I'm Hiring: Digital Assistant

I am looking for a New York based file-prep genius to take my work from negatives to beautiful final prints. The ideal candidate is a hungry, hardworking perfectionist looking for a great opportunity to build experience producing prints for gallery and museum exhibitions as well as public and private collections.

Required skills:

• Minimum 1 year of experience scanning medium or large format negatives to digital files
• Minimum 2 years of experience working with Photoshop to spot, color correct, retouch and prepare digital files for print
• Experience handling photographic prints and packaging for gallery and museum shipment
• Superior communication and organization skills

Desired skills:

• Experience managing the process with a printer to deliver final prints
• Sense of humor

This is a part-time position (up to 20 hours per week) with minimal pay ($15/hr), but the experience and perks are considerable.

Does this sound like you or someone you know? Please send a PDF of your resume and samples of your work to amysteinphoto@yahoo.com no later than September 15, 2008.

And please help me spread the word!

The Merchandising Empire Begins!

Guns and Keds are as American as preemptive war and apple pie. And now they're together at last! I just found Zazzle where you can customize your our pair of Keds.

Here's my pair.

Awesome.

Shows Closing Saturday

Saturday is your last chance to catch the Beyond the Backyard exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago and my New American Fables show at the Robert Koch Gallery in San Francisco. Both shows have been very well received and represent seminal moments in my career so far. While I'm sad to see them come down, I am excited about the opening of the Road Trip exhibition at the San Jose Museum of Art, plus more solo and group show opportunities that I hope to report on soon.

I Heart William Lamson

© William Lamson

I just happened upon this video that typifies the playful genius of his work. Really brilliant stuff.

If you dig his work like I do don't forget you can own one of his Me In America prints via Humble Arts Foundation.

Battle Photo: The Old Man and the Sea!

© Doug DuBois

vs.

Dad, Hampton Ponds III, 2002 © Mitch Epstein

Juliana Beasley in Brooklyn

© Juliana Beasley

For my money, Juliana Beasley is one of the most talented photographers walking the planet. Beyond being an admirer of her scary good talent, I feel very lucky to count her as a great friend. Juliana is 100% hoot-n-holler and a constant source of kick-in-the-pants inspiration.

Beginning this Thursday you will be able to see prints from her beautiful Eyes of Salamanca series at the Farmani Gallery in Brooklyn. The show will feature winning work from the Human Condition competition organized by Prix de la Photographie Paris.

Here are the details:

Human Condition
Farmani Gallery
August 21-31, 2008
111 Front Street, Gallery 212
Brooklyn, NY
Opening Reception: Thursday, August 21, 6-8:30pm

I'm going to be there and you should too!

I Am Secondary Market

Peri, Route 80, Kentucky 2006 © Amy Stein

Amani Olu just let me know that one of my prints is up for sale on eBay. This is the first time my work has hit the secondary market and while it's only eBay, it's still a minor landmark in my career.

The print, Peri, Route 64, Kentucky from my Stranded series, was originally available for sale as part of Humble Arts Foundation's Limited Edition Print sale. The original price of the print was $375 and the eBay price is, well, look for yourself. Also notice the seller says Peri has never been "framed or displayed" which basically means the person never enjoyed it. Too funny.

I don't see this as an endorsement of my work so much as a strong endorsement of the quality of work and the amazing deals available through Humble's Limited Edition program. Unless you like living with regret you should head over to the Humble site now and pick up a print or three.

Young Curators, New Ideas

This Wednesday is the opening of the Young Curators, New Ideas exhibition at the Bond Street Gallery in Brooklyn. This is the first effort by the gallery's talented new director and all around happening chap, Amani Olu. The show features work from a ton of great photographers all curated by Alana Celii & Grant Willing, Michael Bühler-Rose, Jon Feinstein, Laurel Ptak, Lumi Tan and moi.

For my portion of the show I decided to focus on photographers that employ directorial image making strategies to explore identity and representation of the self. I asked Alison Brady, Olga Cafiero, Alix Smith, Alex Prager and Ofer Wolberger to include some of their amazing work and all were kind enough to oblige.

Here are the details:

Young Curators, New Ideas
Bond Street Gallery
August 13 – September 6
297 Bond Street
Brooklyn, NY
Opening Reception: Wednesday, August 13, 6-9pm

In anticipation of the show Maggie, the subject of Ofer Wolberger's (Life with) Maggie series, sent me the above never before seen Polaroid from France.

Black Moses is Dead

Isaac Hayes in his office at Stax Records, Memphis, TN © Ernest C. Withers

Rest in peace, Isaac Hayes.

Do You Believe?

January 1, 1939 - Organ Cave, West Virginia, USA

I grew up watching TV shows like In Search of... and Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World and have always had a fascination with the unexplained. There is a certain irresistible kitsch factor with UFOs and mysterious beasts like Bigfoot or Champ, but what I find more interesting is how these stories and their visual motifs continue to pervade our culture. Photography has played a huge role in elevating these tales from legend to folklore with certain encounter images actually transcending photography to become part of our collective visual memory.

December 10, 1954 - Sicily, Italy

Yesterday I happened on the site UFO Evidence and spent the next couple of hours viewing their extensive gallery of UFO encounter photographs. I have seen a few of the photos before, but all of them feel familiar.

February 6, 1967 - Zanesville, Ohio, USA

I was taken by how UFO motifs seem to change over the years and match the visual aesthetics of their time. From streamlined metal discs in the 40s, 50s and 60s to colored lights and sleek modern designs in the post Close Encounters of the Third Kind 80s and beyond.

March 10, 1993 - Maslin Beach, Australia

May 26, 1987 - Waterbury, CT, USA

August, 2005 - Jersey City, NJ, USA

Do you believe that beings from another place or time are visiting us to record our way of life? Or, do you take the Jungian view that these photographs represent the symbolic projection of our psyche in uncertain times? Are they observing us or are we observing ourselves?

Movies I Can't Wait to See

Blindness and The Road are two of the best books I've read in, well, ever. Both books are being made into major motion pictures to be released this year. I am excited and nervous as all hell. On paper both movies look pretty good, but you never know with these things. Fernando Meirelles and John Hillcoat, I beg you not to fuck these up.