everyday is a book of photographs and essays by Leonard Volk, FAIA emeritus, a retired architect. The book contains selected photographs and essays from more than 60 years of personal photography.
“This series focuses on the familiar and the small, things usually screened from our attention. When we notice the small, we sometimes find qualities and intensities harder to find in broader views of the world. Such discoveries make us aware that the world around us contains wonders and epiphanies. We find complexity, mystery, drama, poetry, humor, and beauty. Effects are often multiplied by analogy, metaphor, and our emotional responses. Although the small and familiar have long been recognized as worthy subjects by photographers, I believe they are surprisingly neglected. For me, uniqueness fairly jumps from tiny objects and bits of landscapes. I feel inspired to hunt the significant ordinary.”- Leonard Volk.
A quote from Volk’s preface: “I offer this collection of photographs with respect and encouragement to each person beginning to find his or her way in photography, and to each casual photographer who records family events, pets, and trips.”
“Stretch yourself. Reach for satisfaction in photography only you can recognize. I challenge you to find subject matter you care about strongly, that no one else would know to photograph, that no one else would photograph your way.”.
“Art, like flying, is freedom.”
“I believe we are all artists if we allow ourselves that freedom.”
“The images are more than visual; they are loaded with content, stories, and evoke emotions rarely projected. This is much more than a collection of excellent photographs: in a quiet way, it tells the story of everyday with high drama”. HAL BOX, FAIA, former Dean of the School of Architecture, University of Texas at Austin
“His imagery is magically – as well as vibrantly, lyrically, evocatively and, yes, obsessively – poetic. Architecture may have been the subject by which Volk chose to define a significant portion of his ‘professional’ career, but his concerns remain truly modern and touch upon all things from history, symbology, philosophy, music and, thank goodness, art itself. He speaks and photographs in the voice of all these humane and ‘caring’ concerns and, as such, has found the poetry of life and light itself”. ROY FLUKINGER, Senior Curator of Photography, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin
About Leonard Volk
Leonard Volk was born in Dallas in 1928. He graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies in 1949, and from MIT with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1959. Volk served in the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps from 1952 to 1955 and discovered his passion for photography in Limburg, Germany while he was traveling Europe. Volk purchased his first professional camera in 1950, a Leica IIIc.
After studying architecture at MIT, Volk returned to Dallas and practiced architecture for 30 years while leading a volunteer career while working on community goals, neighborhood improvement, and affordable housing. Since retiring from architecture and volunteering in 1955, Volk has focused on personal photography, working on a backlog of images accumulated since 1950 and publishing a photography and essay book, Everyday. Volk will be discussing Everyday and the inspiration behind it.
