December, 2007 Archive

Greg Girard on CBC Arts

Davin — December 15th, 2007

There’s a nice narrated slideshow by Greg Girard on CBC.ca about the images from his Phantom Shanghai book. It’s a quick watch at just under 4 minutes but it does a great job of contextualizing the images. I’m actually long overdue in doing an interview with Girard having contacted him a few months ago when the Phantom Shanghai images were being exhibited at Toronto’s Monte Clark Gallery.

Posted in Books, Interviews, People, Video — Comment

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The Ones We Love

Davin — December 15th, 2007

Lindley Warren recently launched a new project called The Ones We Love.

“The Ones We Love is a project highlighting young and talented photographers from around the world. Each artist contributed six photographs of the person who is most important to them, taken outdoors in a natural setting. The goal of the website is to portray the people who are loved, cherished, and inspirational to these artists, and also showcase the differences and similarities in the photographs each of them took within the same guidelines.” — theoneswelove.org

As an aside, it’s interesting to see the number of projects appearing with a focus on young and emerging photographers. It’s a good thing to happen of course but I had this experience yesterday that made me think about the emphasis on youth when it comes to judging someone’s emerging status.

I consider myself an emerging photographer. Despite being 38 years old and graduating from university in 1994, i only picked up a camera in earnest about 3 years ago. Yesterday I noticed that the Canadian foundation, Magenta Publishing for the Arts had opened online submissions for Flash Forward 2008 their emerging photographers exchange. The project results in an annual hardcover book featuring Canadian, US, and UK photographers. I had resolved that I would get my shit togther and submit the ten photos required this year after quickly looking at the submission page. I pulled together my ten low res shots fairly easily but when I went back to read the details of what I had to do next I noticed that “emerging” means quite specifically “under 34″ to Magenta. I was a bit put off by that and emailed them to see if I could get some clarification on their reasoning for setting an age limit.

So, are emerging and young the same thing? And if so, why?

Posted in People, Rant, Websites — 4 Comments

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Capricious Magazine

Davin — December 14th, 2007

Published and Edited by Sophie Mörner, Capricious Magazine is a photography magazine dedicated to displaying the work of emerging artists. The Capricious collective was founded by Mörner in 2003 while she was attending NYU. The magazine is produced by that artistic, design, and editorial collective with occasional guest editors. The first 6 issues are available in-part online with print issues being produced twice a year.

“Capricious’ contributors are all individuals with work that is born out of unique life experiences and points of origin. They are from different parts of the world, functioning in specific and often highly specialized communities, as well as, smaller private groups. There is a need for a new outlet to show artistic photographic work. Existing photographic magazines are focused on either photography that relates to fashion or high art photography. Capricious is the first magazine that considers itself wide open for new, un-established photographers. Capricious seeks to create the missing link between fashion photography and high art photography by demanding that a space for up and coming emerging photographers with an emphasis on fine art photography be made within the photographic community.” — capriciousmagazine.com

Thanks to Shane Lavalette for the tip.

Posted in Magazines, Websites — Comment

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SOLO — Tim Atherton

Davin — December 13th, 2007

“Willow - Tin Can Hill” by Tim Atherton from his series Immersive Landscapes: Boreal Forest/Precambrian Shield.

Many people will recognize Tim Atherton’s name from his popular blog Muse-ings. While Atherton often works in black and white, I’ve chosen a colour shot from Immersive Landscapes mostly due to my own predilections. I personally love the colours of autumn and winter trees and shurbs — the bright red and yellow dogwoods and the paper whites of the birch.

“The trees lack height and substance. There are no massive oaks or giant redwoods to anchor the forest either physically or visually and this northern forest lacks a dark dense forest floor. Instead the harsh oblique summer sunlight angles through and reaches all but its deepest parts giving areas of strong shadow and highlight. The results are ‘immersive’ landscapes where the whole wide visual field is potentially full of interesting subplots against the overall story the picture is telling.” — immersivelandscapes.com

You can also purchase a (very) limited edition 12″x15″ print of this image from Tim’s site.

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Purpose - webmag photographique

Davin — December 12th, 2007

Currently in it’s sixth issue, Purpose is an online photo magazine from France produced by Paul Demare, Gilles Raynaldy, and Francesca Alberti. Each issue has an underlying theme reflected in the work of a number of photographers. The content of the work and the photographers are diverse. Purpose is mostly bi-lingual (french/english) but some of the english translations are a bit sketchy — I was happy simply to have them though.

The format of each magazine is a somewhat familiar linear “two page spread” presented using Flash. I think that this works in this case by providing a good system for pairing images by drawing upon what works about magazine and book layout. But I do wonder sometimes if the format isn’t a bit of a gimmick. I also have to mention that the browser window resize (on every page refresh) is unnecessary. I’m also unsure about the ambient soundtrack with each issue. Both are often attempts to create an immersive experience but fail in my opinion.

That said, much of the work in Purpose is very high quality and certainly new to me. I’ll be following up on a number of the featured photographers and waiting for more issues. I do hope though that a bit more emphasis is paid to contextual texts in future issues.

Thanks to Muse-ings and Mrs. Deane for the tip.

Posted in Magazines, Websites — Comment

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NY Arts - Jonathan Feinstein talks to Grant Willing

Davin — December 12th, 2007

The January-February 2008 issue of NY Arts Magazine has a conversation between Jon Feinstein (Curatorial Director of the Humble Arts Foundation) and Grant Willing (co-founder of Fjord).

nyartsmagazine.com

Posted in Interviews, People, Websites — Comment

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2Point8 - Joel Meyerowitz Part 2

Davin — December 9th, 2007

MIchael David Murphy has posted the second part of his interview with Joel Meyerowitz. He talks to Meyerowitz about his seminal book Bystander: A History of Street Photography and about the continued democratization of photography as a medium.

“It used to be 35mm, and now it’s digital. The camera’s the same, though - people pick it up and use it, like a fountain pen. Everybody writes something with it; a check, a story, a prescription. It’s writing. And photography’s the same - it’s democratic in that way. Everyone can use it, but not everyone makes art.” — Joel Meyerowitz

Check out the other discussions at 2Point8.

Posted in Books, Interviews, People, Websites — Comment

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Nathan Coley

Davin — December 7th, 2007

A nominee for the 2007 Turner Prize, Scottish sculptor and installation artist, Nathan Coley deals most often with questioning the institutions of theology and examining the elements of faith. Just one aspect of his work, his large scale environmental texts are striking and have the resonance of Holzer’s Truisms.

There Will Be No Miracles Here references the 17th century village of Modseine, France where, by royal decree, a sign was erected warning against superstitious practices that in essence challenged the moral authority of a divinely enthroned monarchy. We Must Cultivate Our Garden is a translation of one of the final lines from Voltaire’s Candide which is similarly about the conflict between secular life and theocratic rule.

Tate Online has a video interview with Coley.

Posted in People, Video, Websites — Comment

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SOLO — Jon Feinstein

Davin — December 6th, 2007

This edition of SOLO features an image from Jon Feinstein’s Small Signs series.

Jon is based in New York City and is also the Curatorial Director of the Humble Arts Foundation.

Of the Small Signs series he says:

“These photos attempt to offer a visual interpretation of the ominous intersections between man-made objects and our natural landscape. I am interested in the impact of the way we live now, in constant communion with our surroundings. Rather than staging elaborately crafted narratives, I hope to find these elements of science fiction in the everyday.” - jonfeinstein.com

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Robin Howie - A Dialogue with Public Space

Davin — December 4th, 2007

Robin Howie, who graduated from Kingston University this year, initiated a series of outdoor interventions in the form of texts placed in public spaces.

“A Dialogue with Public Space is a project to engage the general public with public space. I travelled around London creating a series of typographic interventions within the environment. These featured rhetoric statements which encourage questions about the nature and success of public space.” - Robin Howie

Posted in People, Websites — Comment

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• 2008: J F M A M J J A S O N D
• 2007: J F M A M J J A S O N D
• 2006: J F M A M J J A S O N D
• 2005: J F M A M J J A S O N D