DUMBO GALLERY WALK: Photo District

View of the Empire State Building from DUMBO

Photograph (c) Mary Virginia Swanson /All Rights Reserved

DUMBO is an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. This historic Brooklyn waterfront neighborhood, located just across the East River from Manhattan, is one of New York's leading Arts Districts, AKA the "new" NY Photo District.

DUMBO 1st Thursday Gallery Walk • November 5th • 5:30-8:30 PM. Begin at 111 Front Street's 14 Galleries • View Participating Galleries + Walking Map (click on red titles) • Subway Directions: A/C to High St/Brooklyn Bridge. Cadman Plz West Exit F to York St

Mary Virginia Swanson: Photography Marketing Consultant Website

ERIC FISCHL: An Interview

Fred, 1998. Oil On Linen. 72" x 68"
(Portrait of Fischl's friend novelist/art critic Frederick Tuten)
Painting (c) Eric Fischl /All Rights Reserved

Joan and John, 2002. Oil On Linen. 70" x 75"
(Portrait of writer's Joan Didion and the late John Dunne)
Painting (c) Eric Fischl /All Rights Reserved

Untitled (Brice In Pink Shirt), 2006. Oil On Linen. 50" x 60"
Painting (c) Eric Fischl /All Rights Reserved

ERIC FISCHL, born in New York City, grew up in the suburbs of Long Island and Phoenix, Arizona. He received a BFA from the California Institute for the Arts in 1972. His work has been the subject of numerous important exhibitions including: the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; the Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee; and the Museum of Contemparary Art, Chicago. Fischl lives and works in New York City and Sag Harbor with artist April Gornik. Read his full bio here

An Interview With Eric Fischl by Donald Kuspit

Front Cover right: Photograph by Richard Avedon. Back Cover left: Painting "Portrait of the Artist As An Old Man" by Eric Fischl

The following is an excert from An Interview With Eric Fischl by Donald Kuspit, Elizabeth Avedon Editions / Vintage Contemporary Artists / Random House (Buy a vintage copy here):

DK: I see you want to live dangerously: you've critically introduced your contemporaries. Let's pursue your gambit. Within the context of the understanding you've set up, who are the artists you find interesting? Why do they make a difference to us?

EF: In the mid-seventies, when sincerity and/or meaning became important again, after pop art and minimalism and conceptual art, some artists found it either in direct expression of meaningfulness, or they found meaningfulness in the direct expression of meaninglessness, and that's how the lines were drawn. When I came to New York in the late seventies, the greatest risk was sincerity. The German artists–Keifer, Baselitz, Polke, Lupertz, Immendorff, Penck–became noteworthy because they were working with a historical event that was guaranteed to be meaningful. It was the worst thing that had happened, they were the descendants of its perpetrators, and they were trying to figure out who they were in relation to it. The whole struggle for meaning since the 1970's has been a struggle for identity. It's pervasive, but most of us can't identify what happened except in personal terms. By what happened, I mean what went wrong, what gave us this sense of collapse or disappointment. The Germans were hurt not just personally but culturally as well. It's very hard for us in America to complain or to feel that our complaint is justified, because, after all, what are we complaining about? That objects we surround ourselves with are disappointing? I mean, it's a joke, we're more embarrassed about having believed in the superficial qualities of America, and it's hard to see yourself in that light. But because the Germans were so devastated culturally, you can identify with their struggle for renewal. Baselitz made a formal decision to turn his images upside down. Before that he had been making traditional realist pictures, often genre and figure scenes. So he decided to turn history upside down. He distanced himself from history, almost as a kind of penitence, a kind of self-ostracism.

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Fischl's latest paintings are of the Corrida Goyesca held each September in the Andalusian town of Ronda. The toreros, or bullfighters, dress in 18th century attire as in the era of the Spanish painter Goya, who designed their distinctive costume. The bull fight has captivated artists from Goya to Hemingway and Picasso.

Corrida in Ronda / ERIC FISCHL / EXHIBITION
Mary Boone Gallery • Oct 21-Dec 2009 • 541 West 24 Street, NYC

CAMILLE SEAMAN: The Big Cloud

Tracks Through the Field, Kansas, USA, May 2008
Photograph (c) Camille Seaman /All Rights Reserved

Casing the Storm, Kansas, USA, May 2008
Photograph (c) Camille Seaman /All Rights Reserved

The Collapse III, South Dakota, USA, June 2008
Photograph (c) Camille Seaman /All Rights Reserved

The storms we were chasing were Supercells, capable of producing grapefruit sized hail, and spectacular tornadoes; they were 50 miles wide and reached as high as 65,000 ft. into the atmosphere. These clouds were so large that they had the capability of blocking all daylight, making it very dark and ominous standing under them.

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CAMILLE SEAMAN, from Eastern Long Island's Shinnecock Tribe, is an Award-winning photographer best known for her Polar Iceberg images. She studied photography with Jan Groover and master workshops with Steve McCurry, Sebastiao Salgado, and Paul Fusco. She was named by American Photo Magazine as one of the top 15 emerging photographers of 2007. Other awards include: Artist in Residence onboard M/V Orlova in Antarctica (2007); Critical Mass Top Monograph Book Award (2006); National Geographic Award (2006); Nikon.Net Editor's Choice Award (2006) and was honored with a solo exhibition, “The Last Iceberg” at the National Academy of Sciences, Washington DC in 2008.

The images in "The Big Coud" series were made in May and June of 2008 in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota. A total of 5,600 miles was driven in just under a ten-day period.

The Big Cloud Exhibition
The Soul Catcher Studio Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.

Camille Seaman Website

ANTHONY CROSSFIELD: Foreign Body

Halloween Art Gallery Visitor
Foreign Body Exhibition, KlompChing Gallery 10.30.09

ANTHONY CROSSFIELD: Foreign Body / "The fused, melted and hybrid bodies in Crossfield's uneasy photo-manipulations are very literally joined at the hips, yet appear eerily isolated and lonely in their dilapidated and tragic surroundings." L Magazine October 29 — December 19, 2009

KLOMPCHING GALLERY
111 Front St, Suite 206 Dumbo 212-796-2070
Opening Reception: Nov. 5th, 6pm—8:00pm

MICHAEL AVEDON: Self Portrait with Mask

Self Portrait
Photograph (c) Michael Avedon / All rights reserved

HALLOWEEN: Andrew Phelps

Photograph (c) Andrew Phelps/All rights reserved

ABOUT / PHOTOBLOG / WEBSITE

CHAMBER MUSIC: Tom Chambers Photograph Inspires Indie Rock Song Writers

Black Dog's Retreat, 2002. Photograph (c) Tom Chambers

TOM CHAMBERS photograph Black Dog's Retreat was chosen by musicians Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie and J. Robbins of Jawbox and Burning Airlines to inspire and create Mercury, a soaring song inspired by Chambers cataclysmic image. Video's documenting the songwriting process and performance of "Mercury" here. About Tom Chambers.
Tom Chambers WEBSITE

BENNO GRAZIANI: La Dolce Vita

Fiat's Gianni Agnelli and guest Heidi von Salvisberg, Beaulieu 1967
Photograph (c) Benno Graziani /All Rights Reserved

Jackie et les Paparazzi's, Port d'Amalfi 1962
Photograph (c) Benno Graziani /All Rights Reserved

Benno Graziani photographing Jackie Kennedy and Marella Agnelli, Amalfi, Italy 1962 Photograph(c)Benno Graziani /All Rights Reserved

Jackie Kennedy Nageant, Ravello, Italy August 1962
Photograph (c) Benno Graziani /All Rights Reserved

Jacqueline Kennedy and sister Princess Lee Radziwill, Ravello, Italy 1962
Photograph (c) Benno Graziani /All Rights Reserved

'Match was our little club, there were no editors meetings because we hardly spent time apart from each other – and it worked! Some editions sold more than two million copies...The world's press envied us and tried in vain to imitate us

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BENNO GRAZIANI, photojournalist and former editor of Paris Match, exhibits his iconic black and white images of the legendary rich and famous on the French-Italian Riviera of the 1950's-1970's. Graziani was friends with some of the biggest celebrities of his era. He was the inspiration for Fellini's La Dolce Vita.

Having met as journalist's while Jacqueline Kennedy, then Jacqueline Bouvier, was working for the Washington Times Herald in the 1950's, Graziani had the privilege of documenting the Kennedy lifestyle as seen in his book Private Collection (Editions Verlhac). His work has been exhibited in The Metropolitan Museum, New York, 2000; Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, 2001 and Galerie Photo12, Paris, 2007 and 2009.

NYC exhibition by appointment only through Nov 14. public_realations(at)olegcassini(dot)com galerie–photo12

Post thanks to Jean-Jacques Naudet, legendary editor,
author and champion of important image-makers

SUSANA RAAB: Any Season

Finger-Lookin' Good, London , Kentucky
Photograph (c) Susana Raab /All Rights Reserved

Chicken in Love, Athens, Ohio
Photograph (c) Susana Raab /All Rights Reserved

Rennaissance Fair, Crownsville, Maryland
Photograph (c) Susana Raab /All Rights Reserved

The Unfortunate Result of the Demise of the Public Phone Booth, Metropolis, Illinois Photograph (c) Susana Raab /All Rights Reserved

The festival is ongoing, but the party is over
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SUSANA RAAB is a documentary and editorial photographer who "creates warm, and often quirky images of people and places, familiar and strange. She approaches subjects with a generous spirit and sense of humor. She's received wide recognition for her work including the IPA/Lucie Awards, Light Awards, American Photography24, Photo District News, The Camera Club of New York, PhotoEspana, The White House News Photographer's Association, The Ernst Haas/Golden Light Awards, PhotoLucinda's Critical Mass, and the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities."

Susana Raab PHOTO BLOG / SUSANA RAAB WEBSITE

MAASAI MARATHON: NYC Eco-Warriors

Kenyan's (click for bio's) Samson Parashina, Martin Sunte, and Parashi Ntanin in NYC to run the Marathon

Samson Parashina, Edward Norton, Parashi Ntanin, Andrew Wolff, Martin Sunte, Luca Belpietro, Founder of Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust

Parashi Ntanin with Dung Beetle

Kenyan Running Shoes

Huge Strangler Fig Tree, Sacred to the Maasai, in the Chyulu Forest

Maasai are natural runners, it is a part of their culture and tradition as warriors, so it seemed very organic to have some of these new generation ‘eco-warriors’ come brave the NY streets for their community–Edward Norton

NOVEMBER 1, 2009, actor Edward Norton and three Maasai Warriors from Kenya, will lead a team of 30 runners in the New York City Marathon to raise awareness and funds for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust
MAASAI MARATHON

JOCHEN BRENNECKE: really new york

hop on, hop off / New York Sightseeing
(c) 2009 Jochen Brennecke-HyperArt.com /All Rights Reserved

break / the lunch
(c) 2009 Jochen Brennecke-HyperArt.com /All Rights Reserved

hang on sloopy / Sloopy Hang On
(c) 2009 Jochen Brennecke-HyperArt.com /All Rights Reserved

step / pink
(c) 2009 Jochen Brennecke-HyperArt.com /All Rights Reserved

NEW YORK / PHOTO BLOG / JOCHEN BRENNECKE

HALLOWEEN TREAT: Vintage Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix with Texas psychedelic group The Moving Sidewalks.
Center, Lead singer Billy Gibbons, pre-ZZ Top, Fort Worth, Texas, 1968

BILLY GIBBONS founded the '60's Texas psychedelic group The Moving Sidewalks. They came into prominence opening for The Jimi Hendrix Experience during Hendrix's first American tour. Billy was still in high school when Hendrix, one of the greatest electric guitarist in rock history, named Gibbons his favorite guitar player on "The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson". Billy went on to ZZ Top fame (Sharp Dressed Man, Legs). Photographer unknown. l to r: Tom Moore, Jimi Hendrix, Don Summers, Billy Gibbons (pre-ZZ Top), Dan Mitchell. Happy Halloween!

AMY STEIN: Halloween In Harlem

Untitled (Hulk) (c) Amy Stein /All Rights Reserved

Untitled (Witch and Cowboy) (c) Amy Stein /All Rights Reserved

Untitled (Ghoul) (c) Amy Stein /All Rights Reserved

Untitled (Spiderman) (c) Amy Stein /All Rights Reserved

I lived in the neighborhood for two years so I know the best street corners

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AMY STEIN was raised in Washington, DC and Karachi, Pakistan. She holds a BS in Political Science from James Madison University, an MS in Political Science from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and an MFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts, NYC. Stein teaches photography at Parsons School of Design and the School of Visual Arts, NYC.

Amy's first book, Domesticated, reviewed by The New Yorker, won best book award at the 2008 New York Photo Festival and was featured at this year's LOOK3 photo festival. In 2006, Stein was a winner of the Saatchi Gallery-Guardian Prize for her Domesticated series. In 2007, she was named one of the top fifteen emerging photographers in the world by American Photo magazine and she won the Critical Mass Book Award.

Current Exhibition Through October 31st
Amy Stein: Domesticated
CLAMPART
521 West 25th St, NYC

Upcoming 2010 Solo Exhibitions:
Harvard Museum of Natural History, Domesticated, Cambridge, MA
Perth Centre for Photography, Stranded, Perth, Australia
Australian Center for Photography, Domesticated, Sydney, Australia

Amy Stein's Photography Blog

Amy Stein Website

JOSE LUIS RODRÍGUEZ: Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009

Camera: Hasselblad 503CW
The Storybook Wolf (c) José Luis Rodríguez /All Rights Reserved

JOSE LUIS RODRIGUEZ won this year's Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009 Award, beating 43,135 entries from 94 countries and in over 17 categories. "In Spain, the population of Iberian wolves is thought to number 1000-2000 in the north, with a few isolated populations in the south. José Luis risked a slow shutter-speed to reveal the moonlit sky and conjure up the atmosphere of the place. He switched from using his Nikon D2X to a Hasselblad for the exact framing he had in mind." The 2010 competition launches in January. (UK Natural History Museum)

José Luis Rodríguez Gallery

ERIKA DIETTES: Drifting Away

Clothing of the Disappeared
Photographs (c) Erika Diettes /All Rights Reserved

"The rivers of Colombia are the world´s largest graveyard."

In DRIFTING AWAY my intention is to draw attention to the victims of forced disappearances of the Colombian armed conflict. The project is a response to a number of press reports and news broadcasts which explain how the paramilitaries and the guerrillas torture people, mutilate them and make them disappear by throwing their bodies into a river. This is the source of the saying "the rivers of Colombia are the world´s largest graveyard".

To create an expression of this horrible situation, I decided to submerge pieces of clothing or personal objects of the victims in turbulent water, and then photograph them. I print these photographs on glass to convey the feeling of the ethereal and fragile character of life in those parts of our country.

These very large glass photographs are then displayed upright in the ground, like translucent tombstones in a cemetery. This way people can walk in and around them, and begin to experience the grief of loss. It has been very difficult for the families of the disappeared to feel the healing power of grief, especially since there is often no certainty whether one of the disappeared is actually dead or alive.

I started in Bogotá by looking for clothing or objects belonging to people who had disappeared. Then I continued my search in other areas of conflict, including Eastern Antioquia, Caquetá and Medellín, amongst other places.

During these macabre visits I was able to talk to the families of the victims, who are indeed the voice of all Colombia, clamouring not only for the respect for life, but also for the right to be able to bury their dead. — Erika Diettes

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I first met Colombian photographer Erika Diettes several years ago when she was exhibiting her very moving project SILENCIOS. Silencios was an ambitious project Erika compiled of portraits and testimonials of the Jewish population in Colombia that had survived the concentration camps of Nazi Germany during World War II. Please read more and view photographs of Erika's human rights projects on her website.  

Erika Diettes

2012 Update:

SUDARIOS + Capilla de Los Remedios

Santo Domingo. República Dominicana + Sep 4 - 30, 2012

 

Oct 22-25, 2009 • Exhibition: Drifting Away
Newark Arts Council Building • 744 Broad St • 6th floor • Newark NJ 07102
View Gallery Installation

SEAN PERRY: Celestial Triptych

HASSELBLAD 501CM
Hasselblad Masters of Photography Finalist 2009

Camera: Hasselblad 501CM
9 West 57th Street (c) Sean Perry /All Rights Reserved

Camera: Hasselblad 501CM
The Sentinels (c) Sean Perry /All Rights Reserved

Camera: Hasselblad 501CM
Astor Place Tower (c) Sean Perry /All Rights Reserved

SIGMA DP2
Sigma DP2 Gallery

Camera: Sigma DP2
Celestial series (c) Sean Perry /All Rights Reserved

Camera: Sigma DP2
Celestial series (c) Sean Perry /All Rights Reserved

Camera: Sigma DP2
Celestial series (c) Sean Perry /All Rights Reserved

Sigma Corporation of America asked Sean Perry and three other professional photographers to shoot with their DP2 14-mega pixel digital camera and submit their three best images for exhibition. Laurence Matson, master digital printer and DP2 User Group guru, printed the final images. Sigma On-line Gallery

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I’m delighted that Sigma included me in their exhibition for PhotoPlus Expo 2009. I was asked along with Chip Forelli, Paula Lerner, and Stephen Mallon to make pictures with a Sigma DP2 for a few weeks - the only request being "make something awe-inspiring"... no pressure in that, right? I have photographed with the same camera for almost 10 years, a Hasselblad 501CM and though I almost always work in black in white, I like to play with color.

Saul Leiter and Jeff Brouws just kill me with inspiration.

After reading about the philosophy behind the DP2 I thought this would be a meaningful challenge and was honestly not disappointed. I believe the camera has a beautiful response to light and liked the rendering and palette so much I decided to make color images for the show - a loose triptych that echoes a celestial feel. I’m looking forward to sharing the photographs, they were a joy to make. I hope you find them playful and unexpected.
–Sean Perry

SEAN PERRY WEBSITE

PhotoPlusExpo Exhibits Oct. 22- Oct.24
Sigma DP2 Gallery and Hasselblad Masters of Photography Finalist 2009