Feature - Amanda Friedman

L.A. based photographer Amanda Friedman shoots beautiful night landscapes and has managed to turn her crative eye into editorial success also. I'll be interviewing her in the coming weeks to see what insight she has for us all.

Talk - A Picture You Already Know at LACMA.

Tomorrow (Thursday):

This debate explores the often unspoken issue of repetition (of visual forms and subject matter) in contemporary photography. Charlotte Cotton, curator and head of the Department of Photography, will discuss with Amy Adler, Alex Slade and Penelope Umbrico the conscious and unconscious ways in which individual photographers deal with repetition.

Free; tickets required. Brown Auditorium. 7 p.m.

I'll be there to try to challenge my view that repitition is often a cheap trick the art world loves to fall for. Damn those Bechers.

Smashbox Face Off - Thursday. RSVP now!

Thursday is the opening night for the Smashbox Studios annual Face Off show from, 8pm to midnight. You must rsvp today in order to attend. I'll be there and would be happy to meet any one else who is going.

rsvp@smashboxstudios.com

Congrats to Ryan Schude, who will be in the show with this beast of an image:

Vanity Fair Portraits at LACMA

Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008 opened yesterday at LACMA. This exhibition showcases decades of celebrity portraiture. Most of the prints are quite small and Liebowitz is represented up the wazoo but this is one to see, especially considering the museum is free after 5pm. I do wish, however, that the placards spoke a bit more about the photographers instead of their focus on the celebrities, but this is celebrity obsessed LA after all and I guess the curators knew this would be a big draw. My favorite image of the show is this one of Julianne Moore, which is printed big and lucious.

Spooky Show at DRKRM gallery

In the spirit of Halloween, DRKRM Gallery is showing Seeing Things: Ghost Polaroids.

Opening reception Saturday October 25, 7pm -midnight

Two residents of an old house in the hills of Los Angeles began receiving ghostly messages in Polaroid photographs. The pair started taking photos inside the house in the hope of obtaining a picture of the entity they believed haunted the house.

After first capturing a ghostly image on film, the men discovered that if they asked questions about the entity and why it was inhabiting their house, words and messages appeared in response on their film. So far, more than 1000 photos have captured messages – photos taken not only by the residents but by paranormal researchers and other outsiders. A photographic expert at Polaroid has no explanation for the messages. An expert at California’s Brooks Institute of Photography can suggest an explanation, but it requires a lengthy set up process and hours of lab work.The ghost or spirit calls himself “WRIGHT”. He shows signs of erudition and intelligence, writing many of his messages in Latin.

The ghost first appeared on film in March 1992 after one of the residents kept hearing unexplained noises throughout the house. After a door opened mysteriously, he took a series of photos, several of which revealed a classic ghost-like shape, including dark shadows at the eyes and mouth. The messages began to appear on film in June 1992. The first was in response to a friend’s question about the ghost, “Is he here now?” The photo revealed a barely discernible “yes” in cloudy white shapes. After that, the writing became far more legible.

Calls for Entry

The Center for Fine Art Photography is currently holding two calls for entry, one jurored by Paula Tognarelli, Executive Director and Curator of the Griffin Museum of Photography and the other by Susan A. Zadeh, editor in chief and artistic director of EYEMAZING.

Carleton Watkins at the Getty

Dialog Among Giants, Carleton Watkins and the Rise of Photography in California is on view at the Getty through March 1, with 151 works by this pioneer of western landscape photography. Ansel Adams and Edward Weston learned much from Watkins. You can too.

A very nice write up by the Times can be found here.

Resource Magazine comes out west

Resource Magazine, which was previously dedicated to the photo industry in New York has gone national with their 4th issue, which you can pick up at Barnes & Noble here in LA. From what I gather, this is one to grab (or at least read in the store...I know you like sitting on that comfy B&N carpet).



Thanks, Eric

Melvin Sokolsky - How He Sees Things

In conjunction with his show at Fahey Klein, Melvin Sokolsky will be giving a talk sponsored by ASMP on October 20th. Anyone interested in Fashion or advertising photography should make a point to catch this one by one of the greats.

Contest - Deadline!

The deadline for this contest is Friday so get your acts together. The Los Angeles Art Association has put this call for entries for an open show together so if you live in Southern California and want to have your work seen by the LA Times art critic, David Pagel, jump to it.

Show - Jehad Nga, My Shadow My Opponent at M+B

Jehad Nga'a beautifully dark series about boxing in Kenya is currently on view at M+B gallery through the 18th.

Jehad Nga, Untitled No. 1821

Weekend Happenings

Fahey / Klein gallery is showing Melvin Sokolsky and Horst P Horst through tomorrow only so if you are into artistic fashion photography, head on over before it gets taken down.

Also this weekend, aside from the NELAarts walk in Huntington Park I posted about, there is another art walk, er, shuttled art night happening tonight as part of PasadenART Weekend .

Thanks to la.photo.assistant for the heads up.



Melvin Sokolsky, Parker Train 1962

Feature - Joshua Stearns

Joshua Stearns recently made the move to LA via Hawaii and previously San Francisco and shoots a lot of editorial. I've long been a fan of his portraiture can't stop coming back to this first image.

Tonight: Downtown Art Walk and Snap to Grid

If you've never been to the downtown artwalk, I recommend a trip to our odd central business district. It's the only night you can get that Manhattan vibe in LA, with the streets coming alive and cheap wine flowing. The art's not bad either.

Of interest tonight is the 5th annual Snap to Grid, put on by the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art. Test your eye and curating abilities at this un-juried photo-heavy show.

Feature - Laura Domela

So I thought this might be a bit of a stretch but technically, Portland is on the west coast. Even farther up the coast lies Alaska, where Laura Domela's new project, "Everyone My Brother Knows in Girdwood, Alaska" was shot.

If you are curious as to just exactly who Sarah Palin is governing up there, check it out and be sure to take a look at the landscape and arial sections of Laura's site, which are quite stunning.

NELAart - Artwalk on Saturday

For those of you looking for something to do this weekend, NELAart is having an evening artwalk in the Highland Park area. I'll be heading over to check it out and to catch the Aaron Hobson show at Drkrm I previously posted about. Shoot me an email if you want to meet up.

From NELAart's website:

NELAart is based in Highland Park and consists of galleries and art organizations located in Northeast Los Angeles who are dedicated to increase the visibility of the thriving arts community in the area. Northeast Los Angeles has a long tradition in the arts. Many working artists now continue this tradition by making their homes and having their studios here. The neighborhood is also home to many galleries, alternative arts spaces and arts organizations. NELAart provides a resource to share information and ideas, and assist in promoting galleries and organizations. Please join us in celebrating the arts in Northeast Los Angeles.

Summary - Art Center talk

Rob Haggart summarizes his talk with Heidi Volpe last week at Art Center for those of you who couldn't make it out.

Show - Aaron Hobson

Aaron Hobson's detailed cinema inspired prints are on view at DRKRM Gallery through the 25th of October. Show info here.

Hobson's Cinemascapes was nominated for Best Fine Art series at the inaugural NYC Photo Festival and, most recently, was awarded Honorable mention in Fine Art as well as in the Deeper Perspectives category for the same work at the International Photography Awards (IPA Lucie Awards).

Check out the site to see the winners but be warned. You'll be there a while.

Charlotte Cotton Interviews Phillip-Lorca diCorcia

I just found this excellent interview on a post about the show on Ofer Wolberger's blog (His work is definitely worth checking out also).

Enjoy.

Show - Vernon Collection at LACMA

“Almost everything appealed to us,” Vernon said. “Except that we were not interested in the work of a photographer who could see nothing beautiful in the world.”

Imogen Cunningham (United States, 1883-1976), Magnolia Blossom, 1925

The amazing private collection of Marjorie and Leonard Vernon was collected in Los Angeles and will remain here as part of a new acquisition by LACMA (full disclosure, I work there) and I believe will be the second show organized by LACMA's new curator by way of DIA, Charlotte Cotton. If you missed her last effort, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, shame shame. Works by Weston, Steichen, Strand, and Adams, among others, will be on display.

Now, the Vanity Fair Portrait show is coming up at the end of the month so you could wait a bit and see them both together, or you could come twice, especially if you've not yet visited the newly opened BCAM.

The show opens October 5th and will run through February 1st.

LACMA is free after 5pm every day and all day on Columbus Day, Oct. 13. Closed on Wednesdays.

Quote of the Week

From the book, Image Makers, Image Takers by Anne-Celine Jaeger.

Martin Parr: “You usually have a hunch, but the great thing about photography is that it’s so unpredictable, so you never quite understand how and when a good photograph comes about.

But when editing, I do contact sheets, then machine prints and then select from that.”

And when asked what makes one image stand out more than another, is it emotional or an intellectual reaction he answers: “It must be intuitive. If it were intellectual, I’d be able to explain what happens. That’s why I’m a photographer. I express myself visually, not verbally.”

And yet still the art world demands written statements...

(Found on this great post on editing.)

Feature - Jay Reilly

So again, my primary interest is in fine art photography but I of course have an interest in commercial work and want this blog to cover LA (and CA...more on this in a bit) photography and so I'll be featuring all types of photographers. If you'd like to be considered, please send me a link to your work. I can't promise anything, but all work will be considered.

Jay Reilly is a commercial/editorial photographer based in Oceanside (I would like to be oceanside right now) and has a great blog for photographers interested in editorial that has the chuckle-inducing title, My Camera is Bigger than Yours

Jay has shot for Nike, Sony, Hyatt, and Conde Nast among others, so head over to his blog for insight. His most recent post is an interview with a MUA, for example, which I think will be of interest to many of you. He also includes lots of useful shooting tips and it is great to see a photographer who is unafraid to share so take advantage. Don't forget to check out his site for some really great lifestyle work. His colors pop.