Dear friends,
I have sent out a Process letter for two hundred and fifty Sundays. I still can’t quite believe it!
To celebrate the occasion, I’m giving away a book that has lived on my shelf for the better part of ten years. Not just a book, but the book. My copy of Richard Avedon’s In the American West. It’s a first edition, first printing, signed by Avedon himself.
For me, it’s the holy grail. One of the most honest and human bodies of portrait work ever made, and the one that has inspired me in my Community Documentary projects more than any other.
If you don’t know it: in 1979 the Amon Carter Museum in Texas asked Avedon, one of the most famous fashion photographers alive, to make a portrait of the American West. He could have chased the myth of the cowboy and the big sky, but he chose instead to photograph regular people. Miners, drifters, waitresses, oil workers, a beekeeper covered in bees.
He photographed every one of them the same way. Plain white background, 8x10, natural light, no props, nothing to hide behind. Just the person, standing there.
The work behind it borders on obsession, and I love it for that. Five years. 17 states. 189 towns. 752 sittings. Around 17,000 sheets of large-format film, for a book of just over 100 pictures.
You feel that obsession and patience in every frame. Sandra Bennett, twelve years old, looking straight down the lens on the cover. Ronald Fischer, the beekeeper. Juan Patricio Lobato, his body held in that odd, unforgettable curve. Ordinary people, seen with a level of attention most never get in a lifetime.
I came to this book after I had already started my first big Community Documentary project One of Many. But once I did, it became a compass. When I plan a project, or when I just want to remember what honest portraiture of regular people can be, I take it down off the shelf.
[For more about my community documentary projects see Process 231, 238, 243, etc.]
This is exactly why I want to pass it on.
A book like this shouldn’t spend its next ten years mostly closed on a shelf. It should be with someone who will open it all the time, and go back to it, the way I have. Two hundred and fifty issues feels like the right moment to let it find that person. So I’m giving it away, along with a pile of good things from friends. Details are further down.
Before that, a THANK YOU. To those of you who have been here since the very first letters, and to those who found Process last week. You are the reason this is still going. I don’t take a single Sunday of your attention for granted. On to the next 250!
Now, to the biggest Process Giveaway ever!
To celebrate the milestone, I’m doing the biggest giveaway I’ve ever put together, and I want as many of you in it as possible.
GRAND PRIZE — the book I wrote about above, my signed first edition of Avedon’s In the American West. It’s hard to put a price on this but this book in this state, signed, is usually sold for around $1000 or more.
Some wonderful friends are pitching in too. More prizes!!
PRIZE 2 — FILM ROLLS PACKAGE PRIZE:
30 rolls of some of the best film around!
From Kodak: 3 five-packs of Tri-X in 120 Format
From Ilford and Harman: ten rolls of film, five of each
From Cinestill: five assorted rolls
Total value: $325
PRIZE 3 — ACCESSORIES
From Moment: the Long Weekend RED Master Set including a camera bag, waist pack, pouches, and a film camera. Valued at $265!
PRIZE 4 & 5 — MAGAZINES:
From Hotshoe: three back issues (#213-214-215), featuring work by Sally Mann, Stephen Shore, Daniel Arnold, Gregory Crewdson, Mark Steinmetz, and more.
From The Sun: a one-year complimentary subscription to this ad-free, independent, reader-supported monthly that's been publishing for over 50 years
PRIZE 6 — DARKROOM EQUIPMENT
From ΔStop: A new modern darkroom timer designed for “photographers who think in stops rather than seconds”.
Step 1 — You need to be a Process subscriber to enter, free or paid, it makes no difference. If you aren't one yet, click here and you're in:
Step 2 — Leave a comment on this issue and tell me about an ordinary moment you’re glad you photographed. It doesn’t have to be fancy. That’s the whole spirit of it.
There will be 6 winners, one for each category. I’ll draw the winners at random and announce them in an upcoming issue.
DEADLINE: Leave your comments before midnight EST on Sunday, July 19th.
Thank you for 250 Sundays together. Truly. If you have a moment and feel like doing me a favor, re-stack this issue or send it to anyone who might enjoy getting a weekly letter like this one. Thank you, it means a lot.
NEXT WEEK: we are back to breaking down Step 2 of in a series on How to Make A Photo Book or Zine, with my own upcoming book NOTICE Journal Vol. 2 as the example. In case you’re new here and missed step one, find it in Process 248.
Warmly,
Wesley
P.S. All my film is developed by Carmencita Film Lab. They’re the best and love what they do. Use code PROCESS for a free upgrade.
If Process adds something to your week, here’s how to help keep it going: grab a copy of my photo book NOTICE Journal Volume One or the Process Workbook series. Volume 5 just came out and is an 80-page step-by-step guide on how to make your own book or zine.
Process Photo Club members get 40% off NOTICE and 100% off all five Workbooks. Not a member yet? Join here.
Process Photo Club members get the PWB5 for free, plus all four previous workbooks (€60 in savings on day one), 40% off my photo books, 30% off workshops, and more.
Browse the Process Archive for more articles.
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