Bits & Pieces

Also if you have not made it to Tim Briner’s show at Daniel Cooney Fine Art, you should take a look.  The show is up until Feb. 27, 2010

The Slideluck Potshow folks have a new call for entries for the first ever show focused on women:

Women’s Work, is a collaboration between Slideluck Potshow and Ladies Lotto that will be taking place in Los Angeles on March 27th, during Women’s Awareness Month. For more info or to submit go here.

And check out our latest, WIPNYC show, Jen Davis is one of my favorite artists!

Intern at Cultural Hall

From PalmAire.

Hope You Can Come

I am thrilled to be included in the upcoming group show, Versus at Hous Projects.  Even more exciting for me, it is curated by Ruben Natal San-Miguel, who is pretty much everywhere these days, not only as a curator but as an artist. He has been an unbelieveable supporter of my work and he has so much for enthusiasm for photography you cannot help but carried along with him.  Also I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Elizabeth Houston of Hous Projects in Miami, and I am super impressed by the group of artists she and Ruben have managed to pull together for this exhibit. Click below to what is in store. The opening is Jan 7th from 6 – 10 pm at Hous Projects, 31 Howard St, 2nd Fl.  Hope to see you there and Happy New Year!

Brian Ulrich vs. Alex Leme

Mickalene Thomas vs. Nadine Rovner

Hank Willis Thomas vs. Cara Phillips

Amy Elkins vs. Molly Landreth

Matthew Pillsbury vs. Kris Graves

Phil Toledano vs. Elizabeth Fleming

Zoe Strauss vs. Ruben Natal-San Miguel

Jen Davis vs. Eric Ogden

Michael Wolf vs. Gina Levay

INTERN WANTED!!!

Job Description:

Work remotely

You must have access to your own Mac work station

Good organizational skills

Reliable!!!

Photoshop skills for fine-art; including dusting, masks, alpha channels, color correction for RGB and Grayscale, and digital output

Large format experience

Scanning skills, imacon or epson flatbed

Interest in learning and photography a must!

Production, printing, scanning, assisting, (large format & lighting)

Good writing and people skills, and understanding of professional standards

I am looking for a long-term intern for 3 upcoming projects.  The first requires a great deal of organization skill and can be done on your own time, the second is production help for several upcoming shows, and the third requires research and contacting companies on my behalf for an upcoming project. I worked for many years as an intern so I am very understanding about the value of your time, however, I need someone who can commit 1 – 6 hours per week off site to work for the next two months. After that the schedule will be more varied. There is a chance if you are so inclined to also be involved in some of my other curatorial and  photo projects. Please mention in the email if you interested in writing or WIPNYC.  The internship is currently un-paid, however, I am happy to share my time and energy to help you on your artistic path in any way I able to do so.

Please send you resume, references and a short cover letter to caraphi@gmail.com

Thank you!

Two Women Not To Be Missed

I was thrilled to see one of my most influential photo mentors, Penelope Umbrico featured in the current issue of FOAM.  Not only is she an orginal and amazing artist, she has also taught some of the most talented artist’s I know at various institutions around New York.  Truthfully, I do not think my work would be half of what it is without her influence, and she really supported me at a time when I needed it most.  So I encourage you to pick up this issue. Her career has really kicked into overdrive (long overdue if you ask me) since her “Flickr Suns” installation piece was featured at the first NY Photo Festival. It was my favorite thing in that show, more of her work can be seen at her website.

And my partner in WIPNYC crime, Amy Elkins this Sat at the Carnegie Art Museum. If you are in Southern, CA, you should check it out.

Home•sick

Carnegie Art Museum is located at 424 South C Street in Oxnard, California. The opening public reception is from 4 to 7 pm on Saturday, December 12. The show runs through December to February 21.

For more information, please go to: www.trujillopaumier.com/homesick/

©Amy Elkins from the series Black is the Day, Black is the Night

Tonight

Rare talk by Deborah Turbeville hosted by the Camera Club

Thursday, November 19th. 7pm
The School of Visual Arts Amphitheatre
209 E. 23rd Street (2nd and 3rd avenues), 3rd Floor
(please bring photo ID)

Book signing and sale to follow the lecture.

Free to CCNY members, SVA students, faculty, and staff
General admission $10, $5 for other students with ID

Blogs Reach Another Level

While I am sadly out of the blog game these days, that does not mean I am totally unaware or unimpressed with the incredible and ambitious things I am seeing elsewhere. As I have first hand knowledge of the work that goes into self-generated content/projects, I just wanted to take a moment to call attention to some of the great things currently on the web. Here is a sampling.

Too Much Chocolate:

Not only did they get sponsored by a major corporation, Kodak, to give a serious project grant, it has morphed into online meeting place and has a great design.  And impressive–advertising. Plus it has chocolate in its name.

The Exposure Project:

Books, exhibits, online projects, blog posts, I am not sure how Ben Alper has time to sleep, but EP has been going strong for some time and continues to generate interesting web-based projects and does community building.

Lay Flat:

Ah Shane Lavalette.  Were we all so accomplished at such a young age, and sweet, and talented…. wow I need my tote bag now that I think about it….

Picture Black Friday:

An ambitious new project spearheaded by John Saponara.  If you have not read about it, you should take a look. It is a uniquely human and politically charged project.  As the name implies, the deadline is fast approaching.

Feature Shoot

I recently discovered this online mag that features a very eclectic mix of work.  Some much better than others, but worth a look.

Good Job Boys!

Last time Humble did this exhibit there was quite a bit of hubbub about it, and while I stayed out of the fray, I was very happy to have this email in my inbox this morning. Jon and Amani always have the best intentions of artists, I have experienced this first hand on so many occasions, and this is just one more great way to support all artists!

Great news!

Dear Friends,After considering Humble Arts Foundation’s mission to advance the careers of emerging art photographers, we have decided to eliminate the age barrier for our 31 exhibition. We have always affirmed that “emerging” is not analogous with age. Therefore, effective immediately, women photographers, regardless of age are eligible and encouraged to apply for the newly titled 31 Women in Art Photography exhibition curated by Jon Feinstein and Charlotte Cotton. Go here for deadlines, submission guidelines and additional details.   Sincerely, amani olu and Jon Feinstein Founders, Humble Arts Foundation

CONGRATS!!

For those of you living in a complete NY-photo media blackout, you might not have heard about Ruben Natal-San Miguel’s show UNSEEN: A Photographer’s Salon, which opened last night at RSG, Randall Scott Gallery in Dumbo. Ruben, aka Artmostfirece, is one of the most dedicated photo supporters. There is not an opening or a fabulous party that he misses. I don’t think collectors and artists always become friends, but Ruben has gone out of his way to do so with the artists he supports. Ruben has always come out for my openings, and it is such a good feeling to walk into an art event and see his smiling face and fab outfit. So of course I was even more upset when I had to stay at work last night and miss the opening, which included a piece of my work! But I am excited to see that his show was a big success. So I look forward to heading out to Dumbo and seeing the show post-opening. There is also an upcoming artist talk, TBD. A great time to see the show is during the upcoming Artlog collectors event: Collect Dumbo, Friday, October 30, 2009 from 6:30-9pm. For more info go to: Artlog.com & Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC). You can see all the great shows including my friend’s Bill Sullivan & Charles Freger’s show at Caption Gallery, also in 55 Washington on the 8th Fl.

Ruben and I at my solo show in Boston.

Some good photo debate

Via conscientious and Vice. Detroit is my home town so this is a very interesting debate for me. Also my father was involved in restoring one of these great “Detroit ruins.”  It is a debate that resonates even more during these hard economic times–the “just” way to document suffering is a long -running photo debate.

Andrew Moore “Gary Indiana”

Last week to catch my show!

Also, I am thrilled that Matthew Gambler of Big Red & Shiny reviewed the show today.  I have admired the Boston-based site for a long time and it is so flattering to have my work included there. People often complain that there is no good art criticism these days, but perhaps they are not reading BRS.  I don’t think I can begin to describe the effort, time and expense put into to making this show happen.  It has been an undertaking, and it would never have been possible without the help of James Hull, Gerald La Starza (having a super talented art director and furniture designer as a boyfriend who can make your frames is a big plus,) the amazing retoucher and printer Shane Connors,  Beth Schiffer, and my very supportive and understanding boss at Newsweek as well my crit group and a list of other supporters.  So thank you all, for hanging in there with me.

I have some theories…

New research says women are getting unhappier…

Drum Roll Please…

One thing that the web does exceedingly well is bring together people who might otherwise never have met.  However, developing real relationships with those you connect with online can be tricky. Sometimes it does translate into real life friendships. For instance, I met many other artists I consider friends through Ground Glass and Women in Photography, (shout out to Ms. Elkins here,) but often it ends after a few email exchanges that leave you feeling rather dissatisfied.  I think many of us have been craving some sort of deeper connection in the blog world for some time. There have been several efforts to do this, some more successful than others.

In my case this past year has been about shifting my focus from blogging to my own art work and to WIPNYC.  In that vein, it has been very important to me to get feedback from peers I can respect.  I was lucky enough this past spring to meet an extraordinary group of artists called POC, who generously allowed me to be a part of their group for one week in Salzburg.  And it was a revelation.  It was like all of the impulses that had led me to blog were suddenly fulfilled.  I had found a community, but a flesh and blood one, who were 100 percent committed to the pursuit of photography.  I actually stumbled upon the Piece of Cake website several years ago, right when I started studying photography. I remember thinking “wow what would it be like to be a part of something like that?” However at the time they only accepted European artists.  But somehow, in May I was sitting in on their workshop and at the end of the week I had agreed to spearhead the creation of a North American version.

It is crazy how things happen. But it has already been one of the best things that has happened in my photo journey so thus far.  We launched the American version this week, for now we have a small group but we are hoping to add more artists, from Canada and Mexico and other parts of the US as time goes on.

POC is basically a network of artists who meet, exhibit and work together to discuss and promote the medium of photography.  The US & European members hope to open a dialog across the Atlantic.  We are still in the process of discovery and are exited to see what will develop with the project.

There will be more info to come. But the first POC exhibit opens this Thursday at Caption Gallery in Dumbo.  Bill Sullivan and Charles Freger, representing both networks will share the space.  I hope you can join us to launch the new endeavor.

Have a look at the website to view the work of both Piece’s of Cake.

Caption Gallery

55 Washington 8th fl

Thursday Oct 1

6:30 – 8:30

Women Who Rock – LA Style

I often discuss the strange and continuing disconnect between the New York and West Coast photo/art scenes.  For some reason NY/Chicago/Portland, seem to have dialog and relationships, largely because of blogs and perhaps personal relationships among artists.  But California remains an island. I am certain that lots of great stuff is happening there–after Ed Ruscha and other than TMZ, which in a way is sort of like a bizarre performance art piece.  Sharon Lockhart for instance is one of the most innovative and interesting photographers out there, but she rarely is referenced in the NY art scene.  But two self-described NY transplants, Nicole Lloyd and Cara Nieto, have started a blog to document and promote the LA art scene.  Both are artists and curators themselves. Nicole and I met after she included my work in the LA Slideluck Potshow, a couple years ago.  She is also a talented photog in her own right and an SVA alum.  Their blog Superluminal is a well needed bridge to the other side…aka California!

–

If you happen to be in Chelsea today I will be presenting a selection of my Ultraviolet work as part of the first Project 5 artist salon at Daniel Cooney Fine Art. The talk begins at 3pm and includes artists: Timothy Briner, Jessica Dimmock, Yola Manakhov.511 West 25th Street, Suite 506. I will be speaking last.

Blogs doing it right

Ok, so I am such a bad blogger, that I only got around to updating my expired custom CSS today, so some of you may have noticed GG looked pretty nasty for the last few weeks.  And now that my first solo show is finally pretty my done, I thought I would try to get back to the blog.  However, now it looks like I am moving, and I did my “to do” list on the train to Boston, and by page seven, I started to not be able to read my own handwriting.  Realistically I am not sure I can maintain my GG, right now. I have hit a moment in my personal life and work, where the stakes are the highest they have ever been and every moment matters.  Ground Glass has been the thing that slipped through the cracks… and I have lost track with the blogging world.  However, I got a google alert with my name on it recently from NYMPhoto’s blog.  And I spent some time looking over what they have been up to lately, and I was very impressed.  They are consistently providing good content with interviews and information about events and openings.

So if you are not reading it now, you should take a look.

And I will try to periodically add content here, until I get around to figuring out the next phase of GG.

—

Also, the Blurb 2009 Photography Book Now winner’s have been announced, take a look at this year’s winners.

Singular Beauty Opens in Boston

Here is part of the reason I have been MIA from blogging. My first solo show will run from August 17th – October 10th, 2009 at the Suffolk University Art Gallery. I hope those of you in the Boston area can make it to the opening on September 17th. Needless to say, I can’t wait to see the work on the wall in a finished installation.

Singular Beauty

Curated by James Hull

Suffolk University Art Museum at NESAD

Opening Reception September 17th, 6-8:30pm

75 Arlington St, Boston MA

On Blog Exhaustion

It was funny for me to read Joerg Colberg’s recent post on blogs,  I myself have had a half-hearted post about the state of blogs lingering as an unfinished draft for some time. But not surprisingly with my current life, I never got around to posting it. My general feeling about photo blogs has been a bit negative lately–that is not against other people’s blogs, but towards the overly insular and self-contained universe that it created. While I think some incredible things came out of it, and I have made some real friendships, ultimately it was not satisfying the true need I had to be more engaged in the photo process with my peers. In fact, it started to feel like an impediment to my own creative process. The amount of energy and time that was going into Ground Glass, was sucking me a little dry–leaving very little time or energy to make pictures.

However after my recent experience of having a meaningful, engaged dialog with my peers in person, I left re-energized and brimming with ideas. In a way, not blogging has helped me finally really edit of my Singular Beauty work, it gave me time to finish my book and actually start sending out my mock-up, and it gave me time to make room for a new project. So as much as I loved blogging, I realized for me right now, I had to choose. And paying my bills and my own photo work has to come first. Followed by Women in Photography. There is not a whole lot left over after that. I wish I could be super woman, but sadly I am not.

But at the Young Curators New Ideas, II opening, I got into a conversation with two woman who are still actively blogging. I will admit I was a bit negative about the entire “blogoshpere,” but the next day I got a google alert and went to PalmAire, (WIPNYC artist) Tema Stauffer’s blog and realized that is it me that is currently experiencing blog exhaustion. Both Tema, and Tethered’s, Elizabeth Fleming, have really engaging, personal and intelligent posts. And other blog’s, like Horses Think, and Nina Corvallo’s blog, and others, have continued to be really great reads. I think at the heart of the blog, is the personal voice. For me, blogs that stay like personal online diaries, and have an certain intimacy and that focus on sharing information about a subject they truly love, work best. When blogs move into the professional media territory, they start to lose a bit of soul.

Once blogs become “professionalized,” to me they are less interesting. The internet is the great equalizer, it is a place where major news organizations compete with small individuals for market share and audience. Something that was impossible when you had to pay to publishing costs.  So I understand the temptation to step up your game, but there are so many blogs now from the mainstream press, why not keep the individual blog more personal and less concerned with blog stats.  Unless you want to become a mainstream media outlet, with advertising etc. Which, by the way, I am not against.

Yet blogs like PalmAire and Horses Think, remind of what a valuable part of the photo community a blog can be–and perhaps now that my first solo show is close to being completely framed and delivered to the gallery, I will again be drawn back to share some of the amazing things that have happened in the last few months. But until then, there are a lot of wonderful voices out there, you just need to find the ones you care enough to listen to.

Project 5

If you have not heard about it already something exciting has been brewing in Chelsea. I think this is a very intelligent and positive way to respond to the current economic crisis, and I am involved with a similar effort to unite artists.

While the portfolio’s are bit outside of my budget, the portfolio reviews are an amazing opportunity and I am sure will sell out fast.  I can say from personal experience that these reviews really can lead to things, even if it takes some time.

So take a look if you have a new project, just graduated school, or want to introduce your work to some of the best NY photo galleries.  Also, I am very honored to be taking part in their first “Artist Salon” on September 26th.  See all the info below, the Project 5’s press release:

Amador Gallery, ClampArt, Daniel Cooney Fine Art, Foley Gallery and Sasha Wolf Gallery are proud to announce their collaboration on a series of projects.

This unique cooperation between gallerists has grown from years of friendships and shared ambitions in the photography market. Reaching out to one another to create these new initiatives seemed like the next step for these 5 to collectively grow their shared ideals while maintaining their own distinguished programming.

The galleries, referred to here as, Project 5, will begin their collaboration with a portfolio of 5 images by 5 artists, one from each of the participating Project 5 galleries to be released on September 15. All images will be unique to the portfolio—made specifically by the participating artists for this project. The artists included are: Olaf Otto Becker from Amador, Jill Greenberg from ClampArt, Stuart O’Sullivan from Daniel Cooney, Thomas Allen from Foley Gallery and Guido Castagnoli from Sasha Wolf Gallery.

The portfolios will be released in an edition of 30, priced with new collectors in mind at $2500. Each print will be signed and numbered by the artist and the portfolio will be enclosed in a custom made clothbound case. The portfolio offers collectors the unique opportunity of starting a relationship with five different artists and galleries at the same time.

Additionally, Project 5 is introducing a series of Portfolio Reviews for artists who feel they would benefit from the valuable input of these gallerists’ expertise. The first Portfolio review will be Sunday, September 20^th. Project 5 asks that artists send ten jpgs to projectfivecontact@gmail.com.

Another exciting collaboration will be a monthly series of Artist’s Salons that will alternate between Project 5’s galleries. The first Salon will be held at Daniel Cooney Fine Art on Saturday, September 26^th at 3:00 p.m. and will feature four emerging artists presenting their latest bodies of work for a half hour each. Participating artists are Timothy Briner, Yola Monakhov, Jessica Dimmock, and Cara Phillips.

Two Reasons I Love What I Do

While I know I have been not blogging very much the last 3 or 4 months, I have been immersed in my own work, in Women in Photography and in my day job. While I miss you all very much and the blog community, I have had so many great things happening I have decided to be ok with letting the blog go a bit until I can redefine its next incarnation.

But just so you know how I am spending my time here are two of the things I am happily immersed in.  More soon on my own work….

The loss of Polaroid has been pretty devastating to many photographers, it has had a big effect on my UV work, and I am still trying to figure out how to do it without type 54 or 55.  So when they said they were doing a piece on the loss of Polaroid at work, I was immediately excited to do something.

We put together an online gallery of the incredibly varied work made by photographer’s who use the instant film. And we asked them to tell us why they chose to work with Polaroid or what made it special. This meant that I got to speak to Chuck Close and David Levinthal about working with the 20×24 camera and email with Philp Lorca di Corcia.  Suffice to say, it was a fantastic experience.  You can see the gallery and read the quotes now on newsweek.com.

And today a new WIPNYC show went up with Lynne Cohen.  She has a new book out of all her color work, which is fantastic. This show is personally very exciting for me because Lynne is one of my favorite photographers.  I will never forget a few months into what would become Singular Beauty, my photo teacher Joel Sternfled, looked at my empty spa room and said, “I think you should look at Lynne Cohen.”  Of course after seeing her extraordinary work, I almost abandoned my entire project.  But after some time and thought, her work made me realize how important conceptual framework is to a body of work, and I also began to see how despite the similar subject matter, how very different our approach and ultimate goals were.

If you have a chance check out her show here.

Lynne Cohen | Untitled (Submarines)

A Very Good Cause

While I am sure you have all already seen it, Joerg Colberg is holding a fundraiser for his blog Conscientious.  Blogs are indeed a labor  of love, and Amy and I have certainly discovered from Women in Photography how demanding and time consuming they can be.  And Joerg certainly treats his blog as a professional endeavour, all done for no compensation.  The reality of internet advertising, is that if you have less than a 100,000 hits a day, you really are not going to make any money.

So, if you read his blog and can spare $5, $10, or $20+ dollars, it is a worthy cause indeed.