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Friday, 11 April 2008 |
Kevin Anderson is someone that I once shared a near-death experience with. There we sat, in the college dorm-room, and we were playing Tony Hawk 2 and we hear a sound that sounds like a falling bomb. Staring each other in the eyes, we both felt ripped off in the sense that we were going to be the last thing that each other saw before a nuke hit the campus. Turned out to be a dud, and fast-forward a few years, and Kevin wakes up, alive, in Nicaragua, as part of his work for Rise Up International. This is the grand-opening weekend of the Rise Up flagship store, and a portion of all of their gross receipts goes towards humanitarian efforts in Nicaragua, India, China, and locally. But not just for this weekend...this was the driving purpose behind opening the store in the first place. Here are the photos that Kevin graciously shared with us (my favorite is at the top here): Related Articles: Interview with Jesse Roberts of Rise Up International |
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Friday, 28 March 2008 |
When a photographer's work makes me think about the whole process of the idea without thinking that they are just being facetious, I enjoy the work so much more because there is a refreshing honesty and I know that few hipsters would dare pretend that it has anything to do with their own existential angst. Sure, we are talking about a photographer who tries to trick you into thinking that people are flying, but he does it in a way where you feel let in on the joke, and so you aren't pissed off. The man has a CV longer than any article I have ever written, mostly filled with awards, but also showing his humble roots working for Young Photographers United. Jan works mostly in London and Berlin, and sent us some of his work to share with you, our loyal TLS readers, and since so many of you have probably seen the " Dreams of Flying " we wanted you to see some of his other work, including his newly released book which I just purchased five minutes ago here. |
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Friday, 14 March 2008 |
We came across the photography of Matthew Dols recently, and really liked his work, and asked him to share some of his favorite photos with us. He is very talented, and here he is, in his own words in response to our questions: I do not remember the first photo I took, but I do remember the first photo I printed, I still have it. It is an image of late afternoon light on the railing and altar of my fathers church (he is an Episcopal minister). It is a very high contrast image. My first camera was a 35mm Mamiya/Sekor that my father gave me to take a Photo class in high school.
The music that inspires me is pretty broad, but I would have to say that when my photos are working I can hear Medeski Martin and Wood, Rage Against the Machine, Soul Coughing, Fugazi, REM, and the Replacements in my head. It is as though when my photos are accomplishing my vision, I can hear their theme music in my head.
I currently live in Wilmington North Carolina. I have studied and lived in Washington DC, Iowa City, Iowa, San Francisco California just to name a few. Every person I know has a box of personal items that they keep hidden. But it is not exactly hidden; they subconsciously want someone to find it.They want someone to care enough about them, and their life to want to know the stories behind the things that matter enough to them to keep hidden in a box. My artwork shows the world my box, not so that they will care about me, or my life, but so that they might better understand their own life, through mine.
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Friday, 07 March 2008 |
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When I first came across the photography of Michael Singer, I had about 20 firefox browser tabs opened and my neurons were firing in spontaneous bunnytrail mode and I simply grabbed the RSS feed as my mind was sucking me in a different direction even though I would have very much liked to have stayed. Since the site is called "A Visual Notebook" it came up near the top of my RSS reader, and I kept noticing these tiny thumbnails that looked like colorbursts. Finally, I did it on his terms, slowed down for a minute, and took some time to really see what Michael Singer was up to. And I liked that his photos all represent a necessary slowing down in life, and an appreciation for naturally occuring textures. His work shows a careful emphasis on perspectives and different angles that reveal a bit of mystery, but also leave a lot to your imagination. In his own words, he wrote to us to convey what his photography means to him: My photography is mainly focusing on two subjects. First, the spaces that light is able to build (while i see also shadows as a form of light). Second, the membranes between inner and outer zones. Actually, this is my main interest, in art photography as well as in life. I'm fascinated by the permanent coexistence of an inside and an outside of things. With that dualism, theory meets real life every second: from birth to death, we are constantly moving from insides to outsides and back, and mostly it's only a matter of definition or point of view. For me, the real magic takes place at the interfaces of insides and outsides. While the moments of crossing these boundaries seem to be impossible to visualize, i believe that photography can at least reveal some of the requirements for that journey. This is what most of my visual notes are about.
He was born in 1955 in Graz, Austria, and lives in Vienna, Austria. You can check out "A Visual Notebook" here. |
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Friday, 22 February 2008 |
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Craig followed some of us around this week and took photos. Shortly after being served a subpoena, he returned the photos to us. Some of these are people that we know and like and the others are either inanimate objects that are neat, or inanimate objects that are used to take pictures of things that are neat. |
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Saturday, 09 February 2008 |
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Amy Stein is a photographer from New York City. She has a solo exhibition starting on February 16th at the Paul Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles. She also has a great website and blog featuring great insights about the art world. We are big fans of her work and had the chance to get in touch with her this week and plan to check out the gallery so we hope to see you there.  TLS: What was your first camera and how old were you when you started taking photos?
Amy: I didn't pick up a camera until a few years ago. I was living it up in the last days of the dot-com bubble with no thoughts about pursuing a career in anything other than selling widgets for stock options. The bubble burst and I was laid off. I decided to travel through Southeast Asia for six months and when I got back to New York I wanted to go in a new direction with my life. I bought an SLR and started taking photos. The idea of telling stories with my camera consumed me and I decided to get serious with photography. I switched to a medium format camera and pushed myself to move beyond my conform zone to pursue my curiosities. I had the drive, but thought I needed more direction and focus to take my work to the next level. I found that focus after enrolling in the MFA program at the SVA. I graduated in 2006. TLS: The question that a lot of people are wondering about "Watering Hole" from your Domesticated series - is that bear real? Is there a story here or is that a magician's secret?
Amy: That depends on what your definition of real is. All of the images in the series are staged based on real stories. I use a mix of real and taxidermied animals in the photos. The images take place in a sort of unnatural space that exists between the wild and the domestic. Using taxidermied animals to recreate stories that take place in an affected space is an important layer to the work. TLS: Which of the masters of photography do you admire the most?
Amy: Modern masters like Alec Soth, Gregory Crewdson, William Kline, Robert Adams, Martin Parr and Jeff Wall inspire me. TLS: Which of your contemporary photographers do you see pushing the existing limits of what can be done with photography (either film or digital)? Does that even matter? What do you like/dislike about the work of other leading photographers?
Amy: I am not a big fan of pushing limits for the sake of pushing limits. Someone pissing on a photo or freezing a negative doesn't really do anything for me. If you can add a new wrinkle to our basic emotional language then that gets me excited. I really enjoyed Trine S¯ndergaard and Nicolai Howalt's "How to Hunt" series. For me, the technical aspects of the work perfectly complimented the content and the results were stunning.   TLS: I read in an interview that you like to listen to Jonathan Richman on the iPod while driving a Ford Focus rental when you are traveling. I picture you driving up to one of the stranded vehicles and rolling down the windows just as Richman yells through the speakers "I eat with gusto, DAMN you bet!" or perhaps he is in the tree serenading the shot. Any new music that is inspiring to you?
Amy: On the road I love listening to Spoon’s new album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and LCD Soundsystems’ Sound of Silver. When I am working on my Stranded series I can cover hundreds and hundreds of miles. I like listening to something that gets me moving in the car seat.   TLS: What is next for you? What projects/subjects are you currently working on?
I see Domesticated as part one of a bigger series. Whereas Domesticated focuses on exploring human and animal interaction in the stasis of habitation, part two of the series will focus on human and animal movement. I want to examine the natural similarities between human and animal migrations and the political differences in how we react to those movements.
Also, I am still working on my Stranded series and I have two more big road trips planned in the coming months. |
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Friday, 11 January 2008 |
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Karim Yergaliyev was born in Almaty, Kazakhstan and then moved to Washington DC in fall of 1999. He is now a student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County as an honor student (he wouldn't admit that but we happen to know from some inside sources). Many of the shots below are from his recent trip back to Kazakhstan with his beloved Nikon D40. He is a friend of ours and is also a part of a core group of people that is shaping social news and media on the internet, yet still remembering to get away from the computer long enough to embrace the modern marvels of man that exist outside of the 1s and 0s.
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