Engaging the Enemy Frigate…preview

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artists' book, book art, cisgender, cock, Enemy Frigate, Engaging the Enemy Frigate, film, Fred 'Cinerama' Waller, Fred Waller, Frigate, gay, gender bender, gender benders from the 1970's, gender studies, genderqueer, hand printed books, homo, homosexual, maquette, marbled endsheets, marbling, Paul Mantz, Penis Worship, queer, social documentary photography, spiral bound, transgender, vintage

Article Dedication

In honor of

Fred  ‘Cinerama’ Waller & Paul Mantz

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Engaging the Enemy Frigate, is a hand-printed artist’s book of vintage homosexual erotica from the Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Archival Collection in a limited edition of 50 signed and numbered books and 2 artist’s proof books.

The book is 124 pages in length with 62 photographs. It is finished with frosted clear plastic covers with hand rounded corners, marbled end sheets and spiral bound.

Book size: 5-½” x 6-½”

Maquette is shown for illustration – all specifications are pro forma.

ISBN: 978-0-9967108-4-8

    

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Staten Island Ferry NYC (Candid)

From The Americans…60 years after Frank

a limited edition artist’s book by

Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

A complete listing of artist’s books by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/artists-books-by-daniel-d-teoli-jr-2/

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I wonder what America will look like…100 years after Frank?

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1960 retirement party, 1970's los angeles, A big challenge nowadays is to get a photo of someone without a cell phone in hand, A People's Sociology of the United States, A photo is not like a video or movie. The photo must catch our attention and tell the story in one image., American sociology, art, Art Installation LACMA, artists' book, available light photography, Bareback gay fuck, Bareback Musclefuck, Barefoot man with soiled pants eating from the trash, beached white male, beat generation, beat generation girls, beat hotel, Beat women, beatific, beatnik 1950's, beatnik girls, Beatnik Porn, Being self-funded and not rich - the budget is always a concern., big breasts, bride, busker, busker nyc, busker times square, candid...ish, censorship, chiaroscuro, children of weegee, cisgender, Cold Water Flat, condition humaine, Cool Cop, Cotillion, Cotillion ~ Viennese Winter Ball - Wheeling, d.teoli, Dan Teoli, dancing queen bride, daniel d. teoli jr, daniel teoli jr, David R. Shackelford, decisive moment, despair, destitute, Do what is best for the image - let it decide and don't let your ego get in the way., documentary photography, ethics in street photography, Faces of Gentrification, film, freak show, Freemont Street, Gas Panhandler, Gentrification, getting by, Give me a dollar and I'll show you my clit., gone girl, Gone Girls, Greenwich Village, happy, happy bride, Here is how Cartier-Bresson described it..., holy water, holy water bowl, homeless, homeless l.a., Homelessness can be a barometer of a countries economy and health., Hoover Dam, How can you afford high rent?, how ivory bar soap shrunk in size, huff, huffin, huffing, huffington post, human condition, Human Wasteland, humans, humans thrive on affection..., I can't afford to concentrate just on the pretty or just on the ugly aspects of society., I can't help but wonder what America will look like...100 years after Frank., I don't make everything black and white nor do I make everything color. I let the image speak to me and go with the treatment I think is best., I select Kimberly...TaskRabitt'er, I traveled through 24 states and D.C. for this project to get a flavor of America., I try to be a balanced social documentary photographer., I wonder what America will look like…100 years after Frank?, I've seen every type of gone gal under the sun from the beat era!, if I can inject a little 'art' into my work I do., If it is legal to shoot and I like it...I shoot it., If we were bees or ants then humans could be successful communists., In 2016 if your a male photog shooting stranger kids on the street…you’re labeled a sexual predator., ivory soap got smaller, jesus is a cunt, l.a.emergencey, lesbian, lesbian seperatist, living on the street, los angeles, los angeles skid row, Louis Faurer, Magazine rack at supermarket, make America great again, Man with soiled pants eating from the trash Los Angeles, Muscle fuck, Musclefuck, nipple sucking, Ohio, ohio river, ohio valley, open carry, photography, photography is like that...there’s no maybes., Poop Map San Francisco, pooped his pants, Postscript, privacy bed, reinbeau, Reinbeau...her toenails matched her fingernails, retirement party, reviews, richard gere, robert frank, Robert Frank The Americans, roommates, sad buskers, selective color street photography, skid row, skid row l.a., social documentary photo, social documentary photograp, social documentary photography, social studies, sociology, sociology of the united states, southern baptist, St. Patricks, street photography, street portrait, tattooed lady, Teoli, the americans, The Americans...60 years after Frank, This is the gift photography provides to mankind - a way to go back...a time capsule of sorts., topless, trans, trans woman, transgender, transsexual, transvestite, travel, Universal Income, ushaven legs, Viennese Winter Ball, Village, Walker Evans, We each express what is in us and make sense of our world through our art., we're buddies, wedding reception, wheeling wv, white male, WV.

Article Dedication

In honor of

Louis Faurer & Eugene de Salignac

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As I finish up my book project for The Americans…60 years after Frank, I am amazed how much things have changed in 60 years. I can’t help but wonder what America will look like…100 years after Frank.

Open Carry Las Vegas, NV

If you have not looked at Robert Frank’s The Americans for a while, crack it open and give it a look-see for yourself.

Venice, CA

Here are a sampling of some of the photos I took for the project. (See footnote:a) While I didn’t try to anally follow in the footsteps of Frank, if I was already in the area, I hit a few of his old haunts. If you are interested in a more sentimental type of Frank jounery, check out this DVD:

https://www.amazon.com/American-Journey-Robert-Franks-Footsteps/dp/B003NYVYA0

I try to be a balanced social documentary photographer. I can’t afford to concentrate just on the pretty or just on the ugly aspects of society. I seldom censor, but I am discriminatory in what I do present. If it is legal to shoot and I like it…I shoot it.

Yes…Yes…Yes…photography is like that and there’s no maybes. All the maybes go to the trash. There is a tremendous enjoyment in saying yes, even if it is for something you hate. It is an affirmation…Yes!” ~ Cartier-Bresson

Campground outside of Columbus, OH

(Not staged – As I walked by there she was sitting on his lap with a hand on her breast. I asked for the photo and shot it.)

While street photography is an important part of the mix, it is not the only thing I do. My photography has to go beyond talking pictures of people walking in and out of shadows or finding funny signs and waiting 20 minutes for someone to walk by it. Still, if I can inject a little ‘art’ into my work I do while still being true to the subject matter. While I like to do straight photography, I also bend it a little if it works to the benefit of the image.

 

Multitasking   Campground outside of Columbus, OH Infrared flash photograph (Candid)

A photo is not like a video or movie. The photo must catch our attention and tell the story in one image. There are many tools the photog can use for this job and I try to make use of them all. I hold no prejudices to any genre, whether it is B&W, contrast, HDR, color, lighting, sharpness, selective color, bokeh, grain, or motion blur. In a world of 2 billion cell phone cams at large, these are some of tools the photog can use to garner attention for their image

Lost Princess  Wheeling, WV (Candid)

Agricultural Fair  West Alexander, PA (Candid…ish)

In 2016 if your a male photog shooting stranger kids on the street…you’re labeled a sexual predator. And this is especially an issue for someone like me in their 60’s.

Barefoot man with soiled pants eating from the trash  Los Angeles, CA (Candid)

I don’t make everything black and white nor do I make everything color. I let the image speak to me and go with the treatment I think is best. The ‘I only shoot BW’ photogs can lose important information if they stick to their dogmatic position 100%.

Faces of Gentrification  Wheeling, WV

Now, I used to be one of those ‘all B&W’ types back in the 1970’s before branching out to color in the 1980’s. I would look down on the color photogs…I was a purest. It is all ego driven nonsense. Sometimes the image will work either way. If so, do what you like. Other times it needs to be in color or BW only. Do what is best for the image, let it decide and don’t let your ego get in the way.

Ernst Hass on the subject …

“There are black and white snobs, as well as colour snobs. Because of their inability to use both well, they act on the defensive and create camps. We should never judge a photographer by what film he uses- only by how he uses it.”

Campground outside of Columbus, OH  Infrared flash photograph (Candid)

Pinky  The Grove, Los Angeles, CA (Candid)

…a big challenge nowadays is to get a photo of someone without a cell phone in hand.

Bronze memorializing civil rights sit-in  Wichita, KS

Gravestone  Cincinnati, OH

Pucker Up!  Hollywood, CA  Infrared flash photograph (Candid)

Memphis, TN

To see a diversified mix of America I traveled through 24 states and D.C. for this project. While shooting I didn’t have the luxury of sticking around for hours until the sun or weather changed into something I may have liked better. That is the domain of the anal landscape photog with tripod in tow. My challenge was to get a great shot in 30 minutes and move on.

Of course, that is the hallmark of the expert documentary photog. They must go to strange lands they may know little or nothing about and out-shoot the local photogs to bring back iconic images usually under the demands of a short time schedule.

Sometimes I am successful, other times I fail…but I always try. As the old saying goes…if I knew how to take great photos…I do it every time! On the photo forums you always see photogs that don’t even try. They have convinced themselves they will fail before they even start. Don’t fall into that trap if you want to get ahead.

https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2015/06/13/dont-quit-before-you-even-start-work-blind/

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Being self-funded and not rich, the budget is always a concern. When shooting in Manhattan the only way I could swing it was to stay at a campsite in Jersey City and take the transport into NYC.

Campsite  Jersey City, NJ

It cost $65 a day to sleep in your vehicle or $55 a day to sleep in a tent. (You supply the tent.) I asked if I could sleep in my vehicle at the Ferry parking lot in NJ, but they said no. If they would have allowed it, it would have cost about $19 a day.

 I thought about taking a bus / hotel package to NYC, but the hotel killed the deal. The bus was only $28 for a one way Greyhound from Pittsburgh to NYC, but the hotel was $2750. Only bad thing about tent life is you have to carry all your gear on your back for fear of theft. I prefer staying in vehicles as I can hide some of my gear under the car seats and trunk.

I boondock all over to save $…Wal-Marts, casinos, motel parking lots, rest stops, truck stops…even a church parking lot. If your working with a limited budget that is how you do it. When I’m on the road I can wash up in any bathroom I find or hit the showers at the truck stops every few days for $10 to $13 a pop.

A good boondocking trick is to make a 25% dilute alcohol / water mix and use it to wash your body with a washcloth. Then wring out the cloth and use a water soaked cloth to go over your body. If you want privacy for a sponge bath, go into stall and stand or squat on top of the toilet.

 Thornville, OH (Candid)

…but you can only be ‘so candid’ when your using white light flash.

Holy Water Bowl St. Patrick’s Cathedral NYC (Candid)

As I looked around at the churches it seems to be of interest to older people more so than the young. But this depends on what location of the USA we are talking about. From my limited view, religion seems more popular in the Southern Baptist region.

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Los Angeles, CA (Candid)

The lady above died a short time after I shot her and the long bench was torn down. Her house was the concrete bench at L.A.’s MacArthur Park. I’m glad I was able to document her for my book. This is the gift photography provides to mankind – a way to go back…a time capsule of sorts.

Here is how Cartier-Bresson described it…

“I prowled the streets all day, feeling very sprung-up and ready to pounce, determined to ‘trap’ life – to preserve life in the act of living.”

The gift that photography provides me is a way to make sense of my world. I don’t do photography to make money or to try and ‘change the world’ for the better. I am not a god, I don’t claim to know what is better. But, I can freeze time to get a better look of it at home.

You see,  if freezing time is in your blood, being a do-gooder or making $ does not matter.  If your dedicated to your art, you must produce and keep producing, whether you have an outlet or not to make $…or even have any practical use for your output.

Art is the way many of us make sense of our world. A wordsmith sifts it all through their brain and writes a book or article, a musician composes a song, a poet pens a poem, an artist sketches a drawing or does a painting, a photog shoots a pix, a sculptor forms a statue, a choreographer creates a dance. We each express what is in us and make sense of our world through our art.

Georges Simenon summed up how it is for the writer and this can go for any of the arts as well.

“Writing is considered a profession, and I don’t think it is a profession. I think that everyone who does not need to be a writer, who thinks he can do something else, ought to do something else. Writing is not a profession but a vocation of unhappiness. I don’t think an artist can ever be happy.”

Irrespective of recognition, fame and riches, dedicated photogs all have one thing in common…we know photography is our life blood and as long as we can keep pressing the button and freeze time, we fell the better for it.

Weegee on the subject…

“Sure. I’d like to live regular. Go home to a good looking wife, a hot dinner, and a husky kid. But I guess I got film in my blood.”

NYC Subway (Candid)

My old home town L.A. has changed tremendously since Frank’s time. They have more people living in tents and under tarps than many American cities have population.

In the shadow of City Hall – Homeless tent encampment Los Angeles 2015

(In the shadow of City Hall was shot on the fly, through my car windshield while driving, unframed.)

Times Square Food Stand  NYC  Infrared flash photograph (Candid)

 Alley  Ohio Valley

In 2016 having roommates are very common if you don’t want to end up on the street. I asked a guy living in Santa Monica how much he is paying for rent in a apartment building at the beach. He said 3 guys live in a 1 bedroom and split $2600 a month rent. He told me they take weekly turns at sleeping in the bedroom.  I read in NYC they can get 4 roommates into a 1 bedroom apt.

http://www.roommates.com/

Internet photo

Privacy beds are a popular roommate option for packing people in. Although in NY they are experts at making illegal walled off little cubicles for privacy.

Thornville, OH

Life is very complex nowadays, it is nothing like the 1950’s when all we had was 3 on air TV stations…

With the high cost of living, people seem more frantic nowadays to make a buck…any way they can.

Bareback Musclefuck

In the mid 1990’s they had a black homeless lady that hanged around the portajohns at Santa Monica beach. She would ask passerby’s, Give me a dollar and I’ll show you my clit. 

Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Archival Collection

I can see why it is easy to become homeless if you lose a foothold for a month or two and you are living paycheck to paycheck. Cold water flats are a thing of the past.

Cold water flat

Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Archival Collection

One months rent of $1800 for an upscale apartment in Pittsburgh would have paid for six years rent on a cold water flat back in Frank’s day.

Busker  Las Vegas, NV

Sad Buskers  Times Square, NYC  Infrared flash photograph (Candid)

One of the gals was crying because no one wanted to pay them to take a photo with their boobies out. (See footnote:b)

Gas Panhandler   On the road from Vermont

He brings an empty can over and asks if you can spare a little gas while you are filling up. He waits at the station as long as it takes bumming gas until he fills up.

God, how things have changed in America. Who would have ever thought you would need a ‘poop map’ to navigate San Francisco?

 Poop Map San Francisco

Image: Human Wasteland

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The family has changed a lot…

Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Archival Collection

Stats tell us 50% of the marriages fail. Families are no longer close-knit, family affairs living on the farm, where multi-generations live and die under one roof. Nowadays families scatter to the four winds to fend for themselves.

Cotillion ~  Viennese Winter Ball   Wheeling, WV (Candid)

Wedding Reception  Ohio Valley (Candid)

Marriage is in decline with kids. They got their cell phones, hook-up apps and can get ‘fuck buddies’ on demand…so why get married?

 Thornville, OH (Candid)

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fuck bud·dy

noun

vulgar slang

plural noun: fuck buddies

A friend or acquaintance with whom a person regularly has sex without the expectation of a romantic relationship.

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I was at a concert in Ohio and saw these 2 standing beside each other. I asked him if she was his girlfriend. He said “No, she’s my buddy”  and he gave her a little hug. At the time I did not know of the term ‘fuck buddies’ so I didn’t think to ask him, “Are you fuck buddies or just plain buddies?”

Well, young or old, humans thrive on affection…

Campground outside of Detroit, MI

The benefit of a committed relationship / marriage / family support is it gave people a back-up if there was a financial emergency. I was talking with an old gal in her 90’s. She said during the depression they had almost 10 people in their extended family living under one roof trying to get by. The few that worked helped to support the family members that were unemployed. Without family support 6 of the 10 would have been homeless.

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Our food supply has changed a lot…

Left: Farmers market (Kennebec) ~  Middle:  Dole (Red) ~  Right: Green Giant (Idaho)

Potatoes stored in a root cellar for 6 months.

When I was a kid, simple things like finding untreated potatoes that were not irradiated or chemically treated so they would not sprout was not a hard job. When I surveyed the supermarkets in my local all the commercial potatoes, even organic potatoes were treated one way or another so they would not sprout. It was not a novelty to see peaches with fuzz on them that actually tasted good and had a wonderful fragrance when ripening.

Many of our products have changed since Frank’s time. A lot of those products are extinct, those that survived have evolved. Look at how Ivory soap shrunk just over the last 2 years. You now pay more for 8 smaller bars of ‘original’ Ivory soap than you would have paid for 10 larger original bars…that is 1.58 pounds of soap now versus 2.40 pounds of soap then.

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Lets go back in time to David R. Shackelford’s retirement party in the 1960’s, courtesy of The Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Archival Collection…

Back then workers stayed with the same company for 25 or 30 years then retired with a pension. Once flipping companies became the rage on Wall Street, the pensions had to be spun off as companies were being dismantled left and right during the ‘takeover craze’ years. This coupled with people changing jobs like people change their socks also contributed to the pension’s demise.

David’s’ party sported real china, real metal cutlery, a linen tablecloth and fancy folded napkins…and a bunch of white guys.

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Greenwich Village, NYC

Nowadays…white people are worried they may be extinct one day. Scientists do support this theory, with an eventual muddling of many of the races.

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Politics and politicians…

The Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Archival Collection

Magazine rack at supermarket – border of Kentucky and Ohio

Swapmeet Ohio

The Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Archival Collection

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Thornville, OH

In the early 70’s, before the oil crunch,  gasoline was .23 cents a gallon. A one bedroom apartment in L.A. was $150 a month. Studios were $75 to $95. Tuition at L.A.C.C. cost $6.50 a semester and Cal State L.A. was $63 a trimester. For one tuition fee a student could take as many classes as they liked.

Uncertain Future

If you attended a junior college for the first 2 years, a bachelor’s degree could be had for $450 to $500 in tuition costs. Houses in L.A.’s Miracle Mile district, that sell for 2 to 3 million dollars now, only cost $25,000 back then.

Huffin  Thornville, OH (Candid)

In the news this year they claimed in the distant future robots will be taking 75% of the jobs. Who knows the real number of jobs to be lost, but it is the American way. We are a capitalist country and money is god.

I select Kimberly  Taskrabitt’er

Gigs, freelancing and ‘winging it’ by a growing army of freelancers, temps, contractors, part-timers, day laborers, micro-entrepreneurs, gig-preneurs, solo-preneurs, contingent labor, perma-lancers and perma-temps seems to be the new normal.

‘Lette  Thornville, OH

If we were bees or ants then humans could be successful communists.  Can you imagine bees and ants working as greedy, self-centered capitalists? They would be extinct…wouldn’t they? But we can see when greedy and ego based human nature is mixed with communism it becomes worse than the capitalism.

In a world that requires continuous consumption to work, something will eventually have to give, unless the resources are infinite. I don’t pretend to have the answers…all I can do is document my world.

Free Poetry  Busker NYC Subway (Candid)

As I am writing this post they are now talking about a Universal Income for each citizen as a tool to combat the invasion of the robots. Someone threw out a figure of $13,000 a year as an  allowance. The gov would abolish Medicare, Social Security, Food Stamps and the rest. OK, fine, a person could survive on it if they had a couple of roommates, shopped at thrift stores for clothes and rode a bike or took the bus. But what happens when they raise the price of bread to $500 a loaf? Will the allowance keep pace?

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Staten Island Ferry  NYC (Candid)

Beside Trump, Islam is in the news a lot nowadays. A 2015 Pew Study predicts Islam to be the worlds most dominant religion. Will Sharia Law be what controls the world 100 years after Frank? Are you worried? If so, in 2016 that makes you Islamaphobic!

http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/12/25/460797744/a-religious-forecast-for-2050-atheism-is-down-islam-is-rising

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I had read that Tinder, Facebook and some others have expanded their gender identity list to include some of these options. Wow, things are very complex now. I need a guide book for figuring it out. I looked some of them up then forgot what they mean. Looks like they left off Lesbian Separatist.

Agender
Androgyne
Androgynous
Bigender
Cis
Cisgender
Cis Female
Cis Male
Cis Man
Cis Woman
Cisgender Female
Cisgender Male
Cisgender Man
Cisgender Woman
Female to Male
FTM
Gender Fluid
Gender Nonconforming
Gender Questioning
Gender Variant
Genderqueer
Intersex
Male to Female
MTF
Neither
Neutrois
Non-binary
Other
Pangender
Trans
Trans*
Trans Female
Trans* Female
Trans Male
Trans* Male
Trans Man
Trans* Man
Trans Person
Trans* Person
Trans Woman
Trans* Woman
Transfeminine
Transgender
Transgender Female
Transgender Male
Transgender Man
Transgender Person
Transgender Woman
Transmasculine
Transsexual
Transsexual Female
Transsexual Male
Transsexual Man
Transsexual Person
Transsexual Woman
Two-Spirit

Melissa  Los Angeles, CA

Over the years the ability to transition from male to female has improved greatly for all those unhappy with their birth gender.

Jennifur  Los Angeles, CA 1974

Bathroom 2016  Ohio Valley

A lady complained to me that she didn’t feel comfortable having a guy with a penis use the same bathroom as her just because he thought he was a woman. I told her I’ve known a lot of trans people over the years and most of them have no interest in women, they like men.

Joe at doorway  Hollywood, CA 1974

I told her just in case you run across a trans poser that is after women, get some pepper spray. Are you worried about this topic? If so, in 2016 that makes you a homophobic!

Infrared flash photograph  Near Columbus, OH (Candid..ish)

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The Kiss  Thornville, OH (Candid)

Art Installation LACMA  Los Angeles, CA

Reinbeau…her toenails matched her fingernails   Las Vegas, NV

Little Dicky   The Lucky Chops from NYC (Candid)

Sunday on the Ohio River   Wheeling, WV (Candid)

Thornville, OH (Candid)

Water is in the news a lot nowadays. I wish I had a sample of 1950’s tap water to test to see how it would compare to the dirty water we drink in 2016….was it worse or was it better? A lot of America’s water comes from polluted rivers. The rivers not only get the factory chemicals dumped in them the rivers are where many cities dump their human waste.

If your city gets its water from a river, you may be drinking recycled human waste.

Distillation residue from 1 gallon of tap water from Wheeling, WV.

Water source: Ohio River

https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2016/01/18/6035/

Even if you have a clean source for your drinking water, some locals seem to be having a hard time keeping pace with our ever growing population.

Drought marker Hoover Dam   Arizona / Nevada

A ranger told me it has been decades since the high water mark was last reached.

Thornville, OH

Flag in Alley   Wheeling, WV 

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Postscript

The missing beat girl…our girls used to be natural…no tattoos or pierced clit hoods!

While working with the Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Archival Collection, an area that stood out like a sore thumb was the lack of tattoos that the gals had back in Frank’s time compared to the girls of today.

  Freemont St.  Las Vegas, NV  Infrared flash photo (Candid)

And believe me, I’ve seen every type of gone gal under the sun from the beat era! Over the last couple years I have looked through about 125,000 photos of naked beat girls from the 1940’s to 1960’s and many more tens of thousand beat girls with their clothes on. Out of all those photos I only found one gal with a tat. She had a small one about as big as a half-dollar on her hip.

Well, when I find the beat girl with the tat I will have to post her here. It is a real rarity, but she is lost in the archives as of now…

 

Selections from Girls of the Beat Generation 6 volume artist’s book series

by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

…OK, they did have the tattooed lady at the freak show.

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The Americans…60 years after Frank is scheduled for printing in 2018.

Footnotes:

(a) Photos used in this post are for illustration only. Not all photos shown are from The Americans…60 years after Frank

(b) I generally don’t interview my subjects or seldom talk to them. Any description I use is just my best guess of the situation at hand. Surface appearance is not always reliable and I may be wrong.

(c)  If any image is fuzzy, click on it for hi-res version.

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A complete list of artist’s books by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/artists-books-by-daniel-d-teoli-jr-2/

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A Day in the Life of a Drag Queen

Tags

artists' book, available light photography, book art, breast, children of weegee, circular fisheye, daniel d. teoli jr, documentary photography, drag queen, Female Impersonator, fisheye, gender benders, gender benders from the 1970's, gender queer, genderqueer, Hollywood, infrared, infrared flash, ir flash, LACMA, LACMA lights, ladyboy, lgbt, lgbtq, los angeles, melissa brown, mellisa rich brown, public art, shemale, social documentary photography, T girl, Teoli, trans, transgender, transsexual, transvestite, transwoman, urban lights

Article Dedication

In Honor

of

Diane Arbus and Christer Strömholm

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Principal photography for A Day in the Life of a Drag Queen artist’s book has been completed.

When I first got the idea for this project, I didn’t know any better, so I lumped drag queens, transvestites and transgender devotees all into one pile. The title A Day in the Life of a Drag Queen is kinda a misnomer for the book. It should have been called A Day in the Life of a Transwoman…or T girl…or Transgender…or Shemale…or Transsexual…or Ladyboy…or Tranny.

But I didn’t like any of those choices, so I stuck with the Drag Queen title. (Plus I already bought an ISBN # for it at Bowker.) Since I pay all the bills and am completely self-funded with my projects, I don’t have to answer to a publisher…I do what I like. As an added benefit to the original title, it opens up the discussion to educate others on the topic.

I originally got the idea for this book in August 2015, a few months after I was working with some photos from my archive of Barbara LeMay. I thought to myself, ‘Why didn’t I do a book on Bab’s when she was alive?”

https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2015/04/05/gone-up-in-smoke-barbara-lemay-doing-a-reprise-of-the-hoochie-show-she-use-to-perform/

Barbara ‘Babs’ LeMay, Hollywood , CA circa early 1970’s…

Well, when I was 20, I guess the thought never occurred to me. Back then, if I got a nice pix for my portfolio I was satisfied. When I get an idea nowadays, I try and act on it as soon as possible and also work it in depth.  So that is where the A Day in the Life of a Drag Queen project originated from.

Arnold…a UCLA college student that liked women’s’ nighties. Los Angeles, circa early 1970’s…

I think every gender bender, whatever their end goal is, started out as a cross dresser to get a taste of being a woman. As I did some homework on the subject I could see that a T gal is very different from your garden variety transvestite / drag queen / cross dresser.

Joe…a man wanting to be a woman circa early 1970’s…

A true T gal has put in a lot of time, money and energy transitioning in various degrees from male to female. She grows plump breasts and womanly nipples from taking HRT and sometimes supplements them with breast implants. She loses muscles, develops hips and soft, hairless skin. Her voice may change and some have painful surgery for cosmetic reasons and to remove the penis and replace it with a vagina.

Gender bending all starts with a little pill nowadays.

Here is a list of areas the transwoman works on:

Self-esteem / Self-acceptance
Coming out
Social adaption
Hair removal
Voice training
Socialization as female
Hormone therapy
Hair removal
Wardrobe replacement
Future employment prospects
Sex Reassignment Surgery
Legal / Name change / Gender marker change

Whereas, the only work the transvestite / drag queen / cross dresser does is to put on some women’s clothes and makeup.

Jennifur…a transvestite / cross dresser circa early 1970’s…

The gender transitioning technology has improved a lot over the years. The next photo is a transwoman circa early 1970’s. I titled it Traveling Transvestite. Back in the day we did not have all the nomenclature we have now. If we did, I’d have called it Traveling Transwoman.

A transwoman from Amsterdam taken in 2014

Over a 24 hour period spanning 2 days,  I spent 4-1/2 hours of intensive shooting with a T girl named Melissa. The shoot had 2 main time frames – day and evening. Melissa gave me full run of her home for documenting whatever I liked.  Most of the photography is posed, but I was able to get a few candid shots when Melissa wasn’t looking.

Infrared flash photograph taken in the dark – At a bar with a friend 2015

A Day in the Life of a Drag Queen takes you into one transwoman’s lifestyle as an open book.

I was kinda hesitant about taking on such a project as I an not that skilled in posing people for staged photography. All my skill is in candid street and documentary photography. Here are some samples of my documentary work.

http://dewallenrld.tumblr.com/

http://bikermardigras.tumblr.com/

https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/piercing-darkness-update/

In fact, in my nearly 50 years pushing the button, this is the only fashion / glamour related project I ever shot. I’ve shot many trans people in my career, but I never had to make them look especially good. Part of the agreement with Melissa was to give her some nice photos from the shoot.  Melissa made it very easy for me to be a wannabe glam photog. It was like shooting fish in the proverbial barrel. Almost every pose she struck was a keeper.

Now, only having 4-1/2 hours to shoot for an entire book is not a lot of time. Melissa is a very busy gal working day and night to make ends meet. I am in L.A. working on 6 book projects, I’m averaging 3 to 4 hours of sleep a night, so we are both short on time. Beside expertise in candid photography, my other skill is in working fast…extremely fast. 4-1/2 hours of intensive shooting for me is like a week of shooting for average camera fondler out there. The hallmark of the skilled documentary photog is that they produce with what time constraints or other problems they are under.

For more information on 1970’s gender bending see:

https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2015/05/16/genders-benders-from-the-1970s/

The Americans…60 years after Frank – what it is and what it isn’t.

Tags

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Article Dedication 

In honor of

William Klein & Mary Ellen Mark

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A short time after I shot this pix, (candid) this homeless lady died and the concrete bench was torn down. Documentary photography allowed me to archive her as well as honor her as the cover of my book The Americans…60 years after Frank.

A person wrote me about an ad I put in L.A.’s Craigslist advertising for a lesbian couple to be photographed for my artists’ book The Americans…60 years after Frank. They felt it didn’t it stay with the spirit of the original Americans from the 1950’s.

Here is their question / comment:

I think it’s great that you’re actually willing to pay people for their time. My only critique, is that I’m not sure what a staged photoshoot with a lesbian couple has to do with Robert Frank’s original series of candid photographs he took on his road trip across America. Will you be using the same gear he did (Leica film/50mm)? Are you planning a road trip? Will these be black and white? I don’t think you can successfully draw any parallels to one of the legendary street photographers iconic work with staged photographs of a specific, marginalized group of individuals. It might come off as exploitative. Just some food for thought.

Let me answer some questions concerning what The Americans…60 years after Frank is and is not.

I addressed some other critiques in an earlier post, so I wont go over them again.

https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2015/09/15/announcing-the-americans-60-years-after-frank-project/

I am not approaching the project with preconceived notions and limitations. Although I am copying the size and format of the original book as it is the best size for a spiral bound artists’ book. The book will be landscape format 8.5 x 9.5 inches.  An 8.5 x 11 book makes it too heavy, an 8 x 10 makes it too small. The size of the original 8.5 x 9.5 is the best size mix for the book. I also plan to stick with Franks original ‘portfolio style’ book layout.

No, I’m not slavishly trying to go to every spot Frank visited trying to recreate his trip…that is a project for the anal photog. (Sure, if I am in the neighborhood I will revisit a few of Frank’s haunts.) I will seek out a few of the original subjects Frank photographed in an effort to bring things up to date. This type of project can become a time capsule documenting a point in time. Frank’s original work may not have been looked at like time capsule when it came out, but as I look through The Americans, it is hard not to contrast how life was then as compared to now.

No, I am not doing one big roadtrip, I do small roadtrip’s of 3 to 5 days. You can waste a lot of time just driving around instead of pushing the button. A recent roundtrip to Hollywood from my LAX hotel took 3 + hours. When I got on location I shot for maybe 20 minutes.

My preference is to fly into a city and rent a car to drive around. Flying to a local and doing day trips helps out with the time wasting problem.  I’m in my 60’s and have a settled life with responsibilities, so I can’t just take off for a year to drive around…nor would I even want to, as it does not fit my personality. I an not looking for ‘snapshot aestheticism’ with my work. I may have a few of that genre in the book, but my main effort will be in taking focused and clean street photography or street portraits.

When Robert Frank shot The Americans he didn’t do it all in one trip. He took many side trips from his home base back east. When he got to L.A. he rented a house in Hollywood for 3 months, took day trips and worked local.  (See: Looking In: Robert Frank’s The Americans, Sarah Greenough 2009 )

But…does it really matter how the iconic photo was acquired? Whether it was made on a one year continuous voyage or shot just around the corner on lunch break like this one? (Posed)

Yes, I am using a Leica (digital) and I am also using an Oly M43, Pentax, Nikon, Sony, Canon, Epson RD1 and Fuji cams.

No, I am not using film…the book will be shot with 100% digital cams. I am using 2015 tech to make the book.

Yes, I am using a 50mm lens, as well as a host of other lenses from 7.5 fisheye to 135mm telephoto.

Yes, I will have BW in the book…just not ALL BW.

The book will have a mix of BW and color images,  I’m also using HDR hyper-real color, invisible HDR color, selective color, motion blur, tilt-shift effects, circular fisheye photos and infrared flash BW in the book.

What would this next photo be in BW?

Pinky The Grove, Los Angeles (Candid)

It would be useless. I don’t just look for ‘one way’ to document the world, I use many tools. If I was of the nature of ‘Hey, look at me…I only shoot BW,’ I’d be forcing things and end up ruining a photo just to satisfy my bloated ego. Then, I have done a disservice to freezing time in the best way possible…I’ve put my ego before doing the best job for the photo.

Ernst Hass on the subject…

“There are black and white snobs, as well as colour snobs. Because of their inability to use both well, they act on the defensive and create camps. We should never judge a photographer by what film he uses- only by how he uses it.”

When you dogmatically shoot BW only you can loose a lot of info. Here is a shot of a homeless tent encampment in the shadow of L.A.’s City Hall. It was taken a few blocks from where the famous statue that Frank shot now rests. The city has moved the statue from it’s original 1950’s location.

In the shadow of City Hall was shot on the fly, through my car windshield while driving, unframed.

If you look at some of my completed artists’ books as well as artists’ books being currently shot, they will give you a example of how I work.

Twenty-Six Roadkills
Bikers’ Mardi Gras
De Wallen: Amsterdam’s Red Light District
Whoop-Whoop
180: The Circular Fisheye at Large!
Piercing Darkness
Gay Bar
A Day in the Life of a Drag Queen

All the specs I will discuss here are pro-forma, nothing is set in stone. As I develop the maquette I will refine my design of the book.  The Americans…60 years after Frank will have approximately 80 to 125 photos in it.  I may even make it a 2 volume set, I just don’t know right now. Maybe 70%-80% of the photos will be candid and the rest posed or landscapes.. About 15% of the book may be landscapes or photos with little or no people in it. I believe Frank’s book had 26% of the book as landscapes or with little or no people in the photo.

This very fact is often overlooked as it is commonly thought Frank’s book is 100% full of candid shots of people.

Everything Frank shot was not a candid…

Although I am not trying to copy exact ratios of genre used in the original Americans, I mention these stats to underscore that a photog must have ‘some’ artistic freedom to tell the story with whatever photos they feel are appropriate to use, whether that be posed, candid, landscape…

…or product shot.

I have outstanding candid skills, so it would not be an issue for me filling up 10 books with all candid photos. I hold the world record for how close you can get shooting a candid with a digital rangefinder, M43 and DSLR camera. The candid photo above of the gal with the pink dog was shot a couple feet away with a Nikon DSLR. I have candid shots going down to a few inches from the subject. I routinely shoot such ‘in-your-face’ candid photos.

https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2014/12/28/order-women-like-pizza/

My goal with The Americans…60 years after Frank is to put the best photograph I can in the book. If candid shots work best, that is what I use. If posed photos are better, then why should I deny the posed photograph in favor of my ego? Some photos do better with a little posing – everything cannot be had, or at least perfected, as a candid.

I have a talent for shooting photos of people that look posed, but are in reality completely candid.  I may end up marking each photo description with a (C) or (P) to differentiate a candid versus posed photo. For instance, the next 4 photos are all 100% candid…they didn’t know I even shot them.

Infrared flash photograph.

There is a big difference between posed documentary photos and staged, phony photos. If I hired models to pretend they were lesbi gals to model for the camera…that is staged, phony photography. All I am doing is paying an ‘access fee’ to document actual lesbians. I pay access fess all the time to get into events. I had to pay almost $200 for access to make this photo…(Candid)

Paying an access fee has nothing to do as to whether a photo is real or phony. (Note: After running a few ads for 4 weeks, no lesbians were interested in being in my book or even replied to my ad…so I keep looking.)

Photogs paying for access is not some new idea I came up with. Eve Arnold paid $1000 ($7,700 in today’s $.) for access to shoot the Black Muslims in 1960. Just because she paid $ to a fixer does not mean the photos are phony or staged. Sure, some of her pix may be posed, some may be more of a candid nature, but without the access fee no button pushing would happen.

Some people hate candid photography and think permission should always be asked first. Others hate posed photos and think candid is the only way to go.  In reality, I am not trying to please either group by putting a mix of genre in it. As a documentarian, I must do what is best for the photo and not put popular opinion in control of things. Personally I prefer candid work over posed. But bottom line is…posed is always better than nothing.

A transwoman and her friend at a bar – Infrared flash photography. (Candid)

My early work as a social documentary photog was based on the credo ‘meet on the street…shoot at the home’ as my ultimate goal. That was how I produced a lot of iconic shots back in the 1970’s.

https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2015/04/27/meet-on-the-street-shoot-at-the-home/

But, that was back in the 1970s when I was in my 20’s. Nowadays people are paranoid and wont go for it. They are also pretty much self-sufficient with their photo needs and don’t need me. (Well, self-sufficient as long as the electric is on and Wal-Mart has a good supply of $29 inkjet printers.) So, meet on the street…shoot at the home does not produce well for me any longer.

I’m in my 60’s. If an old bastard goes up to a lesbi couple on the street and asks them to take him home with them, take off their clothes so he can shoot some erotic pix of them in bed or one gal siting naked on the lap of the other and he will be glad to give them a free photo…do you honestly think he’d ever get anywhere with that approach?

But, all is not lost with the lesbians….

I have many candid street shots of lesbi couples I can include in my book if need be. I was just looking to improve on what I already had. And in the big picture, my Americans book is not about lesbi gals or tanswowmen. Although I would like to put ‘one’ photo of each group in the book just to round it out. I felt any book taking stock of 2015 Americana should have at least one of each group represented in it.

As far as exploitative?

I am trying to include these groups in my book to honor them, nothing else. One lesbi couple wont make or break my book whether they are in it or not. I don’t do photography to make $…I do it for love of freezing time. Profit or loss never enters the picture with my work. The only time money questions come about are when I ask myself if I have enough money to fund a certain project. I’ve always subscribed to the credo – don’t shit where you eat. If I did photography for $, all my actions would be tainted by the profit motive and I could not be authentic to my work.

The book is scheduled for completion of principal photography by year end of 2016.

The Americans…60 years after Frank as well as Piercing Darkness are projects under joint consideration for a 2016 Guggenheim Fellowship.

100 strangers…candid!

Tags

100 strangers, 50 candids, 50 strangers, candid, chiaroscuro, children of weegee, d.teoli, Dan Teoli, daniel d. teoli jr, decisive moment, documentary photography, infrared, infrared flash, ir flash, ir street photography, one hundred strangers, Paul Gonsalves, piercing darkness, social documentary photography, Sonny Rollins, street photography, trans, transgender, transsexual, transwoman, weegee, yoshiyuki

Article Dedication

in honor of

Sonny Rollins & Paul Gonsalves

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Shooting 100 strangers is a popular subject on the photo forums. The photog goes up to a stranger and asks if they can shoot a pix of them.

One guy on the forums finished his ‘ask project’  and was on his way doing another 100 strangers. I would suggest he does his second hundred strangers at night or with some other added twist, or it can get boring, at least for me.

While I do street portraits, I’m more interested in candid photography. For this post I’m putting up 100 candid stranger shots.

 

 

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From Girls of the Beat Generation

A forthcoming 6 volume artist’s book series by social documentary photographer Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2016/04/21/girls-of-the-beat-generation-artists-book/

A complete list of artist’s books by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/artists-books-by-daniel-d-teoli-jr-2/

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Illustrated Biography of Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

Tags

180, 180 the circular fisheye at large, 1970's, 1970's los angeles, 4x5, 6x6, a day in the life of a drag queen, Amon Carter Museum Conservation Lab, amsterdam, analog, archival, art museum, artists' book, artsists' book, available light photography, babs lemay, barbara lemay, bikers mardi gras, biography daniel teoli jr, black and white, book art, breast, carla and babydoll, Charles E. Young Research Library, chiaroscuro, children of weegee, circular, circular fisheye, circular photography, clandestine photography, cock ring, composition, crossdressing, curator, d.teoli, Dan Teoli, daniel d. teoli jr, daniel teoli jr, daniel teoli jr biography, de wallen, decisive moment, documentary photography, elvis impersonator, encyclopedia of inkjet printing, film, fisheye, Fuji X, gathering of the juggalos, gay, gay bar, gender benders, German National Library Special Collections, hakenkreuz in a dress, hasselblad swc, hdr, Hollywood, homeless, homosexual, hooker, human complication, human condition, hyper-real, hyperreal, illustrated biography, Image Permanence Institute Rochester Institute or Technology, infrared, infrared flash, infrared flash photography, ir flash, juggalette, juggalos, las vegas, Leica M240, Leica monochrom, lgbt, lgbtq, los angeles, mardi gras, medium format, Metropolitan Museum of Art Conservation Laboratory, motion blur, museum, night photography, peephole, photojournalism, piercing darkness, pole dancer, presenting photography to curators and museums, Princeton University Firestone Library Special Collections, prostitute, prostitutes, prostitution, queer, red light district, reinbeau, reportage, Ringling College of Art And Design, rock concerts, selective color, sex tool, sex worker, sex workers, single image hdr, social documentary photograp, social documentary photography, St. Martin, street photography, street walker, Teoli, topless, trans, transgender, transvestite, traveling transvestite, Twenty-Six Roadkills, tyler james, University of Pittsburgh Art Gallery, vegas, Victoria and Albert Museum - National Art Library, weegee, yoshiyuki

NOTE:

This illustrated biography contains NSFW images.

If you want the plain text biography with no photographs go to :

http://biographyofdanieldteolijr.tumblr.com/

<> <> <> <> Biography of Daniel D. Teoli Jr. <> <> <> <>

Date of Birth: December 1954 at Los Angeles, California

Education: B.A. California State University Los Angeles, California

I am a self-taught social documentary photographer, curator, historian and archivist with 48 years experience. I specialize in producing limited edition artist’s books. I started taking pictures in the mid-1960’s and took up photography seriously in 1969. Throughout the 1970’s & 1980’s I worked to document the people and street life in Los Angeles and Hollywood, CA.

I have experience in many areas of the wet darkroom, both in black and white and color. These include,  alternative processes, E-4, C-41, nitrogen burst processing, Type ‘C’ & Type ‘R’ printing, dye transfer printing, screen printing, process camera / halftone screening and plate burning.

A few film shots from the early 1970’s…

    

http://danielteolijr.tumblr.com/

Moving to the Northeast in the 1989, I continued with my interest in humanist photography in Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. In the early 2000’s I gradually made the switch from film to digital, which I use for the majority of my work, although I still enjoy shooting swing lens and medium format film cameras.

My current color photography revolves a good deal around Hyper-Real HDR color street photography. I thankfully credit Les Krims for introducing me to that style of work.

 

http://danielteolijrcurrent.tumblr.com/

In 2001 I suffered a major loss to my archives as a flood in Ohio destroyed the bulk of my photographs from the 1980’s and 1990’s. My earlier work from the 1970’s was only spared because I had already moved most of it to my new residence. This loss, as great as it was, inspired me to work diligently on archiving and preserving my photography.

Samples of a few of the remaining images that survived the flood.

http://thelostyearsdt.tumblr.com/

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Here are a small selection of some of my major works with book arts. My artist’s books are placed with museums and rare book – special collection libraries worldwide. For a complete listing of my artist’s books see:

https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/artists-books-by-daniel-d-teoli-jr-2/

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Samples from – Peephole: Peering Into the World of 1970’s Hollywood and L.A – 2013

Samples from – Portfolio: Peering Into the World of 1970’s Hollywood and L.A. – 2013

http://portfolioartistsbook.tumblr.com/

Samples from – Twenty-Six Roadkills – 2013

http://twentysixroadkills.tumblr.com/

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Samples from – Encyclopedia of Photographic and Fine Art Ink Jet Printing Media 2014

 

http://encyclopediainkjetmedia.tumblr.com/

The 12 volume Encyclopedia is currently the world largest contemporary set of hand-printed  artist’s books ever made. More importantly, it is a very important and unique reference collection for archival research and those interested in ink jet printing.

Sets of the Encyclopedia have been placed with:

 Rijksmuseum Research Library, Netherlands

Center for Creative Photography Research Library

Rare Books and Manuscripts Library at Ohio State University

Amon Carter Museum Conservation Lab

Image Permanence Institute at Rochester Institute of Technology

Metropolitan Museum of Art Conservation Lab.

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Samples from – Bikers’ Mardi Gras – 2015

http://bikermardigras.tumblr.com/

Samples from – De Wallen: Amsterdam’s Red Light District – 2015

 

http://dewallenrld.tumblr.com/

Samples from – Gender Benders from the 1970’s

https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2015/05/16/genders-benders-from-the-1970s/

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Currently I am working on a number of projects that will result in limited edition artist’s books when complete. Here is a partial listing of projects underway:

Piercing Darkness 

The Americans…60 years after Frank 

Girls of the Beat Generation

Whoop-Whoop

180: The circular fisheye at large!

A Day in the Life of a Drag Queen

Moo!

Gay Bar

Presenting Photography to Curators and Museums

Charmed

Magnifying Lens Photography

Yum!

Thirty-six views of Bison

With Due Respect Beloved One

Women are Beautiful…Beyond Snapshot Aesthetics

Secrets of Candid Photography

All you Need is Love

Pigskin Chronicles

For a complete project listing see:

https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/artists-books-by-daniel-d-teoli-jr-2/

Samples from – Piercing Darkness

Synopsis: Piercing Darkness consists of infrared flash photography taken in the dark. My book takes over where Weegee’s and Yoshiyuki’s work left off with candid infrared flash .

 

 

 

 

 

Samples from – Whoop-Whoop!

   

http://whoopwhoopartistsbook.tumblr.com/

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Samples from – 180: The circular fisheye at large!

      

A few of my favorite photographers…

Lisette Model, Robert Frank, Mary Ellen Mark, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Michel Chelbin, Les Krims, Maggie Steber, Don McCullin, Salgado, Irving Penn, Diane Arbus, Gail Halaban,  Cristina Garcia Rodero, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Bruce Davidson, Robert Doisineau, Jane Evelyn Atwood, W. Eugene Smith, Martin Munkasci, Larry Fink, O. Rufus Lovett, Weegee, Robert Capa, Judy Dater, Ray Metzger, Erich Salomon, Harry K. Shigeta, Emmet Gowin, Jill Freeman, James Nanchez, Helen Levitte, Shelby Lee Adams, Brassai, O.Winston Link and William Mortensen.

Artist’s statement:

If I had to sum up my interest in photography…it must stem from a liking to being able to ‘freeze time.’ Henri Cartier-Bresson described how many a street photographer feels when at large…”I prowled the streets all day, feeling very sprung-up and ready to pounce, determined to ‘trap’ life – to preserve life in the act of living.“

Combine that with a dose of Elliott Erwitt…”I just take pictures and hope something comes out of it.” Erwitt’s quote reminds me that luck is a big factor in getting that iconic shot and to try and keep a big ego in check.

Photography trains practitioners to concentrate their vision and see things the average person may overlook. Before I was a photographer, I would seldom look at the small details or focus on a subject for any length of time.

Now I notice the beauty of a weathered wall. I see potential for a photo in a dusty window screen. In short, photographers are always looking. We look at everything, visualizing light, composition, shapes, color and patterns.

There is something that transforms the snapshot into a photograph. A spark of alchemy the photographer uses that turns the ordinary photo into something that is worthy of a second look. That elusive transformation is what I have set out to capture in my photography.

Public Collections:

I have photograph(s) and/ or limited edition hand-printed artist’s books at the following institutions:

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California

Rhode Island School of Design – Fleet Library Special Collections, Rhode Island

Oxford Bodleian Library – Special Collections U.K.

Toronto University – Thomas Fischer Rare Book Library, Canada

British Library – Special Collections, U.K.

Rutgers University – Special Collections Library, New Jersey

Columbia University – Avery Fine Arts Library Special Collections, New York

Art Center College of Design – Fogg Library Special Collections, California

Brown University – Special Collections Art Library, Rhode Island

University of California Berkeley – Special Collections Art Library, California

Mennello Museum of Art, Florida

The Art Museum at The University of Kentucky, Kentucky (a)

Mead Art Museum – Amherst College, Massachusetts

Victoria and Albert Museum – National Art Library Special Collections, U.K.

NYU – Fales Library Special Collections, New York

Amherst College – Special Collections Library, Massachusetts

Stanford University – Special Collections Art & Architecture Library, California

Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, China

Allen Memorial Museum – Oberlin College, Ohio

University of Exeter – Bill Douglas Centre, U.K.

Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center – Vassar College, New York

Flint Institute of Art, Michigan

Noyes Museum of Art – Stockton College, New Jersey

RISD Museum, Rhode Island

California State Library Sacramento – Special Collections, California

International Center of Photography – Special Collections Library, New York

Fashion Institute of Technology – Marcus Library Special Collections, New York

Wright State University – Special Collections Dept of Art and History, Ohio

American Motorcycle Museum – Pinkerton, Ohio

National University of Singapore Art Museum, Singapore

Colby Museum of Art – Colby College, Maine

The Kinsey Institute, Indiana

University of Southern California – One Archives, California

Bibliotheque Kandinsky Special Collections – Centre Pompidou, France

Tweed Museum of Art – University of Minnesota, Minnesota

San Antonio Museum of Art, Texas

Spencer Museum of Art – University of Kansas, Kansas

Yale University – Haas Art Library Special Collections, Connecticut

UCLA – Charles E. Young Research Library Special Collections, California

UCONN – Thomas J. Dodd Research Center Special Collections, Connecticut

Brooklyn Museum Library – Special Collections, New York

Muscarelle Museum of Art – College of William and Mary, Virginia

The National Library of Sweden – Special Collections, Sweden

Museum of Fine Art Houston – Hirsch Library Special Collections, Texas

The University of Chicago – Special Collections Library, Illinois

The University of California Santa Barbara – Special Collections, California

Smithsonian American Art Museum Library – Special Collections, Washington D.C.

Corcoran Gallery College of Art – Special Collections, Washington D.C.

The University of the Arts – Special Collections Library, Pennsylvania

Reed College Library – Special Collections, Oregon

The Art Institute of Chicago School of Art – Flaxman Special Collections, Illinois

Ringling College of Art And Design – Special Collections Library, Florida

The Newberry – Special Collections, Illinois

New School Archives & Special Collections, New York

Cranbrook Academy of Art – Special Collections Library, Michigan

San Francisco Public Library – Special Collections, California

Maryland Institute College of Art – Decker Special Collections, Maryland

National Library of South Africa – Special Collections, Pretoria, South Africa

Bard College – Stevenson Library Special Collections, New York

University of Pennsylvania – Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Pennsylvania

University California Santa Cruz – McHenry Library Special Collections, California

SCAD Savannah – Special Collections, Georgia

The National Vietnam War Museum, Texas (a)

Mills College Library – Special Collections, California

Colby Library – Special Collections, Maine

University of Nevada Reno – Special Collections, Nevada

Northwestern University – McCormick Special Collections, Illinois

Boston Public Library – Special Collections, Massachusetts

University of Iowa – Martin Rare Book Special Collections, Iowa

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DePaul – Richardson Special Collections, Illinois

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Deutsche Nationalbibliothek / German National Library Special Collections, Germany

Harwood Museum of Art – University of New Mexico, New Mexico

University of London – Special Collections Senate Library, U.K.

National Library of Scotland – Special Collections, Scotland

Center for Creative Photography – Special Collections, Arizona

Bibliothèque Nationale de Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Jaffe Center for Book Arts, Florida

Southern Oregon University Hannon Library Special Collections, Oregon

The College of William & Mary Earl Gregg Swem Library, Virginia

Middlebury – Special Collections Library, Vermont

University of South Carolina – Irvin Rare Books aSpecial Collections, South Carolina

University of Colorado Boulder – Special Collections Library, Colorado

NCSU Libraries – Special Collections, North Carolina

University Michigan – Joseph A. Labadie Collection Special Collections Library, Michigan

University of Victoria – McPherson Library Special Collections, Victoria, B.C. Canada

Arizona State University – Special Collections Library, Arizona

Bryn Mawr College – Special Collections Library, Pennsylvania

USC – Doheny Memorial Library Special Collections, California

University of Rochester – Rush Rhees Library Special Collections, New York

Wake Forest University – ZSR Special Collections, North Carolina

Reading Public Museum, Pennsylvania

College of the Holy Cross , Massachusetts (b)

University of Illinois at Chicago Daley Special Collections, Illinois

Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minnesota

George Washington University – Gelman Special Collections, Washington D.C.

Boston College – Burns Library Special Collections, Massachusetts

Auburn University – Draughon Library Special Collections, Alabama

Openbare Bibliotheek Special Collections, Amsterdam, Netherlands

University of Illinois at Chicago – Daley Library Special Collections, Illinois

State Library of Victoria Special Collections, Melbourne, Australia

Ohio State University – Rare Books & Manuscripts Library, Ohio

National Archives Netherlands, De Haag, Netherlands

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Rijksmuseum – Research Library, Netherlands

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Tate Museum Research Library Special Collections, London, England

Cornell University Library Rare Books, Manuscripts and Archives, New York

University of Pittsburgh Art Gallery, Pennsylvania

James Madison University Special Collections, Virginia

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Library of Congress Special Collections, Washington, D.C

Image Permanence Institute Rochester Institute of Technology, New York

University of Pittsburgh Medical School Special Collections, Pennsylvania

Metropolitan Museum of Art Conservation Lab, New York

(a) Delivered – Pending Board Approval

(b) Digital Collection

I certify this biography is accurate as April 18, 2017

Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

Contact: shiroplum1@gmail.com

41817-130

 

The best photo strikes the eye as the right chord strikes the ear.

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180 the circular fisheye at large, 1970's los angeles, 26 Roadkills, artists' book, available light photography, babs lemay, balanced composition, barbara lemay, breaking the rules, breaking the rules of composition, broken pattern coposition, busey, camera fondler, cartier-bresson, centered composition, chiaroscuro, circular, circular composition, circular fisheye, circular photography, collage, composition, converging lines, crooked, cutting off the feet, d.teoli, Dan Teoli, decisive moment, diagonal leading line, documentary photography, emily hahn, extreme processing, fisheye, framed composition, grenge HDR, hakenkreuz in a dress, hdr, Hollywood, homage to diane arbus, homosexual, infrared, infrared flash, infrared flash photo, Just shooting extreme photos does not make them an iconic or great pix, juxtaposed composition, layered composition, leaving space composition, los angeles, low angle, marc riboud, mike busey, mike busey show, motion blur, negative reversal, off center rule of thirds, off symmetry composition, overhead shot, piercing darkness, riboud, rule of thirds, Rules are made to be broken...shoot your pix from the heart and not from some rule book, rules were made to be broken, sausage palace, selective color, sign, signage, simplified composition, single image hdr, social documentary photography, storytelling, street photography, street portrait, suppressd background, Teoli, That is what one camera fondler on the photo forums wanted to do, The best photo strikes the eye as the right chord strikes the ear., transgender, transvestite, triangular composition, Twenty-Six Roadkills, upside down photo, whimsical, wide angle, wide angle distortion

Article Dedication

in honor of

Emily Hahn & John Stezaker

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“The best photo strikes the eye as the right chord strikes the ear.”

Marc Riboud

Can’t decide on which one of your machinegun shots is best? Do you shoot your street photography on video and then pick from one of the 72,000 frames? (That is what one camera fondler on the photo forums wanted to do.)

https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2015/08/07/the-camera-fondlers-delight-pimping-their-cam/

Composition can make or break a photograph. Composition will help you separate the keepers from the trash.

A still photo is not like a movie. The still photo must capture the attention of the viewer as well as say something that is remarkable and worthy of study in one frame. Why would any photog not want to create strong work?

We have tools as photographers that we can use to call attention to our image.  We all use some of these tools to one degree or another….high or low contrast, HDR, grain, color whether muted, bold or selective, BW, sharpness, diffusion, composition, bokeh, lighting, subject matter, etc.

But, just shooting extreme photos does not make them an iconic or great pix. There are certain rules that help a photo have a flow and poetic symmetry. Although, rules are made to be broken…shoot your pix from the heart and not from some rule book.

Here are some of my ‘extreme photos’ and some of the composition rules I used or rules I broke, in making them.

A textbook example of diagonal leading line composition.

A textbook example of triangular composition.

A textbook example of motion blur in relation to camera distance.

An example of circular composition.

An example of centered composition.

An example of mountain peak composition.

An example of broken pattern composition.

An example of juxtaposed composition.

An example of balanced composition.

An example of framed composition.

An example of a whimsical compositio