Godman.

Author: James

  • Six Foot Diffusion Umbrella

    Six Foot Diffusion Umbrella

    This 6′ diffusion umbrella has saved me countless times! To use it, simply have someone hold it between the sun and your subject, and you’ve instantly cut down your light by 3/4 stop while diffusing the quality of light. You can rig it to a stand as well, but to move quickly between shots, or to use it for a walking model, just have someone hold it. It can also be used to bounce light and fill the shadows of your subject, so it often ends up being placed on the ground in front of a subject. On windy days, it can be tough to hold, so be careful with it.

    I first saw one of these being used by Tom Maday when I was assisting him in Chicago years ago, and I was the one holding the umbrella. He told me to get one from Uncle Sam’s Umbrella Shop in New York. This place seems to be closed for good, but the shop is represented in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Cool! If you’re in Los Angeles and need one, they’re available at Castex Rentals. I can’t find them anywhere in New York, so it’s a good thing I own one!

    Contact me to discuss your next shoot or to learn photography.

  • Bushwick Open Studios

    Bushwick Open Studios

    Today I was featured on the Arts In Bushwick blog for Bushwick Open Studios, which I am participating in this year for two days in what I’m calling Metaphysical Delight. Come on by my studio if you’d like Friday or Saturday. Info here.

    Below are the questions I answered for them, but also check it out on their site.

    AIB: What are five hashtags that describe your work?
    JG: #abstract #transformation #decay #life #jamesgodman

    AIB: What is your artist origin story?
    JG: My art practice started with me as a teen, airbrushing t-shirts in a local mall down the street from my high school in Evanston, Illinois, where people from all walks of life would bring me photographs to reproduce by hand on various apparel. Looking back now, its quite clear that this careful study of photographic images led me to fall in love with photography and use it extensively in my work.

    AIB: What is your favorite medium right now and why do you love it?
    JG: After much experimentation and work, I’m happy with the processes I use to create my work.

    AIB: What is on the horizon for your work in the next year?
    JG: In the coming year, I will be furiously creating work and sharing it with a wider audience.

    AIB: How has being in Bushwick influenced your work?
    JG: Bushwick is an amazing place to live and work. I see and interact with vernacular architecture, surfaces, and people that work their way into my work one way or another. The surrounding sounds also contribute.

    AIB: What Bushwick artists do you admire and why?
    JG: I admire all Bushwick residents and world residents that are doing their thing, working hard, and helping others.

    AIB: Tell us your most memorable exchange during Bushwick Open Studios.
    JG: Me: Tell me more about this piece. Fellow artist whose name I’ve forgotten: Thats life itself.

    AIB: If a movie is made about your life, who would play you?
    JG: A phytoplankton.

    AIB: If you could have dinner with anyone living or dead, who would it be and why?
    JG: My Mother, because she is the best.

    AIB: What is the future New York Times headline about you?
    JG: James Godman, dead at 107 years old.

    AIB: Was there something you want to share that was not asked?
    JG: Thanks for supporting artists in our community and beyond!

  • Donald Judd Inspired Daybed

    Donald Judd Inspired Daybed

    Last summer I was shopping around for a daybed that would fit well in my Brooklyn apartment, and I couldn’t find anything I liked or that didn’t cost a small fortune, so I decided to make something myself. As a long time Donald Judd fan, I decided to use his famous design as a starting point, did a few quick calculations, and headed to the Home Depot for some 1 x 12″ Pine boards and dowels.

    I wanted the piece to be all natural, so after building it, I used pure Tung Oil thinned with D-Limonene (a liquid hydrocarbon made from orange peels) as a beautiful stain and sealer. The mattress is a twin size natural latex of 3 layers. The hidden storage area is stained with pure eastern Cedar Oil to keep out those pesky moths (it was difficult and more expensive for me to source the actual Cedar boards so I just stained the Pine with the Cedar Oil instead).

    Its a real shame I’ve never been to the Donald Judd Foundation, so I’ll definitely be making an appointment soon! Don’t hesitate to leave a comment or question. Thanks!

    Donald Judd Daybed Detail
    Donald Judd inspired daybed hinge
  • The Duracell Express

    The Duracell Express

    On Christmas Eve and the first night of Hannukah 2016, the Duracell Express saved a lot of forgetful parents from the agony of kids with useless toys. Over one ton of free batteries were delivered between noon and midnight to those that logged in and made the request, and we were there to document it. If you want to learn more, check out the article in AdWeek.

  • Pacific Quest – Transformation

    Pacific Quest – Transformation

    On some very early days in September 2016, we found ourselves on an idyllic ridge of Hawaiian land, surrounded by organic garden beds overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We created the film “Transformation” that tells a compelling and emotional story about Pacific Quest from a student perspective. Accompanying staff interviews fully explain each aspect of the program, and answer any question a parent may have.https://vimeo.com/192012017

  • Godman at Drexel University

    Godman at Drexel University

    Film, Photography, and Animation Production Expert James Godman to Speak at Drexel University

    New York, NY (PRWEB) July 27, 2016

    Photo expert and director James Godman will speak to eager students on the state of animation and film production today, how to best prepare for a career as a creative, and present some examples of recent projects. He will then field questions from students.

    The talk will take place at Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design at Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA. on July 27th, 2016. This event has been arranged by Bernard Falkoff, Associate Professor, Drexel University.

    About James Godman
    As a director, photographer, and teacher, James Godman thrives at the intersection of art, technology, and business. Known for creating unique and highly effective visuals, Godman’s extraordinary career has led to successful commercial projects for many international brands including Bank of America, Holiday Inn, McDonald’s, Pillsbury, and Sony Entertainment.

    Godman uses his masterful storytelling ability to create memorable campaigns. His thoughtful approach yields striking and emotive lifestyle imagery that captures the milestones of life, family and friends, dreams for the future, and the graceful simplicity of everyday experiences.

    Godman’s award-winning talent has earned him the loyalty of numerous clients and agencies worldwide. He believes that strong production is about removing the unknown so those magic moments on set are allowed to flourish and be perfectly captured. His experienced staff is dedicated to excellence for each and every production.

  • New York Stories

    New York Stories

    This morning I was cleaning up my digital desktop and came across this picture of my friend and fellow artist Victor Matthews which I made back in late March of 2013 as he was preparing for the Venice Biennale.

    I’m recalling the evening with a smile as I type this. We had planned to make a couple of quick photographs and then head out for a beer. Just as I’m wrapping things up, in walks Salman Rushdie, and Victor greets him with a hug and introduces me. After a pleasant discussion about art, smart phones, and a few other things, Salman proceeded to give me a synopsis of what he had just written about Victor’s work:

    The white paintings of Victor Matthews, instantly recognizable, and like no other work on the contemporary American scene, are ludic, affectionate dreams of New York, like portraits of an all-white Oz, with a white brick road (Broadway) snaking through a white metropolis that might, if you looked at it through green glasses, look almost like an emerald city. Matthews’ New York has its own intimate iconography. Yes, the city’s tall buildings and great bridges show up, watched over by a benignly radiant white sun, but a smaller, more everyday, human-scale world, made up of hydrants, bicycles, water towers, and sneakers maybe the sneakers above all else is where the heart and wit of the works is really located. (The often skanky pigeons of Manhattan are transformed, naturally, into white doves.) Orchestrating and organizing these images, so that they seem to grow in and out of one another, is Matthew’s wonderfully supple, metamorphic sense of line, a dancing, fluid entity whose movement is dictated by pure instinct, by the moment of contact between artist and canvas. Matthews trusts his line, and the decisive moments that make it stretch, curl, zag and flow. Like a jazzman making rhapsodies in white, he follows where the music leads. For this Venice show, he has broken new ground, finding a way of pushing his white city into three dimensions. These new sculptures exist in the same world as the paintings, but are somehow even more mischievous. Those upturned sneakers atop these piled-up mountain-cities make you smile, but they also celebrate the primacy of the quotidian over the lite: the victory of the city street, and of the New Yorkers who walk it. Salman Rushdie New York City Spring March 29th, 2013

    The three of us then proceeded to a nearby watering hole where we talked more about art and relationships, and shared whiskey and laughs.

    Below is a film I made about Victor and his work.

  • Joshua Cody [sic] Paperback

    Joshua Cody [sic] Paperback

    [sic] in paperback form just came out with my picture of Josh on the cover/inside cover. Go and get it!

  • Joshua Cody Pictures

    Joshua Cody Pictures

    Its always fun to photograph Josh! If you haven’t read his book yet, you should! Check it out here. We did the top picture in Joshua’s apartment, at his desk where he writes. The bottom image was made in my place in Brooklyn.

  • Everest

    Everest

    I’m a huge music fan, and the talented band Everest was in Chicago performing at various venues throughout July, and the band asked to hang out for the last few gigs (yes, sometimes I’m a lucky guy). I didn’t get to do the photo shoot I wanted, but I did snap this Polaroid while we were messing around on the field at U.S. Cellular prior to a Sox game on July 25th. I rather like it! Great guys, huge talent.

    One of my favorite songs:

    May I come in?
    My old friend
    You’re looking thin
    Do you feel alright?
    There’s somethin’
    I wanna say
    Tonight
    Let Go

    Chorus:
    Oh I know we’re gonna make it tonight
    Tomorrow will be alright
    Let Go
    Let Go
    And I know we’re gonna make it tonight
    Tomorrow will be alright
    Let Go
    Let Go

    So take a breath
    My dear friend
    Take it slow
    And let go
    And rise again
    You’re not done yet
    I know
    Let Go

    Chorus 2X

  • The Amber Inn

    The Amber Inn

    A friend of mine was recently in Chicago for a project we worked on together, and he stayed at this fine establishment. A few days after he left, I shot this Polaroid and sent it to him so he would always be reminded of the Amber Inn.

  • Flash Duration

    Flash Duration

    Back when I taught college photography classes, I would force my students to do some practical flash duration comparisons. Why? Because flash duration is a very important thing to consider when choosing the right lights to make images. If the assignment requires moving fashion models, jumping athletes, or any other action, then the best choice for capturing sharp images are units that have short flash duration. Simply put, flash duration is the amount of time that the flash is on, typically between 1/200th and 1/3,000th of a second, but these vary widely with the amount of power output and type of flash unit. So please compare the flash durations at full power when shopping for or renting strobes. Shorter flash duration is the best choice for freezing motion.

    The image above was lit with some old Elinchroms, one 250R (flash duration at 250 watt seconds = 1/6200th) and one 500r (flash duration at 500 ws = 1/4000th). Its nice and sharp!

    And another of a pizza guy throwing that dough!

  • Imacon PIII, Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard, and Ratoc FR1SX

    Imacon PIII, Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard, and Ratoc FR1SX

    For all the other creatives out there trying to hook up an old SCSI Imacon scanner to a new Mac, I hope this information is helpful. *I am not responsible if this information doesn’t work for you, or if it screws up your computer. But this worked for me.

    You will need:
    Ratoc FR1SX FireWire to Ultra SCSI Converter
    AC Adapter for FR1SX Item# FR-AC05
    High-Density 50F to Centronics 50M Adapter Item# RCL-3005
    FireWire 800 to 400 converter (the new macs don’t have FireWire 400).
    * I also needed a new power supply for my scanner, so I bought a Protek PMP60-32 from PSU which works perfectly.

    A. Downgrade the Firmware of the FR1SX to 1.23. Firmware can be downloaded from Ratoc
    1. Make sure the FR1SX is plugged into the AC adapter and the green light is on, and make sure to plug it into the computer with a FireWire cable.
    1-b. Double click “FR1 Utility” icon to launch the FR1 Utility.
    2. Click “Enable FR1 Utility” button. The system will be restarted by the utility automatically.
    3. Double click “FR1 Utility” icon again to launch the FR1 Utility.
    4. Click “select firmware data” button to browse firmware data.
    5. The firmware data named FR0123.BIN is located at “old firm” folder.
    6. Click “Start firmware update” button. Confirm “Firmware Rev” number is changed to 1.23.
    7. Click “Disable FR1 Utility” button. The system will be restarted by the utility automatically, or restart your computer.
    Please don’t forget to disable the FR1 Utility after changing the settings. If the utility is enabled, all firewire devices are not recognized by the systems temporarily.

    B. (I also had to follow these steps which I was given by Ratoc tech support)
    0. Disconnect FR1SX from scanner, Mac and AC adapter.
    1. Turn off the scanner
    2. Connect the FR1SX to the SCSI port of the scanner
    3. Turn on the power of the scanner and plug in the AC adapter to FR1SX. Check the green LED light on the FR1SX is ON.
    4. Wait for the scanner to finish initialization.
    5. Connect the firewire cable to the Mac
    6. Run the FR1 Configuration utility
    7. Click on “Enable the utility” and then exit the utility.
    8. Restart your Mac
    9. Run the Configuration utility again. This time, you should be able to edit the parameters.
    9-a. Change the parameter “Delay time between power on and SCSI bus reset” to 15 seconds.
    9-b. Change the parameter “transfer speed” to “ASYNC”.
    10. Click on “Start Configuration Changes”
    11. Disable the utility and exit.
    12. Restart your Mac.

    If you are still having problems, try this start up procedure: With fr1sx unplugged and computer off, start up scanner and wait for it to be in the ready state, plug in fr1sx power, and then start the computer.

    According to Hasselblad/Imacon tech support, the new FlexColor software versions (starting from 4.5) does not support older SCSI models, such as the FlexFrame camera backs or Flextight Precision scanners. For the FlexFrame and the Flextight, please use FlexColor 4.0.x.
    *Some information is directly from Ratoc’s website and some is compiled from tech support. Have fun scanning!

  • Joshua Cody Shoot

    Joshua Cody Shoot

    Two weeks ago, over a few wonderfully poured Guinness in the preferred TriBeCa watering hole, Joshua Cody and I started talking, and after a comfortable Midwest bred exchange that ranged from girls to tennis to Gerhard Richter, we had a friendship. A few days later I made some portraits of Joshua at my home away from home in SoHo (thanks Mark and Bonnie). The only idea I had going into the session was to project a movie on his face. Everything else was spontaneous, and therefore probably worked better. Joshua is a gifted writer and director, and in fact he just signed with William Morris Endeavor, the best literary agency in the world.

    We shot for about an hour:

  • My Grandfather’s Pictures

    My Grandfather’s Pictures

    With a certain curiosity and reverence, I started scanning my grandfather’s negatives awhile back and I’m delighted to share a few of them now. I’d always known that my father’s family struggled quite a bit while living on the South side of Chicago in the 1920’s and 30’s, but through a long overdue conversation with my father, I learned that my grandfather, Lawrence Hensil Godman, always managed to keep a job, even through the depression years.  He worked in the parts department of Ford Motor Company at 12600 S Torrence Avenue in Chicago (which surprisingly is still a Ford assembly plant) and then during the war, built aircraft engines for the B-29 in the Dodge plant at 7401 S Cicero Ave, which was the largest free span factory in the United States, and was later used by Preston Tucker to build his infamous Tucker ’48.

    My grandfather started making pictures for the same reason most people do, to document family, friends, and daily life, and thankfully the activity was passed on to my father and then me. When I look at these images I feel a strong sense of wonder and kinship for someone I never knew. A kinship not just as family, but also knowing that nearly a century ago my grandfather was making photographs as I do now: observing, chasing light, arranging people, hurried before an opportunity escapes, fiddling with the camera, and maybe even forgetting the lens cap was on for a few exposures. And at times, surely with a windswept brow and dangerously cold hands in a brutal Chicago winter. I hope you enjoy my grandfather’s pictures.

    South Side Beach, Chicago circa 1923

    Unknown subjects

    The Wrigley Building, North Michigan Ave., Chicago circa 1921

    Esther in Jackson Park, Chicago 1920

    From the train, circa 1921

    Unknown boy, 1926

    My Great Grandmother Parks, 1930

    Michigan, August 21, 1928

     

  • Modern Craft

    Modern Craft

    Modern Craft was kind enough to feature some of my work, and they asked me a few questions.

    I had the pleasure of meeting artist James Godman recently. Godman is both a photographer and a painter. His pieces are beautiful and provocative. I asked him about his work and here are some excerpts from our exchange:

    What inspires you?
    What inspires me to create is a general belief that the experience of making art is at once philosophical, scientific, and aesthetic. It fascinates me to see the kind of self-assembly that takes place when I touch a thinned acrylic to a thinned oil. My painting is informed by my photography and vice-versa. I do both because I love both and am passionate about imagery. A line of tar in the street, that was applied without aesthetic intent and only to delay inevitable decay, may be very beautiful and inspirational.

    What do you look for?
    With my photography, I try to make images that have a certain timelessness and universality. Sometimes I’m trying to enhance and share the feeling I get and the sounds I hear when I am in a particular place, rather than just capturing what is there. Of course, commercial and editorial photography projects contain certain requirements, and this can be limiting, but I always try to put as much of myself in the work as possible.

    Do you like digital photography as much as shooting film?
    I think digital is really cool and amazing, and I use it quite a bit, especially for commercial projects. But at this point in its evolution, I do find digital limiting for several reasons. I generally prefer the tonal transitions of film. Also, I have encountered many different types of technical problems with many different digital cameras, including color fringing, which consists of a pink line that occurs around subjects, especially in back lit situations.

    Also, I generally love the look of a larger piece of film including 4×5, and I believe that instant capture digital is at the moment confined to the smaller side of medium format. But I was able to get some great images in the more controlled setting of my studio. Digital is just another option to consider.

    Where can we see your work?
    Lensmodern.com is a wonderful site that is both an online gallery for print sales, and a source for licensing imagery of some really terrific photographers. Its quite unique in this regard, and the imagery is very high quality. I’m proud that the founders invited me to join.