My Prints available on The Feature Shoot Shop right now!

Three of my prints (shown below) are available on the Feature Shoot Shop including one of my all time favorites, Balls, from the Lofoten Islands in Norway. Thanks Alison!



Balls, Lofoten Islands, Norway Rona Chang



Stuck, Huacachina Oasis, Peru Rona Chang



Ring Toss, Wuhan, China Rona Chang

The One Week Countdown

Collocation No. 14 (NATURE) Mickey Smith

ONE MORE WEEK. One more week, until I close on THE Apartment. I'm crossing my fingers that it will go smoothly. It has taken FOREVER for this to go through. In the meantime, I've bought some art from 20x200 to decorate my walls. I'm really excited about the Mickey Smith diptych, which may go in the kitchen. I think it will go nicely with the colors I have in mind. I have been a fan of Mickey's for about a year or two now and am so glad I can afford these two prints!!!



Howan Hosang Park

I've been saving Howan and Logging Camp in my inbox since they were both released (along with Collocation). I'm glad they were all still available when I was ready to buy them. Sometimes these things sell like hotcakes and I take too long to figure out that I want them. Now I just need to get my act together to matte & frame them. So pumped to decorate!



Logging Camp, Kham Raul Gutierrez

The Searchers & more

American Shiva Devotee, High on Ritual Hash During the Night of Shiva Festival Sasha Bezzubov and Jessica Sucher

I am very much looking forward to the opening of The Searchers this Saturday by my friend Sasha Bezzubov and his wife Jessica Sucher at Daniel Cooney.

The Searchers, at Daniel Cooney Fine Art this Saturday, November 7 from 3:00 - 5:00 PM.

Daniel Cooney Fine Art
511 West 25th Street Suite 506
New York, NY 10001

Other shows that I want to catch are:

Richard Serra
Gagosian Gallery
522 West 21st Street
thru 12/23

Nick Maus
303 Gallery
547 W. 21st St.
thru 12/5

William Cordova, "Laberintos"
Sikkema Jenkins & Co.
530 W. 22nd St.
thru 12/5

Melanie Schiff, "Mirror & Mastodon"
Horton & Liu Gallery
504 W. 22nd St., Parlor level
thru 11/14

Andrew Moore, "Detroit"
Yancey Richardson Gallery
535 W. 22nd St., 3rd fl.
thru 1/9

Sarah Anne Johnson, "House on Fire"
Julie Saul Gallery
535 W. 22nd St.
thru 11/14

Edward Burtynsky
Hasted Hunt Kraeutler
537 W. 24th St.
thru 11/28

Robert Frank
Robert Mann Gallery
210 11th Ave., 10th Fl. (@25th St.)
thru 1/9

Bill Viola, "Bodies of Light"
James Cohan Gallery
533 W. 26th St.
thru 12/19

Michael Wolf, "The Transparent City"
Aperture Gallery
547 W. 27th St., 4th fl.
thru 1/7

If there is something missing on my list, feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments. Oh, if someone wants to be my walkaround pal, let me know. I'm going solo, for now.

Thank you Mr. Roy DeCarava

I was saddened to hear about the passing of Roy DeCarava from the NYTimes. Mr. DeCarava was a photographer whose work touched me when MOMA held his retrospective in 1996, when I was a senior in High School. It was perfect timing- I had two years of H.S. black & white photography classes and was going onto Art School, the same one Mr. DeCarava went to about 50 years prior. I remember walking through the exhibition and feeling the jazz and the beat of uptown and everyday life in his images. The prints were gorgeous- the tones were subtle and rich. I was ooh-ing and aah-ing, left and right. I couldn't get enough. It was one of the best exhibitions I had ever been to. Thank you Mr. DeCarava for bringing to light your world, it opened up my young eyes.

A Conversation with Nadia Sablin on Nymphoto

Still Life with Yellow Hummer from Alehovshchina Nadia Sablin


Yanush with a Pregnant Cat from From the Mountains and to the Sea Nadia Sablin

My Conversation with Nadia Sablin is on the Nymphoto Blog today. The glimmer of light she captures in her low-light interiors are gorgeous as are the textures and layers.

Swimming Away

My friend Liu has been making really great images since he moved back to Taiwan a couple of months ago. I've been thinking about my uncle who is sick there, missing him and my cousins (and of course, my favorite foods). My memories and these photos make me nostalgic.











All images by Tzu Cheng Liu

And in case you're wondering, what I was mumbling about yesterday was a no go. So I am not going to expand on it.

A List

In case you didn't realize from the last post, I like making to-do lists. I have an agenda book which I keep filled up with everything I need to do. Sometimes it's a bit jumbled and really maybe a digital device might keep things neater but I really like checking things off and crossing things out. I get a keen sense of accomplishment. The photo was taken on the top of Dead Woman's Pass, the highest point on the Inca Trail at 4200m. It really wasn't as daunting as they made it seem and I was really proud to be the first in my group to make it up. (It was so that I could take my time going down!)

I've put together a list of photo deadlines, in case you somehow read my blog and not the others out there who are way more on top of it than I am.

Burn Magazine's Emerging Photographer Grant 2009, due April 1.
Nymphoto's call for entries for a group show at Sasha Wolf Gallery, due April 3. We've been hard at work to make this happen. Please check it out.
WIPNYC's Lightside Grant, due May 1.
Hey Hot Shot, due May 1.
PCNW's 14th Annual Photographic Competition Exhibition, Photo-Op, due May 15.

Kensico Dam

Kensico Dam Rona Chang

I finally caught the Eggleston show at the Whitney this past weekend. It was the last weekend. Seeing the show helped me think about a project I've been considering in a new perspective so I'm glad I went. I also got to see Calder: the Paris Years. I'm a recent big fan of Calder. This Paris show was great and put me in a great mood. If you have not seen his circus, you must. I insist! His jewelry is currently showing at the Met. I'd love to have my name hammered out Calder style on a bracelet. I love the handwritten typography aspect to the jewelry.

+++ The shop has been updated with a bunch of the botanical images.

What Remains

I spent several days watching the documentary, What Remains, about the life and work of photographer Sally Mann. Sally Mann was the first photographer I was introduced to in my High School photography class. We had a copy of her Immediate Family book in the classroom. After all these years, I find her work even more compelling and intriguing. I had not seen her series, What Remains. This opportunity to see the work and hear her talk about it is inspirational. The theme of life and death is something I've been dealing with in my own series, Inventory of Mortality. Her ability to verbalize what she has gone through in her career, the influence of her father over her life, with her family exposes her completely as a vulnerable, successful artist. I highly recommend this film!

China's City of Ambition

I met Ferit at Fotofest and he showed me prints of his project, City of Ambition, photographs of Chongqing, China. Chongqing is the largest growing City in China, and when I visited in 2006, I felt that I could really stay there a long time and make a body of work there. Ferit and bonded over the impressions that the city had left me. Spend some time on Ferit's site, it's well worth it. I hope he gets a book deal soon.

Betel nut girls

I saw these images of betel nut girls from Taiwan in the back gallery of Yancey Richardson and found out that they were done by Masato Seto. He was born in Udon Thani, Thailand (a place I've actually passed through), to a Vietnamese mother and Japanese father. Interesting. He grew up in Japan and studied with Daido Moriyama. Betel nut girls are a bit of a specialty and weird tourist attraction from Taiwan. They even have a wiki entry. These girls sit in a small booth, with lots of mirrors, glass and flashing neon lights. They sell their looks along with a box of betel nuts, a stimulant that many truckers chomp on. Anyhow Reagan Louie also did a series with betel nut girls . I thought about photographing them until my cousins told me about their ties with the mob and how my camera would be stolen and I would be damaged.





(images from Yancey Richardson)

The Cats

I'm so glad that G made a project about the cats. Tokyo was such a good model.


Pose from "Cats in Space" Geoff Hutchinson

Here's T with Boom Boom.


Awkward Youth from "Cats in Space" Geoff Hutchinson

Bye Boomie.

Eminent Domain at the 42nd and Fifth

There is one week (closes August 29) left to see the New York Public Library's Eminent Domain show curated by Stephen C. Pinson. The artists participating in the show are Thomas Holton, Bettina Johae, Reiner Leist, Zoe Leonard, Ethan Levitas, and Glenn Ligon. I thought it was a well curated show and well worth the time.

These words that were part of Glenn Ligon's piece really resonated with me. "I was born here in New York, and like many other New Yorkers lack imagination: the idea of living somewhere else has never occurred to me. Indeed, to live in New York is to have lived everywhere."

Hole in the Wall

Jumping Off Hole in the Wall Geoff Hutchinson

Summer has come and almost gone. Tomorrow I will go up to the house to take care of the cats for G. Geoff is off to Canada today, I am totally jealous. Ardshona is a real treat.

New Ideas

Most of you should have heard about the Young Curators, New Ideas show at Bond Street Gallery by now, if not, you should check it out. It's a great new space. Michael Buhler-Rose is one of the curators for this multi curated show.

The Hold Over Water

I spent the weekend scanning and updating my website. I've been working on a body of work that I have loosely titled "Water Management" since 1999. I retitled it "The Hold over Water." I added a new statement and some images.


Dry River Bed, Dasi, Taiwan, 1999.


Hover Dam, Nevada, USA, 2008.

Check out the website for the full portfolio.

The Getty

I visited the Getty Center in LA and the Getty Villa in Malibu. The Center was as bright as the rest of LA (something that just made my eyes tear and hurt). The stones they used for the building and grounds bounce light all over the place. I enjoyed the August Sander and Bechers show while there.

Here's a shot of the dining area (in the cool shade!). I have to say that the heat didn't really bother me at all because it's dry heat. I sweated much less than I would in the same temperature than let's say, oh, Bangkok. Plus at night, it always cooled down nicely and was comfortable without ac.


I was really into these "trellises."


A close-up.


These were so soft, I kept running my hands through them.


The Getty Villa combined with some beach time makes for a super day trip. Remember that you have to reserve tickets in advance to get into the Villa, but it's free. J.P. has a great collection of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan art. The villa setting is really nice, reminds me of what the Cloisters is to the Met.


Super long fountain.


Interlocking Greek Key


Herakles.


Nice pattern on stone floor.


Roasted veggies sandwich (I highly recommend the food here, very affordable and one of the yummiest meals my whole time out West.)


A secluded beach in Malibu.

Ask me & sidebar updates (help needed)

Nina created this badge based on Liz Kuball's original. Nina's Community Building post explains what it means. Because I host this blog on my own server, I'm having a hard time figuring out how to put this badge in the side bar. If you happen to know how, email me the code!



And while I was rummaging around blogger, trying to figure out how to put the badge on my sidebar, I went ahead and updated my blogroll to include more fav design blogs- Jeana Sohn, Fine Little Day, Lena Corwin, and added Hee Jin Kang's photoblog and website.

Hee Jin Kang and The Insistent Object

Sandy's Deli (receipts) Hee Jin Kang

A Conversation with Hee Jin Kang that I have been working on for the Nymphoto blog just posted this morning. Have a read. I really like her work, it's making me think of still-lifes.

Just came across the 1987 catalog for The Insistent Object, a show of Black and White still-lifes at the Frankel Gallery in SF featuring works by Fox Talbot, Arbus, Watkins, Muybridge, etc. Beautiful.

I finally got my hands on a Bert Teunissen

Saugnac et Muret #1, 27/12/2005 11:27
by Bert Teunissen

I snatched up one last week from 20x200.

(photo from 20x200)

Domingo in Amsterdam

If you happen to be in Amsterdam, check out my dear friend Domingo's Paesaggi series at the Photography Museum. More info here.

Domingo Milella - Paesaggi
27 June to 31 August 2008
Amsterdam’s Photography Museum, Foam.
Open daily from 10.00-18.00, Thurs/Fri 10.00-21.00

(image from foam)

Benefit Edition for the Lams of Ludlow Street

One of the most interesting shows I've seen this year has to have been Thomas Holton's Lams of Ludlow Street at the Sasha Wolf Gallery.

I found out from Nina's Lams of Ludlow post yesterday about the situation with the Lam famliy. The details are here from a post on What's the Jackonory?

"As you may or may not know, I photographed a Chinese family from 2002-2005 for a project called 'The Lams of Ludlow Street'. Beyond the remarkable publicity the work has gotten the past year or so, the Lams mean so much more tome than any professional accomplishments. I learned a lot about myself both personally and creatively and see the Lams as family. On Tuesday, June 14th, there was an electrical fire in the walls and the stairwell and the roof of their building on Ludlow Street caught on fire. The family made it out of the building via the fire escape and are now safe and sound, if not a little shaken up. The fire was caught early but their apartment, the 5th floor and the roof took a lot of structural,water and smoke damage. The space is not completely destroyed but the building is currently closed for inspection and the Lams are in a Red Cross secured apartment on West 129th street. The next step is between the landlord and the NYC Building Inspectors as they assess the building to see if its needs to be completely rebuilt or if only the5th floor apartments and roof should be repaired. This is not a new building and this will probably takes years judging by how long these things seem to take. In the meantime, The Lams have this Red Cross space for only six months before they need to find a new home for themselves.

Regardless of what happens with the Ludlow Street building, the likelihood that they will ever live there again is pretty small since they will need a new home soon and perhaps permanently. I am contacting you today to let you know that I will be selling a limited 'benefit' edition print of the project with all the proceeds going to the Lams as they rebuild their lives. The print will be a color 11x14 C-Print for $175 for one with discount rates increasing as the number of prints bought increases. Please contact me directly at thomas@thomasholton.com or call to buy some prints the help the Lams."

Take a look at Thomas' site and email him directly thomas@thomasholton.com.

(photo from Thomas' site)

In Our Dreams opens tonight!

This is a bit last minute but for those of you who can make it, check out the In Our Dreams show at Sasha Wolf Gallery opening tonight from 6-8pm. I won't be able to make it but have a really good reason why (I'm dogsitting for Lulu!)



(image from Sasha Wolf Gallery)

Back it up

With the heat wave outside, my computer fans whirling at double speed, and a flood at work, I was thinking hard about my files and how at risk they are. I store everything on Lacie drives and back them up every so often, but not often enough. So I purchased the ChronoSync software and started running it. I would love to store the files offsite, online, but that's currently not affordable for me. So this will be the best bet for now. Safe enough. Do you back up your files? What do you use?

My photo titled Hole, Iceland is up on Apartment Therapy's Gallery today, along with Night Fall (which they have posted once before), continuing with their theme of Suburbia. You can vote for which image you'd like to hang in your home.

Now I can take some photos

I bought myself this little baby yesterday at B&H. Need to spend my commuting time reading the manual! New photos as soon as I learn how all the little buttons work!!!

Suburbia

Apartment Therapy is exploring the theme of Suburbia. A photo I took in Iceland is part of this week's showcase.

Kent Rogowski: Love=Love

Kent Rogowski's Love=Love is opening tonight at Jen Bekman from 6-8pm.

May 7-June 14
6 spring street
new york city 10012
tel: 212.219.0166
info@jenbekman.com

(image from Jen Bekman)

Regarding Arcadia

My friend Maria has a show coming up on Thurs. Hope to see you there!

Rural Viewpoints by Angela A'Court, James Isherwood and Maria Passarotti

Susan Eley Fine Art
Thursday, May 8, 6-8 PM

The gallery is located at 46 West 90th Street, 2nd floor, New York, NY 10024, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. Open Monday - Friday by appointment.

For more information visit http://www.mariamotorina.com or http://www.susaneleyfineart.com

everyone gets a star

Jane sent along a sneak preview to the Syracuse University BFA Photo Exhibition. It will be a one night event on Saturday, May 3rd from 6-9pm at the Delavan Art Center (501 W. Fayette Street, Syracuse, NY 13204).

I'm wondering if I can sneak away to go up on Sat... All that hard work, why is it only one night???

(photo by Claudia Nieto)

Corey Arnold fisherman/ photographer

You can listen to Corey Arnold's fish tales on NPR along with a slideshow. I love the first and fourth shot in his Lofoten series. Reminds me a bit of my time there.

Carlo's Bondi Baths

I just made my first ever purchase- Untitled (Bondi Baths, Sydney, Australia) 2007 by Carlo Van de Roer- from Jen Bekman's 20x200 venture. To be honest, I had a hard time deciding whether or not it was I should do it because I felt that the deal was selling the artists short and goes so much against the grain of limited editions (small ones). In the end, I decided that Carlo (who I met and had a great time talking to at fotofest) is ok with this deal, I can afford it (and in a big way, I'd like art to be more democratic, hence the two-sided debate in my brain), and it's a wonderful image. I'm still kicking myself (really hard) for not buying Carlo's gorgeous Astoria Park photo and Bert Teunissen's La Alberca (I was in Houston when that happened so maybe I can be excused).

(Carlo's photo from 20x200.)

Polidori's Versailles work

Robert Polidori's Versailles series opens tomorrow at Edwyn Houk. I'm excited to see this series as I am unfamiliar with it.

Edwyn Houk
745 Fifth Ave.
New York, NY 10151
April 17-June 14

Congrats Ofer

Congrats to Ofer Wolberger who is the Spring '08 recipient of the Humble Arts Foundation emerging artist grant. He is the author of one of my daily reads Horses Think.

Kent Rogowski's Bears

I met Kent at fotofest and loved his series and book Bears. Here is a brief description from Kent:

Bears, is a series of portraits of the most unusual sort: ordinary teddy bears that have been turned inside out and restuffed. Each animal's appearance is determined by the necessities of the manufacturing process. Simple patterns and devices never meant to be seen are now prominent physical characteristics, giving each one a distinctly quirky personality: their fasteners become eyes, their seams become scars, and their stuffing creeps out in the most unexpected places. Together these images form a topology of strange yet oddly familiar creatures. They are at once hideous yet cuddly, disturbing yet endearing, absurd yet adorable, while offering a metaphor for us all to consider. These bears, which have lived and loved and lost as much as their owners, have suffered and endured through it all. It is by virtue of revealing their inner core might we better understand our own.

(image copyright Kent Rogowski)

Horizons

Sze Tsung Leong's new work, Horizons will be opening at Yossi Milo tonight. I am eager to see the new images and wonder what he thinks of Sugimoto's seascapes.

Jane Tam's Prints for Sale

Jane Tam has opened an online store. The work is quite affordable and those of you looking to collect an up and coming photographer should seriously consider her work. This effort will help fund her senior show, which we all know costs an arm and a leg!

(image from Jane's store)

Water issues

Sorry for being an absentee for such a long while! I went off to Houston for fotofest which was great and busy but the second I got home, I fell ill! I was in bed for over a week and still have a bit of a nagging cough but definitely much better than what it was like last week. Over the weekend I started thinking about all of the feedback on the Moving Forward, Standing Still series I brought with me and started rearranging the images and playing with the editing. I basically gave myself a headache! There is more work to be done on the series, and the editing as well. One other thing that I started to dig up again was the Water Management images I started years ago but kind of left hanging because I had worked on it for so long. So here's a photo that I took in Cambodia to remind myself to find those missing negs that should go up on the site!

In Houston

I'm currently in Houston for Fotofest so things will be a bit quiet on the blog this week. I'll be back next week.

"2 Rooms on Ludlow"

Congrats to Thomas Holton who's Lams of Ludlow Street project is featured in a NY/Region slideshow in the NYTimes.

Rear Window

This morning, I watched Hitchcock's Rear Window for the first time. I loved the setup of the courtyard and the surrounding buildings. It was amusing when the film began and I find James Stewart playing a photographer. Well, I had a bit of real life window excitement just a bit ago when I heard several fire trucks outside. A building across the street from ours was on fire, I don't think anyone was hurt, the fire was put out within 5-10 minutes. There was a bunch of smoke shooting out of the windows and about seven firetrucks out there along with some onlookers. The house probably suffered from more water damage than smoke or fire. The windows are all smashed. I took some photos from my window.

Oh, I also think Grace Kelly is gorgeous and great in the movie.

New show and small website update

I will be in the 16th Annual Juried Modern and Contemporary Show at the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles. The show will open on April 4 and be up until April 24th.

Moving Forwarard, Standing Still is a new section that I just added to my website. I plan on editing down other parts of my website and adding some statements.

(Long Johns, Macau, 2008 from Moving Forwarard, Standing Still)

PDN's 30 2008

I am so psyched that Ian and Domingo are part of PDN's 30! Congrats guys! Ian has been working hard printing for his solo show that's coming up at Jen Bekman's, I think it will open March 21. If you happen to be in Philly, check out Ian's work on view now at the Ice Box through March 16 in You Might Find Yourself.

(Ian's photo from PDN's 30)

Sasha Bezzubov

I bumped into my friend Sasha at the lab last night. It's been a couple of years since we last saw each other. He's been quite busy, and even lived in India for a year. He has two shows coming up. The first one is at Wave Hill- Sound the Alarm: Landscapes in Distress March 8- June 1. I'm so glad I have an extra reason to visit Wave Hill, something I've been meaning to do for years, it is in the Bronx afterall. He is also having a show with his wife Jessica Sucher at Front Room in Williamsburg. April 11-May 4. We have so much catching up to do!

The Lams of Ludlow Street

I am looking forward to Thomas Holton's show at Sasha Wolf's. March 6- April 26.

(image from Sasha Wolf)

J. Bennett Fitts

While browsing through Julie Saul's site, I was reminded of J. Bennett Fitts. I saw a couple of his prints there a while back and loved them. The colors, the composition, the project, "No lifeguard on Duty". I hope he has another show in NY.

Peter Bialobrzeski

I just came across the work of Peter Bialobrzeski, through Amazon of all places. His palette is quite different and I'm curious to see the work in person. I found an interview with J. Colberg on Conscientious that touches on Bialobrzeski's views of German photography. I'm also quite smitten by the title Neon Tigers that is his project of "color photographs taken inside the "Tiger Cities," the name given to Asia's rapidly growing metropolises: Hong Kong, Bangkok, Shanghai, and Kuala Lumpur."

(image from Peter Bialobrzeski's site)

Michael Wolf's Hong Kong

I came across Michael Wolf's work via the Asian Photography Blog. Having just landed from Hong Kong, his work really resonates with what has been on my mind in the last couple of weeks. My favorite series is 100x100- "photographs of residents in their flats in Hong Kong's oldest public housing estate: 100 rooms, each 100 square feet in size." Architecture of Density, Real Fake Pictures (taken in China) are also quite interesting.

(photos from Michael Wolf's 100x100 series)

Sometimes the internet just amazes me. My friend Liu just told me that he read about my work on a Chinese photo blog last night. He sent the link and indeed they wrote quite a bit about me and this photo taken in the Forbidden City in 2006.

Domingo Milella

On Thursday evening I went to Tracy Williams in the West Village for my friend Domingo Milella's opening. Stunning 59x75 in. c-prints taken over the last three years in Italy, Turkey, Albania and Mexico City. Go see it!

Ian's an Aperture Prize Runner-up

Congrats to my buddy Ian Baguskas who is a runner-up for the Aperture Prize this year with his "Mountain People" series.

Google alert

Ever hear of Google alerts? It's a Google tool that you can use if you are searching for something and want to be updated on new postings about this "search". Anyway, Geoff had me on his google alerts and told me that I was on dcolores- a photo magazine that seems like a compilation of blog articles. They posted the bit that Asian Photography Blog wrote about me. I've Google alerted myself so I can keep track of my internet presence, a useful tool.

Featured!!!

I'm featured on Ch'ng Yaohong's Asian Photography Blog today.

(photo from my Urban Scale series)

Let there be art by STRUTH

Check out this portfolio of images that Thomas Struth made for TMagazine's Let There be Art- house of worship where the feelings of exhaltation come from the light.

Something from Italy

Domingo just sent this image to me. I love the blues in it. It's a great view. He's going to be having a show in NY in Jan. at Tracy Williams. I'm looking forward to it.

Domestic Landscapes

My sister sent me my Christmas presents early this year since I'll be away for Christmas. The best gift is Bert Teunissen's Domestic Landscapes book from Amazon that I asked for. I've been thinking about interior family portraits alot lately and have been admiring this book since I spotted it at Aperture a couple of months ago. I looked through the book last night and admired the beautiful quality of the available light in these interiors.

(image from Bert Teunissen)

A little bit framing

The long weekend was perfect for getting some organizing done. I finally framed some loose prints that were sitting on my desk. I had a dream about this poster for PAS/CAL that my friend Sean designed for the band. He gave me a copy when I hung out with him & Annie during Atlantic Antic in Brooklyn a while back.



I also framed Domingo's contact sheet trytich of Daytona Lagoon that he made when we were together in Florida. It's now proudly sitting on the top of my shelf to the left. Domingo is being featured in Foam Magazine this month. Check it out!



I was in the middle of framing my Keep Calm poster when I cut my finger on the edge of the glass. I then broke the glass twenty minutes later. I finally just got another piece of plexi to replace it. It's now framed and waiting to be hung.

Some photo movies

I just finished watching Dziga Vertov's 1929 film, Man With the Movie Camera. It is a film about modernity with a cameraman who seeks it out in the trolleys, train tracks, factories, beach, people, children of the Soviet Union. It made me wonder if Tati ever saw this before he made Playtime. The soundtrack was charming.

I also watched the 1960 film Peeping Tom. It's a bizarre one.

Nymphoto

I've joined the photo collective Nymphoto. Nina posted a note welcoming me today. Thanks Nina!

Hidemi's Blender Project

Check out my friend Hidemi's Blender project which is currently being featured on
NYFA current. Go Hidemi!

Jonathan Torgovnik wins Photographic Portrait Prize

Congrats to Jonathan Torgovnik who won the National Portrait Gallery's Photographic Portait Prize, more in this BBC article.

Patricia Neligan

Patricia Neligan's photos have similar aesthetics to mine. Check out her site.

Rylan came to visit- yay!

My friend Rylan came up to NY with his class from UGA for the weekend to look at art. I hung out with them on Friday while they checked out the New Menschel gallery and the paper negatives show at the Met, and the photo exhibits at MOMA. We even managed to pin down busy bee Joe for a drink in Chelsea.

Motherland

Motherland is a nicely published book of images from Russia, taken between 2004 and 2005 by British photographer Simon Roberts. There are some really nice landscapes, interiors and lots of twins!

(photos from Lens Culture.)

Jacob Holdt's United States 1970-1975

Geoff recently purchased Jacob Holdt's photo book United States 1970-1975. It is an unbelievable book with images of American poverty that I have never seen before. You can see those images and his other projects on his website.

Below is an intro from his website:

Arriving in America with only $40 for a short visit, a young Dane, Jacob Holdt ended up staying over five years, hitchhiking more than 100,000 miles throughout the USA.

He sold blood plasma twice weekly to be able to buy film. He lived in more than 400 homes - from the poorest migrant workers to America's wealthiest families such as the Rockefellers. They not only gave him a hospitality and warmth, but their continuing friendship to this day.

He joined the Indian rebellion in Wounded Knee, followed criminals in the ghettos during muggings, sneaked inside to work in Southern slave camps and infiltrated secret Ku Klux Klan meetings as well as Republican presidential campaign headquarters.

Working with prisoners he saw two of his friends assassinated. By the time he returned to Denmark 12 of his friends had been murdered (in the years since so many of his friends have been murdered that he has completely lost count).

Back in Denmark he put together the photos he had taken into a multimedia show named American Pictures. His show instantly became enormously popular and with the help of several black American friends, it was shown in 14 countries in 7 languages between 1976-82.

The profit was used for humanitarian aid in support of the struggle against apartheid by donating schools and farm machinery to the countries and liberation groups bordering South Africa.

In 1982 the show moved to America, where Jacob Holdt has since presented it in more than 300 universities, city councils, churches, etc. The show has been updated constantly and one fourth of the pictures are now from the 90'es.

In his latest version from 1997 Holdt worked closely with leading educators, psychologists and workshop counselors throughout America and Europe in order to best incorporate universal themes of oppression.

As a result the show is now the ideal thought-provoking "warm up" for national and international conventions on peace, ethnic conflict, human rights, sociology etc.

(photos from American Pictures.)

Two gifts for me from me

I just bought Jason Schmidt's "Artists" and Joel Sternfeld's reprinted version of "American Prospects" from Amazon. I've wanted these two books for a while now and decided that today is the day to splurge on inspiration. I'm psyched!

(image via Amazon)

Conversation with Stephen Shore

Jorg Colberg's conversation with Stephen Shore is an interesting read. The bit on editing is particularly interesting to me right now as I've been working on my website.

20x200 by Jen Bekman

I read about Jen Bekman's new project 20x200 in Dwell magazine. The deal: you can puchase a limited edition (200) small print for $20, making the collecting of photographs and prints quite affordable. There are also slightly larger prints in an edition of 20 for $200 each, and the largest size is in an edition of 2 for $2000. It's an interesting price structure, I wonder if it will catch on like tiny showcase where everything is sold out as soon as it gets announced.

Revised Photo

This revised photo is via Meera, I love how Domingo is a bit bigger than us and so casual chic!

Ciao Bella!

We had brunch on Sunday at Schiller's on the LES. Meera found a nice pair of boots that she's sporting in the photo below. Domingo, Gabriella, Liu, Meera, and I went to MOMA to see the JoAnn Verburg show and the prints on display that are part of the permanent collection. They were both good shows. We went back downtown and got some sorbetto at Ciao Bella. So fantastic! We are lucky Meera.

Gallery hopping

Pylypchuk at Friedrich Petzel

SMALL THINGS

On Sat I went gallery hopping with Meera and Rylan. On of the first shows we saw was Jonathan Pylypchuk at Friedrich Petzel. Charming work. We stopped by Sonnabend to see Candida Hoffer's large scale interiors. Rylan and Meera both went crazy over Kohei Yoshiyuki's show at Yossi Milo. It is a must-see show. And you know what? The Larry Clark show at Luhring Augustine is pretty good- I was surprised. Dutch photographer Wijnanda Deroo's "Interiors" are worth a look-see at Robert Mann. Laura Letinsky's "To Say It Isn't So" show at Yancey Richardson was great. I like still life paintings but haven't seen too many good still life photographs. I like hers. We stopped by Bespoke Gallery to check out my friend Reuben's new photos on the "Work of Joe Webb". We ended with the "Lisette Modell and her Successors" show at Aperture Foundation. It was a big show and slightly overwhelming at the end of a long afternoon of picture viewing. We met up with the rest of the gang across town at Joe's "Weekend without Makeup" show curated by Jeffrey Walkowiak at PS122 where he showed an excellent video piece.

Reunion

Domingo & Giorgio were gracious hosts for our ACA photo group reunion Friday night. It was super nice to be able to see everyone again.

Can we please have another one?

(group photo from Leslie Sheng's camera)

Daniel Traub

I read about Daniel Traub over at Conscientious a couple of weeks ago. I've been thinking about making a longer trip to Asia this winter to start a new project I've had in mind for some years now so looking at these images are encouraging.

(photos from Daniel Traub's site)

Tobu World Square by nao

The photography of nao on Flickr has captured my attention for a couple of months now. I like her deliberate palette. I just spotted these photos of Tobu World Square in Japan. I guess I need to make a trip to Japan now.



Doesn't this one remind you of this photo that I posted about just two days ago?

(photos belong to nao)

Easy Rider

I just caught the Easy Rider: Road Trips through America show at Yancey Richardson before it colosed on Saturday. With several of my co-workers taking road trips this summer and seeing this show- I've really think about taking a road trip, right here, in America. For those that know me well, it's a big statement- considering that I don't really drive (hey! I grew up riding the subway), and the fact that I think travelling internationally is a better deal than travelling domestically. But maybe that's about to change...

(My favorite Joel Sternfeld images from the Easy Rider show at Yancey Richardson)

Maria's new botanical portrait cyanotypes

Maria's been working on a new body of work inspired by Victorian cut paper silhouettes. Here's a peek.



(images courtesy of Maria)

I'd like to take a trip to Shartlesville, PA

My co-worker Bob recently took a road trip to Michigan. One of the places he visited was an indoor miniature village in Sharlesville, PA called Roadside America. I'm keen on taking a trip there myself and checking it out since I grew up going to a miniature world in Taiwan and photographing it. I'm fascinated by these still lifes and would like to photograph more of them. If anyone knows of any more of these types of places, please let me know. I'd also like to visit legoland in Denmark.

(photo from one of my trips to the miniature world in Taiwan)

Calder's Circus is in town!

I went to check out the Whitney's Summer of Love exhibit yesterday and really wasn't too interested in the show. However, I saw Alexander Calder's "Circus" that he made with bits of wire, fabric, yarn, and other materials before he became known for his mobile pieces. The Circus is a great insight to how he developed his later works. This piece is part of the Modernisms show on the 5th floor. Many of his circus pieces are on display and there is a video that shows Calder performing with his Circus. It is so charming and enchanting. I stood there and watched the video chuckling to myself. He performed with these pieces for art partrons, artists, and friends in New York and Paris. I wish I could have seen it in person, hearing Calder roar, whistle, talk in his own French and English. . .

Note: Danny Lyon will have a show that opens on Friday the 7th and Kara Walker's survey opens October 11th.

Serra at MOMA

I finally saw the Richard Serra show at MOMA this weekend. It was amazing! Experiencing the redefinition of the space, and noticing how I feel as I am walking around them made an impact on my senses. At times I felt really dizzy. I left in awe of the elegance of the show.

I also caught Richard Pere's photographs of Soviet Modernist Architecture. It's a mixed bag of a show- crowded and confusing in presentation but there are some photos definitely worth seeing.

Catch the Shore show

The Stephen Shore show is up until Sept. 9 at ICP.

(image via ICP)

Red Cabin by the Inlet

Here's a collaboration that happened while I was down in Florida at ACA. Ann is a wonderful writer who asked to write about some of my photos. She selected "Weather" that I made in Norway, alongside the road, in 2003. We bonded over our love for northern landscapes.



Does someone live in this red cabin by the inlet
or is it abandoned? (The paint's too fresh, the trim
too clean.) It may be a fish camp used for the salmon run
or by some family in summer coming year after year
to this familiar stretch of greensward on the water's edge.

Today nothing moves but a single gull
tilting over the still water and nothing
indicates how far the other shore but a dot,
it's a house, the field behind it ending at an apron
of talus spilling from raw up-thrust mountains,
snow streaked, distant, their peaks hidden
in the mist that overhangs the whole landscape.

No one is here to look, but someone is always
looking for Innisfree, dreaming of solitude and how
perhaps one summer evening a skiff will cross
the bay breaking the pewter surface. A neighbor.

He'll bring a bottle of schnapps, they'll drink, he'll tell
stories of the place, who lived here, why
they left, he'll name the small flowers that startle
the turf. Wind will clear the fog, riffle
the inlet's surface. Their talk interrupts the silence
and all is changed.

Ann B. Knox

Thomas in Dusseldorf

Jian Kun was lucky enough to travel around Europe earlier this summer. He had a studio visit with Thomas Struth, our beloved master artist, in Dusseldorf, Germany. Thomas took a bunch of group photos of us while we were down in Florida. I like this one.


Seeing this little glimpse of Thomas and the group photo made me miss my ACA gang. Good thing I get to see everybody next month when we have our reunion!

(photos courtesy of Jian Kun)

Speaking of corn dogs...

Geoff sent me a link to Andrew Miksys' photo website earlier. When I opened the link, the corn dog photo appeared. Miksys is an interesting photographer who has worked in Lithuania for many years. Please look deeper than this corn dog photo.

(image from Andrew Miksys)

How to Market your Photography

Geoff took a workshop with Mary Virginia Swanson at the Maine Media Workshops last week. He came back super excited and wanted to share. Here are some links:

Learn how to to market your photographs in this interview with Mary Virginia Swanson.
MVS's blog has recommendations on upcoming events and juried competitions. Her book is recommended highly by those who've read it.
Photo festivals around the world are listed on the Festival of Light website.
Check out Media Storm and Patrick Brown's amazing photos and story of the wildlife trade, titled "Black Market."
Conscientious- a blog about fine art photography.
Alec Soth's blog is a must read for all photographers.

I need to do my research and reading!

(image via Media Storm by Patrick Brown.)

A day with Ian

Yesterday I hung out with Ian, a friend from college. He showed me some recent work- it's so nice to get a sneak preview! Ian's a photographer that is represented by Jen Bekman. We stopped by the gallery to check out the portrait show that is closing today. We met Shane who was working at the desk. Turns out that Shane is fellow photographer and blogger. It was a nice day, walking around downtown, running errands, talking art. We ended the day with dinner at Do Sirak, a nice and cozy Korean restaurant on 13th St.

Maria's bird cyanotypes

My friend Maria Passarotti has started an etsy shop mariamotorina that features beautiful prints of her cyanotypes. She's a special lady and she makes color and b&w photographs as well, check out her full portfolio on her website. I happen to own the one above and love it!

(image via mariamotorina)

Group Show

I'm in a group show in Milford, Pennsylvania

Art After Dark
Saturday August 11, 2007
5-8 pm Cocktail Reception
106 E. Harford St., Milford, PA

News from the photography world

An era is passing, two photography influentials, Bernd Becher, photographer of German Industrial Landscapes, and John Szarkowski, Curator of Photography at MOMA for three decades, have died.

(image Marian Goodman Gallery NYTimes)