Shoot Your TV Set

(click on photo)

Shoot Your TV Set . . .

With a camera. . . . I've been doing it for years. . . . In fact, I suspected it was kind of a perverted hobby until a few years ago when I discovered that no less an auteur than John Waters had published a whole coffee table book of these things called Director's Cut (Scalo Zurich - Berlin - New York: 1997). At that point, I KNEW it was a perverted hobby, and I was really jealous that Waters could publish a book of something I had already been doing for years and years and years. Oh well, he is a little more famous than I am. And I gotta hand it to him for opening his book with scenic shots from Peyton Place followed by a close-up of Grace Metalious's tombstone. Even I wouldn't have thought of that!

But never mind Mr. Waters' contributions to this questionable artform. Let me just present here a few of my own recent "TV photos." Incidentally, I do it the really old fashioned way -- with a camera, a tripod, and a cable release. All of these photos were shot on either 100 or 160 speed film, at around 1/4 to 1/8 of a second, using a 30-year-old Nikon, and DVD versions of the movies (except where noted), which you can freeze-frame. I realize this is primitive and that more evolved "artists" are capturing images and downloading them directly into their computer. For now I'll stick to my ancient method, which has served me well for, uh, more decades than probably even Waters has been doing this. Maybe someday I'll do my own book. You've been warned.

        Jack Stalnaker
        Curator, Meeker Museum
        May 2004