Santa's Nicomachean world view may seem overly simplistic -- I think there are shades of Naughty and Nice -- but it does make sense in light of his career choice. He's got to be all about efficiency. He has one big yearly task, and limited time.
I noticed less of an Elf presence at this year's SantaCon. The number of male Elves was way down, at least. I'm not sure if that's a significant indicator of a social trend or not.
If you come to SantaCon to photograph, you probably should be dressed as Santa. It's a participatory event.
Above: a group of Santas decorate a photographer.
If you think about it, Santa's the original Jet Setter.
Takes most of the year off, then flies around the globe for his world promotional tour, just so you don't forget him. Hires a really good publicist, and before long it's "Saint" Nick, and 87% of the public perceive him as "jolly."
Yes, I watched Sunday's episode of "The Shot." What do you mean, "Lame, lame, lame?"
Are you saying that just because they plan to give money and fame to photographers who can't operate studio lights, crop properly, or work with other human beings? You're awfully strict. Next you'll want them to know about lenses and composition and exposure.
Clearly, you need some Vaseline.
I tried to persuade a few Santas that they should visit the Campbell Apartment, but they headed into the dining concourse instead.
Above: A few hundred Santas and a few hundred tourists at Grand Central Terminal.
There are a lot of cameras at SantaCon. You see people asking others to pose, and that's fine.
I think, however, it is in the unposed moment that you learn about human behaviour.
The thing people forget about Santa is that -- basically -- it's a noble gig. Make a lot of stuff, give it away. Not necessarily financially sustainable, but noble.
When the attendees at SantaCon move from one site to another -- after the "Santa's on the move!" call begins -- usually there are just a few people who know the next location and the best way to get there, and most of the group follows along.
Our next destination was Astor place, a stop I've been to many times. I hadn't heard that, though, only the "Santa Takes the Six!" chant that went through the crowd. Most of the Santas waiting for the 6 train tried to dissuade those jumping on the 4 or 5 -- thinking they were making a mistake -- so confusion reigned.
Above: the 4 train going past our group of Santas, waiting for the 6.
Ah, SantaCon. The one time of year when stockbrokers and ex-theater majors can put on a red suit, or tights and a wig, drink a lot, and attempt to pick up other stockbrokers and ex-theater majors.
Okay, maybe not the only time, but certainly one of the times.
Dog walkers, as far as I can see, group dogs by size when given a choice. I suppose that has to do with keeping the pace even when walking, and keeping order within the pack. At least, that's my guess. Above photograph from about 1 p.m. today.
Tonight, probably around 11 p.m., the starting location for SantaCON will be announced. You can bet I'll be checking it twice.
Above: SantaCON 2005.
Any news stories about photography in the major newspapers? You bet.
New York City sued for harassing photographers
"The lawsuit was filed against the city and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly on behalf of Arun Wiita, 26, a Columbia University graduate student of Indian descent who said he was handcuffed and detained after a police officer spotted him snapping pictures near a Manhattan subway station in July."Work With Me, Baby
"FASHION is a stepchild, in photography no less than in other areas of the culture. The reach of the imagery it produces influences everything from trash television to presidential campaigns. Yet the slick work cranked out by the fashion machine is rarely taken seriously."
On Saturday, I will be at NYC SantaCON 2007. It's been great fun in past years. If you are going, drop me a comment.
Happens in other cities as well.
I don't care if it's fake -- again, all photographs are fake -- I just want to know if it's good art.
Chinese Moon Photo Not Fake, But Not Pristine
"It's odd that moon images are so often questioned. We can do so many other things that stagger the imagination; why are people reluctant to believe that we can't go to the Moon? I find it also particularly interesting that many people are apparently willing to believe something so improbable (faking a moon mission? That's serious business, way harder than faking a memoir or a resume)."
Is this by the same person who did this? Notice the handwriting. And the exclamation point....
It's FacePalm time! That's right: toss the palm of your hand over your face, and repeat after me: Not This Crap Again.
Is Photography Dead?
"Art and truth used to be fast friends. Until the beginning of modernism, the most admired quality in Western art was mimesis—objects in painting and sculpture closely resembling things in real life. William Henry Fox Talbot, who produced the first photographic prints from a negative in 1839, immediately saw the mimetic new medium as an art form. Talbot wanted only to be able to "draw" more accurately than by hand. In fact, he called his first book of reproduced photographs "The Pencil of Nature." For at least a century thereafter, any photograph with a claim to being art had in its DNA at least a few chromosomes from Talbot's "The Open Door" (1844), a picture of a tree-branch broom leaning just-so-esthetically against a dark doorway."I've said again and again that thinking that a flat, black and white rectangular representation of a fraction of a second is a "true" thing -- when we know the world to be three-dimensional, in color, and continuous -- is a pointless way to relate to photographs.
The hot trend in photography? The anonymous blog.
Now, I happen to think anonymity turns people into the worst version of themselves -- visit any Web forum if you want to discover that for yourself -- but I do understand the impulse to blog freely, with the minimum of consequences.
And I'm all for any site that talks about photography or visual culture. So take a glance at:
Bitter Photographer
A Photo Editor
A Visual Society
Still, the test for me is always: What Would Elliott Erwitt Do? I'm pretty sure he'd put his name in his profile.
My experience of The Bronx is a strange one: I arrive on the 4 train, walk a few blocks on West Burnside, and teach my class at Bronx Community College.
I'm vaguely aware of facts about the area: it's the poorest urban county, the U.S. census says the population is 51% Latino (primarly Puerto Rican and Dominican), and there is a strong connection to Africa. I hinted at that last fact in my post on Lucky Dube, and it has become a visual fascination for me: there are traces, but they blend in and become muted.
Wikipedia says:
"West Africa is the most frequent region of origin for immigrants to the Bronx. U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service data shows that in 1996, about two-thirds of those Ghanaians arriving in the United States, and nearly three-fourths of those naturalized, live in The Bronx. Many have clustered in Bronx communities, including Morris Heights, Highbridge, and Tremont."Morris Heights is the area just below Bronx Community College.
Shock at SA reggae star shooting
"Correspondents say the killing of the 43-year-old singer has shocked South Africans who are already accustomed to one of the highest murder rates in the world. Music producer TK of TS records and a friend of Dube's told the BBC the killing was tragically ironic."There have been stories lately noting that New York's murder rate has dropped to a new low. If there's one place where a murder in South Africa will enter the New York mind, however, it's The Bronx.
Yesterday's dusting of snow was gone by this morning, leaving a clear, beautiful and cold day. Now, at nightfall, the cold winds have started. According to the weather report, the "feels like" will dip to 18 degrees Fahrenheit overnight, staying cold tomorrow morning.
Above: Carl Schurz Park on Sunday.
I've mentioned that I have been happily suffering through VH1's "The Shot." Well, now they've posted photo tips.
In case a food fight breaks out, and then the nude models show up.
Ah, Yorkville. Home to some of the best private schools in the world. Sometimes the message may be harsh, but the penmanship fantastic.
No little heart dotting the "i" and no "o" filled in by a smiley face?
This is the strangest photography-related story I've run across in a while. I've tried to understand the thinking behind it, and the process of how it might have happened, and I'm left puzzled.
Pupils forced to pose for school photo according to skin colour
"A school apologised today after telling tearful children to line up for a photograph by the colour of their skin. Parents condemned the decision by Sandhurst Junior School in Lewisham, south London, to arrange the children from the lightest skinned to the darkest. One parent claimed the intention had been to make life easier for the photographer - so he did not have to keep rearranging his reflector screens."
I stumbled onto this noble pack of snow pugs on 89th Street. If they find you stranded in a drift, they revive you by peeing on you.
The one in the background? He's about to revive that bike tire.
Ah, Yorkville. A boy came up to me and showed me the first snowball of the season.
In his imagination, I was taking one photo. In mine, another.
I think folks forget that the instant feedback one gets from digital photography -- "Hey, look at that. Now let's try this...." was also a part of making Polaroid photographs. Shooting with a 35mm film camera meant you wouldn't really know what you had for at least an hour, but watching a photo develop in front of your eyes was, as advertised, Instant Fun.
If you are feeling nostalgia for instant photography, you'll want to visit:
Polanoid
"We are building the biggest Polaroid-picture-collection of the planet to celebrate the magic of instant photography. So please seach your archives and attics and reactivate your Instant Cameras. This is the slamming comeback of Instant Photo Fun."
Generally, newspaper coverage of photography as art emphasizes the photographer over the work. That makes sense, of course: a news story is generally "Who, What, Where" at a basic level.
Usually, this means we see the same stories over and over again: a photographer looks back on a long career, a photographer's new show is controversial, or -- increasingly -- a photographer has somehow become favored by celebrities, and has put forward a new book or show that "reveals" a number of famous people.
The sell: see Whoopi Goldberg in a tub of milk.
Today's Daily News has a very vague article about a photographer who manages to fake that revelation:
Photographer puts fake celebs in focus
"I'm very interested in our fixation with celebrity and how we think we know them intimately, but we only know them through photographs and the media imagery. So I thought if I got a look-alike and replaced the celebrity, does it matter to us whether they are real or not? And is the look-alike more important than the actual person? The look-alike is accessible, but the actual celebrity is untouchable. We fantasize about celebrities so much, and yet when we meet them we are starstruck and we can't say anything."(Sometimes people use the word "we" without checking first, but let's let that go.)
in case you have unmet fake celebrity needs.
Fred McDarrah, 81, photographer of Beat Generation
"It was at The Voice that he built the reputation which quickly fanned out to an almost encyclopedic photographic coverage of artists, writers, poets, novelists, playwrights, actors, musicians, politicians, aspirants, characters, flotsam and jetsam of what was even then a great deal more than its journalistic label of “Beat Generation.” It all added up to an unbelievable 200,000 separate photographs — separate images — over the years."
I thought this had been settled a while back, but the appeals process takes a while, I suppose.
Case Over ‘Heads’ Photo Is Dismissed
"Do people walking down the street have a right of privacy against having their picture taken, without permission, for a gallery show? The Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, skirted that issue on Thursday when it cited procedural grounds to dismiss a lawsuit by an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man who had sued a photographer on religious grounds. The court did not address the privacy issues at the heart of the case."If I'm understanding this, does that mean the privacy issues have not been adjudicated -- that the dismissal was based on the claim being filed too late?
Yes you should. I'll be there. My film "12th and 3rd in Brooklyn" will be there. It's in Lower Manhattan, so it's probably on your way to the bar, anyway.
The phone rings. You stagger over to it. Who would call at such an early hour? The news, however, is great. You've just won the Friedlander award! Fantastic! Will you get to meet him? Lee Friedlander is one of your favorites, a legend in the field. He's amazing.
Umm, what? Her? Meet her? Marti who? Marti Friedlander? She's well-known in New Zealand?
Auckland photographer wins Friedlander award
'"I have chosen Edith as the inaugural recipient as I believe she has an exceptional talent," says Marti Friedlander. "I particularly like the way her photographic essays portray people and places that reveal New Zealanders and all their diversity."'Might as well check out Marti Friedlander, New Zealand Photographer. Just in case you get that phone call.
I've been helping judge a photography contest this week, and I've come to one very specific conclusion: there are a surprising number of photographs of children stuffed into pumpkins.
Imagine: "Okay, honey, Mommy and Daddy are just going to put you into this pumpkin and take a picture, alright?" I spent hours looking at photographs showing kids sitting inside big pumpkins, head sticking out, or with the pumpkin around their torso and their little legs protruding out of legholes, usually with a pumpkin stem worn as a beret as well...
It took me a few shocked moments to remember the source of this barrage of vegetable / infant photography: that woman who puts lettuce on babies heads.
By coincidence, yesterday there was a little article on that very same photographer, who has now convinced herself she is best imagined as a rock star:
Anne Geddes details her triumph over self-doubt and skeptics
'Some time later she first suggested doing baby calendars to a London editor, who told her, "If I can give you some advice, just photographing babies is never going to work for you. You need to broaden your portfolio to include adults and animals." That memory prompts a dimpled smile on Geddes' face as she relates, "I have talked to that editor many times since and he often tells me his 'broaden your portfolio' advice now makes him feel like the guy who turned down signing the Beatles."'Of course, simply being the Beatles of photography may not be enough for her: later the article describes her work as having progressed through distinct artistic phases. Picasso, watch your back.
I may have been a little early with the talk of Winter. Today was clear and cold, but definitely more Fall than Winter.
Above: Bronx Community College around 9:15 this morning.
Since there are some holidays coming up, you're probably wondering what to put on your list. Well, there's always Magnum Magnum,
That might be a little pricy, though.... So maybe Fashion Magazine by Alec Soth
Doesn't ship for 4 to 7 weeks, however....
My Santa suit? I'm glad you asked. It's in the closet, back from the dry cleaners. It's ready to go.
Above: earlier tonight, East 89th and Lexington.
Ah, yes, I did watch episode four of The Shot. A roomful of synchronized cameras, two fans going full blast, a huge lighting rig and some of the worst photographs ever. Amazingly painful to watch.
Is that why it's sponsored by Vaseline?
For those of you self-punishing enough to have seen it, here are some real lessons to take from it:
repeating "hair dance, hair dance" over and over again is not actually the same as having a plan for a shoot
claiming that the best fashion photographers are men is a sign you should look around at the field a bit more
having the hair look bad in a shoot that's about hair (and supervised by a hair guy and a photographer with great hair) may shows poor listening skills
if your photographs look exactly like those of the other six contestants, you're doing it wrong
Over on Actualities I have an update on the proposed new rules for photography in New York City.
This story, I expect, will continue to unfold. Will we ever hear the details?
AP Chief Slams Case Against Photographer
"We believe Bilal's crime was taking photographs the U.S. government did not want its citizens to see. That he was part of a team of AP photographers who had just won a Pulitzer Prize for work in Iraq may have made Bilal even more of a marked man," [AP President and CEO Tom] Curley wrote.
I've just purchased my tickets for Friday night's documentary screening:
NY Short Docs.
Here's how they list my film:
"12th & 3rd in Brooklyn (Ted Fisher | Brooklyn | 6:00)(I should mention that this film is made with Iris Lee and Maya Mumma, and -- as festivals sometimes do -- they've only listed me since I was the first name on the list.)
In Park Slope, stickball is a cherished tradition. This slowly gentrifying neighborhood is home to men who have gone to bat on the same block 12th Street and 3rd Avenue for decades. This film offers an intimate portrait of the game and the unique brotherhood it forges among the players."
Genuine Wonders From the Flea Circus: Photos by Arbus
"But when sorting through the pile, Mr. Langmuir found a note in a dog-eared datebook kept by Lucas that stopped him: “Diane Arbus, 131 ½ Charles St. WA 4 — 4608.” Then, he says, he looked again at some of the heavily flashed photographs of performers like Estelline Pike, a sword swallower, and DeWise Purdon, a man with no hands, and wondered: Could these possibly be early Arbus works? Or am I just dreaming?"He wasn't dreaming. 21 of the photographs have been authenticated. I'm very eager to see these....
Over on Actualities I discuss editing the latest Frugal Traveler episode.
Oh, and there's some Thanksgiving-related fun as well.
I missed the Elliott Erwitt booksigning at ICP, and I've been kicking myself since. Luckily, there will be another, this time at Strand Books on Wednesday, December 12.
What Would Elliott Erwitt Do? Well, he would attend.
Are there any stories in the news about folks using nondestructive reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to study the earliest color photographs? You bet, but first there's a story about a possible previously-unknown photograph of Abraham Lincoln.
Purported Photos of Lincoln at Gettysburg Discovered
"The photos show a man in a black suit and Lincoln's trademark "stovepipe" hat, looking away from the camera. Some experts say they believe the man is indeed President Lincoln, although not all are convinced."Other experts believe it is actually a piece of blue fluff on the lens.
"... the Rev. Levi Hill of Westkill, N.Y., claimed for the first time to have invented a way to produce naturally colored daguerreotypes, or Hillotypes, as they became known. When Hill refused to release the details of his process until a patent was filed, the profession denounced him as a fraud. In 156 years, no definitive evidence has been presented to suggest that Hill was or was not an imposter, until now."
I've been watching The Genius of Photography on Ovation TV. It's a great series. Some of the camera work for the show seems strange to me -- perhaps a bit forced -- but the content is fantastic and well handled. And they got interviews from a wonderful group of people.
The only strange choice: the photographs are presented on a beige background.
Any photography-related stories in today's news?
Well, there's this:
Kidman tells court she feared death during car chase with photographer
"Nicole Kidman was so scared by a photographer who chased her car across Sydney almost three years ago that she crouched down on the back seat and burst into tears, afraid of an accident like the one that killed Diana, Princess of Wales, the film star told an Australian court yesterday."And this:
"The U.S. military will recommend criminal charges in Iraqi courts against an award-winning Associated Press photographer it accused of working with insurgents, the Pentagon said on Monday."And, from the Maldives, there's this:
"Aneesa said several colleagues had told her a "distorted" photograph of the Government MP, who is also a deputy minister, had appeared in the press. She said the photograph had been tampered with, complaining, "it has become common practice to malign Government officials and DRP members."
But the photographer, who does not wish to be named, has responded fiercely to the allegation that he doctored the photo. "It’s a 100% untrue. Look at the photos taken before and after, the scene outside the Majlis building is identical. Its not been faked at all.""
Well, now that we have the news from the Maldives squared away, the question remains: who are these photographers who spend their days taking the pictures of people who don't want their pictures taken?
Apparently, now the answer is: everyone, all the time.
Everyone Wants to Be Taking Pictures
"In the two years since prosecutors in Los Angeles threatened to file felony conspiracy charges against photographers engaging in dangerous tactics, and started monitoring them more closely, complaints of egregious illegal conduct, like assault, trespassing and reckless driving, by paparazzi have decreased, said William Hodgman, the head deputy of Los Angeles County district attorney’s target crime division. But now, Mr. Hodgman said, celebrities are followed by more celebrity news media and what some photographers call “people paparazzi,” which has reignited the pursuit. “The celebrities don’t feel any safer,” he said."
Well, is there any photography-related news from the Maldives?
I'm glad you asked:
President's Niece Gives Photographer The Finger
Remember that little film on stickball we made last fall? It's going back out into the world. Details soonish.
It's been a tough day, partly caused by a problem with the plumbing in our building. So, I just thought I'd check the news quickly to see if there are any items on photography....
Well, there's this again. Actually, apparently it's the third time.
Spears runs over another photographer's foot
"This is the third time Spears has been involved in such an accident. Last month, she ran over the foot of another snapper, while doing the same to a Los Angeles County Sheriff deputy, who got his foot caught under the star's Mercedes. This is the latest in a string of traffic incidents for the 25-year-old, on Monday Spears was accused of leaving a paparazzo seriously injured after knocking him off his motorcycle."I'm telling you: do not take pictures of Britney Spears.
Well, I've done my part.
While a stunningly large percentage of my fellow citizens continue to believe that cameras capture photographs of ghosts, I have now appeared on television -- for perhaps two seconds -- noting that blue fluff on the lens is a more likely theory than ectoplasmic blue mist or monochromatic angels.
Not that I'll change anyone's mind.
Inside Edition story here.
I will probably be on "Inside Edition" tonight. Probably for less than three seconds, I expect. Details soon.
This is from a few days ago, but worth noting. It brings up an interesting hypothetical: you're walking along, you see an arrest, you take a picture. Now, if a police officer tells you to stop, you stop. But what if, instead, they insist you give them the camera?
Man jailed in photo incident awarded $8,000
"An amateur photographer who was taken into custody last year after shooting pictures of two Seattle police officers making an arrest on a public street received an $8,000 settlement this week, the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington announced Thursday."
Any photography-related items in today's news?
Well, it's just straight-up dangerous to photograph Britney Spears.
"A paparazzi chasing troubled pop star Britney Spears was injured when his motorcycle was struck by a car driven by another photographer, police said Tuesday."My advice: don't do it.
The video on the NYIP photo contest has received a link from Popular Photography -- so it will be interesting to see if that leads to a good number of viewers for the piece. There are no parachuting squirrels in the video, just folks talking about photographs and photography, so I'll be very pleased if it does well on YouTube....
Are there any photography-related items in the news?
Well, in Berlin 250 Leni Riefenstahl photographs were stolen. More importantly, at least for this blog:
"...300 works by American photographer Elliott Erwitt disappeared from a basement storage unit at the offices of Photo Estate GmbH, a subsidiary of Berlin gallery Camera Work AG, police said."Here's the article.
Elliott Erwitt would not put a booksigning he wanted to go to on his calendar, then forget to go.
Especially if he was someone else, and the booksigning was by Elliott Erwitt.
It's been a rough week all month.
Don't tell anyone, but I watched The Shot.
"Whether it's shooting on the deck of a schooner in the midst of a storm, or trying to get a supermodel to cuddle up to a Siberian tiger, our cast will face daunting tasks and obstacles that will test their talent, desire and drive to be the next great fashion photographer."
New video I made on the process of judging a photography contest. More details on the production over on Actualities.
I'm not sure why my photographs lately have had so much yellow and orange, but at least this one's honest about it.
Over at Actualities I have a few notes on editing the latest "Frugal Traveler" video. I've been very quiet on that blog, which is strange since so much of my time lately has been taken up with video projects and teaching video....
Upper East Siders are some of the nicest people on the planet. Their Kryptonite: inconvenience.
During the marathon, we saw the expected: folks getting massages while positioned so they could see out the shop window to watch the runners, the matching-pink-purse-and-dog-sweater set navigating First Avenue to get to their normal appointments, and the UES equivalent of tailgate parties. As well, we saw a surprising number of folks who spent the day supporting the runners along the sidelines, shouting names and clapping for hours.
The UES air, however, holds the idea that you should be able to get what you want, when you want. Why did the Upper East Sider cross the road? To get to the other side, in time for a play date.
The city's pigeons were clearly troubled by the huge human migration up First Avenue. They circled in flocks, but eventually saw food on the ground and decided to brave the crowds of runners. They flew in and out of the race, often directly at runners.
The first half of the day the crowds are upbeat. Some come out to cheer their friends, usually holding signs.
Later, as the run goes on, there's a very specific moment when the euphoric swell changes -- it becomes clear there's only a thin pained line of stragglers, fighting out each step. That's almost hard to watch as we sit there, eating pizza.
The marathon travels up First Avenue, and so passes 1/2 block from my apartment, more or less. I overheard someone say we're near mile 15.
Above: Close Call, November 4, 2007.
Sunday morning the New York Marathon will begin in Staten Island. In the hours before the start, thousands and thousands of runners will gather in a field, waiting anxiously.
They'll need portable toilets. Thousands and thousands of portable toilets.
Above: a snapshot from Saturday's visit to Staten Island.
Well, today I am a true New Yorker. I've made it to my final borough: Staten Island.
Sort of, anyway. Got there via taxi. Stood in a field for a while. Took a bus to the Ferry. Left on the Ferry. That counts, though.
Above: a woman sketching on the subway, seen on the way back.
Finally, there's some news on those proposed new rules on photography and videography here in New York.
"The proposal would allow photographers and filmmakers who are not using vehicles or equipment like dolly tracks, lights and cables to proceed without permits on public property as long as they stay out of traffic and their activities do not prevent public use. The rules would also allow photographers and filmmakers to commandeer a portion of a public walkway without a permit, as long as they leave open at least half of its width, or eight feet, whichever is greater."
That tiny black speck on the roof, one-third from the top of the photograph? That's a woman's shoe.
There are some cigarette butts near it. Probably a grand story also, but I'm afraid I don't know it. Or I'd share it with you.
I went to PhotoPlus Expo this afternoon. Strobes, softboxes, stands; backgrounds, bare bulbs, batteries; cases, cards and cameras.
Touched some Nikons, some Canons, the new Sony Alpha.
The Sony booth had one or two models posing at all times, and when two worked together, a crowd formed of a dozen men, surging forward. The cameras had huge zooms mounted on them, thick and long. (You need two hands to handle them properly, really.) The men would sometimes look at each other, comparing, then point them at the models and blast away.
I walked around the corner and tried out a Sony 28mm F2.8. When I asked to see it, the salesman put a big zoom lens on the camera instead and smiled. "No, the 28mm prime," I said. "Oh," he said. "No one has asked to see that before." It's a very unsexy lens. Not fast, not expensive. Snubnose and light. Invisible.
Any news items on photography today? Well, there's this:
Britney Spears appears to run over foot of celebrity photographer
"Spears drives off. Second later, video shows what appears to be a tire mark on the unidentified paparazzo's sock. The man, wearing sandals with white socks, doesn't respond to questions from the cameraman but instead walks off without any apparent problems."She probably shouldn't have done that, but isn't the real crime here wearing sandals with white socks?
I looked. If Pete was around, it wasn't obvious. It was the middle of the day, though, and I'm guessing Pete is not around until after dark. Way after dark.
I'm left with many questions. Does Pete really deserve the exclamation point? Is Pete related to the Fruit Guy on the Corner?
Will all the food groups be represented?
In a post today New York Portraits' pal Photo Chick expressed her doubts about a flaming ex-pope.
Apparently you can see her on Inside Edition tonight or in repeat tomorrow discussing whether a photograph -- claimed to show Pope John Paul II mystically manifesting in a bonfire in Poland -- has been digitally manipulated....
More on the original photography "news story" here.
The theft of the original "Nun Bun" is here. Heck, here's an entire photo gallery of Nun Buns for you from the BBC. Enjoy.
I managed to catch the Monday and Tuesday photography auctions at Sotheby's live on the Web. I've been to one in person, and it's an amazing thing to see: ripples go through the audience of live bidders, both of anticipation and -- sometimes -- of shock.
It's still great to watch online -- you sit at home with the catalog in hand, then see video of the auctioneer. But you don't hear the murmurs of the crowd, and you don't get to see the back and forth of the paddle-raisers.
Some highlights:
A complete set of Camera Work -- 50 volumes of the Quarterly published between 1903-1917 -- went for $229,000 (with Buyer's Premium).
An Edward Weston Nautilus went for $1,105,000 (with Buyer's Premium). And a Weston Nude on Sand, Oceano was $193,000.
A Herb Ritts made a surprising showing: with a catalog estimate at $20,000 - $30,000, it sold for $109,000.
Ah, Yorkville. In the morning, half of the people you see on the street are going to work, half are not. Instead they're running some local errand or taking the kids to school. A lot of folks on the street, but not the kind of pressing crowds you get in other neighborhoods.
No shortage of dogs.
One of the issues that comes up in a day of wandering through photo galleries is scale.
Presentation sizes for gallery / museum photographs have increased dramatically, obviously. At one point 8" by 10" photographs were common in gallery presentation, and now few contemporary photographers are selling works smaller than 30 inches wide. 60 inch prints are very common.
There are, of course, photographs that "work" at 15" wide but not at 10" wide. So, go bigger, sure.
But have no doubt that part of the, ahem, overcompensation that is happening is based on sale prices. I don't really have a problem with that -- if you can sell your 5-foot-wide photograph for a lot of money, and a collector's loft has just the perfect spot for a 5-foot photo with a lot of red in it, great. Someone spending 5 grand on a photo wants it to hold the wall.
Still, the market-driven need for size makes for some boring work. The emphasis shifts to an ultra-detailed study of a thing, or a person in solitary. That's fine -- that's something photography does very well.
There's a de-emphasis, however, on the other, more important process that photography is suited to: showing one thing in relation to another thing. If a five-foot-wide picture of the side of a barn is fascinating, great. I'm really more interested in how this person looks at that person. Or the way this person reacts to that person. Or how these two stand together. It seems more like what I want to know about the world. A visual relationship, observed.
And I don't care what size it's printed.
One of our gallery tour stops was the Alex Klotz Gallery for a show of Andreas Feininger photographs. We realized we weren't on the mailing list, and therefore signed the gallery's address book.
Stephen Shore had signed in just before. We looked around, but have no idea what he looks like now. Might have been standing right next to us.
You know, the author of The Nature of Photographs
I forgot to mention that while touring the galleries with my wife and our friend Marc I kept trying to sort out an idea that's been buzzing around for a while: that while this is Chelsea's moment, it may not last forever.
Long-time New Yorkers point to the transformation of Soho, once the hot art gallery neighborhood. They ask: when the rents go up, or the art market dips, will only the blue-chip galleries remain? Will the scene move on, or perhaps fragment?
(From my California days I remember very well how the Santa Monica gallery scene changed quickly -- from a cruise along Colorado Boulevard's industrial spaces into a day parked in the gated-community of Bergamot Station.)
I'm not sure it can be known, yet. What's there seems very solid to me -- and I have a hard time imagining it won't stay oriented to an art scene. But I'm never surprised by change, and glad to see things as they are. All scenes are temporary, in a sense, aren't they?
If you're the main featured costumed character -- let's say you're wearing a giraffe costume outside of a toy store -- then crowds form and everyone wants to see you. Life is easy.
But what if you're a somewhat less-recognizable character? What if no one gets what you're doing there, and they don't seem sure what your appearance on the street signifies? And it's maybe too bright out in the sun, anyway, and there's some good shade right around this corner?
Then you just go with it. Maybe a hand gesture or two. Ignore the giraffe.
Go easy. Who needs crowds, anyway?
Spent the day in the photo galleries. Started off at the 57th Street galleries, went on to the Leica Gallery, and then -- of course -- veered back into Chelsea. The highlights:
A roomful of Garry Winogrand photographs at Deborah Bell Photographs features work from his books The Animals and Women Are Beautiful. Also, there's a snap of Winogrand at work that I had not seen before. (That's at 511 West 25th Street, Room 703 -- and they are only open Saturdays. And next Saturday is the last day of the show....)
A laugh-out-loud show of Richard Kalvar photographs at Leica Gallery. (That's at 670 Broadway, Suite 500.) The Web site doesn't show his work -- but there's a fantastic slideshow of 50 of his pictures at Magnum.
I also thought the "25 Years" show at Howard Greenberg was really a rich experience -- each image includes a very personal story of why Greenberg has collected that specific photograph and what it means to him. That's a lot of reading, but it's rewarding -- there are a number of great stories I doubt could be found anywhere else.
Above: my wife and I brought our friend Marc along on the tour.
Any news items on photography today?
Well, there's a little piece about some Andres Serrano Photographs Vandalized in Sweden.
"Around 3:30, half an hour before closing, four vandals wearing black masks stormed into a space known as the Kulturen Gallery while shouting in Swedish, “We don’t support this,” plus an expletive. They pushed visitors aside, entered a darkened room where some of the photographs were displayed and began smashing the glass protecting the photographs and then hacking away at the prints.The video was apparently posted on YouTube.
The bumpy video, evidently shot with a hand-held camera by someone who ran into the gallery with the attackers, intersperses images of the Serrano photographs with lettered commentary in Swedish like “This is art?” before showing the vandals at work."
I looked. There was no Fruit Guy on the corner. And, actually, the corner was close enough that if you'd come looking for the Fruit Guy, you could see him from there anyway.
Or is it the world's worst advertising campaign? "Fruit Guy On The Corner." It needs something.
Maybe this was for the Fruit Guy, and not about him? "Psst. Fruit Guy? On the corner!" Was there some sort of Fruit Emergency?
Yes, today is the day when Spencer Tunick will pose a lot of people without clothes at the Sagamore Art Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. I don't mind that, though I find the photographs less interesting than they should be.
What I do mind is his pretense that he's an "installation artist" or a "land artist" or anything but what he is. As always, the breathless press release spins out of control:
"Creating his seminal temporary site-specific landscapes involve the recruitment of many nude figures arranged in specific public sites and follow on the tradition of the popular art of the early 70's known as land art. ... The poetic whole culminating from this sea of individual figures which are arranged in a sculptural way, further challenges traditionally held stigmas associated with nudity, privacy and social and political issues surrounding art in the public sphere."There are only a few things wrong with this -- he's not seminal, he doesn't actually follow in the tradition of land art, and there's no culminating involved. Also no challenging.
Why should you read this blog on a daily basis? Because you may have to serve as prosecutor in a case where a photographer apprehends the perp, that's why....
This week, Sun Journal photographer Russ Dillingham managed to both photograph and restrain an alleged car thief, as was noted here Thursday. Unfortunately, the prosecutor in the case has not been keeping up with this blog.
"[The suspect] was freed Friday after a prosecutor said he was not familiar with all the facts in the case, and a Superior Court judge declined to set bail. By late Friday, [the alleged perpetrator] was out of jail, and his whereabouts were unknown. ... Lewiston's deputy police chief criticized the prosecutor, saying, 'You have to be living in a cave to not know the facts of this case.'"Exactly. Full story here: Fugitive Nabbed By Newspaper Photographer Released
Yesterday I spent the day working from home -- editing video -- but in the evening we went to International Center of Photography for four shows:
Gerda Taro
This is War! Robert Capa at Work
Other Weapons: Photography and Print Culture During the Spanish Civil War
Dark is the Room Where We Sleep: A Project By Francesc Torres
I thought the Torres project was excellent, and was glad to see the history / story of Taro being brought into light.
The Capa show, however, left me with mixed feelings: it's the best and most detailed collection of his war work I've seen, but I much preferred the exhibition that toured (from the Philadelphia Museum of Art) around 1996-1997, as captured in this book: Robert Capa: Photographs.
Above: 43rd Street walking back from ICP.
Recently I mentioned the usual MFA hating that photographers love to take part in, especially in photography forums. While this is typically at the level of "Those darn MFA kids will never match my great closeup shots of a butterfly -- now get off my lawn!", a more intriguing note just went up at The Online Photographer. Mike Johnston, who runs the popular site and uploads a lot of images and good comments in photography forums as well, noted his difficulties getting jobs teaching photography without the MFA.
Which was a great post. Unfortunately, it was followed by a lot of MFA-bashing posts. So I posted a comment, which I'll share here, for what it's worth.
Excellent post, Mike.
I'd like to address the comments here, however. They are very similar to others posted on many photography forums -- they reflect the idea that somehow the MFA degree is only a piece of paper, and that the process of getting that degree is somehow based in fake academic pursuits rather than "real" photographic pursuits.
It's just not true. A good MFA program means two or three years of really intense, valuable work. It means creating multiple exhibitions -- not just a slapdash portfolio of images -- and going through a lot of intense critique with very informed professors with decades of experience (both professional and academic). It means understanding the history of the medium, the best current and cutting-edge practices, and the work of your fellow students.
It means a really deep commitment to photography that the usual suggestion -- "go work as an assistant" -- just can't match. One can leave five years as an assistant without any gain but a lot of skill in one vary narrow part of the field, but a good MFA program can open up a photographer's full potential, if they are willing to do the work.
There are many great photographers without the MFA. But I'm puzzled why many of the commenters don't get that those same photographers could advance if they had two years to focus on their work, and a lot of people surrounding them with the goal of giving them a bit of help....
Newspaper photographer grabs images, then grabs fugitive
"A newspaper photographer who captured dramatic images of a fugitive jumping from a third-floor balcony before capturing the suspected car thief drew applause from co-workers when he arrived for work the following day."
The Bechers versus The Bechers.
Surprisingly, there are some similarities.
A Master of Fine Arts (MFA) is the degree everyone lacking one says you don't need.
The world of photography is a strange one. It's filled with people who have succeeded and failed in many different ways. It's filled with every possible opinion. It's filled with distrust for the opinions of others -- because obviously yours are correct, and it's likely some of theirs will be directly opposed. And therefore obstinately wrongheaded.
It's always been a field with distrust of intellectual ideas -- after all, I already know how to make a good exposure and a good picture, why would I possibly want to read some dense book referencing French philosophers? -- and a lot of self-taught successes.
Since I did go and get my M.F.A., but also teach a lot of beginning and intermediate and hobbyist and trying-to-break-into-the-profession photographers, I feel I have a foot in both camps. I realize you don't answer a question about exposure with a quote from Barthes, and that you don't evaluate a sports photo without a knowledge of the nuts-and-bolts realities of the sports page. But I also realize that among hobbyists -- and even "working pros" -- the opinions are often very strong and very uninformed: The Bechers? I could take a better picture than that, and -- heck! -- I could do it in color!
So sometimes I find myself, when I meet people in the photography world, feeling like a spy: trying to figure out what they know and don't know, and what they think they know. I find myself trying to deal with them on their own terms. I listen when they say, sometimes subtly, that you don't need much education to deal with images. Or that you only need practical education, or a good long-weekend workshop, or to work as an assistant.
And then I see what photographs they like, and what photographs they make, and what they think is most important. That's a very educational moment.
From Interviews with Master Photographers, published in 1977:
James Danziger: Do you see the camera as being generous or cruel?
Elliott Erwitt: Depends on what you do with it.
James Danziger: I mean innately.
Elliott Erwitt: Innately it's nothing. The camera doesn't do it. It's the person behind it. You make certain decisions. I was never very fond of Mr. Nixon and I once went to the wedding of one of his daughters with the specific intention of taking unpleasant pictures of certain people I didn't like. The event was so spectacular, so well done, so beautiful, that I totally failed in my mission.
James Danziger: Do you believe in the power of photography to effect social change?
Elliott Erwitt: Yes. Absolutely.
James Danziger: Does that affect a lot of your work?
Elliott Erwitt: Not all. I'm sorry. I just don't. I don't like to get into this heavy attitude towards everything. I really don't have that.
