I have always had a strong curiosity about Karl Lagerfeld and what thinks about his work, life & fashion. Answering metaphysical questions that have been plaguing him throughout his career saying “I would like you to describe you, and tell you if you are really that way.” He replies to himself, “You have what you see, that’s all.”
It was inevitable that the day would come when Kodak Eastman would file for bankruptcy protection, and today is the day. There is some great editorial coverage on the events as they unfold; so instead here are some of their moments in historical advertising to remind us just how much of an important role they have played in the development of photography in popular culture.
I feel so privileged to be able to experience first hand how these beautiful species emerge from their casings, here I am just preparing and mounting them ready for the hatching room. They include Caligo Eurilochus, Morpho Peleides, Morpho Amathonto & Morpho Alexandrovana.
If a photographer cares about the people before the lens and is compassionate, much is given. It is the photographer, not the camera, that is the instrument.” (Eve Arnold)
Known for being the first woman photographer to join the ranks of the Magnum Photo agency. “She will perhaps be best remembered for her exceptional photographs of people; the famous, politicians, musicians, artists and the unknown, her intimate, sensitive and compassionate ten year collaboration with Marilyn Monroe has cemented her as one of the most iconic portrait photographers of our time, but it is the long term reportage stories that drove Arnold’s curiosity and passion.” says her agency.
During her long career, Arnold published more than 15 monographs. Later this month, TeNeues will release All About Eve, a 216-page retrospective of her work, including some of her most iconic images, as well as many never-before published images.
Whilst celebrity imagery is not a genre I hold a particular fondness for; I could name a lot of past and current photographers whose talents are nothing more than newsworthy in my opinion. For me the question is; were they great photographers or did they just spend five minutes with someone famous in front of their lens; and make the rest of their career spinning off of the experience? Eve Arnold was different, I truly admire the intimacy of her work and the level of respect she earned from her subjects and piers alike over a lifetime refining her craft.
You can hear Eve discuss her work recorded in 1990 on the BBC radio website and you can read her obituary published in the LA Times here.
Marilyn Monroe at the gaming tables in Reno, Nevada during filming of The Misfits. 1960
Silvana Mangano at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.1956
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Shepperton, England.1963
Amazon are now taking pre-orders for the soon to be released ‘Tokyo Taxi’ published and ready for shipment on the 2nd March 2012 – you can order your copy HERE
and a couple of detail shots to give you a better ideas of these works…
For the past month I have been locked away in the studio working on a new release of single edition large format butterflies. For this new series I have been working with specimens from Peru, Colombia, Thailand and Argentina including species like Morpho Rheteno Helena, Morpho Goadarti Assarpai and Morpho Menelaus Alexandrovana.
Selected images will be produced as a single unique print measuring 160×160cms. Each will be dry mounted to a polished Aluminum sheet and then face mounted to anti-glare Diasec, framed in lush velvet and deep Maple wood.
Once these prints are made the original transparencies will be destroyed to ensure each works unique provenance. Here are just a couple of examples of this new direction in the underwater butterfly series with bubbles energising themselves in freeform movement through the scene.
From my viewpoint as an artist, the sale figure attained for Rhein II, came as no great surprise. Based on the past auction records achieved for Gursky’s work and looking at the defiantly strong demand in general for photographic artworks considering the general world economy, works by Gursky offer strong investment potential, regardless of how one views the artistic content.
Gursky has pieces in major museums like the Museum of Modern Art and London’s Tate Modern and studied under the renowned Bernd and Hilla Becher in Germany.
The image itself is 6×11 feet mounted to plexiglass, and maybe his very German-ness contributes to the price, too. The Rhine is “one of the most symbolic motifs in German art,” says Francis Outred, head of Europe in post-war and contemporary art at Christie’s. It runs through Gursky’s hometown of Dusseldorf, as well as six European countries, and has inspired art for centuries.
But Outred contends that this photo is exceptional: “One of the most powerful and profound depictions ever to be created of the Rhine, the photo’s unique scale draws an ineffable link to the actual natural landscape, inviting the viewer to cross over into its vivid picture plane.”
Then there’s the technique: Gursky is famous for his large-scale productions, for his exacting printing methods and for pioneering a unique combination of film and digital processes. Although I was surprised to know that the original image has been heavily doctored by removing people and a factory on the far shoreline.
One thing I am hugely excited about is that the art world is very much looking at photography no longer as the poor mans art eating the scraps from the tables of the bourgeois. Photography is completely defying global economies and markets in an ever more excitable market place. Now all we need to do is get the ‘in-camera’ artists up there in the same conversation.
I am always on the lookout for new shoot locations, and I stumbled across this one entirely by accident. Located right next to St Pauls Cathedral with a public seating area, and thats quite a rarity on any rooftop in London.
iconoclast — n
1. a person who attacks established or traditional concepts, principles, laws, etc
2. a destroyer of religious images or sacred objects
Curator Katie Heller in association with Pertwee Anderson & Gold & Edel Assanti, Iconoclasts explores how artists have often looked to the past to shape the present, either assimilating or reacting against it. In this exhibition are selected a new breed of pre-eminent, contemporary British artists at the forefront of their field, whose work pays tribute to their predecessors whilst at the same time creating something entirely modern. The viewer is forced to see this evolution, to retrieve it from art history and bring it up to date. For the traditionalist this may at times be uncomfortable: for the more forward thinking we are simply breathing new life into the old.
Hosted at the Lloyds Club in Crutched Friars, a quarter of London steeped in history providing the perfect setting for this exhibition. The grade II listed building was built in 1616 by the Ambassador of France and the road Crutched Friars, known at The Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross, dates back to 1210. The club was formed in 1920, originally an establishment frequented by bankers and men of the city. This is the first time that the club is opening up to the public, inviting you to enjoy both the space and the art and if you so wish the food and wine.
And so it is in the heart of London’s financial center, as the very fabric of the World’s financial order appears to be unravelling, that we challenge the old guard while inviting our audience to question their values and ideals, and perhaps catch a glimpse of a different order.
Artists include Wendy Bevan, Jodie Carey, Gordon Cheung, Oliver Clegg, Nancy Fouts, Henry Hudson, Alice Instone, Alexander James, Anne-Marie James, Anthony Noel Kelly, Alexander Massouras, Laurence Owen, Alan Rankle, Martin Smith, Rebecca Stevenson, Bouke de Vries, Simon Ward and Masaki Yada.
The show is on from the 2nd of December until 23rd February. Visit the Lloyds Club website HERE.
This is a guest post by photographer Lauren Phillips from the PhotographyDegrees.org website
Photography Degrees aims to support & guide students with an unbiased view on available tuition programs.
I can’t remember the last time I went to a photo lab to have a roll of film developed or to convert my digital photographs into print photographs. It’s been years since I’ve had to print my photos before I could view my photos. Thanks to technology, I can now just plug my camera (or camera phone) into a computer and view them on computer screen. As with so many other things in my world, photography now seems to be more about instant gratification than capturing memories, and I have just realized that that is not an ideal state of affairs.
My first camera was given to me by my parents when I was four years old. It was a small Mickey Mouse camera. Because a roll of film only gave me a few chances to capture a good photo, I chose my shots carefully. When I received my finished photo prints from the lab, I would proudly place them in a Minnie Mouse album (I had a slight obsession with Disney characters). I still have those photographs today. So many emotions are evoked when I look at those pictures. They offer a glimpse into who I was as a child and what was important to me (I took a lot of pictures of my dolls, my family, my backyard). Fast forward to today and you would be hard pressed to find a photo print in my apartment. I just don’t think about family or friends photographs as tangible objects anymore! For at least five years now I have been solely viewing and sharing photographs on the internet without even giving it a thought.
Now, I’m not saying that digital photography is bad and that we should all revert to film. All I’m saying is the speed and ease of uploading photos to the internet has made the printing of photographs all but nonexistent for the everyday photographer. The quickness of digital photography and internet sharing has also increased the amount of photos we take, thus decreasing the amount of time we spend on trying to get the best shot we can in only a few tries. I know I just “snap, snap, snap” without giving much thought to lighting, subject or framing. I trust that the more photos I take, the better the chance of getting a great shot. In the end, though, I usually end up with hundreds of unusable shots and a few OK ones.
Essentially, because I have ignored the photo lab for so many years, I do not have any quality print photographs of important life events. Also, because the internet has made me lazy, I have chosen to use my camera phone instead of my SLR to take photos. I mean, who wants to fool around with a SLR camera at a wedding when you can just pull out your phone, snap a photo and immediately upload it to Facebook? The state of the family photo album in my life is very sad; I don’t even own one. Even scarier, I have not backed up any of my digital photos to guard them from loss. The last time I printed any photographs for memory boxes or albums was in 2004. That’s seven years of possible family photograph loss! As I have been neglecting the photo memories in my life, I have also forgotten the true purpose of photography; capturing moments.
If I don’t clean up my act soon, I will not have any pictures of family or friends to look at when I’m old and gray and need a good memory jog. I will not have any photos to share with my children or grandchildren. I don’t want that to happen. I believe that I am not the only person who is neglecting the family photo album. I believe many more are in the same boat as I am. Can we promise ourselves that the photos we take will have a purpose other than instant viewer gratification? Can we start printing important event photos and placing them in a tangible album where they truly belong? Let’s bring the state of the family photo album back to its former glory.
Following on from the success of last year’s ‘The House of the Nobleman’ art exhibition, curator Victoria Golembiovskaya announced her second installment in the series, ‘The Return’ at Boswall House, a magnificent 15,000sqft Grade I listed Regency mansion at 2 Cornwall Terrace, overlooking Regent’s Park and the nearby activity of Frieze Art Fair.
One of the largest and most significant privately sponsored art exhibitions held during the Frieze Art Fair and running on to the end of the year, ‘The Return’ explores ideas of the sacred in art, design and contemporary thought, exhibiting rare and previously unseen works from the most prestigious international collections alongside today’s most notable artists and designers. Francis Bacon, Salvador Dali, Zaha Hadid, Damien Hirst, Claude Monet and Yves Klein are just a few amongst the many represented.
‘The Return’ asks how art can be viewed if the “theological turn” is acknowledged within and parallel to post-modern practice and as an experience beyond pure aesthetic appreciation. The juxtaposition of works spanning different historical periods and mediums explores religious narratives of revival, rebirth and return as well as related topics of landscape, travel and time. Each of the exhibition rooms is dedicated to a varying topic where visitors can have an intimate viewing experience with a range of works across the mediums of painting, photography, mixed media, video, sculpture and design.
Three pieces from my ‘Swarm’ series including a 190×190 large blue Morpho Amathonto have been selected by Miss Golembiovskaya to hang alongside works by; Jia Aili, Iain Andrews, Richard Artschwager, Pyotr Belenok, Laurent Bolognini, Christian Boltanski, Cecily Brown, Alexander Calder, Helen Chadwick, Zeng Chuanxing, Kwang-Young Chun, Oliver Clegg, Francesco Clemente, George Condo, Stefano Curto, Salvador Dali, Shezad Dawood, Edgar Degas, Bouke de Vries, Atul Dodiya, Peter Doig, Carlo Dolci, Marlene Dumas, Olafur Eliasson, Eugenia Emets and Mohammad Taha, Max Ernst, Factory Fifteen, Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Lucio Fontana, Nancy Fouts, Lucian Freud, Adam Fuss, Giovanni Gardini, Zaha Hadid, Damien Hirst, Nick Hornby, Pascal Haudressy, Ji Yong Ho, Yujin Huh, G.R. Iranna, Matthew Day Jackson, Ling Jian, Ma Jun, Anish Kapoor, Sam Keil, Minjung Kim, Yves Klein, Olrik Kohlhoff, Vivienne Koorland, Henry Krokatsis, Oleg Kulik, Yayoi Kusama, David LaChapelle, Sea Hyun Lee, Lihong Li, Zhang Lin Hai, Robert Longo, Kelly McCallum, Robert McNally, Whitney McVeigh, Claude Monet, Takashi Murakami, Zak Ove, Dave Pearson, Maria Pergay, Sigmar Polke, Jesper Rasmussen, Gerhard Richter, Auguste Rodin, Peter Paul Rubens, Rolf Sachs, Lee Jae Sam, Petroc Sesti, Raqib Shaw, Gunwoo Shin, Soheila Sokhanvari, Chaim Soutine, Ian Stallard and Patrik Fredrikson, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Dominico Tibaldi, Margo Trushina, Joana Vasconcelos, Joost van Bleiswijk, Wolfe von Lenkiewicz, Gary Webb, Richard Wilson, Miao Xiaochun, Shi Xinning, Thomas Zipp, Hermes Zygott.
Here are just a few grab shots from inside the space…
It was great to pass by and see the team over at Merrell to see the layouts for the soon to be released ‘Tokyo Taxi’ book. The production team have done a great job in recreating the color tones to bring these images to life and lift them off the page, it was just like being back there seeing these color proofs for the first time.
I found this interesting video on the Flaere Gallery website and there are some poignant comments there to listen out for from the likes of AA Gill and Stephen Bailey.
A quote from a recent interview which is straight to the point about the pitfalls facing the many photographers pouring out of colleges and universities right now.
‘Forget about the profession of being a photographer. First be a photographer and maybe the profession will come after. Don’t be in a rush to pay your rent with your camera. Jimi Hendrix didn’t decide on the career of professional musician before he learned to play guitar. No, he loved music and created something beautiful and that THEN became a profession. Larry Towell, for instance, was not a “professional” photographer until he was already a “famous” photographer. Make the pictures you feel compelled to make and perhaps that will lead to a career. But if you try to make the career first, you will just make shitty pictures that you don’t care about.’
– Christopher Anderson
Recently I spotted a quote on line in an interview given by Martin Parr. He said ‘Part of the role of photography is to exaggerate. Most of the photographs in your paper, unless they are hard news, are lies. Fashion pictures show people looking glamorous. Travel pictures show a place looking at its best, nothing to do with the reality. In the cookery pages, the food always looks amazing, right? Most of the pictures we consume are propaganda.’
To me this is a very succinct definition of how manipulated consumer imagery today has become. These thoughts stuck on my mind when I was recently interviewed by Ms Lorna Genrty, Culture Editor of US based Professional Photographer Magazine. She was surprised to hear that I create ‘in-camera’ all the effects seen in my work; and to still prefer to work with transparencies despite owning a digital Hasselblad.
I mentioned Martin’s comments and found myself flushing with pride over my process and the subjects on which I choose to apply it. There are so many photographers pouring out of colleges and universities every year, making it ever more difficult for them to get noticed; I wish them luck and hope that they are lucky enough to find their own unique voice, as I seem to have found mine.
