the argus a2b

It has been almost a year since I purchased my prewar Argus A2B at a pop-up vintage boutique in Santa Fe. The camera from the 1930s only cost me $18, and it has served as a curious decoration. It's only now that I realize it is a functional 35mm camera with a remarkable history. It is an elegant piece of analog machinery, and I look forward to shooting many, many rolls with it. If there are light leaks, I hope they're interesting.

notes from the field

I watched an 85-year old woman begin to weep at her doorstep yesterday. I knocked on her door to ask her to sign a petition to get Houston on the ballot. She told me that she liked his opponent, but that she would sign anyway. She looked forward to learning more.

I didn't adhere to the golden canvassing rule I tell everyone I train-- I didn't keep it short and sweet. I wanted to talk to her. She carried the lonely air of wisdom that many elderly people have-- that many of us young refuse to acknowledge or respect.

I asked her, What issues are important to you? What would you like to change about Santa Fe?

She told me about the drainage problems on her road. She referenced the nearby military cemetery, and how it was quickly filling. She told me that her grandsons are about my age, and that they don't listen to her when she tells them that they're not going to have the future or the comfort in their lives that she had. They don't hear her when she says my generation is dying, and it's up to you.

That's when she started to weep, and that's when my canvassing partner appeared. She bid me farewell.

Moments like these are the real essence of politics. How the sincere conversations between people about their lives and what is wrong in the world get transmuted into the circus we typically see depicted as American politics is as profound a question as how to achieve the philosopher's stone.

After the canvassing there is usually an event to attend. It typically involves people and circulation. Every year that you do this work, you find it easier to seamlessly introduce yourself to complete strangers and get them to discuss the issues and ideas that are most important to them.

Never come straight home from a campaign event, or else you will be seeped in the omnipresence of the energy of every hand you shook, and all the things you have to do and think about and say. If the event was particularly profound, the moments are brazen memories you can't exile from your mind.

Early drinks or late dinners are always wise.

a few photos of letters to the art world

photo credit, alexis brown. rest of the beautiful aha album is here


photo credit- my shitty-ass blackberry

photo credit-- mix- rest of their album is here


more soon...

HOUSTON JOHANSEN ANNOUNCES CITY COUNCIL CANDIDACY IN DISTRICT 1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Contact: Alysha Shaw
505.795.8096
houstonjohansen2012@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/HoustonforSF
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Houston-Johansen-for-City-Council/138702216226635
Coming soon: http://www.houstonforsantafe.com

HOUSTON JOHANSEN ANNOUNCES CITY COUNCIL CANDIDACY IN DISTRICT 1
Johansen Challenges 17-Year Incumbent Patti Bushee, Offers New Ideas and Proactive Participation in Politics

SANTA FE-- Santa Fe native and lifelong city resident, Houston Johansen announced his candidacy for City Council in District 1 on Tuesday, offering a new perspective on politics and a plan for increased civic participation and responsibility.

Johansen (age 25) is especially concerned about the lack of opportunity for young people in Santa Fe, and wants to focus on building an economy that restores opportunity for working families and addresses the mis-trust in elected officials.

“I want to be the next City Councilor in District One. Santa Fe is the only home I know. I love Santa Fe, but I think we can do better,” Johansen said. “I hope to raise some important issues in this race – such as: where are the economic opportunities for young people? Why do young people flee the city to find jobs? And how can we do better by working families?”

Johansen will spend the coming weeks talking to voters, listening to their concerns, issues, and experiences living in Santa Fe. The campaign will periodically host public forums online and in-person that provide unprecedented venues for Santa Feans to publicly express their concerns during an election cycle. Constituents' issues will form a significant part of the campaign and its platform.

“I’m going to do this the old-fashioned way – listen to the concern of voters in my district and share my ideas about how to make Santa Fe better. Basically, I’m going to work really hard and talk to every voter I can. A lot of candidates make the rounds and chalk up constituent visits, but the lessons learned and the concerns confided in that process seem to vanish after election day. Again, I think we can do better. ” Johansen said.

With this voter feedback, Houston will release his campaign platform in the coming weeks.

Houston was raised in Santa Fe, and attended Rio Grande Elementary and Santa Fe Preparatory schools. At the age of 19 he opened One World Coffee, a fair trade, sustainable, education-oriented coffee house. One World gave young people hands-on experience running a business, helping to inspire a generation to think creatively about their ability to affect change in the world. After stepping down as manager, Houston left Santa Fe to pursue a degree in political science at Creighton University in Omaha, NE. During that time Houston interned for Governor Richardson’s top water policy advisor, Bill Hume. He also worked to raise money for Creighton’s scholarship funds and worked on President Obama’s Omaha campaign.

Johansen is the son of Carl Johansen and Mary Lattimore, long time residents of Santa Fe. His father is a well-known local artist who taught Johansen the power of art, and the importance of creativity. Houston's mother raised him in a house that is completely off-the-grid, which helped him develop a deep passion for sustainability and innovation. Together they taught him early on that if you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to find a good job and be a part of something bigger.

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city worker classes

Last week city workers taught each other classes in tin working, paper flower making, and dancing during their lunch hour. This is a little bit of the documentation. I was inspired to organize the classes, as part of a multi-layered strategy to intervene in city workers' work days. The unhappiness and stress people have at their jobs from filling multiple positions in city offices is one of the most challenging hurdles for me to break through in my residency at city hall.

There are other projects in progress, but it'll probably be a little while before I share any of that documentation.

performance is the oldest art form in the world

Performance is the oldest art form in the world. The act of moving, the act of speaking, the act of growing food, the act of hunting, the act of cutting vegetables, the act of communicating, the act of surviving, the act of staring at a fire and the stars for hours on end while you move and drum and sing, the act of Facebook posts, the act of knowing you're on camera, the act of writing an email, the act of holding a conversation, the act of putting a paintbrush on a canvas, the act of going to work every weekday at 9 AM, the act of leaving work at 5PM and everything in between we do to make our bread, the act of drinking beer, the act of smoking cigarettes, the act of smiling, the act of frowning, the act of ignorance, the act of sincerity, the act of being a woman, the act of being a man, the act of teaching, the act of going to church, the act of acting our age, the act of walking, the act of falling in love, the act of typing these words, the act of building a career, the act of being a student, the act of being who we are-- all define our experiences, our identities, and our creative output in the world. We create our own worlds in our performances.

rereading diane arbus

my roommate had a 25th birthday, and we had a barbecue this weekend to celebrate. towards the late night dwindling end of the event, we were sitting in our living room, and one of our friends mentioned something about nudist camps. the book, diane arbus an aperture monograph was within arm's reach on my bookshelf, and i pulled it out, because arbus had quite a penchant for photographing nudist camps, among other fringe communities.

i looked through the book seriously for the first time in i don't know how long. this book was the main textbook in a freshman writing seminar i took in undergrad called "off the map." in the class, we linked diane arbus' work to the jungian concept of individuation, and did a lot of reading, writing, and discussing around it.

picking up the book compelled me to reread its opening essay. it's a slightly rambling, but edited compilation of things arbus wrote and said in interviews before she died, and i'm posting it here in full after the jump, in case you'd like to read it. if you're not familiar with arbus' photography, you can see quite a bit of it here.