Doug Dubois: This Photo is Blowing My Mind

Lise and Spencer in their Backyard © Doug Dubois

First saw this amazing photo by Doug Dubois at the Where We Live exhibition at the Getty. I haven't stopped thinking about it since.

Sketches of Spain

© Irving Penn

If not for the decades of cocaine and hard partying that took his life in 1991, Miles Davis would have turned 81 yesterday. I can't offer anything new about the man or his numerous contributions to the development of modern music that haven't already been postulated and debated ad nauseam, so I won't even try. I mention Miles' birthday only because we are about to head to Spain for ten days and the convergence of those two events made me think of his amazing collaboration with Gil Evans, Sketches of Spain. When I think of that record I smile.

I also smile when I think about going to Spain for ten days of needed vacation time. The first leg of our trip will be in Madrid for PhotoEspaña. For three days and nights Madrid will be a veritable photography bacchanalia. So many shows during our time in Madrid (including my own work hanging in El Museo de Arte Contemporáneo as part of Descubrimientos PHE) , but I am most excited to attend the opening of the 2007 HSBC Foundation for Photography prize featuring the work of Matthew Pillsbury and Julia Fullerton-Batten. Matthew is a friend (and fellow SVA alumn) and will be there for the opening. Julia and I have almost met several times and I hope she makes it to Madrid for the show.

© Matthew Pillsbury

After Madrid we are traveling north through La Rioja and the Basque country for seven days of rest and wine and wine and rest. If I do not post much during that time it probably means I am having a wonderful trip.

Corey Arnold: This Photo is Blowing My Mind

© Corey Arnold

This Photo is Blowing My Mind is a new regular blog feature where I will highlight a single photograph that is currently blowing my mind. First up, this stunner from Corey Arnold's Arctic-ness series. Corey has a solo show going on right now at Richard Heller Gallery in Santa Monica. Go check it out.

Tastykakes and Gumbo

© Zoe Strauss

Saturday we hit up Chelsea to see Kelli Connell's show at Yossi Milo and Elijah Gowin at Robert Mann. Great stuff, but we were really just biding our time waiting for the main event: Zoe Strauss' big solo show, If You Reading This, at Silverstein Gallery.

Zoe's prints looked great and the images were all very strong. And, there was a decidedly un-Chelsea feel to the festivities. It was fun to see stuffy matrons of the New York art scene leafing through the $5 print bin like a DJ diggin' for vinyl at a thriftstore. There were even Tastykakes for everyone.

The highlight was finally getting to meet Zoe in person. What a superstar. She has an energy and spirit about her that is so completely infectious and an authenticity that is a rare commodity these days. Congrats on the show, Zoe!

Do You Know What It Means launch party

Saturday was a tough go because we were still feeling slightly crapulent after the Friday launch party for Do You Know What It Means and the subsequent after-party that got us back to Jackson Heights at 4 AM. The event was a big success and I want to thank everyone who made it over to the SVA to share in the launch and the delicious gumbo.

Critical Mass Results Announced

© Lori Nix 1999

The results are in for Photolucida's Critical Mass Book Award and I am one of the five finalists for the softbound monograph prize. Two of the five finalists will be selected and Photolucida will publish monographs of their work. I believe the plan is to put us in a steel cage with rusty spoons and the last two standing get the prize. I'm scrappy and focused, so look out, suckers!

The big hardbound monograph prize went to Camille Seaman and her stunning series, The Last Iceberg. Joining me on the list of five finalists are Benjamin Fink, Heather McClintock, Lori Nix, and Donald Weber.

Wish me luck.

Benefit for Do You Know What It Means Project

As some of you may know, I have spent the past year working as Executive Director of the Do You Know What It Means project. A good chunk of that time was spent in New Orleans collecting thousands of photographs and interviewing hundreds of community members to get the project up and running. The mission of the project is to use those photos and stories to create a permanent record of life before Katrina. You can learn more about Do You Know What It Means here.

This Friday, May 18, we are officially launching the Web site and the public archive and I invite you to join me for a special evening in support the project.

The evening includes a screening of New Orleans: The Natural History by New Orleans filmmaker, activist, and creator of Mr. Bill, Walter Williams and an exhibition of images collected from the archive. Oh, and there will be gumbo made by Charles Traub himself!

Here are the details:

Friday, May 18 @ 7 PM
School of Visual Arts Amphitheater
209 East 23rd Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10010
Admission: $7 (cash only, please)

Please make it if you can. If you can't attend and would still like to support the project, you are in luck. You can make a donation online or via snail mail.

Griffin Museum Juried Show

The winners were just announced for the 13th Annual Juried Show at the Griffin Photography Museum and I was fortunate to be awarded with a two person show in the Griffin's Emerging Artist Gallery. The juror this year was the always wonderful Brian Clamp. Past winners of the two person show include Rachel Papo and Dorthe Alstrup. Talk about being in great company.

It's always nice when you can share the moment with friends, so I was pleased to read that the fabulous Shen Wei and Dina Kantor were selected for the group show in the main gallery.

The exhibition doesn't take place until August 23, so I will post an update as the date draws near.

Installation Shots from Versionfest

Alas, the 43rd Annual Versionfest Photographic Invitational has come and gone. In case you didn't get a chance to see this epic photo event, Brian Ulrich just sent some installation shots. The images below represent the work of yours truly, Bill Sullivan, Jack Edinger and Todd Deutsch, Julian Montague, and Zoe Strauss.

I Have Arrived

© Amy Stein 2007

Awards, shows, publications, print sales... All hollow rewards while you wait patiently for the true measure of art world success, a mention on Modern Art Obsession. Today, I feel like I have been actualized. MAO finally mentioned me and my work!

Photo of the Week: St. John's Eve, Denmark

© Amy Stein 2003

Pro or Con?

© Amy Stein 2002

An interesting discussion about my Women and Guns series is taking place on the bulletin board, TheHighRoad.org. The site says that it is "dedicated to the discussion and advancement of responsible firearms ownership." Ignoring the thread about the quality of the photos (they kick ass, thank you), the members of The High Road can't seem to decide if the photos are anti-gun. Do you see a bias in the photos or is their debate and confusion a product of our current red vs. blue, with-us-or-against-us social discourse?

This Blog Thing

I started this blog thing a year ago mainly as a means to post periodic updates about my emerging photography career. At the time I was knee deep in grad school, so I wasn't so much emerging as abiding. Over the months I started posting one-off photos and work that didn't quite make it into the portfolio. I also began to write a little less about my favorite subject (me!) and a little more about shows, other people's work, politics, and other random bits that struck me as worthy of a lonely shout out into the tubes of the Internet.

One thing I've learned over the last year is that writing daily content is hard work. I do have some Web creds -- back in the day I was Executive Producer for a political Web site called Policy.com -- but my writing muscle has atrophied a bit and finding the time to gather my thoughts and consider words is no easy task these day. (Another thing I've learned is that if you want to increase your site traffic overnight, write about Britney Spears.)

So, what's the point of this ramble? Well, given my original ambitions and my deeply latent skills as a writer, I find it amazing that anyone actually reads this blog, let alone the hundreds of people who apparently read it daily. I am blown away that people far cooler than I like ArtKrush would put this site on their list of favorite photography blogs. Or that people far more established in the ways of photography have decided to make this site a habit. What's more amazing is the community of similarly minded people I have managed to tap into because of this site. I have met some truly fabulous and talented people who are writing, snapping, creating, doing, and sharing amazing things all over this globe.

Crazy.

All because of this blog thing.

Regarding Intimacy

© Todd Deutsch 2004

Andy Adams over at Flak Photo sent me the following:

This week, Flak Photo teams up with curator Saul Robbins in support of an exhibition that explores the dynamics between families, couples, friends, neighbors and the environment to investigate relationships in traditional intimate interactions. "Regarding Intimacy" is on display at Hunter College in New York City through May 12, 2007.

Participating photographers include Allen Frame, Dona Schwartz, Carrie Mae Weems, John Milisenda, Bob Shamis, Larry Sultan, Keisha Scarville, Todd Deutsch and Oz Lubling.

Sounds like a fabulously intimate affair.

Speaking of Flak Photo... For the entire month of May you can see my Domesticated work on display as part of the Flak Photo Weekend Series.

Photonews: Zeitung für Fotografie

Three pieces from my Domesticated series are featured in the May issue of the German photography magazine, Photonews. (I am huge in Hamburg!)

© Albin Biblom 2003

The May issue of the magazine focuses on photographers whose work is animal themed. Included are Walter Schels' Animal Portraits, Alessandra Sanguinetti's On The Sixth Day, and Albin Biblom's amazing series, Mechkar, which documents the last of Bulgaria’s dancing bears and their owners.

Mission Accomplished

Four years ago today our president strode cocksure on to the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln and declared, "my fellow Americans, major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." Four years later we are on the eve of the president vetoing the Iraq spending bill that sets timetables for withdrawal. Four years later with countless dead and billions spent. Four years later with no end in sight.