Michael Pry's new book: HARLEY NATION

[Dan Smith]

http://www.harleynation.us

This is the address to see information on the new book, HARLEY NATION, by Michael Pry of Wisconsin. An excellent book. I received my copy today & was impressed with the layout, the images and the quality. Photographed using an 8x10 Deardorff with a 5x7 reducing back, a 375mm Ilex-Calumet Caltar lens, Ilford FP4+ film and exposed by natural lighting under a 12x12 white diffusion tent... the images are and excellent example of good work done in large format.

This might be called a "biker book" by some as they read the title. Yep, it is Harley riders & enthusiasts. No bikes & no ads, just the bikers. From all walks of life. Sitting in a chair that says anything but Harley-Davidson.

Michael went to the 100 year celebration in Milwaukee and came back with images that tell the story of a cultural phenomonon. I believe this one is worth adding to the library.

Yes, I am prejudiced as Michael is a friend. But, I wouldn't recommend the book if I didn't think it was worthwhile. I enjoy the images. I enjoy their clarity, depth and range. The printing is good and the layout flows from page to page, inviting one to get into the images at their own pace.

So, take a look and see how this one hits you. I think it is worth it.

[Blake]

dearest dan 'shooter' smith,

the harley mystique is dead. it died like a skunk on a dirt road the day dentists decided to be 'outlaw bikers.' now all the fratboys got panties on they's heads and drive choppers. well i got news fer ya, pimped-out choppers suck and hardley fergusons ain't got so much a twisty grip as it is a volume control. a bone-stock big 'busa straight from the factory goes 186 mph.

so eat my dust,

me

p.s. shit man, my single cylinder jap dirt bike makes more horses than a harley twin.

[domenico Foschi]

Are those all pictures of the same subject(except the women, of course)? I am sorry Dan , but i don't see anything exciting and fresh. I agree with tribby, i just wish i could speak english the way he does, but i am just an humble immigrant , and i don't know the nuances of his ...lingo .: - )

[jose angel]

Please, Could anybody make a good translation into spanish?

"... well i got news fer ya, pimped-out choppers suck and hardley fergusons ain't got so much a twisty grip as it is a volume control. a bone-stock big 'busa straight from the factory goes 186 mph... "

(Interesting photographs, Dan, my congratulations to Mr. Pry)

[Tim Curry]

"One man's poison is another man's high." Quido Fartori

[Chad Jarvis]

It seems to me that the moment a trend becomes more than a trend, it's passé. Fair enough...but why is it that Harley Davidson has suddenly become fodder for wit and criticism (or is that crit and witicism?) after 100 years in production? Isn't this tantamount to taking aim at Ford (my -insert rice burner name here- gets better gas mileage) or Westinghouse (who needs light bulbs or elevators or jet engines anyway?)?

I agree that seeing Jesse James' goofy grin in that ridiculous ball cap gets old and annoying FAST, but the bikes are cool. Perhaps that's the deal. Harleys are really about more than the bikes or riders or the company...it's that je ne sais quois, the total package. The label alone is power. Like Ferrrari or Dom Perignon (Moët) or Godiva, one doesn't have to think in order to play word association with any of the names. The response is purely synaptic to say "sports cars" or "Champagne" or "chocolate" or "motorcycles".

[Frank Petronio]

I'm not a bike fan but when did this forum get so obnoxious? He wasn't asking for a critique, it was merely a happy annoucement about his friend's book. To me, anyone who has worked hard enough to create a book deserves a slap on the back and a hearty congratulations. If the "art" is beneath you, don't comment - there are plenty of other online opportunities to share your great insight and wit.

[Jim Galli]

Tribby's just glad to see Dan back as am I. Have to agree that I'm also underwhelmed by the "mystique" of a bunch of R.U.B.'s / wanabees. None-the-less, something to photograph, and it appears Michael has done that superbly.

[lee\c]

"I agree that seeing Jesse James' goofy grin in that ridiculous ball cap gets old and annoying FAST, but the bikes are cool."

Sandra Bullock seems to like to the goofy grin these days. At least that is the gossip around here.

leec

[austin granger]

Um, I hate to leap on this here motorcycle tangent with such shameless self-interest, but I don't suppose anyone out there would be interested in trading their Ebony or Canham 8X10 for my 1994 Ducati Supersport 900 SS SP...? I'm completely serious. Well, it was worth a shot...

[Chad Jarvis]

Yeah, I saw him on The Tonight Show last week plugging the Kid Rock/Jesse James Road to Mexico thing on Discovery, when he alluded to it. What can I say? There's no accounting for people's taste.

[Blake]

art und artifice...

a fully-pimped, cock-purple, LED be-riddled chopper made in any custom shop these days, has about as much in common to a lovely 74" knuck as yer ford ranger has with the rutan-built V2 monkey shooter spacerod. as fer yon duker yearnings, i'll direct yer drooly mouth und wanton gaze towards the aforementioned 1300 hayabusa. it's the modern equiv to a vincent black shadow and the duker gots nothin' on it at all, 'cept fer it's gougy price. with the savings, you can pipe the 'busa, ala yoshimura... advance the timing a tick, rejet/needle and eat ducatis both left and right.

"We are motorcycle people; we walk tall and we laugh at whatever's funny. We shit on the chests of the Weird...." -HST

three wrecks last week,

tribby

[austin granger]

Yeah, but the hayabusa will never possess what the Italians call the "basso profundo" of the Ducati, nor will it ever possess that indefinable quality called "soul"...

"...the Ducati 900 is so finely engineered and balanced and torqued that you can do 90 mph in fifth through a 35-mph zone and get away with it. The bike is not just fast-it is extremely quick and responsive, and it will do amazing things...it is a little like riding the original Vincent Black Shadow...There is a fundamental difference however...the Vincent was like a bullet that went straight; the Ducati is like the magic bullet in Dallas that went sideways and hit JFK and the Governor of Texas at the same time. It was impossible. But so was my terrifying sideways leap across railroad tracks on the 900 SP. The bike did it easily with the grace of a fleeing tomcat. The landing was so easy I remember thinking, goddamnit, if I had screwed it on a little more I could have gone a lot farther..."-HST (from an essay in the book The Art of the Motorcycle).

Hmm..I think we've gotten a little off topic...

[Blake]

sweety,

that essay is called the song of the sausage creature and it was an article in Cycle before printed in yer figgity book... and i heard that same-said creature's gurgly, plaintive wail three times last week. he was nibblin' at my balls, so he was. i chose to ignore him and now i can't sleep fer a wrecked shoulder. the 900sp dipshit thompson wrote about, is now ten years old and in mototerms, decidedly old tech. mind you, i've been 165mph on two wheels... girl on back, head full of blotter, one-with-the-road type shit on a straight-line sled called the fj1200. and mind you too, i've ridden the old 850 paso... the 900sp a way back when they were frontline fighters and as balanced as any, no better, no worse, the desmo basso profundo gets you no more cubes. want balance? buy a beemer, those heads act like a highwire pole. want a seat-of-the-pants sing-song creature caller? go jap. you'll be riding instead of wrenching. besides, once those centrifugal forces start spinning 'neath yer phinxter, you got the balance of the gods on yer side.

harleys are for fools,

triblett lungre-thurd

[austin granger]

Wow. I will now humbly doff my cap to Herr triblett lungre-thurd; I am speechless. I will say however, that I have owned a strait-line sled (Kawasaki Ninja 900-think Tom Cruise in Top Gun), a beemer (75/5 with a swell "toaster" tank), a Honda Superhawk (the newer one), a Yamaha RZ350 (ring-a-ding-ding) and a bunch of Vespas to boot; the Duck has been my favorite by far. And yes, I'm giving it all up to feed my large format photography obsession. (That was my attempt to come 'round full circle...)

Ducati's are the Ebony's of motorcycling.

A Harley is a Calumet C-1.

austin granger-thurd (yes, it's true)

[Blake]

dear mister boo-bah;

lay off the ebonys and the ducatis and you might be able to afford both.

just a thought,

me

p.s. i've got 4 lf cams and two motorcycles. it's not the camera but the rider that wins in the end. psssssst, i tried being without a motorcycle fer a few years... it won't work.

[austin granger]

well, I hate to say it, but damn if you aren't right. Completely. Still though, with both cameras and motorcycles, logic often falls by the wayside... (as you undoubtedly know)

[Blake]

logic?

logic, like respect, plus six bucks will buy you a cuppa coffee at starbucks. what i'm saying is this... go big or go home.

brand-loyalty gets you bubkus, dick...

me

p.s. dick bubkus. #51 in yer programs, #1 in yer hearts.

p.p.s. seriously, sell yer beemer in the garage... that fancy ebony and buy a chevy truck and a nice kodak masterview. with the leftover cash, get a gsx. problem solved.

[austin granger]

I think I've been a bit misunderstood here. I don't have an ebony and own but one motorcycle (the duck). Geez, I hope I didn't come off as some silver spoon fed elitist dilettante. I only said that I'd sure LIKE the Ebony, you know, to replace my beat up old Toyo. And the only material thing of real value I have is the bike...Anyway, just wanted to set the record strait.

Postscript: Coincidentally, I sold the bike yesterday. Time will tell if I can survive motorcycle-less. I have failed in every other attempt.

Boy, those Ducati "sport classics" comming out soon look pretty cool...

dang; Buddha was right; the root cause of human suffering is desire...

[JIM AND WENDY]

JUST GOT OUR "AUTOGRAPHED" COPY OF THE BOOK AND HAVE TO ADMIT WE WERE MOST PLEASED! WAY MORE AND WAY BETTER THAN WE EXPECTED! THE PHOTOS TELL THE STORY THAT THE AUTHOR WANTED TO GET ACROSS WITHOUT THE USE OF MERE WORDS. AS FOR THE GUY THAT RESPONDED ABOUT HIS ONE CYLINDER JAP BIKE I HAVE TWO SUGGESTIONS. GET A LIFE AND GET OFF THE FUCKING DRUGS!

[Brian C. Miller]

JIM AND WENDY: PLEASE GET OFF THE CAPS LOCK KEY. Thank you. An all-caps message is hard to read, and reminds me of unexpected offers of riches in Lagos, none of which involve a camera.

tribby: I have ridden on the side of a barrier wall at 60mph. It was an accident in the making, and I got down off the wall and pulled out of it and made the S turn and stayed within my traffic lane. That was on a Suzuki GS450, and I think a big bike would have impacted into the barriers on the other side of the S turn.

Dan Smith: Books like this don't impress me. This reminds me of other books where a subject is taken out of context and photographed with a humongous large format camera. The first thing which comes to my mind is, "what's the point of using 5x7 or 8x10 film?" The next thing is, "what's the point of using a view camera if its only used as a box camera?"

I remember seeing another book like this, where a guy photographed oil workers. They stood in front of the camera with blank faces. What's the point of mug shot after mug shot after mug shot?

I have always suspected that a large camera was used to impress the subjects. The camera is there for psychological, not technical, purposes. Nothing else makes sense to me. The film used is a 100-speed film, which is reasonably fine-grained. Unless the exhibition images are monsters, I don't see a reason to use 5x7 in an 8x10. The images I view are in a book, and were apparently made with a book in mind. Are the images in the book 5x7? Would 100 speed film in MF or even 35mm have made a difference there? I doubt it.

The Amazon.com blurb gushes about Pry's style. What style?? Where? How much unique style is discernible from somebody sitting in a chair under diffuse light?

Honestly, I would never do anything like this. I would rather be out among the people with my Graflex, and use swing and tilt to define them from the environment.

Dan, I'm happy for your friend, Michael, and his new book. It just doesn't grab me.

[Carol Kennicott]

Just check out Michael Pry's website http://www.michaelpry.com/index.htm All ye who enter there give up your ignorance. He is a great photographer and one who I see inspires some jealousies.

[beth bricker]

Is there any way to view the pictures in this book online. My brother in law was in the book, he just passed away this last month and I was tying to view the pictures on line if i could.. the link no longer works.. Thanks

[Kirk Gittings]

Beth, no one would put a complete book online, it would hurt sales too much. The most you are going to find is a few teaser images to get you to buy the book. However used copies are as cheap as $21 online.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0975558803/ref=dp_olp_used_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=used

[Gem Singer]

Beth,

I don't know the answer to your inquiry, but this thread is six years old.