Following in the spirit of my friend David Bram of Fraction, I have decided to list all photographers whose work I had the pleasure of reviewing at Photolucida. Here is a list of all photographers who happened to "get me" for 20 minutes. More features on these photographers' work and other work I saw at the open portfolio viewing or additional reviews will be posted at a later date. Take some time to explore the links below.
4.11.2011
Photolucida is This Week in Portland, OR
If you are in Portland, Oregon this week, there are some fantastic lunch time talks and events around Photolucida's portfolio reviews and Portland Photo Month. Below is the schedule of lunch time chats. There is also a lecture by Todd Hido at the Portland Art Museum and the Portfolio Walk among many other events. More info can be found on Photolucida's site or Portland Photo Month site.
LUNCHTIME CHATS & INDIE PHOTOBOOK LIBRARY
Thursday, April 14th
THE EVOLVING LANDSCAPE OF PHOTOGRAPHY PUBLISHING
Michael Itkoff
Since 2003, Daylight has engaged in innovative photographic publishing and community
art projects by re-imagining the documentary mode. Through collaboration with
established and emerging artists, scholars, and journalists, Daylight has become one of
the premier showcases for contemporary photography.
Culminating in a newly launched book program, Daylight's evolution consistently
models recent developments in contemporary photography. From magazine to
multimedia, daily blog to books, Daylight has consistently delivered quality content
through every available medium.
For his lunchtime talk, Michael Itkoff will be discussing Daylight's programmatic
activities in the context of the changing landscape of photography publishing. Itkoff will
provide a summary of Daylight’s output and discuss what lies ahead. Although
formatted as a traditional slideshow questions and comments are welcome and
encouraged during the presentation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, April 15th
LIFE IS ART/ART IS LIFE
Julie Blackmon
Julie Blackmon's recent body of work, ‘Line-Up’ recalls classic art historical motifs that
are re-contextualized with narratives inspired by the artist's own frenzied upbringing.
Blackmon underscores the chaos inherent in motherhood with a style that acts as both
documentation and caricature.
Blackmon carefully engineers her compositions, which are often obstructed by the
natural inclinations of her unruly subjects. Each photograph is the product of a series of
shots filled with edits and retakes, later digitally compiled into one single photograph,
presenting the viewer with a dynamic glimpse into an almost impossibly bold and
comical domestic landscape loaded with minute details and subplots.
Julie Blackmon will share how she started, how her work has evolved, and how she
continues to find inspiration, humor and meaning in life around her at home.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, April 16th
TURNING TOWARD BOOKS: SHIFTING FOCUS
Lauren Henkin
The traditional model for presenting a photographic portfolio, the gallery show, is now
only one method for storytelling. Lauren Henkin, photographer and book artist, will talk
about her journey in shifting focus from presenting her work primarily in gallery shows
to handmade books.
She will talk about the decision to change focus, the advantages and challenges of
bookmaking, collaborating with artists in other disciplines, entering the book arts and
fine press communities, the differences in how to market a book versus prints, and offer
advice on how to get started in self publishing.
Henkin will conclude her talk by sharing her experience in discovering new avenues for
gaining exposure, sales, and artistic freedom as a result of publishing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, April 17th
PORTAL INTO SELF-PUBLISHING – a Conversation
Larissa Leclair and Raymond Meeks
Ray Meeks, photographer and bookmaker, and Larissa Leclair, founder of the Indie
Photobook Library, will guide an informal discussion as a portal into self-publishing
today, delving into the nuanced and varied photobooks of Ray as a “case-study”.
They will begin by introducing Ray’s self-published titles and Nazraeli Press
publications, as well as his recent journal collaboration, “orchard”, with Silas Finch. They
will address Ray’s foray into independent publishing, which is firmly seated in a love for
pictures and narrative/short story, with the added impetus to self-fund. Most of these
books are photographed, edited, designed, and bound by the artist, creating a
powerfully intimate book. They will expand the conversation to touch briefly on a few
other artists and how they are making books.
Larissa will talk about self-publishing in a broader sense and give examples of how
photographers are generating an audience and support for their books even before they
are published, discuss collaborative approaches to bookmaking and distribution, and
highlight some current trends in the exciting world of self-publishing today.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE INDIE PHOTOBOOK LIBRARY (iPL)
www.indiephotobooklibrary.org
The Indie Photobook Library will have a curated selection of photobooks from
their collection on view during Photolucida. The Indie Photobook Library is an
archive of self-published and indie published photobooks that both showcases
and preserves them through traveling exhibitions and as a non-circulating
public library.
Books will be selected by Melanie Flood, Shawn Records, and Larissa Leclair.
Location: In the “alcove”, second floor of the Benson.
Hours: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday: 9-11, 12:30-5 each day
LUNCHTIME CHATS & INDIE PHOTOBOOK LIBRARY
Thursday, April 14th
THE EVOLVING LANDSCAPE OF PHOTOGRAPHY PUBLISHING
Michael Itkoff
Since 2003, Daylight has engaged in innovative photographic publishing and community
art projects by re-imagining the documentary mode. Through collaboration with
established and emerging artists, scholars, and journalists, Daylight has become one of
the premier showcases for contemporary photography.
Culminating in a newly launched book program, Daylight's evolution consistently
models recent developments in contemporary photography. From magazine to
multimedia, daily blog to books, Daylight has consistently delivered quality content
through every available medium.
For his lunchtime talk, Michael Itkoff will be discussing Daylight's programmatic
activities in the context of the changing landscape of photography publishing. Itkoff will
provide a summary of Daylight’s output and discuss what lies ahead. Although
formatted as a traditional slideshow questions and comments are welcome and
encouraged during the presentation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, April 15th
LIFE IS ART/ART IS LIFE
Julie Blackmon
Julie Blackmon's recent body of work, ‘Line-Up’ recalls classic art historical motifs that
are re-contextualized with narratives inspired by the artist's own frenzied upbringing.
Blackmon underscores the chaos inherent in motherhood with a style that acts as both
documentation and caricature.
Blackmon carefully engineers her compositions, which are often obstructed by the
natural inclinations of her unruly subjects. Each photograph is the product of a series of
shots filled with edits and retakes, later digitally compiled into one single photograph,
presenting the viewer with a dynamic glimpse into an almost impossibly bold and
comical domestic landscape loaded with minute details and subplots.
Julie Blackmon will share how she started, how her work has evolved, and how she
continues to find inspiration, humor and meaning in life around her at home.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, April 16th
TURNING TOWARD BOOKS: SHIFTING FOCUS
Lauren Henkin
The traditional model for presenting a photographic portfolio, the gallery show, is now
only one method for storytelling. Lauren Henkin, photographer and book artist, will talk
about her journey in shifting focus from presenting her work primarily in gallery shows
to handmade books.
She will talk about the decision to change focus, the advantages and challenges of
bookmaking, collaborating with artists in other disciplines, entering the book arts and
fine press communities, the differences in how to market a book versus prints, and offer
advice on how to get started in self publishing.
Henkin will conclude her talk by sharing her experience in discovering new avenues for
gaining exposure, sales, and artistic freedom as a result of publishing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, April 17th
PORTAL INTO SELF-PUBLISHING – a Conversation
Larissa Leclair and Raymond Meeks
Ray Meeks, photographer and bookmaker, and Larissa Leclair, founder of the Indie
Photobook Library, will guide an informal discussion as a portal into self-publishing
today, delving into the nuanced and varied photobooks of Ray as a “case-study”.
They will begin by introducing Ray’s self-published titles and Nazraeli Press
publications, as well as his recent journal collaboration, “orchard”, with Silas Finch. They
will address Ray’s foray into independent publishing, which is firmly seated in a love for
pictures and narrative/short story, with the added impetus to self-fund. Most of these
books are photographed, edited, designed, and bound by the artist, creating a
powerfully intimate book. They will expand the conversation to touch briefly on a few
other artists and how they are making books.
Larissa will talk about self-publishing in a broader sense and give examples of how
photographers are generating an audience and support for their books even before they
are published, discuss collaborative approaches to bookmaking and distribution, and
highlight some current trends in the exciting world of self-publishing today.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE INDIE PHOTOBOOK LIBRARY (iPL)
www.indiephotobooklibrary.org
The Indie Photobook Library will have a curated selection of photobooks from
their collection on view during Photolucida. The Indie Photobook Library is an
archive of self-published and indie published photobooks that both showcases
and preserves them through traveling exhibitions and as a non-circulating
public library.
Books will be selected by Melanie Flood, Shawn Records, and Larissa Leclair.
Location: In the “alcove”, second floor of the Benson.
Hours: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday: 9-11, 12:30-5 each day
Finite Foto's Issue Fourteen: Environment
The new issue of Finite Foto just released last week. View the entire issue on finitefoto.com
IN ISSUE FOURTEEN:
If the complete lack of antihistamines at Walgreens didn’t make it clear, a quick look out the window will confirm it: New Mexico is in the midst of spring. The trees are budding, flowers blooming, and the winds are raging. The temperature is just about perfect. The bees are back in business and as the plants and animals emerge from their winter hibernation, it’s easy to feel connected to the natural rhythms of the planet. It can’t be an accident that Earth Day is in April, and with our mind on all the photographers around the state inspired by the natural world, we decided our April edition of Finite Foto would be devoted to the Environment.In this issue Melanie McWhorter interviews Dornith Doherty about the world’s botanical reserves; Subhankar Banerjee writes about his photographic work; David Ondrik reviews Earth Now: American Photographers and the Environment; we show Jamey Stillings’ new photos; Antone Dolezal talks to Phil Underdown about his recent work; Jennifer Schlesinger presents Nancy Sutor’s Compose Decompose; Jonathan Blaustein profiles Dorie Hagler; and we show a portfolio of Jeremiah Ariaz’s work.
   
|
Finite Foto is a new media collective that investigates and promotes the intersection of photography and culture in the state of New Mexico. We are dedicated to bringing awareness to the global art community about both historical and contemporary photography from all regions of the state.
Join our mailing list:
We will only use your information to email you Finite Foto announcements.
3.28.2011
Finite Foto's Issue Thirteen: Cultural Landscape
The next issue of Finite Foto will be out next week. Make sure to check out the Cultural Landscape issue before the Environmental Issue is live. All the back issues, can be read on the archive page. Sign up for our mailing list on the home page.
 |
In this issue, we feature works by Eric Cousineau and Alex Leme who photograph the disappearance of icons of the American culture: motels and "the" small town. Antone Dolezal speaks with Mary Anne Redding, Curator of Photography at The New Mexico History Museum, about her passion for the over 150 years of photographic records at this institution. Jennifer Schlesinger interviews Steve Fitch, one of the most established and, through his images and position as an educator, most influential photographers currently working in the state of New Mexico. David Ondrik spices up the photo issue by mixing in a touch of music in his review photographic aspects of The Decemberist newest album. For the theme of Cultural Landscape, we started out thinking of the term as "works of art, narratives of cultures, and expressions of regional identity." (The Cultural Landscape Foundation), but the evolution of the issue shows an embracing the nostalgia associated with the way humans change where we live or travel and how the photographic record helps us to embrace "the good old days". Gone are the days of what Dolezal calls in Cousineau's introduction of traveling "The Great American Highway", the mystique and innocence associated with the mid-21st century: Sitting poolside at the motel with a Scotch on the rocks reading your Jack Kerouac on the cross-country vacation in your 1958 Cadillac. The Polaroid is gone, replaced by The Impossible Project. Mill villages are dying, slowly replaced by suburbia. Independent motels are closing, replaced by chain hotels. These portfolios presented here capture regional identity, but it is a universally American identity. The photograph has helped to define these past generations and places for posterity. Please send us your thoughts at finitefoto@gmail.com. |
 |
 © Steve Fitch Forty Years of PhotographyAn Interview with Steve Fitch By Jennifer Schlesinger. |
|
 © Autumn de Wilde The King is DeadDavid Ondrik’s review of the photographic content of The Decemberists’ new recording, The King is Dead. |
|
 © Eric Cousineau American MotelPhotographs by Eric Cousineau with Foreword by Antone Dolezal |
|
 Timothy H. O’Sullivan New Mexico: A Visual HistoryA Conversation with Mary Anne Redding and Antone Dolezal. |
|
 © Alex Leme Small TownPhotographs by Alex Leme and Introduction by Melanie McWhorter |
|
Finite Foto is a new media collective that investigates and promotes the intersection of photography and culture in the state of New Mexico. We are dedicated to bringing awareness to the global art community about both historical and contemporary photography from all regions of the state. |
SPE Open Portfolio Viewing
This year's SPE was held in Atlanta, GA. As part of every SPE, they host an open portfolio viewing on one of the evenings of the conference. Every year it seems that more and more photographers vie for a table to show work. I am not sure how many individuals were showing work at the open portfolio this year, but students and teachers filled one big exhibition room with tables running along the walls, spots in the middle of that room and tables situated on either side of the walls that ran down two hallways. There was too much work to see in the time allotted so I will highlight some portfolios here that I just happened to see and I found interesting.
 |
| David Welch |
 |
| David Welch |
 |
| Teresa Munisteri |
 |
| Teresa Munisteri |
 |
| Richard Boutwell |
 |
| Richard Boutwell |
 | |
| Katherine Rodina |
 |
| Katherine Rondina |
 |
| Jason Reblando |
 | |
| Jason Reblando |
 | ||
| David Strohl |
 | ||
| David Strohl |
Long Haitus, Back to Work
I have been teaching and speaking about photobooks recently and writing for online magazines so I have put the blog on the back burner. I have to catch up on images from Critical Mass, PhotoNOLA and SPE. More images and other info to come.
1.07.2011
My Best Books of 2010
In January of 2008, I started this blog because I wanted to share my favorite books of 2007. Since that time, I have been posting as part of my position at photo-eye on the magazine. This year I am please to have participated in the selections for photo-eye's Best Books of 2010. Below are my selections and links to all of the contributors on photo-eye Magazine.
Atlanta.
This design of this book reflects its subject well. It rounds out the hip hop and rap culture showing scenes in Atlanta from strip clubs to pit bulls to production studios and interviews with Big Boi, Ludacris, and others.
Oaxaca.
This is such an understated book with its white cover and small square images of Rulfo's resting on the upper third of the pages. The red edges give it even more of a precious quality reflecting back to an early time in publishing when many books were ornamented in this fashion.
La Residence.
This book contains diary excerpts printed in three languages of JH Engstrom. The many parallel folds are a nice feature hiding part of the sequence of images allowing the reader to first take in quotes like "These pictures may be an account of my failure to depict photographically a place I didn't go to for private reasons."
Wrong.
Asger made me want to shoot black and white film again. The images reflect back to reportage photography and the likes of Weegee. Looking at the photos in Wrong becomes a surreal seemingly drug-induced experience where I question if I see the photo that way or if my history and my biases are defining and forming the image. They are ever-so-simple, yet with multiple layers of complexity.
The Kaddu Wasswa Archive.
Thanks to George Slade for nominating this one. It brought this wonderful book to my attention which chronicles the day-to-day life of Ugandan teacher and social worker Kaddu Wasswa. It includes photos, excerpts of writings, reproductions of scrapbook pages, among other ephemera on the life of this man. It has a striking cover and the weight of the book feels unusual and comfortable in my hands.
Crime Victims Chronicle.
This is a lament to survival. Disturbing and comforting at this same time all in a serene creamy package with plenty of "white space" for meditation between images and texts.
Grimaces of the Weary Village.
This book might be my favorite for cover design. The expression about judging a book by its cover is indeed true. Many books can turn you on, or off, just by its packaging. Not only does it have strength on the exterior, the interior images are disturbing, a sort documentary of "exoticism of the familiar."
Varnish and Mortar.
This is another book that gets me with the cover. The vertical format is perfect for this object and the pages model a family album.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The photo-eye Best Books of 2010 includes selections by
Morten Andersen
Alan Rapp
Rinko Kawauchi
Alexa Becker
Hester Keijser
Michael Schmelling
Bruno Ceschel
Anne Kelly
George Slade
Jörg M. Colberg
Loring Knoblauch
Elizabeth Avedon
Ramón Reverté
Timothy Prus & Ed Jones
Marco Delogu
Larissa Leclair
Peter Sutherland
Antone Dolezal
Melanie McWhorter
Willem van Zoetendaal
John Gossage
Colin Pantall
Laurence Vecten
Todd Hido
Martin Parr
Fabrice Wagner
Alan Rapp
Rinko Kawauchi
Alexa Becker
Hester Keijser
Michael Schmelling
Bruno Ceschel
Anne Kelly
George Slade
Jörg M. Colberg
Loring Knoblauch
Elizabeth Avedon
Ramón Reverté
Timothy Prus & Ed Jones
Marco Delogu
Larissa Leclair
Peter Sutherland
Antone Dolezal
Melanie McWhorter
Willem van Zoetendaal
John Gossage
Colin Pantall
Laurence Vecten
Todd Hido
Martin Parr
Fabrice Wagner
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)