City May Seek Permit and Insurance for Public Photography

© Helen Levitt

What in the hell are they thinking? From the New York Times:

Some tourists, amateur photographers, even would-be filmmakers hoping to make it big on YouTube could soon be forced to obtain a city permit and $1 million in liability insurance before taking pictures or filming on city property, including sidewalks.

New rules being considered by the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting would require any group of two or more people who want to use a camera in a single public location for more than a half hour to get a city permit and insurance.

The same requirements would apply to any group of five or more people who plan to use a tripod in a public location for more than 10 minutes, including the time it takes to set up the equipment.

Julianne Cho, assistant commissioner of the film office, said the rules were not intended to apply to families on vacation or amateur filmmakers or photographers.

Nevertheless, the New York Civil Liberties Union says the proposed rules, as strictly interpreted, could have that effect. The group also warns that the rules set the stage for selective and perhaps discriminatory enforcement by police.

New York City cops being selective and discriminatory? That would never happen. I suggest sending a strongly worded message to Katherine Oliver, the Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting, telling her you think this is an asinine idea.

Hot Dog!

© Susana Raab

As I've mentioned before, I am a member of the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE) and had dreams of joining the gurgitation circuit back in the day. So, you can imagine my shock when the reigning superstar of competitive eating, Takeru Kobayashi, recently announced on his blog that he'd injured his jaw while training for the Super Bowl of the sport, Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest.

A darkness fell over my world. Was Kobayashi mortal? Had the gods of cruel irony conspired to rob me of the opportunity to witness my hero defend his crown against upstart Joey "Jaws" Chestnut?

Hell no!

Just like Willis Reed, Kobayashi will be sucking it up and rising to the moment. Would you expect anything less from a champion?

Be sure to watch this footage of Kobayashi battling a grizzly bear for hot dog eating supremacy. This is perhaps the most surreal TV moment ever. Naturally, it was on Fox.

New Work from Pieter Hugo

Solomon Kholopha of St Martin’s Undertakers © Pieter Hugo

The folks at Michael Stevenson Gallery just notified me about Pieter Hugo's new series, Messina/Musina. Pieter is a prolific photographer and one of my favorites. I have one of his pieces hanging in my front room and everyday I fall in love with it all over again.

Pieter's new series documents a town on the northernmost border of South Africa. The town exist as a sort of wild west environment with all manner of sketchy opportunists sharing an uncomfortable existence in a frontier no man's land. Here's an excerpt from Pieter's statement:

Musina is the northern-most town in South Africa. It lies on the Limpopo River on the border of Zimbabwe. The town was formerly known as Messina, and in 2002 its name was changed to correct a colonial misspelling of the name of the Musina people who previously lived in the region.

Located in the heart of the bushveld with its hunting farms and diamond mine, on the major trucking route north, it attracts a conglomeration of disparate peoples. They are drawn to this town by the opportunities it offers, be it working in the mines or on the farms, policing the porous border, smuggling contraband and alien immigrants, or prostitution.

In his photographs of individuals, families, interiors, landscapes and incidental details, Hugo reflects on the wounds and scars of race, class and nationality that persist here, on the border of Zimbabwe, a country in the process of self-destructing. The circumstances of Musina can also be seen as broadly reflective of any community that is confronted by transition.

You can read more about the new work in an interview Pieter did with Joanna Lehan.

Sarah Sudhoff in T'what?

© Sarah Sudhoff

I am a big fan of double entendres and the work of my good friend, Sarah Sudhoff. This looks like the perfect show for me.

T'What?
Gallery NuLu
Louisville, Kentucky
Exhibition Dates: June 29-July 30
Opening Reception: June 29

A group photography show exploring the issues of femininity, womanhood, and gender. The three curatorial themes are focused on women’s roles, bodies, and power. There are works by 15 artists from Kentucky, New York, Missouri, Texas, and California.

If you are anywhere within 100 miles of Louisville--I'm looking at you Cincinnati and Indianapolis--you should make the trek to see this show.

Natural Disaster as Visual Metaphor

On Gallery Hopper, Todd Walker points to an award winning anti-smoking campaign that uses Robert Polidari's Katrina photos to make a visual metaphor to the body of a smoker. As Todd mentions, the whole idea of tragedy as art is off-putting to begin with, but this campaign takes it down a rung on the good taste-ladder.

The effectiveness of this campaign relies on the target audiences' lack of knowledge about the origin of the photos. They are merely photos of dirty and upturned homes, not controversial images from ground zero of the greatest natural disaster in the history of the US. In making the choice to compare the flood ravaged homes of the working poor to the body of smokers, the creatives made the choice to negate the experience of the individual homeowners and all the residents of the Gulf Coast affected by Katrina.

Don't get me wrong. Cigarettes are a major public health problem and I am a fan of innovative campaigns that manage to break through the clutter to address individual use and expose the evil nature of the industry. But, this campaign trades a disaster for a problem and in the process manages to devalue both.

Am I overreacting or does this rub you the wrong way, too?

I Love Gifts in the Mail: Justin Visnesky

© Justin Visnesky

This is getting good. Another wonderful gift in the mail from a kind stranger. This time photographer, Justin Visnesky, sent me a book of his series Sometimes You Just Know. Thanks, Justin.

Keep 'em coming, people!

Battle Photo: Red Logo, White Wall, Sky!

© Keld Helmer-Petersen

vs.

© Andreas Gursky