Al Maysles at AIPAD

Went to the AIPAD Photography Show today to see the exhibition and to attend two panel discussions. Seemed like a bigger turnout than last year.

The first panel was a rather uninspiring discussion on The Art of Fashion Photography. Very few images were shown, and nothing new or interesting was said. To be frank, what was said was vague and at times just factually incorrect. One repeated theme was the strange idea that museums haven't paid enough attention to fashion photography, which is just not true. (I won't bother making a list of shows here, but search for yourself -- every few years there's been a large fashion-related show.) There's been too much attention to fashion as art. How about some art as art?

The second panel, however, was much more to my taste: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and Albert Maysles were in attendance for a panel on Photographers as Filmmakers. Both artists made some great points about making documentaries, and both showed some of their stills as well.

Above: Al Maysles arrives.