Tissue

Second Life

Painting in my studio - just became mesmerized by this couple and their new life in yellow.

Durham

I blinked and the spring sped by almost unseen. For the past few weeks, I've been recovering from knee surgery and the pictures have been piling up, unedited. Right before my operation, I went to my college reunion in Durham, NC. Durham has been largely transformed since I lived there, and I found few traces of the quirky town I loved so much. There's no denying Durham needed a facelift, but I miss the old curmudgeon of meet-and-three luncheonettes, the Salvation Army Store and county social service offices, yawning on under the sweet smell of drying tobacco. Now there are lofts galore and precious eateries. And it's fine, fine, fine, but where is the down at the heels charm? When time half silences towns, mystery moves in. Renovation is obliteration.

Singer

Aglu Books Publishes Withdrawn

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce the publication of my book, Withdrawn, by Aglu, a Scottish publishing house dedicated to the creation of affordable pocket-sized photography books. For the past two years, I have been photographing books from schools, churches, city and county public systems and universities that were officially discarded. Withdrawn  is an elegy for the decline of the traditional book with its tactile pleasures.  When withdrawn, a once loved volume is ostracized from its library home. Fortunately, books have many lives and move from one house to another, carrying the baggage of their former lives - inscriptions, stains, notes and other marks, in a way that electronic devices cannot.

Withdrawn and other Aglu titles are available only at http://www.aglu.co.uk/. The Aglu site features a book preview and information on the cost (£5 or $7.50) plus shipping.

Please take a look and share your thoughts.

Painting Live

Lighting Spring

Love Awry

Summer's Near

The Museum Goer

Tour Bus: Evil Eye

Shooting Art

I have recently become interested in making paintings and sculptures, but I am also interested in interpreting what I am making through the lens. I decided to use direct flash because that hard intense burst of light is so distinctly photographic and returns me full circle to my original medium.

Where We Used to Live

Expansion Memorial

Found envelope, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, August, 2012.

Post-Op

Winter Rose

Vacuum Excess

Gathering Needles

Two Trees

Garden Orbs

All Out of Turkeys - Wishing for a Happy Thanksgiving

Too Sad

Watching this beautiful bear pacing around the small confines of the Cherokee Bear Zoo in Cherokee, NC, was terrifically sad. He must have known there was no exit, but with each lap around the concrete, the bear seemed to be looking, endlessly looking for a way out. There is a lovely river and thousands of acres of national forest literally steps away...

In the Lobby of a Hair Museum

Winter coming. Days darkening. Insular.

Helpful Bookmaking Links

Here are the links I promised my print-on-demand photo book class at Showcase School. Thank you for coming. Showcase is sending you all links to the dropbox folder with the powerpoint.

Indie Photobook Library on line

http://www.indiephotobooklibrary.org/

Photo Eye Books in Santa Fe

http://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/PublisherDirect.cfm

ABC Book Collective

http://abcoop.wordpress.com/author/abcooperative/

5B4 blog on all things photo book 

http://5b4.blogspot.com/

Prizes - closed for 2012 will return next year

Critical Mass through Photolucida

http://www.photolucida.org/current.php

Aperture Book Prize

http://www.aperture.org/exposures/?p=17397

Eponymous

Withdrawn on CNN and in The George Eastman House Collection

I'm having a great run with the Withdrawn series. Today, CNN Photos just posted part of the series on their website: http://cnnphotos.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/31/discarded-library-books/

Earlier this month, Hot Shoe International featured 9 images in their print magazine and online. http://www.hotshoeinternational.com/home.do. You have to subscribe to Hotshoe International to see the website or have a print subscription, but the magazine is stunning - worth the price.

The most exciting news is that the George Eastman House has taken 9 images into their collection.

Suckers

I am still continuing to work on my series called Paper, thought it is not currently available on my website. This winter I am hoping to put together a book about photographers who use language and pictures in their work. Contact me at laura@lauranoel.com, if you are interested.

Gaming Autumn

Pigeon Forge, TN

Gatlinburg, TN

Flux 2012

Loose Snare at Flux 2012 

Enchanted Forest of Books Opens

My project for the Atlanta Beltline, The Enchanted Forest of Books, opens tomorrow in the Reynoldstown section of the trail near Kirkwood Avenue. Paper sculptures fill the branches of a small grouping of trees and are accompanied by little bottles filled with book suggestions, a short summary, a pencil and paper to write your own suggestion on. The books are drawn from library and media list of the greatest contemporary novels, the western canon and world literature. A few classics of science fiction, mystery and teen lit are also sprinkled in the mix.