Daphne Chan Photography

Gallery openings on Thursday November 13

2008-11-11T20:35:00.000-05:00

From zingrecsNY:

thursdaynovember13

Sara Blokland opens at LMAK, 139 Eldridge, btw Broome and Delancey, 6-9pm

Jason Cantoro opens at Glowlab, 30 Grand St, btw Thompson and 6^th Ave, 6-8pm

Objects of Affection opens at Fresh Art, 548 Broadway, 3^rd Fl, btw Spring and Prince, 6-8pm

Xanda McCagg opens at Art Gotham, 192 6^th Ave, btw Spring and Prince, 6-8pm

Richard Mosse opens at Jack Shainman, 513 W 20^th St, btw 10^th and 11^th, 6-8pm

Lisa Breslow opens at Kathryn Markel, 529 W 20^th St, #6W, btw 10^th and 11^th, 6-8pm

Djordje Ozbolt opens at 303, 525 W 22^nd St, btw 10^th and 11^th, 6-8pm

Chelsea Art Museum 6^th Anniversary Celebration, 556 W 22^nd St at 11^th Ave, 6-9pm, Free admission

Barnaby Furnas opens at Marianne Boesky, 509 W 24^th St, btw 10^th and 11^th, 6-8pm

Group show at Bodhi, 535 W 24^th St, btw 10^th and 11^th, 6-8pm

Aaron Young opens at Bortolami, 510 W 25^th St, btw 10^th and 11^th, 6pm

Mark Shetabi opens at Jeff Bailey, 511 W 25^th St, btw 10^th and 11^th, 6-8pm

Francesca Gabbiani opens at Sara Meltzer, 525-531 W 26^th St, btw 10^th and 11^th, 6-8pm

Richard Humann opens at Elga Wimmer, 526 W 26^th St, btw 10^th and 11^th, 6-8pm

Yemenwed opens at Fake Estate, 526 W 26^th St, #502A, btw 10^th and 11^th, 6-8pm

Carol Salmanson opens at Mixed Greens, 531 W 26^th St, btw 10^th and 11^th, 6-8pm

Leah Montalto opens at Priska Juschka, 547 W 27^th St, 2^nd Fl, btw 10^th and 11^th, 6-9pm

Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev open at Winkleman, 637 W 27^th St, btw 10^th and 11^th, 6-8pm

Frederick Glasier opens at UBS Art Gallery, 1285 6^th Ave, btw 51^st and 52^nd St, 6-8pm

Kit Rank opens at McKee, 745 5^th Ave, btw 57^th and 58^th, 6-8pm

Max Weber: Paintings from the 1930s opens at Gerald Peters, 24 E 78^th St, btw Madison and 5^th, 6-8pm

A Celebration of the Critical Works of David Foster Wallace at Honey Space, 148 11^th Ave, btw 21^st and 22^nd, 6-9pm

Things Are Strange Group Show

2008-11-05T12:05:00.004-05:00

The opening of the group show Things are Strange, curated by Jon Feinstein, is tomorrow. The exhibit features images work from some very talented artists, including: Cara Phillips, Amy Stein, Eric Percher, Matthew Porter, William Lambson, and Hannah Whitaker to name a few.

New Century Artists
530 West 25th Street, Suite 406

Tuesday, November 4 – Saturday, November 15, 2008

OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday, November 6, 2008 6PM – 9PM

There will be an informal after party starting at 9:30:

Black Door
127 W. 26th St.
212-645-0215

November 4, 2008

2008-11-05T11:57:00.003-05:00

What a historic night.

Camera Club of NY Auction

2008-11-05T11:44:00.005-05:00

The Camera Club of New York's Annual Silent Photo Benefit Auction will take place next Monday, Nov. 10th, 6:30-8:30pm at Calumet Photographic, 22 W. 22nd St. $10 admission. This auction puts an emphasis on work by exciting emerging photographers at very affordable prices (but also includes some vintage works and works by established photographers.) Preview the auction here.

Nutopia Members Show

2008-11-02T20:45:00.004-05:00

From Andrew Hetherington's blog, I learned about the Nutopia's Members show. To read about his experience with the Nutopia Forum, click here.

The Nutopia Forum is holding a one night only members show and all comers are welcome:

Thursday November 6

7.30pm - 10.00pm

K&M Studios

385 Broadway Third Floor

Bet Walker & White

BYOB

Sarah Palin Gets Punk'd

2008-11-02T17:11:00.000-05:00

From Jezebel.com, "Oh, dear. Looks like Vice Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin totally got punked by a Canadian comedy duo known as The Masked Avengers, who somehow got a hold of the Governor and tricked her into believing that she was actually speaking with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "You know, I see you as a President someday," the fake Sarkozy says, to which Palin replies, "Oh, I don't know, maybe in 8 years." Palin comes across as a super excited Sarkozy fan girl, and as the phone call goes on, the fake Sarkozy gets more and more obnoxious, ridiculous, and exaggerated, leading one to wonder how in the world Palin could have possibly fallen for such an obvious joke. It's not until the end of the call, when the Masked Avengers reveal the prank, that Palin realizes that been fooled, and the call ends quite quickly after that. Whoops! Update: The Palin campaign has confirmed the call and issued a response."

College for Fundamentalists?

2008-10-29T14:17:00.002-04:00

During the past few weeks I've had the opportunity of assisting Amy Arbus (daughter of photographer Diane Arbus) who is teaching a course at ICP called The Narrative Portrait.

Last week guest speaker Jona Frank presented her work from Right: Portraits from the Evangelical Ivy League. It was a fascinating examination of Patrick Henry College that Amazon.com describes as "...the higher education institution of choice among politically far-right young people aspiring to enter the conservative power elite. The explicit mission of PHC is to cultivate leaders to take American politics and culture back to God through careers in politics and entertainment. Acclaimed photographer Jona Frank presents an honest intimate and eye-opening portrait of the school and its students. Frank's photos eschew cultural politicking of the left or the right allowing readers to draw their own conclusions about a school and a youth movement with the potential to produce many of tomorrow's leaders."

NPR 's review states, " The ferociously conservative Christian right may be an unfashionable bunch this political season, but when it comes to the notion of a need for change, there are no truer or more fervently motivated believers. In fact, the recently founded Patrick Henry College is churning out these family-values crusaders in force.

Inspired by journalist Hanna Rosin's 2005 New Yorker article about Purcellville, Va.'s so-called "Harvard For Homeschoolers" (subsequently expanded in the book God's Harvard), photographer Jona Frank put aside her own lefty leanings and set out — with Right: Portraits from the Evangelical Ivy League — to find the shared heartbeat of Patrick Henry College's student body, a group of kids for whom the Abercrombie & Fitch catalog is the work of sinners and a game of sloppy beer pong immoral.

It would have been easy for Frank to frame her young subjects — many of them acne-riddled, most of them attired in bad suits or ankle-length skirts, all of them painfully clean-cut — as proselytizing geeks and rabid, would-be game-changers. Indeed, the school's founder, Michael Farris, has aspirations for his Christian charges that go way beyond living right and influence-peddling. He greets each class of freshmen with a dream: One day, he tells them, "an Academy Award winner will walk down the aisle. He'll get a cell phone call congratulating him. It happens to be the president of the United States — his old roommate from Patrick Henry College."

Photographer Frank's intentionally neutral approach carries much less of a chill and allows unflinching expressions, erect postures, small sartorial details and the students' own words to tell a story. Jeremiah, a recent PHC grad who lists Harriet Tubman and disgraced evangelical pastor Ted Haggard among his heroes, is photographed like a young Sam Waterston on the set of Law & Order, his preternatural sense of empowerment eerily convincing. James, 19, in a midnight black blazer, looks burningly at the horizon and recalls with fondness "being treated to pizza and ice-cream sundaes at John Ashcroft's house" on one of his class's quite unique school trips. In a section titled "Interns," Rebekah, 23, kicks back on the set of Fox News, while Craig, 24, looks positively snappish in the office of Republican Congressman Donald Manzullo, both students the beneficiaries of PHC's aggressive placement programs.

Be afraid, be very afraid.

Bond Street Gallery closes its doors

2008-10-29T13:43:00.002-04:00

I'm sad to report that on Saturday November 1st, Bond Street Gallery will close its doors. Amani Olu, the founder of Humble Arts Foundation, did a great job as curator and director to support new art photography.

Take That Red States

2008-10-22T22:25:00.002-04:00

Wise, wise words from Lady Bunny. I can't help but post the whole thing.

"DEAR RED STATES,

We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we're taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren't aware, that includes California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California.

To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states. We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood. We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom. We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss. We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama. We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states pay their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms. Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq , and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of America's quality wines, 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools plus Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT. With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all
televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia. We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacredunless we're discussing the war, the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61 percent of you crazy bastards believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.

Finally, we're taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed they grow in Mexico.

Peace out,
Blue States"

PDN Photoplus Expo Oct 23-25

2008-10-22T09:45:00.002-04:00

The PDN Photoplus Expo begins tomorrow. Touted as The Most Important Event in Photography: October 23-25, 2008. Located at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City the show boasts a huge expo floor, hundreds of exhibitors, thousands of new products and a conference with over 100 seminars.

Here's the schedule:

Thursday, October 23
9am - 10am
Preview for Gold Expo Pass/Conference
Attendee Badge Holders only
10am - 5 pm
Exhibit Hall Open

Friday, October 24
9am - 10am
Preview for Gold Expo Pass/Conference
Attendee Badge Holders only
10am - 5pm
Exhibit Hall Open

Saturday, October 25
10am - 4pm
Exhibit Hall Open

Hope to see you all there!

Racism at its Finest

2008-10-21T11:21:00.002-04:00

Unbelievable. How will be racial divide ever be bridged?

Art Gotham's Square Foot Show Election 2008

2008-10-20T21:50:00.011-04:00

On Saturday I'll be in a group show at Art Gotham's Square Foot Show. This year, fittingly, the theme is Election 2008. It has been a fascinating election to watch, i.e. the way a train wreck rivets one's attention. As a Canadian, who obviously can't vote in this country, I can't help but question the two party political system (and yes, I'm discounting the Ralph Nader and Ross Perot types) and view it as devisive and deficient. For many disillusioned voters, the 2008 elections will be a choice between the lesser of two evils, rather than an affirmation of support for the platform of either candidate.

"Politics and art? As impossible a mix as oil and water? Not necessarily. Has there ever been a more powerful anti-war message than Picasso’s Guernica? The last year has shown that Americans want to engage in politics again. We do care what happens here and abroad. To celebrate the excitement now bubbling as the coming election approaches, Art Gotham chose the timely theme “Election 2008” for its biannual Square Foot Show, which opens Saturday, October 26th and runs through Sunday, November 9th. Artists were provided with 12x12 inch canvases, and asked to think politically as they create works for the show. Nothing like a tough assignment for producing amazing results. "

ART GOTHAM

THE SQUARE FOOT SHOW | ELECTION 2008

Opening Reception: Saturday October 25 | 3-8pm
Works on view until Saturday November 8

Location: 192 Ave of the Americas (6th Ave btw Spring & Prince)
Gallery Hours: Thursday-Sunday 1-6pm

Photography Book Now

2008-10-20T15:12:00.001-04:00

Wednesday Oct 22

Blurb: Photography Book Now Symposium - A Primer on Publishing Photography Books

2.30pm - 6.30pm

New Museum

235 Bowery

This event is currently sold out but you can RSVP here to get on the wait list and also to see the attendee list

This will be followed by: Photography Book Now New York City Meet-Up

6.30pm - 8.30pm

also at The New Museum

RSVP here: there are still 68 spots available and as before you can see who has all ready RSVP’d to attend.

Upcoming ASMP events

2008-10-20T10:06:00.003-04:00

OCT 20th THOMAS WERNER BUSINESS OF FINE ART

The Business of Fine Art Photography - Core Concepts by Thomas Werner Is the Fine Art Photography world a place for you? How do you analyze your work? How do you build a relationship with a gallery? And what happens when you get an exhibition? Thomas Werner presents this fast-paced seminar giving you insights into the fine art business world. It is critically important to develop multiple ways to promote and support your business. Thomas explains how creating and properly marketing a body of fine art work can help you achieve these goals.

Monday Oct 20
7-9pm
Location: Apple Store 767 5th Ave

OCT 21st, 2nd annual meet and great PPE warm up!!!

stop by to meet some of the vendors participating in ppe, along with fellow members, panelists, and the curious about asmp! FREE AND OPEN TO ALL, FOOD AND DRINK WILL BE SERVED!

we will be having a slide show of members work again, please email me your best one image for the projection, have your name in the image, preferrably against a neutral background at the lower right hand corner. send the files to me stephen@stephenmallon.com resolution - 1000x1000 pixels @ 72dpi, jpeg level 8. see my example up there? if its a vertical put the black on the vertical axis ONE IMAGE EACH ONE IMAGE ONLY!

Tuesday Oct 21
6-10pm
Location: Studio 385
385 Broadway, Suite 3F

OCT 25TH asmp national members meeting!

All ASMP members are cordially invited to the annual member meeting on Saturday morning, October 25. The meeting is at Splashlight Studios at 535 West 35th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues - just half a block from the Javits Center.

Door prize: The first 100 members to arrive will receive an ASMP-branded one-gig flash drive. Doors open at 8:30am (continental breakfast) 9 am - ASMP business session 10 am - speaker: Carolyn Potts, "21st-Century Marketing Tips for Photographers Who Weren't Born Yesterday" 11 am - speaker: Julieanne Kost, "Next Generation of Image Editing Software" 12 noon - adjourn

Revisiting America opening tonight

2008-10-15T10:32:00.000-04:00

BOND STREET GALLERY is pleased to present Revisiting America, a group show curated by amani olu. This exhibition explores the shift in American culture following the Second World War, and how that shift has influenced American values today.

EXHIBITING PHOTOGRAPHERS:
Timothy Briner, Jon Feinstein, Matthew Gamber, Justin James Reed, Angie Smith, Brian Ulrich and Michael Vahrenwald

OPENING RECEPTION: Wednesday, October 15, 2008
PRESS PREVIEW: 4 – 6 pm | PUBLIC RECEPTION: 6 – 9 pm
ON VIEW: Wednesday, October 15 – Saturday, November 15, 2008

PRESS INQUIRIES: kate@bondstreetgallery.com

BOND STREET GALLERY
297 Bond Street | Brooklyn, NY 11231 (Carroll Gardens)
718.858.2297 | DIRECTIONS: F/G to Carroll St. or R to Union St.

GALLERY HOURS: Tuesday – Saturday | 11 am – 6 pm

When You Meet a Kindred Spirit

2008-10-14T11:39:00.004-04:00

Two weeks ago, during the JC Artists Studio Tour, I had the opportunity of greeting a collector I had met during last year's tour. Even though we had only met several times I felt as though we had known each other much longer. We bonded over our similar cultural and educational backgrounds and I recognized him as a kindred spirit. He happily reported he had been so inspired by meeting artists last year that he fulfilled his long held desire to open a small gallery in our up-and-coming neighbourhood. The gallery recently had a very successful opening. When I met the owner last week I had a chance to tour the space. We had a wonderful discussion about potential projects and collaborations (and I'll post the details once they're confirmed).

The piece above is from a series called Family/Memory that I started when I was a student at ICP 2 years ago. It was recently acquired by my new patron/collector and has given me the needed impetus to continue the series.

NYFA Mentoring Program

2008-10-09T12:32:00.001-04:00

The New York Foundation for the Arts is entering its third year of the Mentoring Program. There's an Information Session on Wednesday, October 15, 5-7 PM in the NYFA offices at 155 Avenue of the Americas, 6th floor.

You can also contact Andreia Davies, the Immigrant Coordinator, via email at i.outreach@nyfa.org, or via telephone at (212) 366-6900 ext. 322.

The Mentoring Program for Immigrant Artists pairs foreign-born artists with 2008 NYFA Fellows who act as their Mentors for a period of six months, beginning in Janaury 2009, to assist them in gaining broader access to the New York art world. Mentors also help their Mentees achieve a specific goal, such as writing an artist statement, creating a marketing brochure, or completing a grant application. Our goal is to help immigrant artists acquire some of the skills necessary to fairly compete and ultimately succeed as artists.

Art for Obama auction

2008-10-06T23:47:00.003-04:00

A BENEFIT ART AUCTION ORGANIZED IN SUPPORT OF THE OBAMA/BIDEN CAMPAIGN

Bidding began at 5 pm on October 1st through October 8th. See all the donated works here.

I would love to bid on the photos above but have the reality of rent and groceries to deal with.

ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS OF THIS BENEFIT AUCTION, from the event website:

MISSION
ART FOR OBAMA is an online auction of photographs to benefit the Obama Campaign. Fifty of the country’s most prominent artists and photographers have donated their work for this cause. The auction will launch on October 1st and will run for one week. All proceeds from the auction will go to the Obama Campaign, to the Democratic National Committee and to non-profit organizations such as MoveOn.org, which are currently devoting their energy to helping the Obama campaign. Proceeds will be distributed in strict accordance with Federal Election Commission regulations.

WHO WE ARE
ART FOR OBAMA is a group of five artists who have come together to help the Obama campaign. Because we cannot afford to make large donations ourselves, we want to bring together the leaders of our community to help create change. We are all unpaid volunteers.

Deadline for Critical Mass

2008-10-06T21:47:00.003-04:00

The deadline for Photolucida's Critical Mass is tonight and I just finished editing my entry. I submitted my most recent project Isolation/Identity and hope the portraits present a strong and cohesive body of work.

From Photolucida's Blog;

Introducing the Reviewer's Scrapbook!

Here in the States these days, it's hard to turn on the tv or radio without getting an earful about that particular day's political winners and losers. I suppose it makes sense when it comes to an election and one office up for grabs, but I worry that the competitive tone extends unnecessarily into the rest of the world. Here, for example, with Critical Mass.

One of our goals with Critical Mass is to emphasize its function as a resource and not necessarily a competition. The idea, from the beginning, was never about tabulating winners and losers, but to create a resource for contemporary art photography, allowing photographers from anywhere to get their work seen by editors, curators, and other people who actually use photography. Critical Mass was designed as a way to play matchmaker and then reward some of the photographers who everyone agrees are great with well-deserved monographs that automatically go into the collections of every single person involved. Ultimately though, it's not about the books, but about a process that allows everyone who enters to have a fair shot at having their work seen by people who actually use photography.

This year, in addition to the monographs, we've come up with an idea to celebrate the differences of opinion jurors may have by adding a "Reviewer's Scrapbook" section to our web site. This becomes a place where we can emphasize the individual tastes of select Reviewers. We've got lots of great reviewers but Laurel Ptak, for example, is going to have a significantly different list of favorites than Brooks Jensen, isn't she? The idea is simple- we're selecting 12 reviewers and inviting them to keep a folder on their desktop of their favorite images. After the voting has taken place, these images will then be turned into web slideshows, with one new slideshow coming out each month.

So far, invitations have been extended and are still coming in. Let's see, as of this moment, 86 hours before the deadline for Critical Mass entries, the following jurors have confirmed that they're willing to keep and share their scrapbooks:

Andy Adams, Flak Photo
Paul Buckley, Penguin Group
Roy Flukinger, Harry Ransom Center
Rob Haggart, APhotoEditor.com / APhotoFolio.com
Whitney Johnson, New Yorker Magazine

We'll keep you posted as more confirmations come in. I tell you, we're excited...

Isolation/Identity exhibit as part of Jersey City Studio Tour

2008-10-06T10:44:00.006-04:00

I've been neglecting my poor blog as last week I had been preparing for my exhibit as part of the Jersey City Artists Studio Tour. From the Jersey Journal:

ART ON THE LOOSE

From barks to Barack, studio tour hosts variety

Monday, October 06, 2008

CHARLES HACK

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

"With 600 registered artists showing at 90 venues, this year's Jersey City Artists Studio Tour held over the weekend was the largest in its 18-year history, Jersey City Art Curator Greg Brickey said.

Brickey estimated the tour, which attracted 10,000 visitors this year, has added 100 artists each year during the last four years.

"There is a whole new population of young hipsters here and a lot of them are artists and musicians," Brickey said.

Visitors to Van Vorst Park could pick up a portable radio from a desk and listen to a composition by sound artist Damian Catera.

Catera placed microphones around the park to pick up live sounds, such as people talking and dogs barking, and created his own music that was transmitted from one of three low power FM radio transmitters in the park.

At a former warehouse at 150 Bay St. in the Powerhouse Arts District residents threw open their double doors to their cavernous live/work loft spaces to show diverse works. For example, Canadian photographer Daphne Chan's portraits explore the feeling of isolation of her subjects and Cheryl Renee Riley's wall hangings and furniture are inspired by African art.

Brickey said some of the tour's highlights included the first exhibition at the Beacon complex of a sculpture curated by Jim Pustorino of the Victory Arts Project.

Another highlight was Jersey City artist Ron English's wall-sized exhibit "ABRAHAMOBAMA" that fuses the faces of Abraham Lincoln and presidential hopeful Barack Obama shown at the Canco lofts on Dey Street, he said."

About an hour before the studio tour ended on Sunday, a reporter stepped into my studio, perused the art, peppered me with questions while he frantically wrote in his notebook, then ran out. The whole thing took about two minutes. I wasn't sure what would come of that so thank you to Charles Hack for the shout out.

Participating in the tour was, as always, a great experience and this year was the best. It was the first time I had exhibited work from my project Isolation/Identity so I was curious and a little nervous about the reception it would receive. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive which was balm to my ears and made all the hard work worth it. When that feedback is accompanied by a sale, it's even better (and goes a long way to supporting and producing new work). You can never predict who will attend a studio tour so I was pleased to meet many artists, photographers and collectors. Hopefully some of those connections will lead to good opportunities so I'm crossing my fingers for now.

Women in Photography at Aperture

2008-09-29T10:21:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow there's a panel discussion about Women in Photography at Aperture that I highly recommend.

Women In Photography
Spotlight

Tuesday, September 30, 2008
6:30 p.m.

Aperture Gallery
547 West 27th Street, 4th Floor
New York, New York
(212) 505-5555

Women In Photography is a new online venue showcasing work by contemporary female photographers and providing a vital platform for support and the exchange of ideas. Join WIP co-founders Cara Philips and Amy Elkins, alongside noted contributing photographers Robin Schwartz and Elinor Carucci, for lively discussion of their work and what it means to be a woman in photography today. Moderated by Laurel Ptak, Aperture's Educational Programs Manager.

Art Under the Bridge

2008-09-26T11:09:00.002-04:00

The Dumbo Arts Center (DAC) is presenting the 12th Annual Dumbo Art Under the Bridge Festival ™

NYC’s big FREE urban forum for experimental art.
60+ new artworks in public space, neighborhood-wide open studios and non-stop new video art at video_dumbo.

September 26 - 28, 2008

Over the festival weekend, art will be happening everywhere in Dumbo: streets, sidewalks, storefronts, elevators, lobbies, the water, the waterfront, parks, nooks, crannnies, on the NY Water Taxi, and more. Along with the 65+ new public art projects, over 100 local artists will open their studios to the public and at the new Galapagos Art Space, video_dumbo will feature a non-stop program of cutting edge video art from NYC and around the world.

Opening night on Friday, September 26 will include the following events:

POLITAOKE: Hop on board the NY Water Taxi for FREE (every 30 minutes between 7 and 9 pm) at the Fulton Ferry Landing to participate in Diana Arce’s Politaoke (www.politaoke.com) - POLITcal speeches as karAOKE), where you too can deliver the great rhetoric of today’s most important politicians.
HACK THE DEBATE - 3D!: Galapagos Art Space, 16 Main Street: video_dumbo presents Current TV’s “Hack the Debate,” an interactive broadcast of the first presidential debate. For visual enhancement, video_dumbo will transform the Broadcast into 3D! “Hack the Debate” will, for the very first time, integrate real-time Twitter messages (aka “tweets”) over major portions of a live television broadcast. As Twitter users tweet throughout the course of the live broadcasts, Current and Twitter will collect comments regarding the debate and layer the individual messages over the debate feed.
In addition, the debate will appear in three-dimensional space, based on a new polarized filter technique called Chroma-depth®. Ironically, this stereoscopic system is based on the colors RED and BLUE. Each object displayed in those colors will create the illusion of either protrude out of the screen, or retract behind the screen - creating a true stage for this political theater. More at videodumbo.org/opening-night.html, current.com/debate, twitter.com/current.
US premiere of The Snow White Project by Catherine Baÿ might be: check out the live performance at 111 Front Street, Room 202, (fiaf.org) from 7 - 9 pm.

More details at: dumboartfestival.org

Photolucida Critical Mass

2008-09-24T10:31:00.003-04:00

From Photolucida, "The aim of Critical Mass, and all Photolucida programming, is to provide participants with career-building opportunities and to promote the best emerging and mid-career artists working today.

Critical Mass is a program about exposure and community. The idea is simple- photographers (from anywhere) submit a 10 image portfolio for $75. This work then gets pre-screened by a committee of 25 great jurors and from there, 175 top finalists are determined. These top finalists then pay an additional submission fee and their work goes on to a jury of approximately 200 of the world's best curators, editors, and professionals who have agreed to vote on these finalists. From these votes, two or three photographers receive book awards and once the monographs are published, everyone who enters and reviews will receive copies of the books."

Mary Virginia Swanson has some advice about entering:

"My best advice: submit 10 images that are coherent as a group. EDIT! Each image should add to the strength of the submission; don’t throw a curve ball into the submission, to show how broad your capabilities are… Carefully consider which image you elect to identify as “signature” from the submission, which will be used on the checklist we receive. If the selection of images you submit comes from a larger project or series, tell us. Provide us with titles. Write about your work with clarity."

Stripeman Gallery Call for Entry

2008-09-22T09:03:00.003-04:00

Stripeman Gallery invites artists to submit work for the Kings and Queens group show, opening on October 10, 2008. This opening coincides with Second Fridays, the monthly program led by the Williamsburg Gallery Association to encourage visitors, where 36 galleries keep their doors open until 9 PM, or later.

Entries must be postmarked no later than tomorrow, Tuesday, September 23.

ETA: The deadline has been extended to Wednesday, October 1.

Rachel Hulin's new blog

2008-09-17T13:42:00.004-04:00

The recent and regrettable demise of Photoshelter Collection also means the end of Rachel Hulin's clever and informative posts on Shoot!TheBlog. Here's an interview with her on Heather Morton's blog. I haven't had a chance to check out Rachel's new blog until now and I'm happy to see it has the same charm.

Jill Greenberg shows her version of John McCain

2008-09-17T09:23:00.010-04:00

Then Jill Greenberg shot the version below for her website:

When The Atlantic called Jill Greenberg, a committed Democrat, to shoot a portrait of John McCain for its October cover, she rubbed her hands with glee.

She delivered the image the magazine asked for—a shot that makes the Republican presidential nominee look heroic. Greenberg is well known for her highly retouched images of bears and crying babies. But she didn’t bother to do much retouching on her McCain images. “I left his eyes red and his skin looking bad,” she says.

After getting that shot, Greenberg asked McCain to “please come over here” for one more set-up before the 15-minute shoot was over. There, she had a beauty dish with a modeling light set up. “That’s what he thought he was being lit by,” Greenberg says. “But that wasn’t firing.”

What was firing was a strobe positioned below him, which cast the horror movie shadows across his face and on the wall right behind him. “He had no idea he was being lit from below,” Greenberg says. And his handlers didn’t seem to notice it either. “I guess they’re not very sophisticated,” she adds.

The Atlantic didn’t select the diabolical looking McCain for its cover. Greenberg is hoping to license that image to some other magazine (she negotiated a two-week embargo with The Atlantic so she could re-license images from the shoot before the election).

Warned that the image is just the kind of thing that will stir up the anti-media vitriol in the conservative blogosphere, Greenberg said, “Good. I want to stir stuff up, but not to the point where I get audited if he becomes president.”

That said, she goes on to explain that she’s thought about replacing McCain’s mouth with bloody shark teeth and displaying the image on a billboard with the message that the candidate is a bloodthirsty war monger.

Given her strong feelings about John McCain, we asked whether she had any reservations about taking the assignment in the first place.

“I didn’t,” she says. “It’s definitely exciting to shoot someone who is in the limelight like that. I am a pretty hard core Democrat. Some of my artwork has been pretty anti-Bush, so maybe it was somewhat irresponsible for them [The Atlantic] to hire me.”

The follow-up from PDN, "After our posting Friday, media outlets around the country picked up our story. Hundreds of you (including, evidently, a lot of first-time PDN readers) posted comments. The reaction was overwhelmingly critical of Greenberg. Even among professional photographers, many said Greenberg acted unprofessionally.

Atlantic editor James Bennet released a statement saying Greenberg "disgraced herself, and we are appalled by the manipulated images she has created for her Web site of John McCain." He told Fox News that the magazine would not pay Greenberg for the shoot and was considering legal action. The writer of The Atlantic's cover story, Jeffrey Goldberg, wrote on his blog that Greenberg "betrayed this magazine, and disgraced her profession."

Bill Hannigan of VAUGHAN HANNIGAN tells PDN today that the agency is no longer representing Greenberg, a decision that was "mutually agreed upon." UPDATE: Greenberg has also left the Montage Agency and is now repped by ArtMix Photography.

(With the upcoming Election 2008 Art Gotham show coming up in October, I've been looking at how photography and images of the candidates have been used. This one of John McCain certainly has me chuckling.)

How to Collect Photography

2008-09-17T09:23:00.008-04:00

Yesterday I attended a panel discussion on how to collect affordable photography hosted by Aperture. It was moderated by the lovely and photogenic Laurel Ptak (more on this later), Aperture's Educational Programs Manager, Kellie McLaughlin of Aperture's Limited-Edition Photographs Program, Amani Olu, founder and executive director of the Humble Arts Foundation and Director of the Bond Street Gallery, collector Ruben Natal-San Miguel of ARTmostfierce arts blog, and photographer Brian Ulrich.

Although the discussion was geared towards first-time and young collectors, I attended hoping to learn what sort of advice was given to collectors and how, as a photographer, I might fit into that. The basic and obvious advice given was "To buy what you love". I was especially struck by Amani Olu's description of how he founded Humble Arts Foundation; it was simply a desire to host online group shows of photographers he admired without regard to their market value. "If I look at a photograph I just ask myself if I like it or not. I don't worry about whether it will sell." He did admit to some new challenges to this philosophy now as director of the commercial Bond Street Gallery. It will be interesting to see how he balances both roles.

I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting Ruben Natal-San Miguel, one of the most approachable, enthusiastic and charming art collectors I've come across. He was very passionate about photography (which he now exclusively collects) and advised potential collectors to do their homeowrk by thoroughly researching artists. With the presence of the web, almost all information regarding artists/art fairs/events can be found. He also cautioned, "If you see a limited edition photograph you think you may want buy it before it's too late. Time is of the essence."

The main conclusion of the evening was that technology has resulted in a paradigm shift that has helped to circumvent the gallery system in many respects. The informational resources we have access to has made collecting art and photography more democratic.

Tina Fey is back

2008-09-15T15:45:00.002-04:00

17 Year Old Fashion Photographer

2008-09-13T00:57:00.002-04:00

From Jezebel; "When you hear the words "17-year-old fashion photographer" your gag reflex probably goes into effect, especially when you learn that her mother's a fashion writer who started bringing her along to shows when she was in grade school. But Isabelle Erb actually seems like a nice kid who's super passionate about photography. She's homeschooled, and "instead of dashing off to St. Bart’s on school breaks, Isabelle has gone on church missions to Malawi and New Orleans." Isabelle is a photographer for the website totallycool.net. and something of a mascot to the other shutterbugs in "The Pit," which, incidentally, sounds horrible. Are we pettily aware of how good this will look on a college application? Yes. But do we resent it? Not as much as usual!"

Stock Photography Photoshelter is closing

2008-09-11T13:54:00.004-04:00

This is the notice I received:

THE PHOTOSHELTER COLLECTION IS CLOSING
OFFICIAL STATEMENT - SEPTEMBER 11, 2008

"Today, we regret to announce our plans to close The PhotoShelter Collection, our stock photography marketplace, effective October 10, 2008.

Going forward, PhotoShelter will focus our energy and resources on enhancing the PhotoShelter Personal Archive our original product that today provides thousands of photographers worldwide with bulletproof backup storage and robust ecommerce capabilities for managing image sales online. We will continue our commitment to developing new ways to use technology to advance the art and business of photography.

Just one year ago, we started the PhotoShelter Collection with a mission to change the image marketplace for good. Our objective was to provide an unprecedented selection of fresh, diverse, and authentic imagery culled from a global community of thousands of photographers, while bucking industry standards by treating our contributing artists fairly. Rather quickly, we built a unique position in the industry, fueled by integrity and a true passion for photography.

The PhotoShelter Collection became a haven where photographers could find a better deal based on our 70/30 revenue split, and access to professional insights directly from world class image buyers. Buyers welcomed the Collection as a much needed alternative - whether they liked the access to content never before seen, or simply because they appreciated our approach to better treatment for photographers.

Our unique approach, however, was insufficient to change buyer behavior on a grand scale and generate revenues quickly enough to satisfy our goals for this product line. Hence, our decision is to close the Collection. "

That last paragraph is so telling.

Anatomy of a Magazine Story

2008-09-09T16:25:00.004-04:00

Via APE, Wired is giving everyone a look behind the magazine making curtain with a new blog called Storyboard.

"When we started talking about building this site last year, one of the first ideas that came up in our brainstorming meetings was the need/desire to "pull back the curtain" on the process of making (writing for, photographing for, designing for, producing) magazines. As the SPD continues to grow and expand its mission deeper into educational realms, the notion of (radical) transparency has stayed front and center in my mind. Heck, our magazine wrote a cover story about the trend back in our April 2007 issue.

Fast-forward to this summer. My friend and colleague, Jason Tanz, pitched a story at a WIRED editorial meeting about screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, he of Being John Malkovich/Adaptation/Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind fame. Charlie's a WIRED guy and has a new movie coming out, his directorial debut, Synecdoche. And as I'm sure you'll remember, his work is all about the search for meaning in the process itself. Very GEB: it's about the systems, the way the act of doing is meaning. In Adaptation, Nicholas Cage's character (Charlie Kaufman) writes himself into his own adaptation of Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief. We get to see the sausage-making and boy, is it fascinating.

Ok, so how did we get from there to here?

As is normal, we all chit-chat about the writing, our goals, the shoot, the layout, how we want the thing to turn out. Jason and I were at a little happy hour last week and got to talking about our hopes for the profile, since the very fact that Charlie had granted access was itself a coup. We're both big fans, but moreover, we've been wanting to do a little form-breaking.

Jason had the notion that we should inject some "Charlie Kaufman" into the making of the profile, go a little meta on the thing. That we walk our own talk. I was hooked. And so was Jason's editor, Nancy Miller. We got to planning. "What if we showed how we produced this story?" "What would happen if we broke the rules, we put the whole thing online as we produced it?" "What if we posted the edit--hell, the rough draft." "What if we posted the pitch letter?" "What if we posted the emails about the pitch letter?" "What if Charlie sees it?" "What if he hates the draft and refuses to cooperate for the rest of the reporting?" "What then?" "What if there was more story about the story than in the story itself?"

You can see where we went. And so, you can see where this blog is going.

And so here we are. A grand experiment.

It's all going online. Everything. Here, on this blog.

Stay tuned."

Upcoming events

2008-09-09T14:49:00.003-04:00

A list of some upcoming openings and events that may interest you:

Alessandra Sanguinetti at Yossi Milo Gallery, NYC.
The Life that Came
September 4–October 18, 2008
Artist's Reception: Friday, September 12, 6:00–8:00pm
Yossi Milo Gallery
525 West 25th Street, NYC

Events:

Aperture Gallery Presents: Collector's Workshop: Introduction to Affordable Photography
Amani Olu from WIP sponor Humble Arts Foundation speaks.
Moderated by Laurel Ptak
Tuesday, September 16, 2008 | 6:30 p.m.
Aperture Gallery
547 West 27th Street, 4th Floor
New York, New York
(212) 505-5555

Aperture Gallery Presents: Women In Photography Panel Discussion
WIP Founders Amy Elkins & Cara Phillips speak with WIP artists, Elinor Carucci & Robin Swartz
Moderated by Laurel Ptak.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008 | 6:30 p.m.
Aperture Gallery
547 West 27th Street, 4th Floor
New York, New York
(212) 505-5555

CCNY Presents: Erika Larsen
Oct. 7th 2008 7 p.m.
School of Visual Arts Amphitheater
209 east 23rd street
Amphitheater
$10 general public, $5 students with ID,
free to SVA students, students and faculty and CCNY members.

Call for Artists Art Gotham

2008-09-07T11:38:00.004-04:00

Art Gotham is looking for artists for its annual Square Foot Show/Election 2008.

"Politics and art? As impossible a mix as oil and water? Not necessarily. Has there ever been a more powerful anti war message than Picasso’s Guernica? The last year has shown that Americans want to engage in politics again. We do care what happens here and abroad. To celebrate the excitement now bubbling as the coming election approaches, Art Gotham chose the timely theme “Election 2008” for its annual Square Foot Show, which opens Saturday, October 25th and runs through Saturday, November 8th, 2008. Artists were provided with 12x12 canvases, and asked to think politically as they create works for the show. Nothing like a tough assignment for producing amazing results.

All artists will start from square one, a uniform 12x12 inch canvas, to create a fresh, new work from any medium (yes, photography and sculpture included). Canvases will be offered on a first come, first serve basis for $35 each which also includes the canvas, advertising, publicity, reception and art installation costs. All forms of payment accepted. Each artist can include up to six works of art. You can send a friend to pick up a canvas for you. Canvases/entry to the exhibit can also be given as a gift to an artist.

You will set the price to sell your Square Foot artwork! You will also be given a clear cover notebook insert to include your bio, resume, information on your art, images of your work, your website etc for collectors and curators to read more about you. ART GOTHAM’s Square Foot Show will be an excellent opportunity for you to promote your art to collectors, curators and and other gallery visitors. You will also meet many other artists. Art Gotham will choose artists for future solo shows from this group exhibit as well. This is a benefit for artists: you will receive 50% of the sale proceeds based on the price you set to sell the work."

REGISTRATION/CANVAS PICK-UP DATES
Saturday, September 6th 1pm – 5pm

Sunday, September 7th 1pm – 5pm

Friday, September 12th 1pm - 5pm

Saturday, September 13th 1pm – 5pm

Sunday, September 14th 1pm – 5pm

More details can be found here.

More from Isolation/identity

2008-09-07T10:09:00.005-04:00

I'm continuing with my Isolation/identity project. The image above is a woman I met while in Amsterdam. The morning light filtering into her dining room had a wonderful quality so that's where she was photographed.

Art Crawl with Aperture

2008-09-06T09:51:00.001-04:00

Last Thursday I went on an art crawl featuring Aperture artists' openings from Michal Chelbin, Paul Fusco, Josef Koudelka, and Polixeni Papapetrou. I was particularly drawn to Chelbin's portraits. Her subjects gaze calmly at the viewer, bathed in a gentle and hazy European light.

The exhibit is described as, "Exposing the world of performers and wrestlers across Ukraine, Eastern Europe, England, and Israel, Michal Chelbin reveals images that are both odd and ordinary to their viewers. The settings, costumes, and even some of the subjects themselves may seem exotic, but her portraits manage to unearth familiarity in the lives of her subjects. Strangely Familiar presents human stories from everyday life, those that exist in the space between fantasy and reality. By capturing her subjects in natural settings apart from their lives as performers, Chelbin creates a private moment for those who are living very public lives.

The exhibition coincides with the publication by Aperture of the monograph Strangely Familiar (essay by Leah Ollman), which presents the complete project."

ETA: Here's a post about Chelbin's work.

II Amerika

2008-09-05T15:02:00.001-04:00

My dear (and talented) friends are in a group show at ICP called II Amerika. The opening reception is on Friday, September 12, 7-9pm.

The photographers in this collection exemplify the cross-cultural nature of America. While living here- whether American born, foreign immigrants or just passing through - each one represents a facet of this diverse society and has a unique take on its culture. There is more here than just a geographical link; each photograph in some way addresses the nature of American life. These pictures are grounded in a particular American reality, a ‘New Americana’ if you like. Regarding the collection, Robert Stevens, former international photo editor at TIME and current ICP faculty member, identifies the notion that: “America, truth be told, is fractured into a thousand pieces. But it couldn’t be anything else.”

Originally premiered as part of Bushwick Open Studios in June 2008 and entitled simply AMERIKA,this exhibition—II AMERIKA—further expands upon the themes and issues addressed in the original, showcasing a broader spectrum of work and delving deeper into the nation's psyche. Though it would be a mistake to suggest this is a comprehensive review, there is here the making of a statement about where the country is today.

If America is a democratic idea, then Amerika is the social reality. These photographers live and breathe its air, they explore its people and its landscapes. They photograph what they find and their discoveries give us a better idea of the State of the Union than any Presidential address ever could. And to that, attention must be paid.

I Met the Walrus

2008-08-20T12:01:00.001-04:00

This is the recording of a 14-year-old Beatles fan named Jerry Levitan who snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in 1969 with a reel-to-reel tape recorder and persuaded Lennon to do an interview.

The recording has been set to animation by director Josh Raskin and was nominated for "Best Animated Short" in the 2008 Academy Awards.

Some of my favorite lines:

"Protest but protest non-violently because violence begets violence."
"Do everything for peace. Kiss for peace or smile for peace or go to school for peace or don't go to school for peace. Whatever you do, just do it for peace."
"It's up to the people... We can change it. If we really want to change it, we can change it."
"It's no good standing on the street corner shouting 'we want peace' and then beating up your mates. You've got to try and work your own head out and get non-violent."

Why Attend Portfolio Reviews?

2008-08-13T19:35:00.003-04:00

Mary Virginia Swanson provides a summary of why you might want to attend one.

Eleanor Hardwick

2008-08-13T12:37:00.006-04:00

Eleanor Hardwick is an English photographer I recently discovered. She has some beautiful images; there's a feeling of unease and whimsy in her work. And she's only 14 years old.

Tracking Down Those Twins

2008-08-11T10:49:00.001-04:00

Danziger, from The Year in Pictures, has an interesting post on tracking down Diane Arbus' subjects.

Back when the Met had on its Diane Arbus show, David Segal, a resourceful staff writer for the Washington Post, wrote an interesting piece tracking down a few of Arbus’s subjects, starting with the “Twins”:

They remember none of it. Not the lady with the camera, arranging them by a wall at the Knights of Columbus hall in their home town of Roselle, N.J. Not the chocolate cake they had just finished, which is very faintly visible in the picture at the creases of their lips. The Wade sisters, as they were known before they each married, recall nothing about the day they gazed into the lens of Diane Arbus and became part of American photographic history. Unless you count the dresses.

"We still have them," says Colleen. "Our mother made them," says Cathleen. "They look black in the photograph but they're actually green."

They were 7 years old in 1967, when Arbus found the girls at a Christmas party for local twins and triplets. Nobody is quite sure how Arbus heard about the gathering, but a few parents obliged when she asked their children to pose. Which is how the Wade sisters wound up on a sidewalk, standing close enough to seem joined at the shoulder, their expression a kind of spectral blank.

It would become one of the most famous photographs of the era's most compelling photographer. Arbus killed herself in 1971, at the age of 48, leaving behind a gallery of characters -- some of them spooky, some of them bizarre, all of them vaguely tragic -- who won't go away. It's a menagerie of weirdos we seem to have known all our lives: those two men waltzing at a drag ball, that Mexican dwarf, the grimacing kid with a toy grenade.

They've been handed a peculiar kind of celebrity, the kind you don't ask for and certainly don't expect. One day you're minding your business, the next day you're immortalized in perpetuity beside "Nudist lady with swan sunglasses, Pa. 1965," or "Transvestite at a drag ball, N.Y.C. 1970."

What's it like to land in this hallowed collection of "freaks," as Arbus once referred to her subjects? It depends on which "freak" you ask, it turns out. The great recurring theme of Arbus's work is a sense of otherness, and if you talk to a few of her subjects you realize that in some cases she discovered that otherness in people and then committed it to film, and in other cases she somehow imposed it.

"We thought it was the worst likeness of the twins we'd ever seen," whispers Bob Wade, the girls' father. He and his daughters are visiting the Met exhibit one recent afternoon and at the moment are standing a few feet from "Identical twins, Roselle, N.J. 1967," the image that is clearly the star of this show. It's featured on the publicity photo and there's a bench nearby so visitors can sit and stare.

"I mean it resembles them," Wade continues. "But we've always been baffled that she made them look ghostly. None of the other pictures we have of them looks anything like this."

You can read the rest here.

Sia's Breathe Me

2008-08-07T23:44:00.003-04:00

Sia will be performing at All Points West the three day music festival in Jersey City, NJ. Her video Breathe Me features the clever use of photos/Polaroids. I'll always associate that song with the final episode of Six Feet Under when Claire drives off into her future and sees her life flash by in a photo montage.

I found this version of Breathe Me that's even better than the recorded version.

Custom Shower Curtain

2008-08-07T18:20:00.001-04:00

I just found a site called PhotoShowerCurtain.com which sells 100% custom shower curtains. You send them a design or photograph and they will print it on your shower curtain. It's another example of using custom imagery and I wonder how some of my photos would work on this medium. Nude in the bathroom...I know, too obvious right?

Bread Body Parts

2008-08-07T17:15:00.000-04:00

Since 2006 Thai artist Kittiwat Unarrom (whose family also runs a bakery) has used dough as his medium to sculpt gruesome renditions of hand, feet, heads, torsos and other body parts. The results are unnervingly realistic with eyes, lips and other details constructed out of cashews, raisins and the like. A lack of hair and blood-like glazes make the work all the more creepy. Sold at his family's bakery in Ratchaburi, Thailand, he displays the parts wrapped like food in plastic and hung from meat hooks. Apparently, the art is in fact edible and tastes like regular bread.

Watch the video below to see Unarrom at work and some visitors' reactions.

Selling Solo vs. Working with a Gallery

2008-08-07T17:05:00.003-04:00

Ed Winkleman weighs in on Selling Solo vs. Working with a Gallery.

Manufactured Landscapes

2008-08-06T10:36:00.004-04:00

Manufactured Landscapes, a documentary by director Jennifer Baichwal, follows Edward Burtynsky to China, as he captures the effects of the country’s massive industrial revolution. I was already familiar with Ed Burtynsky's work and had often seen his prints hung throughout his photo lab Toronto Image Works while I worked in Toronto. Normally I'm not a fan of landscape photography but the scope of his work spoke to my interest in globalization and its effects on the environment. I was really looking forward to seeing this documentary but was ultimately disappointed. My expectation when watching a documentary about a photographer is to gain insight into their thought process either by hearing their commentary with particular photographs or seeing how they work with their chosen subject. Here, however, the director just tries to create a cinematic equivalent of Burtynsky's still images rather than a documentary on the artistic process of Burtynsky himself. So the end result is a film that would be better as a coffee table book.

Hey, Hot Shot! Opening

2008-08-06T10:32:00.002-04:00

From Hey, Hot Shot! "We are excited to announce the five photographers selected for the first edition of Hey, Hot Shot! 2008:

Juliane Eirich
Derek Henderson
Roc Herms Pont
Kate Orne
Colleen Plumb

Please join us for the opening reception for their exhibition on Friday, August 8. The show will be on view at Jen Bekman Gallery (6 Spring Street) through August 23."

How to Succeed in Commercial Photography

2008-08-04T07:32:00.000-04:00

This is a great video series with Selina Maitreya, author of "How to Succeed in Commercial Photography". If you need help defining your vision and applying it to your portfolio and website you need to view these videos.

Leigh Ledare's Oedipal Complex

2008-07-31T11:35:00.002-04:00

Every photographer has his or her obsession and for Leigh Ledare it's his mum. "The photographer recently released a book of images, Pretend You’re Actually Alive, which features his mother, a 59-year-old ballerina-turned stripper, in various stages of undress. Some of the pictures include lingerie and boyfriends; many feature a come-hither gaze that wouldn’t be so jarring if the photographer weren’t her son. Ledare, 32, says the project began about eight years ago, when he paid his mother a visit in Seattle. “Basically,” he says, “I arrived home one Christmas, and I hadn’t seen her in a year, and she came to the door completely naked.”"

The rest of the article can be found here.

Hipsterdom

2008-07-31T11:17:00.004-04:00

Adbusters has an article about hipsterdom where "We’ve reached a point in our civilization where counterculture has mutated into a self-obsessed aesthetic vacuum. So while hipsterdom is the end product of all prior countercultures, it’s been stripped of its subversion and originality."

"With nothing to defend, uphold or even embrace, the idea of “hipsterdom” is left wide open for attack. And yet, it is this ironic lack of authenticity that has allowed hipsterdom to grow into a global phenomenon that is set to consume the very core of Western counterculture. Most critics make a point of attacking the hipster’s lack of individuality, but it is this stubborn obfuscation that distinguishes them from their predecessors, while allowing hipsterdom to easily blend in and mutate other social movements, sub-cultures and lifestyles."

"Punks wear their tattered threads and studded leather jackets with honor, priding themselves on their innovative and cheap methods of self-expression and rebellion. B-boys and b-girls announce themselves to anyone within earshot with baggy gear and boomboxes. But it is rare, if not impossible, to find an individual who will proclaim themself a proud hipster. It’s an odd dance of self-identity – adamantly denying your existence while wearing clearly defined symbols that proclaims it."

"Hipsterdom is the first “counterculture” to be born under the advertising industry’s microscope, leaving it open to constant manipulation but also forcing its participants to continually shift their interests and affiliations. Less a subculture, the hipster is a consumer group – using their capital to purchase empty authenticity and rebellion. But the moment a trend, band, sound, style or feeling gains too much exposure, it is suddenly looked upon with disdain. Hipsters cannot afford to maintain any cultural loyalties or affiliations for fear they will lose relevance.

An amalgamation of its own history, the youth of the West are left with consuming cool rather that creating it. The cultural zeitgeists of the past have always been sparked by furious indignation and are reactionary movements. But the hipster’s self-involved and isolated maintenance does nothing to feed cultural evolution. Western civilization’s well has run dry. The only way to avoid hitting the colossus of societal failure that looms over the horizon is for the kids to abandon this vain existence and start over."

NYPD's finest

2008-07-29T12:48:00.003-04:00

Since I've rediscovered the joy of cycling I became interested in participating in New York's Critical Mass. While Critical Mass is viewed as a monthly political protest-rides, I couldn't imagine the situation would escalate to this.

The NY Times has an article about the incident. Bike Snob has a interesting take on the situation, "And one of the most important truths I’ve learned is that where there are crowds there is stupidity. When large numbers of people get together, stupid things happen, and you’re almost always better off simply getting as far away from the crowd as possible."

Young Women of the F.L.D.S.

2008-07-28T15:38:00.005-04:00

Last night I finished reading Escape by Carolyn Jessop, one of the most bizarre memoirs I've come across. A recent review notes, "Seventeen years after being forced into a polygamous marriage, Jessop escaped from the cultlike Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints with her eight children. She recounts the horrid events that led her to break free from the oppressive world she knew and how she has managed to survive since escaping, despite threats and legal battles with her husband and the Church. Though sometimes her retelling overflows with colorful foreshadowing and commentary on how exceptional she is, the everyday details she reveals about this polygamous society are devastating and tragic."

The latest issue of The New York Times Magazine has an article about The Children of God, discusses the world of the F.L.D.S., a radical sect of the Mormons.

Stephanie Sinclair of the VI Network took the pictures and I posted some of my favourites. You can also see them all in this slide show.

The Girl Effect

2008-07-26T18:31:00.002-04:00

The powerful social and economic change brought about when girls have the opportunity to participate in their society. Girl + education/opportunity/a fighting chance = change the world.

The Last Lecture

2008-07-26T17:02:00.004-04:00

Randy Pausch, 47, the terminally ill professor who inspired many with his 'last lecture', died yesterday. His speech at Carnegie Mellon University after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis became an Internet phenomenon and bestselling book.

There's an abridged version from his appearance on Oprah.

Slideluck Potshow deadline

2008-07-22T17:49:00.002-04:00

Don't forget to submit to Slideluck Potshow XII, the deadline is Thursday, July 24th. The theme is change but they also accept unthemed submissions.

Kinetic Sculpture

2008-07-19T17:40:00.003-04:00

One highlight from the BMW Welt in Munich is a mechatronic installation by ART+COM, the Berlin-based interactive media company. The project uses 714 metal balls that are individually suspended on barely visible strings, creating an seemingly weightless, amorphous mass. Each ball lowers and retracts independently, which allows them to approximate almost any form.

The installation moves through a cycle of classic and contemporary BMW car shapes from throughout the company's 90-year history. In between cars, it goes through some impressive routines, showing the creation's versatility. Take a look at one visitor's video below.

People who live in glass houses...

2008-07-19T17:24:00.002-04:00

In this video RISD president John Maeda narrates a visit to Philip Johnson's Glass House in New Canaan, CT. Maeda shares his impressions and talks about how it relates to his thoughts on simplicity.

Mini Rolleiflex

2008-07-17T14:52:00.002-04:00

From Shoot! TheBlog, Urban Outfitters (since when do they sell anything other than overpriced pseudo-Bohemian frocks from India?) is now offering a Rolleiflex Mini Digital camera.

5 Mega Pixel camera with autofocus technology, the Rollei Mini allows you to shoot from a distance of 4 inches to infinity, saving each image to a Mini SD Card. Still the undisputed choice for portraits, the camera features an up-facing 1.1" square display for waist level shooting, which encourages your subjects to go on looking and acting naturally instead of posing for the camera. Crank lever 'film advance"; JPEG image format; 4.9mm F2.8 Lens; 1/15-1/2500s Shutter Speed; Automatic While Balance and Exposure Control; Auto power-off. Imported. Wipe clean.

Unbelievable. It's so tiny and lovely.

NYC Gathering schedule

2008-07-16T16:20:00.002-04:00

Photoshelter has posted the schedule for the NYC Gathering on Sunday, July 20th. There's a panel on editorial photo editors moderated by none other than Rob Haggart of APE. I'm really looking forward to hearing him speak, he strikes me as a relentless advocate for photographers.

ASMP New York event

2008-07-16T14:50:00.004-04:00

ASMPNY is pleased to announce the opening of the image 08 winners show tomorrow on Thursday July 17th at Fast back creative! Open and free to all, refreshments and drinks will be served.

Ira Glass

2008-07-15T18:49:00.003-04:00

There's a great series on YouTube about storytelling. Even though Ira Glass is speaking about broadcasting and television, the advice he gives on doing creative work is apt.

Bad contracts

2008-07-15T18:25:00.002-04:00

At one of my group meetings, a fellow photographer asked me about a contract he had been asked to sign. He was concerned about some sections of the document, two in particular, where one referred to copyright and the other to damages to a third party. In my opinion it was a bad contract (i.e. highly disadvantageous to the photographer) but unfortunately in these cases of an adhesion contract (a contract that does not allow for negotiation) the only choice we have as a freelancer is to say "no" to such contracts.

Leslie, at Burns Auto Parts, has a related post.

The Awareness Test

2008-07-15T10:16:00.000-04:00

I've recently started cycling and have been reading many bicycling blogs. I came across this video which is a great example of being aware/paying attention.

The story of stuff

2008-07-11T11:56:00.002-04:00

Very interesting presentation on consumption here.

"From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever."

5 heads are better than 1

2008-07-02T12:37:00.002-04:00

I think the first group meeting went very well. The first thing I noticed that was common to us all as we tried to formulate individual goals, was how challenging it was to edit it down to only one manageable objective. We all had so many ideas and ambitions, especially as creatives where the lines between personal and professional goals blurred very easily.

My hope is that this sense of community and accountability will encourage us all to overcome those common creative fears and inertia and push forward. My recent posts make me sound like a cross between a career self-help book and motivational speaker. Ha.

First group meeting

2008-07-01T14:31:00.004-04:00

Tonight is the first meeting of my Photography Business Support Group (the capitals make it sound more official, don't they?) and I'm very excited about it. Basically, the group will meet once a week, for the next ten weeks, to work towards their individual main goal. Each week each person will present the challenges they faced and receive suggestions and advice from the group.

ETA: So far the biggest challenge will be time and how much of it people have to dedicate to something that is purely voluntary with optimistic but uncertain results. I'm getting discouraged as already people are unable to attend. It's difficult to organize people who, in general, do not think or act in a linear and analytical fashion. One friend reminded me that even if only a few people show up, I can still gain a lot from the process. Either way I've made the commitment to myself to focus on my short-terms goals once a week.

Lesson learned

2008-07-01T14:17:00.003-04:00

Time is valuable. It's something we all know to be true and yet this lesson was reinforced recently. I had been in contact with someone trying to set up an appointment and, for various reasons, I delayed on two separate occasions. These delays obviously frustrated the other individual to the point that they are now ready to forget the whole endeavour. I had inadvertently sent them the message that I didn't value their time and that was disrespectful. Thus I apologized and took this to be a good reminder that people's time is valuable. When we're late or when we don't return a phone call or email, we are not respecting the relationship we have with that person. Thankfully this will be an isolated incident as my father trained me to be chronically early.

AIM deadline

2008-06-30T12:17:00.002-04:00

The deadline to apply to the Bronx Museum of the Arts' Artist in the Marketplace is today.

From their website: "AIM comprises a twelve-week seminar program offered annually in the fall and the spring. Classes meet on Tuesday evenings 6 - 8 p.m. Enrollment is limited to 18 artists per semester. The program culminates with an annual group exhibition and accompanying catalogue.

AIM sessions provide information, instruction, and professional guidance by addressing areas of practical concern to artists, such as curatorial practice, copyright law, exhibition and public art opportunities, gallery representation, grants writing, income taxes, and marketing. A core set of workshops is annually enhanced by a number of guest speakers including artists, collectors, critics, curators, dealers, lawyers, and accountants."

Old is new

2008-06-29T11:14:00.003-04:00

Last night I rented Persepolis, the animated movie (for adults) about a young girl growing up in Iran during the Shah regime then later under the Islamic "republic". This moving autobiographical tale, based on Marjane Santropi's graphic novel, uses both stark and subtle black and white imagery to full effect. It's one of the best animated films I've seen recently, a stunning visual experience coupled with the heartbreaking narrative of Catherine Deneuve.

The commentary explains that, unlike most Disney concoctions, all the animation was hand drawn, the old-fashioned way. The director explains that computer graphics have a crispness and perfection that doesn't reflect the imperfection and flawed nature of human beings the way hand drawn images do. It was surprising to see an old technique being used to tell a story in an innovative manner. This brings to mind the feedback I received at a recent portfolio review. The two projects I presented included female nudes and portraits, both well-worn subjects in any art history discourse. However it was gratifying to hear that I had found a fresh way to interpret the subject and that my personal vision was present and strong.

TGP interview with Cara Phillips

2008-06-27T14:33:00.002-04:00

The Girl Project has an interview with Cara Phillips who's been documenting machines used in plastic surgery offices. I find the premise of her work very interesting as I've been looking at photographers who deal with female body image.

Photoshelter event on July 20th

2008-06-27T12:12:00.002-04:00

Photoshelter, the stock photography company, is holding several events on Sunday July 2oth, including Shoot! Anywhere, Shoot! on Location and NYC Gathering. If you're interested in signing up for any of them, log on here.

There's an audience?

2008-06-26T10:05:00.000-04:00

Two days ago, I attended a portfolio review and met with many of my friends/colleagues from school. It was a busy day but it was also a chance to find out what everyone has been doing. I was gently reminded more that once that I hadn't updated my blog in a while. What surprised me was that people actually read it and wanted some updates. I have an audience? Who knew? I started this blog as a way to record my involvement/interests with photography and art and a way to promote the efforts and successes of my fellow photographers. So in the spirit of not disappointing my readership (which now numbers about 12 people?) I'll try to post more often.

Women in Photography launch party

2008-06-12T12:11:00.004-04:00

Last night I attended the launch party of the Women in Photography blog. I invited some friends and had a chance to catch up with them. One of the things I like best about attending these events is the opportunity of meeting and connecting with other photographers. Often, as photographers, we are sequestered in our darkrooms, or offices and studios, and it can become a rather solitary practice. We conjure up all these ideas we want to explore in our projects, we work without receiving immediate feedback or rewards. While a commercial photographer recognizes the collaborative nature of photography, who may work with a team of stylists, make-up artists, art directors, producers and photo editors, many fine artists are left with their imagination and often little accountability. It was inspiring to meet others to plod along the path, who continue to pursue their vision and fund their work with creative means.

I've been mulling around the idea about organizing a photography meeting/support group and last night confirmed the need to do this.

Cara Phillips, one of the founders of WIP, writes about the launch here.

Amerika exhibit

2008-06-05T12:46:00.003-04:00

The opening reception for Amerika will take place tonight, Friday June 6th, 2008 at 7pm.

174 Bogart Street (at Scholes Street)
Studio 316
Brooklyn, NY 11206

AMERIKA is a part of Bushwick Open Studios & Arts Festival
www.artsinbushwick.org

Anti-hero exhibit

2008-06-04T11:18:00.002-04:00

Tom White, over at photographylot, pointed me to the Anti-hero show at Mountain Fold Gallery.

The show runs until June 28th.

Women in Photography premiere

2008-06-03T09:01:00.000-04:00

Women in Photography presents their premiere showcase featuring the work of Elinor Carucci.

Women in Photography is curated by Amy Elkins and Cara Phillips and will present a new solo exhibition of work from select photographers every other Tuesday of the month.

Amsterdam photos II

2008-05-31T10:33:00.001-04:00

Amsterdam photos I

2008-05-30T04:11:00.005-04:00

Among the many charms of Amsterdam, besides the enviro-friendly bicycles, the beautiful canals and, uh, the "coffeeshops", is the strong design you can find everywhere. I saw it in the architecture, the graffiti, the window displays, the clothing, the furniture; it seemed wherever I looked was either clean and minimal or had a bold and colourful esthetic.

Interview with Hellen Van Meene

2008-05-20T20:34:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about Hellen Van Meene's work lately. With my upcoming trip to Amsterdam, I harboured the slim hope I might be able to meet with her. I find her portraits haunting and intimate and her use of natural light so effective. Joerg Colberg, at Conscientious, has an interview with her here.

Managing your metadata

2008-05-20T12:45:00.002-04:00

Judy Hermann, past president of the ASMP, has an article about managing your metadata with part one and part two.

"Whether you’re managing a complex archive of images from a wide variety of sources, or simply trying to stay on top of your best family photos, applying and using metadata—often described as “data about data”—will make a huge difference in your ability to find specific images quickly and easily. It will also enable people who come across your files to find vital information such as who created the image and when and where it was created.

Metadata is a powerful tool, and software developers are rapidly designing improved methods for entering, viewing and searching metadata. This two-part series will help you understand what metadata is, why it’s important, and how you can best approach it depending on your goals. It will also provide you with some resources for getting more detailed explanations for your specific needs."

Business of art seminar by NYFA

2008-05-19T15:22:00.005-04:00

On Saturday I attended a seminar about the business of art entitled "Focusing on Funding and Finances for the Visual Artist" by NYFA.

There were morning workshops which focused on the specifics of funding, such as the types of funding an artist can receive, and how to create a project budget. Since I have never applied for a grant with such a detailed budget, it was very helpful to examine a couple of sample budgets, including the types of expenses one would incur and how to classify them. There was also an overview of the art funding world and understanding the different kinds of programmes available to artists. There was the usual advice, which bears repeating, such as 1) understand why foundations are formed (for tax benefits), 2) what their mission statements are, 3) look at who has been funded before and what the work looks like and ask yourself if your work fits the criteria and rubric. One fact the presenter pointed out is that some foundations have the same panel every year while others have a different one (so it's worth applying every year to the latter). It's always helpful to contact the grant officer, introduce yourself and your work and ask whether you should apply. This isn't something I've done before but I'll certainly do so now.

There was also a presentation on pricing your work. The speaker spoke about an artist's work that is produced from an inner, intrinsic process which becomes a product once it enters the marketplace. When pricing your work, you need to research your target market on a geographic, demographic and cultural level. What will the market bear? Pricing is more of an art than a science, you need to understand where your work fits in. Keep in mind there will always be a purchasor for your work but you need to find the correct market. For example, if you sell work in New York City, don't discount the work if you sell it in a different market such as the midwest; and sell your work at the same price as in a gallery (even if you don't pay a commission). Lastly, you need to hire professionals for certain aspects of your business, such as a lawyer, an accountant, insurance brokers (for both health and business).

The afternoon consisted of an artist panel. Each artist spoke about their work and they balanced work/life. In no particular order, they advised: you are the best representative of yourself, you are the product so take ownership and responsibility of your PR; instead of looking outside, engage in your own community, create your own context and audience. Any gallery show these artists got were through other artists. As I wrote in my previous post, they emphasized that persistence is one of the most important qualities as an artist, so keep applying for grants, keep entering call for entries and if you need help or information, don't be afraid to ask.

Sometimes you just need to ask

2008-05-18T15:58:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I attended a seminar (which I'll post about tomorrow) for visual artists. There was a panel of artists who spoke about how they supported themselves while funding their art. One of the more encouraging messages I took away from the presentation was that to succeed as an artist persistence is key, particularly in such a field rife with rejection. Instead of bemoaning why you haven't been included in such and such a group, create your own context and audience and engage in your community. Artists are often more generous than they are given credit for and if you need help or funding or information, sometimes, you just need to ask.

To wit, I'm preparing for a short trip to Amsterdam, and fired up by such advice, I contacted several photographers who live there, asking if they would be interested in an interview. I expected my message to be ignored or get a big, fat no. To my surprise, they replied yes and one had even seen my work. I'm so excited to meet them and become more familiar with their work and process.

Mini-lighting workshop

2008-05-14T10:22:00.002-04:00

One of the benefits of photo assisting is that you learn a lot about lighting and how different photographers use it. I'm becoming more and more familiar with the equipment and therefore a lot more comfortable handling it. Now if I can just develop some amazing biceps I'd be able to carry really heavy gear (and look good in a tank top). Last year at school I had various conversations with fellow students about how important it was to learn about studio/strobe lighting. Some protested, saying, "But I'm a photojournalist so I don't need to learn studio lighting" or "I'm an artist and I like to use natural light". Frankly I think they're now at a disadvantage, now that many of us are looking for work as assistants. I was concerned about working when school ended so took a lighting course every semester and assisted whenever possible.

Last night I met some friends at school and taught a mini-lighting workshop. I reviewed the basics and showed lighting set-ups that I liked to use. Hopefully they learned something new. They told me I'd be a good teacher since I was clear and patient. Hmm, never thought about teaching before...

A recent performance I attended

2008-05-02T10:05:00.000-04:00

2008-04-28T15:40:00.000-04:00

Isolation continued

2008-04-26T10:00:00.005-04:00

2008-04-25T07:23:00.000-04:00

I've been shooting my recent project in colour but when I go to a subject's home, I always bring a roll or two of B+W film just in case. Somehow a certain look, or background or lighting will compel me to use the latter. Not sure how these portraits will be incorporated into the final edit, if they'll be part of the project at all, but it doesn't matter right now.

New photo from Isolation/identity project

2008-04-24T19:09:00.006-04:00

I've been continuing my project on isolation/identity. I've been thinking about the nature of isolation and how we can be considered separate or "other" based on so many random factors, such as culture, or language, or our appearance, or sexual orientation or mental illness. Is this "otherness" something tangible or obvious? Does this immediately put someone into an "us vs. them" mentality? How does the idea of separateness express itself?

Commercial Portfolio Review with ASMP

2008-04-24T10:59:00.001-04:00

The New York chapter of the ASMP is hosting a Commercial Portfolio review on Wednesday April 30th. It's $300 for non-members but free for members and costs less to register as a one year emerging artist member at $125.

I spoke with the organizer Stephen Mallon and there are a few spots left.

Update on APE's free promo

2008-04-24T09:46:00.003-04:00

Rob Haggart has been making some improvements to his free promo, which includes the new name foliobrowser.com, the name of the photographer and links that go directly to the photographer's site.

ASMP call for entry

2008-04-23T13:44:00.002-04:00

Image 08 is a nationwide photo contest run by the New York chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers and open to all professional and student photographers residing in the United States. Submit one or more of your favorite images that were created on or after January 1, 2007. The deadline for entry submissions is May 14, 2008.

Promotion: Advice from an Art Buyer

2008-04-23T10:27:00.003-04:00

Heather Morton, an Art Buyer in Toronto, has good advice about how photographers should promote themselves. She talks about emails, mailed promos, websites, meetings and what to show in your book.

Introduction to collecting photography books

2008-04-23T10:21:00.002-04:00

Lesley Martin, publisher of Aperture’s book program, will speak tonight with Harper’s Books art book dealer Harper Levine, and Daile Kaplan, V.P., Director of Photographs, Swann Galleries Inc., and others in an Introduction to collecting photography books, a panel discussion. They will talk about what makes specific books valuable, and thoughts to consider in building a book collection. It should be a great night for photographers and collectors alike.

Introduction to Collecting Photography Books
Panel Discussion
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 | 6:30 p.m.

Aperture Gallery
547 West 27th Street, 4th Floor
New York, New York
(212) 505-5555

Zhang Peng

2008-04-22T19:05:00.004-04:00

I found out about Zhang Peng through Zoum Zoum, a French photography blog that's part of the newspaper Liberation. In my fantasy art collection, I'd love to add the above image. I looked like that when I was about 5 years old, except without the knife.

Tracking movements on your website

2008-04-22T09:40:00.003-04:00

Yesterday Rob Haggart wrote about how annoyed he was by a photographer who had tracked him from an email promo. He writes, "I think my enthusiasm for email promos and links to work on photographers websites was completely cut in half the day someone emailed me and said “I see you’ve been checking out my book” I actually looked for a portfolio in my office because I didn’t recognize the photographers name, “I just wanted to see if I can show you some more work or shoot an assignment for you.”

Then I realized they had tracked me from an email promo I clicked on and suddenly I felt duped. Are all the photographers secretly tracking my movements to see when I click on a link or how much time I spend on their website. Man, that sucks."

Photo Business News & Forum followed up with this post about email tracking.

Jessica Dimmock at Foley Gallery

2008-04-17T12:57:00.003-04:00

Jessica Dimmock's The Ninth Floor opens at Foley Gallery tonight.

All the equipment this photographer uses

2008-04-17T12:30:00.003-04:00

John Harrington writes a very informative blog called Assignment Construct where he analyzes an assignment and breaks it down into its parts. He also has a section called "What We Use" where he produced a series of videos that go from production meetings to finishing editing. What I appreciate is how detailed and specific John is about the equipment he uses and why. The list of videos can be found here.

Abortion for art's sake?

2008-04-17T12:25:00.002-04:00

Art student Aliza Shvarts is using abortion as a medium for art and political discourse. Her art project is a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself “as often as possible” while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages. The story is here as the Yale Daily News site has (understandably) crashed.

Aruha Yamaoka at Onishi Gallery

2008-04-16T10:13:00.006-04:00

The very talented Aruha Yamaoka is having a solo show at Onishi Gallery. I was privileged to be in class with her at ICP and had the opportunity to witness the evolution of her work and ideas. I find her self-portraits haunting and lyrical.

April 17 – May 10, 2008

Opening Reception: Thursday, April 17, 6-8 p.m.

Onishi Gallery

521 W 26^th Street (bet. 10^th and 11^th Aves.)

New York, NY 10001

T. 212.695.8035

F. 212.695.8036

www.onishigallery.com

Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.

A photo editor comments on the APE promo

2008-04-16T09:45:00.004-04:00

Over at WhatsTheJackanory, Andrew has an interview with Brenda Mills, photo editor at Men's Health magazine, for her take on the APE promo slideshow.

Some excerpts:
"WTJ: What do you think about the APE promo slideshow / idea ?

BM: I think that it is a great resource for photo editors, yeah... as Rob says, it is a nice SUPPLEMENT to the other ways we PE's find photographers--nice way to find more people and remind ourselves who we've always liked.

As for slideshow itself-there's one big weakness (besides tiny thumbnails which I mention later): The photogs who are deep in the slideshow are at a definite disadvantage because those who will get the most exposure/seen the most are the ones with images towards the beginning. I'm sure it's something Rob has thought of and will rectify/fix in slideshows to come.

*I'd very much like to know how Rob decided to put these images in order because there are some very established photog's right up front-not having had time to look at all 297 images yet, I wonder if that continues throughout ?...don't recall seeing that info in his text/blog. random ? by preference ??

*I really like that Rob doesn't list the names of photogs upfront (at first I thought that would be dreadful, but I was soon won over!)---makes you actually look at the darn image without reading the name and therefore reading your own preconceived notions about the photographer into what you are seeing--good move, Mr. Haggart."

"WTJ: So you didn't look at all 297 photographers images ?

BM: Not yet and THAT is exactly the problem. While I PLAN to go back and look lots more, with the way a photo editor's day works---lots and lots of crises and interruptions of all sorts throughout--once you stop looking, you don't know when or even if you'll have time/focus to go back. I DO PLAN to go back.

I think I got through 35 or 40--it takes quite a bit of time, actually, because I am seeing lots of pictures I like and then I check the name and then I go to the individual website if I don't know the photog. and then I take time on their website.

So ultimately it will be a very time-consuming yet extremely valuable tool.

WTJ: Were you surprised to see some big names in the mix ?

BM: A bit, yes. But I reckon that's a tribute to APE's appeal / influence / reach in photo community"

Made the cut

2008-04-15T08:52:00.005-04:00

Rob Haggart's free promo slideshow is now posted. You can view the full-screen version at ILikeThesePhotos. I'm very excited to be included among such talented photographers and frankly, rather surprised. My understanding was that Rob would choose more "commercial" images, whatever that means, but I decided to take a risk and send him photos from a personal project art project about female nudes in domestic interiors. Who knew? My thanks to Rob for his continued dedication to photographers.