An excerpt from David Vestal’s finity / 24:

“A recent issue of Science News told of attempts to restore parts of western prairies that used to be called “the Great American Dessert” to their condition as first seen by Europeans. It can’t be done: the buffalo aren’t there to graze, and alien trees and grasses have irremovably invaded. We also can’t remove another insignificant but carefully-not-mentioned invading species - ourselves: humans who came uninvited from other continents. The ghost dance religion tried to solve this problem in 1890, but the magic shirts weren’t bulletproof.”

His presence is close to invisible online (it took almost 10 minutes to find a gallery with his photographs), but David Vestal has left a deep imprint in photography circles as a venerable photographer (his work is at the MoMA, the Met, and Whitney, to name and few), critic and teacher (at the New School, SVA, and Pratt).

About once a month, our mailbox is graced with an envelope containing his thoughts, critiques and quietly-moving black and white pictures. 

finity, 10 issues for $30: David Vestal, PO Box 309, Bethlehem, CT 06751-0309

“We went to Red Hook, Brooklyn to look for a community farm built on an old asphalt field. The farm was closed so we went to the pier nearby. There was a gigantic cruise boat floating and two families fishing. On our way back we saw a beautiful dusk sky. It was the first chilly day after an unusually long summer.”

A new journal in the winter collection, we debuted this one at Design Within Reach’s ModernMart event in December and couldn’t help noticing how many people were drawn to it. The colors are richer and darker than our other cover images, but there’s a certain quiet grandeur about it that makes it one of my favorites. It’s now available in the store.

Because we keep getting e-mails asking for a few extra things to pick up in the store along with the journals: “monochrome flats,” a set of two notecards with handmade matching envelopes. Each 4″x 6″ card features original black and white photography printed in fade-proof inks on cold-pressed heavyweight Fabriano stock. Enjoy!

“We stopped by the hilly town of Ossining for a quick snack, when we saw this mural off of Main Street.  Murals are fun and beautiful, and I wonder why there aren’t more in New York City, where most walls are either covered with advertising or childish spray-paint scribbles.”

We took a few photographs of the Ossining mural, came home, and as I was looking through the pictures, I thought of making a panorama-style journal, the perfect size and shape for drawing and writing a little longer before the page ends. So here it is, my new favorite journal because it’s brought about a big change in perspective.

We’ve received quite a few e-mails asking about our photographs we use to complement my random musings. Yes, they are available as prints, so if you’d like to purchase one (or some), e-mail us@fiveandahalf.net with a link to the photo you’d like, and we’ll get back to you with the print details and pricing information.

We’ve all got something we consider priceless, that others might not see the value of. I think mine is an old pair of scissors that I borrowed from my best friend when we were twelve that I still have in my closet. The plastic handles are faded now, but the blades still cut really well. When I look at the scissors I can vividly recall those afternoons when we sat on the living room carpet cutting pieces of colorful construction paper, working on our latest craft projects.

That bout of nostalgia came to mind after reading Taking Things Seriously by Joshua Glenn and Carol Hayes. What started as a project where they enlisted family, friends and strangers to submit ”photos and essays about ordinary things instilled with extraordinary significance” (pg. 9) turned into the book: ”an old fashioned wonder cabinet: […] an assemblage of this, that and the other thing (pg. 18)”. The book is like a short story collection with lots of really nice pictures. I found myself always looking at the picture first, trying to guess what meaning lay behind say, the velveeta box or the crumpled pie tin, and then reading the adjacent essay to find the answer. When my eyes went to the photograph again, I saw something different, something meaningful. 

Taking Things Seriously is a process, an experience in looking and interpreting, reminding us to take a good look at all the ordinary things around and to realize that they are each far more just that.

We’re feeling a bit nostalgic as Shawn gathers up all his darkroom equipment and gets ready to sell it. He made the switch from manual to digital photography quite a while ago, but it’s only this past weekend that he finally decided it was time to part with all this stuff and put it in the hands of someone who has the time and access to a darkroom. In the meantime, our little Epson printer is chugging away, rolling out Shawn’s prints and my journal covers.

On the subject of photography, a bright note, the overwhelming response from New York City’s photographers and filmakers seems to have curbed the overbearing laws that would have placed limits on public fliming and photography ~ in a time when political decision-making seems so far away from us, it’s comforting see how people’s voices can be heard and affect things so directly.

We picked up the latest issue of Monocle magazine, which has some really great product features (plus some amazingly well-written and researched articles). Here are my favorites: Blanka’s limited-edition daily calendar journal, MUCU’s blank notebooks, and Bien’s leather pencil pouches.

I’ve been very quietly (and excitedly!) adding new journals and other printed matter to the store and I’ll be putting up a couple of other things in the following weeks. Thanks so much to all of you who’ve already started ordering the new designs! I’ll be making more of a ruckus about everything soon.

Now, time to stare at some plants for a poster to make next week.

We arrived home at 2am (it took ages for my little stripey suitcase to finally appear on the luggage carousel), napped for a few hours, and woke up to find that summer has arrived in Brooklyn! I’m looking forward to a weekend of sunny walks, home-cooked food from the farmers’ market, and rummaging through photographs to use for my latest projects.

Elsewhere, photography-related things I’ve been looking at: Thomas Allen’s Pulp Fiction, Flak photo, and Chris Jordan’s Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait (which makes me think of the 6-inch pile of catalogs that accumulated on our staircase while we were away).

“These old houses won’t be around in a few years. I love the old rooftop.”

Don’t be fooled by what you see in the photograph. Taipei is a city of department stores and skyscrapers. And one of them happens to be the world’s tallest building.

Elsewhere: Sketchtravel and “Match Day” (via Jason of Rag and Bone Bindery).