AMERICANSUBURB X: THEORY: “Charles Harbutt – I Don’t Take Pictures; Pictures Take Me (1972)”:
How is this continuum of photographer, world, and camera achieved? Each person must find it individually, but for me it has flowed from the realization that I don’t take pictures, pictures take me. I can do nothing except have film in the camera and be alert. My adversary, a photograph, stalks the world like a roaring lion. Pictures happen. One can only trust one’s sensitivity, the bounty of the world, and the chemistry of Kodak. This is the photographic method.
In this weeks long-overdue interview section, my compadre Daniel Shea interviews Alec Soth. Big ups to Daniel for this excellent and informed interview, check out his site if his name is new to you.
Showcase: Crack, Close Up – Lens Blog – NYTimes.com:
When Tony Fouhse first exhibited his stylized photographs of crack addicts made on a street corner in Ottawa, Canada, he was unsure what the reaction of the opening-night audience would be. But he knew that some of those in attendance would approve: the subjects themselves.
Hugh Kretschmer is a photographer based in Los Angeles and specializing in photo-illustration, advertising and editorial photography and design. Of his work, he says: ‘The idea is the most important ingredient. I’ve always appreciated concept because it adds another layer to the photograph and invites participation from the viewer. When I see something that is done well, where the artist really nails it, I find myself just staring. I can’t think of anything else that would be more of a compliment than that’. Kretschmer’s clients include Mastercard, Evian and the New York Times magazine.
David Lynch is endlessly creative, and his artistic output is usually quite bizarre and surreal. Lynch’s latest project is as a photographer and collaborator with musician, artist and producer Danger Mouse. Together, they’ve created a multimedia installation that is now on display in Los Angeles.
Fifty of Lynch’s photographs are mounted on aluminum panels that seem to float on the gallery walls, converging with the moody rhythms of the music from Danger Mouse’s latest album, Dark Night of the Soul.
Metro Collective – Promise & Peril – Michael Robinson Chavez:
Michael Robinson Chavez has a great multi-media feature on the L.A. Times website, “Promise and Peril in South L.A.”, an in-depth series of essays documenting how life has and sometimes hasn’t changed in one of America’s most notorious neighborhoods.
Bill was a man of many talents and I would do him an injustice to refer to him as Plain Dealer photographer Bill Kennedy, for he was far more than that. First and foremost a man devoted to his family who now celebrate his life and mourn their loss.
On Assignment: Afghanistan – Lens Blog – NYTimes.com:
You could call David Guttenfelder the man behind the man in the pink boxers. Mr. Guttenfelder, 40, the chief Asia photographer for The Associated Press, attracted attention two months ago — all the way up to the Commander in Chief — with his photograph of Specialist Zachary Boyd, Specialist Cecil Montgomery and Specialist Jordan Custer returning the Taliban’s fire in Afghanistan. Specialist Boyd was wearing pink boxers and flip-flops at the time. Admirers of this picture saw in it a perfect expression of American readiness and capacity to fight. “Any soldier who goes into battle against the Taliban in pink boxers and flip-flops has a special kind of courage,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said.
PDNPulse: Spanish Newspapers Try to Discredit Famous Capa Photo:
The International Center of Photography recently brought its traveling Robert Capa exhibition to Spain, and the Spanish press is using the occasion to rip one of Capa’s most famous photographs to shreds.
Must See: Surfing, With a Dark Edge – Lens Blog – NYTimes.com:
Chris Bickford’s project about the local surf scene on the Outer Banks of North Carolina was all about firsts: his first time shooting in water, his first time capturing a fast-action sport and his first time conceptualizing completely in black and white.
After acquiring his own Zapper and visak, Dabic grew professionally close to both Minic and Janjic. He came to spend vast swaths of time holed up in Minic’s office, a humble basement room where a desk was improvised from a bookcase set upon two chairs. Sometimes Dabic would sleep on a cot there. When Minic or Janjic would ask about Dabic’s history or his credentials, he’d be vague. He had lived in New York, he would say, but his marriage to his wife, who remained in New York with his children, had ended on an ugly note. Minic remembered that his friend maintained “four or five” cellphones and that they rang all the time. “He would always arrange to call everyone back,” Minic explained. “That’s why I thought he was a spy.”
But he wasn’t a spy. As Minic and Janjic (along with the rest of the world) were shocked to find out last July, their tall protégé with the eye-catching hairdo was Radovan Karadzic, the most hunted war criminal on the planet.
SFGate: Daily Dish : Fellow parents defend Klum against photographers:
Fellow parents at the playground were not amused by the paparazzi invasion and asked them to leave, but when they ignored the requests, the angry moms and dads began pelting them with water bombs, forcing Klum to flee the chaos.
Bill Manley made a kick ass logo for APAD last year that ended up on a T-shirt. If you don’t own one yet, they are for sale at both Skreened and CafePress stores. The banner reads, “In Image, Truth.”
Shield Law Overturns Warrant for Student Photographer | Raw File | Wired.com:
Legal protections for journalists were upheld last week in a San Francisco Superior Court decision. Counsel for a San Francisco State University photojournalism student successfully won a motion to quash a search warrant executed by police earlier this year.
Author of Torture Memos Pranked in Classroom | Threat Level | Wired.com:
After Yoo mentions the Constitution during his lecture, and asks the students if they have any questions, an Australian comedian from the show Chaser’s War on Everything is seen wearing a black-hooded robe and standing on top of his desk with his arms outstretched, recalling one of the most iconic images of U.S. torture captured in the now-infamous Abu Ghraib photos.
The comedian says, “Actually, professor, I’ve got one question. Uhm, how long can I be required to stand here ’til it counts as torture?”
John Nack on Adobe: Using DNG profiles: A video demo:
The inclusion of camera profiles in recent updates to Lightroom & Camera Raw greatly simplifies their use, and now Julieanne Kost has posted a 15-minute walkthrough showing their use & benefits
Daring Fireball: Charging for Access to News Sites:
I wish them good luck with this, and I mean that sincerely, but I believe this is a fundamentally flawed strategy. People bought (and continue to buy) real paper newspapers and magazines because it feels like you’re getting something worth the price. A real physical object.
