educational short movies, photo journals, and a sweet red pine wood derby car made in 1965.

From the collection: square landscape Polaroid with torn corners. So many little trees like little fingers on a hill. Out there something sprouts, despite the snow, despite the view.

Art Sinsabaugh: Chicago Landscape #23, 1964 (printed 1966) One of my favorite photographers is Art Sinsabaugh... and, one of my all time favorite writers is Sherwood Anderson. In 1964 Jargon Press (Jonathan Williams) put together a killer book pairing 15 pieces from Anderson's Mid-American Chants with Sinsabaugh's photos. I have the book, a limited edition of 1550 copies, which is a PRIZE in my collection. I think I once told Andrea that this book made me fall in love with the Mid-West. It's more than a piece in a collection, but an inspiring artifact. When I need a minute to escape, I take it out and flip through the long panoramic pages. I also have a great first edition of Mid-American Chants with a nice corn colored cover, and of course, a few orginal Sinsabaugh photos. Those too hold a special spot in my life... In the Forward to Mid-American Chants, Anderson writes: "I do not believe that we people of mid-western America, immersed as we are in affairs, hurried a...

"God Bless America" after "American Gothic": A new sculpture on Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL. 03/22/2009 Are you familiar with a little painting by Grant Wood, called American Gothic ? It’s probably one of the most famous 20th century American paintings? Well, someone, or some artist, had the foolish idea to turn it into a massive sculpture. This new incarnation of the painting is an obscene steroid-injected effigy that hulks over awestruck Michigan Ave. tourists. –To make matters worse, the piece is entitled, God Bless America . This sculpture is despicable in that it is less about art, and more of a tourist trap. I could expound about my disdain for this work, but I will spare you the rant. All I can say is that Grant Wood is turning in his grave right now! What struck me most about this piece was not its lack of imagination, but the homeless man sleeping on it. Swarming with tourists, all standing in front to get their photo taken, it was a zoo. And n...