SETH CASTEEL: Five Questions for the Author of "Underwater Dogs"

 From the New York Times Bestseller, Underwater Dogs

 From the New York Times Bestseller, Underwater Dogs

From the New York Times Bestseller, Underwater Dogs

 

 The New York Times Bestseller, Underwater Dogs

 5 Questions For Seth Casteel

Author of the NY Times Best Seller Underwater Dogs

Seth Casteel is an award-winning photographer and New York Times Best Selling Author. His series of photographs, Underwater Dogs, has been seen by hundreds of millions of people around the world. He cheerfully answered my 5 questions:

EA: What camera do you use for shooting underwater dogs?
 

SC: Canon 7D, Tokina 10-17mm lens, Speedlite and Surf Housing.

EA: Were your first underwater shots by accident or were you experimenting for awhile before you achieved these extraordinary results?

SC: My first shots were with a point-and-shoot underwater camera, and then I began to explore the concept further with different gear. :)

EA: Did you study Photography or assist for a commercial photographer?
 

SC: I am a self taught photographer and have never assisted for a commercial photographer.

EA: What have you learned about dogs single minded attention to their ball or ring?
 

SC: I have learned that game is a favorite among many dogs and have also learned that so many dogs around the world love the water and have a connection with it.
 

EA: What was your first dogs name and how old were you at the time?
 

SC: I grew up with a Miniature Dachshund named Duchess. She came into my life when I was 5. :) I absolutely credit her with inspiring my love for dogs. 

ONE PICTURE SAVES A LIFE

Seth Casteel and model

Photographer Seth Casteel is passionate about helping animals. He volunteers with animal shelters and rescues around the world, professionally photographing homeless pets to increase adoption rates. By teaching workshops at shelters, Seth's mission is to educate and inspire other passionate animal ambassadors to improve the image of rescue and adoption.

Seth is excited to partner with Greater Good, The Animal Rescue Site, The Petfinder Foundation and John Paul Pet to inspire others to save lives through grooming and photography! If you would like to help with this effort, please visit OnePictureSaves.com to sign up for a workshop in your area! You don't need to be a professional photographer! You just have to have a passion for animals and a dedication to help!

SETH CASTEEL

and on Facebook

CHRISTINE GEDEON: Kulturmöllan Installation and Stitched Works

Silence and Sound

Installation by Christine Gedeon

"I will incorporate the architecture of the mill to create 
a hybrid of silence and sound."

INSTRUMENT

 Curated by Marek Walczak

July 6 - August 10, 2013

 Kulturmöllan, Lövestad, Sweden

 Governors Island Revisited

Thread, paint and fabric on raw black canvas, 74" x 66", 2012

 OSH, Brooklyn (Plot re-visualized)

Fabric, thread and paint on raw black canvas, 54" x 32", 2012

Christine Gedeon was born in Aleppo, Syria and lives between NYC and Berlin. She examines the spaces we live in and how it affects us as individuals, using thread mainly as a medium, as both installation and works on canvas. Her installation work resides on the merging of the architectural space and the work itself.

"STITCHED WORKS: As humans, we define ourselves partly in relation to the built environment around us. Buildings in the urban context interact with one another and allow individuals to create a narrative of who they are-past, present, and future. Our memory and identity are forever changed after buildings and monuments are destroyed through war, natural destruction, and urban planning. The subsequent rebuilding both "as it once was" as well as a complete modern reconstruction ultimately suppresses memory seemingly creating a sense of utopia."

"My most recent stitched works are inspired by the evolution of urban landscapes and how it ties to memory, focusing recently on New York City's topographical evolution. I use Google Earth and archival images to collect my data and use this information as a starting point to create this invented series of urban renewal projects. The works are still done through improvisation pointing to a heterotopic, neither here nor there vision of New York; an unreality based on a utopian inspired ideal."

X-Scapes, curated by Katherine Murdock, thru June 30, 2013 

Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit, New Jersey

ChristineGedeon.com

Valparaiso, Installation, (Detail 3) 2012
Thread, nails, and tape, 20’ x 11’ 

Valparaíso Studio Installation: I created an aerial view drafting of my studio space including the wooden beams on the ceiling and loosely translated the drawing as a 3D installation, reflecting the interior space. One rule in creating the piece was to make it low-impact, thereby not creating any holes in the walls and working with the existing elements that were left there. It's through these processes, exploring aerial view drawings using thread as a medium that I'm interested in reinventing space as both 2D and 3D works.

ART PHOTO INDEX: An Interview with Founder and Director, Rixon Reed

Art Photo Index, Artist Close-up Page, Cristina De Middel

Art Photo Index, Artist's Page, Cristina De Middel

Art Photo Index, Artist Close-up Page, John Delaney

Art Photo Index, Artist's Page, John Delaney

Art Photo Index, Main Page

"...in a sense it’s really an Index of Indexes."

A new image database, Art Photo Index, was launched earlier this year created by Rixon Reed, Founder and Director of photo-eye Galleries and Bookstore. Art Photo Index (API) promises to make it easier to search and browse work by fine art and documentary photographers from around the world. Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, photo-eye’s Gallery and Bookstore are filled with exquisite limited edition books, portfolios and exhibitions of contemporary photography.

Rixon Reed: I started developing Art Photo Index four years ago after finding it time-consuming to search for new artists to show on Photographer’s Showcase, our online gallery of emerging artists at photoeye.com. I spent way too much time visiting different websites hoping to find new work that was of interest. Searching Google Images was just inefficient, either it was too general in its findings, with irrelevant matches, or it retrieved popular, well-known images instead of work by emerging artists. It was not the discovery tool I was after.
 
I thought there’s got to be a better way; perhaps there should be a website that is pre-vetted, but on a grand scale, so that anybody who had a serious interest in art photography could go there, search and discover interesting contemporary work. I had the idea to create a website of artists already recognized by important organizations from through out the world.  
 
That started us down the road of compiling a list of artists to invite to become part of Art Photo Index. We let other organizations and publications do the vetting of the artists we include and invited winners of various competitions from Center’s Review Santa Fe, to Critical Mass 50, along with photographers published in Foam Magazine, Aperture, Camera Austria to name just a few. This allows us to maintain an extremely high level of quality throughout the site. We are constantly expanding the number of organizations and well-known galleries' rosters of artists and there's a section for each of the included organizations along with cross-referenced links to their artists' pages. So in a sense it’s really an index of indexes. The net effect is that we’ve created an ever-growing resource to help people discover exciting contemporary photography. 

Currently API includes over 16,000 images by 3000+ photographers from 88 countries. It includes a powerful search engine that uses over 21,000 keywords to help viewers discover work of interest. We feature a different artist each week and include artist profiles, projects and portfolios, bibliographies, contact information, website screenshots and a fantastic world map showing the city where each of the artists lives... 

 Read the full Interview in Le Journal de la Photographie here

API's Rixon Reed with Vicki Bohannon, photo-eye, 2013

Photograph © Elizabeth Paul Avedon

RR: I don't know what I would have done in terms of starting photo-eye without Vicki. She built the physical infrastructure for the business including (literally) the house we started photo-eye in. She is also the Gallery's Preparator, hanging each of the shows we do. Vicki is the hands-on person at photo-eye and is the love of my life.

Art Photo Index

photo-eye Bookstore

photo-eye Gallery

Le Journal de la Photographie

SEAN PERRY: Promo Card Branding + Design/s

 

Tatara Bridge, Japan, 2013

 Three Crows, Kyoto, Japan, 2013

Photographer Sean Perry has been working in Texas all year and wanted to let his clients and colleagues know he would be available for assignments in New York this summer from June 15th to August 15th. Designed to perfection, Perry took this opportunity to show some of his new work in his latest promo pieces. His well thought out 'branded' look is reflected in the design of his website, his editioned portfolio, books and catalogs. These promo cards mirror this branded look using his chosen font, Berthold Akzidenz Grotesk Condensed, while giving the background of the card (see below) a sort of antiqued effect also used on his web pages. Check out Perry's website here

 Nijo Castle, Japan, 2013

Shore of Miyajima, Japan, 2013

 Featured in the Summer Issue of Shots Magazine

 Sean Perry's "Promo Cards" announce his availability for Assignments

(Enlarge image to see Design features)

MONA KUHN: Curates Nudes in Contemporary Photography at Flowers Gallery NY

Alec Soth, Las Vegas (2011). Courtesy of Sean Kelly, New York

Excerpts from An Interview With Mona Kuhn

by Elizabeth Avedon

via Le Journal de la Photographie

Elizabeth Avedon: What brings you to New York?
Mona Kuhn: I have been invited to curate an exhibition titled “Under My Skin” at Flowers Gallery in New York City. It is a selection of nudes in contemporary photography, with works created mostly in the last five years. The exhibition reflects how we are currently representing the nude through the photo medium.

Aside from photography, I have been an independent scholar at Getty Research Institute since 2000. In the last 13 years, I have been curious about how we humans represent ourselves in works of art, and specifically in nudes, throughout art history - in all mediums.

It is a fascinating subject to me. Trends in art come and go, but the Nude remains a canon of high art, like a shadow we cannot jump away from. My two favorite ways of escaping is to photograph and being a bookworm. The invitation to curate brought both desires together.

EA: Did you alter your point of view when shifting from artist to curator?  

MK: Lets face it, curating is a competitive career. Most curators compete with each other to establish themselves intellectually in their field. There has been a huge gap in the US for museum level exhibitions related to the Nude. I am very comfortable with the theme, it is my second skin. And because it is not my profession and I am not tied in with an institution, I have the freedom to bring together works of high and low art that reflect our current culture. The choices were more emotional and guttural, than academic. I am thankful for that freedom...(Mona Kuhn is one of the most interesting women in Photography today. Read the entire Interview here)

 EXHIBITION
Curated by Mona Kuhn 

 “Under My Skin: Nudes in Contemporary Photography” 
June 20 – August 24, 2013
FLOWERS GALLERY
529 West 20th Street, New York

PANEL DISCUSSION
Moderated by George Pitts with Mona Kuhn, Vince Aletti, 
Mariah Robertson and Shen Wei
“The Role of the Nude in Contemporary Photography”
June 18, 2013, 6:30PM
Parsons The New School for Design
Theresa Lang Auditorium
55 West 13th Street, New York

Mona Kuhn Interviews

from the Archives of Le Journal de la Photographie 
Interview with Mona Kuhn 2011   
Interview with Mona Kuhn 2012
 

REBECCA NORRIS WEBB: My Dakota opens in New York at Ricco/Maresca

 Ghost Mountain

Photograph © Rebecca Norris Webb

 High Winds

Photograph © Rebecca Norris Webb

The Sky Below

Photograph © Rebecca Norris Webb

“Looking back at My Dakota, I now realize that I was photographing this dark time in my life in order to try to absorb it, to crystallize it, and, ultimately, to let go of it. Not only did my first grief change me, but making My Dakota changed me as well, both as a human being and as an artist.” –Rebecca Norris Webb

+  +  +

Rebecca Norris Webb's exhibition, My Dakota at the Ricco/Maresca Gallery, brings together works from Webb’s acclaimed book recounting the sudden loss of her brother through idyllic landscape portraits of her home state of South Dakota. My Dakota serves as a lyrical elegy, depicting the hypnagogic process of grieving and visually chronicling the fragility of life and the inexplicable changes that occur while mourning.
 

Webb moved to South Dakota at the age of 15. The artist originally found expression as a poet, before exploring photography after college. For Webb, language could not fully capture the totality of the world around her, nor satisfy her innate curiosity for visual exploration. The artist’s latest book, My Dakota, blends poetry with photographs of her home state as a multi-layered portrait that marries aesthetic representation with lyrical record. The heart of the book lies in the enigmatic photographs where the artist is seemingly searching for significance behind continuation and meaning beyond an emotional chasm. Reflections and windows play a significant role in the series as a way of capturing memory within the present while exuding a sense of abandonment and disconnect from life’s fleeting moments. Rooted in sentient exploration, each work is open to interpretation – giving the viewer an outlet to draw their personal recollections and emotive conclusions. (Courtesy Ricco/Maresca Gallery)

Rebecca Norris Webb: My Dakota

June 20 - August 17, 2013

RICCO/MARESCA GALLERY, NY

Lecture and Book Signing: Aperture Foundation, June 21, 7:00-8:30 pm. With Alex Webb and Q+A led by Sean Corcoran, Curator of Prints and Photographs, the Museum of the City of New York, and Denise Wolff, Aperture Senior Editor. Artist Talk/GalleryWalkThru: Ricco/Maresca Gallery, June 22, 5-6 pm. My Dakota is running concurrently at the North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, North Dakota, June 4 - August 6.

ADOBE LIGHTROOM 5: With Katrin Eismann, Julieanne Kost and Scott Kelby

Image processed with Adobe Lightroom 5 Upright Controls
© 2013 Katrin Eismann. All Rights Reserved

"I am often asked which iPhone apps I use. For Shooting: Camera+, Pure, Bracket Mode, and AvgCamPro. Processing: Pro HDR, Snapseed, PicTapGo. Effects: Afterlight, Rays, Wood Camera, Filterstorm. Sharing: EyeEm and Facebook." –Katrin Eismann

B+H and Adobe® Lightroom® Digital Photography Summit
with Scott Kelby, Julieanne Kost and Katrin Eismann
Jacob Javits Center NYC Mon 6/17 9:30am-5:30pm

Register Here

The Digital Photography Summit is a software and digital technology showcase of the latest trends featuring panel discussions, demonstrations, and surprises from Scott Kelby, Julieanne Kost and Katrin Eismann held at the Javits Center in NYC. RSVP now, this is event is free to the public and you will not want to miss this opportunity for a day-long event celebrating the convergence of software, gear and technology led by three of the most significant voices in digital photography.

The Agenda Includes:
Live Shootout with Scott Kelby
Perfect Workflow for today’s high megapixel advanced DSLR cameras shooting in RAW
Major Software Releases Demonstrated
Latest Technology in Cameras set in a mini trade show
High End Gear giveaways
Special Show Discounts
Gear Trade In-Programs

The Digital Summit will be live streamed for those who cannot attend.  Reserve your reminder for the stream here. Proudly Sponsored by: Adobe,  Canon, Kelby Training, Intel, Elinchrom, Jpegmini, Lexar, Manfrotto, Sigma, Sony,  Squarespace, Teradek,  Tether Tools,  WD, and Westcott. 

Follow the action at #bhdigitalsummit

Katrin Eismann is an internationally recognized artist, author, and educator who has been working with digital imaging tools since 1989. Katrin's extensive teaching and speaking engagements address the latest tools and techniques of digital imaging and the impact they are having upon professional photographers, artists, and educators. She speaks German and English and has taught and presented in Europe, Asia, South America, and throughout North America. Currently Katrin holds the Chair of the Masters Digital Photography Department at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Julieanne Kost is Principal Evangelist for Photoshop and Lightrom at Adobe Systems, founder of jkost.com, publisher of the Daily Photoshop and Lightroom Tip (blogs.adobe.com/jkost), host of “The Complete Picture” a bimonthly instructional training program featuring Lightroom and Photoshop on AdobeTV, author of  “Window Seat – The Art of Digital Photography and Creative Thinking” and author of Photoshop CS6 Essential Training with Lynda.com.

Scott Kelby is Editor and Publisher of Photoshop User magazine, Executive Editor and Publisher of Lightroom and Light It magazines, and President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP). He is Training Director for the Adobe Photoshop Seminar Tour and Conference Technical Chair for the Photoshop World Conference & Expo. He’s the co-host of the highly acclaimed weekly videocast The Grid (a photography talk show), and teaches photography, Lightroom, and Photoshop workshops around the world. Scott is an award-winning author of more than 50 books, including The Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers and The Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers, and is currently the world’s #1 best-selling author of books on photography.

(Text courtesy B + H PhotoEvents)