p.s. RIP Joan Didion. ** Dominik, Hi!!! Happy you liked them. Thank you about the producer. Yeah, me too, limbo sucks. My poor toes are the slightest bit warmer knowing they have friends. Did that actually happen with your Smarties? That’s sad and, well, exciting. Love unveiling a Xmas tree with a million prettily wrapped packages underneath that have your name written on their tags with perfect penmanship, G. ** David, Hi. Peace on earth for that arguing couple. Mm, let’s agree to not talk about Trump and that stuff now or again, okay? I have an unspoken agreement with myself not to argue or fight with people on the blog, and that’s a topic I can’t be calm or neutral about. So let’s move on and talk about other stuff, yeah? Well, since I literally have no plans to celebrate Xmas, I guess I’m ready. I might try to find something out of the ordinary to eat tomorrow, so I guess I have a wee bit of grocery shopping to do. But, otherwise, I’ll be the same old me tomorrow, I think. Good luck finishing up your whatevers. ** David Ehrenstein, Flashback! ** _Black_Acrylic, Thank you, Ben. May you have the loveliest Xmas to have ever transpired on this wretched yet beloved planet. ** Bill, Cool. That you liked his photos. I might even feast on ‘The Feast’ this very Xmas Eve assuming the internet has my best interests in mind. ** T, Hi, T. My Xmases here in Paris basically just involve me taking long walks in the weirdly dead, introverted Paris, although after the post-apocalyptic emptiness that beset the city during the first lockdown last year, it doesn’t have the same ‘wow’ factor. But, yes. I don’t remember a favorite Xmas immediately. My parents used to really do it up with a jaw-dropping number of gifts magically appearing under our Xmas tree on the morning of, and I just have a generalised memory of seeing that and thinking my whole world was about to change for the better. Oh, no, you got it. The C. So many people are testing positive this time around. I know so many, as opposed to the first two variants where I hardly knew anyone who got it. Will you still get to do some kind of Xmas shebang with your folks? I hope your symptoms stay timid. So sorry. Cool you’re seeing ‘TIHYWD’, and, yes, prayers that it happens. What night are you going? I think I’m going on the 7th assuming they’ll give me comps. (it’s severely sold out). I too would highly appreciate having that wardrobe appear in my apt, so, yeah, thank you. What else can I hope for your weekend other than that your feel perfect even if you aren’t. xo. ** Steve Erickson, No, I don’t think he fucks with his photos and adds stuff. I guess that place existed, strangely. I’ll give you that Koons maintains an interest in aesthetics. His work from the early 80s was great. KAWS … not so much, unless creating giant, samey, mindless knick-knacks constitutes an aesthetic. I guess it does, ugh. ** Brian, Hey, Brian. Happy Xmas Eve unless you do Xmas on the Eve, whereupon happy X itself. Sure, that makes sense. I try to make every novel really different from my others, but it wouldn’t surprise me if ‘I Wished’ is the most. Maybe ‘God Jr.’ could give it a run, different-wise. Happy that your aunt successfully made it! That’s hardly a given at the moment, obvs. Cool, enjoy. You have a lovely friend there. Well, I’m sure all your friends are lovely, of course. My Xmas build up hasn’t honestly seemed any different than a usual end of week other than most of my friends being away or preoccupied with visiting family. But it’s been quite pleasant enough. Have an absolutely excellent Xmas weekend my friend, and I’ll see you on the other side if not before. ** l@rst, Hey, L. Merry big XE. No criticism or being bummed out from me re: your Xmas poem. I think it’s beautiful and a keeper and utterly appropriate to the Xmas I personally know and understand. Thank you, buddy. Very Merry Xmas 24 hour early to you! Lots of love, me. ** Okay. I thought there might be at least some of you out there who are still madly looking for last minute Xmas gifts for your loved ones, and so I thought I would line up some suggestions for you today. Because I don’t have plans to celebrate Xmas IRL I will be here tomorrow on Xmas day giving you a Xmas post/gift and saying hi, etc. to anyone who shows up. See you then.
‘The houses in Todd Hido’s outdoor shots seem to glow in the dark. While the bright light that shines through the windows gives some indication that these structures are lived in, one can also sense their gloomy desolation. Isolated in the frame, almost like portrait subjects, the houses exist in a still twilight that can leave a viewer wondering whether someone is home watching television or absent owners are trying to ward off prowlers. Hido, lurking with his camera across the street, comes off as a benign but creepy surveillance aficionado, a private eye of domestic disarray.
‘For his shots of interiors, Hido visited homes whose previous owners had failed to meet their mortgage payments and were evicted; now owned by banks, the places bear the marks of sad lives and hasty departures. His camera lingers on a few vestigial reminders: window curtains, a chandelier-style lighting fixture, and a stained mattress are almost all that remains as evidence of the former inhabitants. Hido doesn’t dwell on the sociological, however: his interest, indicated by the care with which he modulates light and color, lies in the haunting quality of these spaces. In a sense, the photographs duplicate the banks’ seizure of the houses by repossessing them in the name of art.
‘Anonymity is one of Hido’s most redolent themes. First, there is the anonymity of the houses themselves, which, as the repetitive exterior shots make clear, seem to have been designed and built not by a single intelligence but by some demented committee intent on foreclosing any possibility of individual spirit. Who creates these pathetic living spaces and dreary facades? But even more tantalizing is the question of who lives in them. Surely not people like us, we may be quick to assert, given the houses’ absolute lack of aesthetic appeal. Hido, however, shows no sign at all of passing judgment on his absent subjects. His prints nearly redeem the horribly empty living rooms, bedrooms, and family rooms by bathing them in soft pastels. Out of doors, he photographs at dusk and in the area’s storied fog to give the prints an unnatural but attractive glow.’ — Andy Grundberg, Artforum
_____ Action
Masterclass: Todd Hido
Todd Hido: House Hunting 1
Todd Hido: House Hunting 2
TODD HIDO “HOMING IN” BOX SET
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‘I collect photographs and things I find in my night investigations, and the reason I do is that they’re all components that I’m able to pull together to create a story,’ says Hido. ‘There’s a communication that happens between people and pictures… that’s a really wonderful thing.’
_____ Interview
There is a very unsettling atmosphere throughout your photography, is this always intentional and why do you choose to shoot such sinister shots? Are you a moody guy?
Todd Hido: I’m actually not a moody guy at all! But I can clearly see that my work is. I guess I’m attracted to that cinematic feeling where something’s about to happen. Kind of like a pregnant moment. I’m very much attracted to that kind of narrative element.
The quality of your images is incredible, what camera and film do you prefer to shoot with?
Todd Hido: I have been using the same camera for the last 20 years–a Pentax 6 x 7 medium format camera and I’ve been using Kodak Portra of 400NC film forever. One of the main reasons that my work looks the way it does is because I’ve printed in the darkroom myself. I’m still using all analog technology and I go to the darkroom a couple of times a week to print. This is a very important part of my process. In most of my work nothing is staged, I shoot like a documentarian, but I print like a painter, often my contact sheets look nothing like my final prints.
I could imagine shooting all those night scenes in neighbourhoods some of which don’t look all that appealing at times must have been a bit more exciting than the actual scenery. Did you run into problems with people wondering what you were doing in the dark around their homes?
Todd Hido: One time some guy thought I was his girlfriend’s ex-husband. That was scary until he figured out I wasn’t! But I most often go unnoticed even though I am very careful to not look like I am “lurking”. However, I never ask permission as people would mostly say no. I have tried a couple of times when I first started but got rejected right off the bat. It is a very hard process making art to begin with—just finding the right place is hard enough and half the battle. Sometimes I’ll drive around for 5-6 hours to find just the right spot—and then you find it at midnight you can’t knock on the door and ask. When I find it I just take it. I never ever stand in someone’s yard or on their property. The police have been called several times but after they “run me though the system” and find I am not a criminal they leave.
Can you please explain for our readers your following quote: “I photograph like a documentarian, but I print like a painter.”
Todd Hido: Sure, that is quite simple. In most of my photographs of places (interiors or exteriors), I am shooting precisely what I have found. The only modification to that comes when I am working either the dark room or on the computer to make the final print. That is where I take many liberties in influencing the mood of how the picture will ultimately appear.
What’s your favorite time of day: twilight or dawn? Do you believe both moments have the same charm?
Todd Hido: I’d say dusk. I would agree that all transitions from light to dark have unique qualities to them.
As a photographer and an artist, how do you achieve the balance in sequencing your work? Making sure the pieces are similar enough to follow a pattern, but unique enough to tell different stories?
Todd Hido: Selecting and sequencing my images has always been something that I have very instinctively understood. My typical process involves making pairs of images, then pairing the pairs. After a few of those, you end up with different groups. Once that has occurred, those groups turn into books or projects when placed together. Yet again, I try and let my intuition lead me. Sometimes, when you overanalyze these things, they simply do not turn out very well.
Much of your work evokes the sense of an apparition or a vision, not exactly visionary but something that stops the viewer in his or her tracks with something otherworldly and at times even apocalyptic. Do any of these themes resonate with you or is this pure projection on my part?
Todd Hido: I always say that the meaning of the image resides in the viewer. But I definitely loaded the deck, and that is something that I would say is true about my work, that there’s something like an apparition. Is my new work apocalyptic? Oh, I would say it kind of fits that mode. Plus, the times we’re living in. It’s like I’m absorbing this into my process, the darkness. For my next book, the working title is Bright Black World. It comes from a description that a writer named A.S. Byatt had. She made a book of Nordic mythology. It talked about the Fimbulwinter, which is their version of the Myth of the Endless Winter. When it got dark, started snowing, and it never stopped. That’s her description of that darkness, and it’s where I got that title.
p.s. Hey. ** David, Hi. This blog is persnickety. I’m not, but it is. Big up on your Xmas miracle phone. Ah, have a, uh, festive and inimitable Xmas. Seems like a safe bet. You take care too. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. Beckett on acid is a nice way to characterise his stuff. Huh. I’ll do my best, re: Wilson. ** Misanthrope, He’s a very pleasurable read. Can’t imagine you not liking his fiction. Well, you got to eat something at least a little special on Xmas, otherwise it didn’t happen. Spoken by the guy who will probably eat the same vegan microwave stuff he eats every other day, but at least I have Paris to do that in. I presume all this weird interest in celebrity minutiae is what it must’ve been like in the 1950s with Hollywood gossip magazines and all of that, it’s just that now everything is consolidated in this god damned internet so we basically have no choice but to know about it. But, yeah, not that I had a working brain the 50s, but it feels like a return to that era’s level of pervasive, extreme escapism or something maybe. ** _Black_Acrylic, My pleasure, Ben, of course. Aw, thank you so much about ‘I Wished’. I’m so happy you liked it, maestro. That means a ton. I’d be grinning from ear to ear if you could see me. I like the title ‘Shell’, as you can imagine. Oh, great, exciting, an enjoy the editing, I hope. ** CAUTIVOS, Hi, CAUTIVOS! I’m going to have to write in English because my Spanish is terrible and ultra-primitive. Thank you a lot for what you said. The publisher who just reprinted ‘Contact’ had said he was interested in reprinting the other Cycle novels and translating ‘Period’, but I don’t know if he’s really going to do that or not. Obviously, I would severely love for my books to be back in print in Spain. I just have to sit here and hope that’ll happen somehow. Anyway, thank you! Come back anytime, and again I’m sorry to have to speak back to you in English. Take care! ** Tosh Berman, His novels are really wonderful. I highly recommend you pull one off the shelf at your convenience and join the fan club. Early Happy Xmas of whatever sort to you, sir. ** Bill, I think ‘Two Lane Blacktop’ is on soap2day. Wurlitzer’s novels are terrific. My personal favorite is ‘Drop Edge of Yonder’, so I would maybe recommend starting there? How do you find these movies? ‘The Feast’, okay, I’ll endeavour re: it. Thanks, Bill. ** Steve Erickson, Everyone I know in NYC is describing the city similarly. Our case numbers just shot way, way up, so I fear we might join you. I thought that Can album kind of gradually meandered its way into being very good. Joni Mitchell = ugh, for me. I liked that Ben LaMarGay album a lot. No, we’re working on the film. Puce Mary just did some sound recording of the actor who’ll play one of the main characters (who gets killed and turns into a ghost) so she can start constructing his ghost presence, and we’re starting the story boarding and refining the script a bit. That art context roll out was the original plan, but I don’t know if that’s still that plan due our producer’s frustrating opaqueness. Might know soon. No, I don’t think I’ve seen any art like that. The artists I like seem to be treating the NFT thing like the elitist pet rock phenomenon it probably is. I agree with what Brian Eno said about NFTs recently, if you saw that. ** Right. I thought maybe a galerie show of Todd Hido’s melancholy, stalker-ish photos might be kind of Xmas-y. See you tomorrow.
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