"We need to take a chance with each other."

Gary Ivanek:
 
An unlimited
attention and devotion
for the emotional content
of the visual world
 
GaryIvanek.jpg 

Gary Ivanek
Photo by Sharon Ivanek

By Michael Chacko Daniels

Editor & Publisher
New River Free Press International
“I have taken 800 photos of Neil [Marcus]— we’ve done it for four or five years, and may continue doing it,” Gary Ivanek says in a quiet, upper floor corner of Café Med, which is located on Berkeley’s world famous Telegraph Ave.

I am interviewing him a few doors away from the city’s greatest contribution to human development — the Center for Independent Living where I first met Neil about a quarter century earlier.

Eight hundred photos! Four or five years!

I’m impressed, just as I was when I first saw Gary’s photo of Neil out of his wheelchair, lying on the asphalt with his arm raised against a backdrop of words that caught in that transient moment an important element of Neil’s continuing reflections on the world as it is and as it should be, his playful nature, and the creativity of his
performance art.


Gary’s passion for shooting with a camera and his achievement can best be understood in the light of his statement, “I shoot not to get published but because I enjoy it.”

Gary Ivanek on his photo of
0118%20-%20marcus%20a%20jpg%20project.jpg
Neil Marcus on the Asphalt:

“Neil and I were moving off the UC Campus, heading home, when I noticed the inscription in chalk, on the asphalt. Students wrote the statement. The salient part ‘underrepresented now’ I wanted in the foreground with Neil and his chair positioned nearby. Neil decided to lie prone with arm extended and fists clenched. The original content of the message I do not know. Underrepresented is a metaphor for ‘not understood,’ a part of everyday for Neil Marcus.”
[See: “Fly and Soar with Neil Marcus, Banishing Fear & Dread of People with Disabilities" @ http://indiawritingstation.com/neil-marcus-soars/]
 

A Selection of Gary Ivanek's Photos


104762-820720-thumbnail.jpg
Street performer
- New York City -

GaryGround%20Zero%20exactly%201DD9D3.jpg
Ground Zero, exactly one year after
- New York City -

Gary%20man%20playing%20harp%20Que1DD9D7.jpg
Man playing harp
- Quebec City, Canada -
Gary%20peace%20symbol%20on%20a%20hi1DD9CF.jpg
Peace symbol on hillside, horses grazing
- Portola Valley, California -
Gary%20dumpster%20and%20scatter1DD9CA.jpg
Dumpster and scattered clothing
- Peoples Park, Berkeley, California -

All photos by Gary Ivanek
Copyright Gary Ivanek 2007


Neil Marcus on Gary Ivanek

“Gary Ivanek seems to have unlimited attention and devotion for the emotional content of the visual world. The photos he makes express this richness.”



A Gary Ivanek Data Bank

"High school and some college"


Teachers that influenced Gary Ivanek


Robert Blosser

English Department, Foothill College

Max Shiffman

[Gary Ivanek: “Max Shiffman taught
me differential equations.
He was brilliant in a way most
of us will never understand.Max
Shiffman was soft-spoken and kind.”]


Books that influenced Gary Ivanek

< An Anthropologist on Mars >  

Oliver Sachs


< Larry Burrows: Vietnam > 

Larry Burrows

[Gary Ivanek: “He made the most human
photos of war – dignity and humanity
remain in his photos.”]


Favorite Philosopher

Michel Foucault

[wikipedia : “Foucault is known
for his critical studies of
various social institutions,
most notably psychiatry, medicine,
parameters of educational time frames,
and the prison system, and also for
his work on the history of sexuality.”]


Favorite Singers

Mark Knopfler

Peter, Paul & Mary

Peter Gabriel

PeterThe Byrds

 

Favorite Quotation

"Every portrait that is painted with feeling is
a portrait of the artist, not the sitter."

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative."
 

~ Oscar Wilde ~

 

Published Works of Gary Ivanek

I shoot not to get published but because I enjoy it.


Gary Ivanek's Favorite Web Sites

Nerve.com

truthout.org

And many photography sites
both technical and artistic.



Q__________________________________Q

New River Free Press International

 

Tell us about yourself.

What makes you who you are?

Q__________________________________Q


GI I have working class parents and followed that path — I’m a grocery clerk, but somewhere along the way in 1970 I made a trip to Berkeley, went up on the U. C. campus and discovered different Jesus Freaks in competition with each other and a street comedian by the name of XswamiX.

 

About the same time, I discovered I wanted to photograph some of these characters and so I did. Even though some of these people may be on the fringes of society, photographing them was satisfying.

 

Neil [Marcus] sort of defines what it is I like to do. If, for example, you wanted to be photographed, we’d go out and take photographs. Then, if you like the images and want to do more, then we may go into the next session excited about it and in Neil’s case we kept doing it — I have taken 800 photos of Neil — we’ve done it for four or five years, and may continue doing it.

 

I’m fortunate enough to do something that gives me joy.



Q___________________________________Q

New River Free Press International

 

What was your vision of society that

brought you to the work you do?

Q___________________________________Q

 

GI The societal convention for a working class person is to get a job, move into suburbia, have kids, and buy an SUV made in Detroit.

 

I stepped out of that and I discovered Neil and I discovered Haight Street [in San Francisco] and I discovered them through the lens of a camera.

 

And was that fun?!

 

Q__________________________________Q

New River Free Press International

 

What do you think we should

remember as we remake the world

through the work we do?

Q__________________________________Q

 

GI I think we should remember respect and all its tenets — self-respect, respect for others, courtesy. Things which I sometimes abandon.

 

What I try to do in my photography is never to forget the dignity of the subject.

 

I try not to lose sight of that.

 

Q__________________________________Q

New River Free Press International

 

Has your vision changed

as you have participated

in the remaking of the world?

Q__________________________________Q

 

GI Yes. And it’s changed for the better. I’m less judgmental, and as a result, I’m more accepting.

 

My greatest barrier is my own inertia. And the older I get — the greater my set of experiences — the more I’m aware of this inertia and the more I’m able to overcome it.

 

About things at large — I wish I was less of a coward.

 

As an example, I constantly see people whom I want to  photograph.

 

I wish I could overcome my shyness and ask more of them for permission to take their pictures.

 

Q___________________________________Q

New River Free Press International

 

What challenges do you perceive in

achieving your vision of society?

Q___________________________________Q

 

GI Greater harmony. It’s a cliched statement, but I think it applies.

 

Q___________________________________Q

New River Free Press International

 

What needs to be done to overcome

these challenges?

 

Q__________________________________Q

 

GI More photographs.

 

I think at the basic level we need to give ourselves and others an opportunity. I mean — I don’t know who you are, but I took a chance; you didn’t know who I was, you took a chance.

 

We need to take a chance with each other.

 

Q___________________________________Q

New River Free Press International

 

What pointers would you

give young people of the 9/11

generation as they work in

public service assignments?

Q__________________________________Q

 

GI Being less tentative when it comes to day-to-day interactions with other people. This is easy to do. Most of us do help others because we get a payback out of it.

 

If we didn’t, we wouldn’t do it.

 

Q___________________________________Q

New River Free Press International

 

What personal lessons have you

learned from the effect of war

on children in Africa and Asia?

Q__________________________________Q

 

GI The lesson I’ve learned is that I’m too immune to what’s going on — it’s geographically so far away that it’s an abstraction.

 

I believe that we disregard our children. We abandon them — we have wars.

 

Q__________________________________Q

New River Free Press International

 

What personal lessons have you

learned from the post-Hurricane

Katrina tragedies in New Orleans?

Q__________________________________Q

 

GI That deep racial bias is.

 

If Katrina had struck the Hamptons, the response would have been very different.

 

Q___________________________________________Q

New River Free Press International

 

What personal and public lessons have you

learned from the devastation caused by the

Asian Tsunami and the South Asian Earthquake?

Q___________________________________________Q

 

GI Personal lesson is that there was an amazingly positive response from those people on the scene who offered a pair of hands, a plastic bottle of water, a place to live.

 

The public lesson is that we’re — the grand we — are still ignoring the imminent devastation [possibility of natural disasters in many places].

 

I sleep over the Hayward fault.

 

Why do we do this?

 

I’m gambling.

 

Q_______________________________________Q

New River Free Press International

 

How have these lessons changed your life?

Q_______________________________________Q

 

GI I think I’m more aware. And I’m acting on this awareness.


______ * ______

All views expressed in the interview
are those of the interviewee
and not those of the editor or this website.

______ * ______

This interview can also be read @:
 
http://careervisionsgaryivanek.blogspot.com/ 
 
______ * ______

DISCLAIMER ABOUT WEBSITE LINKS : Career Visions for a Small Planet has links to other websites. It also identifies other publicly accessible websites with which it does not have two-way links. When you link to another site from Career Visions for a Small Planet, you are no longer on the Career Visions for a Small Planet website, even if the article written on the other website was authored by someone affiliated with it, or mentioned on it. Career Visions for a Small Planet's privacy policy will not apply on these other websites. Be aware that when you link to another website, you are subject to the privacy policy of that new site.

______ * ______


NOTE: THIS INTERVIEW FORMAT IS THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF MICHAEL CHACKO DANIELS AND HIS ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS: NEW RIVER FREE PRESS INTERNATIONAL: US-INDIA WRITING STATION AND CAREER VISIONS FOR A SMALL PLANET.

AGREEMENT: NEW RIVER FREE PRESS INTERNATIONAL/US-INDIA WRITING STATION/AND/OR CAREER VISIONS FOR A SMALL PLANET WILL RETAIN THE FOLLOWING RIGHTS: ALL RIGHTS TO PUBLISH THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW, OR PART(S) OF IT, IN ELECTRONIC, AUDIO, VIDEO, AND/OR PRINT VERSIONS; ALL RIGHTS TO RETAIN IT IN ITS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ARCHIVES INDEFINITELY; AND ALL RIGHTS TO INCLUDE IT IN FUTURE PRINTED COMPENDIUMS AND BOOKS. THE EDITOR RETAINS THE EDITOR'S PREROGATIVE TO EDIT THE INTERVIEW FOR GRAMMAR, STYLE, CONTENT, AND LENGTH. THE INTERVIEWEE FULLY UNDERSTANDS THAT HE/SHE WILL NOT REGIIVE ANY PAYMENT, EITHER NOW, OR IN THE FUTURE, FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS INTERVIEW. BY SUBMITTING WRITTEN AND/OR ORAL RESPONSES TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS BY ANY METHOD, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ELECTRONIC, TELEPHONIC, MANUAL, AND/OR POSTAL METHODS, THE INTERVIEWEE AGREES TO THE ABOVE CONDITIONS AND STIPULATIONS. AFTER FIRST PUBLICATION BY NEW RIVER FREE PRESS INTERNATIONAL/ US-INDIA WRITING STATION/AND/OR CAREER VISIONS FOR A SMALL PLANET, THE INTERVIEWEE RETAINS THE RIGHT TO USE HER/HIS IDEAS AND WORDS THAT ARE CONTAINED IN HER/HIS RESPONSES IN THE INTERVIEW FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT RESTRICTIONS. THE FORMAT OF THE INTERVIEW AND THE QUESTIONS WILL REMAIN THE PROPERTY OF THE EDITOR AND PUBLISHER.
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Posted on Monday, May 14, 2007 at 10:30PM by Registered CommenterMichael Chacko Daniels | CommentsPost a Comment