Jose Picayo

The buildings and construction sites of Chelsea are covered with posters and flyers and the graphic quality of them is pretty good – after all, they are supposed to catch your eye. Yesterday a brand new one appeared advertising a forthcoming show by Jose Picayo at Robin Rice's Gallery and it reminded me that I had always liked the work of this sometimes under-appreciated photographer.


Picayo was born in Havana, Cuba in 1959, but moved to Puerto Rico when he was 7. In 1975 the family moved to Ohio where he finished high school, and in 1981, he came to New York City where he received a BFA from Parson’s School of Design.

 He started photographing professionally in 1987, working for such magazines as (Italian) Vanity, Sassy, Taxi, and Connoisseur. His work now appears in Harper’s Bazaar, L.A. Style, the New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Rolling Stone, as well as many other U.S. and European publications.


He has a quiet and serene eye and his pictures seem to slow time down. There’s something almost 19th century about his work, which I mean in a positive way.

Also noteworthy is his relationship with the Robin Rice Gallery where he will have had 6 solo exhibitions (including his forthcoming one) over a period of 13 years, each one covering a different subject, but all clearly the work of the same artist. That kind of longevity and consistency is rare.

Below are a selection of photographs from the last five shows. His new show opens on May 7.

Speed Racer

This weekend, Danica Patrick became the first woman to win a major car race, defeating two-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castronoves by nearly six seconds in the Indy Japan 300. USA Today are now running a poll to see whether people think this is a greater achievement than Billie Jean King's victory over Bobby Riggs, but there should really be no question athletically speaking. One was a trumped up publicity stunt with made for the occasion rules, the other a real competition. Danica wins hands down.

The photograph that for me best expresses the significance of the event was taken by Jonathan Ferrey of Getty Images (full frame above and detail below). It's one of those pictures when the clarity of light and crispness of the composition are able to convey what must have been a transcendent and life-changing moment. You can just feel the relief on Patrick's face after achieving something not everyone believed was possible, and anticipate the emotion that's about to flood over her.



Danica Patrick had been knocking at the door of a sport totally dominated by men in which her most notable success was in the world of pin-ups and endorsements. (As the New York Times diplomatically put it, “Companies embraced her willingness to market her good looks”.) She was clearly a capable racer, but this victory makes it hard to ignore that she’s also a serious contender.

Everybody needs to make a buck, of course, and while Danica’s been a game player, you could see in her eyes and the set of her lips that the pin-up thing wasn’t exactly what she wanted to be doing - whether it was for magazines like FHM or the “classier” Sports Illustrated bathing suit issue.

It will be interesting to see where the victory at Motegi takes her. (And where the name "Danica" – which recently moved up the list of most popular baby names from 610 to 352 – will end up on next year’s charts!)

And now the pandering stuff ....

Mark Wyse

Mark Wyse is a terrific photographer, an inspiring teacher, and someone who loves to twist ideas like rope. I had the pleasure of showing his large scale photographs of luxury houses in Palos Verdes two years ago – pictures that still resonate greatly for the way they juggle objective large-format color with a subtly subjective point of view.
Talk to Mark about them though and they are as much about “allowing a slippage to occur between the compelling sensation of deep space and their awareness of the photographic surface” as they are about the light and topography of Southern California.

Wyse was recently asked to curate a show by his gallery, Wallspace, but realized there would be problems getting the material he wanted. So in an inspired gesture, he decided to cut into the photography books he owned and show the very objects he desired and that had formed much of his thinking about photography. Each image was carefully chosen and installed in relation the other pictures to reveal a specific theme or idea. The work is available only as a singular installation.

I have long been a proponent of framing whatever looks good to you, regardless of its “originality” or value and I was pleased to see someone doing this not just at home, but in a gallery setting. Wyse’s selections are flawless, but more importantly they look darn good (and very like the originals) with their perfectly matching white frames all hung in a row. If you’re concerned about mutilating a book in the name of decorating, Wyse has provided a failsafe alibi – it’s not cheap or tacky, it’s a legitimate (and multi-layered) conceptual act.

Weekend Video - Crouching Tiger/Hooverphonic

After a week of news photography of one kind or another I felt the need for some escapism and my thoughts turned to “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”. Of course there were dozens of iterations, scenes, and tributes on YouTube. My favorite is the great fight in the trees scene (above), but I also discovered the YZU Symphonic Band of China playing music from the film, and this home-made video tribute by Lori Bowen cut to the song “Eden” by Hooverphonic - a Belgian band I had never heard of.

Turns out Hooverphonic is quite an interesting band who have made 9 albums since 1996 and whose music has been a source of inspiration for film-makers including Bernardo Bertolucci and t.v. shows like La Femme Nikita and Cold Case. So the last clip, illustrating once again the great laterally educational power of the web, is Hooverphonic themselves.

Seen off the Street

Between a pocket sized digital and an iPhone, there's nearly always a chance to snap whatever catches your eye. So here are a few things I happened on over the last few days. Above - a new Louise Lawler waiting to be framed at Laumont.

A Thomas Ruff shot from the street outside the lobby of of 1 East 57th. Security wouldn't let me take the picture inside but were very relaxed and pleasant about letting me take the picture from outside!

And then with my iPhone:

In the back room of the Staley/Wise gallery. The big picture was taken on the set of the original "Lolita" by Bert Stern.

And finally, what was literally a drive-by shooting of Frank Gehry's IAC building. I've not been 100% convinced by this building but I think this picture (somewhat luckily) shows it at its best.

How I Spent Last Sunday

One more weather story - only this time I was right there. This past weekend my wife and I went to Miami to take part in the first South Beach triathlon. It was a truly great event - beautifully managed, perfect conditions, and we both did well. The start was at 7 a.m. and as the sun was rising over the Atlantic and the competitors made their way to the start, a waterspout formed well offshore providing the most spectacular start I've ever seen. (A waterspout is a small tornado that forms over water drawing water upwards to a larger storm cloud.)

I was curious to see if any newspapers would pick it up and kudos to Joe Caveretta of the Sun Sentinel (top) and Patrick Farrell of the Miami Herald (below). It's interesting to compare how different an approach each photographer took on pictures that were taken no more than minutes or yards away from each other. FYI - Cavaretta's picture is the more accurate in reflecting the true light and conditions, but I think that maybe Farrell got the better picture by a hair. Your vote?

Cherry Blossoms - Part Deux

Following last month's post about Japanese blossom-cams, the cherry blossoms are now out in New York City. And as any dog-walker/photo person can tell you, they’re more interesting photographically at 5:30 in the morning (when I was not together enough to put a camera in my pocket) than when the sky is clear and blue as it is now at 8:55 a.m..

Nevertheless, I snapped a photo on my iPhone and sent it to The Sartorialist to let him know that Central Park would not be a bad place to shoot this week. I’ll be interested to see if he follows up.

Then I remembered Nan Goldin’s great photograph – “Honda Brothers in Cherry Blossom Storm, Tokyo, 1994”. For an artist best known for scenes of a bohemian lifestyle illuminated more by dim lightbulbs, the photograph above captures a wonderful moment of delight - delight in nature, in the power of photography to freeze motion, and in the crystalline moment that marks the approach of spring.

The Polk County 8

When I began this blog, I anticipated highlighting (among other things) the type of news photographs that appear in your local paper but have a pictorial resonance and an aesthetic and subtextual complexity that transcends the everyday news image. I felt I was seeing this kind of picture regularly, but no sooner did I start blogging than they seemed few and far between.

Then this Saturday, a number of papers ran a line-up pictures by Scott Wheeler of the eight Florida teenagers accused of savagely beating a classmate in order to film the attack and put it on YouTube. Bullying has been much in the news these days, but this time it seems to have created a tipping point of revulsion and concern.

The pictures of the accused are startling in the banality of the faces. (While the spelling of many of the names – April, Britney, Brittini, Cara, Kayla, Mercades, Stephen, Zachary bring to mind a revived Mouseketeers.) A number of the girls look surprisingly similar, but minus the prison garb, they could just as easily be reacting to a berating for poor schoolwork. The boys, who were posted as lookouts while the girls carried out the beating, look a little more ready for jail.

The pictures are fascinating in the narrow range of emotion they convey, from self-pity to sullenness, but to my mind all stop before genuine contriteness. (I’m reading this in, of course, but I have a hunch I’m right.) Yet there's an all-American look to these kids that can only remind us how narrow the line is between good and evil.

I imagine Andy Warhol would have loved these pictures as would Gerhard Richter. They have similarities to Warhol’s “Most Wanted Men” paintings as well as some of Richter’s early photo-based portraits, and deal with some of the same themes - the connection between crime and media and photography.

Sadly, this is a story and a group of pictures that are truly of this moment. A tale of two Britney's (and their friends) paradoxically too old to have been named after the reigning doyenne of dysfunction.

Weekend Video (and prologue) - Hair

Readers who have been following this blog have heard my praise for the book “Pictures at a Revolution. Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood”. It follows the five Oscar nominees for Best Motion Picture in 1968 from conception to the Awards ceremony. Careful readers might also have picked up on this blog's pleasure in serendipity and how unexpected things always happen at what seems like the right time. Well ….

No sooner had I finished “Pictures…” than I went to visit Ira Resnick, one of the most important movie poster collectors in the world as well as a talented photographer in his own right. I was telling Ira about the book and he was giving me a tour of his new office and there in the back room was the very portrait of Katharine Ross which Anne Bancroft (Mrs. Robinson) uses to lure Dustin Hoffman upstairs in her house in order to seduce him in The Graduate. It’s the key prop from one of the most discussed movies in the book!

Shortly afterwards (as I was writing about the 60s) I remembered a passage in “Pictures…” about the movie-centric lyrics to the song “Manchester, England – England” from the musical “Hair”. So I went on to YouTube to see what they had from “Hair” and there was just about every song as well as the entire movie broken up into 10 minute or so episodes.

The amazing thing (to me) though, was how well the film, dancing and music held up, although this shouldn't have been surprising given the director was Milos Forman and the choreographer Twyla Tharp. The songs - as you will see - sound even better after not having been overplayed for a while, although I gather that the Public Theater will be mounting “Hair” as one of this summer’s “Shakespeare in the Park” productions. Book now! And in the meantime enjoy the clips below.

"Aquarius"

"I Got Life"

"Hair"

"Manchester, England - England"

The Fun of the Fair...

Things start off promisingly at the AIPAD fair with some of Alec Soth's giant "Fashion Magazine" portraits at the Weinstein Gallery. However ...

AIPAD – The Association of International Photography art Dealers – opened its annual show at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City last night, giving reason to both celebrate and be depressed. It runs through Sunday, April 13.

The celebration is a celebration of community, in this case the photographic gallery community, now having its 30th year as a formal trade group. With 75 dealers, too often cramming as many of their wares into a small both as can fit, there are bound to be some good pictures, but if you’re looking for fresh ideas this is not the place. Nor is this really any sensible way to show art. The advantage of the multiples aspect of photography is the democratic subtext and opportunity. The downside is that after only a few booths it begins to feel more like merchandise and if I'm correct, a slightly desperate feeling of thwarted commerce hangs heavy in the air.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of greatest hits, and if you have the spare half a day it takes to really do the fair properly – which means going through the multitude of bins that many dealers love to load the tables with – you’re sure to uncover some hidden treasures.

Here are some things that caught my attention:

Esteban Pastorino's work has appealed to me before. But I also like his new work (below) which keeps him one step ahead of the selective focus hordes and with a fresh new outlook and subject.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s before she died at a tragically young age, Francesca Woodman experimented with images dealing with self-portraiture and identity. Here a kind of reverse-Mapplethorpe gesture. (At Gary Edwards.)

A cute, very Sartorialist, August Sander! (FYI - Sander is about to be the subject of a massive show at The Getty.)

This picture, at Keith DeLellis, produced the greatest visceral reaction. It's one of many Edward Kelty circus pictures from the 1930s in the booth. Be sure to click on the picture to enlarge!

A 1967 Irving Penn portrait of Janis Joplin and Big Brother along with The Grateful Dead.

I see that Robert Polidori has been copying Tim Davis' and my ideas about photographing parts of paintings.

This was probably the most expensive, important, and stunning print in the show. However, several hours earlier another Weston nude fetched a new world record going for $1,609,000 at Sotheby's. So consider this a bargain. (At Gitterman.)

Creativity

Ruth Ansel is one of today's greatest graphic designers. In a career that began as an assistant to Marvin Israel, she has been the art director of Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, House & Garden and Vogue, and designed books for Richard Avedon, Peter Beard, and Annie Leibovitz amongst others.

We’re old friends, having worked together at Vanity Fair and on many subsequent gallery projects, but every time I visit her apartment I am pulled in by the feeling that this is what creativity looks like. Her home/work environment is neat as a pin, but visual ideas sprout off every surface. In one room are the mini-layouts of a book in progress celebrating Elsa Peretti’s career. In another room - shelves of pictures given, bought, picked up on travels, sent by friends, or created on assignment. Somehow, there is abundance without clutter! Energy and calm.

I don't believe any magazine has ever photographed it - so, given my love of environment and installation, I thought I would share these snaps.

A Big Question

Kate Hutchinson (whose work I was alerted to by Joerg Colberg) is a Montreal based photographer who has done something quite simple but revolutionary. In her series, “Why am I marrying him?” she has turned the camera on her fiancé with an affectionate, but objectifying view that one sees frequently in men’s pictures of women, but rarely the reverse. She could have tweaked it by making it the simple declarative “Why I am marrying him.” (which I think is what she’s saying with her pictures) but the question is both provocative and sane.

The pictures intrigued me and so I e-mailed Ms. Hutchinson to ask a few biographical details, largely to do with the identity and reaction of her fiancé to the pictures and the status of their marriage plans. I received this reply:

Thank you for your interest in my work. Encouragement from strangers is always a bonus in this life.

I have been thinking about your questions this weekend and have been trying to understand why I didn't feel that I should answer them. First off I think that it is a great sign that you are interested in these personal details. The pictures and the character represented in them must intrigue you and leave you wanting to know more. Perhaps you feel that if you knew this person's vital statistics you would gain insight into why they act the way they do.

But that is not the purpose of this work. This is not a documentary project about a certain person. In fact it definitely would have to be disqualified from the documentary category since most of the images were directed. If it were a documentary then it would make perfect sense for all the facts about the person and the situations that he is in be made known to the viewer. Instead this project is meant to be the sketch of a personality. It is meant to shine a light on the typical early 30s North American white male, and how he interacts with the world around him. Many of my photos deal with this crucial juncture in a man's life, where he is still trying to find his way in life and is not yet ready to let go of his younger ways. A bit of a coming of age. Therefore, in my mind, to say: this is Chris who does such and such a job, takes away from the work's ability to stand in for every man. As well, I wish to leave the viewer wanting more. I want them, like you, to be intrigued by this character. I hope that this intrigue will lead them to create their own fictionalized story about the character in the photos. Then they can then make it their own and relate it to their lives and the people that they know.

Lastly I would like to stress the importance of this work's being made up of many portraits of the same person. To me the single portrait can be a very useful document of the sitter and can give us insight into one aspect of their personality; but I do not feel that it can come anywhere close to telling us about who they really are. Every person has many different personalities and ways of being. To even come close to showing these different elements, a photographer must study the sitter and follow them for a long period of time, capturing their different ways of being, and landscapes in which they live, along the way. For me, when trying to work in this way, it only makes sense that only those that are closest to me and that I am with on a daily basis are my chosen subjects.

Never one to let things rest so easily, I responded:

Thank you for your reply, which I completely respect. Given the title I still think the question of when (as opposed to why) is relevant.

Harry Callahan's pictures of Eleanor, to which I'm happy to relate your pictures, are not diminished by any biographical facts.

Best wishes,
J.D.

Kate’s reply:

We are getting married in May and have been together 7 years, if that helps. I do hope to continue this project after the wedding though. I think that I will always be photographing Chris and trying to understand him better so I don't really see the wedding as an end date. I love the Eleanor series and am completely flattered that you would relate the two.

Thanks,
Kate.

It’s nice when people can articulate so clearly what they think about their pictures. And congratulations and every best wish to Kate and Chris!