Open to Serendipity

America, My Way copyright 2012 Matej Sitar

Perhaps without seeming too glib, but being open to chance and serendipity may as easy as keeping an open mind. I wish it were that easy.

This past weekend, there was a convergence of serendipity that it was even hard for me to miss. As I wrote yesterday, I have been working on one of projects that examine memory and its preservation, while this particular project seemed to expanding on how memory may be linked to dreams. Just as I was to depart for PhotoLA for the day, Matej Sitar’s America, My Way arrived. The quick essence is that Sitar is investigating a journey, but with three possibilities in three books that can also be mashed up to create additional narratives. Very cool and I immediately knew that this publication would require more time.

Then arriving at PhotoLA, I spend time with John Jenkins, publisher of Decode Books and one of his new books was an investigation that was in three phases, similar to chapters without the obvious markings and text that asserted this. Although this book was interesting and presented me with another option, it also gave me pause to think more about Sitar’s book as a more elegant and conceptual solution.

Right after my discussion with Jenkins, I ran into Chris Pritcher at his Nazraeli Press booth who was pretty excited about his new book series: 6×6. Essentially six boxes of books with 6 books per box, each box of books encased in a slip cover, each book by a different photographer.

hmmmm. So here I was with two, if not three, different ways I was investigating memory based on my time in China. It was becoming obvious to me that rather than one book with a really odd mash-up, breaking my concept into two or three books similar to Sitar’s was a plausible solution. So I am now re-editing this body of work to how this might look. And so far, so good. nice.

Cheers