Hazy daze

DEAR EXPOSEUR —

Today, I am thinking about the people across Canada impacted by the ongoing wildfires, and the crews battling them.

Here in Baltimore, we are blanketed by a dense, acrid haze. It settled upon us last night. The 94° temperature added to the walled-in, claustrophobic feeling. My lungs were burning just driving across town, so I opted to skip long exposures and head home.

By morning, the haze had grown so thick that I could no longer see the skyline from my bedroom window, and all was cast in a dingy, orange glow. Indoors felt like a good place to be.

Nevertheless, I had to take my son to camp and drop off library books before work, so I opted to bring my Ricoh GR III with me to photograph things along the way. To preserve the odd glow across all these photos, I kept my camera’s white balance set to “daylight.”

Stay safe out there. It’s a great day to spend indoors. If you need me, I’ll be by the window with a photobook.

• Speaking of photo books: “Renowned German Photobook Publisher Steidl Faces Bankruptcy,” reports Artforum. I have so many Steidl books on the shelf, and am sad to see them falling on hard times. As much as I hope they can pull off a miracle and somehow survive, it’s hard to be optimistic when the publishing world at large is struggling. Photobooks are such a niche interest. If you were thinking of picking up a book from their stock, now might be a good time.

• Next Thursday, July 23, is the monthly Baltimore Photobook Meet-Up. Same book time, same book place. 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Enoch Pratt Free Library at 400 Cathedral Street in the Fine Arts department. Maybe we’ll honor our favorite Steidl editions.

• And while we’re talking about the ephemeral nature of photography, now’s a great time to make some prints of your work! The next Print Exchange is Saturday, August 22 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., also at the Pratt.

The next time I’m in your inbox, hopefully I’ll have some photos from Maryland’s beautiful Eastern Shore to share with you.