photography

NEX-7

25 August 2011
news

This, is not an ad ok? And it’s not a toy camera neither (ha, wish it were for the price). It’s the ultra-expensive new model from Sony’s NEX mirrorless line which has been generating a LOT of buzz for the past few weeks.

Maybe because it’s been expected for years like a prodigal son. Pretty much since Panasonic introduced the GF1 there hasn’t been a decent successor oriented to a more enthusiast consumer (not necessarily PRO) with a pocket big enough to spend 1200$ but too small to carry a huge DSLR.

And here it is, the NEX-7 packs all those features you typically find on a DSLR but in a tiny body… an Exmor CMOS sensor (24.3 MP…probably too much), an OLED Electronic View Fider, decent manual controls, and all the miniaturing obsession benefits started by the M4/3 association.

The problem obviously comes with the price… 1200$ for the body only & $1350 for the pack with an 18-55mm lens (yesterday they refused to say the final UK price but we discovered today Jessops will be offering it  at£1000 and £1150 with such black lens). Too much indeed, but that’s what you nearly pay today for Fuji’s FinePix X100….

The beast will be released next November… and only if Sony could make lenses as compact as Panasonic’s upcoming X series… this would be an amazing combination don’t you think?

Now it’s time for me to shut myself away for the next 5 years… I’ll probably have saved some money by then.

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street photography dies

5 August 2011
news

It was last week when Jerome Liebling, one of the biggest exponents of street photography died of cancer. He had inspired generations of students with his humanitarian photography (40+ years teaching to be more precise).

Butterfly boy 1949

As part of the famed U.S. Photo-League organization of social photography, Jerome offered the portrait of a multi-faceted and socially committed New York of the 1930’s and 40’s, exploring and expanding the concepts of social and documentary photography. In the same period, he became involved with motion-picture production, and worked as a documentary filmmaker.

Jerome received many honors and awards including two Guggenheim Fellowships, and his work is in the permanent collections of many prominent museums including the Museum of Modern of Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and the J. Paul Getty Museum in LA. In recent years Liebling had exhibitions of his work at The Yale University Art Gallery… or The Currier Museum of Art who actually filmed the following 3-min clip on his “Human Spirit” exhibition:

 + an extra one just uploaded by the Minnesota Historical Society

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Clap

15 July 2011
news

 You have cameras, and you then have these other cameras. But they all come from the same place: Japan. Who’s more crazy about photography than Japanese people?

They’re not only the kings of  real photography but of toy photography too (or “casual” as they like to call it). And this little Japo brand called Superheadz (and Powershowel behind it which happens to be a record label and book publisher at the same time) is releasing a few of their crazy gadgets for the summer. You may think they’re pointless (why on earth would you buy a cat-camera right?), Japanese think they’re cute, and as a witty gift they’re always useful.

“Clap” is this first model with usb connector included which despite its tiny size it includes a 2MPx camera capable of recording   720×480 videos and with a microSD slot. You can buy it through their Japanese store, so unless you understand their crazy buying store we recommend you go through the ICP store or the UK’s Photographers Gallery shop (goes from around 50£ to 75$).

That first model is our favorite but those of you who love cats they’ve come up with this weird “Necono” model…

Basically a cat-shaped camera where one of the eyes acts as a lens while the other as a LED self-timer. The interesting thing about this Alice in Wonderlanish camera are its 4 magnets under its legs allowing you to place it pretty much everywhere. It looks like it also shoots video (640×480 only though) and has a 3MP sensor.

Now who on earth would buy these things….? Japanese of course. Buyable on the same shops mentioned above, although the cute cat is twice as expensive though.

oh and there's also this Monitor Ground accessory screen if you want to go pro!
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Fresh Faced and Wild Eyed – Online

6 July 2011

Fourth edition for Fresh Faced & Wild Eyed!

Untitled (Stairs into Water) by Ida Arentoft

The annual on-line competition recently announced the UK graduate & posgraduate  winners for this year’s edition: 20 artists  who completed their studies in the past year and have been selected by a panel of photography experts.

Life after Zog and other Stories by Chiara Tocci

The featured artists have graduated from courses across the UK, including The Glasgow School of Art, University of Wales, Newport and University of the Arts London. The range of the submissions, both geographically and stylistically, demonstrate the vibrancy of the medium in the UK.

This year, FreshFacedandWildEyed2011 takes place online while The Photographers’ Gallery undergoes extensive redevelopment (booooo) until it reopens later this year.

The Blue and White Collection by Fan Chon Hoo

Submissions were made online between 1 and 24 June 2011 & This year’s judges are Edmund Clark, photographer; Tim Clark, Editor-in-chief, 1000 Words Photography Magazine; Louise Clements, Artistic Director, Quad and Format International Photography Festival; and Brett Rogers, Director, The Photographers’ Gallery.

(Ilya video from the series ‘first dates’ by Ami Barnes)

20 young talents with a long & diverse list of photographed subjects, situations and atmospheres. Some revealing and inviting, others too cold and even aggressive. And as there’s no physical place to see them, you have this web for a deep photographic insight.

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500px

9 June 2011
news

Ahhhhhhhhh good old Flickr, what happened to you? Still the king but for how long? (Because let’s be honest, Picassa is so horribly horrible we don’t even consider it).

But then we discover this Toronto-based service called 500px, and we fall in love, twice the price… but twice the quality, user-friendly experience…. and twice the sexiness of a web product!

Maybe it’s because Flickr is a Yahoo product but the innovative & versatile service has certainly rusted quickly over the last few years… contacts management is a mess, groups is a mess, the home page is horriblis (maybe even worst than that of Picassa), and the way to discover new content… well…. is there such a thing?

We’re pretty sure Yahoo won’t discount Flickr on the short-term but if they keep it like this and new actors like 500px keep appearing, then it may eventually dissappear! Ooops! Another one!

The Canadian service recently grabbed half a million $$$$ from capital investors and their user base has grown from 1000 users in 2009 to over 85K (45K in the last 3 months), with people like us!

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Fiction/Real Photography @ Steven Kasher Gallery – NY

9 June 2011

One of our favorite American photographers Mr Mallon will be showing some of his past works at the 1-month only exhibition curated by The New Yorker @ the Steven Kasher Gallery starting today.

Stephen Mallon's Headlamp, 2001

“Fiction / Real Photography” is a selection of over 30 important photographs selected by Elisabeth Biondi and Steven Kasher from the artwork accompanying Fiction stories published in The New Yorker from 1998 to 2011.

Alejandro Chaskielberg's "Her Own Water", 2007

New Yorker Fiction/Real Photography features photographs by such illustrious artists as Adam Fuss, Tierney Gearon, Peter Hujar, Justine Kurland, Loretta Lux, Justine Kurland, Marilyn Minter, Martin Parr, Cindy Sherman, Juergen Teller, Paolo Ventura and many more.

In addition, excerpts from Fiction stories whose artwork are featured in the show will be included in the exhibition. This roster of important authors includes: Don DeLillo, Jeffrey Eugenides, David Hoon Kim, Hari Kunzru, Jonathan Lethem, Yiyun Li, Steven Millhauser, Antonya Nelson, ZZ Packer, George Saunders and William Trevor.

Justine Kurland's "Baby", 2004

There will be an opening reception tonight from 6-8 PM @ the Steven Kasher Gallery: 521 West 23rd Street. Come come!

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Glue in the microchannels

27 May 2011
news

The Catalan scientist Albert Folch has been studying & diving into nanotechnology for over a decade now. Tissue engineering, Oral Biology, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering… and after a few awards (one by the NASA) and many years of microscopic obsession @ Washington (working @ the University of Washington (Dept. of Bioengineering)) his latest photos with his department colleagues (Chris Neils, Anna Tourovskaia, Greg Cooksey, Chris Sip…) are once again showing us the beauty of science…

Glue in the microchannels #1
Neurons looking at you by Xavier Figueroa and Albert Folch

Mr Folch has his own lab at the Washinton Uni (FolchLab) where they’re trying to develop miniature cell culture tools for quantitative cell biology studies. In particular, they’re trying to quantitatively design the micro/nanofluidic environment and/or the underlying substrate of cultured cells under large numbers of conditions.

And since his first uploaded photo in 1997 to date most of his microfuidic photographs have been instant hits. So much that the FolchLab has grown to an art group. Because Folch’s art is now exhibiting across the US, 3 art exhibits in Seattle (collectively called BAIT for “Bringing Art Into Technology”) and selling their works!

Chromatic mixer by David Cate and Albert Folch

Folch’s team have been using a  Canon SLR and a Nikon SMZ1500 dissection microscope with a bit of Photoshop polishing their library keeps growing and now contains over 1,700 pictures and movies of microfluidic devices, cellular micropatterns, microstructures, and cells in general. More in their flickr page & on-line library.

van Gogh's cells by Anna Tourovskaia and Albert Folch
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Finding Vivian Maier

21 May 2011
news

One of the projects we’ve backed a couple of months ago on Kickstarter and we’re really eager to see it finished is the documentary about Vivian Maier.

Since the creation of the VM blog, John Maloof’s project around the mysterious figure hasn’t stopped getting bigger & bigger grabbing the mass media attention. There’s a good long list of upcoming exhibitions of her works across the globe (Germany, the U.S. here in London too..).

1953, New York, NY

Some people are already considering her street photography as one of the most important of the 20th century in the U.S. (a bit premature but…), and the good thing is that while John keeps developing all those left negatives & unveiling the history of the Nanny while finishing his documentary we can keep track of all the progress on his shiny new page.

John Maloof as owner of the collection has certainly found a goldmine,  let’s see how big the Maier effect gets.

Untitled, Self Portait

Vivian Maier’s photos were seemingly destined for obscurity, lost among the clutter of the countless objects she’d collected throughout her life. Instead these images have shook the world of street photography and irrevocably changed the life of the man who brought them to the public eye.

This film brings to life the interesting turns and travails of the improbable saga of John Maloof’s discovery of Vivian Maier, unraveling this mysterious tale through her documentary films, photographs, odd collections and personal accounts from the people that knew Vivian..

Untitled, France
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DB Photography Prize @ wmin – London

18 April 2011

It seems to happen a lot lately … we get and we give too short notice for worth visiting exhibitions. The Deutsche Börse Photography Prize has another couple of weeks left @ the University of Westminister (just in front of Madame Tussauds), so you better hurry up!

In it’s 15th edition the Prize keeps vindicating photography as a flexible-enough discipline to be used by contemporary artists, not only photojournalism and mixed-compositions are all that there is, and despite video and new interactive media occupying more & more space in the art scene, photography keeps enjoying a solid patronage.

Elad Lassry, Lipstick, 2009

And who are the 4 short-listed artists this year?

Thomas Demand, Roe Ethridge, Jim Goldberg and Elad Lassry… and only one will be winning the £30K prize… even if they don’t really need it, it’s more about the prestige than the pennies.

As most of these prizes do, the objective is to showcase new (still living) talent and this year the 4 lucky observers come from Germany, the States & Switzerland. Our clear favorite…. Mr Demand with the overwhelming “Heldenorgel”…

Thomas Demand, Heldenorgel, 2009

Thomas likes to photograph fake realities. Near-to-perfect worlds where you can perceive a big level of artifice but can’t really understand where it comes from. Meticulously constructed three-dimensional paper models of the German ideal “what could have existed”, but never did. Yes, Demand explores the Deutsche social and political public life through cardboard scenes than he then photographs… and there’s nothing ordinary about that. Ranging  from the interior of the Bonn parliament of the late 1960s to the artist’s childhood room, the spaces subtly reveal the mechanisms of their making and challenge the viewer’s perception of reality by examining memory and photographic truth.

Jim Goldberg, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO. 2008

Jim Goldberg also came as a refreshing surprise besides using a rather trite subject … documenting the limits of the 3rd & 4th worlds: immigration, human traffic, refugees… those who keep traveling, dreaming about the “European paradise”… part of his Open See series.

Update: he’s just been announced as the winner of this year’s Prize (which marks the 15th year of the Prize and the 40th anniversary of The Photographers’ Gallery). Congrats Mr Goldberg.

Worth mentioning the other two too! The works of Elad Lassry which may easily fall into the category of contemporary photography with all those artificial but intelligent compositions or the Vice-pop commercial covers (and other works) by Mr Ethridge.

Recommended exhibition? Mmmmmmmm not for those who don’t like photography. For the rest of the mortal beings… please go… it’s free!

More info and a few video insights of this year’s nominees on the photonet website. Enjoy!


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Next Stop Atlantic

10 February 2011
news

11 years ago the New York City Transit Authority joined the artificial reef building program off the East Coast of the USS to help the sports fishing and to create interesting locations to go diving to, the best & most affordable way for this… to transform subway cars into barrier reefs…

Continue reading Next Stop Atlantic

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Hoppé @ National Portrait Gallery – London

3 February 2011

It’s been on for more than a month now,  but I hadn’t had much time to visit one of the few current exhibitions in London worth paying for… Hoppé’s Society, Studio & Street … a short but intense look at the  English middle low class (and so much more) of the daily life in Britain between wars.

Speakers’ Corner, Hyde Park, London by E.O. Hoppé, 1934

Mr Emil Otto Hoppé was originally German (but highly critical with the Nazi party), born into a wealthy family in Munich, he decided to move to London being 22 y.o. and despite being trained as a financier (and working for wealthy German bankers and Deutche Bank in the first decade of the XXth century) he went for photography instead. In 1907 he opened a portrait studio and quickly achieved great success.

Despite being one of the most important photographers of the  first half of the twentieth century much of Hoppé’s work has only recently been reassembled, so this exhibition comes (be assured) as quite a unique opportunity to discover one of the many forgotten photography masters.

Sandwich board man advertising Shafi Hindustan Restaurant, 18 Gerrard Street, London by E.O. Hoppé, 1945

Featuring 150 works, The exhibition includes Hoppé’s strikingly modernist portraits of society figures and important personalities from the worlds of literature, politics and the arts….. George Bernard Shaw, Margot Fonteyn, Albert Einstein, Vita Sackville-West and members of the royal family (guess who).

But the real attraction of Hoppé’s exhibition are the everyday Brit people portraits during the early 30s & 40s… Hoppé decided to go out in the streets looking for ordinary people to photograph… he was fascinated by the cultural diversity the colonies & commerce had brought to the capital. So he befriended a Chinese shopkeeper named Wu Kang, who helped him gain access to local East End bars and restaurants.

William Strang by E.O. Hoppé, 1909

Highly recommended, even if £11 may seem a bit too much, but you know… the National Portrait Gallery never offers cheap temporary exhibitions. More info on their dedicated page.

Exhibition organised by the National Portrait Gallery, London, in collaboration with Curatorial Assistance / E.O. Hoppé Estate Collection.

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