LA Review
With much excitement, Photo LA and Review LA have arrived! Los Angeles, time to get excited about photography. Expected highlights include the Uta Barth, David Taylor, and Andrew Moore lectures, all on that Saturday or Sunday.
I’m extremely excited to be participating in Review LA; I’ve already perused the list of participating photographers. Other photographers to pay particular attention to include Amy Eckert, Irina Rozovsky (featured in an earlier post), Jessamyn Lovell, Kathleen Laraid McLaughlin, Lisa McCord and Steve Davis.
[Photo by Kathleen Laraia McLaughlin]
Stephen Wilkes Lecture at PhotoNOLA
A few weeks ago, my boyfriend and I returned from PhotoNOLA at New Orleans where we had the wonderful experience of hearing photographer Stephen Wilkes lecture, in the flesh. The December 11th lecture was two hours long and focused on his personal work with glimpses of his from high school work up until his recent project on the BP Oil Spill.
The most critical moment in the lecture and (in some ways his career), was when he was serendipitously granted unlimited access to document the Ellis Island hospital complex, which housed ill immigrants from 1892 to 1954 on their way to the United States. As he said, Wilkes was in the right place at the right time.
The abandoned hospital complex was left in all its haunting glory in a secluded section of the Island. During that time, it was exposed to the natural elements and–most importantly– time. Wilkes captured the beautiful decay of the rooms, parallel to the heavy history of those who stayed and even died in within the hospital ward. His photographs tell the story of those who suffered, lived, and died within those confines. The photos hint at an unsettling, and sometimes light, side of humanity.
On a lighter note, his lecture segued to his Vanity Fair piece on the billion-dollar financial swindler Bernard Madoff (incredibly clever!), to his on-going documentation of China as an industrializing machine (both scary and admirable).
Wilkes ended on an uplifting note by sharing his photos document the BP oil spill. At that moment, it became clear that he aims to use his work to drive change. And that my friend, is incredibly inspirational.
[Photos by Stephen Wilkes, Ellis Island]
Photographer Dan Burn-Forti
Tweeted about him last week, not it’s time to show-off the best holiday photos from Dan Burn-Forti. It’s so modern-day, Americana with a touch of spicy nostalgia and tongue-in-cheek quirkiness.
[See his portfolio, full of commercial and personal projects]
Photographer Brice Bischoff
What luck! I’m off to vacation in New Orleans during PhotoNOLA and I simultaneously discover photographer Brice Bischoff‘s gorgeously rendered time-elapsed photography. It helps that Bischoss has some Louisiana roots to set the mood; life could not get any better.
I’m crossing my fingers that my travel partner will surrender to my persistent pleas to participant in the Saturday art openings and maybe-just maybe-listen to the Stephen Wilkes lecture.
In the mean time, stare in wonderment at Bischoff’s Bronson Caves, a swirling haze of rainbows set amongst the earthly, cavernous wilderness.
[Photos by Brice Bischoff‘]
John Divola – Artist Lecture
I was extremely excited to listen to the very influential photographer John Divola lecture on Sunday at the downtown Museum of Contemporary Art. Despite the lack of ventilation in the stuffy Ahmanson Auditorium, Divola plowed through an hour-long lecture on his artwork dating from his humble beginnings as a graduate student at the University of Califorian in Los Angeles to his current work as he continues to teach photography at the University of California in Riverside. He appeared very relaxed speaking in front the intimate crowd, no surprise coming from a professor.
The most interesting part of any artist lecture, is hearing and seeing the artist talk about their work and the evolution of their art as their thought process changes. From Divola’s older work up until his most recent was very consistent in his exploration how humankind interacts with the natural environment and his constant exploration of the abandoned spaces, the spaces around him and man-made elements within the landscape.
Even to this day, I will still recall how my photography professor showed us his Isolated Houses series– we all looked on in silent. Divola has an instinctual eye for light and how it shapes the subject matter, and to this day, I still believe his house series is one of his most beautiful for its play on light and color.
In Artificial Nature, Divola selects and exhibits found photographs of fake natural landscapes created for movies. At first appearing natural and eerie, the movie sets are gorgeous. Once the viewer takes a closer look and notices the movie set signs and the painted background, the whole gig is up.
Marina Abramovic – Pushing the Envelope of Performance
Marina Abramovicis what I would call a radical performance artist. She has shaped performance art in ways that I will not even try to explain. However, I will admit that I used to think performance art was annoying, obnoxious and incomprehendable but now Abramovic has helped me view this medium in a new (more positive) light.
Read more at the Sean Kelly Gallery, learn about her In The Family project or read the New York Press.
Happy Thanksgiving.
[Aki Inomata, Why Not Hand Over a “Shelter” to Hermit Crabs, Ai Kowada Gallery]
Amanda Ross-Ho at the Cherry and Martin Gallery
Previously, I interned for the Los Angeles art gallery Cherry and Martin located in the hip Culver City art district. I had the wonderful opportunity to learn of artist Amanda Ross-Ho’s work. I had the even more amazing experience to have the gallery co-owner Mary Leigh Cherry walk a small group through the exhibition Bitch is the New Black at the Honor Fraser Gallery (beautiful space, great gallery). And that was the first time I was exposed to Ross-Ho’s work. She is a young art star worth following.
Marc Garanger: Documenting Dignity
In 1960, Marc Garanger was the official photographer of the French army that occupied Algeria in 1960. The French military forced the Algerians to build new houses around the military barracks. As part of the occupation. Garanger’s commanding officer ask him to photograph all the villagers for mandatory photo IDs.
In 10 days I took 2000 images. The first days the portraits I took showed the women with their veils on. When I showed the image to the commander, he asked for the veils to be removed.
The village women were photographed against their will without their veils and/or headpieces. Garanger’s Femme Algérienne is a statement of defiance; a strong show of dignity and humanity.
Read more at the British Journal of Photography, NY Times Lens blog, at the NY Photo Festival , watch a video of Garanger, or an interview.
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