The writing arrives when it wants to. There is nothing you can do about it. You can’t squeeze more writing out of the living than is there.
– Charles Bukowski
So you want be a writer? – Charles Bukowski — Sniffin Poetry
if it doesn’t come bursting out of you in spite of everything, don’t do it.
via So you want be a writer? – Charles Bukowski — Sniffin Poetry
Carl Sandburg — The Vale of Soul-Making
Nothing happens unless first we dream. — Carl Sandburg
“Very often we write down a sentence too early, then another too late; what we have to do is…” — Art of Quotation
“Very often we write down a sentence too early, then another too late; what we have to do is write it down at the proper time, otherwise it’s lost” Thomas Bernhard, writer, playwright, poet, novelist, book quote from “Concrete”
Markus Kircher – Book Artist (Salzburg, Austria)
By Marcus D. Niski
A love of books and a love of creating art have inspired Salzburg book artist Markus Kircher to bring together a major selection of his book art works currently on display in the glorious traditional framed window of the Raiffeisen Bank located at the corner of Alter Markt 8 and Residenzplatz in the centre of Salzburg’s Altstadt.
Drawing upon a selection of 50 hand-painted and collaged books that began as blank books found in such eclectic places as India, Thailand and the local flea markets of Salzburg – as well as many hand-bound books made by the artist himself – the collection represents a form of retrospective of 25 years of Markus’ work as a book artist.
Indeed, one of Markus’ personal favorites also on display is a Goa travel book that was created on his first half-year journey to India; a book that takes him back to his imagination and artistic reflections of his encounters and impressions of India.
Recently, Markus also completed a major book art masterwork known as THE FAT BOOK – a stunning 756 page collection of unique images hand painted over the course of 3 years into an enormous beautifully bound old leather ledger book that he came across by accident in a second hand store in Vienna.
While Markus’ inspirations for his book art images have come from far and wide, his love of New York and his own hometown of Salzburg have provided much artistic resonance in the various images he creates in his painting and collaging. Like all artists, it’s difficult to pin down the inspirations given by exact locations and vistas; it more about impressions and “new views of old known places”, as Markus explains.
As an art form, Markus continues to explore and push new boundaries in his love of book art and the types and forms of books that he makes use of to paint and collage in.
While his book art collection is currently on display in Salzburg’s Altstadt, images of THE FAT BOOK will also be published as a 100-page catalogue by Salzburg’s Artbook Verlag http://www.artbook.at/ in November 2018.
Having visited Markus’ Salzburg atelier on many occasions and viewed the progress of THE FAT BOOK to its final fruition, it is very exciting to anticipate the publication of images from THE FAT BOOK that will no doubt delight and impress lovers of book art not just in Salzburg, Austria but in many parts of the world where book art and book artists continue to pursue this most passionate form of creative endeavor.
Visit Markus’ website at: www.markuskircher.net
Interview and Story by Marcus D. Niski © 2018
Book Art Images as Created by Markus Kircher © 2018
Photography by Marcus D. Niski © 2018
“The greatest composer does not sit down to work because he is inspired, but becomes inspired because he is working.” — Art of Quotation
“The greatest composer does not sit down to work because he is inspired, but becomes inspired because he is working.” Ernest Newman, English, music critic, musicologist
Keith Goldstein: New York Street Photographer – The Interview
By Marcus D. Niski
Keith Goldstein is a New York based street photographer who photographs his subjects in various locations in and around Manhattan. His images are candid portrayals of New Yorkers as he encounters them throughout the various boroughs of a city famous for its intensity and diversity. In the interview below I asked Keith how he got started, his style of working, his favorite locations and the equipment that he uses in his work. More information about Keith can be found at: www.keithgoldstein.me
The Interview
How did you get started in doing street photography in New York City?
I got involved with photography in high school. I was always interested in art and was given a collection of photo magazines to draw from. Instead, I began reading them and became quite interested in this medium. After graduating high school, I spent two years at a small upstate college. I felt the need for more experiences and diversity in my education, my life, than what I was being exposed to there. I left the college I was attending and moved into New York City. I finished my undergraduate education at the School of Visual Arts. It was there, through instructors, friends, books, galleries, that I began to become exposed to many genres of photography.
Photographing the city just became a natural progression as I was living there and immersed in its culture. Back then what I was doing was not called “street photography”. The term, to my knowledge, wasn’t very much used then or not at all. I believe it was referred to as “urban photography”. It was sort of patterned after the term “concerned photography” as used to describe this genre outside of everything else – nature, landscape, portraiture, etc. It was also the term used to describe the work that the International Center of Photography was founded on.
What are your favorite locations for capturing street based action?
Any location that is readily accessible is my favorite! My main locations for photographing are generally around where I work, Herald Square. I work as a content reviewer for a large stock photography company, reviewing still imagery and video clips from the contributors. When given the time, I love exploring other neighborhoods, especially those of the other boroughs of Manhattan. Having a full time job, I do a lot of photographing on my lunchtime, and when going to pick up my son from school. During the weekday, I walk up through Times Square, Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea, or midtown. I try to mix up my walk everyday. You never know what you will discover. If I have to say a favorite location, it would be Chinatown and the surrounding area. Of any neighborhood in New York City, it still has the look and feel of what the city was like when I was a small boy growing up in the 1960s.
Are their particular principles of composition that you use in framing your photographs or do you rely more on spontaneously capturing the action or feel of what you are photographing at street level?
I do not adhere to any principles of composition or framing. My vision, my instincts, and my work guide me. I do not like to feel locked into visual principles, though I learned many as an art student. Rules and such are meant to be broken if one is to let their own vision, one’s visual style develop and shine through. I do notice in the work of others that they might stake out a stationary compositional element or area and photograph people as they enter those spaces. I just cannot do that. To be out on the street for me is to feel its energy, the spontaneity and the need to keep moving. Being out on the street is a physical experience for me, as well as a visual and intellectual one. Life doesn’t stand still. If a situation presents itself grab it because in an instance it will be gone.
Who would you cite as your major influences in terms of the practical and/or theoretical development of your style?
My influences are many. The books I read, artists and photographers whose work I enjoy looking at, or music – jazz, blues and world music. I am a big fan now of Robert Frank, but as a young photographer, I couldn’t really get into much of his work. William Klein profoundly influenced me when I discovered his work. I love the physical in your face attitude of his imagery, whereas Frank is somewhat more cerebral. I love the work of many Japanese photographers, especially Daido Moriyama. There are so many others, Atget, Max Pam, Koudelka, Winogrand, Freidlander … I could go on and on. As for reading and theoretical style, as well as his imagery, Nathan Lyons would be at the top of my list. The writings of Robert Smithson were an early influence when I was a graduate student as were the readings of Roland Barthes and other semiologists.
Music plays a big influence on my work. Jazz and blues mostly. It is what runs through my head when I am working. People become like notes and scales as on a sheet of music. Though when out on the street, I adhere to a kind of Zen philosophy of emptying myself of most thoughts and being open to my surroundings. It is easier to connect to people and situations on the street if I try to stay out of their way and just let things happen.
What are your preferences in terms of equipment?
I always prefer small cameras and try to be as unobtrusive as possible. Currently, my prime camera is the Ricoh GR. Small enough to carry no matter what other camera I might have with me. I also use a Fuji X100T, Leica M, or the Olympus Pen-F. Digitally these are superb cameras and give me less to think about on the technical side of things. I find them reliable, the optics superb, and allow me to customize their settings for easy control of any situations that I might encounter.
How do your subjects react to the notion of having their image captured on the streets in NYC – have you had any strange or memorable reactions?
I usually move so quickly and unobtrusively that subjects do not know they were photographed. I do not hide what I am doing, but I also do not want to intrude. There are occasions where I do ask, but as a rule, I adhere to not interfering. If someone does notice, I usually reply with a smile and say something flattering to diffuse any thoughts of unwarranted impending hostility.
Do you have a preference for working during the day or at night or do you enjoy both equally as much?
I enjoy working during the day mostly, though there are times I would like to explore subject matter at night. Having a family prevents me from this at this time. I hope in the foreseeable future that is something I can do.
What words or advice would you give to people who are interested in starting out in the discipline of street photography and do you feel it is necessary to have some formal or academic training to enter this genre at a serious level?
The only advice I could give to someone starting out in this discipline is to follow your heart. Do what you need to do and not follow trends. Your heart, head, and imagery will tell you if you are on the right path and whether that path is your own. I would recommend academic training to learn about history and what your place in the world might be. This is something I see that is lacking in a lot of contemporary work I look at. There is no connection to the past or furthering historical context to a new step towards the future.
We do not live in a vacuum. Everything we do, eat, read, affects us in some way that might not be readily apparent. When one thinks nothing has come before, even as some political leaders would have us believe, you are doomed to fall backwards. Society must advance forward for one to live fruitfully. Technology forever advances. What we do with it is important. Learn what has come before. Digest it and distill it into your own vision, your own future.
Keith Goldstein, New York City, New York, May 2018
Across the Aisle
Broadway
The Tenderloin
Broadway
Veteran’s Day, Sailors
All images © Keith Goldstein 2018
Interview: Marcus D. Niski, Naked Cities Journal, May 2018
Naked Cities Journal 
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