Backpacker. Redwood National Park. California.
Today I will begin showing, for the first time, photographs from my Old Growth series. This work explores California’s redwood forests and the enigma of old growth. We treasure these primal forests, yet less than five percent remain. For the remainder of this week and periodically in the coming months I will be releasing new images.
Registered © Thomas Bachand. All Rights Reserved.
Laundromat. Tahoma, California..
This image is part of the Nevada Museum of Art’s current exhibit Tahoe: A Visual History. It is a very comprehensive show covering everything from Washoe basketry and 19th C. paintings to contemporary photography and maps. Not to be missed.
Registered © Thomas Bachand. All Rights Reserved.
Hiller burning. Oakland Firestorm. 1991.
This year marks the 24th anniversary of the Oakland Hills Firestorm. Over 3,000 homes were destroyed, including my childhood home and the entire neighborhood in which I grew up. I spent two years photographing the aftermath. A portfolio of that work, including several essays I’ve written about the event, can be found here.
Registered © Thomas Bachand. All Rights Reserved.
Mural. Stateline, Nevada.
The Nevada Museum of Art is currently showing Tahoe: A Visual History, the most comprehensive exhibit on Tahoe, ever. Curator Ann Wolf has covered it all: Washoe basketry, 19th C. paintings, sculpture, historic and contemporary photography, maps, modern art, and more. This show is not to be missed.
Coming up on October 15 is Ann Wolfe’s talk on early Tahoe photography.
Registered © Thomas Bachand. All Rights Reserved.
Blue Roof. Downieville, California.
Registered © Thomas Bachand. All Rights Reserved.
Open Carey.
Registered © Thomas Bachand. All Rights Reserved.
“Three Seconds on the Fourth of July” has been acquired by the Nevada Museum of Art for its permanent collection. The 50″ X 60″ print is slated for display in the upcoming exhibit TAHOE: A Visual History, running August 22, 2015 to January 10, 2016. The exhibit features over 400 artworks spanning over two centuries, including basketry, weavings, sculpture, paintings, and photography. The show will be of great interest to Bay Area audiences who are so closely tied to Tahoe and it’s outcomes.
The Richard Diebenkorn show is just finishing up at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Post on the wall at the exhibit entrance was a list found among the artist’s papers after his death.
Notes to myself on beginning a painting
1. Attempt what is not certain. Certainty may or may not come later. It may then be a valuable delusion
2. The pretty, initial position which falls short of completeness in not to be valued – except as a stimulus for further moves.
3. Do search. But in order to find other than what is searched for.
4. Use and respond to the initial fresh qualities but consider them absolutely expendable.
5. Don’t “discover” a subject – of any kind.
6. Somehow don’t be bored – but if you must, use it in action. Use its destructive potential.
7. Mistakes can’t be erased but they move you from your present position.
8. Keep thinking about Pollyanna.
9. Tolerate chaos.
10. Be careful only in a perverse way.
Waiter. From "Eyes on the 99" by Thomas Bachand.
New to my editorial portfolio is “Eyes on the 99“. This photography, shot in San Francisco and Oakland, examines the Occupy movement primarily through the faces of those watching the protests. Also related to this work is this set-up photography.
Toujours Magazine: Interiors. Lifestyle. Attainable Beauty.
Kudos to Toujours Magazine on their Color Issue – just in time to lift our winter greys. This one is a bit closer to my heart as it features Tahoe Blues, an 11-page spread of my Tahoe writing and photography (pages 84 – 95). Check it out. Insightful. Interesting. Inspiring.