Here they are: the 15 featured creatives in my Artists In Jackson portrait project.
They are 15 people that are making my hometown of Jackson, Michigan, a more beautiful place to live. And so generous with their time and attention – I can’t thank them enough for participating in this project.
Book Du Jour | Self Publish, Be Happy
If you’re looking for ideas or inspiration on photo book publishing (as I am with my upcoming project), Self Publish Be Happy is a great resource for ideas, printers, layout, pricing, etc.
Since June, I’ve been working away on a portrait project featuring artists from my hometown of Jackson, Michigan.
For one, it’s the second part in what I hope will be an annual project of highlighting interesting people in my community. And two, I love talking to people with interesting talents and hobbies. It was great to meet the 15 artists profiled and chat about artsy stuff with them, the artistic community in Jackson, and what their successes and roadblocks look like.
The project is now just about ready for primetime. You can see the particulars at artistsinjackson.com.
There’s lots more to do. I’m working on a printed book, the flagship end product of this project. Once that’s done and ready to print, I’ll publish the artist profiles on the website, and release an eBook version of the print book.
And from there, I hope to have a show of some sort in the Jackson community, and invite the community to meet the artists and see some of their work.
It’s been a lot of work, and a lot of fun. Artistically, it’s very different from the kind of photography I’ve focused on in the past. I feel different, too. It’s like all the portraits and images I’ve worked on before this have been overly amateurish.
With this project, I’m actually making photographs that matter.
I hope you join me for the ride in the next few weeks.
One of the great parts about my day job is working with talented students on fun projects, like our recently-launched Albion 1995 throwback video.
The idea? What Albion College was like in 1995, told through music and technology.
The team did an amazing job starring in this thing, grabbing vintage (”vintage” – oy, I remember 1995!) clothing, and being good sports. For my part, it was all shot on an iPhone 5S, often using the VHS Camcorder app for the ‘95 scenes.
Check out the full video.
Past Is Prologue – Vandercook Lake, Michigan
One of the fun consequences of my Artists In Jackson project has been to see all these great interiors and work spaces. Can’t beat that window light.
Over the summer, I worked on a portrait project with local artists in Jackson, Michigan. I talked with them about their craft, how they got started, and why they stuck around our hometown to do creative work.
The project is called Artists In Jackson: Make Local. The kicker was each artist had to be from Jackson, and had to still be doing their thing in Jackson. And the project focused on visual artists, but that could be anyone from graphic designers to painters to videographers and photographers.
This fall, I’ll launch the project to the public. But for now, you can sign up for a newsletter (of sorts) to get updates when it’s ready to roll, including fun behind the scenes shots and announcements about the project.
Stay tuned!
Three Fingered – Prehistoric Forest, Michigan
Read the write-up on Rediscovering Prehistoric Forest.
Slowly Going Extinct – Prehistoric Forest, Irish Hills, Michigan
Read my story on Rediscovering Prehistoric Forest.
Growing up in Brooklyn, Michigan, just down the road from the Irish Hills, a place like Prehistoric Forest was a once-a-summer destination for my family. In fact, all of the little mini theme parks along US-12 were: Stagecoach Stop, the putt-putt courses, Mystery Hill.
But times change, the interstate redirects the Detroit-to-Chicago traffic, and one by one these little tourist traps are closing shop. Even some of the mini golf courses can’t seem to stay open.
It’s a shame.
There’s no more visual manifestation of the decline of the Irish Hills amusement parks than Prehistoric Forest, though. It sits right along the highway, with the fiberglass dinosaurs crumbling more and more, looking more sad with each passing year.
Closed for more than a decade, even the facade is depressing.
The kicker is if some little kid were to pass by the place and see that mastodon, or the apatosaurus resting its head on a non-native fake palm tree (good engineering!).
“Mom, what’s that? Can we stop?” the kid would say.
“No, honey. The park is closed. All the animals are becoming extinct.”
How sad.
But then this is a story repeated all over the country. The kitsch of these little roadside attractions couldn’t keep up with changing consumer behaviors and patterns. It became a clichéd joke to even think about stopping by the Giant Ball of Twine. So people don’t stop.
Meanwhile, I’ve made it a personal project to document this area and its abandoned tourist traps.
Prehistoric Forest gets brought up a lot around the Jackson area. Rumors of people buying the property, stories about students charged with vandalism – it’s all led to a very touchy and mysterious situation.
Do you go in, risking trespassing charges? Is the owner active in the park’s redevelopment? Have the dinosaurs come to life, devouring intruders? Their cries deafened by the crushing jaws of a Tyrannosaur?
Yes, maybe, and probably not.
I can say the park is in serious disrepair, and I wonder how anyone could hope to restore it to its former glory. The photos I’ve seen had the dinosaurs in passable condition, but when I was there they were seriously degraded. The park is pretty well overgrown.
There’s just not much left.
