Friday At The Met: The Americans

I've taken many of my photo classes through Robert Frank's The Americans over the years, page by page. We look at it for sequencing concepts, for ideas on a documentary approach, and just because it's a good book.

So, nothing shocking to me in the Met's installation. But it's great nonetheless.

The highlight: one of the contact sheets reveals Frank shot four times when he saw a combination of the American flag, the front of a building, and women in the windows. He then shot a few attempts at something else, and came back for one last shot: and that final shot is the iconic image that's first in the book.

Booked

My friend Doug McCulloh was in town for a few days. You should probably buy his books:

Dektol, Google, Squabble?

Danny Lyon has a few words about his books The Bikeriders, The Destruction of Lower Manhattan, and Conversations with the Dead showing up online.

Under Google’s new rules, Conversations with the Dead could be scanned and put on line by Google without even contacting me. Many photo book makers are torn between standing up for their rights, and “being left out” by the Ruler of the Internet.

Dream Street

My pal Doug McCulloh has a new book out. I think you should buy it. I'll post more on this when things slow down (not sure when that will be) but trust me -- you can't go wrong with this. Great photographs, and an amazing story.

Tony Mendoza's Ernie

More often than you'd expect, the topic turns to cat photography. In my Thursday night class, I mentioned Tony Mendoza's Ernie: A Photographer's Memoir -- so I'm posting the link to it.

If you like it you can purchase via Amazon as well:

Photography in the News, Scout Edition

Nice article on Scout Tufankjian in the Daily News today.

Obama's run: The inside view from a Brooklyn photographer

"Riding on the campaign buses and planes, Tufankjian went almost everywhere Obama did, following the candidate to 39 states. "It got a little rock star in the sense of, 'Good morning, Butte, Mon- - no, no, we're in Tampa," she remembers. When she could, she got back to Brooklyn to remind her boyfriend what she looked like."

Of course, it's meant to sell her book Yes We Can: Barack Obama's History-Making Presidential Campaign. It's still a good article, though.

Getting the Word Out

Chris Corradino is a friend of this blog and an excellent photographer and photo teacher. Among his areas of interest: nature photography. The catch? While stripped-away quarries will work if you're Edward Burtynsky, generally you'll need nature if you're going to work as a nature photographer.

So, in an effort to Help Spread the Word! he's suggested posting the following image:



In this case, clicking on the image links to The Nature Conservancy. We're approaching the time of year when a donation to a group just like that could make a great gift for someone who's tough to buy for. Or just for anyone nature-friendly. Or just for anyone....

By the way, Chris has a book available now: From Manhattan to Montauk: A Photographic Journey. Follow the link to preview the first 15 pages.

Leibovitz on Lenses

I've been reading Annie Leibovitz at Work.

I'll discuss the book once I finish it, but I wanted to highlight Leibovitz' use of lenses in her early days with Rolling Stone, as detailed on page 16:

"During the early years at the magazine, when I thought of myself more as a photojournalist than a portraitist, I usually carried three cameras on assignments. I didn't want to lose time changing lenses. I would take a 35mm lens, a 55, and a 105.

"A 35mm lens provides a perspective close to what the human eye sees, and it was my lens of choice. The 55 was considered a 'normal' lens, very classic, simple and noninterfering. The 105 was on a body with a meter and I could use it for light readings. Zoom lenses were not really an option then. They weren't made well. When you saw a photographer with a zoom lens on his camera you didn't take him seriously."

I find it interesting how much that situation has changed today. If you look in the camera bag of any typical photographer in the "working, but not famous" category today, you'll be very likely to find two great zoom lenses packed, with possibly no primes at all.

Animals

I was riding on the 6 train on the way to teach my continuing education class at Hunter. My laptop case was filled by a hard drive, so I was carrying two photography books under my arm: Robert Frank: The Americans and Garry Winogrand: The Animals.

Two women got on the train, standing a few feet away. They were talking, then one looked down at my books and turned her head to see better. She tapped her friend on the arm, and pointed at the book. Her friend looked, smiled, and nodded.

Ah, photography fans, I thought. They know Winogrand, or Frank. I didn't really want to start a conversation, so I just kept looking ahead.

When I got off the train, I looked down at the books and realized that the side of the book they had seen was the back of "The Animals" -- which is a photo of two lions mating.

Sumo's Nice, Too Large for the Bookshelf

I watched the documentary on Helmut Newton tonight.

I'm reminded that my favorite book on Newton is "Us and Them" -- which deals as much with his life with June Newton (Alice Springs) as it does with his photography.

Photography Books Under $10

That article in the Times on Photographers on the other side of the lens reminded me of one of my bookshelf favorites. It's great fun, with accounts of meeting and photographing more than 20 of the biggest names in photography. Includes Garry Winogrand, Lee Friedlander, Robert Frank, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans -- the list goes on.

That's Man Ray on the cover.

Elliott Erwitt Will Be at Strand Tonight

Tonight, I'm hoping to stop by the Elliott Erwitt booksigning at Strand Books. If you can't make it, you should consider adding his last two books: Personal Best and Unseen to your photography bookshelf.

Photographs: 2007, Concept: 1987

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.)

The book is Alison Jackson: Confidential in case you have unmet fake celebrity needs.

For All Your Holiday Shopping Needs

Since there are some holidays coming up, you're probably wondering what to put on your list. Well, there's always Magnum Magnum, which hits stores on Friday.

That might be a little pricy, though.... So maybe Fashion Magazine by Alec Soth is the way to go. Yep, that will work.

Doesn't ship for 4 to 7 weeks, however....

Gerda Taro and Robert Capa at ICP

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. It just seems better to me to include all sides of his work -- both war and peace -- if we're really to understand the stakes of war.

Above: 43rd Street walking back from ICP.

Seeing Unseen

Something to look forward to: on Friday, November 9 I will be lining up at International Center of Photography for the Elliott Erwitt booksigning for his new book, Unseen.

"All book signing receptions take place at the ICP Museum Store on Friday evenings from 6:00 to 7:30 pm and feature a DJ and complimentary wine. Admission to the Museum from 5:00 to 8:00 pm is by donations."

They had me at "complimentary wine."

Unseen: The New Elliott Erwitt Book

Here's that new Elliott Erwitt book: Unseen.

It looks like it will be shipping in December.

The Lisette Model Trifecta

Lisette Model. It's apparently her time.

The Talk:
Confounding Expectations: Photography in Context: Lisette Model and Her Successors:
September 26, 2007 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

The Exhibition:
Lisette Model and Her Successors:
September 7–November 1, 2007

The Book:
Lisette Model

Photography Books for Summer

Today -- a hot and steamy August Saturday -- I pulled down two books from my bookshelf:

Elliott Erwitt: On the Beach

On The Beach: Chance Portraits From Two Shores