JIM DENEVAN: Sand Man

Sand Drawing by Jim Denevan

Sand Drawing by Jim Denevan

Jim Denevan Drawing in Sand

JIM DENEVAN makes freehand drawings in sand. At low tide on wide beaches Jim searches the shore for a wave tossed stick. After finding a good stick and composing himself in the near and far environment Jim draws-laboring up to 7 hours and walking as many as 30 miles. The resulting sand drawing is made entirely freehand with no measuring aids whatsoever. (from Jim. thanks madamelamb)

Jim Denevan Art

NICK BRANDT: A Shadow Falls

Elephant Drinking, Amboseli, 2007
Copyright (c) Nick Brandt /All Rights Reserved

Rhinos in Lake, Nakuru, 2007
Copyright (c) Nick Brandt /All Rights Reserved

Portrait of Two Zebras Turning Heads, Ngorongoro Crater, 2005
Copyright (c) Nick Brandt /All Rights Reserved

Ostrich Egg Abandoned, Amboseli, 2007
Copyright (c) Nick Brandt /All Rights Reserved

September 25-November 28, 2009

Nick Brandt: A Shadow Falls
Photo-Eye Gallery, Santa Fe

Brandt's New Book A Shadow Falls Published by Abrams

ALESSANDRA MENICONZI: Sacred Stones

EASTERN TIBET - SICHUAN PROVINCE (click enlarge)
Copyright (c) Alessandra Meniconzi /All Rights Reserved

CHINA - INNER MONGOLIA - GOBI DESERT
Copyright (c) Alessandra Meniconzi /All Rights Reserved

INDIAN HIMALAYA - ZANSKAR VALLEY
Copyright (c) Alessandra Meniconzi /All Rights Reserved

EASTERN TIBET - SICHUAN PROVINCE
Copyright (c) Alessandra Meniconzi /All Rights Reserved

EASTERN TIBET - SICHUAN PROVINCE
Copyright (c) Alessandra Meniconzi /All Rights Reserved

CHINA - GUIZHOU PROVINGE - HMONG MINORITY
(The Long-horn Miao-a small branch living near Zhijin County)
Copyright (c) Alessandra Meniconzi /All Rights Reserved

"I prefer remote and rugged places, mountainous terrain and desert. I love to find people who can manage to survive in these places, to discover and record their ancient way of life before they are changed by the modern era."

ALESSANDRA MENICONZI is an adventurous Swiss photographer shooting in remote regions of the world. A trip to India at 21 sparked over a decade of exploration of cultures on the ancient trade routes. Her books include Hidden China, Mystic Iceland, The Silk Road, and she is currently working on books about the Tibet, Himalaya, and the Arctic.

Alessandra Meniconzi Gallery
Arctic Trek Greenland I Greenland II Greenland III
Mani Stone Inscriptions
The Long-horned Miao Headress
Canon Interview

SAUL LEITER: Photographs + Paintings

Saul Leiter Early Color
Steidl | Howard Greenberg Gallery

(left) Window, 1957. (right) Snow, 1960

Photographs © Saul Leiter | Howard Greenberg Gallery

Saul Leiter Paintings at Knoedler Project Space
Paintings gouache, casein and watercolor on paper

Taxi, 1957
Photograph © Saul Leiter | Howard Greenberg Gallery

Saul Leiter and Jean Pagliuso, 2009
Photograph © Elizabeth Paul Avedon

Magazine editor (l) Gay Morris Empson; Designer Susan Forristal; Saul Leiter 'Painting' Exhibition Curator, Carrie Springer (background sleeveless black dress); and photographer (r) Jean Pagliuso, at Saul Leiters opening

Paintings by New York School photographer Saul Leiter, an exhibition curated by Carrie Springer, opened at the Knoedler Project Space last night. Saul Leiter is best known for his early 1950's and 1960's color photographs. "Saul Leiter was a painter and only became a photographer when color photography could encompass the distinct color palette he wanted to include in his images. Since the 1940s, this inveterate walker has trawled the streets of New York, capturing its colors and spirit. His liking for disarray, solitude and elusiveness make him a unique artist, quite unconcerned about joining the throng." Steidl Books.

Sept 17-Nov 7
Saul Leiter: Paintings
*Knoedler Project Space

Saul Leiter Photographs | Howard Greenberg Gallery
Saul Leiter Books

*Update: The Knoedler Gallery closed November 2011

HIROSHI WATANABE: Kabuki Players

  Marina Ema & Kazusa Ito, Matsuo KabukiPhotograph (c) 2003 Hiroshi Watanabe

Chikako Suga, Matsuo KabukiPhotograph (c) 2003 Hiroshi Watanabe

 Maiko Takaku, Matsuo Kabuki
Photograph (c) 2003 Hiroshi Watanabe

Rikuto Tada, Matsuo Kabuki
Photograph (c) 2003 Hiroshi Watanabe

Update: 2015

HIROSHI WATANABE  

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photo-eye Gallery
Santa Fe

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HIROSHI WATANABE
September 11 - October 31, 2009
CATHERINE EDELMAN GALLERY, CHICAGO
Hiroshi Watanabe Books + Hiroshi Watanabe Website

JASON FLORIO: Makasutu Mecca In The Forest

Makasutu, Gambia (c) Jason Florio/All rights reserved

Makasutu, Gambia (c) Jason Florio/All rights reserved

Makasutu, Gambia (c) Jason Florio/All rights reserved

I have been arrested by the Taliban...ridden into far-flung Afghan valleys in search of nomads with mujahideen as my security, dressed as a woman to cross a border, was at the foot of the Twin Towers as they collapsed, enjoyed the 'comforts' of a Cuban hospital, hunted bats in Surinam, chatted with Somali pirates over Coke and biscuits and danced like a fiend in Beirut nightclubs...among other things.

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JASON FLORIO was born in London and relocated to the USA in 1987. He moved to NYC to pursue photography after seeing Richard Avedon's In The American West exhibition. Jason's Makasutu: Mecca In The Forest Project

Jason Florio Website

DOUGLAS STOCKDALE: Insomnia

Insomnia Shanghai Heights (c) 2009 Douglas Stockdale/All rights reserved

Photograph (c) 2009 Douglas Stockdale/All rights reserved

Photograph (c) 2009 Douglas Stockdale/All rights reserved

An exploration of the feelings of detachment, disassociation, and loneliness that can occur when one leaves their family and home due to the need to travel alone. These feelings can be intensified when the travel also includes multiple time zones, different cultures and customs, changes in food and diet and other physical or emotional differences.

Insomnia: Hotel Noir Web Journal

The Photo Book Web Journal
Douglas Stockdale Website

KEVIN BUBRISKI: Pilgrimage

Tamang Girlfriends, Yarsa Village, Nuwakot, Nepal, 1984
(c) Kevin Bubriski/All rights reserved

Tamang Women, Gatlang Village, Rasuwa, Nepal, 1984
(c) Kevin Bubriski/All rights reserved

Pilgrimage: Looking at Ground Zero
Photographs by Kevin Bubriski / Powerhouse Books

KEVIN BUBRISKI, an American documentary photographer, is the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Asian Cultural Council. Bubriski's work has been exhibited internationally and is in the permanent collections of New York's Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the International Center of Photography; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven; the Center for Creative Photography, Tucson; and the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Bubriski spent nine years living and photographing in Nepal while also photographing in nearby India, Tibet and Bangladesh. This work can be seen in his books, Portrait of Nepal and Power Places of Kathmandu.

Bubriski's book, Pilgrimage: Looking At Ground Zero, images shot following 9/11 in the streets surrounding Ground Zero in NYC, was recently reviewed in The Photo Book by Douglas Stockdale here. "In these photos, the World Trade Center is nowhere in evidence, except in the stunned expressions on the faces of the people now confronting the sight of its obliteration."
Power House Books
Kevin Bubriski Website
Fine Art Photography Masters: Bubriski Portfolio

RICHARD RENALDI: Figures and Ground

Curtis, 2007 (c) Richard Renaldi/All rights reserved

Jared and Glen, 2007 (c) Richard Renaldi/All rights reserved

Irina and Children, 2008 (c) Richard Renaldi/All rights reserved

RICHARD RENALDI graduated from New York University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography. He is now one of the most renowned young portrait photographers working today. His first book, Figure and Ground, was published by Aperture. "Renaldi’s work melds two classic photographic genres—portrait and straight landscape—into a single descriptive frame that speaks as much to a sense of the indi­viduals before the lens as it does to the spaces they inhabit. The omnivorous film-plane of Renaldi’s 8-by-10 camera embraces not only the individuals directly in front of it, but the environment that encompasses them as well. If there is truly a center to the American social landscape, it can be found here, in Renaldi’s precisely rendered portraits." (Aperture Foundation)
Richard Renaldi Books and Website

DON HONG-OAI: Asian Pictorialism

Winter Fog, Vietnam, 1974
Photograph (c) Don Hong-Oai/All rights reserved

Hurrying Down Path, Vietnam, 1974
Photograph (c) Don Hong-Oai/All rights reserved

Spring Morning on River Li, Guilin, 1998 
Photograph (c) Don Hong-Oai/All rights reserved

Spring Bamboo Boat
Photograph (c) Don Hong-Oai/All rights reserved

DON HONG-OAI was born 1929 in the city of Guangzhou in the Guangdong Province of China. As the youngest of 24 siblings and half-siblings, Don was sent off to live in a Chinese community in Saigon, Vietnam after the death of his parents. At 7 years old he was apprenticed to a Saigon portrait studio where he learned the basics of photography. Don remained an apprentice for a decade, after which he worked a series of odd jobs. Although he was desperately poor, he managed to save US$48 to buy his first camera. In 1950, at the age of 21, he began studying at the Vietnam National Art University.He stayed in Vietnam during the war, but in 1979 a bloody border war broke out between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the People’s Republic of China. The Vietnamese government instituted a series of repressive policies that targeted ethnic Chinese living in the country. As a result of those policies, Don became one of the millions of “boat people” who fled Vietnam to the U.S. in the late 1970s. At the age of 50, speaking no English and not knowing anyone living in the U.S., Don arrived in San Francisco. He lived within San Francisco's Chinatown where he was able to set up a small darkroom to create his photographs. By selling prints of his photographs at local street fairs, Don was able to make enough money to return to China periodically to shoot photographs. He was also able to study with Master Long Chin-San in Taiwan.

Long Chin-San, who died in 1995 at the age of 104, had developed a style of photography based on the long tradition of landscape imagery in Chinese art. For centuries Chinese artists had been creating dramatic monochromatic landscapes using simple brushes and ink. These paintings weren’t intended to accurately depict nature, but to interpret nature’s emotional impact. Don’s new work modeled on the ancient style combined (pre-digital photo compositing) the traditional motifs of Chinese paintings, such as mountains, birds, tree's and boats, using more than one negative to create the delicate beauty in each landscape. Realism was not the goal.

Don's work began to draw critical attention in the 1990s. He no longer had to sell his photography at street fairs; he was now represented by an agent and his work was being sold in galleries throughout the U.S., in Europe and in Asia. His work was sought after by private art collectors, corporate buyers and museums. Don passed away in San Francisco in 2004. More bio here.

Rare original sepia toned gelatin-silver prints made by Don Hong-Oai with his hand-written calligraphy titles and red chop signatures, contact Anne Kelly: Photo-Eye Gallery

CHINA CONTEMPORARY ARTIST: Yang Li Ming

Painting Strokes, Fei Jia Cun, Beijing, China 

Photograph (c) William Avedon/All rights reserved

 

Yang Painting, Fei Jia Cun, Beijing, China 
Photograph (c) William Avedon/All rights reserved

YANG LI MING, a leading painter of abstract art from Cheng Du, the capital of China’s Sichuan Province, studio is in the Fei Jia Cun Artist Village in Beijing, China. Yang’s abstract paintings are constructed of layer upon layer of vibrant, rolling lines, which he creates while listening to Mozart and Bach at deafening volume. Yang explains that the first few strokes of his paintings are the most important, as they determine the success of following layers and the final work.

The Fei Jia Cun Artist Village is one of several art communities surrounding Beijing where leading painters, sculptors and photographers from across China work and exhibit. These art villages represent the forefront of China’s Abstract, Pop, and Neo-Realist artists. More China Contemporary Artists Yang Jinsong and Wang Xing. – by William Avedon

About Yang Li Ming

CHINA CONTEMPORARY ARTIST: Yang Jinsong

A Gutted Fish Painting, Fei Jia Cun, Beijing, China 
Photograph (c) William Avedon/All rights reserved

Yang Jinsong Painting in his Studio, Fei Jia Cun, Beijing, China

Photograph (c) William Avedon/All rights reserved

YANG JINSONG, a leading Chinese painter from the Chong Qing municipality, in his studio in the Fei Jia Cun Artist Village in Beijing, China. Yang explains his 'consumerist-critical' paintings depicting fish, traditionally a symbol of wealth in Chinese culture, critique China’s construction boom and over-development by depicting bulldozers infesting the fish’s gutted innards. Yang often paints himself with his wife, She Cai, surrounded by emblems such as pollution, electrical appliances, and cigarette butts (2nd image, center painting), symbolizing China’s rapid development and embrace of consumerism.

The Fei Jia Cun Artist Village is one of several art communities surrounding Beijing where leading painters, sculptors and photographers from across China work and exhibit. These art villages represent the forefront of China’s Abstract, Pop, and Neo-Realist artists. – by William Avedon

Yang Jinsong Website

CHINA CONTEMPORARY ARTIST: Wang Xing

Wang Xing, Dragon Sculpture, Fei Jia Cun, Beijing, China
Photograph (c) William Avedon/All rights reserved

Wang Xing, Dragon Sculpture, Fei Jia Cun, Beijing, China
Photograph (c) William Avedon/All rights reserved

Photographs (c) William Avedon/All rights reserved

Mythical Creature by artist Wang Xing
Photograph (c) William Avedon/All rights reserved

Chinese sculptor WANG XING is from China’s He Bei province. Above, Wang Xing was creating a series of nine dragon sculptures for an exhibition in Beijing. Wang’s clay and bronze sculptures are a mixture of Buddhist art, Japanese lacquer, and ancient mythical texts depicting half-human half-animal creatures. He is fascinated by the concept of dragons in Chinese culture as they were traditionally symbolic of the Emperor.

Wang’s studio is in the Fei Jia Cun Artist Village on the outskirts of Beijing, China. Fei Jia Cun is one of at least 10 artist communities surrounding Beijing where painters, sculptors and photographers from across China have come to work and exhibit. These art villages represent the forefront of China’s Abstract, Pop, and Neo-Realist artists. –William Avedon

More China Contemporary Artists:

Yang Jinsong

Yang Li Ming

PETROGLYPHS: V-Bar-V Ranch

Petroglyphs, V-Bar-V Ranch, Verde Valley, Arizona

V-Bar-V Heritage site is the largest known petroglyph site in the Verde Valley (located outside of Sedona), as well as one of the best preserved. The Rock Art above is considered to be from an advanced settlement of the Southern Sinagua people who occupied the area between A.D. 1150 and 1400.

TONY MENDOZA: Bob (2006- )

Photograph (c) Tony Mendoza/All rights reserved

Photograph (c) Tony Mendoza/All rights reserved

Photograph (c) Tony Mendoza/All rights reserved

TONY MENDOZA is a Cuban-American photographer. Born in Havana, he moved to Miami with his family in 1960, graduated from Yale with a Bachelor of Engineering, Harvard with a Master of Architecture, before becoming a full time photographer in 1973.

Mendoza has received three National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, a Guggenheim Photography Fellowship as well as two Creative Writing fellowships from the Ohio Arts Council. His photographs have exhibited in major museums around the country. His most well known book Ernie is a photographic memoir centered around a cat he encountered when he moved in to an apartment in New York City. Mendoza is currently an instructor of photography at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Galleries.

Tony Mendoza Website

More Dog Park Photographs