72 Suburbs in Search of a City

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© Patrick Romero

I received an email today from J. Wesley Brown announcing a new blog (a new blog!) about the photography scene in Los Angeles. Brown would tell you there is no scene and so the need for We Can Shoot Too. My advice to Angelenos is follow the recipe of Mr. Ulrich and the Chicagrapher crew: find each other, meet each other, support each other, repeat.

Cool Hand Luke RIP

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© Peter Schroeder/drr.net

C Photo, Where Are You?

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C Photo Magazine is a beautiful hardbound publication from Ivory Press that comes out twice a year. Issue number seven is out now and features some of my work. Problem is, I can't seem to track down a copy in New York City. A couple of places I've called have the older editions, but not number seven. Does anyone know where I can find a copy in the city?

Hijacked on Flak Photo

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Last week Andy Adams of Flak Photo fame was in New York and we finally got a chance to chat in person. Andy is a great guy and Flak Photo is proving to be an indispensable source for great photography content.

This month Flak Photo has been highlighting work from the photo book, Hijacked, Volume One. You definitely need to get your hands on a copy of Hijacked because it is gorgeous (and because I'm in it!). If you are looking for some additional motivation to purchase Hijacked, go to Flak Photo now to get a taste of some of the work featured in the book.

The 12 Lies of Sarah Palin

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I know team Obama's message strategy is all-McCain-all-the-time right now, but this convenient list of 12 Palin lies from Andrew Sullivan is worth memorizing.

Further Evidence of an Impending Apocalypse

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From Best Week Ever:

For some reason, esteemed celebrity photographer Martin Schoeller, who has created stark portraits of Hollywood legends, such as Angelina Jolie, Christopher Walken, Jack Nicholson, and Tom Hanks, was convinced to use his time and talent taking pictures of Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt. The results? Terrifying.

I'm imagining an episode of Antiques Roadshow airing 150 years from now, in which a hillbilly comes in with these two portraits, having purchased them for $5 at a garage sale. The appraiser goes into a long explanation of the genius and value of Martin Schoeller's work. You can see the excitement in the hillbilly’s eyes as he starts to believe that he has something very valuable on his hands. Then the appraiser says, "Now, if you had brought in one of Schoeller's portrait of say, Bill Clinton or Sting, they would have been worth upwards of $400,000 each. But these two aren’t in demand and represent the later years in which Schoeller's work greatly slipped in relevance, and they’re worth virtually nothing today." The hillbilly slinks away in defeat.

See the carnage here.

2008 SVA Alumni Auction Tonight

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Cuttings © Amy Stein

If you are in New York tonight and you love the sound of gavels, make your way over to the Visual Arts Gallery for the 2008 School of Visual Arts Alumni Society Auction. They will be honoring Lynda Benglis, Gregory Crewdson and Lorna Simpson and auctioning off a boatload of great work by SVA alumni, faculty, mentors and friends. For more information or to purchase tickets go here.

Here are the details:

SVA Alumni Society Auction
Tuesday, September 23, 6-9pm
Visual Arts Gallery
601 West 26th Street, 15th Floor
New York, NY

Register Now for Critical Mass 2008

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© Peter van Agtmael

Entering Photolucida's Critical Mass program was one of the best decisions I've made in my career. I was fortunate to win the book prize in 2006 and I can't begin to tell you the number of gallerists, curators and editors I've met who've told me they first saw my work through Critical Mass. This year they were kind enough to ask me to be a judge.

Registration for Critical Mass 2008 is now open and will remain open through October 6th.

This Is Heavy Metal!

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Data visualization artists Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg ask the question, "what do we sing about, when we sing about the body?" Their answer is nothing short of genius.

Battle Photo: Hang Ups!

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© Alejandra Laviada

vs.

© Brooke Berger

Pre-order America

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Sweet Jeebus Yes! Zoe Strauss' book is almost here! Pre-order you copy here and here.

But The Good News Is...

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© Ofer Wolberger

John McCain and Sarah Palin keep me up at night.

But the good news is...

The Camera Club of New York's exhibition My Other Nature is opening tonight. The show "explores how we mark our environment and loved ones with memories and pieces of ourselves" and features some great photographers like Ofer Wolberger and Amy Elkins.

Here are the details:

My Other Nature
The Camera Club of New York
Sept 12 - Oct 10
336 W. 37th St. Suite 206
New York, NY
Opening Reception: Friday, Sept 12, 6-8pm

Also opening today is How I Spent My Summer Vacation at Michael Mazzeo Gallery. The show features a ton of strong work including pieces by Cara Philips and Will Steacy.

Here are the details:

How I Spent My Summer Vacation
Michael Mazzeo Gallery
Sept 12 - Oct 11
526 W 26th St. Suite 209
New York, NY
Opening Reception: Friday, Sept 12, 6-8pm

I will be at both opening tonight and I hope to see your there.

Five in Focus

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Still from Ulrich Seidl's Dog Days

I love movies, so I was pretty excited when Focus Features asked me to do a writeup of the five films that have inspired my creative process. Wittling it down to five was no easy task, but I feel pretty good about my list.

After you check out my five, take a look at lists by Gregory Crewdson, Lauren Greenfield and Larry Sultan.

What's your top five?

Ryan McGinley and Spencer Tunick

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The other day my husband asked me, "what's the significant difference between the work of Ryan McGinley and Spencer Tunick?"

He continued, "they both construct nude-filled landscapes."

At first I laughed, but the more I thought about it...

San Sebastian 5 © Spencer Tunick

Tree #3 © Ryan McGinley

Is the difference a sense of order versus the illusion of spontaneity? Or, is the difference merely that Ryan McGinley chooses hotter models?

Thoughts?

John Pfahl's Altered Landscapes

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Australian Pines, Fort DeSoto, Florida, 1977 © John Pfahl

Saturday I toured a number of current exhibitions in Chelsea and was lucky to catch the final day of When Color Was New: Vintage Photographs From Around the 1970s at Julie Saul Gallery. The show featured quite a few iconic images from Sternfeld, Goldin and Eggleston, but the work of John Pfahl really stood out. I had forgotten how much I loved John Pfahl's Altered Landscape series.

Triangle, Bermuda, 1975 © John Pfahl

John made this series in the 1970s, but the images feel very contemporary because this style of photography is in vogue with the new wave of snapshot youth. But where many young photographers only go as deep as the ironic juxtaposition of an object in an environment, John's interventions manage to weave the primal simplicity of the Lascaux drawings with a playful complexity that reveals an intelligence very much of this time.

Wave, Lave, Lace, Pescadero Beach, California, 1978 © John Pfahl

I love the way these photos play with space. John has created images that at once seem flat and two dimensional and then suddenly reveal a depth that is expansive as the ocean itself. Truly ahead of its time.

Moonrise over Pie Pan, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, 1977 © John Pfahl

Second Issue of 1000 Words

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© Anri Sala

The second issue of 1000 Words Magazine is now up. The theme is "Construct" and includes work by Thomas Demand, Anri Sala, Iosif Kiraly, Richard Learoyd, Indre Serpytyte and yours truly. It also includes some solid writing by Tim Clark, J. MacNeil Miller, Chas Bowie, Michael Grieve, Pedro J. Vicente Mullor and Jörg Colberg. Take a look.

Gross

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Charles Dharapak / Associated Pres

This is the worst kind of political theater. It's just really cynical and gross. Josh Marshall does a great job of breaking down the choreography.

Domesticated Show Reviewed in ARTnews

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Today, on the drive home from our vacation we stopped at a Barnes & Noble in New Haven to pick up the September issue of ARTnews. The magazine features a review of my Domesticated show at the Paul Kopeikin Gallery.

I have known for almost a month the review was coming and the September issue has been out for a few days now, but I have been too apprehensive to pick it up until today. I was so nervous I had my husband read it first while I browsed the fiction aisle. When I came back he was smiling.

Here's the review by Richard Chang:

In her first solo exhibition, titled "Domesticated," Amy Stein explored the point where the civilized world and wild-animal habitats. For her compelling photographs, the artist restages real encounters between humans and animals. The scenes are united by their setting: the area in and around Matamoras, a small town in northeast Pennsylvania that borders a state forest.

Stein specializes in unexpected juxtapositions. In Nursery (2007) a spotted doe appears to have just awakened in a greenhouse among meticulously organized flowers, cacti, and hanging potted plants. Watering Hole (2005) features a young girl in a blue bathing suit standing on the edge of a diving board, staring down a large bear poised on its hind legs. Only a low chain-link fence separates them.

The narratives are enhanced by Stein's formal skill. Trasheaters (2005), showing two coyotes picking over spilled garbage outside a suburban ranch house, contrasts the animals' natural grace with hard geometry of the circular metal trash can, the triangular roofline, and three rectangular windows emitting a harsh yellow light as a sign of nearby human presence.

Backyard (2007) shows a hunter behind a chain-link fence, aiming his rifle at a turkey trotting across a snow-covered meadow. The placement of the hunter makes it look as if he's the one confined. Through such clever scene-setting, Stein reveals the contradictions inherent in mankind's twin impulses to join nature and to tame it.

Whew!