What is wrong with Stephen Shore art books?
- J Van
- Oct 17, 2023
- 7 min read
The die hard fans of his work will probably be upset right about now. The uninitiated might be asking who Stephen Shore is. Please read on, it is not as bad as you think, you'll laugh along with me in this blog, I'm sure (maybe). To answer the question from my perspective: A few things actually.
The first and most important thing for me is that his book, Uncommon Places (hereafter referred to as the great satan), sent me all over the Australian countryside taking photographs. It was an artistic hostage situation, if you will. It forced me to go out, explore and become better at photography and art. Allow me to explain. I remember the first time I was tempted by it, it was in the corner of an underground book store. I saw the cover and thought it looked somehow perfect, the colours, the tones, the composition of the cover image. I was smitten...the great satan got me. I didn't buy the book that day, which was strange because I immediately fell for it but like any romance, I needed to be sure that if I invested in it I would not be disappointed.
I left the great satan there in the dimly lit corner of that bookshelf. It plagued me for weeks afterward and I hadn't even browsed inside it yet. But still that cover image (well done Stephen for selecting it as the cover) kept beckoning me to buy the book and promised me equal or better quality images inside. There was just something about the composition.
If I am honest, the retro (more on this later) vibe got me too. I mean look at it!
The old cars, the creamy colour palette and the way it made you feel like you were looking out of your motel window.
What also grabbed me as a photographer/artist was the sharpness of the image. I knew that this was no easy task in the 70's, to get so much of the image in focus and for it to be so sharp.
What seems crazy to me now is that at this stage I had never even heard of Stephen Shore (queue the Shore mob!). I did not know anything about him and certainly nothing about this book. So I looked him up. I thought initially he would be this forgotten photographer from the 70's who has probably died and after death his work became more well known like Saul Leiter or something. What I found was a YouTube video that described one of Shore's most famous and iconic images, Beverly Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, California, June 21, 1975.
This original print (as seen above on this website) by the way sold for a very high price and is considered one of the greatest photographs taken. Anyway, I digress...the YouTube video I found described this image and spoke about what makes it so special. The video then went on to discuss what makes it a Stephen Shore photograph. I was smitten once more. Then I found out that this photograph is in the great satan! It is in what I consider now to be one of the greatest photography books of all time. Big call I know but let me tell you more.
I ordered the book on Amazon. Yes, it was cheaper and I had to wait a week or so. I do have a problem with delaying gratification as a self defence mechanism in case I am let down. Therapists everywhere can rejoice, yes I acknowledge it. The book arrived, I made it a special occasion, I waited until I had a day off, alone. The house was empty and the book still wrapped in plastic sat on the shelf in my study. I made myself a great cup of coffee (it has to be great or else why bother?). Then I got the book and removed the plastic.
I sat down on my favourite chair next to the window, a very light cool breeze blowing in. I put the coffee on the little side table next to me after taking a couple of sips. I pressed the button on the recliner and the seat reclined, the foot rest extended and I was relaxed. I opened the book and was met with a lot of words, no photographs...yet. I was so excited to finally get that satisfaction, the photographs, but instead I got the story behind the book and a little about Stephen Shore (obviously). The great satan gave me one final taunt. Although I found it interesting, I was really just waiting to get to the good stuff. So I turned the page to the first photograph. I looked at it and felt something akin to meeting the gaze of my school yard crush in a crowded room and have them smile at you.
It was a simple image called Room 125, Westbank Motel, Idaho, July 18 1973 (look it up). The colours, the tone, the simplicity, entranced me. The simplicity of that image spoke to me on so many levels. It may not be for everyone but this style resonated with me. I soaked it in, felt the breeze through the window, sipped my coffee and just stared at it. After allowing myself time to languish in the pleasure, I turned the page. And so it went with the rest of the book.
I finished the book that day, slowly and deliberately, and was left with so many mixed feelings. The thrill of finding something so utterly beautiful, and then realising that initial anticipatory thrill was gone forever. Moreover, I was left with a deep love of his work and also with a sickly feeling of inadequacy. My own work I felt, next to his, was like a stale bagel on the sidewalk of life. I mean we look at it but it is not worth picking up. I hated that feeling so much. I felt a longing to be on an epic road trip somewhere, taking beautiful photographs of simple things that no one would write home about but yet they are beautifully captured. I wanted to make art and I wrestled with these feelings for weeks.
That torture drove me, it pushed me. The great satan forced me to get my arse up off the floor of creative despair and do something! I decided to get in my car, drag my family around the outback towns of Australia and just take photographs.
It turned into an obsession. I was out every weekend for months with my wife, daughter and my camera. We went to outback towns, I spoke to locals, I took their portraits and I fell in love with my photography again. I simply did not want to do anything else. My wife enjoyed my new found excitement and my daughter loved that we were seeing new places. We went to small town rodeos, local hotels, motels, car yards, diners and everything in between. It was marvellous.
I was compiling my work, making notes about where I took each photograph, who I spoke to and recorded the dates and times. I felt I was being productive and creative all at the same time, it was so satisfying. I found myself photographing the mundane and the uncommon places in my own back yard. I even found motel rooms that were so dated they looked like they were built in the 70's. I was able to live through his experience, like Stephen Shore did. I found that 70's vibe and aesthetic in just the right ways. Stephen shore used a medium format camera that was a beast to operate by today's standards and technology. I used what I had, a Fujifilm digital camera that has the ability to imitate the look of the film stock from that era.
I found something in that project that made sense to me and helped me be creative. The great satan turned out to be both my pleasure and my painful driver, things that I never ever expected to find in a dimly lit underground book store in Brisbane, Australia. When I was finished (well I thought I was), I started the book project. I put the photographs together and selected the ones I wanted for my book, Australia's Uncommon Places. This process too was enjoyable, it was like a latent creative spirit that fell into a coma when I was 10 years old, had suddenly woken up.
So what other things are wrong with Stephen Shore I hear you ask? Well, another thing is that he has other books that I have yet to discover and I am both afraid and excited at what they will do to me!Stephen is also old now and his life's work took, well, a lifetime and I have only started this journey at 47. I realise that it is never too late but I feel I have missed 20 or so years of mastery that I wish I had under my belt. Another thing is that his medium format and analog film ways made me explore this avenue too. I can now say that I am a lot poorer but the proud owner of a medium format film camera and two Nikon 35mm film cameras! The torment it seems will never end and I am both happy and wary because of this. I realise now that the great satan has taken me on a wonderful journey of self exploration as an artist. Yes I call myself that now. I am not a photographer, I am an artist. Is that cliche? Maybe, but I feel I want to be remembered as someone who contributed to the world of art and provided some relief and enjoyment in this strange world.
I am reminded of an ancient Chinese proverb that says, if you have just two coins to spend, use one to buy bread for your stomach and the other to buy flowers for your soul. To make life worth living, we need art, flowers, the great satan type art books. And so I am now driven to make art books that I want to share with the world.
My daughter was in the most perfect light in a B&B on one weekend away.
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