Make

The Kids Are Alright

2010-03-06T22:01:00.005-05:00

Copyright Matias Aguilar 2010

The other week I came across an interesting ruin by the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Although in recent years the city has transformed the Brooklyn Navy Yard more or less successfully to an industrial park, a few buildings on the northeast corner of the Brooklyn Navy Yard have been left there to rot away. You could tell that the ivy-clad house obscured by a tree had been abandoned at least for a decade or two, if not more. I decided to return later with my camera to take pictures in hope of finding interesting subjects in close proximity. So when I arrived at the ruin again armed with my camera I noticed that a group of kids was passing by in front of the ruin. Right at that moment I took a picture. I was grateful. I went to a site without expecting awfully much to take pictures of and was handed an interesting moment in return. And I am thankful that actually there is humor in the juxtaposition of the kids with the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Without the kids I must admit, it would have been the lamest of lamest pictures. But even with the kids the symbolism is not really that earth-shattering. In fact, it isn’t a great picture at all. But in my defense I must state that it probably would have been nearly impossible to pull it off. By now we all know that photographs of abandoned buildings as a result of our depressing state of the economy is the most overdone shtick for socially conscious and concerned artists. Sometimes I wonder what kind of noble aims drives us to take pictures of ruins? Is it an infantile creepy shiver that runs down our backs or is it a romantic notion of projecting our pessimism on our beloved city? No matter how skillful the photo, to me a politically conscious photographer automatically falls flat the moment he or she infuses the romantic into the social concern. If an important goal is that pictures should make the viewer aware of the problems of the toiling poor and underprivileged working communities in need to be salvaged by an impending green economy revolution then a moody, large format depiction of a run down commercial facility might not be the most successful medium of choice.

Brian Ulrich

2009-07-05T14:26:00.004-04:00

Now that our economy is in the slump we are all anxious to find out how the current economic climate will reflect on pictures photographers take. I have always considered being political in the arts as problematic. This does not mean that social problems and art are necessarily separate from each other. Of course, they are not. Naturally, the better the author can convey a link between the two to us the more interest we find in such work. It is quite remarkable that most of the pictures dealing with the effects of the downfall of the economy as great as the may be executed seem far from enlightening, but predictable instead. Are all those blown up pictures of shopping malls gone out of business you encounter these days supposed to offer any new insight to topics we would prefer reading literature about if we really wanted to know more about them? Everybody knows that businesses go bankrupt when the economy is in recession and sadly, they do close down. Certainly, good and engaging photography may very deal with such subject matter. However, I find it quite funny that on a politically level a lot of these pictures you see right now do not have anything to communicate to us that we don't know already. I would even go as far as to say that the most interesting aspects that can be found in political art end up never being political. It does not make sense to me to advertise what is obviously the weakest link.
Precisely this is the problem I have with the recent photo series 'Stores That Are No More' by admirable photographer Brian Ulrich. Ulrich also produces political opinions, none of which you would ever be able to pick up on just by looking at the pictures here. But I guess being Anti- Bush/Cheney still wins you a lot of easy approval these days.

The Pizzicato File

2009-05-31T13:27:00.017-04:00

“Imagine every great record you’ve ever heard stuck in a blender overlaid with the most experimental heavy metal guitar you’ve never heard combined with the most outstanding montage of video clips you can’t imagine plus superadorable camp fashions, all synthesized through a demented Japanese consumerist impression of America,” Yasuharu Konishi.

A weekend with the music of Pizzicato Five

Weekend. It's a beautiful day. Ice-cream melting mellow. I'm flying high on the sound of music. Good. The world is spinning at 45rpm. The earth goes round. My baby portable player sound plays rockn' roll, peace music. What a happysad, hippie day. On the sunny side of the street a Mini Cooper is passing by.

A quick glance of the japanese site the Pizzicato File reveals that compulsive record collecting plays an essential part in the music making and styling of 90's J Pop group Pizzicato Five.

Harri Peccinotti

2009-05-24T12:39:00.005-04:00

Harri Peccinotti
taken from '1969 Pirelli Calendar"
Copyright of the Artist

I am not particularly following fashion photography, so it is not surprising that I have not come across British born (1938) Harri Peccinotti earlier. Highly acclaimed, he is not only a photographer, but also an art director. He founded British style magazine - Nova Magazine - in 1965 and was both, its first art director and photographer at the same time. He was also the photographer of the legendary Pirelli calendars of 1968 and 1969.

Sometimes the saying ‘never judge a book by its cover’ is absolutely true. Seeing a copy of a book entitled ‘HP –Harri Peccinotti’ displayed at St Marks Bookshop did not generate any motivation on my part to flip through it. Maybe it is just me, but I found the cover picture of a female model suggestively performing fellatio on an ice-cream cone a lame eye catcher. Boy, was my first judgment wrong. The brilliant pictures of Photographer Harri Peccinotti justify not only a peek, but also a closer study. And now that I finally have my own copy in my hands I have made my peace with the cover. I love, love, love this book.

It is Peccinotti’s knowledge and use of contemporary culture and his bold, seductive imagery that draws me to his work. As a photographer and art director Peccinotti is fully taking advantage of the possibilities of combining photography and layout to communicate new ideas to magazine readers. As many pictures (particularly those he created for women style magazine Nova) are from the sixties it becomes clear that female magazine readers back then were expecting more daring, more seduction and more authenticity to keep up with the speed of change of that time. Peccinotti’s knew of the cultural transformation taking place in Britain during the period of ‘Swinging London’. He knew Sex played a crucial part in showing women taking a more liberated place in society. After all, the sexual revolution was a centerpiece of that era. However, as these events took place four decades ago our notions of sexuality, feminism and race (it was the sixties that started featuring models of various ethnicity for couture and style magazines) altogether have further developed. So it helps to keep in mind that these ideas were a novelty back then. And above all the images and Layouts themselves remain seductive, strong and fresh as ever.

Read about the making of the fabulous 1969 Pirelli Calendar here.

More pictures on Flickr

Some of my most favorite pictures depict Coca Cola bottles…..

William Eggleston, Dunkerque 04
Copyright of the Artist

Daido Moriyama, Shinjuku, 2005
Copyright of the Artist

Not about Nostalgia

2008-09-20T20:58:00.006-04:00

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

2008-09-11T22:48:00.004-04:00

...pictures from my new series here

Politics

2008-09-06T12:32:00.008-04:00

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

2008-08-02T21:42:00.004-04:00

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

I Heart Mary Weiss (Part 2)

2008-08-02T21:16:00.003-04:00

I already mentioned that I am still totally fond of Mary Weiss' Dangerous Game Album(produced by Greg Cartwright from the Reigning Sound). I went to see her show South Street Seaport. It was great. After the show she signed Cd's, posters and t-shirts. Of course, I could not resist to attend...

Baroquo Me Rocko

2008-08-02T02:23:00.018-04:00

Copyright Eternity's Children

Copyright Triste Janero

Since getting into the Beatles at the age of 10 I have always loved the sixties. With the time passing I have been witnessing quite a number of sixties revivals. Being the fan I am of this period I quite always enjoy them. I find it very interesting to see something familiar viewed in a new, fresh light…It’s great to have my sixties horizon extended. Over the past recent years my personal view of that era has definitely transformed a little. My music profile at Last FM confirms that Beach Boys and the Free Design have replaced the Beatles from my #1 spot. Still, as I already mentioned the Beatles have consistently been one of my favorite bands; I can almost always listen to them. But recently I have come to prefer Pet Sounds and Smile(Bootleg) to Revolver and Sgt. Pepper. Aside from that I have also fallen for Roger Nichols & the Small Circle of Friends and Curt Boetcher. I surely have not heard of these two back then as a lad in the seventies. There was just no access to knowing how great they were. It is 3o years later that there is.

After the hippies got grungier and grungier at around 68 a lot of great music suddenly appeared dated. Almost overnight genres coined as Baroque Pop and Sunshine Music were suddenly not hip enough to appeal to a counterculture in full swing. It is this music genre I have learned to love.…I’m thankful that more and more people agree with me that not only Disco(after being bashed for so many years) but also these styles are now being considered up there with the best of the best. It had to happen. The last rebellion of Rock in my experience is probably all about letting go of it. It happens within. Admit that you are probably more bourgeois than working class hero before you plug in your Fender. Sincerity lies in the musicianship and not in shallow political platitudes that accompany so many rock acts. It's funny that Elevator music appreciated long after its time is as provocative as punk to the fools who are holding on to their sacred rebellion.

More great sixties stuff I have recently come across...

Eternity’s Children,

Marc Eric,

Triste Janero,

Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends.

Matias Aguilar, Hannover, New York

2008-07-08T22:42:00.003-04:00

...a group of pictures taken in Hannover, Germany and New York City...more

New York 6/08

2008-07-02T23:11:00.002-04:00

here for more

Bill Owens

2008-06-28T18:59:00.006-04:00

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

2008-06-14T21:16:00.002-04:00

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

2008-06-14T18:34:00.003-04:00

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.

Germany 5/08

2008-06-04T22:54:00.002-04:00

...more pictures from my recent trip to Germany here

I Heart Mary Weiss!!!

2008-05-31T16:50:00.014-04:00

(Mary Weiss.com)

(Mary Weiss.com)

I really love Mary Weiss' recent record. It is called "Dangerous Games". A lot of people remember Mary as the lead singer of the 60's teenager band the Shangri Las. The Shangri Las gave us such unforgettable tunes as "Leader of the Pack" or "Remember(Walking in the Sand)". "Dangerous Games" is Mary Weiss' first recording since 1965!!! Wow! There is not one filler on this record."Don't Come back", "Stop And Think it over" are my current faves.

(myspace/maryweiss.com)

Mary Weiss -NewYork Magazine...here

'Mary Weiss of the Shangri Las'My Space page...here

Friday, July 18, Seaport Music Festival, South Street Seaport, New York, NY

F.C. Gundlach

2008-05-23T23:29:00.008-04:00

Copyright F.C. Gundlach

Copyright F.C. Gundlach

Copyright F.C. Gundlach

Having recently been in Hamburg for 2 days I did not miss my chance to go museum hopping at Kunsthalle and Deichtorhallen. At Deichtorhallen there were two interesting shows on view. I changed my initial plan of watching the Fischli and Weiss(who I really like, but already know) show. Instead I checked out a retrospective of German fashion photographer F.C. Gundlach. Especially the C-prints of fashion shoots from the 60’s were really beautiful.

Matias Aguilar _Ft.G_2007Chelsea_UnSq2008

2008-04-19T01:36:00.003-04:00

Square America

2008-04-16T23:37:00.007-04:00

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

2008-04-06T21:05:00.006-04:00

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!

2008-04-06T12:38:00.015-04:00

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

2008-03-24T21:09:00.005-04:00

Thomas Steinert

2008-03-08T17:26:00.005-05:00

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

2008-03-08T16:46:00.006-05:00

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

2008-03-08T15:57:00.005-05:00

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

2008-03-08T15:16:00.003-05:00

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

2008-02-23T20:56:00.002-05:00

more here

Matias Aguilar - 2/2008

2008-02-15T22:37:00.004-05:00

here for more

Brian Finke

2008-02-10T15:36:00.001-05:00

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

2008-02-06T21:08:00.000-05:00

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

2008-02-03T01:10:00.000-05:00

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

2008-01-27T22:10:00.000-05:00

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

2008-01-20T22:10:00.000-05:00

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

2008-01-17T21:15:00.000-05:00

for more pictures here

Matias Aguilar - Rink (Part 5 ) - 2008

2008-01-09T21:43:00.000-05:00

Susan Carr

2008-01-01T15:13:00.000-05:00

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

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

Jeremy Blake

2007-12-29T22:36:00.000-05:00

Video Still from Glitterbest, Jeremy Blake
Copyright Jeremy Blake

I am glad that the Jeremy Blake Memorial Show @ Kinz, Tillou & Feigen will be extended for two additional weeks. That gives me enough time to catch it next Saturday. I am excited to see all of Jeremy Blake's major video works together in one show. Also, it will be great to catch a glimpse of the unfinished Glitterbest, sadly the last work of the Artist who committed suicide last summer. The NY Times has an interesting feature about David Sigal(a friend of curator Jonathan P. Binstock) preparing the unfinished piece for the show. Of the intended 11 minutes only five minutes could be found on Blake's computer. To fill the remaining 7 minutes of voice overs on the timeline they had to track down missing image files and add them to the video file, at the same time trying to maintain the integrity of the work....

After Death, Unfinished Artwork Gets a Life , By Dan Levin.....here

Music to the Eye
Jeremy Blake's 'Moving Paintings' Are a Brilliant Coda to a Life That Ended on a Sad Note
By Chris Richards......here

Cus (Part3)

2007-12-29T22:25:00.001-05:00

1001(Part 7)

2007-12-28T23:26:00.003-05:00

...for more pictures of my 1001 series...here

Jon Kessler

2007-12-15T21:03:00.001-05:00

copyright Jon Kessler

I still fondly remember an exhibit I watched sometime in the 90's at Kestner Gesellschaft in Hannover, Germany, entitled Jon Kessler's Asia . Being from New York, Kessler would go to Chinatown and buy all sort of objects, figurines, etc. used as decor for Chinese restaurants and then playfully remix these found objects in his studio, making mechanical kinetic sculptures out of them. I recently looked up John Kessler at Google and came across his site here. Fortunately, there are little videos of the work that can be found on his site as well....

There is an article @ Frieze about this body of work here

Recently Kessler has been channeling his focus as the Drawing Center puts it on..."the mass media's infatuation with disaster, war, sex, and celebrity. In his new series of drawings, Kessler creates portraits by taking found representations culled from the worlds of fashion, celebrity culture, and contemporary politics and reconfiguring them to reflect on the spectacle of American power and the instant access to images of objectification and violence. Based on the idea of “the portrait as a metaphor for captivity,” Kessler's new body of work confronts the convergence of advertising, propaganda, surveillance, and technology that threatens to undermine democratic politics. "
...review of Drawing Center here
...Web Gallery courtesy of Drawing Center here

Matias Aguilar - Cus (Part 2) - 2007

2007-12-14T23:27:00.000-05:00

Katsumi Watanabe

2007-12-13T21:45:00.000-05:00

Last year around this time I watched the Katsumi Watanabe show at Andrew Roth Gallery, entitled The Gangs of Shinjuku. Watanabe's pictures from the 60's and 70's are portraits of more or less shady characters of Kabukicho, a red light district in Tokyo. As the photographer gets commissioned to take the pictures (for a relatively low amount of money), red light hustlers and entertainers are calling the shots of how the picture is supposed to look like. Normally, it is quite unusual for photographers to allow the power shift to the model. But this commercial give and take scenario enables Watanabe to take many portraits of really interesting characters of a particular area in time.

There are not many pictures displayed on the web. But there is a book available actually published by the gallery.

The Low Life and High Life, Hand in Hand by Guy Trebay here

Anna and Bernhard Blume

2007-12-12T21:55:00.000-05:00

copyright Anna and Bernhard Blume

Anna and Bernhard Blume's staged photographs are something else....Although they have had major shows in Germany and here in America, I have not really heard anything from them for a long time. I remember seeing their Kitchen Frenzy series in the nineties at Kestner Gesellschaft in Hannover. Find the best MySpace page ever featuring a lot of their work here

Joe Strummer

2007-12-12T00:34:00.000-05:00

The importance of style and fashion could be easily overlooked if you automatically relate fashion to hedonism and vanity. To me the first generation of Punk in New York and London proved that fast paced, pure Rockn’ Roll in conjunction with provocative style was a not only a blast. It actually changed the course of music.
But you would have to be as brilliant as the Clash to get away with telling people that by plainly being a rock star you could make bigger changes happen in the world. God bless him for that...

There is a Joe Strummer documentary The Future Is Unwritten by Julian Temple that I was not completely happy about. I did enjoy the film as a fan. The filmmaker had everything at hand, amazing footage, sufficient knowledge of the singer, interesting participants, etc. But sadly and annoyingly, too many of the interviews of Strummers friends, acquaintances and family members are conducted around campfires. We all know now that campfires meant a lot to the late singer and that you can draw a lot from reasoning sitting around campfires. Probably such primordial gatherings could also strengthen, even deepen comradeships. But honestly, I do not want to remember the singer from the Clash as the Punkrocker who also was a hippie at heart. That just does not seem right to me. I would have preferred a more sober focus on his work.

I loved this article from the NY Times by CHRIS SALEWICZ here

Joseph Szabo

2007-12-10T23:59:00.000-05:00

Tom on his car, 1977, Joseph Szabo, 16x20

Nice! ...more Joseph Szabo pictures here

Henry Wessel

2007-12-10T22:42:00.000-05:00

The Henry Wessel exhibition at Charles Cowles Gallery was my favorite show of the year. The b+w prints I saw there were so unbelievably luminous that I actually felt quite let down by the postcard invites from the gallery that I took home...and I was really thankful for them in the first place...For more Henry Wessel pictures go here

Rink Series Part 4

2007-12-09T01:09:00.000-05:00

...new pictures from my Rink series ..... here

Filming the "Lucy" Show by Karl Freund 1953

2007-12-07T22:56:00.000-05:00

from Art Photography, December1953, Vol.4, No.6-45

here

Bert Stern

2007-12-06T21:45:00.000-05:00

copyright Bert Stern

copyright Bert Stern
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I totally love the collages of Bert Stern....
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here for Bert Stern portfolio

Sibylle Bergemann, Arno Fischer

2007-12-05T21:11:00.000-05:00

Sibylle Bergemann, Lustgarten in Berlin, 1982

...30 years of Fashion Photography in the GDR here (article in German)

From The Times: Now the Party’s over... Images from communist East Germany subvert the myth of the workers’ paradise, by Joanna Pitman here

Koji Wakamatsu

2007-12-04T21:35:00.000-05:00

Film Still Go, Go, Second Time Virgin(1969)
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Koji Wakamatsu has a reputation as a controversial filmmaker. Due to the graphic violence, sexuality, and radical themes, his movies are anything but easy entertainment. His work puts people in shock. I watched Go, Go, Second Time Virgin(1969). It is an outstanding film. There is an online petition here that can be signed to support Koji Wakamatsu struggle with the French censor board to facilitate the release of The Embryo Hunts in Secret(1966). I have not watched this movie. I do not believe it is available on DVD.
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Koji Wakamatsu promoting his new film here
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Go, Go, Second Time Virgin @ YouTube here

The Isle Of Man (Part 7) Series

2007-12-01T23:56:00.000-05:00

'Rock Dreams', by Guy Peellaert and Nic Cohn.

2007-11-28T23:24:00.000-05:00

copyright Guy Peellaert
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"Sam Cooke. Sam Cooke, shot dead in a motel, was black but dressed up white, sang Soul but wrote Teendreams, wagged his ass but gently, with a certain deference." Nic Cohn

Copyright Guy Peellaert
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'Buddy Holly. Hey, what happened? One moment I was in Lubbock, Texas, and I had bad teeth, bad eyes and sang with my nostrils and adenoids, hiccoughing and whining. Everyone said I was crazy, so I left and came to New York, an I met a man who straightened my teeth, gave me new glasses, dressed me up real Italian sharp. Next he called me Buddy Holly, and what kind of name is that? Then he sent me out on tour, and put me on TV, and now I'm a Rock'n'Roll star. I like it. Everywhere I go, girls scream at me, boys ask for my autograph and I ride around in a Cadillac. But sometimes I can't believe it - I remember Lubbock, Texas, and everybody laughing and I ask myself, can it last?"... Nic Cohn
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I got this book featuring incredible works by Belgian illustrator Guy Peellaert accompanied by Nic Cohn's writing as a present at the age of 12. Having not seen the work in years I was really happy to buy myself a new copy.

Bob Richardson

2007-11-27T20:28:00.000-05:00

The last times I went to Strands Bookstore to view through photo books the new Bob Richardson book edited by his son Terry Richardson really stood out to me.

The Trouble With Bob
By LISA EISNER and ROMÁN ALONSO

New York Times Magazine

here

San Diego Union Tribune

here

1001 (Part 6)

2007-11-26T22:43:00.000-05:00

right here

Bernard Faucon

2007-11-26T21:15:00.000-05:00

Bernard FAUCON - Summer Vacation - The Banquet 1978

...upon watching a Faucon photo you instantly know that the picture you are viewing might be ingrained in your memory forever.

more here

1001(Part 5)

2007-11-25T22:25:00.001-05:00

Wim Wenders - Don't Come Knocking

2007-11-24T22:04:00.000-05:00

Copyright Donata Wenders

Wim Wenders' Don't Come Knocking movie is shot at amazing looking locations, precisely

Butte,Montana.....Elko and Wendover, Nevada.....Salt Lake City and Moab, Utah........here

What is the origin of road movies?

WALTER SALLES writes an interesting article here @ nytimes.com

WimWendersPhotography here DonataWendersPhotography/Don't come Knocking site here

Martin Parr

2007-11-23T23:24:00.000-05:00

Neo Rauch

2007-11-17T22:38:00.000-05:00

Neo Rauch (German, born 1960)Vater (Father), 2007Courtesy Galerie EIGEN + ART Leipzig/Berlin & David Zwirner, New York© 2007 Neo Rauch/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, BonnPhoto: Uwe Walter

Now, these paintings are great! FAZ describes Rauch’s painting as a mix of surrealism, socialist realism and nightmarish pop art and states that the painter will withdraw from the public for the next years. Considering the attention and praise he has been receiving recently it is probably a smart move. I’m sure the negative critics are already hovering over Rauch. Isn’t it ironic that people in the arts have a tendency to tire of quality work and often prefer to praise something new and fresh that probably nobody will care for in the near future? ...here ...here (in German)

Luke Stephenson

2007-11-15T20:46:00.000-05:00

Luke Stephenson takes great portraits of Spectacle Wearing Folk. Make sure to catch his other series, too.

Hungry?

2007-11-14T22:25:00.000-05:00

copyright ata08

Hungry and don't know what to eat? ... ata08 dishes up food pics and sometimes even tells you where to find it in the New York area.

Daniel Richter

2007-11-13T19:29:00.000-05:00

Daniel Richter draws portraits in the street of Paris for Euro 5.

here for video link (courtesy of FAZ.de)

© F.A.Z.-Julia Zimmermann

David Zwirner Gallery

Tuwenig
2004
Oil on canvas
Image Size: 82 1/2 x 102 3/4 inches

more Daniel Richter here

Rinko Kawauchi

2007-11-12T23:50:00.001-05:00

Interview with Rinko Kawauchi here @ PingMag.

I am glad I didn't miss her show @ Cohan and Leslie.

stripper_polaroids' photos

2007-11-12T21:48:00.000-05:00

courtesy of stripper_polaroids

...photog shares 60's polaroids of So. Cal strippers.....here.

1001 Series

2007-11-11T22:55:00.000-05:00

...here are some new pictures from my 1001 series.

OVERMAPPED

2007-11-10T13:15:00.001-05:00

A Cartography of Filipino American Visual Arts Curated by Rico Reyes

April 5th - 25th, 2007
Reception April 5th, 5:30 - 7:30pm

The artists presented are Filipino, Filipino American, American Filipino, scholars of Philippine Studies or Pinoyphiles, marking the growth and development of the Filipino visual arts community; Overmapped is a pause, to look, and take stock of what is happening with young artists, established artists and their career trajectories, with hobbyists who find themselves deep in serious artmaking, along with many others.

....features 8 works of mine.

Matias Aguilar - Photography - Cus - 2007

2007-09-24T21:12:00.000-04:00

Untitled from the Cus Series 2007

Untitled from the Cus Series 2007

Untitled from the Cus Series 2007

Untitled from the Cus Series 2007

Untitled from the Cus Series 2007

Untitled from the Cus Series 2007

All images Copyright Matias Aguilar 2007