Nathan Pearce – ‘Midwest Dirt’ Special Zine Edition

Nathan Pearce’s Midwest Dirt, now in its third iteration, is something of a classic of contemporary photography zines. The first iteration (that I’m aware of) appeared on Burn  in 2012, and Akina Books designed the beautiful first print edition in 2014. Pearce’s own Same Coin Press put out a bootleg photocopied version the next year, and Josef Cheladek has it on his excellent site.

For it’s 5th anniversary, Pearce worked with Jake Reinhart to put together a new edit and Halfmoon Projects published a brand new edition, designed by Elana Schlenker. I was all set to get one, and then I saw the special editions: one with prints, one with zines, and one with prints and zines. Being the zine fiend that I am these days, I went for the zine edition, and I wasn’t disappointed.

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‘William Eggleston’

William Eggleston  is a catalog accompanying a career retrostpective/best-of at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain. It collects in one volume, all of Eggleston’s most well known pictures up to that time, from early black & whites to the brilliantly colored dye transfer color that he’s known for. Prior to this acquisition, I had Foote, Shore, Soth, Sternfeld, and the other early masters of color photography, but no Eggleston, and thanks to a 50% off coupon at Half Price Books, I was able to remedy that gross oversight.

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the Two Hollow Ones

Abu Hurairah said

 سُئِلَ النَّبِيُّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ ‏:‏ مَا أَكْثَرُ مَا يُدْخِلُ الْجَنَّةَ قَالَ ‏:‏ ‏”‏ التَّقْوَى وَحُسْنُ الْخُلُقِ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ وَسُئِلَ ‏:‏ مَا أَكْثَرُ مَا يُدْخِلُ النَّارَ قَالَ ‏:‏ ‏”‏ الأَجْوَفَانِ ‏:‏ الْفَمُ وَالْفَرْجُ ‏”‏ ‏.‏

“The Prophet (ﷺ) was asked: ‘What most admits people to Paradise?’ He said: ‘Piety  [Taqwa] and good manners.’ And he was asked: ‘What most leads people to Hell?’ He said: ‘The two hollow ones: The mouth and the private parts.’”

May Allah guide us to watch our mouths and speak only good, truthful speech with the best of character, and may He help us to remember Him and fear Him and seek His pleasure rather than our own, Ameen.

shifting focus

Hanzalah Al-Usayyidi, may Allah be pleased with him, reported

لقيني أبو بكر رضي الله عنه فقال‏:‏ كيف أنت يا حنظلة‏؟‏ قلت‏:‏ نافق حنظلة‏؟‏ قلت‏:‏ نافق حنظلة ‍‍‏(‏ قال‏:‏ سبحان الله ما تقول‏؟‏ ‏(‏ قلت‏:‏ نكون عند رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يذكرنا بالجنة والنار كأنا رأي عين، فإذا خرجنا من عند رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عافسنا الأزواج والأولاد والضيعات نسينا كثيراً‏.‏ قال أبو بكر رضي الله عنه ‏:‏ فوالله إنا لنلقى مثل هذا، فانطلقت أنا وأبو بكر حتى دخلنا على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم‏.‏ فقلت‏:‏ نافق حنظلة يا رسول الله ‏(‏ فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏:‏ ‏”‏وما ذاك‏؟‏‏”‏ قلت‏:‏ يا رسول الله نكون عندك تذكرنا بالنار والجنة كأنا رأي العين، فإذا خرجنا من عندك عافسنا الأزواج والأولاد والضيعات نسينا كثيراً‏.‏ فقال رسول الله 0‏:‏ ‏”‏والذي نفسي بيده لو تدومون على ما تكونون عندي وفي الذكر لصافحتكم الملائكة على فرشكم وفي طرقكم، ولكن يا حنظلة ساعة وساعة‏”‏ ثلاث مرات،

I met Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) he said: “How are you O Hanzalah?” I said, “Hanzalah has become a hypocrite”. He said, “Far removed is Allah from every imperfection, what are you saying?” I said, “When we are in the company of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and he reminds us of Hell-fire and Jannah, we feel as if we are seeing them with our very eyes, and when we are away from Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), we attend to our wives, our children, our business, most of these things (pertaining to life hereafter) slip out of our minds.” Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) said, “By Allah, I also experience the same thing”. So Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) and I went to Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and I said to him, “O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), Hanzalah has turned hypocrite.” Thereupon Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “What has happened to you?” I said, “O Messenger of Allah, when we are in your company, and are reminded of Hell-fire and Jannah, we feel as if we are seeing them with our own eyes, but when we go away from you and attend to our wives, children and business, much of these things go out of our minds.” Thereupon Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “By Him in Whose Hand is my life if your state of mind remains the same as it is in my presence and you are always busy in remembrance (of Allah), the angels will shake hands with you in your beds and in your roads; but Hanzalah, time should be devoted (to the worldly affairs) and time should be devoted (to prayer)”. He (the Prophet (ﷺ)) said this thrice.

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Please Support Analog Photography

With 17 days remaining in their campaign, Silberra are 17% of the way toward their goal of building a new film production facility and bringing multiple brand new film stocks to market. $115,000 is a lofty goal, but it seems reasonable, given their goals.

Yesterday, the Reflex Kickstarter started. Reflex is a modular 35mm SLR system. The body has built in flash and LED, meter, prism, etc. Backs are daylight-changable and the lens mount is available in M42 (standard), Nikon, Canon FD, Olympus OM, and Pentax PK, and also hot-swappable. This sounds like a sort of One-Camera-to-Rule-Them-All type thing. It’s really an interesting idea. At time of writing, they’re 2/3 of the way towards their goal, and it looks like they’ll reach it comfortably.

Meanwhile, that Yashica thing is… sheesh.

I don’t usually advertise, and I don’t have the reach of, say, Hamish and 35mmc, Mike at shootfilmco, or Em and Emulsive, but I encourage you to participate. I don’t have the bucks to back these at the level I’d like, but I put down some cash on both, and if you have the means, even $1 will help. We can bemoan the state of the analog photography industry, complain about Fuji and Ferrania and Impossible Polaroid Originals, but when new companies come along that are honestly trying to bring new life to an industry we love, how can we but support them at whatever level we’re able?