Wegman World

Flo (Birth) Day!

From Flo's first shoot

Flo's first birthday was March 23. She came to us from Brian and Beth Meany in May 2011, at 8 weeks old with her sisters Stella and Mable for a photo shoot and I fell in love with her.  In spite of my better judgement I decided to keep her. Surprisingly no one objected, even thought I already had three dogs, Bobbin, Candy and their daughter Penny.

 

Flo at 3 months

Decision making was made complicated by Penny's being diagnosed with lymphoma earlier that month.  Penny's oncologist said it was a good idea, that Flo would be a nice diversion for all of us, including Penny. She was right. She and Penny became inseparable (more Flo's idea than Penny's). During Penny's last hours Flo was very sweet to her. I like to think that helped. 

 

 

Flo and Penny

    Though we are sad Flo continues to entertain us.

 

     Flo at nine months     

She is a comic beauty, an  electrified version of Batty, another funny beauty. Flo is busy, chewy, and tall.  Lucky for me she loves to work.  When she was just starting out I put her on a pedestal in the studio alongside the other dogs that were being photographed so she could experience the strobe flash. When it was her turn she performed like a pro. 

Flo at six months

An altogether matter is her rambunctious behavior at home, especially now that she is full grown.  When visitors come we have to tackle and corral her into another room or hang on to her somehow to keep her from launching herself on them. I have learned techniques on how to keep a dog from jumping up and they have worked to perfection on any of my other dogs in the past. Part of the problem is she looks so great standing tall and its hard to discourage  such elegance and joy. Some staff and family members find my lack of success in training her baffling. Am I not the dog guy?  

Bill and Flo

Flo had fun in Maine in late March. It was 80 and beginning to be muddy. I had heard about mud season but never experienced it. Then it got colder. Then it got colder. Then it got colder. Then it snowed. Snow is great. We got to ski. Flo followed us when we cross-country skied. I tried to grab onto her collar for a free ride. With Chip and Chundo you could really get a great ride...20mph, I'm guessing. With Flo it was no go.  Maybe next year.

 

Flo in the snow in Maine

--WW

March Puppies

People often ask me if the puppies I photograph are always my dogs. Usually, they are not. (My last litter was Candy's, in 2004.) A few times a year, some of my weimeraner friends will bring their litters by the studio, and I will work with their puppies.

 

In recent years I have been photographing puppies raised by Brian and Beth Meany of Syracuse and Gene and Renee LaFollette from Virginia, weimaraner people I met through the late great Jinny Alexander. To many Jinny was queen mother of weimaraners in America. The litters I have shot in the last year have been the first without Jinny's presence. She has been missed.

Last week we photographed three six-week-old little darlings, a litter born from Gene and Renee's dog Java. They were exceptionally, almost unbearably, cute. The most compelling shots were close ups using minimal or no props and complimentary background tones. To achieve this, we used an extension ring, which gave the effect of a macro lens -- we were able to get closer.

 

Adult dogs can shy from puppies. Not Flo. (Watch a video of Flo interacting with the puppies here.) My favorite is of two puppies sleeping on Flo's back, using her as furniture.

 

 

The six-week-old puppies' expressions are so different from those of eight weeks, the age one typically adopts a puppy. At this age they observe us without expectation, just openness.  Later they will exhibit a range of emotions for us to interpret as we will.

 

I love photographing puppies at various stages of their development, but especially love the 5-6 week-ers. They are strong enough to handle and are rather predictable so you can work with them around their daily cycle of sleep-eat-play-sleep. Their eyes are very, very blue at this age. Later they will (typically) turn a yellow amber color.

-- WW

From WW: One Year of Blogging.

William Wegman, One Week Memorized in One Night, 1975

I have been blogging for a year now. I am still not sure why I blog. It doesn't seem like something I should be doing. Yet I do.

I will ask my good friend On Kawara. I'll get back to you.

 

-- WW

Penny

Penny was born January 27, 2004 in the whelping box I had constructed for Fay’s litter in 1988. We placed the box under a large painting of mine in our NYC home/studio, in between the ping-pong table and the hockey goal.

One of three girls and two boys, Penny caught my eye from the moment she opened hers. And she knew it, never doubting for a second that this was to be her permanent home, even as her littermates found new homes with our close friends. 

Penny as a puppy
William Wegman, Cloud, 2004

She soon became my number one model because of her stillness, willingness and beauty.  

  Penny in Maine
William Wegman, Farm Dog, 2004 

That summer she was happy to learn that she had another residence, in Rangeley, Maine where she would explore and expand her animal instincts. In the country her weimaraner ways come keenly into play, tracking and pointing to game, as she was bred to do.

  Penny at age two
William Wegman, The Dig, 2006 

Penny is the daughter of my older dogs Candy and Bobbin. She reminds me of Batty, Fay’s daughter.  Fay, however, was harsher to Batty than Candy is to Penny. Candy doesn’t seem to need to boss her around.

  Penny at four
William Wegman, Blue Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 2008 

Like Batty, Penny is an exceptionally patient and willing model for my photos and videos.  She can be still for long periods. She often moves with economy, perhaps raising only an eyebrow, and the effect will be significant.   Batty may have been more comic in her deadpan narcoleptic style, but Penny (without any make-up at all) is no doubt the prettiest.  Both were minimalists and destined for stardom at an early age. With Batty and with Penny, less is more.

  Penny at six
William Wegman, Downward Dog, 2010 

Penny, like Batty, is into yoga.

Batty
William Wegman, Homage to Space, 1995

Penny has a need and a joy for running like her father’s father, Chip. When she joins me on bike rides in Manhattan she seems most alive, activating not just her legs but also her entire torso, almost cheetah-like. This is in stark contrast to her stillness and quiet in the studio.  I wonder what goes on in her head? It is entertaining to imagine.  

Penny at seven
William Wegman, Cloud, 2011 

In New York Penny is the clear favorite of visitors to the studio and with people I meet on the street, and will give anyone a hug whether they need it or not.  She does not however go out of her way to ingratiate herself with other dogs.

-- WW

And the answer is...

Yesterday we asked our readers and Facebook fans to guess which job WW has held. The options were: Model for Sears-Roebuck Youth catalog; Supermarket Stock Boy; Bat Boy for Springfield Giants; Night Watchman; CIA Informant.

The correct answer is...

Night Watchman!

 

William Wegman, Flashlight, 1974

From WW:

As a student at Massachusettes College of Art, Boston (from 1961- 65),  I had several after school jobs, one of the most memorable being night watchman for Longwood Towers on Chapel Street street five nights a week, 11pm-7am, during my sophomore year.    

Longwood Towers today.

My job was to walk the long corridors of three 10 story buildings. I had a device that I had to attach to the end of each hallway to prove that I have gone all the way to the end. I was to check all the closets. "Sometimes you will find dead bodies," my supervisor informed me. I never did.

 

Longwood Towers from above.

In the eight hours I would make four rounds: 12 am,  2 am, 4 am, 6 am. Each round took one hour. Between rounds I would play the one of the three grand pianos, read to a blind scientist, lift an invalid from wheelchair to bed, break into the restaurant storage area for ice cream, cold bacon and lobster, and nap.  Always during naps I would dream that I made the rounds. The supervisor would tell me otherwise. We would argue.  

School hours were 9 am - 3 pm. When the slides were shown in art history I would sleep. I always got A's in art history. I was an A student.

A few of the other jobs I have held:

-Paperboy for Springfield Republican - 1951- 1960

-Sorted gladiola bulbs - 1958 - 1961

-Screwed on bottle caps for Absorbine Jr. - 1960

-Did Leroy lettering for graphs and medical charts for Dr. Timothy Leary - 1961 - 1962

-Waiter - 1961 - 1965

-- WW

 

What's the strangest job you've held? Tell us in the comments!

From WW: New Video Work

This fall I'm working on a video piece which will be projected as part of the Urban Video Project in Syracuse, NY. It will be without sound which is a challenge to me. Almost without exception, my video pieces have been been audio driven, seen here in a clip from The Hardly Boys, and Stomach Song.

 

 

 

 

In my early videos the hazy black and white of the cathode ray emission and magnetic audio reproduction were married in blessed union. Now the image, divorced from sound, must learn to live alone.

And so I am relying heavily on the hypnotic gaze of my new dog Flo to get the viewer's attention. What more I have yet to determine. Maybe that will be enough. These questions will hopefully be answered in the time consuming process of recording and editing.

Flo during a recent shoot.

-- WW

Stay tuned over the next few weeks for clips of WW's new video work!

Blue Friday

On Monday we posted the music video that WW collobrated on, New Order's "Blue Monday". Below, he talks about what he remembers about making it:

About twenty years ago, Michael Shamberg (not the one that was involved with TVTV and later produced "Pulp Fiction", but the art world one, who was also involved with filming and producing) invited me and the fabled Robert Breer to collaborate on a video for New Order's song "Blue Monday". The rough idea was that I would shoot video of the group performing and give it to Robert to work with his animation process.  

I had just begun to work with my dog Fay who was about a year old at the time. Fay was obsessive about the tennis ball. Her eyes bulged in its presence. Some of the band members were Fay-like, I thought. (I'm not sure what I mean by that.) Nevertheless they got along well as I shot video of the group and Fay's hypnotic ball/pendulum involvement.  

I liked the song but I have no idea what our video means to it.

--WW

What do you think of the video? Tell us in the comments...

In Maine

A couple of weeks ago, I returned to New York from my summer home in Rangeley, Maine. My house is a converted vacation spot, known as York's Lodge (no relation), on a lake. The lodge which was in business from 1889-1961. 

Flo on the lake

My studio for painting is what used to be the kitchen. The studio has sky lights and the windows look out on a lake where there are loons. The sound of the water and wind rustling the birch leaves mixes with the sound of spectralism from my cd player and the loons. The light from the west is too direct to paint from in the late afternoon, so I work before and sometimes after.

Flo in the painting studio.

Currently I am working on prepared panels which fit in my car, about 44 x 46 inches or smaller. Suitcases filled with postcards and stuff make nice level platform for dogs to rest on during 10 hour drive from NYC. They are happy to look out the car rear window. This summer I found some weathered plywood which I painted on. It takes a while to get started, but once I begin it is very lovely. My four dogs like on the couch and overstuffed chairs against the wall behind me.

Bobbin, Candy and Penny

 

They don’t care what I do as long as I'm happy. Which is nice. Later in the month I often turn my attention to photo and video and will work outside (late in the season there are fewer bugs) in the woods or on the lake. I might arrange for assistants to come up and stay in some of the other cabins. The dogs work then.     

Flo working.

Find Penny...

The videos for Sesame Street and The Hardly Boys film were made in Rangeley. The lodge is the epitome of “rustic modernization in the heart of the woods”. The light is intense. We have to use special filters. This year we did a lot of video and photo work on the dock.  Jason, my assistant, worked the cameras  and I did the dogs. It was fun, but the results were not very good. I had forgotten that it is not always easy.

  

WW and Flo on the dock.

When I return to NYC in the fall there is usually a lot of photo and video editing to be done and I will try to make sense of it. I also will want to view the paintings I have brought back to assess in the common light and blank white walls of the NYC studio. 

-- WW

Flo Day

I first met Flo and her two eight week old sisters at my studio on May 18 of this year. Brian Meany of Syracuse, NY brought the litter down for a shoot. They were a very cute trio, all fetching and adorable and easy to work with.

Flo and her sisters playing in the rooftop garden.
All photos taken with Bill's phone.

Flo and her sisters playing in the rooftop garden.

Brian has brought several of his litters to the studio for me to photograph over the years. They have always been healthy, pretty puppies, all mellow and amenable.

Flo and her sisters playing in the rooftop garden.

Flo and her sisters discover the hose.

This time, Brian was especially raving about Flo (in a good way). Straight back, high tail, deep chest, angulation, something about pasterns (???) and other dog conformation terms.  I could see it too. Her sisters were nice, very nice in fact, but Flo was special.

Flo in the garden.

Like Batty, the puppy I picked from Fay's litter, she makes me smile. Like Chip, Batty's star puppy, she is calm and has "star" quality. Like Penny, my pick from Bobbin and Candy's litter, she has the attitude that my home is her home. Like Fay and all the puppies I have chosen, I could not take my eyes off her.

Now she is mine. All mine. Hahahaha.

Flo at home.

-- WW

You Asked For It...

Hedy Pardey asks:

Dear Mr.Wegman,
do you only strictly keep to weimaraners? Are you tempted by any other breeds?
Do you find the females easier to handle/photograph than the males? Is there much difference in the sexes?
What are your opinions on long tails?
thanking you for your blog.

WW answers:

Hello Hedy Pardey:  I have photographed dogs other than my own but not regularly. I have worked with all breeds, from collies to mutts to schnauzers...some were difficult, some were not. Male or female to me are no different. Some dogs are enthusiastic, others blase. Some are jumpy, others calm. It really comes down to the individual dog's personality, and how he or she feels that day. Your question gives me the idea to post a couple of the photos I have taken of other dogs. Thanks for your questions and encouraging comment. 

PS - I like the short tail on the short haired weimaraner.

All images copyright William Wegman, 2011

 -- WW

Do you have something to ask William Wegman? Leave your question in the comments!