Shows Closing Saturday

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Saturday is your last chance to catch the Beyond the Backyard exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago and my New American Fables show at the Robert Koch Gallery in San Francisco. Both shows have been very well received and represent seminal moments in my career so far. While I'm sad to see them come down, I am excited about the opening of the Road Trip exhibition at the San Jose Museum of Art, plus more solo and group show opportunities that I hope to report on soon.

MoCP Recap

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Amy, Jon and Brian, three sheets to the wind

I have been a nomad of late and haven't had time to reflect on some recent adventures. Freshest in my mind is last Thursday's opening of Beyond the Backyard at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago. Karsten Lund did an amazing job of curating a strong group exhibition that was true to the theme and full of individually interesting photographs. Not an easy task. I especially enjoyed seeing the large Crewdson, Bill Owen's work and the beautiful images of Nic Nicosia.

The opening was packed with Chitown photo luminaries including Brian Ulrich, Jon Gitelson, Gerg Stimac, Colleen Plumb, Kelli Connell, Catherine Edelman, Deanna Dikeman, Mike Sinclair, Karsten Lund, Karen Irvine, Natasha Egan and Stumptown's own Shawn Records.

We ended the evening in fine Chicago tradition with many beers, tater tots, fried mac-and-cheese (surprisingly delicious!) and great conversation. I always seem to have the best time when I'm visiting Chicago.

I get to spend the next few days home in NYC, but will be heading to San Francisco this Thursday for the opening of my show at Koch Gallery.

Beyond the Backyard at MoCP

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This morning I will be flying to Chicago for the opening of Beyond the Backyard at the Museum of Contemporary Photography. It will be a short trip, but I always love rolling with the Chicagraphy crew. If you are in the area stop by the opening and say hi. The show has an amazing lineup of photographers including Kohei Yoshiyuki, Bill Owens, Todd Hido, Sally Mann, Garry Winogrand, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Gregory Crewdson, and Portland's own, Shawn Records.

The image above was sent to me by Zach Abubeker, a photography student at Columbia College and an intern at the MoCP. Pretty cool.

Here are the details:

Beyond the Backyard
Museum of Contemporary Photography
June 20 - August 23
600 S. Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL
Opening Reception: Thursday, June 26, 5-7pm

An Opening, Two Closings and a Monkey on a Motorbike

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Pieter Hugo Cover/Juxtapoz Magazine

Just a quick update from the California Zephyr as I speed across America. Tonight my first solo show in Germany opens at the Pool Gallery in Berlin. The people at Pool couldn't be nicer and Art Das Kunstmagzin has chosen the show for their Tip of the Week.

This weekend marks the closing of both my first solo show at Paul Kopeikin Gallery and the Car Culture group show at SMoCA. Very sad to these shows come down, but all things must pass.

Also, some of my work is featured in the latest issue of Juxtapoz Magazine. The issue highlights work by a number of great photographers like Pieter Hugo, Boogie and Corey Arnold. Get your copy now!

Installation Shots and Chorizo Pig

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Finally some installation shots from my shows currently up at Paul Kopeikin Gallery and SMoCA.

Domesticated at Paul Kopeikin







Stranded at SMoCA





(If you could turn around you would see a wall of Robert Franks.)

Chorizo Pig!


I spotted Chorizo Pig in a supermarket in Phoenix. I had a wonderful time in Arizona. Big thanks to Claire Carter, Michael Lundgren, Pat Evans and all the folks at SMoCA.

Car Culture Opening Friday at SMoCA

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Fat Car, 2000 © Erwin Wurm

Work from my Stranded series is currently featured in the exhibit Car Culture at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. The big opening for the show is this Friday from 6 - 8 PM. If you are in Scottsdale or the greater Phoenix area, try to stop by and check out the exhibition.

Also, the folks at SMoCA have put together a snazzy site to compliment the show. It's the next best thing to being there.

Met Scores Big With Arbus Archive

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Woman with a Veil on Fifth Avenue, N.Y.C. © Diane Arbus

Today's NYT reports that the estate of Diane Arbus has gifted her massive personal and professional archive to the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

Now the photographer’s estate has presented this intimate chronicle of Arbus’s life — her complete archives — to the Met as a gift, along with hundreds of early and unique photographs; negatives and contract prints of 7,500 rolls of film; and hundreds of glassine print sleeves that she personally annotated before her death by suicide in 1971.

This is a huge coup for the Met whose contemporary photography offerings have been minimal to date. Congrats to Jeff Rosenheim, curator of the Met’s department of photographs (and my MFA thesis adviser), on this great gift.

How Cool Is This?

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© Robert Bechtle

Six of my Stranded photos are going to be hanging in a museum show next to works by Robert Frank and Robert Bechtle. Holy crap! Seriously, one of these things is not like the others. I will post more about this show later.

"I’m Just a Photographer"

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© Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide/Photo Archive Group

Fascinating story in today's New York Times about Nhem En, the man who took the pictures that serve as chilling evidence of the killing fields of Cambodia. Nhem En was the staff photographer at Tuol Sleng prison, the torture house of the Khmer Rouge.

From the NYT:

He had a job to do, and he did it supremely well, under threat of death, within earshot of screams of torture: methodically photographing Khmer Rouge prisoners and producing a haunting collection of mug shots that has become the visual symbol of Cambodia’s mass killings.

You can see more of these chilling photos at the Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies.

Griffin Opening Recap

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© Colin Blakely

This past Thursday, Shen, Natasha, and I made the journey up to Winchester, MA, for the opening of the 13th Annual Griffin Museum Juried Show. Any time I am covering that much ground on the highways I take along my tripod and the RZ just in case there are some stranded motorists along the way. I am always looking to fill out the series and I was secretly hoping to show off my process to my driving companions. We pulled over twice, but I got a very rare 'no' in the first situation and in the second situation the family had pulled over so their child could pee in a traveling kiddie porta-potty. Oh well.

We arrived at the Griffin Museum, which looked like sweet ginger bread house nestled in an upscale Boston suburb, and met the curator, Paula Tognarelli. After the members and the ever dapper juror, Brian Clamp, arrived, four of the photographers in the show gave presentations on their work. I talked about my process, influences, and took the members through the stories behind each of the five images in the show. My presentation generated so much enthusiasm and so many questions about the Domesticated series, I almost felt sorry for sad sucker who had to follow me. Wait, that sad sucker was Shen. No worries, he did a fabulous job with his presentation, too.

That night I had many a great conversation with members of the Boston arts community and saw a ton of amazing work. Mr. Clamp did a great job of selecting work from the over 2000 photos submitted for entry. Highlights for me included pieces by Shen Wei (of course), Dylan Chatain, Dina Kantor, Daniel Traub, and a real stunner by Colin Blakely.

The whole affair wrapped up around 10 PM and Shen and I made the tactical decision to drive back to New York. We said our goodbyes to Natasha and hit the road. To Boston and back in the same night? Crazy? You bet. But, that's how we roll.

Griffin Museum Juried Show Opening Thursday

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© Shen Wei

I will be on the road again tomorrow traveling all the way to Winchester, MA, for the opening of the Griffin Museum of Photography's 13th Annual Juried Show. My traveling companion this time will be good friend, Shen Wei. I'm hoping he understands when I pull over to photograph stranded motorists along the way.

The Griffin show will feature a number of pieces in the Main Gallery and a two person show in the Emerging Artists Gallery. My Domesticated work will be featured in the two person show. All the work presented in both galleries was judged worthy by this year's juror, the inimitable Brian Clamp.

Prior to the opening Shen, Nicholas Fedak II, David Wolf, and I will all be participating in a gallery talk with museum members.

Here are the details:

13th Annual Griffin Juried Show
August 23 through October 28, 2007
Griffin Museum of Photography
67 Shore Road
Winchester, MA 01890

Opening Reception: Thursday, August 23, 7 PM
Member Gallery Talk: Thursday, August 23, 6:15 PM - 7 PM

If you are in the Boston area, please stop by the opening and say hi.

Doug Dubois: This Photo is Blowing My Mind

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Lise and Spencer in their Backyard © Doug Dubois

First saw this amazing photo by Doug Dubois at the Where We Live exhibition at the Getty. I haven't stopped thinking about it since.

Sketches of Spain

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© Irving Penn

If not for the decades of cocaine and hard partying that took his life in 1991, Miles Davis would have turned 81 yesterday. I can't offer anything new about the man or his numerous contributions to the development of modern music that haven't already been postulated and debated ad nauseam, so I won't even try. I mention Miles' birthday only because we are about to head to Spain for ten days and the convergence of those two events made me think of his amazing collaboration with Gil Evans, Sketches of Spain. When I think of that record I smile.

I also smile when I think about going to Spain for ten days of needed vacation time. The first leg of our trip will be in Madrid for PhotoEspaña. For three days and nights Madrid will be a veritable photography bacchanalia. So many shows during our time in Madrid (including my own work hanging in El Museo de Arte Contemporáneo as part of Descubrimientos PHE) , but I am most excited to attend the opening of the 2007 HSBC Foundation for Photography prize featuring the work of Matthew Pillsbury and Julia Fullerton-Batten. Matthew is a friend (and fellow SVA alumn) and will be there for the opening. Julia and I have almost met several times and I hope she makes it to Madrid for the show.

© Matthew Pillsbury

After Madrid we are traveling north through La Rioja and the Basque country for seven days of rest and wine and wine and rest. If I do not post much during that time it probably means I am having a wonderful trip.

Griffin Museum Juried Show

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The winners were just announced for the 13th Annual Juried Show at the Griffin Photography Museum and I was fortunate to be awarded with a two person show in the Griffin's Emerging Artist Gallery. The juror this year was the always wonderful Brian Clamp. Past winners of the two person show include Rachel Papo and Dorthe Alstrup. Talk about being in great company.

It's always nice when you can share the moment with friends, so I was pleased to read that the fabulous Shen Wei and Dina Kantor were selected for the group show in the main gallery.

The exhibition doesn't take place until August 23, so I will post an update as the date draws near.