I'd like to share some things with you.

[austin granger]

Everyone,

Greetings. I realize it has been a long time since I last posted, but if you will forgive me my neglect, I'd very much like to share some things with you on my new website.
There are many large format images (4x5, 8x10, b & w and color) there, as well as some musings on photography and tales of my (mis)adventures practicing it (attacked by elephant seal, attacked by birds, stuck in the mud in the dark in my kayak, etc).
If nothing else, I think my um... 'business model' could serve as fine kindling for a crackling debate on how to, or how not to, promote your work and/or try and make a living doing what you love-whew!
In any case, I cordially invite you to come over and take a look around, and if it moves you, please, pass it along.
Thank you my brethren, and best of luck with your own endeavors.

Sincerely,
Austin Granger
www.austingranger.com

[Merg Ross]

Bravo!

[ROL]

Nice Site - great work. It closely parallels my own site's philosophy - supporting work with stories and other relevant information - though expressed differently. I did find navigating the portfolios a bit confusing. I was also unclear about what exactly you are offering commercially - books, prints? But really, a wonderful presentation otherwise.

[Chris Strobel]

Awesome work Austin.Thanks for sharing!

[Vaughn]

Yes, bravo! The Point Reyes work is wonderful.

There is no business model -- business models, yes. Whatever it takes to keep producing work. The donation thing is a bit curious, but if I had a ton of money and did not care about tax-write offs, I'd donate just on the strength of the images -- though I would probably just buy prints rather than donate (then donate the prints to a registered charity and get the tax write off).

[Scott Walker]

Well done site. Very nice images as well.

[Jan Pedersen]

Very nice website and images. Well done.

[ross]

Wow! Beautiful! The coast of Washinton and Oregon, I think, has a "mood" like no other place in the country. Great job of capturing it.

[Jay DeFehr]

Beautiful work, Austin. Thanks for the link.

[Brian Ellis]

Astoria, Oregon?

Beautiful work, thanks for posting it

[hmf]

Nice work, Austin. I especially enjoyed the Point Reyes portfolio. It's one of my favorite places, but not easy to get to from my home in Maryland :-(

[willrea]

Nice work, Austin. I especially enjoyed the Point Reyes portfolio. It's one of my favorite places, but not easy to get to from my home in Maryland :-(

I'm in the same boat. I used to live in the Bay Area and used to go to Point Reyes and Muir Beach area often.

[vinny]

bad ass. really nice work.

[Richard K.]

If those were books, I would instantly buy one of each. Very beautiful and inspiring work, thank you!

[al olson]

Great eye!

Beautiful images.

I like your compositions on even the most mundane subjects.

Thank you for sharing.

[Ron Marshall]

Lovely work!

[David Hedley]

Congratulations. I like the matching of the images in the Point Reyes collection.

[Drew Wiley]

That's really an elegant way of presenting your images, which are pleasant in their
own right. Astoria is an underphotographed locale if ever there was one. Beatiful
place if a raincoat is always handy!

[David Aimone]

Very lovely work!

[Merg Ross]

Com'on, don't be bashful Austin, take a bow!

Seriously, I was thinking of you the other day and recalling the exhibit we had together in Sacramento. My thought, and question, was whether you had forsaken your talent as a photographer for other endeavors. Obviously not.

You have no idea how excited I was to see your recent post, and the accompanying "books" of stunning images. Much of the black and white work was familiar, and the additions emphasize that vision. The color was good too, but you know me, old school.

I know that the Point Reyes project was long in the making, and you should be very proud of the results. Excellent!

Well done, my friend, keep in touch.

Best to you and yours,

Merg

[dsim]

I enjoyed browsing through your website. Great job. Lovely photographs. Thanks for sharing.

[tgtaylor]

Inspiring!

Thanks for sharing Austin.

Thomas

[Greg Blank]

I like the website design, the pix are great. Like this one especially:

http://austingranger.com/astoria/chapter/4/page6

Suggested alternate titles, Blitzen guards or guns down Bambi, or perhaps "Kill the wabbit" :)

[Sascha Welter]

Really, really great images, website done well enough, but either I am not getting it or there is some information lacking: Those three entities seem to be presented in the form of books... are they actual books I could buy?

I think this would be kind of an obvious information a site visitors seeks (and a site creator wants to give). Or did I just miss that info somewhere?

[Brian Ellis]

Astoria, Oregon?

[Frank Petronio]

Obviously it is Astoria, Oregon, Brian. It's one of the most photogenic towns in America.

And that is my favorite work of Austin's, congratulations and kudos!

[Richard K.]

Really, really great images, website done well enough, but either I am not getting it or there is some information lacking: Those three entities seem to be presented in the form of books... are they actual books I could buy?

I think this would be kind of an obvious information a site visitors seeks (and a site creator wants to give). Or did I just miss that info somewhere?

I guess somebody's gotta tell you Sascha...:)

The design is intended to mimic a book. I think that it's a brilliant way of presenting. You get to see what your book would look like and you can also enlarge individual photos. Superbly well done IMO. And the photographs...WOW!

[Hugo Zhang]

Austin,

What an inspiration! I too want to hold these pictures in book form and take them down from book shelves now and then like my ohter beloved books.

Thanks for sharing!
Hugo

[austin granger]

Everyone,

I am compelled to poke my head out of my cave and thank you all for your incredibly kind words regarding my work. I feel as if I wandered away from my campsite alone into the cold night, only to return to find a group of friends sitting around a roaring fire. Yes, I'm mixing metaphors, but anyway, thank you! I can hardly tell you how much you've heartened me.

While I'm here, it strikes me that some of you might be interested to know how I got to this point, that is to say, why I've chosen to put my stuff out this way.

To try and make a long story short, I've been attempting to get the Point Reyes book published for about a year and a half now, and while I've had some "almosts," and have received some glowing rejection letters (if such a thing is possible), in the end, the book has been deemed "too risky in the current circumstances," which I've taken to mean either too expensive to produce, or else too regional, or perhaps just too odd. Of course, they are all wrong... Seriously though, I've never thought of it as "regional" at all (or at least, I've always thought that it has interest for people outside of Point Reyes) and even it it were "regional," two million visitors a year (so says the park service) is nothing to sneeze at. Yes, I'm ranting. Sorry.

In any case, after licking my wounds for awhile, I spent some time meditating on just why I made the dang thing in the first place, and what I came away with was the thought that (besides for my own needs and pleasures), I made it because I wanted to share my love for this extraordinary place with other people, and hopefully in the process make some kind of meaningful connections across the abyss.

Yes, so why not just put it out there, the whole thing, for free?
And so that is what I did.

Now, I can't claim that my motives are entirely pure. Like a person that carries around an unchecked lottery ticket in their wallet, I still hold onto the hope that eventually my little 'boat' will float into the hands of a sympathetic publisher, or else a wealthy patron (hey, it's my daydream)...

Anyhow though, even if it never becomes a book you can hold in your hand (Hugo, your comment about broke my heart-in a good way), I still feel like it would have all been worth it, that it is the right thing to do; I'll still have no regrets. Better this than sitting in a box in the dark somewhere.

And yes, of course I thought of trying to publish it myself, but honestly, I do not have the personality, nor the desire, to be out there hustling this thing for the next 10 years. I want, and I need, to move on. There are other worlds to explore!

Once more, thank you all for your kindness. And if you'll forgive me one last request, if the work really does move you, please, pass it along.

Gratefully yours,

Austin Granger

P.S. Hi Merg! I have studied your own new site more than a few times now. It is good to know you are still out there in the world doing good work.

[Hugo Zhang]

Well, it seems Michael Smith of Lodima Press liked this, along with a few other editors and owners of publishing houses. I would buy one if this ever gets published in book form. With pictures in contact prints, better yet. :)

[Richard K.]

Seriously though, I've never thought of it as "regional" at all (or at least, I've always thought that it has interest for people outside of Point Reyes)

Well I'm about as outside of Point Reyes as one can get (not just distance but also sensibility), and I assure you, your fine photographs have universal appeal!


Well, it seems Michael Smith of Lodima Press liked this, along with a few other editors and owners of publishing houses. I would buy one if this ever gets published in book form. With pictures in contact prints, better yet. :)

Please put me in line right after Hugo!

[J. E. Brown]

Mr. Granger,


I view this site daily, but do not comment often.

However, I must say that the Pony, Waiting, 33rd Street moved me emotionally. For me, I imagined my daughters at school on their first day (they are getting so close to that milestone :( ), the childhood toys lonely, and expectantly waiting for their return. And under that all, my feelings echo those of the toys.

Beautiful.

Thank you and thank you for posting your work.


Respectfully,

J.E. Brown


Post script: add mine to a list of those who long to hold these photos in book form. Bravo.

[Bob Sawin]

Austin,

Beautiful work in an artful presentation. I really like your website and appreciate the clean, simple layout that draws one into these wonderful images. Thank you for sharing.

Best regards,

Bob Sawin