Thursday, February 10, 2011

Andrew Zuckerman talk


2010/11 Andrew Zuckerman from CreativeMornings on Vimeo.
This is a video of a fantastic talk by Andrew Zuckerman. He's the author and photographer of Creature, Bird, Music, and Wisdom, all very visual books with a distinctive style. He talks about his process and the development of his style over the last four or five years. I'm most fascinated by his idea of "multiple entry points," ways for different people to engage with the work. Some people like to read a book, some prefer video, some like to go to exhibitions, some want to use their iPad. So for him, the work is about collecting data and then refining ways to show it to people. He says, "The work's not about me ... I'm the person that's driving the work to the audience. ... It's about finding the best car to do that with."

Some other Zuckerman quotes that resonated with me:
"I work really hard. I have two young kids, and I work. I don't have much of a life outside of that. Happily so."
"Everyone has these rocks in their shoes, projects that don't really get off the ground."
and one from Chuck Close, in Wisdom: "Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work."

It's a 34 minute talk, followed by Q&A. Brew a cup of tea, and take an intelligence break.

Zuckerman's books:
Creature   Bird                                         Music    Wisdom

2 comments:

  1. Hi Jenn, thank you so much. I can't wait to watch this over the weekend. Sounds like just what I need. Thanks for your encouragement too. Maybe it is just the dry spell I needed. I'm already starting to feel better. How are you? Still learning lots about your new camera I bet. Pxxx

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  2. So glad you feel you're turning the corner. Dry spells and bad colds - sometimes you just need to surrender to them before you can get over them.

    And oh yes, Ginormica continues to delight and baffle me! New photos coming soon...

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