Images
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Grave: Out Now!
My first book—Grave—is officially out from Bloomsbury’s Object Lessons series! It’s a concise exploration of the past, present, and future of how Americans care for the dead and is told from my perspective as a cemetery tour guide. It was a journey to write and I’m proud to have it out in the world. Pick…
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Cover Story for Raw Vision Magazine
My first cover story for Raw Vision magazine is on Grant Wallace who based his mysterious illustrations on messages from spirits and extraterrestrials. The full story is available in print and an excerpt is online: When he died in 1954 at the age of 87, The New York Times wrote in Grant Wallace’s obituary that…
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A Year of NYC Microseasons!
The NYC Microseasons project I’ve been doing with my friend Erin Chapman reached a full year of seasons on Winter Solstice 2022. Visit our site for all of our weekly missives and sign up for the newsletter: Each week was an opportunity to pay close attention to the small changes in both the natural and…
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Black Studio Photographers Exhibit for Fine Books
For the winter 2023 issue of Fine Books Magazine, I wrote about the ‘Called to the Camera’ exhibition on Black studio photographers that was on view at the New Orleans Museum of Art: These photographers were often working across commercial assignments, advertising, photojournalism, and the fine arts; still their studio practice was pivotal in giving…
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Tales of Discovery for JSTOR Daily
I contributed two stories timed with discoveries to JSTOR Daily, one on the discovery of King Tut’s tomb and another on the deciphering of the Rosetta Stone: With all this attention paid to the Rosetta Stone, its meaning beyond an object used by European scholars to unlock an ancient script is frequently overlooked. The moment…
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Cemetery Language of Flowers Zine
My latest spooky zine is The Cemetery Language of Flowers, a compact guide to the symbolism of flora found in graveyards. It includes 28 pages of original text and photographs, ranging from the meaning behind broken roses to the complex symbolism of the passionflower. Pick up at copy here.
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Grave for Object Lessons!
I wrote a book! Grave for the Object Lessons series of compact publications is now available to pre-order from Bloomsbury. I’m excited to share my short exploration of the American grave as a design object: “The grave may be a final destination, but it is not the great leveler, and permanency is always a privilege.”…
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Art as a Meditation on Death, for Art & Object
Artist Andrew Wyeth’s “Funeral Group” drawings are having their debut presentation at the Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine. I wrote about the haunting work for Art & Object: Wyeth remains an artist many consider on the fringes of twentieth-century American art who was a contrarian to the shifts in modern visual expression.…
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Stories on Landscapes & Unburnable Books for Fine Books Magazine
For the Autumn 2022 issue of Fine Books Magazine I have two stories in print! One is on the landscape photography of Robert Adams that is currently on view at the National Gallery of Art: For five decades Robert Adams has captured with a quiet clarity the landscapes of the American West. He has given…
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Reviews for Raw Vision Magazine
I have been doing fairly regular reviews for Raw Vision Magazine of “self-taught” and folk art in their print issues. The Summer 2022 issue includes three reviews I wrote: Dan Miller and Domenico Zindato at Andrew Edlin Gallery, Black Dolls at the New-York Historical Society, and Frédéric Bruly Bouabré at the Museum of Modern Art.…
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Photographs by Gordon Parks of WWII Industry, for Art & Object
I’m always interested in lesser known aspects of famous artist’s work, and I had the opportunity to write about the World War II-era photographs Gordon Parks took in Pittsburgh at the Penola, Inc. grease plant. Read all about it at Art & Object: In American industrial hubs during World War II, what’s known as the…
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Sharing Tombstone Recipes Insights in the New York Times
As much as I enjoy writing, it’s also fun to be an interviewee for topics I’m passionate about! The New York Times asked me about tombstone recipes and gave a very kind shout out to the Cooking With the Dead zine that I co-wrote all about the people who choose recipes as their epitaphs: Allison…
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On New York’s Most Famous Unknown Artist, for Fine Books
In the final years of Ray Johnson’s life, the artist famed for his collages and mail art made a shift to photography. It remained an obscure part of his practice until this year, and I wrote about it for the Summer 2022 issue of Fine Books Magazine: Nearly three decades since his death, these photographs…
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Transit of the Dead Talk
I joined the May 9 “Underworld Tales: A Transit Museum and Morbid Anatomy Variety Show” presented by the New York Transit Museum and Morbid Anatomy for their virtual evening of history. I discussed the “transit of the dead” and how NYC cemeteries impacted the transportation in the city. You can watch it all online!
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The Art Newspaper: A Meditation on an Island of Lost Souls
In my first story for the Art Newspaper, I interviewed artist Coco Fusco about her work in the 2022 Whitney Biennial. Her video piece meditates on the dead from the COVID-19 pandemic who were interred on Hart Island, New York City’s potter’s field: It gives the viewer the sensation of floating above the earth, where…
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Fine Books Magazine: André Kertész
For my photography column in the spring 2022 issue of Fine Books Magazine, I wrote about the early work of Hungarian-born photographer André Kertész. Before becoming an influential photojournalist, he used postcard prints to capture the bohemian life of Paris. Selections of these works are on view at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta…
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NYC Microseasons Project
On Winter Solstice 2021, NYC Microseasons was launched, an ongoing project I started with my friend Erin Chapman. Each week we are sending a newsletter marking the small shifts in the seasons across the five boroughs, reflecting on how both natural and unnatural forces are at work in New York City. The first season—The Solstice…
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The Photographer Who Chronicled the Monumental and Ephemeral Land Art Movement
For the Winter 2022 issue of Fine Books magazine, I explored the legacy of photographer Gianfranco Gorgoni who captured many of the most significant Land Art works in the United States. The story is timed with a retrospective of his work at the Nevada Museum of Art: 50 years after Smithson completed the Spiral Jetty,…
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In Tombstones and Sculptures William Edmondson Allowed His Black Community to Be Seen
For Art & Object, I wrote about the sculptor William Edmondson who used discarded limestone in 1930s Nashville to create tombstones for the final resting places of neighbors, family members, and friends. His practice evolved into a major sculpture career including a solo show at MoMA. The story is timed with his first major museum…
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Hulda, the Witch of Sleepy Hollow
For the Hudson Valley – Times Union, I explored the legend of Hulda, a witch said to live near Sleepy Hollow who is referenced in Washington Irving’s famous 1819 tale. I interviewed people who are keeping Hulda’s memory alive, including the recent marking of what’s believed to be her final resting place: “I see Hulda…