Blue Panic Photography (tm) - Works By Andrew Merlino

BLUE PANIC PHOTOGRAPHY :: NOTES

I was told not to get
into any of this, not to talk about where I
came from, or my mission here, but I'm tempted
to share a few secrets with you, though I guess I won't.
[John Ashbery, "Eternity Sings The Blues"]

I bought my first camera in lower Manhattan in 1995. Though I was in New York City to attend grad school, I spent most of my time wandering the streets, compelled by that intoxicating mixture of insomnia, loneliness, and near ecstatic curiosity that the city seems to inspire. One afternoon, I purchased a Minolta SLR on a whim, having taken only one or two photos in my life. I just needed something to do on my incessant treks up and down the island. The camera lent a purpose, however belated, to this solitary ritual.

More than a decade (and many thousands of miles) later, my photography is still intimately connected to my compulsive wandering. My portfolio is comprised of images from across the United States and Canada. Though I never set out to photograph scenes that illustrate a particular idea or evoke a certain mood, there are a number of deeply personal themes that recur obsessively in my work. I won't attempt to spell out these motifs nor articulate what my photography is "about." After all, the pictures reveal everything. Images are fascinating precisely because they say nothing, yet in this silence, express what words can only allude to clumsily. For me, photography is most intriguing when seen in this light: as a potent, soulful antidote to the limitations of language and speech.

BLUE PANIC PHOTOGRAPHY :: HELP

HOW BLUE PANIC PHOTOGRAPHY IS ORGANIZED

The photographs are grouped chronologically by year. From 2006 forward, the images are further separated into galleries that correspond with specific shoot dates. The site includes film-based photos, digital images, as well as mobile phone shots. The latter are grouped separately from the main photos since they tend to have a lo-fi aesthetic all their own.

SELECTING A YEAR

Use the drop down menu in the top left hand corner of the site to view different years. The site spans 1995 to the present.

NAVIGATING THROUGH GALLERIES

There are two ways to navigate through the galleries in a selected year. First, you can select a specific gallery from the drop down menu located beneath the year menu. Second, you can use the 'First Gallery,' 'Prev Gallery,' 'Next Gallery,' and 'Last Gallery' buttons located beneath the gallery drop down menu to navigate from one gallery to another. These buttons, as well as the gallery menu, do not display for years prior to 2006, since photos were not separated into galleries at that time.

NAVIGATING THROUGH THUMBNAILS

Use the '<<,' '<,' '>,' and '>>' buttons located directly above the thumbnails to navigate through the thumbnails one page at a time. A page consists of 9 thumbnails. You can also use the drop down menu in between the '<' and '>' buttons to jump directly to a specific page of thumbnails. For example, selecting '2' from the menu will display thumbnails 10 through 18, or the second page of thumbnails. Selecting '3' will display thumbnails 19 through 27, or the third page of thumbnails. Click a thumbnail to display the corresponding full size image.

NAVIGATING THROUGH PHOTOS

There are three ways to navigate through the photos in a selected year. First, you can click on the thumbnails displayed on the left side of the site. Second, you can click on the full size photo itself to view the next photo in sequence. And finally, you can click the large gray '<' and '>' buttons located to the left and right of the full size image to view the previous or next photo in sequence.

AUTO-SYNCING OF THUMBNAILS AND FULL SIZE PHOTOS

As you navigate through the photos of the selected year, you will notice that the thumbnail page will automatically sync up. That is, when you go from the 9th to the 10th photo, the thumbnail page will change from page 1 to page 2 and thumbnails 10 through 18 will be displayed. Likewise, as you navigate from one page of thumbnails to another, the full size image that corresponds to the first thumbnail in that page will load in the main viewing area.

RANDOM BUTTON

Click the 'Random' button in the upper right hand corner of the site to view a random photo from the selected year.

RSS BUTTON

Click the 'RSS' button to load the RSS XML feed for Blue Panic Photography into a new window. Copy the URL of this file from your browser's address bar and paste it into your preferred feed reader. The RSS URL is http://www.bluepanic.com/photography/xml/rss.aspx.

GALLERY INTRO BUTTON

Click the 'Gallery Intro' button beneath the full size image currently being displayed to return to the start of the current photo's gallery. This button does not display for photos taken prior to 2006, since these images were not separated into galleries.

PERMALINK BUTTON

Click the 'Permalink' button beneath the full size image currently being displayed to show a bookmark-friendly URL of this photograph in your browser's address bar.