Diptych

House Gleaning

I am working on a project tentatively titled "everything matters". They are mostly small, poignant, domestic shots. In working on it, I have discovered it is about growing up in a family that does not talk about anything that matters. I grew up in a staunch New England family where no one spoke about their feelings. As a result, I think it was a shock to my parents to have an artist in the family who wanted to express things. We still don't talk about anything "real" just superficial things and as a kid, I used to sneak around and look at objects in rooms in order to glean information. I think that is partly why I became a photographer.

I just looked up glean to see if I spelled it correctly and here is the definition. I think #1 and #3 apply to me:

glean
   /glin/ Show Spelled[gleen] Show IPA
–verb (used with object)
1.to gather slowly and laboriously, bit by bit.
2.to gather (grain or the like) after the reapers or regular gatherers.
3.to learn, discover, or find out, usually little by little or slowly.

I love the word even more after seeing the film "The Gleaners" by Agnes Varda.

Sally Mann

I remember seeing this photo at the New Orleans Museum almost 20 years ago and it is still one of my favorites. Something about the mix of innocence and play in her work draws me in.