ANTHONY R. VIZZARI | ARCHTOGRAPHIST

"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...

Photo Postcard of a Girl in a Shabby Studio, Circa 1910: Acquired 03/15/2009. For the Collection. "What I think is so extraordinary about the photograph is that we have a piece of paper with this image adhered to it, etched on it, which interposes itself into the plane of time that we are actually in at that moment. Even if it comes from as far back as 150 years ago, or as recently as yesterday, or a minute before as a Polaroid color photograph, suddenly you bring it into your experience. You look at it, and all around the real world is humming, buzzing and moving, and yet in this little frame there is stillness that looks like the world. That connection, that collision, that interfacing, is one of the most astonishing things we can experience." - Joel Meyerowitz I found this quote poignant , considering my recent posts on vernacular photography. I'm a Meyerowitz fan, for sure.

Family in front of house with X inscribed on print. (Recent Acquisition : 03/15/2009). Silver Print mounted on Board. Insurance: I couldn ’t help but get an entry in tonight before turning in. After three days of having a headache, I think I’m either getting better, or learning to live with it? My capsule endoscopy was scheduled for tomorrow morning, but I’m not going. Without getting into details, there’s some confusion at the hospital about who ordered the test, and who was supposed to get insurance authorization, etc. After countless calls over the last week, there was still no confirmation as of Friday from ANYONE. If you take the test and it’s not authorized, the insurance company can dispute it, and I’d get stuck with a $5K bill. If I go down there without authorization, I could end up sitting in limbo for hours, if not all day. Screw that, I’ll just let them figure it out, and I’ll reschedule. So, no test tomorrow. And, what is the deal with this test costing $5K? Really, this...

Woman at Tri States Monument (NJ, PA, & DE), Circa 1900. Silver print (From my personal collection). Note the ghost image on the verso, caused by acid in the paper. Click photo to enlarge. I had a collection visit this morning to my MoMP collection . It’s nice to find people who can use my collection to further their research and work. It makes it worth it. The rest of the day I was very productive in the shop. I’m desperately trying to wrap up a few projects that are behind schedule… we have a ton of work and just too little time. After these current builds are complete, I’m go to start sub-contracting our designs. We’ll still outfit the digital components ourselves, and run tests in the studio / shop… but the rest of the labor and finishing will need to be done by someone else. With that said, if you’re one of the countless people who has sent me an email, tried to call, or text and have not heard from me… well, I’m up to my eyeballs right now and trying to avoid distractio...

Vintage Photo (Personal Collection). Caption: "This is Skagg's Point. Fine view of Palo Alto, San Jose and mountains which you can't see in the picture." Vintage Photo (Personal Collection). Caption: "Charlie, Allen, Joyce and me. We look happy but weren't because it was cold." Treatment: I’m still on the quest for 3rd and 4th opinions pertaining to my treatment. There are two doctors whose advice I’d like to seek: Dr. Warner in New York, and Dr. Woltering in New Orleans. I spoke with Warner’s office last week. After I progress a bit further with treatment, I’m going to send my records to Warner for review and consult. He has 40 years of experience with NET, so, he may have some observations not already expressed? I also spoke with Dr. Woltering today. I called him directly, and he actually picked up the phone!! For those of you who don’t deal with doctors on a regular basis, THIS IS RARE!!! It’s next to impossible to talk to a doctor outside of their...

Found Cabinet Card photo of Maude Granger, Circa 1890-1900: Currently in my personal Collection: Acquired 01/19/2009 Photo of Maude Granger: From the New York Public Library Archive. Back in January, on my birthday, Andrea and I went to hit some of our local Chicago junk and antique shops. I came across some great finds, one of which is above... From the pose, signature and style of the image, I instantly knew it was a photo of a performer . Of course, it was buried in a box of cabinet cards, strewn about like used-dirty socks... but nonetheless, it called loudly to me through that "moldy old basement book" smell. So, I added it to my stack and walked out with a stash of new photos for just a few bucks. As is typical, when I got home I placed the paper bag of photos atop one on my COUNTLESS stacks of prints and images. But today, while organizing a bit, I came across it again. So, I decided to do a little research on it. It's Maude Granger (1851?-1928), a rather...