New York Photo Festival and NY Perspectives

© Marc Garanger
May in New York means the New York Photo Festival, which opens this Thursday. Last year I missed the festival because I was traveling, but this time around I plan to get myself to many of the events. There are some great artists talks scheduled including: Deborah Willis and Jessica Ingram, Zed Nelson, Eirik Johnson and Jason Houston, and Marc Garanger.

As an army photographer in the 1960s, Garanger was forced to photograph Algerian women against their will for identity cards issued by the French government. Many of the women in the photographs had never shown their faces in public before standing in front of Garanger's camera.

Garanger returned to Algeria in 2002 to foster a discussion within the same communities around these photographs. The images are haunting and raise questions the relationship of colonialism and the photographic document.

Here's the full schedule for the New York Photo Festival.

© Joshua Lutz
On Tuesday, before all of this gets underway, NY Perspectives, featuring the work of Joshua Lutz, Gus Powell and Carl Wooley, opens at 25 Central Park West. The show features work they made in 2009 through a commission by the City of Amsterdam Archives and Foam_Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam. I'm not sure what 25CPW is, but it sounds nice. Like the kind of place with hors d'oeuvres and wine in real glasses.

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The Remarkable Changing Colours of Uluru

The largest rock in the world, Uluru is one of the great landmarks of Australia and a photographer’s dream. The amazing thing is how the colours of the rock change depending on weather conditions and the different moods that can be evoked by a good photographer. Enjoy this collection of great photos of Uluru. photo [...]

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

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A Line Describing The Sun

William Lamson is a fellow POCer and one of the most original, witty and creative artists working today. For his latest project, A Line Describing The Sun, William has finally scaled his genius to its appropriate size.

A Line Describing the Sun involved a day long performance in which I followed the path of the sun with a large Fresnel lens mounted on a rolling apparatus. The lens focuses the sun into a 1,600-degree point of light that melts the dry mud, transforming it into a black glassy substance. Over the course of a day, as the sun moves across the sky, a hemispherical arc is imprinted into the lakebed floor.

A Line Describing the Sun is on display at Pierogi in Brooklyn through October 10.

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How to Reduce Your Depth of Field in Photoshop

If you?re looking to isolate your subject from its environment to create some depth and drama, then reducing your depth of field is an ideal way redirect the focus. While you can accomplish this by using a wide aperture, limitations with your lens and/or environment may not always give you the opportunity to do so. [...]

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

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Photographers are Terrorists

Photography is Not a Crime shows us a new poster by the Transportation Security Administration that makes a pretty clear assertion: if you are a photographer near an airport you are potential terrorists and must be reported. Next thing you know some church in Florida will start burning copies of The Americans.

UPDATE: The TSA responds. Thinking about it more, I don't know if the greater insult is the implication that photographers are terrorists or that we dress like LES skate rats.

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Tales From FotoFest

The stage is set for portfolio speed-dating
I've always wanted to go to Houston for FotoFest. The shows, the people, the line dancing. One year I'll get down there. In the meantime I asked a two friends, Phil Toledano and Justine Reyes, who attended the portfolio reviews this year to report back from the trenches. It's been a few days since they returned home, but you get the idea.

Phil Toledano
Now I know what it?s like to be a cow at the meat-yard, waiting for the compressed-air bolt to the forehead.

Fotofest is a very interesting experience-it peels back the little band-aid the covers the giant weeping rash of desperation that all (ok-most) of us suffer from. Of course, it?s useful-for some of us, it?ll crack open a career. But (to quote George Bush, which I try and do as much as possible) make no mistake-we?re all down here dancing about like monkeys, selling our wares. Is this a little bleak? Well, I suppose so, but then again, I am the Morrisey of photography.

Sometimes I?m asked what I hope to get out of a meeting. Honestly? The only thing I?d like to hear is something along the lines of: ?I?ve never seen genius of this importance before in my life-hang on, let me get the curator of MOMA on the horn? That would be great. Or a screaming artgasm ?when harry met sally? style, reviewer white-knuckling the sides of the table.

But I?ll settle for a group show in Nebraska.

Now, don?t get me wrong, I?ve had a good time, and I?ve had some lovely conversations with some people who seemed (at the time) interested. I also met some really great photographers (red Sonja and death reyes-shout out to my peeps!)

We all ask each other how it?s going, and it?s a question I find very hard to answer. Some people liked my work, others, not so much. You really don?t have any clue. It can take a week, a month, or a few years.


Justine Reyes
Last day at Fotofest. Trying to summarize this experience seems like an extremely daunting task at the moment. I am exhausted. Being a first timer I guess I didn?t quite know what to expect. For only four days a lot is packed in. I met with ten reviewers today alone and then did an open portfolio night.

On the good side I have gotten to know some really lovely people, talented photographers and critical thinkers. It has been fun looking at people?s work and getting feedback on my own.

On the bad side there is at times this odd competitive/aggressive energy that I naively wasn?t expecting to encounter.

All in all I am glad I got to come and be a part of it although I don?t think I will be able to process this experience fully until after I return home and escape the vortex that is Fotofest.

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The Exhibition Lab

© Dreamboats Collective

Recently, there has been a lot of renewed interest in joint endeavors within photography world. Collectives like Piece of Cake and the Dreamboat Collective have been formed to deepen community and support for their members. Lots of people are discussing their work together and it's helping to rewrite the rules of the art world.

The collective spirit is not limited to photographers; dealers have come together to produce shows and form collective groups as well. Sasha Wolf and Michael Foley have joined forces to create The Exhibition Lab, a study center for people interested in understanding and improving their photography. It's exciting to see people you like and respect putting their necks out to support photographers.

Next weekend the Ex Lab hosts it's first portfolio review. There's a blockbuster lineup including folks from The New Yorker, Harpers, New York Magazine, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Aperture, plus stellar galleries like Yancey Richardson and Andrea Meislin. I'm scheduled to review portfolios as well, but this list is so impressive I'm tempted to sign up myself. Do not miss this opportunity.

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