the next thing

Ed Ruscha, Dare #2, 2001

Well, New Romantics closed this past weekend. It was a good show. My first show. Now on to the next thing. I'm designing a new photo blog with Leilani Wertens that's launching very soon, maybe next week. It'll have interviews with new contemporary photographers, reviews of books and shows, and an events listing for shows and other photo stuff that should not be missed. It'll be Chicago or Midwest-centric instead of NY/east coast-centric. This kind of thing is needed. Today I was designing the home page and somehow subconsciously channeled Ed Ruscha. I've always felt I have a connection with him...

Anyway, look for the site to be up in the near future. It's name is Dorothea & Western. We got the domain with a "-" instead of the ampersand because it's easier to type. I doubt we'll put the meaning of the name on the website so here's the one and only explanation that you'll find on the web. We wanted to name it after a very important and significant photographer to both of us (Leilani and I) and we wanted it to also be about a place or the idea of a place but without it being too local. So, for the photographer we chose Dorothea as in Dorothea Lange. This also helped us decide what the other name was to be. We picked Western not only because it is the place of the West that is meaningful but also the idea of the west; to head west, to be westward bound. That idea has meant so much not only to the history of the U.S. but to many photographers as well. Also, Western is the street that you would take to get to either my or Leilani's house- kinda nifty.