Creative: Blurb and the Artist Book

You know me. Where Dan goes, books follow. It’s been this way for my entire adult life, and if I want to get technical, this reality stretches back to my childhood when I used to steal my mother’s grocery list book so I could use it to write short stories, mostly plagiarized from Chuck Norris movies. Good Guys Wear Black was a favorite. Lots of throwing stars, fights to the death, and car chases that ended in throwing stars and fights to the death. If I started growing my mustache now, it would still never get to the tensile strength of the Chuck Norris hair perch, which in itself can cut diamonds. On that note, I have a new class on the books, no pun intended, this one through the world-famous Santa Fe Workshops.

My boss, an infamous trickster, told me we received free classes at the workshops because Kodak was a sponsor. I thought he was lying. He was not. So, I signed up. I was the ONLY employee to do so. The ONLY employee in the entire company to sign up. Still boggles my mind. I ventured to Santa Fe, took a workshop, and my life was promptly changed. Mind blown. The photography career shifted, tilting on its axis. Those of you with inquiring minds, the reason this was so life-changing had nothing to do with the images I made during the week. It was the conversation.

Photobooks scare people, especially those who grew up online, where sloppy edits, lack of training, and the mad rush for popularity often outshine real work, real progress, and real artifacts. This class is here to counterbalance. Four weeks, take our time, UNLEARN, earn, create. The goal is to walk away with a foundation that will keep you on balance for the rest of your creative career. And, it’s gonna be fun.