10 x 10 American Photobooks, selection by Douglas Stockdale

Over the weekend, the second phase of the 10 x 10 American Photobooks reading room project was provided at the PGH Photo Fair held at the UnSmoke Systems Artspace (Braddock, PA). This is a continuation of a photobook project that was started in 2012 on Facebook, for which 10 curators chose 10 photobooks created by Japanese photographers. For 2013, the 10 x 10 emphasis was placed on American photographers, but limited to books that were published since 1985. There are two groups of curators, those who selected photobooks in which the photobook would be available as a physical object, to be held, read, and time spent at a venue called the reading room. The second group of curators, one of which I was fortunate to be a member of, made their selection of 10 photobooks and provided links on their web site. I had posted my selection of 10 photobooks on my blog The Photobook. which includes links to the reviews of almost all of the books I selected.

The reading room photobooks are now being packed for the final installation at the Tokyo Institute of Photography (Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan), which will take place September 11 thru October 6yh (2013).

Cheers!

Douglas Stockdale

Photo copyright by Anderson and Low

Photo copyright by Anderson and Low

Photo copyright by Anderson and Low

Photo copyright by Anderson and Low

Photo copyright by Anderson and Low

The Fahey/Klein Gallery is pleased to present “ENDURE: An Intimate Journey with the Chinese Gymnasts”, the first exhibition in the western world of this project from contemporary photographers, Jonathan Anderson & Edwin Low. The exhibition is comprised of large-scale color photographs taken over a two-year period documenting the elite Chinese gymnasts, their challenging and dedicated training program, their character, and the team’s training facilities in Beijing.

Athletics, endurance, and the process of training have inspired Anderson & Low for over twenty years, but it wasn’t until 2009 that the duo was granted exclusive and completely unique access to photograph the Chinese gymnasts.   Nobody has been given this access, and the results are as unprecedented as they are extraordinary. Over the following two years, Anderson & Low would work to create a documentary series that reinvents traditional sport imagery. Whereas conventional sport photography primarily focuses on the winning moment, or an instance of heartbreaking defeat-Anderson & Low’s images explore the mental and physical process of training itself, and the structure and discipline the young gymnasts endure. The images capture powerful moments of stillness and transcend into a study of the human condition in microcosm, an examination of the purest human emotions under intense pressure. Although the images have a distinctly contemporary feel, athletics, training, and competition are among the most ancient and earliest depicted themes. Anderson & Low’s images reference classic Greek and Roman forms, and the ancient ideal of the trained athlete. Their photographs examine the tension between the athlete’s ideal and the very real limitations of the human body.

Anderson & Low state that the goal of the project is to celebrate the extraordinary athletes they have spent years photographing alongside, and of whom they remain in awe. They use the word “Endure” in a triumphal sense, celebrating these gymnasts’ stamina, endurance, dedication, character and through this they celebrate the human spirit as a whole. Their images avoid judgment; instead, the detailed scrutiny in these images conveys the physical and mental experiences of the athletes, and the photographers’ feeling of respect and admiration towards the athletes’ strength, grace, power and determination. This became evident to the photographers when they first witnessed the athletes training in their massive gymnasium in early 2009, “We experienced profound emotion, intimate and powerful, made all the more intense by this primal response being so unexpected. It was, and still is, unforgettable; until that moment, we had not known that sport could still make us feel something so simple, as though it was the first time we have ever seen people train.” (ENDURE, Serindia Contemporary Publications, 2012)

Since 1990, Jonathan Anderson and Edwin Low have been collaborating creatively as Anderson & Low. Their work has been exhibited internationally, and belongs to many public and private collections including: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Victoria & Albert Museum, London; National Portrait Galleries (United Kingdom and Australia); National Gallery of Australia; Museum of Fine Art, Houston;High Museum of Art, Atlanta, and La Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris among many others. A limited edition book of “Endure” was recently released by Serindia Publications (2012).Jonathan Anderson and Edwin Low live and work in London, United Kingdom.

This exhibition runs MAY 22, 2013 THROUGH JULY 6, 2013

Reception for the Artists: Thursday, March 23, 7 – 9 PM

The Fahey/Klein Gallery is located at 148 North La Brea, between First Street and Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles, CA 90036

Hours: 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Tuesday through Saturday

Phone: (323) 934-2250

 By Jim McKinniss

PhD 2 at 72 photo copyright by Ellen Butler

Long time member of The Photographers Exchange, Ellen Butler, has been select to show her work in the ”Urban Landscape and Graffiti” exhibition at the Long Beach Arts Gallery.

Ellen joins another Photo Exchange member, Bill Collins, in this exhibition. You can see Bill’s work in the May 4, 2013 post.

The show runs from May 11 through June 14. The show Reception and Awards presentation is on Sunday, May 12 from 2 to 4 pm.

The Long Beach Arts Gallery is located at 5372 Long Beach Blvd. in North Long Beach, 90805. (Between Del Amo and Market).  

The Gallery is open Wednesday through Sunday from Noon to 4 pm.

Phone: (562) 423-9689.

By Jim McKinniss

This photo is copyrighted.

I discovered the website MediaStorm.com several years ago. The site maintains an amazing collection of videos about photographers and their work.

The link below will take you to a photographic essay  by Magnum photographer Paul Fusco. The photos are beautiful the subject is horrific.

http://mediastorm.com/publication/chernobyl-legacy

By Jim McKinniss

Photo copyright by Amanda Demme.

Photo copyright by Amanda Demme.

Photo copyright by Amanda Demme.

The following is an except from a recent L.A. Times article about Demme.

Demme now 47 lives a quiet existence as a fine art portrait photographer. Her days revolve around her utilitarian Atwater Village studio, a cavernous space filled with antique ephemera. Everyday objects from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries inspire her to create images so hyper-real, they’re often mistaken for oil paintings from some indeterminate past.

“It’s the most vulnerable place you can be,” Demme said of her life as a visual artist. She was traipsing around her studio as she spoke, draped in a vintage men’s jacket, her curly mane covered by a wide-brimmed felt hat she made herself, pausing periodically to dissect one of her images. “I’ve invested my entire world in this work.”

On Saturday, Demme debuts at the Venice gallery Obsolete, showing oversized portraits from her “Work” series. The only sign of her glamorous past are the few celebrity friends who served as subjects, actors Casey Affleck, Ione Skye, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Patricia Arquette among them. She says she doesn’t even know who’s invited to her private opening. “I don’t have anybody’s numbers anymore,” she said.

Here is a link to the full L.A. Times story about Demme:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-amanda-demme-20130504,0,7587242,full.story

Obsolete Gallery is located at 

222 Main St., Venice, California 90291

Phone: 310.399.9925

The gallery is open daily except Tuesday 11 am to 6 pm, Saturday 12 pm to 5 pm. 

By Jim McKinniss

Telephone photo copyright by Bill Collins

Mannequins photo copyright by Bill Collins

Bich photo copyright by Bill Collins

Bill Collins who is a long time member of The Photographers Exchange has been select to show three photos in the ”Urban Landscape and Graffiti” exhibition at the Long Beach Arts Gallery.

The show runs from May 11 through June 14. The show Reception and Awards presentation is on Sunday, May 12 from 2 to 4 pm.

The Long Beach Arts Gallery is located at 5372 Long Beach Blvd. in North Long Beach, 90805. (Between Del Amo and Market).  

The Gallery is open Wednesday through Sunday from Noon to 4 pm.

Phone: (562) 423-9689.

By Jim McKinniss

Photo copyright by Sebastiao Salgado.

Photo copyright by Sebastiao Salgado.

Photo copyright by Sebastiao Salgado.

Photo copyright by Sebastiao Salgado.

Photo copyright by Sebastiao Salgado.

The Peter Fetterman Gallery at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica is featuring the photos of Brizalian photographer Sebastiao Salgado. 

Salgado is one of the giants in the pantheon of great contemporary photographers (at least in my opinion).

I have also included a link to Salgado’s TED talk. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/sebastiao_salgado_the_silent_drama_of_photography.html?utm_source=email&source=email&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ios-share

Peter Fetterman Gallery

2525 Michigan Avenue Gallery A1
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Phone: 310 453 6463

Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 11am – 6pm
General Inquiries: 
info@peterfetterman.com

By Jim McKinniss

Image copyright by Diane Arbus estate.

Image copyright by Diane Arbus estate.

Image copyright by Diane Arbus estate.

Image copyright by Diane Arbus estate.

The Fahey/Klein Gallery is pleased to present a special exhibition of Diane Arbus photographs. Culled over many years, this never-before-exhibited private collection contains several important Arbus photographs including, among others, Russian midget friends in a living room on 100th Street, N.Y.C., 1963; Lady Bartender at home with a souvenir dog, New Orleans, L.A., 1964; Jack Dracula, the Marked Man, N.Y.C., 1961; Two ladies at the automat, N.Y.C., 1966; and Circus fat lady and her dog, Troubles. Diane Arbus remains one of the most influential and revered artists in the history of photography.

Diane Arbus’ portraits of socialites, nudists, transvestites, carnival performers, and eccentrics reflect her long-standing interest in subcultures and the rituals of groups within society. Arbus closely collaborated with her subjects by posing them, engaging them in conversations, and spending time in their homes and environments. This process set Arbus apart from her contemporaries, and resulted in images that are formal and deliberate, but also exceedingly personal. In turn, each portrait becomes an engaging collaboration between the subject, photographer, and viewer. “Privately, Arbus compared her photographic approach to gathering a butterfly collection, a metaphor that evokes both the evanescent quality of photography and its scientific objectivity.” (Sandra S. Phillips, The Question of Belief, “Diane Arbus: Revelations”, Random House, 2003)

Arbus’ images contain a paradoxical element which uncovers the strange in the everyday while simultaneously revealing the familiar in the unknown. Diane Arbus’ images investigate the nature of identity, and explore the difference between how her subjects want to be seen and how others see them— what Arbus referred to as the “gap between intention and effect”. Arbus’ photographs acknowledge her subjects’ complexity and duality, and in turn reveal the defining characteristics of each person.

“Arbus’ particular contribution as an artist was not in what kinds of people she approached to photograph, but in what she was able to derive from the experience. Her devotion to the principles of the art she practiced—without deference to any extraneous social or political agenda—has produced a body of work that is often shocking in its purity, in its bold commitment to the celebration of things as they are. Her refusal to patronize the people she photographed, her acceptance of the challenge of the encounter constitutes a deep and abiding humanism.” (Sandra S. Phillips, The Question of Belief, “Diane Arbus: Revelations”, Random House, 2003)

In 1967, Diane Arbus was included with her contemporaries Garry Winogrand and Lee Friedlander, in the hugely significant exhibition “New Documents” at the Museum of Modern Art, New York curated by John Szarkowski. A posthumous retrospective of her work was exhibited at MoMA in 1972, one year after her death.

This show runs March 28, 2013 through May 18, 2013

The Fahey/Klein Gallery is located at 148 North La Brea, Los Angeles, CA 90036 

Hours: 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Tuesday through Saturday

Phone: (323) 934-2250

By Jim McKinniss

Photo copyright by Georges Dambier and courtesy Peter Fetterman Gallery

Photo copyright by Georges Dambier and courtesy of Peter Fetterman Gallery

Peter Fetterman Gallery is pleased to announce its upcoming exhibitions: Georges Dambier (1925-2011), a solo exhibition of significant 1950’s fashion photography and Paris in the Springtime, a group exhibition featuring classic masterpieces of humanist photography. Both exhibitions open simultaneously with a reception on Saturday, March 23rd from 4-7pm and are on view through June 8, 2013.

Georges Dambier (1925-2011) began his career in post-war Paris as a photojournalist with a background in graphic design and portraiture before he began photographing for fashion magazines in the 1940s. Although often overlooked in the history of fashion photography, Dambier was a contemporary of Irving Penn and Richard Avedon and became the key photographer for French Elle after receiving his first job from director Helene Lazzareff. The photographs on display, most of which have never been exhibited, are from a period of the 1950s at the height of his career photographing legendary models including Suzy Parker, Bettina, Barbara Mullen, Brigitte Bardot, Capucine and Sophie Litvak. The artist’s close friendship with many of his models produced uniquely humble fashion imagery showing chic feminine style at ease in everyday situations; the models are confident yet still delicate while in action on city sidewalks, beaches and in hotels. This is the first west coast exhibition of Dambier’s work and consists of over thirty prints that display his masterful use of lighting and focus to create arresting images of style and femininity.

Paris in the Springtime exhibits photographs documenting daily life in the French capital during the mid-20th Century by legendary photographers of the era. As Peter’s favorite city, Paris has always been a consistent theme of the gallery’s collection specializing in French humanist photography. As a close friend and collaborator, legendary photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson was instrumental in introducing many of his contemporaries to the gallery including several of the exhibited artists such as Willy Ronis, Martine Franck, Edouard Boubat, Louis Stettner, Melvin Sokolsky and more. Iconic photographs and rare gems from thirty years of collecting fine classic photography display the essence of the City of Light through the eyes of some of its greatest historical spectators.

Georges Dambier April, 1925 – May, 2011

Born in 1925, Georges Dambier first went to work for painter Paul Colin, where he learnt drawing and graphic design. Then he landed a job as assistant to Willy Rizzo, a famous portraitist photographer (Harcourt’s Studio, Paris Match). There, he discovered photography and was taught the fundamentals of this art, especially lighting.

Georges Dambier was 20 when the Second World War came to an end, a moment when the social scene in Paris suddenly took off. Nightlife, subdued during the Occupation, exploded. Le Bœuf sur le toit, Le Lido, la Rose Rouge, Le Lorientais, Le Tabou : he frequented cabarets and jazz clubs in Saint Germain des Prés, where famous artists and celebrities organised glittering parties and balls. One night, he managed to take pictures of Rita Hayworth who had come incognito to a famous night club, Le Jimmy’s. He sold the exclusive images to France Dimanche, a daily magazine recently created by Max Corre and Pierre Lazareff, and won himself a job on the magazine as a photo-reporter. In his new post, he was sent to all over the world to cover current events. However, with his predilection for graphic design and aesthetics, his liking for refined mise-en-scene, and at the urging of many friends, such as Capucine, Suzy Parker, Jacques Fath, Bettina, Brigitte Bardot, Jean Barthet, he was lead towards fashion photography.

As Georges Dambier built and perfected his craft, he was hired by Helene Lazareff, director of ELLE, the fashion magazine. She encouraged him and gave him his first assignment as a fashion photographer. Georges Dambier did not conform to the standard technique of taking fashion pictures, with models standing emotionless and seemingly indifferent to the camera. Instead, he showed models smiling, laughing and often in action. His models were surrounded by local people in a market place in Marrakech, or in a village in Corsica, or – and above all – in his beloved Paris.

Most of all, it was Georges Dambier’s ability to put his subjects at ease (many of them were friends) that helped him create true, intimate and lasting images. With his delicate style, and refined technique, his work revealed a reality of great elegance. As his career blossomed, he became widely known for his ability to capture the essence of feminine chic and glamour in his images.

In 1954, Robert Capa asked him to lead a fashion department at the Magnum Photo Agency. Unfortunately, Capa died a few weeks later, while covering the Indochinese war.

Meanwhile, Georges Dambier set up his own studio in Paris, Rue de la Bienfaisance. As a freelance photographer, he continued to contribute to ELLE and other magazines: Vogue, Le Jardin des Modes, Marie France…He also collaborated with Françoise Giroud and Christine Collanges at L’Express. Big advertising campaigns (Synergie, Havas, Publicis), and contracts for many brands such as L’Oréal, Carita, Jacques Dessange followed.

In addition to his work in advertising, Georges Dambier did portraits for record covers and posters for his great friend, the producer Eddie Barclay and Jacques Canetti. As his reputation grew, so did opportunities to meet and photograph celebrities from different worlds. He captured the faces of the most notable artists of the 60’s: Sacha Distel, Zizi Jeanmaire, Dalida, Jeanne Moreau… His impressive client list included celebrities (Cerdan, Cocteau…), singers (Johnny Hallyday, Sylvie Vartan, Charles Aznavour…), actors (Alain Delon, Françoise Dorléac, Catherine Deneuve…) and many others.

In 1964, Georges Dambier launched his own project: a magazine for young people, dedicated to culture and fashion: TWENTY. He hired young artists and photographers: Just Jaeckin, Jean Paul Goude, Philippe Labro, Copi, Bosc and many others who would later become famous in their own right. Twenty lasted two eventful years.

In 1976, he created the magazine VSD with his old friend Maurice Siegel. Georges Dambier led the artistic side of the magazine and headed the photographic section. VSD was an instant success.

In the late eighties, Georges Dambier retired to a quieter life in the countryside.

This show runs through June 8, 2013

Peter Fetterman Gallery is located at BERGAMOT STATION .  GALLERY A7 .

2525 MICHIGAN AVE . SANTA MONICA, CA 90404 .

Phone: 310 453 6463

PETER@PETERFETTERMAN.COM

By Jim McKinniss

copyright by Veronica Bronzetti

On June 8,2012 I made a post about Italian photographer Veronica Bronzetti. I have followed Veronica’s work with a lot of interest since then both through her website and through her postings on Facebook.

It is a fact of life that photography has entered a marvelous new era with digital photographs. Besides the traditional photographic print we now  have a new virtual world in which to consume photos. The digital revolution has also made it possible for anyone to create their own hard copy books.

Veronica has published a new book of her work that  you can  see by clicking  the link below.

I have to confess that I do not read Italian so I’ve been limited to looking at her photos. No doubt the words written by Sergio Gabriele are a key to understanding Veronica and her work.

Here is the link to her book:

http://issuu.com/migranze/docs/veronica_bronzetti_sergio_gabriele_self

This link takes you to her website:

http://www.veronicabronzetti.com/

By Jim McKinniss