© Eikoh Hosoe

On May 6, 2010, Eikoh Hosoe was presented with the 18th-Annual Medal of Honor for Lifetime Achievement in Photography by the National Arts Club. This great evening was hosted by Master of Ceremonies Dr. Stanley Burns, President O. Aldon James, Jr., and Catherine Johnson, Chair of the Photography Committee, with whom I work very closely. The unbelievable list of previous honorees names some of my favorite artists, including Duane Michals (1994) and William Eggleston (2003).

© Eikoh Hosoe

Born in the Yamagata Prefecture of Japan in 1933, Mr. Hosoe has long been considered one of the most influential Japanese photographers working since WWII. The creativity found in his work becomes even more sensational when put into the context of Japanese culture and contemporary photography over 50 years ago. He joined his high school photography club in 1949, took top prize in the student category of the Fuji Photo Contest for his work Poddie Jawoski only two years later, and has continued to reinterpret the world through his photographs ever since. He is not only important for his own work, but also as a teacher and an artistic ambassador of Japan.

"Kamaitachi #17" © 1969 Eikoh Hosoe

One of Eikoh’s stories that I especially related to was about the making of Kamaitachi, his unique collaboration created with close friend and interpretive dancer Tatsumi Hijikata, the founder of ankoku butoh dance. The 1969 series is inspired by the legend of kamaitachi (‘weasel-sickle’), a weasel-like supernatural being who haunted the Japanese countryside of Hosoe’s childhood, slashing those he encountered with a sickle. The arresting images show Hijikata’s improvisational performance as a wandering ghost in a Northern Japanese farming village, a performance which also included local villagers. His use of fairy tales and his collaborative style of working with his subjects are both at the core of my own artistic pursuits.

(A new hardcover edition of Kamaitachi is available here through the Aperture Foundation, and is an absolute must-have for every collection.)

Eikoh Hosoe and Sean HusVar, May 6, 2010 (© Ben Gabbe)

Eikoh Hosoe is the founder and director of the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts and professor of photography at the Tokyo Institute of Polytechnics. Hosoe lives in Tokyo and is represented by the Howard Greenberg Gallery in NYC, where his amazing prints are available for purchase. It was a pleasure to meet Eikoh—such a gifted artist, as well as a warm and incredibly giving person.

“To me, photography can be simultaneously both a record and a “mirror” or “window” of self-expression… The camera is generally assumed to be unable to depict that which is not visible to the eye. And yet the photographer who wields it can depict what lies unseen in his memory.”
—Eikoh Hosoe

Phase One 645DF Medium-Format Camera

The shoot we had borrowed the camera for was originally scheduled for three days. But when the models for the first shoot were detained at the Canadian border, I was able to use the downtime to get a one-on-one technical workshop taught by Doug Peterson, Capture Integration’s Head of Technical Services in Miami. The new version of Capture One’s amazing software allows for such fine and consistent control of color management, details, calibrations, as well as the ability to gauge your depth of field in a quick and efficient manner. The interface is so smooth and quick that it is an absolute pleasure to be able to see well-calibrated and polished proofs just seconds after the shutter clicks. You can also use Capture One for tethering with Canon, Leaf, and Nikon cameras, which can help make the transition from Canon to Phase One feel like a very natural progression.

Phase One 645DF Camera System (back)

For the tech heads out there, this camera’s systems sensor is a full 6 x 4.5. The system shoots a 65 megapixel raw file, resulting in a 200 MB final image file, allowing for unparalleled amounts of data in the image. For the non-tech heads, this means that the detail is crisp and completely amazing, even when zoomed in well past 100%. You can magnify the images to see the smallest details and imperfections in the models skin and hair, perfect for the very particular portraits we were capturing at our shoot. It was great to be able to review the exacting and precise makeup and hair applications that our talented styling team of Linh Nguyen and Yeikov Bermudez had created. Plus, we have the ability to make gargantuan prints. Who says bigger isn’t better!

Phase One P 65+ Digital Back

Phase One, who used to partner with Hasselblad for their digital backs, recently decided to go out on their own and purchased the highly respected Mamiya camera company. One result of this corporate acquisition was the creation of the amazing Phase One DF body, along with a host of great lenses, a wide range of digital backs, and a full range of shoot accessories. And while they will continue to live up to their commitment to make digital backs that fit the older and newer Hasselblad bodies, as well as Contax, Rollei, and Mamiya, Phase One is now its own branded body.

Phase One Lenses

I have been a Canon user for as long as I can remember, but this new system from Phase One has quickly become a new favorite. Thanks to the hands-on instruction I received from Doug, the learning curve was especially smooth and simple. His knowledge of the practical and advanced functions of the system was invaluable.

John William Waterhouse, Odysseus and the Sirens (1891)

The Sirens were actually portrayed as three bird-women parented by the river god Achelous and Chthon, otherwise known as Mother Earth. These dangerous beauties resided in a flowery meadow on an island, perpetually calling after their father who had gone to the sea and left them all behind. Another story had them banished to the island (possibly the Isle of Capri) after losing a singing contest with the Muses, and so they took out their frustrations by luring sailors to swim ashore, pouncing on them and ripping their flesh with their talons, then adding their bones to the piles already littering the island. Yet another tells of their ultimate demise, throwing themselves into the ocean after Odysseus passed without succumbing to their song.

August Rodin, Crouching Woman (1881)

I had also recently seen Auguste Rodin’s Crouching Woman (1881), a beautiful sculpture at the Musée Rodin in Paris. The dark shine of its surface makes me feel like I’m at the bottom of the ocean. It is still considered one of his greatest achievements, and in fact, Octave Mirbeau, an avid Rodin collector and supporter, referred to this sculpture as “my frog,” which I found to be quite serendipitous for my purposes! This figure was also included in his larger work The Gates of Hell, a bronze portal meant for the Musée des Arts Decoratifs which he never finished. In it, she represents one of the lost souls being judged in the Last Judgment—also quite an interesting connection to my newly created endangered species.

Marie Vaccarello, Siren on set

I cast one of my favorite models, Marie Vaccarello, as my Siren. Marie has this built-in sweetness to her that is very disarming, which made her perfect for my Siren’s song. So innocent looking, right?

Though they were clearly not considered sea deities, their story and their origin certainly starts and ends in the ocean. But just like they were torn between earth and ocean, both by nature and by cultural evolutions, I decided to reconnect the siren to the sea by combining its suborder Alcae (coastal birds which nest on sea cliffs and “fly” underwater to catch fish) with another sea monster, Cecaelia—a largely Japanese octopus person (dating back as far as Hokusai) most frequently shown as a woman with octopus or squid tentacles for legs. As my raptor-like Siren somehow lost its ability to feed on men, it evolved into a diving bird, and our captured specimen had just been thrown this octopus at feeding time. We had a lot of fun on the shoot, including a series of alternate takes wearing these really weird aviator-style goggles.

And just in case you were wondering—yes, she is holding a real octopus. What a great sport!

Visit LEVIATHANS for more behind-the-scenes features and to view the photo series!

I happened upon his painting “Behemoth and Leviathan,” which is part of his series of illustrations based on the Book of Job. The inscription he used from the Bible is incredibly creepy: “Behold now Behemoth, which I made with thee.” Blake’s extensive use of symbolism included designating the right hand as good and the left as evil. In this painting, God is clearly pointing at these creatures with his left hand.

William Blake, "Behemoth And Leviathan" (ca. 1805-1810)

But why did Blake only draw attention to the Behemoth with the inscription? I felt quite certain that it was due to the fact that the Behemoth was some kind of hellish creature, and that the Leviathan was some figment of one of Blake’s visions, perhaps based on some mythological sea creature mixed with childhood nightmares.

I was wrong.

The Bible actually mentions the Leviathan five other times:

“May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.”
“Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.”
“O LORD, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.”
“In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish the leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.”

And this last one really caught me by surprise—an entire paragraph of the Bible devoted to describing a sea serpent:

“Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? Or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? Canst thou put an hook into his nose? Or bore his jaw through with a thorn? Will he make many supplications unto thee? Will he speak soft words unto thee? Will he make a covenant with thee? Wilt thou take him for a servant for ever? Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? Or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? Shall the companions make a banquet of him? Shall they part him among the merchants? Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? Or his head with fish spears? Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more. Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him? None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me? Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine. I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion. Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can come to him with his double bridle? Who can open the doors of his face? His teeth are terrible round about. His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal. One is so near to another, that no air can come between them. They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered. By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron. His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth. In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him. The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved. His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone. When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings they purify themselves. The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon. He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble. Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear. Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire. He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment. He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary. Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.”

So why is the Bible talking this much about a sea monster? After a little more digging, I found an answer. Fragments from parts of the Bible that didn’t make the “final cut,” including the Books of Noah and Enoch, were discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Among them was this quote:

“And on that day were two monsters parted, a female monster named Leviathan, to dwell in the abysses of the ocean over the fountains of the waters. But the male is named Behemoth, who occupied with his breast a waste wilderness…”

This is tied to an ancient Hebrew prophecy, in which the Behemoth and Leviathan will battle to the death at the end of days (kind of like in Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster). Before either one wins, the Creator will come down and slay them both with a sword, at which time mankind will serve them as part of an elaborate feast held under canopies made from the Leviathan’s skin. Leave it to the Bible to compete on grossness with a movie about Hannibal Lecter.

The word LEVIATHAN really got into my head, and my mind started working on a new idea for a photo series. What if these sea monsters had actually existed? How closely would they resemble the myths in real life? How much of their reputation came from legend, and how much from fact? I wanted to bring Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea to life, but in an unexpected way… I wanted my sea monsters to feel simultaneously ultra-modern and ancient, as if the images were captured in a dark room at the Bronx Zoo in the 1800’s. These creatures were oddities, left behind by Darwin’s evolutionary machine, and perhaps their time and powers were coming to an end.

So this is my version of the story…

During the summer of 1871, a number of underwater expeditions were conducted in the Tyrrhenian Sea around the isle of Capri. Led by Scandinavian scientist Georg Pettersson, their purpose was to prove or disprove the existence of certain sea monsters still prevalent in the cultural mythology of sailors. Captain Gunnar Dannevig and the crew of the Maelstrom spent three months at sea collecting specimens before mysteriously disappearing on August 29, never to be seen again. Pettersson washed ashore some six weeks later, alive but unable to speak. These silver daguerreotypes and their scant fragments of data, which were found in an airtight container strapped to his back, are the only remaining evidence of what they saw.

These creatures (if they ever existed) were most certainly dangerous. But were they truly more evil than the humans who hunted them down, whether for sport or science?

Visit LEVIATHANS for more behind-the-scenes features and to view the photo series!

Visit LEVIATHANS to view the photo series and to read behind-the-scenes features!

Visit LEVIATHANS to view the photo series and to read behind-the-scenes features!

Local fine artist/photographer Sean HusVar is currently completing pre-production for two high-profile photo shoots, with the resulting images intended for release sometime later in 2010.

The ambitious back-to-back shoots, which are part of a much longer photographic series, will take place all day Wednesday, April 21 and Thursday, April 22 at HusVar Studios, located at 268 Main Street, Suite 103 in downtown Buffalo. In addition to some local talent, the large-scale production is also bringing in numerous cast and crew from Toronto and New York City.

HusVar’s latest work continues to thematically explore his own surreal versions of classic pop culture icons. His latest completed series, WONDERLAND, supposes an alternate story line for Alice, all grown up but melancholy with longing for the dreamland of her childhood.

Feel free to contact Julie Colvin, Director of Public Relations, at 716.310.7147 or by e-mail at julie.colvin@husvar.com with any questions, comments, or requests.

Visit the official HUSVAR website at http://www.HUSVAR.com for more information on Sean and his work.

PETER BEARD: DIARY (FROM A DEAD MAN’S WALLET: CONFESSIONS OF A BOOKMAKER)
Peter Beard & Kotaro Iizawa
Designed by Tsuguya Inoue
Tokyo: Libro Port Publishing Co., Limited First Edition (1993)

During my recent visit to the Palm Springs Photo Festival, I had the pleasure of meeting Joshua Simpson. He’s the Gallery Associate at LeadApron, a Los Angeles creative agency that supports and promotes an extraordinary roster of past and present artists. Joshua invited me to view their collection of rare photography art books, and it was truly one of the most amazing collections I’ve ever seen.

One book in particular just about leaped into my hands. It was profusely illustrated in color and black-and-white, and full to bursting of hand-written notes, photographs, sketches, found items, and more. I was thrilled to find out that it was Peter Beard’s diary.

Peter Beard started taking photographs when he was twelve, and by the time he completed his art history studies at Yale, he was ready to make his third trip to Kenya, this time to photograph and document the waning elephant and rhino population. The resulting photos and artifacts led to his first one-man show at the International Center of Photography in New York City.

from Eyelids of Morning: The Mingled Destines of Crocodiles and Men (© Peter Brown)

I’ve always been a fan of Beard’s photographic work, but even more captivating for me is his obsession with keeping diaries, a practice he’d been doing for years before he took his first photograph. I say this because I am a rather obsessive journal keeper myself, and I really connected with his fragmented style of writing. On many of the pages, you can see his blood- and grime-covered fingers holding the diaries open. It really gives you perspective on his passion.

from Peter Beard: Diary

Published only in Japan in conjunction with a 1993 exhibition, this remarkably beautiful volume documents Peter Beard’s collaged diaries, many of which were consumed in the fire pictured on the dust jacket that destroyed the photographer’s Montauk estate. The edges of some of the pages were designed to appear burnt and charred, pulling me even further into the remarkable inner world of this amazing artist.

For more information about Peter Beard, visit the artist’s website at www.peterbeard.com.

And here is more info on LeadApron:

Joshua Simpson, Gallery Associate
LEADAPRON
8454 Melrose Place
Los Angeles, CA 90069
o 323 782 1888
f 323 782 1883
leadapron.net

© Marilyn Manson

Multimedia artist and provocateur Marilyn Manson has been a consistently subversive force in American popular culture for the past 15 years. Since his first nationally released album Portrait of an American Family, he has waged continuous aural wars against religion, the state, corporations, and the status quo. His second album, Antichrist Superstar, catapulted his career and put him squarely in the sights of conservative america. The album was a reflection on the growing pains of an artist, a commentary on both fame and the expectations it brings. Manson’s no-holds-barred approach to musical activism is often maligned by his critics and blamed for everything from school shootings to teenage suicides. However, his insightful responses in media interviews have shown his deep understanding of the concepts that he opposes.

Marilyn Manson interview with Bill O’Reilly:

Manson always teams up with incredible directors to create equally jarring visual accompaniment to his music, and the videos are often more controversial than the lyrics they contain. In “Coma White,” he is killed in an homage to the famous Zapruder Film of the JFK assassination. But he doesn’t stop there . . . His character is then hung on a cross, reminding us how our own culture tends to deify our own fallen leaders as martyrs.

Coma White:

Manson continues to challenge his audience to question accepted social mores and reinterpret their existence. While it is heavy hitting, his music remains palatable to a wide audience. He has managed to successfully ride the wave of pop-culture as it moves through time without compromising his musical vision and message. Since 2002, Marilyn Manson has extended his reach into the world of fine art with his watercolor paintings. His works feature simplistic forms and broad brush strokes, and while the imagery is often expectedly macabre, the mood is lightened by his colorful palette of washes. The two worlds collided with this image, which was the cover of his greatest hits album Lest We Forget.

Experience Is The Mistress Of Fools (© Marilyn Manson)