Cruising with Chad States

I saw Chad States the other night and he told me that he had updated his project Cruising. As an out gay man for the better part of my life this terrain is not exactly unfamiliar to me. So with a little bit of posteriori knowledge I went looking. And what I found was a strong visual depiction of what that experience can feel like. I think it succeeds so well in respecting the privacy of the participants. Which I know is an ethical question that Chad struggled with and I believe he solved it quite thoughtfully and still was able to show us something. The work leaves you with a sense of mystery surrounding these anonymous encounters and the erotic communing in nature is highlighted beautifully by Chad's sharp eye.

Good video (and song)...

Lessons Learned

MATT AND KIM | MySpace Music Videos
Found this on The 10 Most NSFW Music Videos Of 2009 - Listomania - Stereogum which I just spent an enjoyable hour watching. This Massive Attack video was pretty interesting.

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Harry Dubin's staged Portraits

I came across a  great post on meta-filter today about a local NYC Grocer and an early owner of a television set, Harry Dubin. While researching a book on television, writer Jeff Kisseloff came across an article in the New Yorker from 1947 about the television habits of Mr. Dubin and his family. Jeff tracked down Harry and that is when Harry showed him his portfolio titled Dubin at work. Harry Dubin created a portfolio of himself assuming the role of various blue collar workers. This was a fabulous discovery and the work is not only a great historical document of old New York but also an important piece of socially concerned art. You can read more of the story here and visit the writer's blog here.

ROMKA

Check out Romka Magazine. It's an interesting and fun assortment of work put together as a pdf in a magazine like format. It makes me anticipate what's coming down the pipeline regarding all the content to be developed for the forthcoming I-slate.

EYE Ohashi

I discovered  a Japanese photobook at Dashwood last year of the most dreamlike and atmospheric photographs - all involving bubbles. It is called Unchained and is a real treasure. There is also some other interesting work on the photographer's website.

Happy New Year!

see the series here...

I came across

this impressive photograph while researching 19th century photographs in the Online Archive of California.

1918 Man and Child with weapon standing in front of barn wall covered with animal pelts. Photographer unknown.

Inspirations...

I've always thought that Gregory Crewdsons' fictions were rooted not only in cinema but that they also borrowed and were inspired by historical photographs like the famous Sternfeld image below. I am more partial to the serendipitous.

A reader has commented about this post and linked to an article in the NY Times titled Joel Sternfeld Versus His Successors. It's a good read and can be found here.

Joel Sternfeld  Exhausted Renegade Elephant, Woodland, Washington 

Gregory Crewdson Untitled from the series Twilight 2001

December's 19th Century Photograph

Lulah Falls, Lookout Mountain, Georgia, 1864–65
Isaac H. Bonsall (American, 1833–1909)
Albumen silver print from glass negative

Barbara Crane

Recently, I had the good fortune to catch a Barbara Crane exhibit at the Stephen Daiter Gallery while in Chicago for the Thanksgiving holiday. Her recent monograph Private Views published by Aperture is one of my favorite books from last year so I was happy to have a chance to see the Polaroids up close and personal. What I didn't know was how much diversity and range there was in regards to the rest of her work. I came away liking Barbara Crane more than I already had. That's always a good feeling.

Private Views 1980 - 84


Private Views 1980 - 84


Fringe Benefit 1975


People of the North Portal 1970-1971


People of the North Portal 1970-1971


Human Form 1965-1966

all images ©Barbara Crane

2 from Hawaii

Jasper, Hanaleia, and Justin   20 Mile Beach, Molokai, Hawaii   2009



Baldwin Beach, Maui, Hawaii   2009

Outerland teaser - now on charleslanepress.com

Check it out here.

© Allison Davies

A Painting

I'm speechless

in case you missed it...

In the Science Times a couple weeks ago there was a fascinating story and slide show about a little known culture in what is now Romania nearly 7000 years old that had a highly developed visual language. There is currently an exhibition of the artifacts titled "The Lost World of Old Europe," at New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World.







Photos: Marius Amarie and Elena-Roxana Munteanu

World AIDS Day

Every December first since 1988 our culture and media highlight and reflect upon the global AIDS crisis. Today I'd also like to draw attention to a couple of powerful projects about AIDS. The first is a Magnum project called Access to Life - where eight photographers followed thirty people around the globe before - and four months after - they underwent antiretroviral therapy. The other is an audio AIDS diary from the Hearing Voices audio project. Both are extremely moving and important works of journalism. Coinciding with the day when President Obama will speak to Americans about the erroneous escalation of the war in Afghanistan - we might try instead to think about all the courageous people fighting to preserve life in the fight against AIDS...

© clockwise from top right; Paolo Pellegrin, Alex Majoli, Eli Reed, Steve McCurry



© Melikhaya Mpumela

Pandemonium in Paris

As reported in Lens Culture at the gala opening night preview of Paris Photo at Carrousel du Louvre thousands of anonymous vintage photos were dumped into a giant pile, scattered about, and thrown around while the protesters shouted "free, free, free!" The subversive act of giving away free and potentially precious photographs in the face of photo art market hullabaloo is a fantastic act. I totally commend their action and would love to see more such statements reminding people of the truth behind value.







Paris Photo 2009 Performance Fabien Breuvart

Fantastic Fantastic Mr. Fox

I just saw and was really impressed with the new Wes Anderson film Fantastic Mr. Fox. The story is adapted from a Roald Dahl novel and is certain to be an instant animated classic. The animation was extremely beautiful and totally original. The story delightful. The film is old school handmade live action. Way to go analog! I can't recommend it enough.

Happy Thanksgiving

November's 19th Century Photograph

Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) Untitled (Lighthouse,), 1868