Footloose

The big news in the world of street fashion photography is that Scott Schuman (The Sartorialist) left Style.com – who had an exclusive arrangement whereby they had first rights to show his pictures from the collections. Not letting the grass grow under their feet, Style.com promptly signed Tommy Tom (of the blog Jak & Jill), and so now we have the pleasure of seeing two completely different visions at work on the same ground. (Sart’s pictures now go straight to his own blog.)

Schuman – we know – is a classicist, an elegant August Sander of the street creating beautifully composed character studies. Tommy Ton is a cross between Lartigue and Martin Parr - capturing action, color, and detail. He has a thing for shoes which seems to veer somewhere between obsession and humor, but it takes a certain madcap genius to be so focused, not to mention an ability to crouch down at a woman's knees without being slapped.

My reaction on seeing most of his shoe pictures is “Ouch!”, but these pictures capture the difference between the world of fashion and the rest of the world better than anything. So if you’ll trust me that my own particular obsession is photography and not feet, here’s a selection of what promises to be a wonderfully idiosyncratic archive!

And a selection of some of Tommy Ton's other pictures:

From my iPhone - The High Line

Much praise has been heaped upon The Highline since it opened this past spring. For those who haven’t heard about it, the High Line is a 1.5 mile section of the former elevated freight railroad of the West Side Line, which runs along the lower west side of Manhattan. It had fallen into disrepair and was slated for demolition until an incredibly creative and determined group of conservationists came up with a plan to redesign and plant it as an aerial greenway. Running from the Meat Packing district to Chelsea, it has now taken on the relaxed and artsy characteristics of those neighborhoods and in the process become one of New York City’s newest tourist attractions.

It’s a well known phenomenon that you never get to see the things in your own city that tourists do, so after the umpteenth visitor to the gallery told me they had been to see The High Line, I finally just walked out of the gallery to make my first visit.

The charms of The High Line reveal themselves gradually. If you enter at its current northernmost entrance on 20th Street your first thought is “what’s the big deal?”. It’s just a planted stretch of old railway. But as you walk south, passing beautifully designed benches, a multitude of different plants, and a cross-section of lovers, loafers, tourists, and the just curious – you realize that as much as anything it’s an experience. I guess in its own way it’s a work of art combining nature, cityscapes, people watching, and the opportunity to take a break. There are ample places to lounge, smooch, nap, snack, or read, and more photo-ops than a night on the town with Lindsay Lohan.

Then as you continue southward you come face to face with the new Standard Hotel which strides the Highline like the Colossus of Rhodes. A couple of art installations later you reach the end at Gansevoort Street at which point you can descend or go back the way you came.

While it will surely be interesting at different times of the year, I imagine spring to fall is the best time to visit and so for those New Yorkers like me who just haven’t gotten around to a visit, I’d recommend you go on one of the remaining blue sky days promised in the next week. And if you really want to treat yourself to something new and good, add on a visit to the Standard Grill – New York’s latest hip restaurant, but one that lives up to the hype!

For Your Consideration ...

Two pictures from Ryan McGinley's show of new work made in caves showing at the Alison Jacques Gallery in London ....

"Treading On Kings" - Joel Sternfeld's 2002 book of portraits and quotes from protesters attending the 2001 G8 Summit in Genoa. It's looking more timely and necessary every day.

Tim Walker in Harper's Bazaar in collaboration with Tim Burton (naturally!).

Will be deeply missed. Paul Pincus's subjective/eclectic blog.

Not to be missed - Neil Leifer's new book on football - "Guts and Glory: The Golden Age of American Football 1958-1978".

I Apologize!

I know. I've been remiss in not posting more frequently. It's just been incredibly busy ever since I got back from Tokyo and while jet-lag was never an issue - a trip of that distance and quality somehow throws you off stride. But I'll keep trying.

Hands down the best show I've seen so far (outside of my own gallery) is the Lartigue show at the Howard Greenberg Gallery. Primarily composed of prints from the 1950s and 1960s, it captures the zest for life and movement that was Lartigue's great talent. There's a good selection of the iconic images, but also some new discoveries like the photograph above. Here are a few more (below) but if you're anywhere near New York you must catch the full show.

As usual, Kate Moss is always around somewhere. And with my new iPhone, which certainly takes better pictures than the original model, I'm free to snap away at whatever catches my eye. Heading into Crozier Art Storage a few days ago, here was their newly decorated truck. Those are Corinne Day's recent pictures of Kate commissioned by England's National Portrait Gallery.

A few blocks away on 22nd St.and all around the Chelsea/Meatpacking District - you'll see the work of this anonymous street artist/collagist. It's as good as anything in the galleries.

And here, again on 22nd Street is Anna Wintour. If you haven't seen "The September Issue" don't wait another minute. I found it both fascinating and incredibly well made. And not a dull moment.

Have you noticed how every other cab in New York is advertising strip clubs? I always wonder what a tourist to New York thinks. It's not as if this is what the city is known for. I guess the girl in the first two pictures below is doing double duty. So maybe the message is that if you work really hard in New York you'll succeed. Perhaps we need to inaugurate another blog search (as we did with Mannie Garcia) to find out who this hard worker is! Is this a stock photo that might pop up in ads in other cities or is she one of New York's finest?

And one last apology - or rather a warning. Edward Mapplethorpe e-mailed me recently to tell me that he was trying to show a client my blog, and while sitting at the computer with them he went to theyearinpictures.com - only to find the most pornographic site imaginable! He was duly embarassed.

When I started this blog, I remember checking the .com URL and it wasn't available, but it certainly wasn't anything X-rated. So please send your friends to theyearinpictures.net or the slightly less memorable pictureyear.blogspot.com.

Happy Fall!

An Americans Tale

Robert Frank. Elevator - Miami Beach, 1955.

Before Robert Frank's “The Americans” show opens at the Met on September 22nd and Frank fever hits New York, this uncredited story from NPR’s website (which I've taken the liberty of editing) shines some fresh light on one of Frank’s lesser known images from the series:

One of photographer Robert Frank's most famous images aroused a particular interest from his friend, beat writer Jack Kerouac. In his introduction to Frank's book of photos The Americans, Kerouac writes, "That little ole lonely elevator girl looking up sighing in an elevator full of blurred demons, what's her name & address?"

Now we know.

Today, Sharon Collins lives in San Francisco. About 10 years ago she visited the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and found herself drawn to a particular photo — the same photo Jack Kerouac wrote about.

"I stood in front of this particular photograph for probably a full five minutes," she says. "And then it dawned on me that the girl in the picture was me."

The iconic shot shows a young girl, pressing an elevator button, looking up with an enigmatic expression. At the time, her name was Sharon Goldstein, and she lived in Miami Beach. At fifteen, she got a summer job as an elevator girl at the Sherry Frontenac Hotel. She says the hotel was always full of tourists, and many of them had cameras. Although she wishes she remembers this particular tourist, she doesn't. But she pieced together what happened by looking at Frank's contact sheet.

"Robert Frank took about four photos of me without a flash in the elevator. I didn't know he was taking them. And then when the elevator emptied he asked me to turn around and smile at the camera. So I flashed a smile, put my hands on my hips, and hammed it up for about eight or ten frames."

From the single image that was chosen for The Americans, Kerouac guessed she was lonely. But Collins thinks otherwise.

"It's not necessarily loneliness, it's ... dreaminess."

Photo by Ian Padgham. 2009.