Grand Old Flag Series
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I
have been thinking a lot about legacy. As an artist I wonder what
I want to have left behind. Do you think about stuff like
that? Do you keep everything you do as a sacred relics? I am getting
to the point where I think I want to burn half the stuff I have sitting
around. What do you want to leave behind?
As far as my legacy is concerned....hmmmm. I have not
given a great deal of thought to this really. Although I do sometimes
wonder what would happen if I were to die suddenly and folks would be forced
to figure out for themselves what is "important" and what isn't.
When I look at it that way, none of it seems important really. But I suppose,
if I had my choice - and the time - I would sort of make a time capsule
of what I feel my most meaningful / personally important images are, and
put it with an explanation (if could ever articulate one)
There was a photographer named "Disfarmer". (disfarmer.org) He
was an amazing portrait photographer from Heber Springs, Arkansas - I think
in the 1940's.
In any case, he just had this small portrait studio and would take pictures of
regular folks. But one of the amazing things about his work is that he mostly
photographed regular folks, before most people had money to have their portraits
taken - it was still largely an upper class thing to do.
So it is really meaningful in that documentary way. Also, speaking of legacy
and "meaning" of
our art....Disfarmer's glass plate negatives were given to a thrift store after
his death - no one thought they were important, naturally, until a curator came
upon them
in the thrift store and bought the whole lot, researched Disfarmer, and then published
an amazing book of these photos.
Another interesting fact about Disfarmer is that his real name was not Disfarmer.
For reasons that are unknown, he got up and moved one day to a different town,
left everything of his old life behind (I think) and took on a new name. The
reason he took that name was because he was not a farmer - hence DIS-farmer. What
an amazing story!
In answer to whether I keep my stuff as sacred relics, I keep most all
of my negatives, and often tear sheets, but honestly: if the image looks horrible
on the cd cover or whatnot, I just wish it to the cornfield....
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