Photo Op

As regular readers of this blog know, I’m a big fan of sky and cloud photographs. So photographically speaking, the cold weather brings at least one good thing – we’re entering the season of nacreous clouds.

Nacreous are among the rarest of clouds, they are mostly visible two hours after sunset or before dawn when they shine brightly with vivid and slowly shifting iridescent colors. Compared with most lower altitude clouds, nacreous clouds stand almost still - an indicator of their great height (some 9 -16 miles high). Their brightness is because at those heights they are still sunlit. They can be found mostly at high latitudes like Scandinavia, Iceland, Alaska and Northern Canada. However, they do occur as far south as New England.

Photographing clouds is a tricky thing – it takes a special vision to make something that’s more than just pretty pictures. But as Alfred Stieglitz, Eliot Porter, Richard Misrach, and even Bruce Weber have shown, there are always ways to make a personal statement out of the ephemeral.

Thanks ...

My thanks to Eyeliah from Style Symmetry for leading me to the Miss at la Playa blog which not only identified where these pictures came from, but showed the entire amazing series.

For the record it's French VOGUE, November 2008. The model is Eniko Mihalik. The photographers are Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, and the shoot was styled by Carine Roitfeld with make-up by Lisa Butler.

Pairs

A lot of good things came in pairs this last week. The William Eggleston show opened at The Whitney and runs through January 25. This untitled image from 1975, while somewhat atypical, has always been a favorite. I like the contrast of the modern American look of the girl on the right with the pre-Raphaelite look of the girl on the left. If you divide the picture down the middle and look at it one half at a time, there's an amazing visual dichotomy.

I've unfortunately lost track of where this picture came from (please post if you know) but the pictures illustrate how skillful styling. lighting, and photography can make the same model looks decades younger and older!

Pretty silly, but here are the winners of the "most beautiful bottom in the world" competition, just held in Paris - Brazil's Melanie Nunes Fronckowiak (R) and France's Saiba Bombote (L).

I gave Callie Shell a hard time for what I called her "rip-off" of Paul Fusco's "RFK Funeral Train" pictures, and the response was quite divided. To redress the accusation, TIME have just published a portfolio of her pictures from the Obama campaign. Click here. I particularly like this moment shot while the first couple elect were listening to Bruce Springsteen. Unless the pictures lie, the Obamas do seem to have an extraordinarily good relationship.

And finally, one of my favorite "couples" pictures. I had this for years as a postcard and didn't think I'd ever be able to find a jpeg, but a google image search of "black and white cat tails" brought it up!

Weekend Video

William James Adams, Jr., better known by his stage name will.i.am, was one of the founding members of the Black Eyed Peas. Early this year, will.i.am wrote the song, "Yes We Can", in support of the presidential campaign of Barack Obama and within a week the song had been seen more than 7 million times on Dipdive and YouTube. Composed almost entirely of excerpts from Obama's speech following the New Hampshire primary, the video featured guest appearances by Scarlett Johansson, Tatyana Ali, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Common amongst others, and it quickly made will.i.am the new spokesman for a politically involved post civil rights black generation.

This week, will.i.am released this new song, “It’s a New Day”, which I'm happy to post as the weekend video. I think it speaks for itself!

Afloat - Part Deux

A comment yesterday from Antonio suggested that it would be interesting if I fleshed out the criteria I used in selecting the images posted. Seems like a reasonable request, so here goes:

Lartigue's "Zissou in his Tire Boat" Estimate $1000 – $2000. (Color changed for graphic effect.)

One of my favorite Lartigue stories involves a conversation between Francis Bacon and Lucien Freud as reported to me by the late Bruce Bernard, my predecessor as picture editor of the London Sunday Times Magazine. The pair were discussing a major Lartigue show they had each just seen and Freud was enthusing about the work. "My dear Francis," he began, "It's quite remarkable. This man can actually photograph happiness!" Bacon looked up from his beer with a look of derision. "Silliness if you ask me."

Of course both were right. Lartigue, the great prodigy of photography, blessed with a sharpshooter's eye and a wealthy and sporty family who were always having fun, could photograph both happiness and silliness, as well as all kinds of love and desire, and make it all sing. The picture above is one of the silly ones but it never fails to make me smile.

A rare Cartier-Bresson taken in Mexico c. 1963. Estimate $6,000 - $9,000

What appeals to me about this Cartier-Bresson is first, the rarity. I was H C-B's New York gallery for ten years and knew his work pretty well, but I never saw this image. I like the yin-yang of the light versus shadow cutting diagonally across the image and the sweetness of the girl and dog. In my experience Mexico is a country full of strays so this image also rings true to my sense of place.

One from a lot of 3 views of New York (all good) taken by Charles Rotkin in the 1940s. $1,000 - $1,500.

What can I say here? For about $300 a pop if you're lucky, you get three different but excellent views of New York City in the 40s. Compare the skyline to today's. Pick your favorite of the three and give the others away as presents. Sell one at Sotheby's and get your money back. Start your own Print Giveaway ...

Marilyn Monroe c. 1945 by Andre de Dienes. $2,000 - $4,000.

Andre de Dienes was one of the great nudie photographers of the 40s and 50s taking the kind of healthy outdoor shots featured in naturalist magazines and camera annuals of the time. He happened to cross paths with M.M. when she was about 18 and his book "Marilyn Mon Amour", first published in 1985, is probably the best and most sustained coverage of the star. In it we see Marilyn morph from the slightly awkward teenager to the blonde beauty who became an icon. The book is now out of print as is Taschen's recently created $200 boxed set of De Dienes/Marilyn memorabilia now going for double that price.

A wonderful (but tiny) Karl Struss of the Flatiron Building. $3,000 - $5,000.

The Flatiron Building is one of those buildings just made for photographers. If Steichen's famous "Flatiron" picture were to come up at auction, it would without question fetch many millions. So even a little print by Karl Struss, who pre-dated Steichen but was a pivotal figure in the transition from pictorialism to modernism, should be quite a catch. On top of that, this is quite a wonderful picture with the glistening rain-soaked street reflecting the building's form, the pedestrians scurrying around, and the pinpoint of the street lights drawing the eye back to the building itself, highlighted against the chiaroscuro sky.

Ruth Orkin's portrait of Woody Allen at the Met. 1963. $3,000 - $4,000.

I've always made the point that humor in photography can't be posed, it has to be spontaneous as in the Lartigue, above. But there are always exceptions. Woody in front of this gilded full length painting is one. A little schoolboy humor, the nebbish upstaging and deflating the aristocrat, but done with a light touch.

Ray Metzker. Chicago, 1983. $4,000 - $6,000. (This seems high, but it's a strong picture.)

Ray Metzker is a Chicago based photographer who is the logical successor to Harry Callahan. An acknowledged innovator, his work explores the formal potentials of black and white photography in puzzle pictures that play with abstraction and composition. If you're looking for a cerebral but still engaging image, this could be the one.

A 1969 Garry Winogrand estimated at $2,000 - $3,000.

I've already written quite a bit about Winogrand, so I'm going to direct you back to my previous post. Click here.And here. But at $2-3k this is a steal.

Stephen Shore. 1974. $4,000 - $6,000.

After Eggleston and Meyerowitz, Shore is the other key modern american colorist. His career began at the age of 14 and his deadpan images of everyday scenes and places draw a connection between photography and photorealist paintings. Seeing this image in that context explains its strength. A picture that at first looks banal, but on closer viewing pulls you in.

How To Stay Afloat

First - many thanks for your comments and best wishes. I published all your comments, good and bad, and other than "Anonymous" who wrote to accuse me of being defensive and compromised by financial self-interest, the points were well taken. I write about what I think is good regardless of the source and only publish contrary opinions that I think are worth airing.

Today I'm highlighting a forthcoming auction of photographs from the estate of Dan Berley. (The auction is being held at Rago Arts and Auction Center in Lambertville, New Jersey.) Berley was a real estate developer whose main avocation was collecting - which he did from the early 60s on. In today's troubled economic time, there's not much spare cash around, but it's worth pointing out that a sale from a minor auction house (sorry, Rago), held outside of the week of the big photo auctions, and with low estimates, presents a buyer's dream. From an investment point of view this looks like a great opportunity. (I was not paid to say this.)

Anyway, here are some of my picks from the 300 lots for sale. (Above - Lartigue's "Zissou in his Tire Boat" Estimate $1000 – $2000.)

A rare Cartier-Bresson taken in Mexico c. 1963. Estimate $6,000 - $9,000

One from a lot of 3 views of New York (all good) taken by Charles Rotkin in the 1940s. $1,000 - $1,500.

Marilyn Monroe c. 1945 by Andre de Dienes. $2,000 - $4,000.

A wonderful (but tiny) Karl Struss of the Flatiron Building. $3,000 - $5,000.

Ruth Orkin's portrait of Woody Allen at the Met. 1963. $3,000 - $4,000.

Ray Metzker. Chicago, 1983. $4,000 - $6,000. (This seems high, but it's a strong picture.)

A 1969 Garry Winogrand estimated at $2,000 - $3,000.

Stephen Shore. 1974. $4,000 - $6,000.

Happy Birthday to Y.I.P.!

One year and 235 posts later, I’m pleased to say that The Year in Pictures has reached its first anniversary!

It’s been a pleasure looking out for things to share, getting down to the actual process of writing, and joining the brother and sisterhood of bloggers and blog readers. As someone who started in the old fashioned print world I am amazed by and grateful for the incredible technology that makes blogging so easy, incorporates such an elegant interface, and above all (and astoundingly) is free to produce and access. Thank you Google (owners of Blogger).

The most frequently asked question I get is how I find the time to blog. The answer is simple - the trade-off has been giving up most t.v.! Not such a loss these days. Perhaps more relevant is the question of how and why to keep it going. Your viewing and comments and the growth of the readership from 0 to over 50,000 a month are the main reason. So please continue to visit and spread the word.

Can I ask one favor? I would love to hear your comments on what you like and what you don’t, and what you would like to see more of. The “Weekend Video” is often the post that takes the most research, and whether it’s because of the natural decrease in weekend viewing or whether it’s like the person who’s always bugging you to listen to their favorite songs even though they’re never to your taste - it seems the least appreciated part of the blog. But do give it a try. In going back over posts from a year ago the videos are still some of my favorites and they’re all there in the archives. Anyway, enough about that.

While we’re all figuring out how to combine being spiritually replenished and financially depleted, let me quote Rahm Emanuel:
“You don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste; it’s an opportunity to do important things that you would otherwise avoid.”

Weekend Video - The Graduate

No particular reason or tie-in to this one, the final scene of "The Graduate", other than that it's a great movie with one of the great endings of film.

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.