"Every Bend" by Gail Butensky
In Every Bend, Gail Butensky's photography from a variety of colorful venues is on display, as are intimate photos the artist shot outside of the music scene that she has documented for decades. Every Bend is a collection of photographs sequenced by Butensky to resemble a road trip with diary entries for each encampment that is presented here. A fascinating journey and a feast for the eyes.
Frenetic. Carefree. Gritty. Playful. Nervy. Arty despite of herself. And because of herself. You can experience Gail Butensky's photos in many ways: as a stage dive at a punk rock show or in the glow of ocotillo during a desert sunset. These photos take you on a ride through Big Black and Butthole Surfers concerts, to the bottom of a crater (almost), to forgotten diners and unforgotten highways. Gail is always seeing something new, something to save, a moment to laugh at, a dash of life that can only exist perfectly if it's on film. As her photos show, she's always moving, yet she's always present, capturing what's there, capturing the life that matters. She's the 'girl with the camera.' Thank God.
—Grant Faulkner, Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month
Artists hit their mark when they find their voice. Gail’s photos have unmistakable personality. Every Bend collects a sample of Gail’s documentary photographs, many from the early days and nights of “indie” rock when New York and San Francisco were thrilling and gritty, before massive gentrification and cell phones became ubiquitous. Whether in candy colors or black & white, her photos pour out the heat of live shows and warmth of nature’s spaces.
—Barbara Manning, musician
Gail Butensky is a noted photographer whose work you may recognize from the records in your collection (Big Black, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 and the band Fuck among others), the books Our Band Could Be Your Life, CBGB & OMFUG: 30 Years and Bob Mould's See a Little Light. Or perhaps you saw her work in The San Francisco Guardian, The Village Voice, or The Chicago Reader, cities she chronicled when she lived in each of those major metropolitan areas. In Every Bend, Butensky's work in each of these venues is on display, as are intimate photos the artist shot outside of the music scene that she has documented for decades. Every Bend is a collection of photographs sequenced by Butensky to resemble a road trip with diary entries for each encampment that is presented here. A fascinating journey and a feast for the eyes.
Trailer for Every Bend by Gail Butensky. Photos by Gail Butensky. Editing and music by Dennis Callaci.
"I’ve never encountered a chapbook quite like Gail Butensky’s Every Bend, which is a photographic memoir combined with journalistic descriptions of the places Butensky traveled to and the people she met as a photojournalist in the music world. I have, of course, seen any number of full-length books that take a similar approach, but the genius of this short-form collection is that she is able to narrow her discussion in the way that poets do in their chapbooks."
John Brantingham, Cultural Weekly
May 26. 2021
- Company: Bamboo Dart Press
- Release Date: May 10, 2021
- Availability: 2
-
$8.99