Not about Nostalgia

Berlin 2008
Copyright Matias Aguilar


In regards to the pictures I take a number of people have asked me if I believed that my work reflected a nostalgic view that I wanted to convey to the viewer. Basically, I believe nostalgia to be the least interesting aspect I would like to discuss. I never encountered a discussion about it that was faintly productive, which come to think of it is no surprise, really. Nostalgia as an integer part of artwork is just too obviously problematic. Too many such works automatically seem out of touch and as a likely indication of an unwillingness to face the current ways of dealing with today’s processes of making art… Thanks to the recently published book by the late Italian photographer Luigi Ghirri “It’s beautiful here, isn’t it…” I was able to read some refreshing views on nostalgia and I absolutely love the fact that I do not have to discuss it.

I admit it; in my wildest dreams I would not have been able to come up with anything as good as the following quote...In his essay ’Endless Worlds: On William Eggleston’ Ghirri quotes writer Gianni Celati:

For many ”nostalgia is an ugly word, a sign of mental weakness. However, I can’t find another one to describe what I don’t have, and at the same time it presents itself as a liberation. I have nostalgia for a feeling, because it seems to be free of sentiments that are tangled up in ugly thoughts. I have nostalgia for a narrative tone that ties me to others, because all I know how to write are things that are separate from the things of others. The true, strong feeling that I have might be described as that of being lost. Not me in particular, as an individual. Instead it is a state of things that I seem to see everywhere.
And the longer I am in a city – Paris, for example – the more I am convinced that being lost is the true feeling that I have around me, the liveliest thing that exists. I often go back to reading Sartre, who says: “Only filthy wretches don’t feel lost.”

Tunes Of Summer

...pictures from my new series here

Politics

Now that it is election time in the US, I often get annoyed about really unqualified rants by fellow artists. Often it appears to me that bashing the so called status quo is the easiest way of releasing some steam and the cheapest way to fish for compliments. There is nothing progressive or courageous about bashing your political opponents when your opinion is in the clear majority amongst your circle of friends…Maybe it is just me but I really prefer not to take a stand on my blog. It really would not matter. And it would be embarrassing if I thought it did…

Often I have asked myself the question why artists would want their work to address political issues, when art is really just about itself in the first place. Being political does not make anything more or less meaningful, better or worse. There is great political work I do admire that is just too good to be overlooked. But the way I see it there is always one problem with political artists: It is just too easy to discredit a cause that supposedly concerns a larger group of people, but in reality just benefits artists who exclusively strive for personal interest. You would have to be exceedingly brilliant or make the most convincing images to pull this off and get away with that. Brilliance is the only loophole in such cases, the only escape from being terribly ridiculous. There is always an element of improbability in creating works of art. It just must be difficult to achieve. Herein lies an element of tragedy. One thing the viewer treasures without a doubt is watching a tragedy unfold. Who can beat the tragedy of an artist walking a thin line between greatness and ridicule? Why should we make it unnecessarily hard for ourselves? Where is the gain?

Ryan McGinley

Copyright Ryan McGinley

Copyright Ryan McGinley

I am puzzled as to why so many people interested in photography love to hate Ryan McGinley's pictures. For some reason they seem quite embarrassing doing so. His work is pretty stunning. here

New York 6/08

Copyright Matias Aguilar

here for more

Bill Owens

Copyright Bill Owens

Copyright Bill Owens

Last Tuesday I heard that the James Cohan Gallery was having a show with works of Bill Owens accompanied by a book signing on Thursday. So, I walked over to Strands to secure a copy of my favorite photographer’s book. I was pleasantly surprised that I arrived just in time for a lecture and signing ‘right there’ at Strands. Did I feel lucky?
Mr. Owens gave an interesting lecture. He repeatedly pointed out the importance of ‘reading’ pictures, of looking at the entire image ahead of you carefully, of how even the smallest props in the background contribute to a successful image and of the necessity of finding the perfect angle to create compelling compositions.
I always enjoyed looking through ‘Suburbia’ and ‘Leisure’. They are among my most favorite photo books. There is a special relationship that Mr. Owens has with his subjects. Looking at the pictures of the books it is pretty obvious how much at ease the subjects feel in front of the photographer’s lens. The photographer is far from being an intruder.
But what always stunned me is his gift of exposing at the best possible moment. I always wondered how Owens succeeds so brilliantly in exposing a certain look in the eyes or a posture of the subjects. How do you control or should I say not control your subjects to act this way in front of you? I believe that a shared trust by being social plays a role. Owens enjoys speaking to his subjects, gives out his card to them before taking their picture and enjoys showing the pictures afterwards. For a while I was under the impression that there is a photographer’s instinct that comes to play in taking these pictures. But after hearing Owens at the lecture I would rather call it timing. There is no mystery to pictures. Timing improves after making your homework, having a plan, being concentrated at all times…. being together. The photographer has carefully scripted the pictures he needs to take for his project.

Luigi Ghirri

Copyright Luigi Ghirri


Copyright Luigi Ghirri


Copyright Luigi Ghirri

Studying painting in Braunschweig, Germany so many of my fellow students and myself included were absolutely fanatical about early renaissance Italian paintings of Giotto, pittura metafisica a la De Chirico, Carra and the still lifes of Giorgio Morandi. What I really loved about the 'Italians' was that they never beat you over the head with revolutionary ideas and concepts their works are most clearly not devoid of. The works of Morandi were simple, yet they felt appealing and sensuous. The Carlo Carra's and De Chirico's juxtapositions of familiar objects seemed to point to a mysterious world of the subconscious and preceded Surrealism. Giotto's ability to desribe his sujets virtually and involve the viewer in a stage like set were probably the most revolutionary change that came about in Western art.

I am glad that the late Luigi Ghirri's photographical work is becoming more known outside of Italy. His pictures seem to embody a lot of what 'typically Italian' means to admirers like myself.

Last year at Hasted Hunt I watched the brilliant Color before Color show curated by Martin Parr of which Luigi Ghirri was part of. I can’t wait to get my hands on this book entitled “It's Beautiful Here, Isn't It...”, here

Mark Power

Copyright Mark Power

I just came across Magnum photographer Mark Power's recently updated new series on his site. It is really amazing work!

...Destroying the Laboratory for the Sake of the Experiment is a speculative mix of photographs by Mark Power and poems by Daniel Cockrill. Each month, time permitting, the pair spend a few days in a different part of England, responding in pictures and words to shared experiences in a country they both love and loathe. Expected to continue until 2010, their work will be presented here as 'work-in-progress' on loops of different lengths, encouraging random juxtapositions to occur. The series will be added to periodically (Markpower.co.uk). here

I feel very fortunate that I was able to show a selection of my prints to Mr Power at last year’s Magnum Portfolio Review in the city. My reviewers Mark Power, Jonas Benediksen and Jim Goldberg all gave me pretty straightforward input about the work that I presented. It was interesting to hear what they had to say. I really valued their opinions. I was pretty surprised how long I carried some of the advice around.
Aside from taking pictures, which I really love I find it quite challenging to put myself out there and generate as much interest in my work as possible. Like most I do struggle to ‘pitch’ my work. But before you can even go out and try to contact people you better have a nicely edited and sequenced set of pictures ready.

Matias Aguilar _Ft.G_2007Chelsea_UnSq2008

Copyright Matias Aguilar

more here

Square America

Courtesy Square America


Courtesy Square America



Courtesy Square America

I like to visit the Square America site to check for updates. It is maintained by Nicholas Osborn and specializes on vintage photography...
Square America is a site dedicated to preserving and displaying vintage snapshots from the first 3/4s of the 20th Century. Not only do these photographs contain a wealth of primary source information on how life was lived they also constitute a shadow history of photography, one too often ignored by museums and art galleries. Or at least that's what I tell people- more accurately, the site is a catalog of my obsession with vintage photographs. For the last eight years or so I've spent countless hours digging through boxes of old snapshots at flea markets (mostly here in Chicago and in NYC) and too much money buying photos on eBay. The site is my attempt to create some kind of organizational framework, however idiosyncratic, for the sprawling mess my collecting has created....( Nicholas Osborn, Square America)
...more here

The Pre-War Surfing Photographs of Don James

Copyright Don James

more here

The photographs of Don James are among the very first images documenting the activity and lifestyle of surfing in The United States and are an evocative portrayal both of the emerging beach culture of California and of pre-war style on the fringes of Hollywood in the thirties.
(Statement Courtesy of Atlas Gallery)

I Heart Brigitte Bardot!

CopyrightTERRY O'NEILL
BRIGITTE BARDOT, SPAIN, 1971

I have recently been checking out a lot of French chansons from the sixties at Last FM. Along with Serge Gainsbourg and Francois Hardy I have been in particular enjoying listening to Brigitte Bardot, Especially La Madrague is a tune I like to listen to again and again. So I really had to buy the CD that features this track.

Matias Aguilar 1_2008, 3_2008_1

Copyright Matias Aguilar
...more winter 2008 images here

Thomas Steinert

Copyright Thomas Steinert

Courtesy of Der Spiegel this web gallery features the work of East German photographer Thomas Steinert... here ...It gives us a glimpse of daily life in the GDR before the fall of the Mauer.

Dietmar Gottschall

Copyright Dietmar Gottschall

Juri Gottschall, the son of late German Photographer Dietmar Gottschall put up a site featuring his father's work that until now has been unknown to the public. On view are excellent pictures taken from the sixties to the eighties; street photographs, portraits and selections from journalistic assignments of Dieter Gottschall, who died in 1997.

here

Masahisa Fukase

Copyright Masahisa Fukase

more of MASAHISA FUKASE Bukbuku pictures here

Masahisa Fukase was born in Hokkaido, Japan in 1934. In 1952 he enrolled in the Photography Department of Nihon University in Tokyo. After graduation in 1956 he was hired at Dai-Ichi Advertising Company, where he began working as a commercial photographer while he pursued his artistic career. Two solo exhibitions followed in quick succession. 1974 marked several important events in Fukase's life. He established a photography school called The Workshop with his colleagues Shomei Tomatsu, Eiko Hosoe, Noriaki Yokosuka, Daido Moriyama and Nobuyoshi Araki. The same year, his work was included in the exhibition New Japanese Photography at the Museum of Modern Art, curated by John Szarkowski and Shoji Yamagishi. Despite these professional accomplishments, his unstable marriage of the past ten years had begun to dissolve; he returned to his birthplace of Hokkaido seeking solace. At this time, Fukase began to photograph the black birds that would become emblematic of his finest work. Sadly, on June 20, 1992 a severe accident prematurely ended Fukase's artistic career. Although he was among a generation of young Japanese artists struggling with the constraints of their society, Fukase strayed from the cultural concerns and nihilistic expressionism of his colleagues, focusing instead on a deeply personal meditation on human existence. The somber beauty of his raven photographs reflect his lonely, troubled life and reveal his appreciation of the defiant isolation of these creatures.

(Courtesy of Robert Mann Galllery)

more MASAHISA FUKASE here

Miwa Yanagi

Copyright Miwa Yanagi

White Casket. Photographs by Miwa Yanagi. Nazraeli Press, Tucson, 2003. 72 pp., 48 color illustrations, 13x12".

In our present age of supreme mobility, differences of culture with other industrialized nations are rarely shocking; things seem to stay in the realm of being an oddity at most. The tradition of employing 'elevator girls' in upscale Japanese department stores is definitely in this category. Assigned the role of hostess, the coveted position of 'elevator girl' brings an aura of elegance to the shopping experience. Miwa Yanagi flips this world on its head in The White Casket, a body of work that casts groups of elevator girls into elaborate fictional scenes. Both the photographs and the book are immaculate—large format, crisp design with seamless digital renderings.

(Courtesy of Photo-Eye)

here for the Book Tease

Publisher's Description:

White Casket. In The White Casket, Japanese artist Miwa Yanagi has created a bizarre fantasy world inhabited by department store “elevator girls.” In upscale Japanese department stores, the elevator girl performs the role of a hostess, directing customers to their destinations while lending an aura of elegance to the shopping experience. The position of elevator girl is a highly-prized one; those holding this position are selected by management, and are expected to exude youth, innocence and beauty. In The White Casket – the collective title for the work as presented here – Yanagi takes advantage of digital technology to create virtual spaces composed of elements from several different locations, creating elaborate settings in which the elevator girls live as “prisoners in paradise.” Miwa Yanagi is a pioneer in contemporary photo-based art. Her work is included in important public and private collections throughout Japan, the US, and Europe. The White Casket documents this well-known body of work in a large-format, beautifully-reproduced monograph.

Miwa Yanagi Interview @ JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY ART- online here

Matias Aguilar 2/2008/02, 03

Copyright Matias Aguilar

more here

Matias Aguilar - 2/2008

Copyright Matias Aguilar

here for more

Brian Finke

Brian Finke’s subjects depict archetypes of modern culture, such as cheerleaders, bodybuilders or flight attendants. By infusing the iconographic into social documentary these pictures give you a fresh new look at a popular culture that is almost overly familiar to us. Although this particular use of artificial lighting in combination with available light is more common in commercial styles of photography his pictures remain within the borders of documentary. Mainly you do get to witness authentic stories, private and intimate views of the photographer’s characters. By emphasizing the seductive element of popular culture through outlining uniformity, however Finke’s pictures serve as a mirror. As ambivalent as it may be we all have an attraction to it. Our culture plays a significant role in our daily dramas as individuals.

more Brian Finke here


Untitiled, 2006
Copyright Brian Finke

Untitiled, 2002
Copyright Brian Finke

Untitiled(Bodybuilding#36) 2004
Copyright Brian Finke

Sid Avery

An accomplished photographer depicting actors of the golden age of Hollywood’s 1950s and '60s is Sid Avery. With the film studios more and more courting the mass media to promote movies, Avery was often hired to shoot for magazines such as Life and Look to portray celebrities of that time in private surroundings. Gaining the trust of his subjects, the photographer never showed unfavorable sides of the actors. Translating the celluloid proven qualities of his characters into his pictures, Avery’s iconic photography was born out of the growing demand of feeding the public seemingly private glimpses of their favorite star.

more here and here


copyright Sid Avery
Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall and their son, in their home, Los Angeles, 1952

Find Sid Avery’s advertising photography here


Copyright Sid Avery
Couple on motorcycle - Honda ad

Floyd McCarty

Copyright Floyd McCarty


Copyright Floyd McCarty

Being Warner Brothers set photographer in the golden age of Hollywood movies Floyd McCarty has shot some of the most memorable film still photography you can imagine. We all know the pictures he took of James Dean at the sets of the movies East of Eden, Rebels without a Cause and Giants.
Although you can see a lot his his great pictures here and here I am really stunned and disappointed that my online search at google brought about only this short bio at mptv.net

He was born on June 22, 1913
Dates of professional Activity 1929 - 1975
Attended school up until the 7th Grade.
Worked for Various Newspapers and Magazines including New York Times, L. A. Examiner, (old) Dailey News, Chicago Sun (L.A. Bureau) Member of local 659 photographer’s union.
Worked for various film studios including Warner Brothers, Columbia and Universal.
Most prominent photographic subjects include James Dean, Bogart & Bacall, Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Debbie Reynolds, Natalie Wood, Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Doris Day among many others.
He was a still photographer for many films including East of Eden, Rebel Without A Cause, Sayonara, The Left Handed Gun, Baby Doll, The Illustrated Man, Bonnie & Clyde and The Wrong Man and many more.- died October 5, 1999

Brian Wilson

Beach Boys by Peter Blake, 1964. Screenprint on paper. 53 x 30.8cm. Tate © Peter Blake

The Guardian has a little web gallery that features artwork from the exhibition If Everybody Had an Ocean - Brian Wilson: An Art Exhibition at Tate St. Ives here

Kishin Shinoyama

Kishin Shinoyama Twin, 1969

Jousse Entreprise in Paris has a nice link of fantastic black and white photographs of Japanese Photographer Kishin Shinoyama...here.

Matias Aguilar - Untitled No.1

Copyright Matias Aguilar

for more pictures here

Matias Aguilar - Rink (Part 5 ) - 2008

Copyright Matias Aguilar

here for more pictures from my Rink series

Susan Carr

Lincoln Relief, Mervin and Jean Jackson Home, Leesburg, Virginia, 2001

Copyright Susan Carr

At the site of The Museum of Contemporary Photography’s permanent collection in Chicago I came across Susan Carr's Personal Spaces series. Her artist statement reads as follows...

Personal Spaces: Details of American Homes

In early 2000 I began photographing the homes of people who have lived in the same place for forty years or more. The impetus for this work was a visit to my Aunt's childhood home in Jackson, Mississippi. Sitting in Mildred's dining room in a home she has lived in for forty-nine years, I realized that this kind of personal space was fast becoming one of our few remaining unique environments. Jackson, like so many other American cities, is plagued with urban sprawl that has deadened the city center and homogenized the surrounding landscape. In a country that prides itself on individualism, it is now possible to buy the same cup of coffee, the same clothes, and the same meal from one coast to the other.

Shortly after my visit to Jackson, I set out to photograph the details of American homes. I have long been fascinated with the way objects and places resonate and reveal the depth of a given moment...more here