Philadelphia, PA

Some last minute plans took me to Philadelphia this weekend to see the viewing for the Modern & Contemporary Art sale at Freeman's auctioneers. Not really going to these types of things all that often since I am in no position to buy; it was really interesting see the great deal of work that goes into making it happen and how much things are selling for in the current market. The sale included work from the Lehman Brothers Collection as well as some beautiful Berenice Abbott prints which were roughly 8x10 inches each, sold as a set of 10 for $12,000.


© Berenice Abbott

To make the most of my short time in Philly I also stopped by a few shows on the great recommendations of Justin James Reed. One of the shows I particularly enjoyed was Personal Views: Contemporary Photographic Portraiture in Philadelphia, at Gallery 339. If you know me, it may not sound like a show I would like since my own work doesn't include people most of the time. I am frequently asked why that is and it really has nothing to do with me liking portraiture or not. I guess I would say that my interests seem to subconsciously shift toward the marks people make and the presence of people, rather than people themselves. However, some projects that are currently in the early stages (ie in my head) do include some people. So we will see how that plays out.

Personal Views runs through November 14 at Gallery 339, which has the friendliest staff that I think I have ever seen by the way - so check it out if you have the chance.


© Nadine Rovner


© Rita Bernstein


© Zoe Strauss

Interesting story of photographer Vivian Maier, from Chicago. While not all of her photographs were taken in the Chicago, her images are particularly compelling to me since I am originally from the city. This one shows the former Woods Theatre on the corner of Randolph and Dearborn.

found on Barry Stone's blog

The Return of Polaroid!

Spectra Film, Expired: 2002

Thanks to The Impossible Project, Polaroid film returns in 2010!

I myself have a bunch in the fridge, and was waiting for the right time to use it...

More cameras too.

Top 10 Doctored Photos

Matthew Brady / Library of Congress

Fascinating article from Time.

In other news today, Irving Penn has passed away...very sad...

Since I have finally returned to the darkroom here is a new image...however, just a quick scan with next to no corrections...more soon...

01165

Found on my hard drive...so many things to sift through...hard drive...negatives...contacts...

Maybe some new work and an updated website will be online soon...

Ryan Monaghan

photo © Ryan Monaghan

Tonight was the Hey Hot Shot! Confab and Print Trade, which was held at White Rabbit on the Lower East Side. I just yesterday found out about the event and thought it was a pretty cool idea so I decided to see what print I could offer up. However, after a long day and being a bit tired I wasn't all that sure I wanted to make my way over there and spend the night in a severely crowded bar...and crowded it was. In the end I did make it to event and it paid off - I lucked out and now own a print of the photograph shown above by Ryan Monaghan...and to top it off it is an 11x14 c-print, when nearly all prints were 8x10! The image is from a series in which Ryan explores hunting culture. I first remember seeing his work on the HHS! blog and thought it was pretty interesting...I never would have guessed that a few months later I would be able to revisit it.

You can see more of Ryan's work on his website.

House Pictures

Looking around online today I found myself doing a bit of reading about one of my old favorites, Henry Wessel. I won't go as far as to say he heavily influenced my work and when I shot these photographs I wasn't particularly thinking of Wessel - but when I was printing them he did come to mind. So anyway, I guess this is my nod to one of the greats (who in my opinion, is often overshadowed by bigger names).



Four houses in Floral Park, Queens
(from Somewhere in Queens)


Real Estate Photos by Henry Wessel
(from House Pictures, 1990)

Amy Stein - Domesticated

photo © Amy Stein

An exhibition of Amy Stein's project, "Domesticated" opens on September 10th at ClampArt. I'll be there, will you? It will be a great show!

TMC + Kodak Film Grant

"Too much chocolate is excited to partner with Kodak in offering its first-ever film grant program, with submissions opening September 1st, 2009. This grant will provide 10 non-represented photographers with the film needed to execute a new or ongoing personal project, to be completed during 2010. This partnership aims to recognize strong project ideas from talented and emerging photographers, allowing them to fully realize a body of work that may not have been achieved otherwise. At the start of 2011, the recipients’ final projects will be brought together and exhibited through a variety of online, magazine, and gallery showcases."

Read more here

Self Publishing with Beth Dow

Some pretty great information from Beth Dow, the 2008 winner of Blurb's Photography.Book.Now competion. The interview is brought to you by the folks over at Hey Hot Shot.

Read the HHS interview here

Something Old, Something New

Bush + Berries, 2008

I am just about done with the portfolio prints for my Queens work and now revisiting a past project and starting something new. So, needless to say, I am excited to get out of the borough of Queens! I will post some new work soon...

Tema Stauffer Interview

In the early spring I conducted an interview with the talented Tema Stauffer for a class I was taking. I also had the pleasure of meeting her at the Pratt Institute Senior Thesis Exhibition in DUMBO, which I was a part of. If you want to check it out you can view it on her blog here...a lot of great information from a great artist.

Round Two

So here goes my second attempt at a blog.... I can't promise this will be updated frequently, but we shall see what happens... In the next couple of days I will update with some fun things like links and such... and maybe a post or two...

Stay tuned...