Now this post features a side-by-side and some apparent airbrushing (or the opposite.) We are very thematic today.

Yup, Casio releases two new cameras today-- the Exilim Zoom Z300 and Z250. And they come with a "makeup" function.

Yes, you heard that right.

Now THIS is a much better form of copycatting. Well done, Saatchi & Saatchi.

Things that make you go hmmm....

file this one next to Why Photographers Need Insurance.

Continuing with our theme of craftiness today, here are some of Erik Boker's product dissections.

From Boker's project statement:

"I am interested in the notions of art as commercial product, art as artifact, and the nature of the museum, and I continue to explore our understanding of their roles, and the inherent beauty, humor, and horror that lies within them."

Horror is Aquafresh's thorax, spread wide for all to see.

Ohhh, good morning, my friends. Clayton Cubitt turned me on to these ten camera hacks yesterday, and I've been fascinated since.


I've been feeling a little under the weather, so it seems apropos to post the Rebecca Hinden's red eye camera; this one actually encourages red eyes. I like it. It makes my current look all the rage.



you can do it with a disposable camera.


(here's the process. this in itself seems like a work of art to me.)




If you want to go for the big guns....

Photographer Mark Tucker has finally gotten into the blog business; check out some of his first posts, and some behind-the-scenes images from his recent shoot for Jack Daniels.

Beautious:

Assistants Joel Hood, Casey Brooks, and stylist Shannan Shepard trying to dodge Rodney Irvin, as he dove off the Rope Swing, off Kitchen Hollow Road.

This website has captured my imagination. Here are three that have changed my life.

The captions are up to you.

Most Exciting. Gallery Press Release. Ever.

I think this is how Star Wars fans must feel when Mr. Lucas announces another prequel. Or not, since those have been known to suck. But this-- this will not. OK, I'll kill the suspense: Alessandra Sanguinetti is showing a continuation of her amazing series The Adventures of Guille and Belinda and the Enigmatic Meaning of their Dreams, entitled The Life That Came.

Full Press Release:

Alessandra Sanguinetti
The Life that Came
September 4-October 18, 2008
Artist's Reception
Friday, September 12, 6:00-8:00 pm

Yossi Milo Gallery is pleased to announce The Life that Came, an exhibition of color photographs by Alessandra Sanguinetti. The exhibition will open on Thursday, September 4 and close on Saturday, October 18, with a reception for the artist on Friday, September 12 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. This will be the artist's third exhibition at the gallery.

The Life that Came is the continuation of The Adventures of Guille and Belinda and the Enigmatic Meaning of their Dreams, an ongoing series of photographs following the lives of the young cousins Guillermina and Belinda as they grow up on their family's farm outside Buenos Aires. Cultivating an intimate relationship with the pair, Ms. Sanguinetti has collaborated with the girls since 1999, capturing images inspired by the expectations, fantasies, and fears that accompany the psychological and physical transition from childhood to adulthood.

This sequel to the gallery's exhibition of the series in 2004 carries the project forward to a new period in the lives of Guille and Belinda as they enter the adult world they once imagined. The fantastical tableaux of personal dreams and lively imagination of the early images give way to more meditative moments as the two cousins shape their own realities, encounter the fragility of changing relationships, and confront early motherhood.

Alessandra Sanguinetti was born in New York City in 1968 and currently lives and works in both Buenos Aires and New York City. Her work has been exhibited extensively abroad, including a solo show at the Museum of Modern Art, Buenos Aires, and is part of several collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the International Center of Photography, New York. She has been awarded numerous grants and prizes, including the Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, Hasselblad Foundation Grant, and Rencontres d'Arles Discovery Award.

__

Here are some of the new images. They're all grown up. Amazing.



Time Flies, 2005


Ray of Light, 2005

Yet another reason I need one of these things*.



iHologram - iPhone application from David OReilly on Vimeo.

The application works by assuming a constant viewing angle (35-45 degrees), typical for when the device is placed on a tabletop. The 3d scene's perspective is warped using anamorphosis, the same technique used in Hans Holbein's painting The Ambassadors. This application does the exact same but updates dynamically.

Hello, roosters! If Avedon's your man, then this fine Monday morning The New Yorker has a treat for you:

"This week's issue features a portfolio of entertainers from 'Richard Avedon Performance,' a new collection of rarely seen work by Richard Avedon due out in October. Avedon had an enduring relationship with performers: he was portrayed by one--Fred Astaire--in the 1957 movie 'Funny Face,' and throughout his career they remained among his favorite subjects."

charming:

Um, this isn't a real lady. Like, whoa:

"Extraordinarily lifelike characters are to begin appearing in films and computer games thanks to a new type of animation technology.

Emily-- the woman in the above animation-- was produced using a new modeling technology that enables the most minute details of a facial expression to be captured and recreated.

She is considered to be one of the first animations to have overleapt a long-standing barrier known as 'uncanny valley'-- which refers to the perception that animation looks less realistic as it approaches human likeness."


Let's all take the weekend to mull this over.

I heard today from the very cool Lou Mora about a new kind of photo agency that seems almost like a collective. I'm psyched about the name-- Wonderful Machine (!), and I'm psyched about the very simple interface. Photo Editors- you know when you need a photographer in Missoula on one day's notice?

Problem solved: just call Heath or Anne.

Aspen, Cleveland, and Tampa are also covered. Not to mention Edmonton.




We got some insider info on how the agency hopes to position itself:

"Ultimately, we intend to be a full-service, global photo agency with a web site that will be a primary destination for art buyers seeking high quality commercial and editorial photographers. We expect to max out at 50 cities in North America by the end of the year, then expand to other major markets around the world. We will have a select number of photographers in each location and no two alike. Though we will be as exclusive as possible with the photographers we choose, we will not require that our photographers work with us exclusively. Striking the right balance - in quality, quantity, specialty, and geography - will make us a logical first stop for clients.

We've created a business model that is unique in the industry, and it's one that we think will provide our photographers with the best possible bang for their marketing buck. It's a hybrid, combining elements of a web portal with those of full-service artist representation. What makes us different from other portals, is:

•  We have a limited number of photographers in each city/specialty, so your name will always stand out.

• We maintain a high standard of talent, so your photography will only be associated with other good work.

• Your photography will be actively promoted to a wide range of qualified prospects.
  

• We can assist you with estimating, production, and other consulting services."
  

It's fast and loose and consumer-ish in here today. I think even more than those Keds, I want a moon picture on my furniture.

I learned from Amy Stein all about customizable Keds, and I got really excited; I'm not someone who likes to put photos on everything, but Keds are IN for fall, so, you know, that changes everything.

I've been waiting for Obama all morning to tell me that he and Al are going for the big one, but he refuses to text me. I thought the two of them hugging would make a good photo for the shoes. Instead, I'll go with a campaign classic: the fist pound.

Whoa, PhotoShelter's now in the print-selling business. For a limited time only*, a select group of images are available in archival print editions. Seems like nice use of resources for an agency with so much incredible artwork.

I think I shall start with these eight. And then I will buy some more.


*cue car salesman voice


Julie Kuceris

Holy discovery!

Charles Weever Cushman, amateur photographer and Indiana University alumnus, bequeathed approximately 14,500 Kodachrome color slides to his alma mater. The photographs in the collection bridge a thirty-two year span from 1938 to 1969, during which time he extensively documented the United States as well as other countries.

From an essay by Eric Sandweiss:

"For thirty years, Charles Cushman documented a dying landscape in living color.

Packing his car with camera, lenses, and film, his tripod, his notebooks and--often as not--his first wife, Jean (who was not, to judge from the expression on her face in Cushman's occasional carside portraits, always a happy traveling companion), this extraordinary amateur photographer pursued a life on the road, and in the streets, of mid-twentieth-century America. Whatever its effect upon his marriage, Cushman's peripatetic compulsion did result in a remarkable gift to future historians, photography lovers, and students of Americana.

For here, framed through the lens of his Contax IIA camera, saturated in almost embarrassingly vivid colors, springs to life a world that we had long since resigned ourselves to viewing only in shades of gray. The America that we thought we knew, whether through the self-conscious artistic starkness of the images of Berenice Abbott and Walker Evans or through the polished middle-brow poses of Look and Life, is revealed as being but the shadow of a world no less full and tangible than our own. In Cushman's work the past becomes, for an instant, impossibly present."

A mere five selects:


Hydrant Party, Hagerstown, Maryland, July 1940



Emmet Flynn as old Leather face in the Movie "ARIZONA" on the set, April 1940



Elephants' jockeys mount. Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey circus, August 29, 1943



New Ford in Niles Canyon, February 1958



Pumpkin farm at Verdi Road and California Hwy 1, September 1968


See so, so much more, here.

Which came first?

I was thinking about LA yesterday after that job announcement, and came across some of Alan Greth's images in the collection. SO LA, SO '80s, SO crazy. I'd love to give a novelist (or an alien from another planet) these three images and see what they come up with.

A little about Mr. Greth:

Alan Greth has been a working photojournalist since 1986 when he started his first staff photographer job at the Whittier Daily News in the Los Angeles area. Greth Worked for the Associated Press as a Staff Photographer and a stringer. He has been Director of Photography at the Oakland Tribune and and most recently Executive Photo Editor at the Contra Costa Times in California for the past eight years.



Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan reaches into hit coat pocket as he walks out of a Sees Candy store in Century City, Calif December 8, 1989. Reagan was Christmas Shopping.

Like photography? Like LA? A little mole at a big museum sent us a special memorandum. Check it out. And don't say I never did anything for you.

___

Los Angeles County Museum of Art
MEMORANDUM
Date: August 19, 2008

To: All Staff

Subject: Job Opportunity in the Photography Department

Associate Curator

Photography Department

Reporting to the Curator/Department Head of Photography, the Associate Curator handles both curatorial and collections management related responsibilities for the Photography department, involving preservation of the Museum's collections, research and dissemination of information about the collection, as well as the organization of exhibitions and acquisition of art for the collection.

Some essential duties include: interpretation, cataloguing, and study of permanent collection; generating, planning, and implementing special exhibitions; fundraising for acquisitions and exhibitions; donor/artist/trustee relations; responding to both public and scholarly inquiries; docent training; collaboration with Conservation and Collections Management departments to ensure preservation of the collection.

The qualified candidate will have a Master's degree in Art History or in Museum Studies with a Photography specialization, and at least three to five years of experience involving museum curatorial work, collections management, and teaching at a college level. An equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered. Previous supervisory experience and a record of publications are strongly preferred. The successful candidate will have exceptional written and oral communication skills.

All I can say is whoa. I mean wow.

There's an almost embarrassingly rich field of photographers in Beijing; I wrote about Vincent Laforet's blog last week, and found two more incredible Olympic repositories today, from Contact Press Images photographers Kenneth Jarecke and David Burnett.

These two have drastically different styles and are both incredible shooters. I think I just lost my afternoon.

In any case, I chose two images from each to show you-- one gymnastics, one field hockey (a personal fave). So go for the gold and check these blogs out.


Kenneth Jarecke's Mostly True






David Burnett's We're Just Sayin

1. A photo

I visited David Black's site last night and was greeted with a truly spectacular sight: Daft Punk. In helmets and leather.



With smoke....



of many colors.



Turns out the shoot was for this:




And, of course, there's an anecdote. And it's funny.

From our photographer:

"I used color smoke bombs and made the mistake of leaving them in my carry-on bag when catching a flight at LAX. I ended up getting arrested and the bomb squad came to the airport. No joke, it was one of the scariest experiences of my life.

Best!

David"


Yowser! Stop Smiling, indeed. I hope that was on the way back from the shoot.

kaboom.

The talk this morning about family blogs made me remember Nicholas Nixon's Brown Sisters-- a series of thirty-one portraits of his wife and her sisters that he's made since 1975.

The women are always shot with a view camera, and appear in the same order:
Heather, Mimi, Bebe, and Laurie.

I think they're rather melancholy. But still beautiful.

Here are some of my favorites:

we're not your ordinary stock company. we're more awesome.

What follows is a one of our periodic Star Search announcements. Seriously, folks; if you're looking for a position and you meet these qualifications, this is a hell of a place to work (free slim jims, etc.)....

PhotoShelter Sales Team

PhotoShelter is seeking a highly motivated and energetic Account Executive to fill out its direct sales team. While our clients range from editorial to advertising to graphic design, both domestic and international, we are interested in talking to sales people with experience and networks in any of these areas. We are also open to meeting candidates with relatively little direct experience, but with a great attitude and a natural sales DNA. Compensation will be a mix of cash and equity, with a focus on commissions (base salary will be reasonable and commensurate with experience).

Requirements

• At least 2 years experience selling at a major agency or comparable photography sales experience. If no direct sales experience, at least a working knowledge of the commercial photography industry and the desire to work in a sales capacity.

• Ability to work with Director of Sales to define and achieve your sales territory + targets

• Good personal network to support your initial efforts.

• Work with Director of Sales to brainstorm marketing ideas + photographers to recruit to the site.

General Qualifications

• Outstanding sales skills but as a real person with a passion for and understanding of photography, who can relate to our clients on their level and not just as a sales person

• High energy, smart, focused, self-starter

• Love for sales + ability to respond well to a generous commission plan

• Must love entrepreneurial environment and the chance to really build something with little management or direction from above

• Ability to work great w a team

• Desire to work with cool people in a focused and fun environment, with tons of latitude to do your thing well.

About PhotoShelter
The PhotoShelter Collection is a global stock photography marketplace where photographers from 130 different countries contribute over 4,000 new images daily for rights-managed and royalty-free licensing. Through PhotoShelter, photographers keep an unprecedented 70% of every sale, compared to the industry standard of 35%. The Collection provides image buyers with a freshness that results when accomplished pros and undiscovered hobbyists share their distinct perspectives in an edited collection designed to add diversity and authenticity to any project. To see our community in action, visit www.photoshelter.com.

If interested, please send your resume here.
 

A sweet, sweet treat for us today, my pretties. Emily Nathan, who shoots lustrous, gorgeous lifestyle and travel work commercially, sent over some scans of a personal project she's getting underway. And the project is Fairy Tales, which I think pretty much nails the zeitgeist on its darling little head.

Nathan was kind enough to share quick web scans with us, which is awfully generous-- I can understand when people want to wait until a project (or one's files) are complete. These here are straight off the boat from Romania, where Nathan shot her last five tales. Seems fitting, right?

So consider this a sneak peek. Or a little taste-- like porridge. Find the one that's just right.

Ahem. As per usual, I asked some questions.


What made you decide to start a project about fairy tales? is it about nostalgia, or storytelling, or both (or neither)?

The project evolved out of a conversation with an editor I have worked with at the New Yorker. She was looking for a modern image of Adam and Eve and was wondering if I had one. I didn't, but the request sparked my interest. I feel a pretty deep cynicism towards most conceptual photography but I liked the idea of working with allegorical stories. I liked delving into deeper questions and levels of meaning through the conduit of stories we already know.



What do the darker images mean? The portraits? Are they allegories for things in your own life?

The darker images are a more literary look at the characters (a closer reading). When I started researching the Grimm stories again I was reminded about how very dark they are! Fairy tales are creepy! All sorts of awful stuff transpires.  Trying to nail down any of the stories in one picture (an initial goal) has been a big challenge because so many bad things happen in most of the stories. (I generally avoid depicting the horrific stuff though because its not my thing).

Also-- so much of our cultural use of fairy tales is really twisted. Every fake-boobed bottle-blond freak on any MTV reality show is always talking about the fairy tale wedding she wants or is spending 500k having. Real fairy tale weddings usually have someone getting their eyes burned out with coals, or their heart plucked out by ravens as well as the doves flying around.



The portraits and personalities are the way I see the stories. I am looking to find the timeless characters (via casting and directing during the shoot) within the models. But at the same time I am  trying to bring the models' individual humanity and quirks to the timeless characters. The viewer should bring the rest.




Why Romania?

Oh lots of reasons. It's Romania-- come one!

What's your plan for this project, how long do you think it will take; have you already decided which characters you want to portray?

The project is really evolving as I shoot it. I have always wanted to just shoot rather than think through photos in the past. I could care less if a picture has great thought to it but isn't fascinating and beautiful to look at (even in an ugly way! Pictures of ugly or difficult  subject matter can still be beautiful in some way). As I do more and more production with clients I have found that the meetings and prep for big jobs have really lead to better photos in many cases. Still, by forging ahead and  shooting though I am building the direction of the project and seeing what really shines.



From the start everyone wanted to know if I was doing a book. At first I thought no (because its so much work and money for each image-- I couldn't imagine a whole book) but now I think a book and a show would be amazing. I think a book with a few images from each story as well as some contemporary fiction with stories that relate tangentially might be perfect.

I am trying to portray characters that are well known and that are immediately recognizable. So not sure how many and how much time (or money!) I have shot seven stories so far. I think 15-20 would be more than enough (and I have my next project in-mind as well). Likely it will take another year or two to get there.


Does your commercial work contribute or inspire the project? I know you shoot lots of kids--- do they play into some of these fairy tales inadvertently?

The commercial work pays for the project!  I have learned so much from commercial work about production. Also-- since I shoot so much commercially, all of the assignments I have done obviously then become the tools I use when shooting for myself.



I love working with kids because I am a watcher. I like to put people in situations (and sometimes clothes, locations, light, time of day etc. and photograph how they truly respond--- as well as direct them).

Kids do well under those circumstances. Kids also live more easily within their imagination than adults. If I could work with some great adult actors I think they would work for the tales as well. Maybe not-- maybe real people would be fine. Hmmm. I don't know. Kids are the heroes of fairy tales and my pictures are simple (not a lot of room for all the secondary people) so I guess I focus on the heroes? I am also clearly a sucker for natural beauty and kids are usually more naturally beautiful...

This Japanese family has the right idea; this blog is one of the coolest, most beautiful ways to document family life that I've seen.

Of course, I can't read a word of it, but I was transfixed by the imagery alone. Here are some of my favorites:

I don't know about you, but I don't handle change well. So when I went to PDNOnline this morning, I was a little taken aback. It's all different! It's grayer! There's a community section!

I calmed down a little when I got playing with the new "Compass" feature, which has a rad map situation that zooms in and out on other members' locations. I do like a map.

Anyhoo, Haggart's talking about it, and it seems like the future. I nailed down my buddy Daryl Lang, News Editor and all-things-awesome over at PDN, to tell us what's what.



This is Daryl Lang. Photo by Danny Tsui.

Hey Daryl! What made PDNOnline decide to change its look?

It was time. Web sites have changed a lot since PDNOnline's last redesign. To take one thing, people have gradually migrated to higher-resolution computer screens and faster Internet connections, so we have more freedom to play with wider layouts and bigger photos. Also, our readers have become much more comfortable with nontraditional formats like blogs, forum posts and videos. The new site is better organized to wrangle all this extra information. There are also a lot of technical improvements that might not be obvious. For example, we have a new search engine that's much better. This is a good place to mention that the new site was a team effort involving many people from PDN and Nielsen Business Media's digital media group.

What new features has the site added?

This site brings together a couple of PDN sites that were previously isolated from one another. It's easier for readers to find information from the PDN Gear Guide site, our PhotoServe directory, our Photo Source guides and our PDNedu publication for students and educators. We have a slick new events calendar that's going to be jammed full of exhibitions, contests and photo shows. Our forums are a lot better. And we have just launched PDN Compass, which is a community site for photo professionals.



What purpose is the community section intended to serve? Is it sort of like Facebook meets a photo forum? Is it aimed primarily photographers, or industry professionals, and will it be able to connect the two?

We looked around and saw a couple of excellent social networking sites for photographers who specialize in one thing or another. And we saw lots of photographers active on LinkedIn and Facebook, which are much more generalized. What was missing was a community site for everybody who works in photography-- photographers, editors, creative directors, assistants, techs, retouchers, curators, educators, you name it. We decided to build one and connect it to our forum, which has gotten increasingly lively in the last few months. Communities like this are only as good as their members, so it was important that we make it welcoming and easy to join. It's free, of course. You don't have to subscribe to our magazine. As it grows, our tech team plans to build on more features. To start, the killer ap is the map.

I'm psyched about the map function, Daryl! Tell me about that!

We hope it works as a simple, visual way to bring photo professionals together. You can search the map by location and specialty. So if an editor wants to find, for example, a photojournalist in Florida, they can locate everyone who meets that description, check out their Web sites, and get in touch. Or if you're planning a trip and want to talk to somebody who's familiar with where you're going, you can find that person and ask for advice. The more people who join, the more useful the map becomes. Did I mention it's free?

In what other ways is PDN planning to take over the world?

I'm thinking reality television. America's Next Top Photo Editor?

__

You heard it here first, Bravo TV.

Check out the new site here, and click on community to add your profile to the mix.

digital file from original nitrate neg


I feel compelled to post some versions of Dorothea Lange's famous "Migrant Mother" image. This was one of the pictures that resonated with me during my very first photo class at RISD a gazillion years ago; I chose Lange to profile in my requisite slide presentation, and have been fascinated by the FSA photographers ever since.

A few folks have alerted me to the PBS film on this topic that's airing tonight, and the related article in the Times: "Documenting the Face of America: Roy Stryker and the F.S.A./O.W.I. Photographers" shows how the small Farm Security Administration's New Deal project to document poverty turned into a visual anthology of thousands of images of American life in the 1930s and early '40s."

Sounds unmissable.

One of the thing I like so much about the FSA works is that they're public domain; they show an incredible cross-section of America, and they belong to all Americans. It seems downright patriotic to me.

Something I've been meaning to do forever is to order a "Migrant Mother" print. It's amazing how easy and inexpensive this is to do. I also went searching in the Library of Congress' online vaults, and I found out some interesting things about the print. They provide three versions (you can also download very high-res files and print them yourself). The version up above is  the original nitrate negative for "Migrant Mother". It was retouched in the 1930s to erase the thumb holding a tent pole in lower right hand corner. The file print made before the thumb was retouched can be seen in copy negative (second image below).

There's also some more information about the people in the image:

"Destitute pea pickers in California. Mother of seven children. Age thirty-two. Nipomo, California" 



digital file from print


digital file from b&w film copy neg. of unretouched fileprint showing thumb in right corner


It's pretty unbelievable how easy it is to order a print-- printed by a real person no less-- from the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog.

Here's the pricing structure. Looks like I'll be getting an 11"x14" fiber print (since it's from a nitrate neg) for $78.00. Pretty good deal, I'd say.







Check out more available imagery-- you'll be owning a piece of (beautiful) history for nearly nothing.

A double-dose of Juergen today: first a profile and discussion of his W Magazine fashion shoot in New York Magazine, and second, the pictures and parse in W itself.

It's a bit confusing, I admit. We'll do it by numbers:

1. New York Magazine piece (accompanied by the cutest JT picture I've seen yet)



"Juergen Teller, the photographer, has spent much of this summer Tuesday editing a shoot commissioned by W Magazine about the art world in New York. The star of the shoot is the 47-year-old actress Tilda Swinton, who has been dressed up as everyone from an artist to a gallerist to an insecure collector mid-Botox procedure. She's accompanied by artists like Rachel Feinstein and collectors like Renée Rockefeller. The whole thing looks fairly dark; the lighting is not gentle or flattering, and if any of the subjects has a pore, or a sagging breast, well, there it is.

'Most fashion photography is done by gay people finding women sexy,' Teller says, 'which is sort of not sexy at all, at least to a heterosexual man. She's so retouched, so airbrushed, without any human response at all, and, well, you don't really want to fuck a doll.' "


2. The W fashion piece; Tilda Swinton, Rachel Feinstein, Heather Mnuchin, Renee Rockefeller, Yvonne Force Villareal and more of W's favorite fashion icons slip into fall's best looks.



"Looking one moment like a Park Avenue matron and the next like a punked-out artist, Tilda Swinton is doing what she commonly does when she alights in a city from her home in the Scottish Highlands: gallery hopping.

But on this particular weekend in New York's Chelsea, she is portraying an assortment of über New York women for photographer Juergen Teller. Inside Barbara Gladstone's gallery, wearing seven-inch stilettos and a silk miniskirt, she gets down on the floor and raises herself into a shoulder stand, jackknifing her legs so that they dangle precipitously. At Andrea Rosen, her 5-foot-11-inch frame skyrocketing another 10 inches atop platform wedges, she pokes her head between the hairy legs of one of David Altmejd's colossal sculptures of giants."

__

OK, UM... hmmm. You know, I just don't see these pictures and think "oooh, let me pick up Fendi's 24k gold-infused mink jacket (in the picture on the left) or ooh, I must have Ralph Lauren Black Label's lambskin pants" (in the picture on the right).





I mostly just think: "good god, these are some ugly and unfortunate images. What a waste of a good Tilda."

I think Juergen may have finally gone too far. Am I wrong?

I hate to be repetitive and reference The Times twice in a row, but the Women's Fall Fashion 2008 Style Magazine was out this weekend, and I learned some things:

• Penny loafers are back. It's best to actually put pennies in them.

(This fine loafer is by Cole Haan)

• Penny-colored hair is in. My guess is that Joan from Mad Men had a hand in this.

Weatherproof Garments on left, Catherine Maladrino on right

• Rachel McAdams is better off in 2008 than 1988, with all due respect to Raymond Meier. Et voilà:

• And most importantly, Coppi Barbieri can shoot a beautiful eye. I would point out that even beauty shoots are now referencing animals, but I think we've been through that. In any case, these are beautiful beautiful. They lose a little at 522 pixels, but you get the point. My favorite's the goldfish-- it matches our penny theme.

Hed: Dreamstates
Dek: Where the Eye Collides with the Natural Order

I've been amazed at some of the work I've seen coming out of Georgia and Tbilisi in the past week. Much of it has been in The New York Times, and much of it has been from Reuters. Many of these images feel quite raw and unfiltered.

There was an incredible slide show yesterday in The Times.

You can see slide shows on Reuters' site too; take a look.

Here are two that are seared into my brain.

This is not Toronto-based photographer Finn O' Hara. This is an Underwater Hockey player. Wait-- you think Underwater Hockey doesn't exist?! Let's ask Finn about it:

Finn! tell me about this Underwater Hockey project! How'd it come about? Are you showing it anywhere? How do they hold their breath so long?

It kinda started with a conversation with friends about high school, and the strange games that they made us play in gym class. I recalled playing Underwater Hockey, where we spent more time humiliating and punching one another underwater than trying to play the game. My friends didn't believe me, and claimed that there is no such thing as Underwater Hockey. I set off to prove them wrong, and googled "Underwater Hockey" to find some proof of its existence.

Much to my surprise, it's a huge international game, played in over 20 countries, and very organized. I had just started research into shooting a series on strange games, so I thought this would be a perfect subject to cover. It even turned out that there were several clubs nearby, so I called them up to see if I could photograph their games and tournaments, and they readily agreed.

I'm not showing it anywhere at the moment, but I would like to find a gallery or publisher that would be interested in exhibiting or publishing the strange games series. As for holding their breath, they're extremely talented swimmers, and with the use of a snorkel and fins, they can really cover a lot of pool. It's a tough sport too, hence the armored glove, head protection, and mouth guards. I've seen a few nasty cuts and heated arguments while shooting.










Finn! Tell me about the Mountain Dew assignment-- what was the concept for the shoot? Did you find it personally fulfilling-- did it mirror your own work in any way? What was the final response?

The Mountain Dew work is portraits of the characters from a commercial film shoot I worked on in the Spring. The Director of the shoot is a friend, Chris Hutsul, and they needed stills that were to be used in collaboration with the video.

The characters were formed around a campaign that never actually launched, unfortunately (I added the retro Mountain Dew logo to identify the work on my site). It was a total drag that the campaign got canned. As you can see, the wardrobes were hysterical, and the casting was done mostly through craigslist, which added a huge layer of authenticity. And yes, it was fulfilling, for sure. It fit in with some of the creatives that I'm working on now. Stay tuned!

Whoa, Blade Runner smokes a doobie and watches Koyaanisqatsi; that's how this makes me feel. Maybe I should rethink LA.

watch.

Here's a more informative description, from Shape & Colour:

Created by Brian Levi Bowman (a CD at the legendary Digital Kitchen NY. Amongst Digital Kitchen's legendary-ness is the best credit sequence to any TV show in the history of TV-- the mesmerizing opening to "Six Feet Under") and cinematographer Rod Lamborn; they eloquently describe the beautiful collision of physics and poetry that was the catalyst idea for their film:

"The philosophy of materialism holds that the only things that can be truly proven to exist is matter. Fundamentally, material composes all things and all phenomena are the result of material interactions; therefore, matter is the only substance and can neither be created or destroyed. Hence, we are all made of only what came before us yet discretely conceived through form; we are all made of earth and sky and stars."

I'm not crazy about all the bath scenes; they may ring slightly cheesy, I think, but the time lapse footage is stunning, and there are some amazing stills.

That magical thing in photo is translating over to film...

What nice ears you have....


photo by Robert Whitman

and you!


photo by Joseph O. Holmes


UPDATE: Triple Take!

I'm in a Troy Williams kind of mood today. Bemused. Confused. Like this bird in a cloud.

I'd forgotten all about Liu Zheng's work until I came upon his book, The Chinese, during my move last week. Fitting, with all this Beijing in the air. I remember seeing this show at Yossi Milo Gallery in 2005 and being overwhelmed at the strength and just plain strangeness of the imagery.

Zheng quit his job in 1997 and spent seven years traveling around the country with a Hasselblad.

More info, from the Yossi Milo press release:

"In 1994, Liu Zheng began photographing moments in which archetypal Chinese figures are encountered in contemporary incarnations - and often in extreme and unexpected situations. The resulting series, The Chinese, portrays a society wrestling with the contradictions between traditional culture and modernization. The series presents a broad cross section of society including the wealthy, the poor, transsexuals, coal miners, opera performers, as well as waxwork figures in historical museums.

From 1991 to 1997, Zheng worked as a photojournalist for Workers' Daily, one of China's most widely distributed newspapers, in a culture where photography was historically linked with political propaganda and Communist ideology rather than a documentary tradition that equated photography with truth. He began work on The Chinese during an explosive period of change and growth in the contemporary art scene in China catalyzed by national policies of reform. Drawing on his background, Zheng utilizes photography as a tool for constructing false reality. The lighting and poses in these square format photographs all appear candid, but in fact, staged tableaux and spontaneous images coexist in the series.

Influenced by both Diane Arbus and August Sander, The Chinese presents the viewer with a personalized study of Chinese culture, concentrating on the dark side of its psychology. Through his photographs Zheng performs an intricate balancing act between harsh reality and romanticism, between engagement and detachment, seeking to reconstitute Chinese history in the process."

Here are two of my favorites:

From Black and White Cat:

"This was one of a set of pictures Xinhua sent out on the wire late on Friday night. An hour and a half later, Xinhua sent it again, this time with a notice to all clients: 'This photograph has been withdrawn. Please do not use.' "

I was strangely saddened by the news of Playgirl's print passing last week; I somehow have nostalgia about this magazine, although I'm not sure why. I thought we might take a trip down cover memory lane together, and explore the magazine's trajectory. They started off in 1974 with Burt, which is an auspicious a start as any, I imagine.

Along the way they had some truly classy folks posing for us-- Meryl and Chevy, oh my! And don't forget to notice those A-list photographers; Brigitte Lacombe and even Annie Leibovitz got in on this action.

But by the '90s they were on to celebrity stock, and in the '00s-- well, you'll see.

Playgirl December 1974

Coverguy
Burt Reynolds photographed by David Meyer

Features
Is Howard Hughes Dead And buried Off An Island In Greece?
Photographing Pain And Pleasure
The Presidency: Overnight From Party Hack To Divine Absolution
Exciting Centerfold - Sexy Apres Ski - Nude Hotdogging

Playgirl November 1979

Coverguy
Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep photographed by Brigitte Lacombe

Features
Dustin Hoffman: Why Hollywood May Force Him To Give Up Acting
Tricks To Make You A Better Bedmate
Lusty Latin Lovers: Red-Hot And Handsome
Meryl Streep: The Freshest Face In Hollywood

Playgirl August 1980

Coverguy
Chevy Chase and Jane Seymour photographed by Norman Seeff

Features
Shirley MacLaine: Why It Takes More Than One Lover To Satisfy Warren Beaty's Big Sis
What Every Woman Must Know About The Presidential Candidates Before It's Too Late
When Your Relationship Is Falling Apart - How To Mend It
Special Nude Pictorial: The Rich, Sexy & Powerful Men Of Wall Street

Playgirl October 1984

Coverguy
Matt Dillon photographed by Annie Leibovitz

Features
Superhunk Matt Dillon: The James Dean Of The Eighties
Special Nude Spread: Bachelors Of Beverly Hills
Men's Sexual Secrets: What He Never Tells You
Go-Go's Backstage With Rock's Top girl Group

Playgirl August 1998

Coverguy
Matt Damon photographed by Globe

Features
The Sizzling Men of South Florida
Hollywood's Hot Young HeartThrobs: Top 10 New Leading Men Matt Damon Leonardo DiCaprio Will Smith
Faking It: Super Curves Without The Knife
Summer Lovin': 20 Ways To Seduce A Sexy Sun God

Playgirl March 2008

Coverguy
Alex Hawn (nude inside) photographed by Eric Schwabel

Features
Mission: Irresistible
Doggy Style: The Controversial Bounty Hunter Speaks!
Celebrity Sex Scenes!
Centerfold Anton: Wondrous Woodsman

Oooh a real treat on the blog today, Rachel is excited! You know why? Because she's got the Jack! Yeah, that's an AC/DC reference, mmhm.

OK, in all seriousness, pay attention here. This is a multi-layered blog attack and you're going to need all your brain cells. Put the Scrabulous down. Above is a picture of Mr. Andrew Hetherington. Aside from being a rather fantastic photographer, he's also become a mainstay of this cozy little photography blogtown with whatsthejackanory. I was reading this thing back when I was in blog diapers, and I've learned a lot.

SO, today Mr. Hetherington has an image featured in Jen Bekman's genius 20x200. I'm not going to tell you which picture, but it's on this page somewhere, and it rhymes with shoo(t).

In honor of this awesome and auspicious event, I've asked Mr. Hetherington 20 quick questions.

Here's an additional exciting bit:

If you can identify the man who is not Mr. Hetherington in question 17, you will win one of Mr. Hetherington's books. Two are available.


Let's GO!


1. andrew! what is your current state of mind?

Optimistic.

2. what do you consider your finest photographic achievement?

Escaping death on a Swiss Alp as an assistant. I was inches away from slipping off a 4,000 ft. peak had a saving hand not intervened.

3. vodka or gin?

Beer please.

4. what picture has the best wall space in your house?

Big red apple. Right above the bar. Gift from Mrs TH.




5. dream shoot?

A fulfilling one.

6. desert island. you can only have one companion: a photo editor. choose one.

Impossible to choose. They are all my favorites.

7. same desert island. film or digital?

Film

Kodak 160NC 220




8. favorite beatle?

Ringo. He married Barbara Bach from the Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me.




9. biggest photographic inspiration?

Life.


10. brand of shoes on your feet right now.

Vans slip ons. White of course.




11. last camera you shot with?

 Hasselblad 503cw.




12. name of your childhood pet.

Had a goldfish. Can't remember his name.


13. you can only shoot advertising. client of choice?

 A repeat one.


14. you can only shoot for cute overload. animal of choice?

A  Cow.




15. first concert you went to without your parents?

Big Country. RDS Dublin 1983.


16. most visited website?

Shoot the Blog of course. first thing every morning. right after http://news.bbc.co.uk/


17. What photographer were you most excited to take your picture with?
 
This guy. He's such a badass.




18. first picture you took that you were proud of?

My father just mailed me this one he stumbled across

maybe from1985

in Dublin

I was mad into the cycling

processed and printed it myself in the bedroom darkroom

wish I had pictures of that set up




19. motto?

He who dares wins.


20. how much money would you accept to shave your beard?

Enough for round the world tickets for two. Business class. Not to be greedy.


---

SWEET. OK, a reminder. Things you must now do.

1. tell us who the dude is in #17 to win one of these books:

2. Check out the 20x200 Hetherington edition.
3. Look at Andrew's pictures, words, and available stock.
4. Have a pleasant and fulfilling day.



moo.

This morning's turning up a little low-brow here on the blog. I can't control it, the blogosphere chooses its own rhythm. I figure you won't mind, since yesterday was all nuclear cakes and atomic curatorial talent.

What's got my photo goat today? The US Weekly gallery: Can You Believe They Dated?

Um, no. NO I CAN'T.

1. 1967

News of another Street View incident hit the airwaves yesterday, this time after a man had a bit too much to drink and took a nap on his front lawn. Personally, I think it's a coup to get your mug up on google (think of the ad dollars you're saving!) But perhaps this fellow feels otherwise.


In any case, this is a nice repose. It's NEARLY a Christina's world!


Since we're on the subject, my top three Google Street View Moments:


3. Does that house belong to you, Puffin?




I smell, yet again, a screenplay opportunity.


thanks jc.

I received this "media alert" in my inbox last week and did a triple take. Behold:

MEDIA ALERT

What:
Introducing Bond Street Gallery, a new gallery for contemporary photography, located in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. The first exhibition opens next week and is titled Young Curators, New Ideas. A group exhibition organized by Amani Olu and curated by Alana Celii & Grant Willing (Fjord Photo), Michael Bühler-Rose, Jon Feinstein (Humble Arts Foundation), Laurel Ptak (I Heart Photograph), Amy Stein, and Lumi Tan (Why + Wherefore).

The exhibition examines different trends and perspectives in contemporary art photography through the bias of six new and seasoned curators. Each curator (or curatorial group), using roughly ten feet of space, aims to engage viewers in a discussion on where he or she believes art photography is today.

__

Um, WHOA. That's a crazy A-List group of curatorial folk! I decided to have a little chat with one of these curators, specifically, Humble Art Foundation's Jon Feinstein, who is also a photographer. I asked him about lots of things, but found the conversation about the rise of mysticism and magic in contemporary photography especially interesting. The photographers Feinstein chose-- Hannah Whitaker, Talia Chetrit, Noel Rodo-Vankeulen, and Ann Woo, represent a new canon of rising stars in art photography.



This is Jon Feinstein.

Jon! This Bond Street show has quite the young curator star list! How did you become part of the show?

Totally. I'm psyched to be a part of it! I've worked closely with Amani on Humble Arts Foundation shows for the past few years so it was pretty natural for him to invite me to participate.

How did you become a curator in the first place-- I am a big fan of your portraiture; how do you balance doing your own work and the curatorial stuff? Do they feed off of each other?

I got into curating while I was still working as a photo editor for Heeb magazine. While I loved working on editorial and fashion shoots, my background was in art photography, having studied under Stephen Shore (and other amazing professors who I won't name drop at the moment) at Bard, and I wanted to do something more in line with those interests. I started working at a stock photo agency and met Amani, who had begun brainstorming ideas about Humble Arts Foundation.


Jon Feinstein, Bob and Lindsay, 2003

We got to talking about our backgrounds in magazine editing and photography and came up with the idea for Humble's original inception, group-show.com, which at that point was a simple monthly showcase for emerging photographers. It has now grown to include online solo shows, affordable limited edition prints, a grant program and about four physical shows per year. We have a big group show coming up in Chelsea in the fall, as well as our first Humble promoted physical solo show which will be announced soon. It's incredibly daunting to be making my own work simultaneously so I try to keep it as separate from Humble as possible, but am incredibly inspired by all of the work I've been seeing over the past few years.


Jon Feinstein, Ben, 2003

Where do you think the new interest in photographic mysticism came from? From NASA's astronomy picture of the day, to Hannah Whitaker's rainbow bunny, I'm seeing (and loving) this stuff everywhere. Is it particular to our generation-- to our notions of "futurism" and "fantasy"? Does World of Warcraft play a role, mayhaps?

I think this new "photographic mysticism" is incredibly interesting, and has many more layers than just light, color, prisms,etc. I think the larger umbrella of new mystical explorations in photography can in some ways be interpreted as a step beyond postmodern and narrative photography. While earlier generations of photographers were exploring identity politics and notions of truth and representation, often through staged photographs, this new "movement" seems to be focused more on form and photography's physical properties, not only for their aesthetic value, but but for their metaphorical qualities as well.


Noel Rodo-Vankeulen, Geode, 2008


Hannah Whitaker, Apple Tree

I see both as being incredibly influenced by painting, but while Crewdson or diCorcia may have been influenced by both Hopper and some of the surrealists, this group of younger photographers, especially Ann Woo and Talia Chetrit, seem to be playing with much more abstract ideas of expressionist painters like Rothko and Barnett Newman. As for trends in photography, I think the growing attention to this kind of work in some ways may come from a desire to create work that is as controlled as the staged work that was studied in college photo classes, but without relying on excessive budgets and other people's schedules. I was talking to a photographer a few weeks ago about how so much of this work can be made from a photographer's studio or home, and really takes the idea of "making" photographs to an entirely new level.


Ann Woo, Lisa, Sunset



Talia Chetrit, Spectrum, 2007, Inkjet, 2007

How do you see your future in the industry? It's so interesting to see so many of these young curators multi-tasking as designers and photographers... do you think there's a new trend in the curatorial world to make it more accessible, now that things like blogs and small arts organizations are gaining more of a foothold in the industry?

I'm not quite sure where I see my future in the industry. Much of my curatorial work will operate through Humble (unless of course a major institution invites me to curate a show, but that hasn't happened yet :) ), but my main aim is to continue to curate bodies of work that are not only pretty to look at, but are informed and challenging and push the medium of photography forward. I definitely think there's been a growing trend in online-based photo organizations, and it has democratized photography at an amazing rate.


Hannah Whitaker

As long as the editing and curation is tight, informed and well organized, I think it's a wonderful thing. What I think is so great about the development of new/online curation is that it has allowed new ideas to flourish with more focus on work that is challenging, and less on what is potentially saleable. As for my own work, I have a couple new projects that I have been developing over the past year which will be officially "launched" within the next few months. Some of this work is going to be  in a couple shows that will be opening in the fall in NYC and Chicago.


Did you coordinate your image and theme ideas with the other curators, or were you all on your own? What's your favorite photo in the show (will you tell me)?


Gerald Edwards III, Investigation into the Disruption of Power, 2006


We were pretty much all on our own. Since there are such unique visions from the curators involved there has been little overlap and I think the show will feel incredibly varied. I won't comment on my favorites from my own show, but I've seen some previews of Laurel's animated GIFs presentation and think it's fantastic. I also love Gerald Edwards' image (which was used as the postcard for the show) which is featured in the Fjord show and Ofer Wolberger's "Maggie" series, which is included in Amy Stein's show. I haven't seen any of the other work yet so I can't really comment at this point, but I'm excited!


Ofer Wolberger, from the Maggie Series
___


Here are the specs for tomorrow's opening; If you're in New York and you like photos and rainbows, it's pretty much a must:

Want to be lost for hours among your compatriots? Check out Bill Jay's archive of photographer portraits. The info:

"Throughout my professional life as magazine editor, professor, and lecturer, I have been privileged to meet many of the most famous photographers of the era. Whenever I felt that the camera would not intrude or disrupt the situation I have made snapshots of these moments. The following "gallery" is a preliminary selection from the more than 1,000 portraits in my files. More images will be added at frequent intervals, if there is any interest from viewers. One hundred portraits with extensive commentaries are due to be published by Nazraeli Press; the two-volume publication is in the final stages of preparation."

Jacob Pritchard is getting on the free print bus, and I'm a fan. There's almost nothing that excites me more than artists sharing art with one another. (fyi: If you want to come to the PhotoShelter office with one of your prints, I'll trade ya for one of mine.)

Anyway-- here's Jacob's model:

"Every time I throw a post up here, I give away a free, signed 6×9 print (and if it's a diptych, you get two!) I like tangible things and I want to get my pictures in people hands. Frame it and hang it up. Put it on your fridge with a magnet. Put it in your safe and wait for Charles Saatchi to discover me. It's yours to do with what you want.

After I make a post, the first person to e-mail me with 'prints' in the subject line gets a free print (and here's a tip.. if you want a better chance of being the first, you can subscribe to e-mail updates).

I'll ship to anywhere in the world.

No strings attached here. I pay for shipping and I won't save your e-mail address to pester you somewhere down the line."

Jacob, I think this is the awesome. Here are three pictures on your site that really grease my wheel (and no, I'm not hinting.)

You're looking at (a) the most powerful nuclear bomb in U.S. history. And (b) some folks cutting an atomic cake. (c)!

a. beautiful
b. hilarious
c. terrifying

Where were these images taken?




Click on the link below to find out.

How to pack for the Olympics, if you're Vincent Laforet.

1.


2.



3.

Yesterday I saw my favorite Olympic portrait yet-- that of marathon runner Ryan Hall, shot for The New Yorker by Martin Schoeller. I think the use of in-camera tricks like forced perspective are far too rare these days.

Here is the picture:

Is it forced-perspective, or is it some sort of composite? Hall stands 5' 11''...




Here's one. See more at Ace Gallery.

Fun fashion spread alert!

"To celebrate the 2008 Olympics, Lane Crawford, the Chinese luxury retailer, commissioned 12 fashion designers to each design a uniform for their favorite sport."

Photographer Chad Pitman documented some of these for the Times.

OK- time for another interview, and this time we'll ask more than one question. Today we're speaking with Joshua Lutz, whose new monograph Meadowlands is blowing my mind. I've actually been following this work for several years; I would check back on Lutz's site from time to time to see what new images had been added, so I'm very excited to see it completed in book form.

I myself am completely fascinated by the Meadowlands-- I had the "what is this place?!" moment when I first took New Jersey Transit about ten years ago, and I think Lutz's exploration nails it in the most lyrical, wonderful way.

Anyhoo, on to the questions:


How did you get started with the Meadowlands project-- are you from New Jersey, or did you just come upon the area and feel fascinated?

I'm not from New Jersey at all. I grew up back and forth between the suburbs of New York during the week and the city on the weekends. For me the space outside of the city was always the suburbs I lived in. When I first saw the Meadowlands I was completely blown away at this vast open space with the Manhattan skyline in the distance. It was this space that existed between spaces, somewhere between urban and suburban all the while made up of swamps, towns and intersecting highways. None of it made any sense to me, still doesn't.









I love the mix of portraits and landscapes in the project-- how did you search these people out?

I didn't take any portraits for the first 7 years of exploring. I met a lot of people, but never took their picture. I have a bit of tunnel vision when I work so it's hard for me to switch back and forth between different systems of working. When I finally made the switch it was pretty easy to put together the list of people that I wanted to return to.







What's the story of this picture... did you just, um, happen upon a corpse?

I did not just happen to pass upon a corpse-- with that said, I am going to be a little vague. As fond as I am of documentary photography I think that we have come to a point in the history of photography where we need to think about photographs more in the way we do paintings and less in the traditional sense of a document. For that reason I generally don't caption or title my work and I try not to say too much about the process of making my work. I like the ideas of possibilities and the more I talk about them the less experiences people can have with looking at them.









How did the book deal happen-- and how are you able to balance your fine art and commercial projects? What pays your rent?

I met with Craig Cohen at PowerHouse and three quarters of the way through looking at the work he said, I love it-- let's do it. It was the first meeting I had and I canceled my other meetings that I scheduled for later that month. That was a year ago.





Balancing the fine art and commercial work is something that I am getting better at. I was at a place for so long where I wasn't working enough or selling enough prints to hire someone yet working too much to not hire someone. A lot has changed this past year. I have a few people that are able to tolerate me on a daily basis and help me manage the balance between fine art and commercial work.

Todd Selby, who is a master of the light and airy environmental portrait, has all but scored a 68 point word in Scrabulous with his new, daily updated website, The Selby.

I'm not even going to shame it with the moniker of blog-- it's so much cooler than that. Every day we get a look into someone's lair. Todd reminds us to "check back for new shoots of people and their possessions in their environment." Oh, and we WILL, Todd!

What fun, for example, to see outtakes from the Tom Wolfe piece that ran in the London Guardian.


tom wolfe
author at home
new york city
2007


And to be a voyeur in the Nylon offices? Love that plaid dress, lady!



marvin jarrett
editor in chief nylon magazine at work
new york city
july 23 2008



This, I do not have to explain to you. Seems Brett also owns a DeLorean. wow.



brett simon
director at home
venice beach california
august 4 2008


Who doesn't like a multitasker with a bat?



erin wasson
multitasker at home
new york
july 30 2008

The Martin Parr article made me think of young photojournalists who are out on their own gathering stories that interest them first, and pitching them second. I've covered a few of these folks, including bright young thangs Matt Lutton and M. Scott Brauer.

I thought this would be a good time to highlight some of the work of 25-year-old Mark J. Davis; I love it when you can get story ideas by looking at someone's pictures--  Here are two groups of photos, one from Chile, one from Romania (and a single from Bolivia), that tell quite a narrative.



Luis Espinoza carries in nets of shellfish after a morning of work, Caleta El Soldado, Chile. The fishermen set out in groups of three to the open sea in small motor boats to gather the shellfish from the sea floor. Typically two divers collect the shellfish while an assistant mans the boat, regulating the air compressor and sorting the product before it is taken to the streets to be sold hours later.



Evelyn Montecino, left, works with JosÈ Aravena and Angelica Parraguez near their house in Caleta El Soldado. They are part of an eight member group contracted by the Chilean government to beautify their community. The initiative is an attempt to keep unemployment down. They are paid minimum wage, which is slightly above a dollar an hour.

If you haven't read it yet, you must run to PDN online and check out the interview they've got up with British photographer Martin Parr, who has an uncanny knack for making a witty image that works both in a fine art and documentary forum. Parr is represented by a little agency called Magnum, and works hard to shoot things that are interesting to him; he's got some very interesting views on the future of the editorial market.

Here are some choice little quotes from the Q&A with David Walker, and some of Parr's recent work:

"I don't regard myself particularly as a photojournalist. I'm a documentary photographer. The idea of my work is to try put my finger on the zeitgeist of what's happening. That's constantly changing and shifting. I'm not interested in photographing things that are disappearing, although I've engaged in a slight bit of nostalgia. I'm interested in things as they are now."


From a project documenting the ostentatiously wealthy population of the world

"I've been doing a set of pictures called Luxury. Wealth to me is as much to me the front line as poverty traditionally was."



From a new project begun in 2006 documenting the beach culture of South America


"I'm not waiting to be assigned. I go to places I want to go and see how they fit in. If I wait for the phone to ring, for me to go to the places I want to go, it's not going to happen. So I determine where I want to go, and then try to get the magazines to help."



From the third Moscow Millionaires Fair in November 2007, shot for Esquire Magazine


"Another story I did last October was about millionaires in Moscow. I did the Gulf art fair. All these things in the end have been quite beneficial to me in terms of sales. And they're constantly adding to my portfolio of work. It's a big jigsaw puzzle I'm trying to work out as we go along about my relationship to the world we live in."



An editorial fashion shoot for Stiletto Magazine


"It's a highly competitive market. Clearly one of the things that potentially distinguishes you is that you have a known voice in photography.

Picture editors like to commission new, exciting photographers. They'll take that risk. Of course, it's not easy. If it was easy then everybody would be at it. There are more magazines now than ever before. But they have to be filled with something. I agree that I'm in a better position than most. I'm in a very privileged position, and it has taken years to get there."

Ryan Allan added some helpful comments to the last post, and I thought I'd have a look at his site. Rather nice. It looks like a book, but it's a website!

Simple, attractive, and easy to navigate.

Take a look.

Q: How do you get thirteen images in Rolling Stone Magazine as well as an additional online feature and please a photo editor so much that he crows to photo bloggers about you?

A. You make awesome pictures, you work for lots of magazines and newspapers, and you win some awards; essentially, you make yourself very visible. That's what Travis Dove did.

Rolling Stone senior photo editor Sacha Lecca found Dove's work and gave him an assignment for a venue he'd already shot:

"I saw his work (recognized by WorldPress) on the underground skate park, Skatopia, in Rutland, Ohio and was blown away.

We loved the place, and Travis' work, so we sent him back to Skatopia to cover this year's BowlBash, which is an annual summer event complete with hardcore bands, drinking, blowing shit up, and skating. The story is great, and the photos are amazing."




Here's Travis Dove, and here's his bio:

"Travis Dove received his BA from Wake Forest University in 2004. A year later he began freelancing for newspapers in North Carolina's Research Triangle.

Travis is currently working towards a Master's degree in photography at Ohio University's School of Visual Communication and was named the 2007 College Photographer of the Year by the Missouri School of Journalism. Pictures of the Year International, World Press Photo, The National Press Photographers Association and the White House News Photographers Association have also recognized his work. He will be shooting for The Boston Globe in the summer of '08 before moving on to an internship with National Geographic Magazine in the fall."


You don't become successful by being lazy, my friends. Here are some tears from the Skatopia piece:

I may be the last to know about Steven Hirsch's Courthouse Confessions blog, but I'm riveted nonetheless. I dare you not to be. Sad and hilarious and brilliant.

Here's Janet:

___

Janet Braha.

I stole a bra. I did. 'cause I wanted it, and I didn't have enough money. Actually, I'm not [the bra type,] it was very loose kinda bra, very comfortable, very tempting. I begged them for me to take it, but they wouldn't let me, they said I couldn't come back to the store for three more years. Urban Outfitters.

Sure, I would [do it again.] I had so much fun coming here to court, I met beautiful people, and I saw that it's not as bad as you think. They were all laughing, the whole time through, we were laughing, joking. Stay good, don't do bad things, you know? Do good things, don't steal.

I just needed one. That was a lacy, nice color, light blue one. I just liked it. They came to my house because I missed a court date because of the holiday, and they came to take me in. Knocked on my door and took me. Shavuot. See, now they're gonna say all these Jewish jokes about stealing. Cheapness. I'm giving my people a bad name by stealing. Yeah, I think so. I wanna do better. I wanna be a better human being.

I'm having a hard time with money. I'm having a custody battle for my children, they were taken from me by my ex-husband. And, I wouldn't steal normally. But things are getting hard to keep up with. A comfortable, good, nice bra...hard to find.

If anyone can keep a L'Oréal secret, it's the Secret Service. I wonder what Obama's team knows about his follicles. This seems like an apropos time to post some pictures from the campaign trail; these are by Scout Tufankjian, who's been with Obama since before Iowa.

All of her campaign images are uncommonly good, but I especially like these. Little secret narratives, each of them.

photo by Andrea Galvani


photo by Peter Sutherland


more!

Total blogging kismet; I received an email from Steve Boyle this morning:

"i can't for the life of me find that post about the guy that shoots floaters in Europe i think. There was a video showing the people doing the moves on the street then being amazed by the pictures afterward...i want to show the video to a friend. can you hook me up!?"

OK, um, Steve- you have some magical powers, dude. Because I never posted those floaters. I thought I was going overboard on that particular score.

These images, which were made by Denis Darzacq, have been sitting (or hovering) in my drafts folder for months. Above is the video to which Steve refers; I actually didn't even know about that, but I put two and two together and found it on youtube. It's pretty cool.

There are some great quotes from the dancers/jumpers (they all seem charmingly insecure about their performances, but then are thrilled by the final images)... my favorite:

"but when you see one frame alone, the rest doesn't matter."

Ah, photography is so awesome.


Below are the Darzacq's floaters, rescued from wordpress drafts (these are from the series Hyper, 2007):











Ready for a floatasm? Go here.