In Fusco's Footsteps

When is appropriation imitation? When does homage need to be referenced? These kinds of questions come up frequently in art and photography – the most recent case being a photo essay on Time.com that treads closely in Paul Fusco's footsteps.

The pictures were brought to my attention by Michael George, currently a Photography and Imaging major at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. Michael sent me a link to his blog, Inceptive Notions, where he points out the more than coincidental similarities between Callie Shell’s “The Campaign from Obama’s Point of View” and Paul Fusco’s “RFK Funeral Train” series, which as many of you know, I just finished exhibiting. Click here to see Fusco’s seminal images.

On Time.com the only words describing Shell’s portfolio are: “TIME photographer Callie Shell shows what the Democratic campaign looked like from the candidate's point of view.” Then there is a slideshow of 14 different images taken mostly through the window of Obama’s bus, but also from a campaign train. The photographs are just O.K., without reaching the poetic or compositional height of Fusco's work. But more importantly, I think it would have been appropriate to say something like: “Inspired by Paul Fusco’s ‘RFK Funeral Train’ pictures, Callie Shell shows what the Democratic campaign looked like from the candidate's point of view.” Otherwise, it's just a rip-off.

Giveaway #2

With a new president comes a new print giveaway!

In 1991, I put on an exhibition called “American Photographs: Traditional Themes by Contemporary Photographers”. The show comprised work by Sally Mann, Lynn Davis, Bruce Weber, Annie Leibovitz, Richard Misrach, and Robert Mapplethorpe - each covering a traditional American photographic theme - family, natural wonders, clouds, pioneers, the road, and the flag.

In conjunction with the show, I published an edition of 100 posters of Robert Mapplethorpe’s flag picture, of which I have just a few left. Measuring 20 x 24” and printed on heavy paper, one of these is the new giveaway.

As before, the rules are simple. Just post a comment that includes a way to contact you. The winner will be chosen after one week by randomly picking one of the comments posted.

Good luck!

Hope

A personal note:

It’s been worrying these last few weeks to follow the polls and listen to the news and hear the constant stream of negativity and distortion from the right. Democrats have become so accustomed of late to having defeat snatched from the jaws of victory that there’s an underlying sense of uncertainty which I hope is only a precautionary defense mechanism – unnecessary preparation for an outcome that will not come about.

So here’s the good news (as far as I'm concerned). This past weekend I was out at our house in Suffolk County, Long Island - a generally Republican area. To my surprise, however, as I drove around I only saw Obama lawn signs, and when I went out for a run I came across this beautiful tree towering over yet another Obama sign. So I hightailed it back to get my camera and take what felt to me like a symbolic picture of a season of hope and change.

The concept of an intelligent, thoughtful, inclusive, forward thinking, and positive President, who happens to be an African-American, is so true to the promise and nature of this country that before all those golden leaves fall off this tree, I can only hope and believe there will be a new spirit lifting this country.

Crowngate

The British now have a name for it – Crowngate!

As reported earlier, the controversy began when Annie Leibovitz photographed the queen of England. A BBC documentary crew recording the portrait session for a documentary on the Queen, caught a moment when Leibovitz told her royal subject she might look better without her tiara. In a subsequent trailer promoting the film this scene was followed by a shot of the queen walking through Buckingham Palace, saying, "I'm not changing anything. I've had enough dressing up like this, thank you very much." The implication was that Leibovitz had offended the Queen, who then stormed out of the session. In fact, the clip of her walking through the palace was shot before the portrait session but was falsely edited to create buzz and also apparently to make Leibovitz look like a crass American. (This ethical lapse led to the resignation of BBC1 controller Peter Fincham.)

After a regal silence on the subject, Annie Leibovitz finally gave her side of the 'Crowngate' photo shoot last week at the opening of her exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The Queen was, in fact, "storming into the shoot" said Leibovitz. "They could have had just as good a story just showing that she got a little pissed, a little perturbed, a little bit frustrated. That was interesting enough, I think, and they had to go and make something else up."

Leibovitz defended the Queen's right not to be in the best of moods. "Most people don't like to be photographed," she said. "It's pretty normal that you can have that rough start. As she came in she said, 'I don't have much time'." By the end of the shoot, however, everything was fine, however, and apparently the Queen loved the photos.

Meanwhile Leibovitz's use of the word "pissed" in connection with the Queen's mood has given the British press even more to chew on!

Weekend Video - Stacy McQ

Last weekend was parents' weekend at my son's boarding school, and one of our favorite traditions is to go to "Grasshopper Night" - a review/talent show put on by the students. The performances are always of a remarkably high standard, but this time a 10th grade classmate of my son's, Stacy McQ, performed a song she had written that was so good it seemed ready to be recorded by any one of the country/pop stars who regularly top the charts (if not Stacy herself).

Sharon Core

Sharon Core, a 1998 Yale MFA grad, sprang into the art world’s consciousness with her 2004 show at Bellwether Gallery, “Thiebauds”. A photographic re-creation of the artist Wayne Thiebaud’s famous food paintings, Core reversed the conventional practice of paintings copying photographs by painstakingly baking, coloring, arranging, and lighting her re-creations and then printing them the same size as the Thiebaud originals.

Four years on and now showing at Yancey Richardson, Core has found new inspiration in the 19th century still life paintings of Raphaelle Peale. Unlike the Thiebauds, however, this time Core has not copied specific paintings. Instead she has analyzed Peale’s work in terms of subject matter, composition, coloration, lighting, and scale in order to understand exactly how they are made and then proceeded to create her own new works in an act of art historical homage.

It’s a difficult feat to pull off, but Core has succeeded where many others have failed, primarily by the softness of her lighting and her mastery of 19th century composition and perspective. As Core fully understands, if you’re going to go for it, you’ve got to go all the way.

Amelia's World

I first met Robin Schwartz in the mid-1990s after she had just published her first book– a collection of black and white photographs of monkeys living in domesticated surroundings. As well as being unusual and good photographs, the underlying theme of the work addressed the question of what degree of separation there was between man and animal and by extension the whole question of animal rights. I kept a box of her prints at my gallery and showed them whenever I had the chance, but in general they were not what people were looking for. You can see some examples here in the Primate Portraits section.

Now just over a decade later, Robin has had her third book published (by Aperture), a series of edenic color photographs of her daughter Amelia interacting with a range of animals. If Robin is the animal photographer, Amelia is the animal whisperer – a child who clearly has an unusual gift and connection with other species. As Robin told me, “Amelia is fearless. When she first met a kangaroo, she stuck her hands down her pouch to feel the joey! Nothing spooks her.”

The multi-level collaboration, between photographer, daughter, and animals have inspired Schwartz to broaden her style from a journalistic genre to a more contemporary art aesthetic. The photographs play with art and photo-historical references and I can easily see these pictures gracing the walls of collectors and museums. It’s an extraordinary pleasure to see someone whose work has always been good move on so effectively.

P.S.
After posting the above, Robin Schwartz sent me this picture taken just last week.

Political Science

Joe Raedle. Getty Images

A scientific study of recent news pictures comes to the unavoidable conclusion that we are faced with a significant photogenic-ness gap between candidates.

Jim Bourg. Reuters

Alex Brandon. AP

Joe Raedle. Getty Images

Weekend Video - Sia

Here's an original photo driven video. "Breathe Me" by the Australian singer Sia from her album "Colour The Small One".

... and a bonus track - "Little Black Sandals".

Big Shot

For much of his life, Andy Warhol was obsessed with photography. He bought it, borrowed it, and banged it out with regularity. Along with his many obsessions, he collected cameras, but there is no doubt that his favorite was the Polaroid Big Shot Camera which he used to photograph his commissioned portraits. (The photographs were then transferred to canvas where Warhol and/or his assistants would paint over and under the image.) While now out of production the camera is still readily available for about $20 - $30, in fact there are currently 8 for sale on Ebay. Warhol called the camera “his pencil and paper”.

While Warhol’s Big Shots portraits are justly famous, less known are the everyday photographs of objects he took between 1977 and 1983. Starting next week, however, the Paul Kasmin Gallery in Chelsea will be exhibiting 70 of these Polaroids for the first time. Still lives of bananas, knives, and crosses, and assemblages of shoes and other commercial products, the photographs are interesting not only for the objects Warhol chose to picture and the deadpan style with which he photographed them, but for the underlying themes of desire and mortality that run through the work and the prescient symbolism. Most significantly, though, the pictures show that it’s not the equipment that counts, but – as always - the ideas behind the work.

All works 1977 - 1983 © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Courtesy of Paul Kasmin Gallery.

And the Winner Is ...

A note about the process. Having promised a random selection, this is how the winner was chosen. At the end of the day, I printed out all the comments, weeded out duplicate entries, cut them up and put them in a large envelope, and asked the first person I ran into to pick one at random.

And the winner is … connally@camellia.com

Cute

Ixiana Hernandez is a New York based photographer with a sideline taking portraits of dogs. This is not a field rife with originality or substance, but I think Ixiana is the exception. On her website she says: “It is my goal to create portraits that do not rely on cuteness. I want to create portraits that reflect the dog’s character, and to show the viewer what I see when I look at them.” More than that, though, I think her use of color, lighting, and sharp detail, combined with what is clearly a strong and distinctive eye make them quite impressive as photographs in their own right. Cute but not too cute.

Equally (but differently) cute is Sadie Bay Weller, the daughter of private dealer Ariel Meyerowitz and David Weller, and the granddaughter of the great photographer Joel Meyerowitz. Soon to be two weeks old, young Sadie is set to be a much photographed child, but as these pictures by her grandfather (top picture) and mother (bottom) show, she's already a beauty and a ham!

And last, but not least, my blog-colleague Maegan recently posted these pictures of herself as Tinkerbelle. (Halloween, c. 1980.) I doubt it's possible to come up with a cuter picture from Halloween past but I'll challenge all readers nonetheless.

E-mail your entry to info@danzigerprojects.com. And a surprise Halloween gift to Maegan or whoever trumps these pictures.

P.S.
Print Giveaway #1 winner to be announced tomorrow!

Weekend Video - Les Miserables

Recommended for the weekend video by the legendary art director and graphic designer Ruth Ansel, this spoof of Les Miserables comes from the Ultimate Improv troupe of Los Angeles. (For new readers, click on Ruth Ansel's name for an inside look at her home/office.)

More Random Shots

Perhaps the most newsworthy photographic announcement of the week was the acquisition of the Harry Shunk Archive by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation. Shunk, who died in 2006 at 81, was known for photographing art by scores of modern and contemporary artists, including Rene Magritte, Yves Klein, Arman, Jean Tinguely, Christo, and Lichtenstein himself. But his most famous image, the photomontage "Le Saut Dans La Vide", a composite recreation of a purported event by Yves Klein, still stands as the defining moment of performance art. The archive, comprising thousands of prints and negatives, was purchased at a public estate auction conducted by the public administrator of New York. I believe this means it was picked up for a song.

I've always been a big fan as well as a student of NASA pictures, but I just happened to stumble across the above which I'd never seen before. Left on the moon by Charlie Duke of Apollo 16, according to NASA the picture was taken by Loudy Benjamin and contains a message on the back which reads "This is the family of Astronaut Duke from Planet Earth. Landed on the Moon, April 1972." Underneath the message are the signatures of his wife and kids. I believe history will record this as the first lunar print giveaway, the intended recipient being one photo loving extra-terrestrial!

From the site Ffffound, a poolside photograph which looks strangely like a photorealist painting.

From A Gallery for Fine Photography in New Orleans, a rare Elliott Erwitt taken in Brasilia in 1961.

This year's Nobel Prize in chemistry went to Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie, and Roger Tsien for discovering and developing green fluorescent protein, or GFP, that has helped researchers watch the tiniest details of life within cells and living creatures. This image of fluoresced mouse brain cells illustrates their research but seems as much art as science.

And finally, for all those with cool camera envy, Olympus have just unveiled their forthcoming Micro Four Thirds concept camera. Little technical information is available as of now, but with its retro styling and small size the camera was the hit of last month's Photokina.