November’s 4th Friday Alumni post is from ruminative friend Aaron Canipe, from the MFA|EDA class of 2015. Take it away, AC:
It could be the holiday season now upon us, the clear sun that falls through the treetops, or the lack of sleep from a rambunctious and curious baby, but this six-pack centers around tenderness and light.
1. Lily
Going on 1 year old, she is mine and Meredith’s entire day and night. I have been so fortunate to work at home with these two co-workers since March. Reading to her (over, and over, and over and over) is my new favorite thing. My friend and colleague Sara Winston have been sharing our experiences with our newfound parenthood via a photographic conversation on A New Nothing.
2. Rinko Kawauchi’s “as it is”
By picturing children, it’s easy to fall into photographic traps and cliché. I’ve long been a fan of Kawauchi’s work and her recent book, “as it is” hits different. With whispers through color, light, and distance, I feel more a part of her world than ever before.
3. Observers book series
I do not have room for much else in my brain these days. So it’s a good thing this series of books are pocket-sized. I found these at a charity shop in Southern England while on a family vacation a few years ago and I can’t seem to get them out of my head. Ranging from modern art to fungi, these pocket-sized glossaries of specific topics were popular with kids and adults alike in the U.K. Their uniformity in design, execution, and charming illustrations make it a unique sort of book form that easily carries across multiple interests. Most of all, I like the fact that one could tote these around, roughen them up, and explore the universe in the particular.
4. “Good Night”
Our days center around nap time(s) and bed times for the most part. Part of that process for me has been unearthing lullabies in the corners of my memory and relearning them to help calm my daughter down. This lush, sentimental, and almost saccharine Beatles track is a go-to one for me to sing. It’s nothing like anything else from their career.
5. Glass & thoughtful play
“Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass, / Stains the white radiance of Eternity” — Percy Shelley. I’m fortunate also enough to keep my job as a designer at Reynolda House Museum of American Art here in Winston-Salem. For obvious reasons, our spring 2020 exhibition “Tiffany Glass” was postponed until the fall and now closes this weekend. I worked on this piece of exhibition collateral as part of our marketing effort at the end of 2019, went on parental leave, then polished these design elements as the year dragged on. I’m slowly expanding my purview of skills while doing stuff that I genuinely like like motion graphics, type layout, and illustration.
6. Frank
2020 has been a shit year for so many reasons, but one that sticks with me is the passing of my teacher and mentor Frank DiPerna .Throughout my undergraduate career, Frank was a major influence and guide. I like to think that he made me the photographer I am/try to be like today. He had a keen way of laser-focusing on your ideas and projects without you ever having to say much. He could read pictures like no other: philosophically and technically. He taught me how to print digitally and helped me bring rigor and standards to digital printing. Not only that, Frank’s own pictures, stories, and demeanor made his classes a joy and a real learning experience. One of the many sage pieces of advice he gave us, in relation to photography was to ask the question: “What do your eyes tell you?”
Thanks Aaron.
Great to hear from you.
Happy holidays everyone.
