L E N S C R A T C H

Interview with Jane Hilton: DEAD EAGLE TRAIL

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:59:00 +0000

My father was a cowboy, born and raised in Arizona, so when I spent time with Jane Hilton's terrific monograph, Dead Eagle Trail, it resonated with me completely. Published by Schilt, Dead Eagle Trail: Portraits of the American Cowboy looks at contemporary cowboys who are still engaged in century old traditions. Inspired by a commission in 2006 to photograph a 17 year old cowboy, Jeremiah Karsten, who travelled 4,000 miles on horseback from his native Alaska to Mexico, Jane set off on her own four year pilgrimage, criss-crossing the cowboy states of Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas, New Mexico and Wyoming to capture America's 21st century cowboys which has culminated in this monograph.

A London photographer, Jane has a website and a resume that reflects a long history of exploring culture and society around the world, but in particular, the American West. In addition to her photography, she also creates films about about the people and communities she encounters. "My work is about the extraordinary realities of ordinary people's everyday lives, revealing their individual characteristics and ways of being that one so often overlooks". She started out as a classical musician, graduating in 1984 with a BA (Hons) in Music and Visual Art from Lancaster University. Her love of photography brought her to London, working as an assistant for numerous fashion and advertising photographers, before going it alone in 1988. Early work included both fashion and editorial alongside her documentary projects, which is the mainstay and passion of her work today.

DEAD EAGLE TRAIL - Portraits of the American Cowboy
Since 2006 Jane Hilton has 'collected' this series of cowboy portraits, from the buckaroos of Nevada to the cowpunchers of Arizona and Texas. They have all been photographed in their own homes, which they have filled with western artefacts. The need to hold on to their heritage and culture is clearly visible: stuffed animals, belt buckles, spurs, John Wayne memorabilia, guns, boots, and saddles, it's all there. There's a craving to collect and preserve their way of life as the ranches struggle to survive in the face of new technology, and the rising costs of feed and petrol. Dead Eagle Trail is a document to the cowboy of the twenty first century.

Interview with Jane Hilton

It was a complete pleasure to mine your website, and I came away wanting to ride along with you on your visual adventures. Your enthusiasm for what you shoot is so evident! When did you first come to the states to make work, and what draws you back again. Why the west?

I first came to the states in 1988 when I was an assistant on a fashion shoot. We were based in Tucson, Arizona and I fell in love with it from this moment on.

Can you tell me how the book Dead Eagle Trail came about?

The book came about after I was commissioned by the Times to photograph a young cowboy called Jeremiah Karsten after he had taken 2 and a half years to cross the United States on horseback. He was 19 years old and had travelled from Alaska to the Mexican border - he represented the American Dream and the older cowboys loved him for that. I ended up going for supper one evening with one of these old cowboys, and when I saw his home I realised there was something incredible about how the wild west had ended up being in his living room. So after photographing Jeremiah I went back to take the portrait of Johnny Green at home in an environment not seen before. And so my new project started.......

What have you learned about the contemporary cowboy?

He is refusing to join the modern world with our social networking and computers, however, he does now reluctantly have to follow new regulations health and safety wise for keeping cattle. Also the cattle drive nowadays is very scarce as cowboys now put the cattle in trucks and drive them from state to state as it is cheaper and quicker. However, the cowboy still exists because they can ride to areas on the land that you can't reach by a truck. He also carries a cellphone but he still works mostly in areas with no cellphone service !

The cowboy portraits are wonderful, but I was also drawn to your landscape work. I think it's interesting that such colorful people live in such desolate places.

They all have a passion for the countryside and nature. In general they are all quite spiritual being at one with nature, sometimes not seeing another human being for a few days, and in the winter months a few weeks - so they are used to their own space.

The people you photograph, in all of your series, seem very at ease. Can you share your insights into working with people you don't know?

I love meeting new people, and am genuinely excited about learning new things from a new person. So maybe being interested helps them to relax. I also try and spend as much time as possible with them before getting my camera out. Time is what you need with people.

You are both a photographer and film maker--how do you decide which medium to approach a project with?

Some things are fairly obvious, for example, where the photographs can't possibly tell the whole story and the story is amazing, then filming is fantastic. I ended up filming because I came across such incredible people with the most incredible stories.
The still photograph is an art form that requires everything within that frame to be perfect. When you get it right it can sometimes be more poignant.

Are you working on something new--I know you are back in the west at this time?

Yes am very excited about the new project I am working on. Although it is too new to say anything more, except that it is based in Nevada which is my favourite state, so I couldn't be happier !

What would be your dream project?

The projects that I have done to date, and am doing at the moment. They are all my dream projects

Lenscratch readers are interested in knowing more about your photographic journey. What advice can you give emerging photographers, especially on presentation, on networking, on consistently producing excellent work?

I might not be the best person to answer that as I really just follow my heart, and am aware that is a privilege. Presentation is obviously crucial. I love C-type hand printing and ironically all the old fashioned ways of presenting work. There is nothing better than a photograph that is beautifully printed, and framed and hung on the wall. However, I am aware that the internet is the way forward and in getting the work to a wider audience there is nothing better.

What opportunity took your career to the next level?

Actually this project - 'Dead Eagle Trail'

And finally, what would be your perfect day?

Taking a great photograph, or filming the perfect sequence, of course !!

Theron Humphrey's Maddie on Things

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 09:49:00 +0000

I am featuring another project by Theron Humphrey today because I am a total and complete sucker for dog photos and these are pretty swell. Huge kudos to the amazing Maddie, the coonhound. This wonderful series, Maddie on Things, has hit the blogesphere big time. If you like this work, there are more where these came from on the Maddie on Things website.

Theron Humphrey and This Wild Idea

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 10:55:00 +0000

We sometimes wake in the night with a brilliant idea, but most of us don't make those ideas into a reality. Theron Humphrey has been living his wild idea for 211 days. I'll let him tell you about it:

Born and raised in the South, I grew up in a family rich with oral history. While studying in the Appalachian mountains I fell in love with photography. In 2007 I earned my MFA in photography from the Savannah College of Art and Design.For the past few years I was working in a commercial photography studio in the beautiful panhandle of Idaho. One morning I woke up, and decided I needed use photography to connect with folks, and tell their story.

This idea is simple, the goal is straightforward, but I need your help! I'm going meet 1 new person a day, everyday, for 365 days. The goal is to makes images that age well and increase in value over time; images that will become part of your family story, which we can pass on to the next generation.

You can help me out in a few ways! I'd love for you to change my route, so you can actually become a part of this project. This project is a new look at social media; it's not about self-promotion, it's about everyone in America having an opportunity to connect to the project and shape its direction.

You can help by following along on the website starting August 1st and helping me spread the word! Tell your friends, neighbors, and folks walking down the street about the project too.

This Wild Idea site

I am so impressed with Theron's project, but also with his photography outside of the project. Tomorrow I will be sharing another favorite project by Theron. I am featuring just 3 of his 211 stories on his site...This Wild Idea.

moving forward - a call for help from This Wild Idea on Vimeo.

Benjamin and Noam
10-29-2011 / Chelmsford, MA

It’s not too often I met folks from Kenya who are competitive marathon runners. I actually don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who makes a living by running. And not even running from something, just running because you love it. I have met folks from Kenya before. They were really nice. We would walk to class and hold hands. It honestly made me feel awkward, but they told me it was how they showed friendship in their country. I felt very global and cultural on those days.

Benjamin and Noam are awesome, they called me when they got home and told me they were looking at my website. I do wish I were better at understanding thick accents, I have to listen to intently, examine each word. I wonder if they struggled to understand my words too.

Aaaron Free
12-18-2011 / 1320 Pactolas Road, Johnson City, TN

There are a handful of folks I’ve met in my life that I’ve quickly known I should hold onto, and Free is one of them. He’s one of the meekest, gentle, folks I’ve ever met.

Free and I spent a fair amount of time stomping through the woods, talking about life, figuring out what it all means. He took me to the summit of his favorite climb, Roan Mountain.

We were conquerors of the useless that afternoon, but changed men on the other side.

Bonita and Joe Moore
02-08-2012 / St. Louis, MO

The best part of hanging out with Grandparents, folks from a previous generation, is that they so vividly lived in a different time. Every word, every tale, are from eyes that saw a world I’ll never know.

What I loved most about the Neil’s was their genuine love. They spoke so kindly of their family. They seemed to willing to open their homes to any of their Grandchildren and to help their kids. I suppose being selfless is one of things being a parent calls for, but it’s wonderful to see an example, to be in a home where it lives.

And you know you’re in good company with the Moore’s because the first thing they did was offer me cornbread and chili. Can’t beat it.

My Money's on The Artist

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 11:24:00 +0000

If you have been reading Lenscratch over the years, you know that I am a devoted Oscar fan. I see as many movies as I can over the year, and those numbers increase significantly towards Oscar week. I have had the amazing opportunity to attend the Oscars twice, and last year's experience was really special--nothing like walking side by side Colin Firth into the event (thought he wasn't aware of it!). This year I will be hosting a little Oscar party and will be glued to the television for the entire day. My money's on The Artist, but my heart is with Beginners.

A few shots before the red carpet...
The crowds were screaming for us to open our windows...so as I rolled mine down, a huge roar came up from the crowd so I very quickly rolled up the window so they wouldn't be disappointed I wasn't someone of interest.

Enjoy the show!

Ben Van Hook

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 11:18:00 +0000

I thought you'd like to start your weekend with a wonderful stop motion video by Ben Van Hook. He created the short film at the Central Florida Fair by taking 40,000 still images and creating a wonderful visual experience. The stop motion quality ads a nostalgic and cinematic feel to the project.

Thomas Jackson

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:53:00 +0000

Sometimes there is a WOW factor when looking at photographs, and Thomas Jackson's work has it in spades.

Thomas grew up in Providence, Rhode Island and probably absorbed a lot of Rhode Island School of Design cells in his baby formula which resulted in creative genes. He did, however, earn his BA in History from The College at Wooster and began a career in NYC as an editor and book reviewer for magazine. After reviewing stacks of photography books, he was inspired to pick up a camera and create his own work. He has exhibited at Central Booking in DUMBO, Brooklyn, the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, and a variety of other venues. He currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.

I am featuring two bodies of work, Emergent Behavior and The Robot Series. Thomas produced a wondrous handmade book with hinges and port holes for The Robot Series--it's worth a look on his site.

The Robot Book

EMERGENT BEHAVIOR: The hovering sculptures featured in this ongoing series of photographs are inspired by self-organizing, “emergent” systems in nature such as termite mounds, swarming locusts, schooling fish and flocking birds. The images attempt to tap into the fear and fascination that those phenomena tend to evoke, while creating an uneasy interplay between the natural and the manufactured and the real and the imaginary. At the same time, each image is an experiment in juxtaposition. By constructing the pieces from unexpected materials and placing them in environments where they seem least to belong, I aim to tweak the margins of our visual vocabulary, and to invite fresh interpretations of everyday things.

THE ROBOT SERIES: In this series of photographs, I’ve combined elements of science fiction literature and film with storytelling motifs from Medieval tapestries and altarpieces to create a darkly humorous narrative about a lone robot’s failure to co-exist with the natural world. Against that backdrop, the work explores the uneasy, opposing emotions Mother Nature provokes in us: fear and fascination, reverence and contempt, attraction, revulsion, greed, guilt and the queasy feeling that in the end, she will get us back for everything we’ve done wrong. I chose to build the series around a robot because he seemed an apt representation of our otherness within the natural world, and a stand-in for our ceaseless desire to force our environment into permanent submission—no matter how doomed the effort might be.

Walter Martin & Paloma Muñoz

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:26:00 +0000

When I was in New York recently I happened upon an exhibition by
Walter Martin & Paloma Muñoz at the PPOW Gallery in Chelsea. I have always loved their collaborations of snow globes and photographs. Their new work, Night Falls, is as equally as magical as their earlier Travelers work.

Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz have been collaborating since 1993 and have exhibited internationally. Their work is in numerous museum collections, including the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Overland Park, Kansas, and the KIASMA Museum of Contemporary art in Helsinki, Finland. Recently their work was featured in group exhibitions at the Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, Washington; the Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Concurrent with the exhibition at P.P.O.W the artists are participating in the exhibition "Fairytales, Monsters and the Genetic Imagination" at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, Tennessee.

Installation images from Night Falls

"For Night Falls, Martin & Muñoz have chosen night as a back drop. Fires, flashlights and moonlight puncture the dark to expressive effect. Important details and aspects of the narratives are lent a dynamic chiaroscuro where the interplay of light and dark shape both the mood and contour of the subject. Some of the images and snow globes depict a sort of dystopian Kinderland. This is a place where children have no parents, a place where adults appear only as an opposing tribe. Some of characters depicted and developed in this group of photos include: a giant black dog, a band of rogue tree children and a nefarious priesthood."

Interview with Lorena Guillen Vaschetti: HISTORIA, MEMORIA Y SILENCIOS

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:40:00 +0000

“My mother and I are the only members left of a big Italian family. Convinced that she was lifting the heavy weight of the family past off my shoulders, she called me to let me know that she had thrown away all the family slides: “It happened already”, she said…” — Lorena Guillén Vaschetti

Lorena Guillen Vaschetti has just published her first monograph, Historia, Memoria y Silencios through Schilt Publishing, and Postcart Publishing in Italy. The project is an unusual exploration of personal history and power through family photography--what the photographs reveal and what is hidden. Lorena approaches the work as an anthropologist, and the simplicity of her work allows the viewer to bring their own stories, conclusions, and realities to the project.

In 2009, Lorena’s mother threw away all the family slides to protect her daughter from the family history. Lorena was able to recover only one box from the many that her mother had discarded. She re-photographed the contents from her perspective, choosing to leave the slides that were wrapped in packages unopened.

Lorena Guillén Vaschetti was born in Rosario, Argentina in 1974. She studied Architecture and Anthropology before committing to Photography. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows throughout South America, the United States and Europe, and is included in a number of public and private collections.

The book is in two parts and begins with photographs of the loose slides Lorena found in the box. She re-photographed the slides from a depth of field that leaves portions of the images out of focus, and the faces of her family members blurred. This gives the series a dreamlike, mysterious quality that reflects the passage of time, and poses intriguing questions about the relationship between family members, and what other unknown stories exist in between the picture frames.

Images from Historia, memoria y silencios (Historia, memoria)

In the second half of the book (tied in a Japanese binding) – Unopened/Sin Abrir – Lorena presents photographs of the packages of slides that she chose not to open. Bound in elastic bands, and concealed in film canisters, these photographic artifacts conceal family secrets that the artist will never learn. Lorena is most interested in what we cannot see, and how powerful constructed memories of our past shape what we ultimately believe to be true.

Images from Historia, memoria y lilencios (Silencios)

Congratulations on the book! It's a unique approach to exploring the idea of family photographs and history. You studied Anthropology and Architecture before committing to photography. Does that education inform your work?

I can easily imagine that if I would have studied other careers my work would be different. Let me think about it with you: Architecture has been present in the way I thought the book as an object. I faced it as I think an architectural project. First the idea and then the factuality of it. To make an idea become a final object and all the process in between.

Let me give you an example: to express the "Un-openess" through japanese binding is different way to transmit the feeling of the impossibility of accessing those moments that already happened. A more physical way.

Last but not least technology: in this area my education did not informed the work directly: my the designer and the printer thought me about the technology in this particular field of book making.

Regarding Anthropology, it relates in so many different levels!

From understanding family links to reading codes through Semiology (in the first "vintage" images). And it can also be approached from an archeological point of view (mainly in the last ones, the "packages").

Can you tell us how the book came about?

I met Maarten Schilt in Paris in November 2010. As soon as he saw my work he said that this work would make a great book. I had not considered the possibility of a book about this before but I thought it was a wonderful format for this body of work. We worked from February to August and in October the book was released in Europe and now, February, in the United States.

There also is an Italian edition by a publishing house in Rome called Postcart Edizioni.

Postcart came to know about the book when we were finishing it and offered to make the italian edition which was wonderful because most pictures are taken in Italy and both my grandparents (the photographer) were italians. And so am I !

Your early series about black boards appears to have a connection to your current work. It's work about a structure, wherein the narrative is obscured, and it feels nostolgic, in the past. Did you see this connection?

You are completely right !!! and you said it wonderfully well....
I saw the connection later than I would have imagined. I work very intuitively and only later I think about the reasons why I did what I did.

What made you decide to reinterpret and rephotograph your family photographs?

A complex and sometimes sad family history. They became something else now.

I can't imagine to allowing myself to NOT look at family photographs. Do you ever think you will explore those images? Is there a truth you don't want exposed? The act of not looking is quite powerful.

Thank you Aline...
I understand what you say. As I mentioned earlier, I work very intuitively. For the time being I feel comfortable having them as objects holding unknown moments.

The fact that they became something else, larger perhaps than only the images they would offer is important to me.
I don't know if I will ever open them. They are in a transparent box now. They are like archeology objects in a way.

Admittedly, I have had my own experience cleaning out my parent's house and throwing away carousels of slides-- that is one reason that this work really resonates with me. Have you given thought as to what our generation will pass on to our children, now that physical photographs are rare--most people keep them on their computers.
Very true! I have no idea what they will hold on to for the construction of memory. I would imagine a few objects and a few stories that will eventually wash with time. At the end of the day it is like it happened in history before photography existed.

And the next generation will have to deal with the problem of having too many (files): when we have too much it is usually hard to see what is important....
It is a very interesting matter.

Regarding your own story, I believe that even if you would have kept all your parent's slides, only very few would have been meaningful to you. You probably already have that "space" of your memory filled with other objects or images (photographs or memories in your mind). In my experience that is enough.

In fact most of my family slides where already gone with the trash truck when I came to know. Perhaps if I would have had a million or they would not have been in such risk I would have never paid attention. (But let me confess that when I saw how wonderful they were I wanted them all back! )

As an Argentinian photographer, how do you connect with the rest of the world? Is Argentina supportive of photographers? Have you attended portfolio reviews outside of South America?

Argentina is a very difficult country for artists to live in terms of the lack of governmental support, especially economical. But there is a big artists' community that is very interesting.

Yes, I attended portfolio reviews in different places such as Fotofest (Houston) Santa Fe Reviews (New Mexico) Paris photo and Bratislava!

Are you working on a new project?

I need to let it grow a bit more before I can speak about it. But it has to do with the need to fill in the blanks.

And finally what would be your perfect day?

Any day when I am in peace with myself, conscious of how lucky I am.
If it would be sunny, had nice simple food and I would have my loved ones around, then it would be the perfect, perfect day!

Paolo Ventura

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:53:00 +0000

Sometimes husbands get it right. Some months ago, I was poking around my favorite store/gallery in Santa Monica, Obsolete, and discovered the photographs and constructions of Paolo Ventura. I was completely transfixed. Last week, my husband presented me with two of Paolo's books for my birthday, not aware of my reverence for his work. And to add to that stew of deliciousness, Paolo is opening an exhibition at Obsolete on February 25th, with work from The Funeral of the Anarchist series, which runs through March 24th. Be sure to explore the Obsolete website to see this sets and drawings that accompany the photographs.

Paolo is an Italian-born, Brooklyn-based photographer. His narratives are created by constructing and photographing miniature sets from found objects, bringing his small realities to life. There is a terrific article and interview with Paolo on The F Stop, written by Lloyd Wise. I'm also share a Vimeo about his work from Winter Stories below:

Paolo Ventura show-and-tell on Winter Stories from Aperture Foundation on Vimeo.

The work featured below is from his The Automaton of Venice series, and it very much reminds me very much of Scorsese's recent movie, Hugo. The series is adapted from a children’s tale that takes place during the Nazi occupation of Italy. The photographs tell the story of an elderly watchmaker who builds an automaton to keep him company during the evacuation of the Venice ghetto. “I wanted to create a city that was at once familiar and unknown,” Ventura told me, “almost as if you walked through Venice, opened a gate, and discovered something you’d never seen before. This is a Venice I would have liked to have seen, but that no longer exists. Maybe it never really existed at all—except in my fantasy.” Dewi Lewis has published a book of this work under the title, The Automaton.

Images from The Automaton

Eric Tabuchi: FAT ( A French American Trip)

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:42:00 +0000

Eric Tabuchi has just released a new book, FAT, A French American Road Trip, published by Matmos Press in Montreal. It's a wonderful collection of images that bring humor to the idea of our globalized world, where the homoginization of cultural landmarks make no sense in their new contexts. But the most amazing element of this series, is that these images are all Google screen captures.

Eric is a modern day typologist, with an amazing range of projects. His website is an incredible reflection of the potential of looking at our world. Eric works and lives in Paris and has a long roster of international exhibitions. Eric states:
"Photography is first and foremost a technique for recording images. That is PRECISELY The Reason Why it is so captivating - literally, it Consists in Capturing stuff. Purpose, to answer your question, I think photography is Above All That projection was of the past into the future, an anticipation of what has-been and Will no longer exist. That is why I wait for Several years Often Before publishing my gold Exhibiting photographs."

Images from Alphabet Truck

Images from Eldorado

Images from French Countryside Skateparks

FAT - A French American Trip: Pursuing his pop and serial studies of the French landscape, Eric Tabuchi questions the validity of his photographic method in contrast to the considerable power wielded by the likes of Google, which, via his global digitization company, is at last carrying out a project that is genuinely objective. Thus, contrary to his habitual method of scanning the field, Eric Tabuchi has undertaken the exploration of familiar places, but through this parallel world, the carbon copy of reality that is Street View.Consequently, FAT creates a strain between these two levels of perception, which are henceforth known to all as the virtual and the real, the space of projection and the concrete territory.

FAT is America, projected through the realm of the French imagination, digitized by Google and at last, compiled by Eric Tabuchi, as a sort of staggeringly condensed outlook of what globalization could be, in the era of internet. In this respect, FAT is a doubly motionless voyage as it entails visiting America through its emblematic landmarks without leaving France, and what’s more, in front of a computer screen. Residing in Paris during the summer of 2011, Eric Tabuchi, after envisioning this voyage into reality, set out on this virtual “road trip”, making an inventory of businesses – bars for the most part – bearing the name of a city, place or state visible on Street View. In 32 screen captures, two geographies are layered, which, from New York to El Paso, from Villeurbanne to Draguignan, testifies to the gap that divides the “elsewhere” from “here”.

Detroit Center for Contemporary Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 10:41:00 +0000

Happy to promote this call for entry for Kyohei Abe from the Detroit Center for Contemporary Photography and David Bram from Fraction Magazine, two of the best people in the photo world!

Call For Entries: CHANGE OF PACE 2012

Special Guest Juror: David Bram, a fine art photographer and the editor, founder, and curator of Fraction Magazine. www.fractionmagazine.com

SUBMISSIONS DUE: Postmarked by March 31, 2012

Detroit Center for Contemporary Photography will be hosting juried exhibition, an opencall for photographic work exploring any theme.

Exhibition Dates: June 2, 2012 - July 7, 2012
Location: Detroit Center for Contemporary Photography
Submissions Due: Saturday, March 31, 2012, (This is NOT a postmark deadline.)
For more information: contact the DCCP, detroitccphoto@gmail.com. Download PDF for submission gudieline and an entry form.

Kelli Connell

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 11:50:00 +0000

Kelli Connell's photographs seem to be everywhere these days, and soon they will be in Los Angeles, opening on February 25th at the Kopeikin Gallery. The exhibition, Double Life, will run through March 31, 2012. I have been a long time fan of her constructed realities, executed to perfection and visually charged. Only recently, I discovered that it is not Kelli Connell in the photographs, but a long time collaborator. No matter who the subbject, Kelli 's work is a powerful investigation of identity, sexuality, and gender roles and in some ways, the truest sense of self portraiture. She forces the viewer to explore their own identity and the process can be slightly unsettling.

Kelli received an MFA from Texas Woman’s University and currently lives and teaches in Chicago. She has exhibited widely and her work is held in many collections including Microsoft, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Columbus Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum of Contemporary Photography, The Haggerty Museum of Art and The Dallas Museum of Art. Her monograph, Kelli Connell: Double Life was published by DECODE Books in Fall 2011. Kelli will be at the Kopeikin Gallery for a book signing on Thursday, February 23, 5:30 – 7:30.

I’ve always seen identity as something that is very fluid and as such I usually shy away from labels altogether. Still, a larger part of this work explores the nature of identity formation. In my own personal history, the process of questioning my sexuality was confounding, because the conventional categories, and even the need to categorize in the first place felt like…something being pushed on me. Meanwhile the internal experience of my sexual and gender identity was quite natural and yet not a static thing at all. Perhaps this work is trying to figure out why we rely on categories and labels the way we do.

These images were created from scanning and manipulating two or more negatives in Adobe Photoshop. Using the computer as a tool to create a “believable” situation is not that different from accepting any photograph as an object of truth, or by creating a story about two people seen laughing, making-out, or quarreling in a restaurant. These photographs reconstruct the private relationships that I have experienced personally, witnessed in public, or watched on television. The events portrayed in these photographs look believable, yet have never occurred. By digitally creating a photograph that is a composite of multiple negatives of the same model in one setting, the self is exposed as not a solidified being in reality, but as a representation of social and interior investigations that happen within the mind.

This work represents an autobiographical questioning of sexuality and gender roles that shape the identity of the self in intimate relationships. Polarities of identity such as the masculine and feminine psyche, the irrational and rational self, the exterior and interior self, the motivated and resigned self are portrayed. By combining multiple photographic negatives of the same model in each image, the dualities of the self are defined by body language and clothing worn. This work is an honest representation of the duality or multiplicity of the self in regards to decisions about intimate relationships, family, belief systems and lifestyle options.

The importance of these images lies in the representation of interior dilemmas portrayed as an external object – a photograph. Through these images the audience is presented with “constructed realities”. I am interested in not only what the subject matter says about myself, but also what the viewers response to these images says about their own identities and social constructs.

Yvette Meltzer

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:57:00 +0000

I recently had the great honor to juror the Imagination exhibition that opens at the The A Smith Gallery today and runs through April 1st. The first place photograph, Revolutions in Green, was awarded to Yvette Meltzer for an image from her Revolutions series. I selected this work because she captured something ordinary and but able to make it extraordinary. As Yvette states, "Freshly washed laundry stirs in me a sense of hope with its freshness and renewal. Capturing the laundry revolving in the clothes dryer presented even more of a rebirth in its transformed state."

Revolutions in Green

Currently living in Evanston, Illinois, Yvette has been exploring photography for thirty years. Along with a career as an educator, conflict resolution specialist, mediator and mother, she continues to be inspired by the photographic world. Taking daily photographs for the last five years, Yvette is now exhibiting work that is a convergence of color, light, and form in the abstract.

Revolutions: Whether hanging on clotheslines or over rocks or from windows in Europe, drying laundry has long fascinated me. After taking a multitude of outdoor laundry images over the years, it was while in Chicago in February 2007 that I wondered where I might find laundry drying. My curiosity took me into a variety of Laundromats where I began taking photos.

I was drawn to the twirling colors of the laundry spinning in the dryers but I never imagined what I would ultimately find when I went to the computer to view these digital images of the laundry. Therein I saw faces and forms – both human and animal-like. And I was hooked. Thus was my laundry project born.

What has been most exciting for me is moving from capturing concrete laundry images to the abstract forms that have emerged on this journey. As Picasso said, “There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.” I believe that is what this series does. I start with fabric and a dryer, and in collaboration with my camera, we transform the reality.

Most people can’t fathom why I am taking photos of the dryers or clothes in a dryer. When I go into a Laundromat with my camera some are suspicious and some are even fearful. Believing I might be a government agent seeking to identify undocumented residents I have sometimes been asked to leave. Others personalize it and ask why I want to take pictures of their clothes. Why are you taking pictures of my clothes? one indignant woman asked me. Another woman shouted, “Don’t take my laundry!” behaving as if I were actually physically taking her clothes out of the dryer.

After having been told I was not allowed to photograph even my own laundry spinning in some Laundromats, and not even allowed entry with my camera to some other Laundromats, I have begun to carry a small portfolio with me with to show some of my dryer images to the Laundromat attendant and they will usually then grant me their permission to stay.

In the course of focusing on this laundry project, I have had a host of interesting conversations with customers, attendants and/or owners of the Laundromats. I enjoy photography as a vehicle to relationships. It is usually the children who are in the Laundromat with a family member that are the most curious and the most interested. That could be because they still have imagination!

Frank Yamrus

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:50:00 +0000

Tonight at the ClampArt Gallery in New York, Frank Yamrus will open a solo exhibition of I Feel Lucky, which runs through March 24th, 2012. As someone who just celebrated another, sigh, birthday, I felt a connection to the idea of taking stock of oneself and was especially interested in understanding a male point of view on the subject. This self-portrait series was originally inspired by Frank's forward motion into middle age, as he "stared down the barrel of his 50th birthday". He wanted to explore his changing body image, looking at the ravages of age and time through skin and mass, but instead he became interested in examining his inner self. The project spans from childhood memories to current life, a visual journey that resulted in an appreciation of the person he has become, and for life itself.

Frank has exhibited work internationally over the past twenty years, and his photographs are held in many public collections. He has produced a book of this series, with essays by W.M.-Bill-Hunt and Sunil Gupta.

Images from I Feel Lucky

untitled (Cake)

untitled (Daybreak)

untitled (Sandman)

untitled (Brooke)

untitled (Stone)

untitled (Cemetary)

untitled (Float)

untitled (Nap)

untitled (Box)

untitled (Jerk)

untitled (Window)

untitled (Cross)

untitled (Kiss)

untitled (Smoke)

Cynthia Greig

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:48:00 +0000

Cynthia Greig is an image maker who continues to create work that pushes the perceptions of what we know. Images from two well-exhibited series are shown below, but Cynthia also has a website and resume that reflect a continual exploration of what is real and/or true through photography and video.

From the series, Representations

From the series, Life-Size

A Detroit photographer, Cynthia received her MFA from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and also studied filmmaking at the University of Iowa where she received her MA in art history. She has exhibited widely around the world and her work is held in many public collections. She also, along with Catherine Smith, co-authored the book of vintage photographs, Women in Pants: Manly Maidens, Cowgirls and Other Renegades pib;;osjed bu Harry N. Abrams. In 2011, the Oakland University Art Gallery exhibited a survey exhibition, Cynthia Greig: Subverting the (un)Conventional curated by Dick Goody, which included a 70-page illustrated color catalogue.

She will be opening an exhibition of her Nature Morte Series at the DNJ Gallery in Los Angeles on April 21, running through June 2, 2012.

From the series, Nature Morte

Because this post comes on the heels of Valentine's Day, I thought it would be appropriate to share work from The Likeness of Being.

THE LIKENESS OF BEING: Xbox 360, Second life, Cyber sex. What is real? What is fake? Plastic bodies, Mass-Reproduced, Faux flesh pressed between my fingers. Blank stares and anatomically incomplete, but through the camera’s frame a certain intimacy rings true. A private touch or tenderness—a semblance of fleeting human feeling in miniature toy form. Filtered through a vague recollection of experience, the virtual is real is ideal. The Magic Hour.

Cinematic, photographic, in print, on the Internet, one-night stands, true love, my camera is my body is my witness. Living flesh connects with invented love on a 1:12 dollhouse scale—what’s the difference if we feel? My image sensor replicates the resemblance of prior intimacies. Life imitates Art imitates Life. Review, edit, revise, repeat, delete—Save—for as long as it will survive on jump, flash, hard drive. Flickr, Facebook, YouTube—human memory stored in synthetic skin.

Ancestral desires carved in stone still await the After Life. Our Future Plastic. Enlarged to life-size, surrogate bodies hide the missing entrance to their mother’s womb.

The 2012 Lenscratch LOVE Exhibition

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:43:00 +0000

A very Happy Valentine's Day to all! This exhibition reflects a wide variety of interpretations of LOVE, from family, from lovers, from hearts to kisses. A big thank you to all who submitted...may you all find love in the world around you, and most importantly, within yourself.

THE 2012 LENSCRATCH LOVE EXHIBITION

Catherine Just, Nap Time July 16th, 2011, Salt Lake City, UT

Phil Decker, Romantic Moments at the Garlic Festival, Elephant Garlic Festival in North Plains, Oregon, USA., July 2011

Janella Mele, Daughter, Cape Cod National Seashore, Truro, MA

María Beatriz Núñez, Amor prohibido (Forbidden love), Paris, France

Hank Frentz, More Love, Melbourne, FLA

Alison Turner,Traci and Jamie, Long Beach, CA

Jon Feinstein, 8 Grams, Brooklyn, New York

Asia Kepka, Bridget and I, New England

Valery Rizzo, L O V E

Sharon Johnson-Tennant, Stuck on You, Mexico

Joel Butler, 60 Years Together, Kokomo, Indiana.

Kevin J. Miyazaki, From Marilu, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin

Sherwin Rivera Tibayan, Brooklynn Nicole,, Purcell, OK, 2011

Consuelo Mendez, Consuelo's Valentine 2012, Berlin Germany

Paris Carter, "Dusting" from the series Goliaths, Orlando, FL

Sally Brower, Little Life, Charlotte, NC

Salvo Toscano, Untitled Love, Reading, UK

Bill Chapman, Kristin, New York City, NY

Ann Kendellen, Untitled, 2011, Portland, Oregon

Kay Kenny, Shark Girl, Pittsburgh, PA,

Jessica Lehane Day, Ellery and Annie, Denver, CO

Mary Ann Lynch, Endless Love, Brooklyn, NY 2007

April Rocha, Erica and Chris, Malibu, California

Lisa McCord, Cully and James, Rotan Switch, Arkansas

Susan Spiritus, Red is the color of the month!, At the Saatchi Gallery, London February, 2012

Elaine Minionis, She & She. (From series: "Last Days in Chinatown"), Chinatown, NYC

Susan Swihart, Be Mine, Los Angeles, CA

Sherry Huang, Love hurts, San Francisco, CA

Emma Kisiel, Self-portrait with Nathaniel, Denver, CO

Yvette Meltzer, Side by Side, Quimper, France

Yoichi Nagata , Touch, Tokyo Japan

Carol Dass, What I did for LOVE, Colorado

Tama Hochbaum, Fred and Ginger in Love, Chapel Hill, NC

Shawna Gibbs, The Wave, Cape Elizabeth, ME

Mariana González, #12 of the "Sunday morning at the Orlandini's" series; Salt Lake City, UT

Scott Achs, Ice Fishing, Enfield, NH

Sheri Lynn Behr, Luck and Love, Los Angeles, CA

Rolfe Ross, "Q Line, Coney Island", New York City, NY,

Thomas Rousing, True pixel heart, Copenhagen Denmark,

Malina Chavez, Circle of Love, Nashville, TN (Legislative Plaza at Occupy Nashville After a Vigil for Scott Olsen)

Debbie Poulin, Be Mine, Chicago, Illinois

Deborah Yun, La Mia Venezia, Venice, Italy

Jeff Dojillo, The Lovers, San Francisco, CA

Hannah Kozak, Rice Love, San Francisco, CA

Mary Defer, Untitled Love, Gambier, OH

Jim Brammer, Not Now, Prague, Czech Republic

Lisa Bevis, First Love - Self Portrait, Santa Monica, CA

Victoria Peñafiel, Three of us, Barcelona, Spain

Arianna Sanesi, Bruna and Antonio, Prato, 2009

Kristianne Drake, Untitled #4 (from the series All The Small Things), Southampton, England

Mark Hobson, My Love, Old Montreal, Canada

Cynthia Greig, The Likeness of Being / D12-10-2009/T18:02:39, Detroit MI

Cynthia E. Wood, he dreams of her; he calls her, San Francisco, CA

Matthew Moore, I Love You, Detroit, MI

Brian Van de Wetering, Locket, Pont des Arts, Paris, France

Gay Mayes, Love Leaf, Franklin, TN

Miriam O' Connor, Untitled, Dublin, Ireland

Pekka Nikrus, Heart & Vine, Helsinki, Finland

LiA Sanders, Up in the Air, Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY

Paul King, Couch buddies, Lincoln, United Kingdom

Bea Fresno, Untitled from the ongoing project "Love Story", The Netherlands

Julia Kozerski, Hunger, Milwaukee, WI

Kathryn Dunkle, 4x5 Fey Place, Savannah, Georgia

Kristy Carpenter, Wedding Album, Bronson, MI

winky lewis, Lo and Piggy, 2012, Carrabassett Valley, ME

Chloe Fettes, pou pou, Bintan (malaysia)

Monica Denevan, Bridal Chair 2011, China

Ashley Kauschinger, On Your Birthday, Denton, TX

Ron Cillizza, Propensity for roses - Without, New Hampshire (studio)

Blue Mitchell, Thinking Outrageously...(Love) (from the Cadence series by Blue Mitchell and Jennifer Schwartz), Portland, OR

James Bourret, Frozen, studio (Ketchum, Idaho)

Harvey Hanig, Heart, North Aurora IL

Fran Forman,Two, Wellfleet, MA

Paris Visone, At Kowloons, Saugus, MA

Patricia A. Bender, David Sleeping (2), Somerset, NJ

Dominic Rouse, Tea Dance, UK, Thailand, Cambodia, USA, Argentina

Aaron Hobson, Lovebirds, Adirondacks, USA

Vicki Hunt, True Love Ways, Opp, Alabama

Louise Daddona, Together, Boca Raton, Fl

Isabel Gomes, Yuck. Cooties!, Sherman Oaks, CA

Amy Adair, Barbara, Savannah, GA

Laurie McCormick, KITTY LOVE, Los Angeles

Garry Loughlin, Love, Observed #3, Dublin,

Fred Bonilla, Manos De Amor, Trumbull,CT

Liz Huston, The Lovers (Promise of a New Year), New Orleans, LA

Andi Schreiber, Do Not Disturb, Montauk, NY

Oliver Pauk, Beach Motel - Lover, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Gina Kelly, Kelly and Gypsy, Together for 15 years, Duluth, Minnesota

Gabriela Herman, When we see each other, Chilmark, MA

Renee Creager O'Brien, Man & Woman at MoMA, Museum of Modern Art, New York,

Rhonda Prince, Seeking Protection, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA

Valerie Patterson, Waiting, Palos Verdes, CA

Danica O.Kus, Together, Bilbao, Spain

James Luckett, The Heart, the great cavity of the trunk

John Thurston, For love of a warm bed, San Diego California, Gaslamp Quarter

Jonas Adolfsen, Utban romance #13, Oslo, Norway

Lydia Panas, Marcello and Tatiana, Kutztown, Pennsylvania

Shannon Rowland O'Connor, Josie, Los Angeles, CA

Anita Masterson Johnston, Petals in the Wind, Mission, SD

Jane Gottlieb, Daydream, Sorrento, Italy

Joanna Black, Love Who, Edinburgh

Robbie Kaye, Green Hearts, Lanai, HI

John Neel, Hearts, Rochester, NY

Patricia Houghton Clarke, Family Tree, Santa Barbara

Donna Rosser, Epiphany, my kitchen

Ruth Dudley-Carr, Immediate, Boston, MA

Danielle Kelly, Single Roses, New York City

Mariya Ustymenko, In Simple Words, Kiev, Ukraine

Dennis Hodges, Reconciliation, Kansas

Bruce Long, Noah's Arc de Paris, Paris, France.

Martin Gremm, Face Time, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany

Hollie A Miller, What's Yours is Mine, City Market, Downtown Kansas City, MO

Faustinus Deraet, Abandoning Ania, Antwerp, Belgium

Harvey R. Zipkin, The Lovers, New York City.

Joseph M. Verrastro, Teasel Leaves, Seneca Bluffs, Buffalo New York

Sharon Boothroyd, Edelweiss, Oxford, England

Carson Sanders, Caged, Prince Edward, Hong Kong

David Saxe, Near Campo Di Fiori, Rome Italy

Daniel Porter, Biker, New Zealand

Irby Pace, Lazy Day, Denton Texas

Michele Wambaugh, Dancing Danaus, Houston, TX

Francesca Solloway, Tear of Love, Hampshire - England

Wendy Laurel, Blue Sky Day, Maui, Hawaii

While considering what image to use about what love means to me, I thought about family, friends, my dog, my cameras, and instead, what can I say, but... I LOVE NEW YORK!

Aline Smithson

Happy Valentine's Day!

Heidi Lender

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:26:00 +0000

It's not easy to use humor, simplicity, and self-portraits to talk about ourselves, but Heidi Lender has done it brilliantly in her new series, She Can Leap Tall Buildings. Wearing a black wig, using a few props and simple graphic imagination against a plain wall, Heidi has managed to give a humorous nod to women who can do it all. Heidi (along with Brooke Shaden) will be opening an exhibition at the Open Shutter Gallery in Durango, Colorado on February 24th, running through April 4, 2012.

Heidi's strong visual and graphic sense comes from a career of writing features and styling photo shoots for national magazine. She has a BA in apparel and textiles from Cornell University and covered style, design, food and travel from New York to Paris. After a soulful search led her to India, and to studying yoga, and she opened her own studio in San Francisco. She now works full time as a fine art photographer, currently splitting her time between Northern California and Garzon, Uruguay.

She Can Leap Tall Buildings: I was in seventh grade in the 1970s when my mother went back to work. It was a traumatic event in my tween lifetime, returning from school to an empty house, my best friend suddenly absent with a plateful of priorities other than me. Mom played the roles of wife, mother, daughter, income-earner, independent-thinker, hostess, dinner-maker, family accountant, homework tutor and household organizer without a bat of her mascara’d eyelashes. Preoccupied with growing up, I was oblivious to this amazing juggling act. But from my adult woman perspective, it seems a heroic and near-impossible feat – not to mention a struggle. And, yet, mom did it in style. She never left the house without lipstick and liner, her hair teased and sprayed just so, and kept her standing appointment at the beauty parlor each Friday. My mother wasn’t perfect, but whether driving carpool, volunteering or planning trips, she played it all effortlessly, nary a complaint or sign of stress, and passed on her capabilities to me.

The Lover

As I move through my own grown-up life with a mountain of responsibilities, I humbly nod to all the superwomen of the world, especially my mother, who amazingly do it all.

The Provider

The Travel Planner

The Cleaner

The Laundress

The Cook

The Dogwalker

The Handyman

The Yogi

The Lover

The Big Picture at the Santa Fe Workshops

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:09:00 +0000

Just a reminder that I will be teaching next month at the Santa Fe Workshops, an organization that is known for excellence in photographic workshops. From March 7 - 10th, I will be teaching a 4 day workshop titled, The Big Picture. My goal is to have students leave filled up with new ideas and ways to make imagery, a focused vision for how to get work into the fine art market, and ways to bring a new level of professionalism to their presentations.

"Making great photographs is sometimes only half the journey. Getting them seen, and seen in the right context, is often the final leg. Photographers interested in exploring fine-art photography on a professional level need to understand the landscape of the fine-art community.

This four-day workshop explores not only genres and new approaches in contemporary image making, but also how to present your work to the fine-art and documentary markets. Aline has crafted “The Big Picture” to help you find your voice and discover how to package your work, and yourself, in a professional manner.

We begin by honing our portfolios with reviews, and learning how to set goals. We construct resumes, bios, and personal statements that explain and enhance our work. Photographic assignments round out the workshop experience. While Aline’s assignments take into account the many colorful backdrops afforded by Santa Fe, they are also designed to challenge you to explore new ways of seeing the world.

Come unlock new energies, and learn how best to share your vision and creativity with others. Be prepared for a workshop filled with inspiration, fun and self-discovery!"

Hope to see you there!

Aline Smithson: Converging Conversations

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 11:53:00 +0000

Sharing a work-in-progress series titled, Converging Conversations. I tend to make work that tells stories, but I have been also shooting images that are non-specific, more about color or gesture or emotion--I have been thinking about those moments when you are lost in thought, yet not really thinking about anything...

Converging Conversations is a series about juxtaposing unrelated images in order to create a new conversation or narrative. It is a conversation that is a convergence of ideas and associations, open to personal interpretation. The result is something completely separate from the original intent of the image making.

My initial focus in creating many of these photographs was to capture a sense of disconnectedness, a sense of day dreaming, and in some cases, a sense of nothingness--images that capture moments or gestures, moving back and forth between a place that is tangible and a place on the periphery of my memory and experience. By combining these images, a new narrative begins and the photographs become animated in conversation.

Aline Smithson: Compter jusqu'à...en Français

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:29:00 +0000

Thought it would be fun to create a series about the way things sound....so I am Counting to Ten in French.

They say it's your birthday....

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:54:00 +0000

Well, it's my birthday too and I am being a complete lazy bones on my birthday...partly because I am flying to NYC today, and partly because my plate has been full of lots of things...so to make it easy on myself, I thought I'd share some of my work over the next couple of days....so, get a cup of coffee...play this wonderful Henry Mancini song, and enjoy my series, Hollywood at Home.

Hollywood at Home: Growing up a stone’s throw from Hollywood and Vine, I have always been intrigued by the real and the manufactured Hollywood. The staged Hollywood at Home photographs from the 40’s and 50’s of celebrities at play or at home with their families are particular favorites of mine.

In a reality-tv society where celebrity and stardom is now possible without talent or reason, the idea that anyone can become a star has indeed, become a reality. My series, Hollywood at Home, looks at the idea of elevating family and friends into a false stardom, through lighting and position, where they, perhaps, are just on the verge of being discovered, happy to participate in the artificial gloriification of who they really are.

Jane Fulton Alt's Experiment in Collaboration

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:54:00 +0000

A photographer I greatly admire, Jane Fulton Alt, is asking the photo community to come out an collaborate. I say, why not?

Here is what Jane has to say:
So I heard about this singer who collaborates with other people to create songs. I was intriqued with the idea and decided to try something similar. When I was taking photography classes, one of the assignments was to take someone else's negative into the darkroom and come up with a print.

Well, I have decided to try something similar, only this will be with a digital file. If you are interested in participating, I will send you the original file. You can do whatever you like to the file. Then, at the end of the month, you will send me back a jpeg of the file and I will post all the photographs.

So here is the first image. I took this while in Louisiana and think there is lots for room for creative experimentation. Please email me at photos@janefultonalt.com for the larger file.
I will also post this project on my sidebar so you can access the project anytime.

A few thoughts about the project...NO JUDGING! Just have some fun with it! Feel free to alter it in whatever way you want. Experiment all you like. Push the boundaries.

When you are finished, please send back a jpg 72dpi 1000 pixels wide by February 29th and I will be sure to post.

In case you want to read about this on her blog, go here!

Kati Mennett

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:57:00 +0000

Kati Mennett creates visual stories, and as her website states, she is in search of the spectacular. Currently living in Massachusetts, Kati graduated from the Art Institute of Boston with a BFA in Photography. He work has been exhibited in the US and Europe and featured in publications such as Another Man, Dayfour, F-Stop Magazine, Vogue Italia, and Umter Magazine.

I like the idea that she is looking for the spectacular in the mundane. Kati is infatuated with the notion that fantasy is constantly a part of reality--and those ideas make us look at ordinary things with a fresh eye.

Portrayers: All of my work is inspired by childhood wonder. I never want to loose that outlook on life, the thrill of the unknown and the ability to find beauty in everything.

My documentary on my family and friends is about finding the beauty in the sometimes mundane and everyday life. Having awareness of how temporary life is, I am chronicling all my experiences and relationships to give them permanence.

My series Portrayers is about creating fantasies. Whether they be about adventure, love or mystery, these images are meant to excite and entertain!

One World Portfolio Review

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:06:00 +0000

If you live in the San Francisco area, or want to plan a trip there in March, the Photo Alliance are offering a Portfolio Review.

2012 OUR WORLD PORTFOLIO REVIEW

Featuring:
Our World Portfolio Review
A fantastic opportunity to show your photographs to
professionals who publish, exhibit, write and teach.
Get new ideas, make connections, and find opportunities to distribute, publish and exhibit your work.

FINAL SUBMISSIONS DUE DATE: Friday FEBRUARY 10th, 2012.
Must be RECEIVED by 5pm.

Please do send us an email letting us know you are applying however, so we can anticipate receiving your application. photo@photoalliance.org

Our Mailing address:

PhotoAlliance
PO Box 29010
San Francisco, California
94129

If you are using Federal Express or UPS and need a STREET ADDRESS use this:

PhotoAlliance
616 Key Boulevard
Richmond, California
94805
415-425-5608

Entry Procedure and Requirements:

• Work:
All two-dimensional works, using any photographic process including digital and/or analog, are eligible for review.

• Registration:
Registration is a TWO-STEP process.
1- An initial review of portfolios submitted by CD with $40.00 non-refundable entry fee.
2- Sixty portfolios will be selected from these submissions for the weekend review. An additional $575.00 payment is then required for final participation if selected.

• Calendar:
Feb. 10th - CD Entry due
Feb 20th - photographers notified
March 9-11 - Portfolio Review in San Francisco

• Entry: JPEG images on CD only for application process.
Must be received by February 10th, 2012.
EARLY SUBMISSIONS ENCOURAGED.

See entry checklist on Entry Form.

Send all information to:
PhotoAlliance / Our World Portfolio Review
PO Box 29010
San Francisco, California 94129.

CD’s will be returned only if a self-addressed stamped
envelope of appropriate size and with appropriate postage is submitted with entry.

• Entry Fee and Procedure: A non-refundable entry fee of $40.00
for each 20 images.

• Digital Submission Requirements: Files should
be on a CD in JPEG format. Image size should be no larger than 2Mb or:
Horizontal - 8 inches
Vertical - 8 inches
Resolution 150 pixels/inch.
Files named as follows: Lastname_Firstname_imagenumber.jpg

Optional: submit an accompanying sheet with a list of name, title, date, medium, and dimension of each piece.

• Selection: A panel of jurors will be pre-screening all of the
entries. 60 photographers will be selected for the weekend
portfolio review. An additional fee of $575.00 is then required.

This will be the 6th annual event.

Partial list of reviewers- more to be added soon!

David Bayles, Artist, Educator, Author
Debra Bloomfield, Photographer & Educator
Linda Connor, Photographer & Educator, San Francisco Art Institute
Luis Delgado, Photographer, San Francisco
Janet Delaney, Photographer & Educator, San Francisco
Robert Dawson, Photographer & Educator, Stanford & San Jose State University
Taj Forer, Founding Editor, Daylight Magazine
Bruce Haley, Photographer, Carmel, Ca
Rebecca Horne, Photo Editor, The Wall Street Journal
Jason Houston, Picture Editor, Orion Magazine
Michael Itkoff, Founding Editor, Daylight Magazine
Ann M. Jastrab, Gallery Director RayKo Photo Center
Whitney Johnson, Picture Editor, The New Yorker
Anne Kelly, Associate Gallery Director, PhotoEye Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Dennis Kiel, Chief Curator, The Light Factory Contemporary Museum of Photography and Film, Charlotte, NC
Stefan Kirkeby, Owner, Smith Anderson North Gallery
Aimee Le Duc, Gallery Manager, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery
Christopher McCall, Director, Pilara Foundation, Pier 24, San Francisco
Elizabeth Kathleen Mitchell, Curator of Drawings, Prints, and Photographs, The Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University
Ted Orland, Artist, Educator, Author
Darcy Padilla, Photographer & Educator, San Francisco Art Institute
Kirsten Rian, Independent curator, writer, artist, Portland, OR
Thom Sempere, Director, PhotoAlliance
Rebecca Senf , Assistant Curator of Photography, The Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, AZ
Meg Shiffler, Director, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery
Ada Takahashi, Robert Koch Gallery, San Francisco
Anne Veh, Art Consultant & Independent Curator
Lewis Watts, Associate Professor, University of California, Santa Cruz
Deborah Willis, photographer, curator, and educator, Chair, Department of Photography & Imaging,
Tisch School of the Arts, NY

Photographer Hal

noreply@blogger.com (Aline) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:52:00 +0000

I first saw work by the Tokyo photographic artist, Photographer Hal, when I explored the winning images for the New Directions exhibition at Wallspace Gallery, jurored by Debra Klomp Ching. Because the image was small, I thought that he had photographed some kind of candy, but when I saw the large photograph hanging on the gallery wall, I realized that my brain could not make the connection that what I was looking at were people.

The images below are from a series, Flesh Love, where couples are vacuumed sealed in futon cases. Needless to say this is disarming work, but at the same time, it's work that changes our perceptions. He has a book of this work available for ipads.

I go to kabukicho in shinjuku, underground bars in shibuya and many other places which are full of activity like luscious night time bee-hives. When i see a couple of interest I will begin to negotiate. I’m sure that many people initially think of my proposal as unusual or even look through me like I am completely invisible, but I always push forward with my challenge to them. The models appear from all walks of life and individually have included musicians, dancers, strippers, laborers, restaurant and bar managers, photographers, businessmen and women, unsettled and unemployed, et al.

In my early explorations I used to capture the models in a small room or enclosed space, these images can be seen in the photo books called Pinky & Killer, and Pinky & Killer DX.

During the photo session I often prompt the couple to pose as if they’re in a sticker photo booth, an extension of the regular passport type which cause friends to pose in many alternative and fun ways. The focal point of the concept was then extended for the publication Couple Jam to include the use of the models bathtub, usually in their own home. I think of the bathroom as being one of the most private and intimate place in anyone’s home, this provoked a shyness in the models, and created a unique excitement and inspiration in the scene. In my most recent project I have applied the use of the vacuum sealed package, used to store futon covers in everyday life, I found that the couple can be sealed in, with the appearance of being freshly wrapped I have called this event Fresh Love.