Clark Patrick

Always good to connect if only for a moment with a new stranger.

Alas, I do indeed spend a lot of time at my desk. My cactus that I’ve had since the 5th grade. 30 inch-HD monitor. Camera. Keys. Cell Phone. Wallet. And a whole lot of creativity. Glad to have a window.

Every once and a while I get out with one of my close friends who is a graf artist. I like to hear him talk about his craft. It is interesting how big a part of his life it is and yet it is only something a few people know that he does. He is actually a fairly famous writer in that world but gains nothing from it except the pleasure of following his passion - and so what else matters?

For the last few months I’ve been buying up a bunch of old photo albums from the mid to late 1880’s. Why? Well, it’s sort of a long story, but it’s one part inspiration for my current work and another part that I’m using these old portfolio’s for ‘parts’ for my actual commercial portfolio’s that I’m being have made now… I’ll write more about that later, but for now here are a couple shots from some of these albums. I think it is so interesting how no one ever smiles in any of these photos… I guess the 1880’s was no time to joke! I liked these girls - old school twins… with some super rad hair.

So for about the last six months I’ve been working on a series that is 1920’s inspired - my take on that time period. Here are a few shots from my last round last Sunday. It was a really fun shoot the model was really fun and of course my usual team of help partners on this project was great!!

I have recently decided to start doing portraiture work in large format. I did my first experiments with an 8×10 film camera with a friend of mine whose studio space is also in my building. This is a shot he took of me. I edited the contact sheet in photoshop a bit. And these photos of this camera are pictures of the new camera I bought this last Monday. I bought this camera from a local musician who use to do a lot of backpacking and landscape photography. He said he didn’t really have time for it anymore with his family, etc. and gave me a good deal on it. The camera is a Phillips Compact II and was made buy a man in Mich. who I’ve spoke with on the phone several times. I’m really excited about the fact I know the person who made my camera and bought it from the original owner. It feels like the right thing for this type of photography. I can’t wait to start using it. I have a photo shoot on Sunday for my vintage series and will use it then.

So I felt like putting out some positivity. The last month has been nuts for me. I’ve been working blazing hard. To the point where I’ve had to actually say no to some work. It feels good to be making some decent money, but beyond this I’m just really happy. I really enjoy the process of getting better at what I do. And the process of being on the road learning from my mentors, being more selective in my own projects and continuing to build on the direction I’ve started down with my work. I know this all sounds kind of vague, but I guess the bottom line is that for the first time in my life for as hard as I’m working things seem to be falling into place. It’s interesting also to note that I don’t have a TV and have slowly retreated more and more into my own creative world keeping less and less track of what is happening with the rest of the world. I think I’m really a much happier person when my mind isn’t cluttered with news beyond my control. I wish this for everyone. Next week is going to be very busy for me as well but I’m excited about it…. enjoying the process.