#danboardman

[inspiremehardcore]

Dan Boardman’s tribute to early special effects via Vice

[lukearmitstead-blog]

Sculptor: Luke Armitstead.

Images: Dan Boardman.

SAD Gallery, Food of the Gods.

Seattle, Autumn 2015

[lukearmitstead-blog]

Photo from #foodofthegods @sad_gallery #danboardman #lukearmitstead #seattleart

[lukearmitstead-blog]

#sadgallery #danboardman #lukearmitstead #foodofthegods Tonight 7-10 pm. 9761 3rd Ave NW. Seattle,WA. (at SAD Gallery)

[lukearmitstead-blog]

Getting mega pumped up for the nov 17 show at @jashpayline's @sad_gallery. #lukearmitstead #danboardman #sadgallery

[ritfineartphoto-blog]

Alumni Feature: Dan Boardman & Eric Ruby

I recently had the honor of interviewing two alumni who have certainly had an impact on my work and I am sure some of my peers would say the same. Dan Boardman grew up in Union Springs, NY and graduated from RIT in 2008 with his BFA in Professional Photographic Illustration. Eric Ruby hails from South Windsor, Connecticut and graduated a year later with the same degree. Both continued to pursue careers in photography which eventually led them to Massachusetts College of Art and Design for graduate school where they founded Houseboat Press with Ryan Arthurs and Dylan Nelson.

How would you describe houseboat to an uninformed viewer? What did it start as and what has it become? DB: Houseboat is a group of artists who like to edit together and make books. To the uninformed I'd say look closely, but not at print quality. It started way back in 2012. The idea was to publish some shelved projects, and we all liked working together and decided to publish the rest of our books under the same name "houseboat press". It's become something for sure. We are working with lots of artist both photo folks and other people too. Lots of great books coming out in the near future. ER: I would describe houseboat as a way for our little group of friends (Dan Boardman, Dylan Nelson, Ryan Arthurs, and myself) to have a collaborative and productive output other than what we all do personally. That's also including work that each of us have made respectively, but allowing for the group to come together to make a final product, I'd say the majority of the time with the want/need for the collaboration for the pre-existing work to make sense. It started as already putting together books and needing an umbrella to put them under, and has grown into trying to produce other people's books in a similar collaborative nature that the first books were conceived.

What was your first job after receiving your BFA? (Photo related or not)

DB: My first job was a mover in New York City. Hard work! Great work. Hey kids use your bodies while ya gott'em! ER: Part-time construction demolition, part-time inkjet printing and scanning for artists at a lab in Minneapolis. What were the first few years out of school like for you? DB: I lived in NYC, Chicago, and Minneapolis before landing in Boston. I wont sugar-coat it, it was stressful. I got through it by staying in touch with friends doing the same thing from undergrad. Some photo jobs, but the best jobs were not. I made pictures, and watered plants at Home Depot. ER: Fun? at least in terms of photographing. Maybe a more appropriate answer is carefree. I had a low cost-of-living and a fairly relaxed schedule so I really made my priority making a lot pictures. I also moved to somewhere i'd never been before with a one-way ticket and a duffle bag, I liked the romantic notion of having that fresh start out of college. That also includes not moving to NYC and being an assistant which I had no interest in.

When did you guys establish Houseboat? Can you talk a little bit about some of the ups and downs you have experienced so far? DB: Houseboat was established in Boston. Ryan and I went to grad school together and Eric and Dylan came along after us. It was just a natural thing to do. The ups!: We get to work with awesome people, show our books to strangers, argue about photography, and make things that we really care about. THE DOWNS: logistics, The post office not believing that your book is a book because it's just pictures, I'm sure there are other downs that I'm not remembering. ER: It really wasn't that long ago..I think December of 2012? Maybe even January of 2013. It was really solidified when we edited three books during a blizzard, we had something like 37" of snow that day. The most fun for me has been going to book fairs and showing some of the weird books we make and physically seeing people engage with books that we've made. A lot of the time, specifically pre-houseboat, I'd make a book and it would sit on the shelf for no one to see which is extremely depressing. I wouldn't say it's a total downside, but it's something you don't really think about when you have grandiose plans, that is time commitment. When you have lots of other things going on, it's hard to stay on task to ship books, update the website, send out email promotions, etc.

What excites you about what’s happening in photography now? Any new books or projects you suggest we look at? DB: Photography is real interesting right now. From my point of view it's expanding in all directions. More and more photographers are asking themselves about presentation and material. I think this is good. Also, it's great to see the number of artist self publishing or showing work on their own terms. I think it's important to make your own opportunities. Barbara Bosworth just came out with a wonderful new book. Also The Canaries by Thilde Jensen is pretty great. Not in the mood for that? How about Florian van Roekel's How Terry like his Coffee which I just bought and love. Oh and In The Middle an Oasis by Elizabeth Atterbury. ER: Hm, I think I am most excited about photographers being less tied to traditions, specifically the finished matted and framed art object (although it looks great in your house/apartment!) and trying to expand the visual language that photographs can adhere to. Nothing really comes to mind at this very second, but I am in grad school trying to figure out what the hell I'm doing and I'm very much in my own head. One thing that I didn't really do until after graduating from RIT that I feel is extremely valuable, is talking and interacting with artists of all different disciplines. Non-photo people obviously have a varying relationship with photography, which can provide useful feedback.

Do you have a memorable experience with any RIT photo faculty that has had a lasting impact on you and your outlook on photography DB: I remember crits with Dan Larkin. That guy pushed me pretty hard. I'm very thankful for that. Angela Kelly believed in my work from very early on and that gave me confidence that I needed. Owen Butler introduced me to photo-books. Tate Shaw (who worked at RIT at the time) heavily influenced me. He really opened me up to ideas in editing that I don't think I would have otherwise found. Patty really was amazing too. THANKS RIT ER: My final critique course spring quarter with Dan Larkin (whom we'd all had multiple courses with). It was basically my closest friends of college and Dan which made the criticism really valuable. No one had qualms or hesitations about giving honest feedback, which I thought was a great way to end photo-school. I also made pictures I was excited about in a short amount of time, which has probably made me more fond of that specific class. Do you have any advice for young photographers about to enter this complex world of contemporary fine art photography? DB: It's not that complex. Keep making pictures. Show them to your friends. Let yourself change. Be afraid of your own work. Hows that for some sage advice? ER: Try and be yourself and make your own rules about what you should be doing, and to keep things exciting for yourself rather than some possibly non-existent audience.

Boardman and Ruby currently reside in Somerville, Massachusetts which is where Houseboat Press was founded. Check out their work at: http://www.dbboardman.com/ http://ericruby.com/ http://www.houseboatpress.com/

Images in article are from Dan Boardman's The Citizen and Eric Ruby's Do Not Go Gentle.