When reviewing Daniel Cheek's HHS! entry, panelists had to take a closer look. It was one of only a handful black and white entries, so it stood out. But the images are subtle, taking their cues from the likes of Robert Adams and before that, Timothy O'Sullivan. On the periphery of the vast American West, Cheek documents our small attempts to stake boundaries and order on the wilderness. Figures and other signs of human intervention are often miniscule, barely visible and almost trite in the face of forests, oceans and mountains.
After studying his work, it came as no surprise to learn that Cheek works at Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco and spends his days, at work and at home, surrounded by photographs from Adams, Misrach, Nixon, Evans, Frank and Friedlander. Fraenkel's recent book Edward Hopper & Company: Hopper's Influence on Photography is also an apt reference. Hopper's vision is evident in the works of many of these photographers, Cheek no exception. The first image in Where We Go on Cheek's website is of 8 straight-backed rocking chairs facing out floor-to-ceiling windows — a cross of People in the Sun and many EH interiors. It's just the intro to many nice works, see for yourself, then move on to a few words from Daniel himself, below.
From:
I like to say I'm from Detroit, but honestly my parents moved us away when I was in kindergarten, so my real claim has to be Grand Rapids, Michigan, which just isn't as tough. I was born in the same hospital as Jackie Wilson, Sam Raimi and Jack White, though. I have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past 10 years, which similarly to saying I'm from Detroit, I claim Oakland pride, but live in Alameda...
Formal and/or informal education and training:
I started photography in high school, which had a great darkroom and enthusiastic art teacher. She even got me out of phys ed to help teach the new art teacher how to develop film. I attended the Community College in Grand Rapids which luckily has a phenomenal photography program thanks to a true master, Jonathan Russell. I think we were the only students coming out of a community college all shooting large format, processing with pyro, and printing with platinum. I went on to get my BFA at the Academy of Art in San Francisco, which is more of an applied arts school, but did me well in furthering my technical prowess. After all that, I do think my biggest education in photography has come from my time at Fraenkel Gallery. There's no substitute for having casual conversations with the greatest photographers of the last 40 years.
How you pay the bills:
I handle the rights and reproductions at Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco. Weekly conversations with Robert Adams, Nick Nixon, Richard Misrach, and Lee Friedlander isn't a bad way to wile away the days.
Best advice received (as a photographer and/or human):
Richard Misrach told me I had to stop shooting with that dinky 4x5 and move to a real camera. (I am, of course, paraphrasing, Richard is much more eloquent than I.)
Top 3 Favorite Artists:
Robert Adams sets the standard for elegance, beauty, and thoughtfulness in his photography, writings and way he lives his life.
Nicholas Nixon does things with a camera that are completely unbelievable, I dream of one day being that comfortable and one with my tools.
Garry Winogrand is just plain rad. Some people can only see the funniness, or meanness, or cleverness, but many of his pictures are also very tender and thoughtful.
Photograph (or other work of art) that you can't get out of your head, ever:
Jeez, just one is practically impossible, so, here are several that I have based most of my own pictures off of... I keep these in a catalog in the back of my head and feel lucky when I can come close to making my own. I am also lucky enough to live with prints of each of these in my home.
Photographers/artists you are looking at right now:
Unfortunately, I don't get out to look at art beyond at work. As my first year as a father, time devoted to finding new art has been devoted to crawling on my belly and making a fool of myself for my son's enjoyment.
With that said, I did get Mark Ruwedel's new book, Westward the Course of Empire, which is full of pictures I wish I would have made and a project I wish I would have thought of.
Also, at the gallery we received a batch of vintage not well known Nicholas Nixon pictures which are astounding.
Reading now:
I finally got around to reading The Grapes of Wrath. My wife is from Oklahoma and her grandmother was one of the brave who did not try to move. We go to visit her farm a few times a year where she's lived since the 1930s, she's got truly amazing stories of the dust bowl.
They just don't write books like that anymore, I can honestly say I had to stop reading a few times to stop sobbing.
Top 3 photo blogs/websites:
Like everyone else in this biz, I love James Danziger's blog, although his music picks are generally terrible. He should just stick to photos...
I am a fan of the one and only Hey, Hot Shot! judge Darius Himes' blog, although he needs to start posting more.
I love reading the posts on photo.net. Now, there is a bunch of guys truly devoted to the craft of photography! I'll never have that much energy just in the technical side of it, but it's interesting to read the passionate posts on the virtues of Azo or what-have-you.
Top 3 non-photo blogs/websites:
I am an avid fan of music blogs. So much useless music trivia about totally obscure bands to waste your days. My favorites are:
It's Great Shakes
El Diablo Tun Tun — more vintage obscure country and blues than you'll ever have time for.
Uncle Gil's Rockin' Archives
I used to love Chocoreve but no posts since November, I do hope they come back.
I also check this site more times than is probably safe for my mental state: Recent Earthquakes in California and Nevada
And I have to throw a shout-out to my niece's incredible flickr site, her creativity, imagination and energy puts most of us to shame: Jessika Rosalind