Trailer - Untitled

This looks hilarious and I can't wait to see it. Out Oct 23rd.

trailer

Mitch Epstein - American Power @ LACMA

Copyright Mitch Epstein

This coming Saturday, Mitch Epstein will present his new book, American Power in the Bing theater at LACAM at 2pm. Tickets are free and available on hour before his talk.

This one should be good! I think this is loosely related to the upcoming New Topographics show opening on the 25th, which will be on everybody's list to see.

Info here.

Feature - Cody Cloud

Cody Cloud, who is one half of dynamic duo fashion team JUCO with Julia Galdo, also shoots personal projects and editorial. I wanted to feature work from his Shanghai Zoo series but be sure to check out his Cities series also and JUCO's fashion work.

As always, click each image to view them large.

Yousuf Karsh @ the Downtown Libray

The Central Library's first floor gallery features portraits by Yousef Karsh to celebrate what would have been his 100th birthday. He only made it to 93...photographers do seem to have a secret for longevity.

If there was a major personality of the 20th century, Karsh shot their portrait and extremely well. He tells a little about each one on his comprehensive website.

I couldn't resist selecting this one to show, as I'm currently re-reading Islands in the Stream.

This weekend: Free Museums!

Pretty much every museum in town and in the OC except LACMA (which is free next Monday on Columbus Day) is free this weekend as part of Museum Free for All.

Thanks, PixFeed!

Quote of the Week - Jeffrey Beebe

Friend and artist (not photography) Jeffrey Beebe's answer to the question, "How do you see the art world now?" for his interview with the Chinese magazine, Vision:

I can’t see myself in the text based, critical theory-type stuff that I seems so prevalent here in the art world. It seems like there is a very tightly interlocking structure now between curators and a lot of conceptually-based artists. The artists speak a specialized language that the curator understands and the curator then—having formal training in this specialized language—the promotes the work artist in question because it justifies the labor put into the formal training. It find the whole thing a little boring because a bit of a closed loop, a kind of call-and-response song that I don’t have the sheet music for and I don’t really have any interest in learning the song by ear, you know?

Personal day

Click to view larger

Breaking a bit from protocol, I have three personal bits of news to relate.


1. Canon sucks. The estimate to repair my 5D and calibrate 2 lenses comes to $1,150. What, are they not selling photocopiers these days? This means I won't be able to shoot for a while, which does not make me happy.


2. Some good news along with the bad. I was selected for the Carmel Art & Film Festival and so will have these two shots up in the show. Let me know if anyone else is planning to check it out.


3. Fellow MadridModern artist José Javier Serrano (alias Yosigo) was featured over on The Exposure Project. Well deserved.

52 Editions / Aline Smithson

Copyright Aline Smithson

So it appears the West Coast has it's answer to 20 x 200 (you know I love the coastal rivalry). Run by Arnaud Gregori, co-founder of local lab Paris Photo, 52 Editions offers an edition by a photographer each week at the very affordable price of $45 unframed and $125 framed. I think the saying goes: Art is cheap. Framing is expensive. Right?

Last week features a print by Shawn Gust and up this week is friend and local photo blogger Aline Smithson with this gem. Pick one up for yourself!

Pro'jekt LA Summer Series

Sorry for giving such short notice but I only just saw you're supposed to RSVP for this event before 4pm today.

Emily Shur, who I've previously featured will be showing work for the Lucie Foundation's Pro'jekt LA series tomorrow night at 8pm at Space 15 Twenty.

Photos will be projected in their courtyard with live music by the Lost Library and Modern Memory.

Other photographers who will be showing their shots of the music world are Dan Monick, Piper Ferguson, Aaron Farley, and Greg Watermann

RSVP via email: summerseries@luciefoundation.org

Film Grant - Too Much Chocolate + Kodak

Jake Stangel, founder of Too Much Chocolate, which is an excellent site geared to the emerging photographer, was kind enough to answer my questions regarding a new grant he has arranged with Kodak to provide 10 photographers with film of their choosing to complete a project.

The judging panel for the film grant will consist of:

- Marcel Saba, Director of Redux Pictures
- Clinton Cargill, Associate Picture Editor of the New York Times Magazine
- Conor Risch, Features Editor of PDN
- Andy Adams, Editor / Publisher of Flak Photo
- Alison Morley, Chair of ICP’s Documentary Photography and Photojournalism Program
- Audrey Jonckheer, Director of Worldwide Pro Photographer Relations at Kodak
- Jake Stangel, Founder / Editor of too much chocolate

Best of all, the entry fee is just $10!

JWB: How did this grant come about? Who contacted who first and why a fim grant in the age of the digital revolution that's been so embraced by the emerging photographers TMC caters to?

JS: I got the idea of doing a film grant a couple months ago to address two things: my desire to grow the site in a constructive and helpful way for 'emerging photographers', and also my own frustration in not being able to shoot project ideas- no matter how big or small- with the frequency I'd wished to. Inspiration wasn't the issue, I just couldn't afford much film, which is predominately what I shoot. I knew there were plenty of people out there just like myself, and I wanted to leverage the site to address the issue.

So I got in touch with Kodak, and gave them the proposal that you pretty much see today. The site has grown alot since I started it in December, and has since grown beyond this kind of small, young, film-shooting group of photographers it began with, for the better. But I presented it to Kodak as a way to really connect with a predominately young group of loyal film shooters... many of whom shoot Portra almost exclusively because it's such a great film (and I'm not paid to say that).

We might be swept up in an 'age of digital' but film is not dead nor should it be dismissed. Plus, it's my own opinion that the younger photographers, like many readers of the site, are the ones wholeheartedly embracing or even sometimes reverting to film. Very few of the rotating gallerists, for example, shoot digitally.

I try not to get engrossed in the good ol' film vs. digital thing; there are clearly parties who work best/stand behind their respective medium. And that's great. But I will say this about film: it's a technology that's been refined for over a century and is this totally amazing, very faithful, colorful, charismatic way of preserving exactly what comes through your lens. It's a 1:1 chemical reaction- what comes through the lens is exactly what's etched into the emulsion (figuratively), as opposed to a sensor/computer doing its best to capture the light hitting it. That's a big reason why I shoot it. Plus, there are all sorts of non-technical reasons for shooting film- a preference for the style you shoot film with (vs. checking the LCD after every shot), the commitment to each frame that you can't get back, the lack of a "safety net", the color profiles... I could go on and on.

JWB: I see you have some interesting names on the judging panel. How did that come about?

JS: I had wanted to get a diverse group of judges that each represent a certain facet of the photo world, from reps to professors/teachers to curators. Aside from looking for judges whose photographic aesthetic and vast industry/portfolio knowledge I really respect, I approached people I had good existing relationships with already- Marcel, Clinton, Conor, and Andy. Of course, Audrey and I have been working on this grant from the beginning and it was a given that she would on the panel. Alison, who is the chair of ICP's documentary photography and photojournalism program, actually came on recommendation from two judges; I was quite happy to welcome a chair of a renowned photography institution/school/gallery.

JWB: So how would you say TMC is going thus far? Anything new planned going forward that you can tell us about?

JS: Great question. Well first, I never would have imagined that I'd have a film grant in place with a company like Kodak six months ago. The site started as a little experiment back in December, with a goal to focus on "how to I transition into a career as a professional photographer". But I quickly recognized all these opportunities to leverage the site for the benefit of an entire (very targeted) photo community. I'm just very focused and excited about the community potential of things- be it the rotating galleries or the open invitation for readers to contribute to the site/interview photographers they really love, like Alec Soth or Dan Winters (that interview is in progress). I like how all this content is created from within, with many back-and-forths from several parties, as opposed to one single person directing information outwards.

It wouldn't be far from the truth to say I'm developing the site one month at a time at this point. I couldn't do much in the way of progression this summer since I was on that bike trip (rode cross-country this summer over three months), which cut into my time to develop the site more, do more interviews, etc. But now that the trip is done, and I've been thinking pretty critically about all of these massive opportunities on the web for our little social group, in terms of connectivity, original content, site leverage, partnerships, and blogs' transition from single-source to perhaps a mini-magazine staff/output. Lots of ideas... (but for the record I'm a photographer first, site developer second!).

As for new plans... I'd like to try to help readers break through the door of magazines/agencies and into the offices of the people that matter. I've got something in the works, an assignment/contest of sorts, in partnership with a magazine, where a 'simulated' assignment is given out to readers (something like "shoot a portrait of a stranger"), top 15 submissions are put in a hyped-up web gallery for viewing by all, and the best-of/single winner then gets shoot an actual assignment for the magazine. The simulation of photographing a stranger makes perfect sense, in this case, because when shooting a subject on assignment, you're pretty much doing that anyway.

Thanks, Jake!

Contemporary is the new Contemporary?

Well, it was destined to happen. "Contemporary Art" will have to continue being, well, contemporary. In 2050, you certainly won't be able to call something from 1950 contemporary, right? It will have to move to "Modern" and then older Modern works in turn will have to move into "American," "European" etc.

It appears LACMA has already moved Contemporary up so that the period begins in 1968 and no longer in 1945. So long, Pollack! You're now Modern.

I bet MOCA isn't so quick to reclassify. They'd have heck of a lot of deaccessioning to do!

"We are pleased to announce the appointment of Franklin Sirmans to the position of Terri and Michael Smooke Department Head and Curator of Contemporary Art. Previously, Sirmans served as Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Menil Collection in Houston and Curatorial Advisor at PS 1 Contemporary Art Center.

With Sirmans’ appointment, we will readjust the boundaries between Modern and Contemporary art with the latter focusing on works created during the last four decades--art since 1968."

I'm pretty excited about having someone from PS1 on board.

Review LA Resistration Opens Tomorrow

Coinciding with Photo LA in January, the second year (I believe) of Review LA will give photographers the chance to get feedback from reviewers and to show their work to the public through a portfolio walk. Resgistration opens tomorrow.

Here are the details. I'll be honest - the 240 euros that my 9 review sessions at PhotoEspaña cost me are looking like quite the steal.

3 reviews = $355 members/$395 non-members
6 reviews = $555 members/$595 non-members
9 reviews = $655 members/$695 non-members

CONFIRMED 2010 REVIEWERS subject to changeWe will host approximately 35 reviewers total. Confirmations are coming in daily so check back.

CURATORS:

Dr. Claudia Bohn-Spector, Independent Curator, Writer
Ciara Ennis, Director/Curator, Pitzer Art Galleries, Pitzer College
Virginia Heckert, Associate Curator, J. Paul Getty Museum
Walter Mason, Director, Haggerty Museum of Art
Carol McCusker, Curator, Museum of Photographic Arts
Karen Sinsheimer, Curator, Santa Barbara Museum of Art

DIRECTORS:

Anthony Bannon, Director, George Eastman House
Sara Terry, Founder and President, Aftermath Project

EDITORS:

David Bram, Editor and Co-Founder, Fraction magazine
Christy Karpinski, Editor, F-Stop magazine
Amber Terranova, Photo Editor, Photo District News

GALLERISTS:

Crista Dix, Director, wall space, Seattle, WA

OTHER:

Leslie Rubinoff, Art Adviser
Aline Smithson, Independent Curator, Writer

PHOTOGRAPHERS REPRESENTATIVES:

Marilyn Cadenbach, Director, Marilyn Cadenbach
Carol LeFlufy, President, Eye Forward, Inc.
Maren Levinson, President, Redeye Represents

PUBLISHERS AND PACKAGERS:

Darius Himes, Co-Founder and Editor, Radius Books
Joanna Hurley, President, HurleyMedia; Co-Founder Radius Books

Introducing - A Photo Student

Copyright James Pomerantz

Photographer James Pomerantz decided to go back to school and is beginning a two year MFA program at SVA in NY. In looking at his work, I'm not sure he needs one, necessarily, but James has started a new blog to discuss his experience and it will be interesting to see where the program takes his work. If you're like me and can't afford a program or already have a masters degree in something else, it looks like you'll enjoy his allowing us to be flies on the wall as he relates his experiences and even posts some of the program's readings and assignments. Or maybe you'd like to compare your own MFA experience to his. I know I'll be curiously following this one. He just posted a recap of his first two weeks. Go check it out. (Added to the blogroll)

Quote of the Week - Ansel Adams

"A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words."

Chris Jordan at Kopeikin Gallery

Don't miss Chris Jordan's show over at Kopeikin Gallery. Chris makes super interesting, impeccably photoshopped work about US and global consumption. Make sure to check out his site to see what I mean. His new book, which shares the same title as this exhibition can be purchased here. Make sure to check out his site to see what I mean.