SARA STATHAS: Collecting Moments

Photograph (c) Sara Stathas /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Sara Stathas /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Sara Stathas /All Rights Reserved

Making portraits is like collecting moments of life. I see myself as a cultural anthropologist when I approach an assignment, and my job is a hugely addictive challenge every time.

SARA.STATHAS.NYC WEBSITE

RICHARD GERE: Pilgrim

Pilgrim, Zanskar, 1983 • Fahey/Klein Gallery
Photograph (c) Richard Gere /All Rights Reserved

Mongolian Warrior, Mongolia 1995 • Fahey/Klein Gallery
Photograph (c) Richard Gere /All Rights Reserved

The alchemy of photography is mysterious and unstable...it's component parts of grain shift like smoke in the wind and somehow emerge as an image with only an illusion of beingness – Richard Gere

FAHEY/KLEIN GALLERY
An Interview With Richard Gere

Richard Gere at Erdene Zuu, Karakorum, Mongolia, 1995
Photograph (c) Elizabeth Paul Avedon

The Gere Foundation

THE FUTURE OF PHOTO BOOKS: Past, Present, and Future

Alberto Giacometti, sculptor, Paris 1958. Photograph (c) Richard Avedon

Vintage Book Dummy (c) Elizabeth Avedon /All Rights Reserved

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor 1957. Photograph (c) Richard Avedon

My vintage book dummy created with scotch tape and paper clips
Book Dummy (c) Elizabeth Avedon /All Rights Reserved

READERS
"What do you think Photo Books will look like in 10 years?"
Read what Flak Photo and Live Books have to say HERE

Andy Adams, of Flak Photo, and Miki Johnson, of LiveBooks blog RESOLVE, have partnered up to organize a huge communal blog discussion on the future of Photo Books! You can read all about it HERE and view contributing Photo Blog posts and find out how to add your own.

What do I think Photo Books will look like in ten years? Considering how fast technology is evolving, I think we can't begin to imagine the form they will take by then. Ten years is light years in technological time. I do think whatever method used to create Photo Books, hand crafted like Raymond Meeks or printed in awesome gravure like Twin Palms, photography books in any form will still have a collectible market. Read Eric Miles interview on Rare Photography Book Collecting.

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I'm designing a book for a Philanthropic Organization as a beautiful gift give-away to their donors. This will be my first foray into the world of print on demand publishing. I've decided on using Blurb. My former photo-eye colleague, Radius Books co-founder, Darius Himes, was lead judge for Blurb's recent 2009 Photography Book Now contest and Flak Photo has partnered with Blurb to feature 25 of the award-winning photographer's books from 2009 as well. I'll post about my first-time experience using their design templates here in a couple of months. My Book Design Website

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The current Book Design software, Quark and InDesign, "have never been easier to create professional pages," but at what cost. I was lamenting the loss of an actual physical book dummy, until I posted my original layouts for "PORTRAITS", published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. I started to wistfully describe what was involved in creating a mechanically correct book dummy and became overwhelmed with how difficult and time consuming it sounded and the text became unmanageably long, so I deleted it. After the exhausting description, I promise never to yell at Quark for crashing my computer again. However annoying, losing a couple of hours of work is nothing compared to just waiting around for a week for the first set of galleys from the Typesetter and Photostats (look it up!) to arrive.

READERS
"What do you think Photo Books will look like in 10 years?"
Read what Flak Photo and Live Books have to say HERE

Still Collectible PORTRAITS published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Alberto Giacometti, sculptor, Paris 3.6.58
Photograph (c) 1958 Richard Avedon /All Rights Reserved
PORTRAITS, Farrar, Straus & Giroux

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, New York City, 4.16.57
Photograph (c) 1957 Richard Avedon /All Rights Reserved
PORTRAITS, Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Robert Frank, photographer, Mabou Mines, Nova Scocia 1.17.75
Photograph (c) 1975 Richard Avedon /All Rights Reserved
PORTRAITS, Farrar, Straus & Giroux

LARRY McNEIL: Alaska Native Artist Exhibition Dec 10 Alaska House NYC

Larry McNeil, a Tlingit Artist at the start of the 21st Century
Photograph (c) T'naa McNeil /All Rights Reserved

"1491" From The Feather Series

Back in 1992, the 500 year anniversary date of when Columbus arrived on the shores of the Americas, a group of artists were asked by Theresa Harlan to participate in the Message Carriers exhibition that was graciously hosted by the Photographic Resource Center at Boston University. I used a feather as a metaphor for indigenous identity and really love it that the media is black & white film because it referenced the world culture of 1992 so well. It represents the future denied us in 1491- a reminder that indigenous people still have a future that we can make our own. All of humanity for that matter. I like to think of it as kind of like a photograph on a blank page for you to fill in with how you imagine yourself to be.

YUPIK LADIES SERIES
Vintage Photograph (c) Larry McNeil /All Rights Reserved

YUPIK LADIES SERIES
Vintage Photograph (c) Larry McNeil /All Rights Reserved

YUPIK LADIES SERIES
Vintage Photograph (c) Larry McNeil /All Rights Reserved

"I find myself simply wondering how humanity would have evolved had the humans indigenous to the Americas been allowed to continue to evolve without European interference. Can you imagine a world not in the midst of a human- induced ecological melt-down?"

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LARRY McNEIL, Tlingit/Nisgaa, was born in 1955 in Juneau, Alaska. He's won numerous awards for his photography, including the National Geographic "All Roads Photography Award", the prestigious "Eiteljorg Fellowship" and the "New Works Award" from En Foco. His biography goes on to say "his photographs are about American Mythology, Ravens, the intersection of cultures, and finding the sacred in unlikely places. It is about the sacred not being for sale, but being able to be rented at reasonable rates. It is about being able to fly by night."

Eiteljorg Video Interview / Eiteljorg Biography

Larry McNeil's WEBSITE Follow his BLOG

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Dec 10, 2009 6:30 - 8:30pm
DRY ICE: Alaska Native Artists and The Landscape
Alaska House, 109 Mercer Street (Prince x Spring), New York

An exhibition of Alaska Native artists, including Brian Adams, Susie Bevins-Ericsen, Perry Eaton, Nicholas Galanin, Anna Hoover, Erica Lord, Da-ka-xeen Mehner, and Larry McNeil. Each explores their relationship to the landscape, through a variety of interpretations and media, combining traditional and innovative forms from mask-making and skin sewing to photography and installation. Dry Ice is curated by Julie Decker, Ph.D., of Anchorage, Alaska. Decker is the director of the International Gallery of Contemporary Art in Anchorage, a frequent guest curator of the Anchorage Museum and the author of numerous publications on art and architecture of Alaska.

MAX PRICE: Tattoo Galleries Emerging Artists

Photograph by Chris Polinski, Tattoo Gallery Exhibition

Photograph by Carrie Crow, Tattoo Gallery Exhibition

Photograph by Max Price, Tattoo Gallery Exhibition

Max Price with his Black and White Photography

Group Exhibition at Empire State Tattoo Gallery

Photographer MAX PRICE exhibited his black and white prints along with other emerging artists in a group exhibition at Empire State Studio's Tattoo Gallery in Oceanside. Max, a self-taught photographer originally from Sag Harbor, NY, now living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, has been steadily showing his photographs in small venues. We look forward to posting more of his work in the future. This exhibit will be up until the end of January. Thanks to Matthew Avedon for this post.

STING: St. John The Divine Rehearsal

Sting Rehearsal with Ira Coleman on bass, St. John the Divine Cathedral
Photograph (c) Eleonora Alberto

Performing at Rehearsal, left, Kathryn and Peter Tickell on fiddles,
Sting, Ira Coleman on bass, guitarist Dominic Miller
Photograph (c) Eleonora Alberto

Sting Rehearsal with Music Director Robert Sadin and the Newark Boys Chorus, St. John the Divine Cathedral Photograph (c) Eleonora Alberto

"Winter is about inspiration and imagination"–Sting
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STING Winter Concert Rehearsal. St. John the Divine Cathedral's medieval architecture was the setting for Sting's private "family and friends" winter concert rehearsal last night. (I was a lucky friend of a friend). The Gothic/Romanesque backdrop of the Cathedral only added to the haunting beauty of the songs performed from Sting's album "If On A Winter's Night" that included madrigals to traditional Gaelic folk music.

Sting was accompanied by an ensemble of 35 musicians, including friend and long time colleague, guitarist Dominic Miller, Ira Coleman (double bass) and four remarkable musicians from his hometown (Sting called them "Geordies") in Northeast England, near the Scottish border : Kathryn Tickell (fiddle and Northumbrian pipes) and brother Peter Tickell (fiddle) Julian Sutton (melodean) and Mary MacMaster (metal string Scottish harp). With Robert Sadin as Music Director, the guest artists included Vincent Ségal (cello), Daniel Hope (violin), Chris Botti (trumpet), Ibrahim Maalouf (trumpet), Cyro Baptista (percussion), Bijan Chemirani (percussion) and the three fabulous backup singers from NYC and Australia. The Newark Boys Chorus joined all of them for a beautiful chorus. I'm sorry to those I've left off. The evening was unbelievably beautiful and perfectly conjured up the seasons holiday Spirits.

Photographer Eleonora Alberto was there to photograph the performance which included her husband, Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista. She was gracious enough to allow me to post some of the evenings highlights. Many thanks to Susan Forristal for the invite.

MICHAEL DWORNIK: The Travellers

Matthew Avedon in The Travellers

Tokion Magazine, vol 3 #2. Photograph (c) Michael Dwornik

The Travellers

Tokion Magazine, vol 3 #2. Photograph (c) Michael Dwornik

Salcantay Inca Trail, Peru
Photograph (c) Michael Dwornik

Salcantay Inca Trail, Peru
Photograph (c) Michael Dwornik

Salcantay Inca Trail, Peru
Photograph (c) Michael Dwornik

Salcantay Inca Trail, Peru
Photograph (c) Michael Dwornik

MICHAEL DWORNIK, a self taught photographer living in NYC with his wife and child, was born and raised in Pennsylvania. His work includes travel and fine art photography, as well as editorial and advertising work. His clients include Puma Nuala with Christy Turlington, Puma Sports, Ecco, and Urban Outfitters "Free People" campaign, among many others.

Dwornik shot THE TRAVELLERS for the current issue of the cutting-edge art publication Tokion Magazine (Vol 3 #2) with artist Aurel Schmidt on the cover. Styled by Risa Knight, the bohemian family includes models Matthew Avedon and Will Lewis who could easily pass as brothers. TOKIAN is on the news stands now.

RUSSELL SIMMONS AND BROTHERS: Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation

Nicky Enright, It's Gon' Rain, 2008

Noelle Lorraine Williams, Hijacked, 2006

Hong Seon Jang, Zip City, 2009

Art allows people a way to dream their way out of their struggle.

–Russell Simmons

RUSH PHILANTHROPIC ARTS FOUNDATION was founded in 1995 by brothers Russell, Danny and Joseph "Rev.Run" Simmons. The Foundation is dedicated to providing disadvantaged urban youth with significant arts exposure, access and education as well as providing exhibition opportunities to early and mid-career artists and artists of color. "As art has been such a pivotal aspect in my life, I want the youth of today to realize that art can transform lives and bring people together by unleashing the imagination," said Russell Simmons, chairman and co-founder of Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation and entertainment mogul. Russell Simmons Global Grind

A core program of the Foundation is the Rush Arts Gallery which supports the diverse creative practices of the emerging artistic community and promotes experimental ventures in visual production, curatorial work, performance and community involvement. Rush Arts Gallery (RAG) current multimedia group exhibition Borderline includes artists Carla Aspenberg, Andrew Demirjian, Nicky Enright, Hong Seon Jang, Yeni Mao and Noelle Lorraine Williams.

Borderline Dec 24-Jan 16, 2010
Rush Arts Gallery 526 West 26 St NYC
Russell Simmons Global Grind

MELANIE McWHORTER: Nuclear Family Reaction

fuzzy jacket, 2007
Photograph (c) Melanie McWhorter /All Rights Reserved

stressful morning, 2007
Photograph (c) Melanie McWhorter /All Rights Reserved

new nails
Photograph (c) Melanie McWhorter /All Rights Reserved

ty, 2008
Photograph (c) Melanie McWhorter /All Rights Reserved

MELANIE McWHORTER was "born and raised in a small mill town in upstate South Carolina. She received her BA in History from Lander University, a modest liberal arts collage in Greenwood, SC. After graduation, she found a job as a school photographer and later a brief stint as a dude ranch photographer in Jackson, WY. She is a regular contributor to the online magazines Fraction and photo-eye and maintains her own photo-related blog. She manages photo-eye’s Book Division, curates exhibitions of local photographers in photo-eye Bookstore and organizes the monthly First Wednesday Salon." Her photography was recently exhibited in Through the Lens: Creating Santa Fe. Melanie is co-founder of Flash Flood, a new media collective that investigates and promotes the intersection of photography and culture in the state of New Mexico. I love Melanie's series "Nuclear Family Reaction" and spoke with her about this work recently:

You know I'm a big fan of your Nuclear Family Reaction work. Can you tell me about these images?

MM: Most of the photos that I include in the portfolio are of my children, although I have a few of my husband Tom and some self-portraits. This project stemmed from an earlier project with my daughter in 35 mm and in black and white. These were more closely cropped and more of body studies than environmental portraiture. I started shooting color and medium format at some point and decided this was the way to go. It was an evolution in my aesthetic and my relationship with my family and internal struggles. It, like many of my projects, was a catharsis for me--a selfish projection of an internal struggle that I force others to absorb. It was also convenient. Like someone once told me, photograph what you know (or what is around you).

Who has been an influence on your work or you consider a mentor?

MM: My first photography book was of Imogen Cunningham’s work with Unmade Bed on the cover. I had the Masters of Photography calendar on the wall while shooting dude ranch photography in Jackson, WY. When I moved to Santa Fe, I was hired by Rixon Reed at photo-eye. This was both awe-inspiring and depressing at the same time. I thought, “if there are so many good photographers (and bad ones) out there producing work and photography books, how do I have a chance?” I got over that and I now think that there is room for almost all of us.

That said, I really love Dutch and Swedish photography. There is some great work coming out of these regions, especially in books. I really like Erik van der Weijde, Lars Tunbjork, Anna Clarén, Gerry Johansson, and many more and books from publishers like GUN Gallery, Journal and Episode. My portfolio Dealing with 35 is really influenced by Swedish portraiture. I would say that Stephen Gill is always stuck in my head when shooting projects like Highway 14 or the Railyard. I love to capture upturned ground and the transformation of the land. My husband can tell you how much I love to shoot mounds of dirt.

Two women that I would like to note who have inspired me are Debbie Fleming Caffery and Mary Virginia Swanson. Debbie’s images, I think, influenced some of the earlier black and whites from Nuclear Family Reaction. Both of these women are strong, full of personality and seem to give of themselves beyond what is required or necessary.

Would you tell me about FLASH FLOOD and how it originated? How long has it been in the works?

MM: I had an idea. I am an idea person, it is the actualization that is usually difficult for me. This idea was to start a cooperative that promoted the intersection of photography and New Mexico. I mentioned this idea to Jonathan Blaustein. Elizabeth, as you know about Jonathan, he gets excited easily and can be a real motivator. He followed up on this idea and it was born. Originally we had conceived of 7 members, but we invited David Ondrik, Jennifer Schlesinger, and Jesse Chehak on board and it just felt right. New Mexico is important photographically, both historically and contemporarily. We want to embrace both while incorporating other fields, like anthropology, history, economics and culture. I think it will be important to all in New Mexico as well as internationally.

We welcome submissions for Flash Flood from individuals who live in the state and those who do not, but who have photographed here. It is so exciting and we have some fantastic stories and features scheduled for the upcoming monthly issues and aspire to have a printed version in the next year. Anyone can email us at contact@flash-flood.org to join our email list or to submit work or find us on Facebook or Twitter, like everyone else.

You were a Reviewer at the recent Photolucida CRITICAL MASS Top 50 photography review. What was the overall tone of the work you reviewed?

MM: There are a lot of very good photographers out there working, but it is so difficult to be outstanding. The work that I found to be the most original or inspiring for me was Erica Allen, Tony Chirinos, Susan Worsham, Jenn Ackerman, Simone Lueck, Phillip Toledano, and Alejandro Cartagena.

Was there any work you were already familiar with through your reviews for the Photographers Showcase?

MM: I do not have a list, but I would guess about one-third of the work I had seen at some point whether it was photo-eye or other sources. Many of these photographers run the circuit of reviews. They are willing to invest the time and money in their work. Like Sally Mann and Charlie Rose agreed on his show, it is tenacity and not talent that make you successful.

You were also a Reviewer in Italy's Fotofestival di Roma. What did you do there?

MM: I was officially the lead juror for the photography book competition and I delivered a lecture on Photo Book publishing. I also got to see Nan Goldin, Rinko Kawauchi and Juliana Beasley speak while there.

What are you working on now?

MM: My most recent project is Dealing with 35, mind you, I am now almost 37 so it has been a while. It is simply another project trying to work out some changes in my life. Coming to middle age and how wonderful and scary that is.

My photographs from Nuclear Family Reaction will be in a group exhibition with Kay Denton, Juanita Hong, Debbie Miracolo, and Andrea Land titled The Sweet Escape Jan 15 – Mar 13, 2010 at the Morean Arts Center, St. Petersburg, FL.

Melanie McWhorter WEBSITE

Melanie Photo BLOG

PAOLO VENTURA: Winter Stories

Photograph (c) Paolo Ventura /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Paolo Ventura /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Paolo Ventura /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Paolo Ventura /All Rights Reserved

PAOLO VENTURA was born in Milan in 1968. After studying at the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera (Milan) in the early 90s, he embarked on a successful 10 year career as a fashion photographer, before deciding to radically change his life by moving to New York to devote himself to his personal creations.

"In Winter Stories, Ventura takes us into a world of winter light, poetic and nostalgic. An old circus performer remembers his life. His memories are not important events, rather featureless moments, buried and forgotten. Ventura carries us through an evocative world that is both naive, childish, and extremely serious, as if the memories of a man at the end of his life were replayed, directed by child, displaying his toys on the floor of his room."

Winter Stories
GALERIE CAMERA OBSCURA, Paris
Exhibition Dec 5, 2009 to Jan 30, 2010

Paolo Ventura WEBSITE

COLLECTION SEITA: "Gitanes, Une Adventure Artistique" Paris Auction Dec 7th

Herb Ritts, Gitanes, vers 1989-1990

Sophie Chevallier, Portrait d'homme aux lunettes, 1991

Franck Horvat, Gitanes, vers 1989-1990

Nan Goldin, Nina Putting On Her Makeup, 1991

Collection Seita
Gitanes, Une Aventure Artistique

300 PHOTOGRAPHIES CONTEMPORAINES: CATALOG
Dec 7, 2009 19H Paris Drouot Montaigne
15, avenue Montaigne – 75008 Paris

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

BILL NARUM: Austin Artist Remembered

Photograph (c) Bill Narum /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Bill Narum /All Rights Reserved

Album Cover Design by Bill Narum

Photograph (c) Bill Narum /All Rights Reserved

Bill Narum... Man of many talents as a gifted artist, designer and persistent protagonist on many fronts. As the designer and creator of each and every early ZZ TOP cover, his hand forged the perception of the artist essence of ZZ TOP... Cactus, desert sand, rattlesnakes and javalenas, jalapenos, hot sauce and hot bluesrock imagery from way deep down in Texas. Scribble on, Bro Bill. You were the best! –Billy Gibbons

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BILL NARUM, one of Texas' most famous artists, also Art Directed posters, album covers, stage sets, logo's and corporate branding for musicians Z.Z.Top, The Allman Brothers, Santana, Taj Mahal, Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King, Johnnie Winter and many others for over 40 years. Narum died Wednesday, November 18, in his art studio.

"An important figure in Houston's counterculture in the late 1960's and 70's, Narum co-founded Houston FM rock station KLOL and worked as an illustrator for an underground newspaper. He went on to become Texas Band ZZ Top's graphic artist, moving from Posters and Album Covers Tejas, Tres Hombres, La Grange, Fandango to epic murals for the band's fleet of semis and the famous cactus-and-cattle-skull stage design for the trio's legendary 1975-76 "Worldwide Texas" tour." Bill will also be remembered for his recent exhibition "You Call That Art?"