Photo of the Week: Fireman's Parade, Port Jervis, NY

© Amy Stein 2005

PHotoEspaña 2007

Just received notice that I was selected as a finalist for the Desubrimientos Award at PHotoEspaña 2007. The review will be held at the Museo Municipal de Arte Contemporáneo in Madrid, June 1 - 3. This is outstanding news for many reasons not the least of which is I was looking for any excuse go back to Madrid and drink copious amounts of Rioja in the shadow of García Lorca.

Also making the cut is good friend and fellow JMU alumn, Susana Raab, and Chicagrapher, Nathan Baker.

© Nathan Baker 2006

(Kids, do you want to get noticed in the dog-eat-dog world of photography? Put Jon Gitelson in your photos!)

Photo of the Week: Boy with Puppy, Violet, LA

© Amy Stein 2007

Meet Me at the Fair

In case you haven't heard there is a perfect art storm happening in New York this weekend. Pulse, Scope, The Armory Show, LA/Art, ADAA, DiVA...if you love crowds, temporary walls, and booths chock full of marginal art, then rush on down to one of the too many art fairs going on right now in NYC. A quick rundown of the weekend so far:

LA/Art -- Highlights included the Marcel Dzama pieces at Richard Heller and Rachael Papo's print at Paul Kopeikin's booth.

Pulse -- Standout photos by Brian Ulrich, Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao, and Didier Massard at the Julie Saul booth. I am not a big fan of Massard's fantasy landscapes -- they remind me of Yes album covers -- but I loved the Rhino.

Gurnee, IL © Brian Ulrich 2003

Dinner with Peeps -- Friday night our posse had velocity. We met up with Bill Sullivan, Shen Wei, Amy Elkins, Brian Ulrich, Paddy Johnson, and Kevin Faulkner for some tasty food and some quality post Pulse conversation.

The Armory Show -- One hour lines to pay $20 to see "SHIT" in neon? Oh yeah! Contemporary photography not represented well in the big show, EXCEPT Pieter Hugo's work at the Michael Stevenson booth. I think we are going to make the big leap and buy one of his beautiful prints.

UPDATE: We just bought this Hugo print! Woohoo!!

Morris Toe, Monrovia, Liberia © Pieter Hugo 2006

Photo of the Week: Cheerleaders, New Orleans, LA

© Amy Stein 2007

Discover: Fred Herzog

I've only recently discovered the beautiful early color work of Fred Herzog. Fred is a Canadian photographer and educator who has been documenting the diverse scenes of downtown Vancouver, BC, since the 1950's. I have never seen Fred's name mentioned before and I don't believe he's had a major show outside of Canada, but his stunning photographs could and should hang with the greats of "New Color." The Equinox Gallery in Vancouver is featuring an exhibition of Fred's color photographs from the 50's and 60's through March 10.

Jackpot © Fred Herzog 1961

Lucy/Georgia © Fred Herzog 1968

Family © Fred Herzog 1967

Diefenbaker © Fred Herzog 1962

Richard Renaldi at Yossi Milo

© Richard Renaldi 2006

It was a warm 35 degrees today, so we popped into Chelsea to see Richard Renaldi's "The Plains" at Yossi Milo. Simply beautiful, beautiful prints. Richard has to be one of the most talented portraitists in contemporary photography. His placement of the figure in the landscape is simply inspired. I am a big admirer of his work and I hope to scape together some cash to pick up one of his prints while they are still somewhat affordable.