Lately I’ve been looking at a a lot of fantastic photo sites as well as individual photographer’s blogs. Let me just say, you can waste way too much time in front of the screen looking a great work.
This morning on Facebook one of Greg Miller posted this link to a post on 500 photographers which urges photographers to step away from the computer and go make some art. Great post. I then proceeded to spend an hour looking at pictures on 500 Photographers.
Another Photolucida has come and gone and once again my head is reeling with all the great work I was fortunate to be able to view. As with any organized review there was a wide range of work from artists of varied backgrounds and disciplines, people pushing the outer limits of technology or using antique methods to achieve their own visions. It can be overwhelming and often I found myself at a loss, lacking the vocabulary to speak intelligently about images that come from places so far outside of my own sensibilities.
As a roving reviewer I spent Saturday and Sunday looking at bodies of work from a wide range of photographers, conceptualists, documentarians and most everything in between. I probably saw probably 20 or so photographers, here are a few highlights:
Wendy Sacks’ haunting, stylized images of children floating in water reflect death & loss: http://web.me.com/sacksw/Wendy_Sacks_Photography/Welcome_1.html
Jeffrey Sauger’s long term documentary on black farmers: http://www.wherefurrowsrundeep.com/
Michael Tummings series on European hunters: http://www.fractionmagazine.com/artist/michaeltummings
Thomas Michael Alleman was in town showing Sunshine and Noir. We’ve known each other for many years via Bigshot Stock Was good to share a beer and stories in real life with him, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to see his prints. All the same take a look here: http://www.sunshineandnoir.com/
I was also lucky to meet Jamey Stillings and he showed me his fantastic series on the construction of the bridge at Hoover Dam. I had seen a couple of prints in conjunction with group shows and parts of the project on the web but seeing the real prints was simply amazing. http://www.bridgeathooverdam.com/
Saving my favorite for last, Jennifer B. Hudson produces elaborately staged and stylized images that are so stunning I was simply left speechless. I pronounced her an up and coming rock star in the photo world and expect to see her work everywhere soon. See samples here: http://www.jenniferhudsonfineart.com/#home/
It’s such a treat and truly humbling to see so much great work being done by such a varied collection of artists and reaffirms my love for the medium. Thanks to Laura Moya and Shawn Records for letting me review work.
When I first saw those bunnies on the cover of the New York Times Magazine I sort of chuckled and of course my youngest daughter shrieked how cute they were. Then I discovered the images were made by Jeff Koons, and I chuckled again. I’ve always had a hard time taking Koons’ work seriously. Looking through his catalogue I always get the feeling he’s having a laugh at getting one over on the critics and pseudo intellectuals of the art world. Even more so when I learned he hires out the actual production of many of his works to artisans or assistants. I have also been very outspoken in my disdain for his and other post modern artists’ (Richard Prince, Thomas Ruff) liberal theft of the work of photographers to use in their work.
So I remain confused why I like these pictures so much. Perhaps it’s the context of the story, their appearance on Easter Sunday or maybe I simply agree with Aubrey, that they are really, really cute.
The Magazine has been publishing some fantastic photography lately, as it almost always does. Elsewhere in the same issue see Tina Barney’s fantastic portrait of Norris Church Mailer. Or Ashley Gilbertson’s portfolio “The Shrine Down the Hall” from a few weeks ago. It’s a pleasure to have such a source for excellent, challenging imagery in this world of shrinking print media outlets.
Friday’s entry in NPR’s series on color photography reminded me of cool story I was a part of. In 1985 I was hired to assist Joel Meyerowitz on a Sunday afternoon as he scouted locations for an ad shoot. When I picked him up at his hotel he told me he really just wanted to go to the Amon Carter Museum in Ft. Worth to see Avedon’s recently debuted “In the American West” exhibition.
While walking through the exhibit I looked on as a young man was setting up to take a picture of his young daughter in front of one the photographs. Almost immediately a security guard appeared, telling the young man photography was not allowed. I recognized the man as John Harrison, the subject of the photograph along with his daughter, an infant when Avedon had made the image and now appearing to be about 6.
John Harrison, lumber salesman, and his daughter Melissa, Lewisvile Texas, 11/22/81 by Richard Avedon
I quickly grabbed Joel’s attention, who asked if he might take the man’s picture, explaining he was friends with Dick Avedon and he would send Mr. Harrison the picture as well as give one to Avedon. The guard agreed as long as there was no flash, which Joel’s Leica was easily capable of doing.
So I looked on as Joel made a dozen or so exposures of Mr Harrison and his daughter smiling in front of the large mounted Avedon print.
Mr Harrison was genuinely grateful and seemed only to want a picture of his daughter and himself, no doubt unable to afford one of Avedon’s prints and seemingly oblivious to the fact that the two photographers he had been photographed by were Richard Avedon and Joel Meyerowitz.
Dear friend and long time co-conspirator Susan Seubert is speaking about her dual career today at Portland Art Museum. Sorry for the late notice.
My buddy Alan sent me this link. Photographer Michael Paul Smith, a former museum display designer, created models and superimposed them in real backgrounds to recreate the midwestern town of his youth. This is the coolest thing I’ve seen in a while:
Check it out: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/35299392/ns/today-today_home_and_garden/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1
More images on his Flickr page here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24796741@N05/sets/72157604247242338/
Mike Floyd just sent me the link this morning to something called Pilfered Magazine, a photo blogozine exclusively featuring images stolen from various sources on the web and submitted by viewers. This month’s cover features an Irving Penn image. But beyond that individual pages don’t even credit the stolen photo to the original creator.
Their about page says:
“Its founders, artist Patrick Hoelck and creative director RUDJ, together with their team (Nate “Res” Harvey & Mia Van Valkenburg), have in the past spent hours surfing the web to put together presentations for various commercial ad and editorial jobs…and noticed the hours it took to gather images and felt it was time to have a massive image collective shared by the people, for the people.”
What a load of crap. Theft is theft whatever you want to call it and however fancy you want to design it.
Over the years I’ve been lucky to work with some great young assistants who have gone on to become very successful photographers and artists themselves. Here’s just a few to check out: