September 23 – 24 Santa Fe’s, CENTER has a retreat-style workshop called portfolio bootcamp that I will be participating in. This is a weekend intensive workshop aimed at photographers of all levels who want to get their portfolios in great shape. If this interests you go here for more information on the event including a list of presenters: http://www.visitcenter.org/bootcamp

I’m personally excited to hear Robin Fisher-Roffer, of Big Fish Marketing who’s giving a talk on how to stand out and get noticed. She’s a nationally recognized branding expert so I’m sure she will have some great ideas for this. Besides that there will be lots of intensive portfolio discussions and 1 on 1 time to work on books. Even though everyone is hiring off websites anymore, a well crafted book can be an excuse to meet in person and is still a real deal closer.

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I’m hitting the west coast in a couple weeks to give my Social Media Marketing Talk.

I’ll be in Portland for ASMP Oregon on Thursday, June 23rd from 7 – 9pm at Sandbox Studios. More info (here).

Then in Seattle for ASMP Seattle/Northwest on June 29th from 7 – 9 pm at Demaray Hall, Seattle Pacific University. More info (here).

It’s always great to meet blog readers at these events. I shook a lot of hands in Denver and everyone thought the talk was the best they’ve seen on the subject. Hope to see you there.

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One of the great things about being on panels with art buyers and other creatives is the interesting things you learn from them. On this last panel for APA LA called “Why We Hire You” I kept some notes to share what I found out. I was on the panel with Jigisha Bouverat the Director of Art Production at TBWA\CHIAT\DAY, Los Angeles and Mike Kohlbecker the Associate Creative Director/Art Director at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Los Angeles. Jigisha has been with the agency for 22 years and manages a team of Art Producers. Mike has worked on some major campaigns.

Here are the things that I thought were worth noting:

1. Before the event Jigisha told me they have been shooting a ton of campaigns in 2011. More this year than in the last year combined.

2. Jigisha loves the blog Feature Shoot and reads it regularly.

3. Several photographers asked the flash vs. html question for websites. Mike said I don’t care. Jigisha said I have no idea what you’re talking about.

4. Mike said he reads most of his email on his android phone and likes it when there’s a mobile version of a site to look at.

5. Mike said on the campaigns he works on, the photographers being considered all are qualified to shoot it, so it comes down to personality as the deciding factor.

6. Jigisha gave an emphatic yes when asked if she likes looking at personal work and said many times the personal work is what they hang on to from marketing material.

7. When asked where she finds new talent Jigisha she’s had good luck with portfolio reviews at the photography schools in LA.

8. Mike and Jigisha agreed that editorial is still a place where they find photographers who are established but haven’t shot advertising before.

9. Mike said he will describe the type of photography he wants for a concept or show moodboards and then Jigisha said she could name 10 photographers off the top of her head that fit any style he could come up with (i was tempted but didn’t test this).

10. Jigisha and her art producers keep internal google docs where they have photographers categorized. She saves links to things she likes to these documents.

11. the advice for the creative call from both of them was:
i. Don’t be the first to speak, gather clues about where this is going from the AD (e.g. it’s going to be bright and happy or it’s going to be dark and moody). If they’ve had other calls before yours you will hear clues on where things are headed.
ii. it’s all about your enthusiasm for the shoot.
iii. it’s easy to tell when you’re faking this.
iv. Mike admitted that sometimes the project has changed and he’s lost his enthusiasm so it’s good if you are enthusiastic about it.
v. Did I mention enthusiasm?

12. When asked if there was anything that happened on a shoot that made them not want to work with a photographer again Jigisha said there was a shoot where the photographer was bad mouthing the Art Director but didn’t know his radio was on. Mike acknowledged he could be a pain in the ass on shoots asking for more coverage of things on the fly.

13. Questions about the triple bid, budgets, pricing and negotiation had Jigisha explaining the Art Producers job is to make sure they get a fair market price for their clients.

Thanks to Andrea Stern for the great questions. Here’s a take of the event from the audience.

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I’m giving my talk on social media marketing for photographers in Denver on Tuesday. Here’s the ASMP Colorado page with info and the facebook page. If you read the blog and your going to the event come say hi. I’ve found these events are a good opportunity to shake hands with some of my readers.

Date: Tuesday May 24, 2011
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM (Social Hour at 6:00 PM)

Location:
Denver Pro Photo
235 S. Cherokee Street
Denver, CO 80223

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This Wednesday, May 18th I will be on a panel with an Art Producer, Creative Director and Art Director at the offices of TBWA-Chiat-Day in LA to help answer the question “why we hire you.” The event is being put on by the LA chapter of APA and Andrea Stern of SternRep. More information can be found (here). I’m excited to talk about the way in which I used to choose and hire photographers and also impart knowledge gained from 3 years of blogging about the subject. The rest of the panel is strictly advertising folks (Jigisha Bouverat, Director of Art Productions TBWA\Chiat\Day; Mike Kohlbecker, Associate Creative Director/Art Director, Crispin Porter + Bogusky; Jake Kahana, Art Director, 72 and Sunny), so it will be interesting to learn about their processes and report back what I find out.

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As part of MOPLA (month of photography LA), I’m moderating a panel this Wednesday (April 20th) at Smashbox Studios in Culver City, CA on using new and old media to market your business [New Media + Diversified Marketing Strategies = Business Longevity]. I’ve got Jen Jenkins (Founder, Giant Artists), Kiino Villand (WSTRNCV.com), Keith Goodman (Modern Postcard), Jeremy and Claire Weiss (day19.com) and Heidi Volpe (Design Director at Zinio).

The goal will be to discuss the mix of new an old marketing methods that are used to land jobs and reach out to prospects. Also, I want to explore how companies use new media to hire photographers and what they look for when hiring for projects that are a mix of new and old media.

I can’t promise any silver bullets, but I think you will come away with some ideas and inspiration on how you can adjust the mix of your marketing methods.

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Wow, this is impressive. Former Baltimore Sun newspaper photographer David Hobby and Joe McNally of LIFE and National Geographic fame have turned their burgeoning blog/workshop business of teaching hobbyists and semi-pro photographers how to light with small strobes into a 29 city 13,000 mile fully sponsored bus tour (here). First off, it’s amazing how effective blogs are at getting the word out. I honesty don’t think they will have to do a stitch of advertising to sell out all those cities (unless they’re rocking an arena tour). I’m also marveling at these two photographers who’ve looked at what was happening in the business and embraced teaching all these people clamoring to learn more about shooting. Obviously, both are great teachers and this not something you just decide to do overnight unless you have the proper skill set and have spent a good portion of the last 3-5 years developing an audience for it. And the photography manufacturers who’ve gotten on board, what an incredible method to get the word out about your product, a frickin’ bus tour of all things. It’s amazing isn’t it, that in the internet age it comes down to a couple of dudes on a bus. Of course, teaching amateurs how to light their badly conceived images may horrify many of you, but that cat ain’t going back in the bag.

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John Eder sent me this entertaining report from Photo LA 2011.

I went with my buddy the location scout – he got into that after a career as an assistant. We were gonna play a drinking game where we would have a shot if we saw pictures with:

empty swimming pools
Russian hookers
Indian hookers
any kind of hookers
brothels
Indian brothels
deserted strip malls
incredibly sharp images of banal intersections with gas stations
enigmatic pictures that look like stills from movies that never happened
girls in gowns underwater in swimming pools
Anything with 20 of the same thing in a grid pattern – watertowers, neon motel signs, etc.
Anything with North Korea in it
Douglas Kirkland – in any form – on the wall, in person, endorsing something, in a workshop, advertising for a future workshop, anything

We didn’t do it, tho, which is a good thing cos we would have gotten hammered!

Anyway, by Sunday, when we went, all the vendors were bored stiff and would talk your ear off. The gal from Light Works was cool and expounded at length about their really great programs for photographers – residencies, grants, access to their print lab. I’m into that! The guy hawking beautiful ltd. editions of my one-time instructor Jerry Uelsmann let me paw thru all his stuff even when I told him I didn’t have $5K to buy one. Jerry’s work still holds up for me, even in the digital age. I could have sworn the two babes manning the booth for some gallery from Santa Fe were flirting with me, I wonder if they hooked up at the after party with the guy from another gallery who sounded like Cary Grant, or more like Tony Curtis imitating Cary Grant in “Some Like It Hot.” Counted five female patrons with shaved heads, just in that one afternoon. Lots of dudes in designer eyeglasses along the lines of Hockney or Phillip Johnson.

What was striking was the lack of anything really all that new. Nobody from this yrs MOMA “New Photography” show – Alex Prager, Roe Etheridge, etc. No Gursky this year. Only one by Kahn and Selesnick, kind of tucked away, odd cos they seem to be making a big splash with their cool work http://www.kahnselesnick.com/. No Jill Greenberg, who is usually represented. Some truly weird stuff – one thing where you could take your picture in this booth and they photoshopped it into some kind of weird Buddha garden thing. None of the big NYC galleries like Yancey Richardson or Yossi Milo, I guess they don’t have to, no Clampart, nothing like that.

I was thinking about the Clint Clemens interview you did as well, regarding China – there was one Chinese gallery represented, which had a spiffy booth and some nice giveaway postcards, but they were dealing in vintage images of stuff from the 50s in China, which was visually nice but nothing leading edge.

If I had $100K to buy for a zillionaire’s loft, you could have gotten a lot of cool stuff, tho not necessarily for a song, but reams of famous vintage images from the worlds of fashion/ celeb/ journalism available for under $10K. Fetching BIG prices was Helmut Newton. You could have gotten some nice Lillian Bassmans for relatively cheap – one well heeled West Side type power couple were mulling over a purchase as “She’s going to die any minute and they’ll triple.”

Hardly any imitation Eggleston, except for something called “LA Matrix La Brea”, which was heavy on the intersections with gas stations incredibly sharp, Steven Shore involved there along with younger types.

I think the most of one thing we saw was Antarctica/the Arctic/ frozen wastelands with scary icebergs – tons of that! Lots of photo-shopped, manipulated landscapes, which were neat to look at for the most part, tho some of them a little hokey. Also, as usual – we should have put this on the list for our drinking game – there are ALWAYS a million pics of Muhammad Ali at this thing, as was the case this yr.

One of the best things about it, from an overall industry view, was it was way more heavily attended than last yr., and stuff seemed to be selling, even the smaller galleries said business had been good; they felt justified in the outlay of putting up a booth. Last year it was like oh my God the sky is falling, it was not so hot saleswise. There was a lot of stuff with red dots on it, for sold, so that’s encouraging.

I think my fave thing – that stopped me in my tracks and made me laff – was this Corey Arnold pic, on display as the cover of his book:

OK that’s my entirely unsolicited review.

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I’m giving a talk next week in Boise, ID on social media marketing for photographers. If you’re going come say hi afterwards. Here are the specifics:

Social Media has quickly changed the way people communicate and do business. If you’re like most photographers you have Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts and maybe you’ve done a bit of blogging, but you haven’t figured out how this fits into your marketing plan. You’re not alone, long established media and advertising businesses were caught off guard as social media revolutionized their industry. Staying informed, making a plan and taking action is essential for anyone running a business in this new environment. In this presentation Rob Haggart will help you make sense of how these new tools work, show you photographers who are finding success with social media and inspire you to take action.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011
7:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Hotel 43 Downtown Boise
Longitude Room
981 Grove Street
Boise, Idaho 83702

Students $5
ASMP Members Free
Non-Members $15

/sponsored by me.

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Photographer Tony Gale visited the Adhesive Event for APE and here’s what he saw.

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As a follow up to my post entitled Pay For Meetings?, where I looked at the NYC FotoWorks portfolio reviews taking place at the same time as the trade show, I asked a few photographers who attended to give us their feedback:

Terence Patrick:

Thanks for the post a few weeks ago on the NYCFotoWorks portfolio review. I would not have heard about it otherwise. I’m really glad I went and even though I didn’t get to see everyone I wanted, the feedback from those I did see was tremendous. An assignment offer was given on the spot and lots of great contacts were made. For an event of its size, it was very well run. Totally worth every dime I spent!

Kevin Steele:

I didn’t pull the trigger to do the reviews until 2 weeks before, when I realized that a possible assignment was not going to happen the same week. I was still able to get a deal on airfare from the west coast and I have a cousin and a place to stay in the city. I felt the timing was right to get feedback as well as get my work out there after recent awards and a year in which my book has changed almost completely as I focused on where I want to be next. I compared both the juried NYCFotoworks and the PDN/Palm Springs reviews at PhotoPlus Expo and decided to do a set of of 14 editors/5 ABs on Thurs/Friday at Sandbox studios with NYCFotoworks and then the Saturday with 5 more at the event at Photo Plus Expo. $990 + $250.

I made my selections and have to say I was pretty happy with who I was able to see at both events. I prefer how NYCFotoworks handled the registration and selection process although I wish I knew the final schedule sooner. There were some cancellations and rescheduling and I was able to secure an agency AB when a magazine PE could not make it which was better for me. But one reschedule caught me as I did not make note of the change and was out on a break, missing my time slot. During the events I also met with a rep and an agency AB who wanted to see my book in the hallway outside of the schedule. And an artist adviser was on site at Sandbox for free 20 minute consults (smart for her as a great way to market herself). I did not go in expecting to find work – having launched a direction this year I wanted expert advice and critical feedback on my work, my edit, my style, my strengths and weaknesses. I was really surprised that some of the most helpful sessions came unexpectedly, from those reviewers who were near the bottom of my preference list. And that some of those on the top of my list did not provide a critical level I expected. But all in all it was well worth it – it did result in a magazine request for an image to run and one AB said I made her day after she saw an image and realized I was the one she could pitch for a client meeting the next week for a 2011 project.

Fifteen or less minutes (as changeovers were every fifteen minutes) at Sandbox was too short. On Friday evening I had 5 sessions that were back-to-back. What I appreciated were the reviewers who would ask why I was there and what I wanted and then would flip through the book very quickly, close it, open it again and go more slowly, sometimes making a third pass even slower. The sessions at Photo Plus Expo (on Saturday) were 20 minutes and seemed to be less hurried – both in that the extra 25% helps as well so a little overage was OK and everyone was cleared from the room before the next review session. That is in contrast to NYC Fotoworks where I was more than once in the awkward position of standing at my next reviewer’s table while the photographer from the last session was still wrapping up.

This is the first time I have done these “speed dating” sessions. I will usually block a week to visit a city and get appointments (LA, SF, NY). The last time I was in NY I had ten agency AB and editorial PE meetings in five days – and that took a good part of two weeks of preparation: calls, emails and more emails, and a lot of dead time “on call” and leaving voicemails during the visit week.

As a result of all of this I have had face time with an incredible number of editors, reps and agencies that have seen my work now and I can follow up with a level of familiarity that would not have been there otherwise. Some images are now axed from the book, the sequence edited and my direction affirmed while a future personal project has been inspired from one of the reviewer’s prompts.

Brian Stevenson:

I had some apprehension about the review events value to me before I went. It’s not inexpensive and since I don’t live in NY it was a big commitment for me to make the trip. But, I felt like if I made the decision to go, I should do everything I could to make the most of it. I ended up purchasing a pretty significant package of reviews and I balanced my reviewer requests fairly evenly between editors, art buyers, and agents.

The list of attending reviewers was pretty impressive. I signed up early and I ended up being scheduled with most of the people I really wanted to see. When the two day event began, there were also opportunities for me and all other photographers to meet with both photography consultant Colleen Vreeland and a representative from Corbis without incurring any additional costs. I signed up for both additional sessions.

I did my homework before the event. I read everything I could find about the people I was meeting with. I made lists of the art buyers’ most relevant clients. I checked everyone’s resumes on LinkedIn to find out where they’d been before they arrived at the jobs they hold now. I looked at recent copies of the editors’ respective publications. And I looked at the work of all of the photographers who are represented by the agents. I think I was as prepared as I could have been and I think it made me more confident going into the reviews.

Each scheduled meeting was 15 minutes long and the organizers of the event did a pretty good job of making sure the transitions occurred on time. Things got a little backed up throughout the first day (mostly because a couple of the reviewers arrived late) but it didn’t result in anyone being denied meetings. There were one or two reviewers who neglected to show up at all but in those instances, I believe the organizers did everything they could to reschedule photographers with other reviewers. All in all I’d say the event was well run.

I hadn’t attended a review event like this before and I was concerned that reviewers might be so overwhelmed with the number of people they were seeing that they might become disengaged after a few reviews. But, my schedule on both days was pretty spread out and the people I met with seemed genuinely invested in the process throughout the day. I received a lot of positive feedback about my work as well as some valuable suggestions regarding the editing of my portfolio. The agent meetings were helpful to me, not because I expected anyone to sign me to their roster, but because I was able to discuss some specific questions I had about tightening up bids and writing treatments for commercial jobs. I think the 15 minute review times were appropriate since they’re about on par with what I think most photographers can expect in meetings they set up on their own outside of events like these.

I met with a lot of people in the two day period. I doubt I could have arranged to see half the number of people on my own and if I had it would have taken days or weeks of repeated phone calls and emails to make happen. I also would have had to spend more time in New York (I love NY but, of course, it costs a fortune to be there) and I’d have had to do a lot of running around to see everyone. My time is worth more to me than the money I would have saved by trying to set up so many meetings on my own and, again, I’m certain I wouldn’t have been able to arrange meetings at all with some of the people I saw at the event. I made some great contacts and I enjoyed the process.

Update: Jasmine DeFoore gives us portfolio review do’s and dont’s from the PDN/Palm Springs Review (here).

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I have a several interesting posts coming from the show floor, seminars I was involved in and the portfolio reviews. In the meantime there’s some good stuff up on Stella Kramer’s blog stellazine as she and several others were reporting live from the event.

I found this note posted by Allegra Wilde on her facebook page quite good as I’m sure it’s advice she was handing out at the portfolio reviews:

“Yeah, But I Have To Make Money….”

(And other ways to ignore the reason you became a professional photographer)

When you are in the business of selling something subjective like photography, there is no standard formula which will tell you who is going to connect with what you do, any more than it is possible to predict who is likely to fall in love with you.

Following what’s hot right now; doing what you have been seeing out there already – imitating the same content, styles, or processes as everybody else is going to be futile in the end.

If you make and show images with the intention of speaking the language of potential clients (and that is what most people do)…you will just end up looking like most people.  You will wind up moving away from yourself.

“Yeah but I have to make money”.

And you may, for a while. However, your career will ultimately suffer.

And so will your heart.

The answer: Make work that is made entirely of… You.

Your life, and your passions.

The things that no one else can appropriate.

If you do that, (and get past your fears about whether it will work), you will have less, or even no competition.  And that is always safer and more profitable than being part of the crowd.

The strongest part of you, is the honest you, and that remains true regardless of the economy, technology, or the weather report.

The connection between a photographer and a person who is in a position to hire them and collaborate with them, begins with chemistry.  And chemistry begins with honesty.

But that is not the whole story.

You will never have a career being the best-kept secret in photography.

The formula for success? It starts here:

Show yourself in your images, and stand by them no matter what. Show your work to people who can hire you.  All of them. EVERYWHERE. Mass market and send your photographs far and wide.

Those who see your pictures and are moved by them will understand you. Will want to be around you.  Work with you.

Isn’t that your ultimate goal?  Isn’t that why you chose this career in the first place?

Allegra Wilde
Portfolio Reviews, Marketing Consultation + Visual Strategies for Photographers, Agents, and the rest of the Professional Photography Community

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When: Thursday, Oct 28 from 3:45 pm to 5:45pm

Where: PhotoPlus Expo in NYC

What: Myself, Amanda and Suzanne will moderate a panel of industry pros:

Kat Dalager, manager of print production at Campell Mithun

Greg Lhotsky, agent and partner at Bernstein & Andriulli

Jennifer Pastore, DOP at Teen Vogue

Nick Onken, Professional Photographer

Jim Krantz, Professional Photographer

Why: I thought it would be fun to take the ask anything format and make it live which boils down to this: Amanda, Suzanne and I have all the tough questions you would love to put to these people, but we all know this industry is small and who wants to ask Kat Dalager “Why do agencies tell me to cut expenses and then treat a photoshoot like an all expenses paid vacation for the agency and client? Your catered lunch would pay my assistants rent for a year.”

We’re going to ask those questions.

I hope to have a live feed setup as well so stay tuned to that if you’re interested.

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One of the highlights of last weekend’s Telluride Photography Festival was seeing the work of Robert Glenn Ketchum and learning about the International League of Conservation Photographers. If your photography had the kind of impact Robert’s has just once in your career you would die happy. He does it over and over again with a multitude of grants from people who understand the impact photography can have in changing peoples minds. What really brought this idea home for me was watching the presentation by Christina Mittermeier, president of the iLCP, where she said the goal of their RAVE (rapid assessment visual expedition) projects was to “create tipping points around conservation issues using the power of photography.” Seeing the successes of both Robert and the iLCP emboldened my thoughts about the vast power of photography and its place in our future. Not just for conservation, but as a tool for reaching people in an increasingly crowded media space.

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There’s a Photography Festival in Telluride, Colorado happening this week. I’ll be there Friday and Saturday doing some portfolio reviews, giving a couple seminars and hanging an outdoor exhibit. If you’re going to be there as well stop by and say hi. The boys from PhotoShelter will be around as well as the PhotoAttorney so it should be a good time. I’m excited to see the work of Robert Glenn Ketchum and hopefully meet him as well. This is the first year of the festival and I’m looking forward to this turning into a significant event for the photo community in my neck of the woods.

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It was brought to my attention that Lou Lesko founder of the popular bidding software for photographers http://blinkbid.com recently started a tradeshow for people who shoot video with HDSLR’s called PhotoCine Expo. Looks pretty cool and it’s happening in LA September 25th and 26th. I thought I’d ask Lou a couple questions:

APE: Can you give me a little background and tell me how blink bid came about?

Blinkbid started as “Blink”, but I couldn’t get the URL so it evolved into Blinkbid. As I was directing more commercials, I had less time to do my own photography bids so my producer and I went on the hunt to find easy-to-use software so we could delegate the bidding. There really wasn’t any available so I came up with a design for a work flow and I had a custom database made. After looking at it for a few months we thought that we might be able to sell it as a product.

My accountant thought it was going to be a big tax write off and indeed the first iteration wasn’t ideal, but by version 2 we started to see a few more sales and we started getting valuable input from the community. We went from there to the point where we could give back to the photo community via APA and ASMP support.

APE: Now what about the Photo Cine Expo how did that come about, the timing seems perfect?

About eighteen months I wrote an article titled “Will Video Kill the Photography Star” for Digital Photo Pro magazine. I was much maligned for my opinion that photography and video were going to converge to the point where I got a few nasty emails decrying that my ability to call a trend had atrophied. Three months later, video exploded in the photo industry and I want from ass to prophet over night.

About this time Michael Britt and Tom Stratton saw the same trend as me, and were in the nascent stages of producing the Collision Conference, the first conference of its type bringing together HDSLR video and photography. They saw my article and asked me to speak. Ultimately we agreed that were like minded and so in 2010 we started PhotoCine News and the PhotoCine News Expo.

APE: Obviously you think there’s a big future for HDSLR filmmaking can you give me some thoughts on that?

Ahh the future. I’ve always held that photographers make amazing cinematographers and directors. It is our trained attention to detail that comes from having a single frame scrutinized that gives us an edge. However, there are a couple very valid reasons why photography has always been seen as the red headed step child of the entertainment industry.

The first is beyond anyone’s control. Movies and TV shows have massive audiences which translates into a lot of money for the studios which in turn put huge marketing muscle behind their products.

The second is an issue that I’ve been on evangelistic crusade about for the last year. Narrative thread. In the early days of photographers shooting video I have seen a huge number of vignettes. Stunning imagery in motion like you would expect from a photographer. The downfall to these vignettes is that they have no story. No matter how short your piece it should have a beginning, a middle and an end.

One way to get an easy introduction to the three act story structure of movies is to read “Save the Cat” by Blake Snyder. Snyder goes through visual story telling by offering heaps of examples from movies you’ve seen. If you want to get more existential and learn about the archetypal hero, there is no better book than Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.”

As far as the immediate future, conveying a story in motion, and the ability to write a treatment are both becoming absolute necessity to landing advertising jobs. Video is now an integral part of being a photographer. The danger on the horizon for photographers are the cinematographers that are looming on the periphery of our stake in advertising world. Agencies only have eyes for those who can deliver what they need. If photographers aren’t in a position to offer video they’ll start looking at the cinematographers, all of whom are reasonable photographers if they put their mind to it.

I’m incredibly optimistic about the extended future. Never before in the history of the visual arts have there been more opportunities for photographers. There are more distribution channels for original work, more ways to monetize non commissioned pieces, and more opportunity to achieve a level a celebrity based on your efforts.

I always like to stick my neck out with a prediction. In the next three years we’re going to see the decline of reality TV to see it replaced by documentaries and docu-dramas shot by photographers. Because there is something about being a photographer that gives you a unique visual perspective that can’t be found in any other discipline.

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Correspondent Jonathan Blaustein is back with a report from the summer gallery shows in Santa Fe.

Since the last article I wrote for APE, I’ve spent the summer doing the usual things. Making new photographs for “The Value of a Dollar,” weeding in the yard, and running after my young son. Average summer duties. Beyond that, I released a limited edition print to benefit the UN World Food Programme through the collect.give, had the opportunity to hear public lectures by Jonathan Torgovnik, Mary Virginia Swanson, Christopher James, Cig Harvey through the Santa Fe Workshops.

But unlike New York, which quiets down in Summer, in Northern New Mexico it’s high Season. That means busloads of tourists. And tourists like art. So many of the big blockbuster photo exhibitions take place now, rather than in the Fall or Spring. The book designer and blogger Elizabeth Avedon did a blog post previewing the Santa Fe summer scene a couple of months ago, so I thought I’d go see what was on the wall, and report back to the APE audience.

I began my little adventure at photo-eye, which is undoubtedly the photography institution in Santa Fe. The owner, Rixon Reed and his crew recently celebrated their 30th Anniversary. They offer a lot to the community, including a great photo-book store, a sleek photo gallery, and a program of public events and artist salons. The current exhibit in the gallery is a three-person show featuring work by Edward Ranney, Mitch Dobrowner, and Chris McCaw. All three work in black and white, and have differing perspectives on the landscape.

Edward Ranney, a long time NM resident, just published a book with Lucy Lippard that investigates the nearby Galisteo Basin. It was home to pre- and post-Columbian Native American culture for centuries. Ranney’s stark photos are printed without heavy or dramatic contrast, and create the impression of timelessness. Some images depict remnants of earlier cultures, and some do not. Together, they give the impression that the land, with its volcanoes and rocky cliffs, works with a timeframe that mocks the ephemeral.

Mitch Dobrowner’s large-scale landscape prints, by comparison, are dramatic and literal. They’re very beautiful, to be sure, but lack imagination. One exception, a triptych of clouds moving across Shiprock, in the Navajo Nation, is tremendous. Particularly if one has traveled through the Four Corners, as the natural beauty juxtaposes against a hard-core culture of poverty and isolation.

Chris McCaw’s photographs have been exhibited widely of late in NYC, LA, and SF. His work is original and visually engaging, and was recently collected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. McCaw uses a large format camera, and allows the sun to burn its way through photographic paper that takes the place of film, utilizing long exposures. So the paper will show the literal mark of the sun, which shares the rectangle with land & oceanscapes. The balance of creation and destruction is timely and visceral. Killer stuff.

Andrew Smith, at his eponymous gallery, has the other major old-school place in town. The gallery had an installation on the wall by William Christenberry that I was excited to see. There were 20 small prints, in frames, leaning against the wall in two horizontal rows, (one above the other,) sitting on a wooden rail. Like much of his work, the images were made of the same subject, re-photographed over time. In this case, it was an old sharecropper’s house in Alabama, shot between 1978 and 2005. In early images, an old blue car is parked in front of the house, and in some an African-American family is standing on the front porch. As the sequence resolves itself, the car and family disappear, and the house slowly degrades to ruin. It’s a powerful depiction of the cold efficiency of time, and a strong metaphor for the problems facing rural society in the United States.

Smith’s gallery also has a ridiculous display of historical work, hung salon-style, in several rooms on two floors. I’ve never been anywhere like it, outside of a major museum. Ansel Adams, Carleton Watkins, Muybridge, William Henry Jackson, Steichen, Friedlander, Eliot Erwitt, and many other legends of photography are well represented. It’s so full, in fact, that I spotted a vintage print by Walker Evans of the Alabama tenant farmer’s wife, the image that Sherri Levine appropriated years later. It was a foot and a half off the floor, down in a corner by a door-frame. That tells you a bit about how much of photography’s history is crammed into this space. Not to be missed.

Verve Gallery, on Marcy St, has a huge following in Santa Fe. I’ve seen several shows there, and they tend to have three person exhibitions, from what I can tell. The work leans towards photo-journalism and documentary photography, with some exceptions. They are currently showing two documentarians, Jeffrey Becom and Nevada Wier, alongside digital conjurer Maggie Taylor. The former offerings were not super-interesting to me, but Taylor’s work is fantastic, and worth a visit. She creates surreal images that layer taken and found photographs, arriving at an original vision with a unique color palette. Taylor has been working this way for a while, and ten years ago, before Photoshop’s ubiquity, there would have been a “how did she do that” quality that is no longer to be mined. But the photographs are compelling, creating a stream of characters out of a Greek Mythology, with rams heads and rhinos and fish men.

Monroe Gallery is another of Santa Fe’s photo spots that has a national reputation, as they show historical photojournalism from the early to mid-20th Century. It’s a different period and style than you see at Andrew Smith, but equally relevant to American photography lovers. This Summer, they’ve got an exhibition in the front room by Bill Eppridge. One wall focused on photos of Robert Kennedy during his campaign for the Democratic Nomination in 1968. Very Iconographic. One image showed Kennedy riding in an open convertible with NFL greats the “Fearsome Foursome.” It stopped me, due to the reference to his brother’s assassination, of course, but also because it seemed like such an anachronism. Can anyone imagine a scene like that transpiring in 2010?

The back room of the gallery had several walls of classic photographs of famous people, hung salon-style. It’s a strange, fascinating mash-up of Marilyn Monroe, Winston Churchill, JFK, MLK, Ghandi, Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, Stravinsky, Frank Sinatra, Albert Einstein and more, photographed by the likes of Robert Capa, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Margaret Bourke-White, and Arnold Newman. History; commodified.

Eight Modern is a relative newcomer, compared to the SF institutions mentioned above. It’s a contemporary art gallery in an old adobe building, just off of Canyon Road.

While they often show painting and sculpture in a beautiful setting, the June/July show was by the Chicago conceptual artist Jason Salavon. He uses the computer

to make original work from historical masterpieces, and shows digital projections, video installation, abstract prints, and digital C-prints, which I’d classify as photographs.

The front room contained two pieces that were haunting, smart and original. Salavon created montages of portraits by Velasquez and van Dyck that show just the ghostly suggestion of classical portrait sitters to create a meta-portrait. The layers of brown and ochre, and the subtle look of under-painting, are rendered digital and morphed into hyper-real. The spot where the face resides is not recognizable, per se, but is lighter in color in just the way to suggest what it was. It was probably the best work I saw on my gallery crawl. (But that bespeaks my bias towards the contemporary and conceptual, obviously.)

Finally, I saw one show down I-25 in Albuquerque at the Richard Levy Gallery. I’m including it because why not, as Levy shows contemporary international work in a great downtown space. (And I happened to be in ABQ briefly one day.) His current exhibition is by Manjari Sharma, the Mumbai and New York based photographer whose “Shower Series” has gotten lots of exposure on the web. (Burn Magazine, Lensscratch, Fraction Magazine’s blog & more.) While I’ve seen the jpegs many times, it was good to experience the large prints on the wall. She’s photographed a mix of attractive, multi-racial people who agree to take a shower in her apartment. None of the photos depict the subjects looking at the camera. They’re caught in what appear to be private, contemplative moments. So while the work is visually engaging, I was interested in the way it called attention to the artificial nature and forced intimacy of photographer/sitter relationship.

Well, that was a lot of information, I know. If you’ve made it this far into the article, you’re obviously interested in photography, or Santa Fe, or both. That, or it’s quiet today and you have some time to kill. Regardless, I’d encourage a trip out to New Mexico if you’ve not been before. All the above galleries show high quality work on a regular basis, and you can add Site Santa Fe, the NM Museum of Art, James Kelly Contemporary, Zane Bennett Contemporary Art, and the NM History Museum to the list. And in case you were wondering, I’m not a covert member of the Chamber of Commerce. I assure you.

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Photographer Jonathan Blaustein who recently told us about Review Santa Fe attended LOOKbetween photo festival next:

I set out for the LOOKbetween photo festival from Taos, New Mexico last Wednesday. As some of you know, I participated in Review Santa Fe the week before. It took 13 hours to get to New York, where I was planning to catch a bus that LOOK had chartered. I spent Thursday running around the City in meetings, and going to some openings in Chelsea as well. (Jesse Burke’s show at Clampart is killer, BTW.)

Friday, the bus embarked from Penn Station just after 9am, and didn’t arrive at the Deep Rock farm outside Charlottesville, Virginia until 6:30 pm. I tell you this at the outset for a very important reason: I was practically a zombie by the time the festival began. The rest of this piece ought to be read with that perspective in mind. If you want a more structured account of the who’s and what’s, I’ve seen some good reports filed by PDN on their blog.

That said, I had a fantastic experience at the farm, and spent a concentrated period of time that likely won’t be duplicated. The setting for LOOKbetween was like something out of a Southern Romance novel; rolling green hills, crystalline ponds, braying donkeys, ribbitting frogs, strumming banjos, and a humidity level that would induce a full sweat in seconds. I didn’t have any sweet tea over the weekend, but short of that, the South represented for sure.

As we arrived, we were directed to set up our tents on a lush field overlooking the rest of the farm. I didn’t count, but there must have been 60 or 70 tents filled with photographers from different backgrounds and countries. We were provided with all the tasty food, cold water, and nourishing booze that anyone could want, all weekend long. And outdoor showers and washing stations were conveniently located as well.

After we struck camp, a cocktail hour and dinner buffet were served, which provided people the opportunity to meet, greet, and get a solid meal before the evening’s activities. A short orientation gave us the lay of the land, and then after dinner the evening’s program was a slate of 3 minute multi-media slideshows (or short films) that each attending photographer made just for the event. Prior to the projector rolling, a spokesman from the medical supply company BD gave a presentation on how his company uses photojournalism to deliver its message on Global Health in the Third World. Unlike Review Santa Fe, where the photographer’s tuition pays for the event, LOOKbetween had corporate sponsorship from BD, as well as Leica, National Geographic and a few others. The messaging was appropriate and understated, but made for a slightly different atmosphere.

Sitting on a green hill, watching the stars emerge as one smart project after another rolled along; it was brilliant. Story after story provided a glimpse into a different issue or part of the world. I went with a more experimental style and vision, and had to accept that my project did not really stand out. C’est la vie. Overall, the most successful pieces were the one’s that used either HD video or voice-over narration to engage the viewer. Christopher Capozziello‘s project on his twin brother’s cerebral palsy was visceral due to the narration; Erika Larsen‘s HD short film of reindeer culture in Scandinavia was riveting. Dima Gavrysh’s photos taken while embedded in Afghanistan were probably the best I saw in a more traditional slideshow format.

After 40 pieces or so, we broke for the night and headed back to camp for a huge bonfire and some serious drinking and talking. My friend Susan Worsham, (whom I know primarily through FB,) and I talked about our art process and motivation for almost 3 hours. It was inspiring, motivating, and unique. Deep conversations, as opposed to token schmoozing, were the highlight of LOOKbetween for me. I trekked across the country for dialogue, and the festival delivered. Sleep was tough to find, given that many of the younger photographers were yelling and screaming outside the tents until dawn. I would have been annoyed, but I was quite the lout in my college years, and karma is a bitch sometimes.

Saturday, after breakfast, LOOKbetween organized some specific round table discussions and a full-panel-talk after lunch. This was definitely the weak spot of the weekend for me. Certainly, my tired brain made me less inclined to share, but many of my art colleagues concurred that the structure was geared almost exclusively towards the editorial and journalistic photographers. After trying initially to participate, I became more disengaged by the minute. Several of my colleagues actually skipped out on the afternoon activities, and I stuck around in body only. The efforts to create conversation around serious issues were sincere, but no attempt was made to bridge the gap between how fine artists use photography relative to commissioned work. In fairness, I did find the dialogue about collective and collaborative action by Luceo to be beneficial, and the photographers who embraced rather than resented video found themselves talking a lot. And people were listening.

Saturday night was another slate of projections, and again the ones that used video wisely were well appreciated. The evening’s work was heavy on Third World photojournalism, which began to seem highly repetitive. And repetitive. It was a sticking point for me between the worlds of art and journalism, in that art photographers are trained to try to make original images and many journalists seem to stick to a template. I’m not suggesting the art model is superior, as it often produces meaningless self-indulgence, while journalists seem driven by a sense of mission and obligation. But the gap existed nonetheless.

My favorite of the night, and overall for that matter, was by the aforementioned Virginia photographer Susan Worsham. While I tried something new and improvisational, and perhaps failed, Susan made her first video just for the occasion and crushed it. She’s known for her sharp, lyrical portraits and still lives from her project “Some Fox Trails in Virginia.” She was the only photographer to split the screen, using two parallel square boxes with white, negative space surrounding. Susan paired photos on one side with video on the other, and narration over the top. It was magical.

The end of the evening was another bonfire, this time with fire-dancers and music. Kind of hippie, yes, but as I live in Taos, I can dig it. I spent another few hours talking about art and exploitation with the witty, naughty, and highly intelligent British photographers Ben Roberts and Hin Chua. They were frustrated by the work they saw that seemed to USE subjects in order to advance a message. I won’t name names here, but I enjoyed the chance to talk seriously about where boundaries ought to be respected, as opposed to broken. (I’d discussed a similar theme on the bus ride down about Nina Berman’s photographs from the Whitney Biennial.)

Jonathan Blaustein

Sunday was breakfast and coffee, and then back on the bus. 8 ½ hours up I-95 was a tough slog. (I cheated and jumped off in Jersey.) But given that bonds had already developed, I was able to talk about art and business practice with super-savvy New York photographer Justine Reyes, and Syracuse MFA student Rose Marie Cromwell. So even rubbernecking traffic provided a chance to learn and laugh. (Road giddy is a particular kind of thing.)

Was it worth the hassle of getting from Taos to Virginia via NYC? Absolutely. Would I go back again if invited? Unquestionably. Do I think that the organizers will pay a bit more attention next time to synthesizing the different communities? I do. Was it strange to see cliques develop like high school? Surely. Did it matter in the end that I didn’t get to meet that many people? No, because I haven’t had the chance to mix it up with talented peers since I got out of graduate school in 2004. So thank you, LOOKbetween. I appreciate your hospitality, generosity, and good intentions.

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Portfolio reviews in progress

Fine Art Photographer Jonathan Blaustein, a participant in this year’s Review Santa Fe gives us his take on the event:

I’ve found that many people who’ve never attended a Portfolio Review are a bit skeptical about paying money for access, while most photographers who’ve been to one are fans of the process. I used to be in the former category, and am now squarely in the latter, having attended Review Santa Fe for the first time in 2009. I was invited back this year when my project “The Value of a Dollar,” was chosen for Honorable Mention in the 2010 CENTER Project Competition. (CENTER is the organization that runs RSF.)

I’ve heard great things about photolucida in Portland, FotoFest in Houston, and Photo Nola in New Orleans, but I can definitely say that Review Santa Fe has it all figured out. Laura Pressley, the Executive Director, runs a tight ship, and works hard to create a seamless event structure for the photographers and reviewers. The schedule is packed, yet things run smoothly, and her entire staff is laid-back and diligent.

The event began Thursday afternoon at the Hilton Hotel with a brief photographer’s orientation, followed by an opening night party. This year, the shindig was held at the Zane Bennett Gallery in Santa Fe’s trendy Railyard District. Both photographers and reviewers mingled together over wine and snacks, and I think it helped break the ice quickly. Most reviewers were happy to talk to photographers in social settings throughout the event.

Friday, each photographer had three 20-minute meetings scheduled over the course of the morning and afternoon. That left six for Saturday, totaling nine in all. I found all but one of my reviewers to be supportive and engaging. RSF employs a web-based lottery system to determine a photographer’s schedule, and I received seven of my top eight choices. (Together, my slate contained a cross-section of dealers, curators, publishers, and photo editors.) I was particularly impressed with publisher Dewi Lewis, gallerist Debra Klomp Ching, and photo editor Josh Haner, as each was very positive about my work, but also managed to give highly specific, expert criticism about how to move it forward. (Jamie Wellford from Newsweek was the most friendly and approachable.)

For Friday night, CENTER scheduled a Portfolio Walk open to the public that was hot, crowded, and very tiring. Few photographers ever get a chance to talk one-on-one with their audience, though, so it was worthwhile. Most reviewers were gracious enough to walk around the room for hours, chatting up photographers who weren’t on their schedule. I had in-depth conversations with Kevin Miller from the Southeast Museum of Photography, Ann Pallesen from PCNW in Seattle, George Thompson from the Center for American Places in Chicago, and Amani Olu from the Humble Arts Foundation in NYC.

CENTER’s closing party

Saturday night, after the official reviews were done, CENTER hosted a packed party with a cash bar & some light snacks. They also offered a raffle for limited edition prints from the contest winners, and other gifts as well. (It got a little rowdy.) Along with fostering community, collecting each other’s work seemed to be a theme for this year’s event, as a print trade between the photographers was also offered. After CENTER’s party wound down, David Bram of Fraction Magazine and über-consultant Mary Virginia Swanson both held after-parties for the out-of-towners, open to all.

Fraction Magazine’s afterparty

By that point, things were more casual, the beer was flowing, and it didn’t feel like work for a few hours. I had a few pints and laughed my ass off well into the night. (Speaking of which, someone needs to follow photographer Hollis Bennett around the world with a 5D Mark II. Seriously. Sundance will beckon.)

Sunday morning, RSF wound down with a complimentary brunch at the New Mexico Museum of Art. Katherine Ware and Laura Addison, two curators from the Museum, were working behind the catering table, serving bagels and cream cheese on an 87˚day. It was a bit surreal, but then again I was barely functional by that point. I think my vocabulary had shrunk by half.

Overall, the event is both grueling and exhilarating. It is hard to talk about oneself for days on end without getting sick of the sound of one’s own voice. So listening to others becomes a vital strategy. Pitching gets old fast, but as this year’s festival was the most international to date, it was easy to engage with smart, talented people from around the planet. In fact, I think it’s the key to success at RSF, and reviews in general. If you go to meet people, build relationships, community and a network, you can’t go wrong. And looking at what everyone else is working on is inspiring.

As such, RSF had a dedicated room for the photographers to peruse each other’s portfolios. I saw a lot of amazing work across a broad spectrum. I was particularly taken with David Rochkind’s project on the Drug War in Mexico, Alix Smith’s hyper-real “States of Union” series, journalist Daniel Beltra’s aerial photos of Global Warming disasters, and Jody Ake‘s wet-plate collodion portraits.

As CENTER is a non-profit, the $695/$745 fee (member/non-member) goes directly towards putting on the event. So ultimately, it’s necessary just for the Review to exist. But it ends up seeming like a small price to pay for all you get, as the 20-minute review sessions are just one part of a much larger experience.

To be blunt, I don’t think I’d recommend Review Santa Fe to anyone who isn’t confident in his or her work, and strong of mind. It’s difficult to stay sharp in such an intense environment, as criticism becomes harder to take when you’re worn down. So the event isn’t designed for beginners, which is probably why it’s juried. But for photographic artists, editorial photographers & photojournalists who are further established in the profession and comfortable working under pressure, it’s a potentially career-altering event.

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Awesome opportunity to bid on some fantastic photography and have your money go to Doctors Without Borders at the ♥Art for Haiti auction that opens today.

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If you’re wanting to check out the NYPH (May 12-16) via the internets like myself, James Pomerantz AKA A Photo Student looks to be our man on the ground this year:
http://www.aphotostudent.com
http://twitter.com/aphotostudent

Let us know in the comments if anyone else is covering it online.

UPDATE:

I’ve always wondered why the festival seems so out of touch with the photo community that I exist in. [...]I always come looking for surprises and leave feeling strangely unmoved. How great would it be if everywhere you looked as you walked around photography hit you right between the eyes?

via Stellazine:

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Starts Tomorrow.

This workshop Allegra Wilde is giving (deconstructing your portfolio) looked interesting to me so I asked her to tell me more about it:

Basically, I’ve figured out over the years how to explain to photographers a way to edit, package and distribute their own work. The vast majority of people out there are not going to be represented by an agent, or spend money on a consultant. So I have a method that (paradoxically) allows a photographer to navigate the problem of being ” too close to their own work” by actually being less objective with it.

This is not simply a question “do what you love” or just show your personal work. Because even though photographers who are interested in doing commercial work have sort of gotten that message, they still fall victim to marketplace pandering in their portfolio and websites, and because of this, look like most other photographers, go up against more competition, and therefore, get the job less of the time.

That is not to say that they shouldn’t show buyers what they can do that may look like what is already out there. And i believe there is a place for that in their presentations, but they are missing an opportunity if they mix up their jobs with their personal work. If they muddle it all together, then they don’t have a portfolio that looks original and strong creatively, and, showing the tearsheets or jobs mixed in… at the same time, they miss the opportunity to make a credible sale.

Fantastic.

If anyone goes let us know what you thought of the concept.

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I’m giving a presentation Saturday, April 10, 2010 from 10 AM to 3:00 PM (hour for lunch) in Santa Fe, NM on my favorite topic: Social Media Marketing & the Future of Media. Sponsored by ASMP- NM and The Photography Department of the College of Santa Fe (more info here).

I’m really excited about this presentation because I’ve been working on a “white paper” about this subject for awhile now. Not because I want to go around the country lecturing to photographers–this blog is enough for me–but because I want to present my ideas to corporations and media companies. The public demand for professionally produced content is going to explode and companies need to know how they can use photographers, writers and filmmakers to help them feed that appetite.

I’m going to spend the first hour on traditional marketing because I don’t think it’s a good idea to get into social media marketing without that foundation in place. I realize that may be boring for some of you so just skip the first hour. The rest will be social media and the future of media with lots of case studies and examples. Then I will end with a short demonstration on how to use all the tools and how to incorporate it into your daily workflow.

If you can’t make that event I will be giving a condensed version at the Telluride Photography Festival Friday September 24th and/or Saturday September 25th (times TBD, more here). And, of course the material will eventually be presented here as well.

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Info (here).

Looks like fun.
via, Worrell.

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Foto Week DC starts tomorrow and it looks like there’s plenty to do for people in attendance (here).

This screening (here) of a movie on Yousuf Karsh caught my eye because I’m a huge fan.

Film Screening – Yousuf Karsh and Portrait Photography
DATE: 11/10/2009 – 11/10/2009
WHEN: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
WHERE: Embassy of Canada

501 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

To be “Karshed” was a synonym for having attained the summit of worldy achievement. During his 60 year career, the 15,312 sittings he had, resulted in arguably a portrait gallery of the most famous figures of the 20th century. This film is the celebration of his centennial year of birth.

Produced by Ian McLaren / Production Grand Nord
Written by Harold Crooks and Joseph Hillel
Directed by Joseph Hillel

2009 / 51:30 min.
COST: Free

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The Centre for Documentary Practice invites you to logon and join the world’s first online journalism and documentary conference on October 15th 2009, starting 12:01am (GMT) (That’s 8PM EST).

Speakers include Paul Fusco, Ed Kashi, Jodi Bieber, Marcus Bleasdale, Shahidul Alam, Gary Knight, Robin Hammond, Adam Ferguson, Travis Beard, Michael Coyne, Masaru Goto, Jack Picone, Megan Lewis, and more to be confirmed.

On October 15th we will connect an international community of documentary practitioners and journalists for one day, to share stories, to stimulate discussion and debate about our discipline, and to inspire each other to continue the fight for justice.

[read more here] thx luca.

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Deadline for submissions is Monday, July 13th (here).

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NYPH’09 kicks off today and I’m stoked to see that Andrew Hetherington will be blogging about all the happenings from What’sTheJackanory?.com. The potent cocktail of exhibits, parties, lectures and famous photographer spotting that seems to make up the photo festival (I’ve never been but read coverage from last year) is what I always love to read on his blog and it can’t be found anywhere else. I’m going to put an rss feed from his coverage on the sidebar so if you’re like me and not attending we don’t miss anything interesting.

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I spent last week in NYC going to events, then 3 days on the floor at the PDN Photo Expo and I’m a little fried from talking shop all week so I thought I’d throw up this recap jumble for the moment.

My favorite part of flying has to be the visit to Hudson News to survey covers, scan headlines, look for trends and see in general what piques my interest. The first thing to jump out at me was the new Rolling Stone book size and paper which eerily looks very similar to Men’s Journal. I bought a copy to check out the Sebastiao Salgado essay and read a 12 page story on the death of David Foster Wallace. I also grabbed a copy of The Atlantic after reading about the redesign because I wanted to see how it feels in the hand. I was impressed. I noticed that portfolio hasn’t run one of those lovely abstract covers in awhile and hope they haven’t completely abandoned those in favor of the more traditional personality based ones. The new Radar redesign looks great… too bad they pulled the plug on it. Bon Appetit covers are grabbing my attention now because they feel grounded/authentic and I see that Craig Cutler has shot the last couple. The cover flap for literary and news magazine seems to be a new trend and is likely tied to their need to sell, sell, sell on the newsstand but remain tasteful on your nightstand. I wasn’t going to buy the new GQ because my bag was already weighing a ton but I couldn’t resist a 32 page photo essay by Jeff Riedel (I’ll have to see if he’s up for an interview about it). I also discovered a piece inside on covering the presidential campaigns for news magazines that talks about the un-objectivity of the whole affair and nasty way that the flacks influence the press.

I attended and blogged about the Lucies (here) and while there are several things I think they could do to improve it, I was moved by several of the speeches and overall it’s a much needed event in the world of photography. My very simple fix would be to give more awards to young upcoming and hot now photographers and maybe include some academy like mass voting in the process. While I think honoring some of these legendary photographers is very important and gives the event serious street cred, there is a real need to elevate hungry young photographers into the spotlight and give validation to projects that require publishers and editors to take chances on lesser known photographers. That being said, the honorees were the ones who gave speeches that reminded me of the power and importance of photography.

I had two days between that and the the start of the trade show and ended up out both nights with photographers, photo eds and agents. Everyone now begins a conversation with me by saying “this is off the record.”

Thursday I headed for the trade show and the place seemed to be packed with people. I was there to meet people, observe what it might take to have a decent booth for my website company and hand out some cool stickers I made. The serious fawning over gear is somewhat lost on me (I’m not a photographer) so, I kind of walked around observing and meeting up with different people. The most interesting phoneomenon has to be the “live photo sessions” where photographers with model(s) and lights are shooting live images in front of a crowd of people. There’s also a lot of slideshows where photographers talk about technique and how the images were made. Some of the crowds were impressive and Vincent Laforet seemed to be drawing the biggest. I can only assume the blog is partially feeding this and that is an awesome development.

After the show it was time to party and I headed out with Andrew Hetherington (his official report here) to 3 in a row. The highlight of the evening was Monte Isom’s self promo party. Yes, instead of a promo card or emailer that you track Monte has a guest list, DJ and booze. Clients are handed flash drives with his photography on it when they check in. I guarantee he sees a return on this mother of all promos and I hope he keeps it up because it’s a good event for photographers and clients to mingle and party unlike the PDN self promo event where they shut off the booze and kick you out just when I was starting to settle in.

I had some interesting conversations with industry vets much of which was concerned with the cliff we just fell off. When it comes to advertising in magazines there seems to be a lot of chasing demos going on which amounts to creating content that will attract a certain demographic age, income level, education and ratio of male vs female readers. This has really been going on since 2000 but now in earnest because of the urgency in the situation. I think demos will dominate the conversation with potential advertisers going forward along with words from the web like uniques and hits.

My argument against chasing demos is that the cost to appease these fickle readers who care very little about your core values is enormous. Both in terms of the number of people needed to produce the junk content and the watering down of the core content. If you’ve every wondered how a magazine with millions of readers can shut down it’s because of the sheer weight of trying to maintain a huge circulation of people who barely like what you produce. This is a very scary time to be in magazines as I was told by several people that no advertising is being sold in 2009. None. Everyone is making a decision after the election and waiting for some sign in the economy. Only the strong will survive. In the end chasing demos has no end game it’s just a temporary fix as numbers rule the conversation right now but eventually it will fail as we return to the value of original content and readers who are invested in the product.

Overall it was a great week in the city and I met an incredible group of people who are committed to making this industry a better place: John Harrington, David Hobby, Joerg Colberg, Mark Tucker, Kristina Snyder, David Burnett, Cameron Davidson, Eric McNatt, Chris Bartlett, Evan Kafka, Jonathan Saunders and Allegra Wilde.

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Look at all those photographers in black tie. Not a bad looking crowd once we get them all dressed up and hand out some beer awards.

Starting to fill up.

Hello everyone I’m here in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center attending the Lucies with many of the photo industry elite. They call it the “oscars” of the photography industry and I can certainly say from where I’m sitting it appears to be just that. Big statues on either side of the podium, a screen in back for multimedia presentation of the photographers work, live band onstage and a packed house add to the important feeling atmosphere here.

7pm- Everone is filing into the auditorium.

7:12- Ok here we go. Anthony Bannon starts this thing off. We are here to honor the best photographers in the world.

7:15- Hussain the founder is speaking now. The goal is to raise the profile of photography.
Seems like he’s worked very hard to get this thing going. Much respect in the room for him.

7:18- Mario (wedding planner) from sex and the city is the MC.
who is lucy? tv comedy awards? based on lux for light. he is told.
making fun of the statue. hands over the head. is that a security pose?
he’s singing now. crowd is cheering. not bad not bad.

Where would anyone be without photography he asks? Good Point.

7:23- Mike from Pilsner Urquell. Talking about the beer and the synergy between great beer and great photography. I can’t think of a better title sponsor. Beer and photography always goes together.
Kouldelka’s homeland beer he mentions. Nice.
Deeper perspective award created by Pilsner Urquell. New category that they’re excited about. Showing Nominees now.

DEEPER PERSPECTIVE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Presented by Pilsner Urquell

Professional and Non-professional Nominees:

Malcolm Craig Gilbert
Henrieta Haniskova
Claire Martin
Justin Maxon
Brent Stirton
Jimmy Williams

Photos presented for each nominee with the photographer explaining the project with voice over. Very effective. More projects should be presented this way. Good to hear the photographers voice on each of these projects.

7:32- And the winner is Justin Maxon
He’s headed up to collect the first award of the evening. Man he must be nervous in front of all these photographers.
Speech: Thanks to the photographers in this room and hey… Ryan at Portfolio thanked. Thanks the subjects of the photographs.

7:34 -Next up Achievement in Fine Art Richard Misrach Presented by Elizabeth Siegel

Elizabeth talks about Richard’s work. Beautiful images of disturbing subjects. Faith in the power of aesthetics to effect change. They worked together on the beach photographs. Looking at his work now.

long video presentation of his work on the big screen. fantastic. looks amazing projected.

7:40 Richard. big cheers. Reading a speech. tried to get his dad to buy moonrise over hernandez for $250. his dad wasn’t buying the value in a print.
there are more photographs in the world then words.
no longer shoots film! accused of going to the dark side.
new advances opened up photography for him in ways he cannot explain.

7:43 PHOTOGRAPHY MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR
Presented by Markus Klinko + Indrani, Photographers

American Photo
Blind Spot
EyeMazing
Foam
Focus
Nueva Luz Photographic Journal
Photography District News

7:45 And the winner is EyeMazing (netherlands)

thanks all the photographers. and done. perfect. who else you gonna thank people.

7:47 Achievement in Fashion Patrick Demarchelier (can you pronounce it? if you want to drop his name you better practice)

Video presentation. Rocking music. Patrick: You feel the moment of the picture and a great camera.

Thank you from Patrick but that is all.

7:52 – BOOK PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR
Presented by Amy Arbus, Photographer

21st Editions | Jamie Baldridge – The Everywhere Chronicles
Aperture | – Richard Misrach – On The Beach
Chronicle Books | Manuel Alvarez Bravo – Photopoetry
Nazraeli Press | Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao – Habitat 7
Powerhouse Books | Helen Levitt – Helen Levitt
Steidl & The Robert Frank Project | Robert Frank – The Americans

Speech by Amy. never met a photographer who didn’t want to get a book published.

7:55- And the winner is 21st Editions | Jamie Baldridge – The Everywhere Chronicles

Speech by 21st Editions. Thanks all the people he works with and a big hug for the photographer next to him. Jamie works for the art not the man. Grateful for the opportunity. A hard thing to master but an opportunity to understand the wold in ways that many people can’t.

7: 57 – Spotlight Award Visa Pour L’Image Festival Presented by Kathy Ryan + Scott Thode

Scott talking about meeting Jean and the beginning of Perpignan Now Kathy on the legacy of the festival. Scott calls it PJ’s mecca. A time to see and remember the greats, drink and dance on the bar.
What happens in Perpignan says in Perpignan says Scott and Kathy in unison.
Visa is about the stories in danger of not being seen and told.
Kathy- Despite pressure to lighten up the fare he never wavered.

8:05 – huge crew from Visa picks up the award. Nice!
Jean-François Leroy: we don’t want to become jurrasic park. where you come see photojournalism. tells everyone to publish photojournalism right now.

8:07 – Achievement in Photojournalism Susan Meiselas Presented by Sylvia Wolf

Mccarther fellow, capa gold, magnum… holy shit.
ok now the video. stunning work. really a huge fan of Susan. Again the big screen is sweet.

8:13 – susan giving a great speech. all the people who supported her in the beginning. time magazine gave her some film and a ticket to fly. people believed in her before she believed in herself.
indebted to her sister. family and extended family are the core. someone waiting here for you to come back. fighting tears.

8:16 -PICTURE EDITOR OF THE YEAR Presented by Platon

Simon Barnett | Director of Photography | Newsweek
Steve Fine | Director of Photography | Sports Illustrated
Alice Gabriner | Chief Picture Editor | Time Magazine
Michele McNally | Director of Photography | New York Times
Chiara Mariani | Photo Editor | Corriere della Serra Magazine

platon: everyone stand up. give ourselves a thunderous and defiant applause in the face of tough economic times

pe’s the glue that hold our industry together. YEAH man. no wonder everyone loves you. giving a great speech. pe’s taught him a lot.

8:18 and the winner is Michele McNally | Director of Photography | New York Times
big cheers. oh yeah we’re in NY…
shes totally unprepared looking at the competition did not expect to be up there
the staff is important. merely a facilitator for the work that they do.
thanks her bosses for allowing them to do what they do.

8:20 Honoring those who have passed… man this is the oscars.

8:23 Achievement in Sports John Iacono Presented by Bert Sugar

kick ass montage with pumping music and tons of SI covers.. sports action moments.

thanks the family and SI. pesky photographer who told the athletes “kiss the trophy”

8:28 FASHION LAYOUT OF THE YEAR
Presented by David Schonauer, American Photo

Harper’s Bazaar – Fairy Tales by Jean-Paul Goude
Harper’s Bazaar – On Your Marc, Get Set, Wait by Peter Lindbergh
V Magazine – Giselle in the Flesh by Mario Testino
Vogue US – Wanderlust by Mario Testino
W – Emotion by Craig McDean
W – Social Studies Featuring Tilda Swinton by Juergen Teller

8:31 and the winner is Harper’s Bazaar – Fairy Tales by Jean-Paul Goude
someone from harpers picing up the award (the didn’t say who). thanks dd
invest in photography. it’s safer than the bank

8:32 – INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Presented by AtEdge Glen Serbin and Susan Baraz

Professional Photographer Nominees:

David Burdeny – Nature Category
Oleg Dou – Fine Art Category
Livia Corona – Architecture Category
Mark Holthusen – Advertising Category
Nadav Kander – People Category
Paolo Pellegrin – Book Category
Brent Stirton – Editorial Category
Nick Veasy – Special Category

22 thousand entries from all over the globe including far away alaska (first political joke of the night… this is the oscars people). showing the video. mark holthusen get’s some good applause. must be in the crowd somewhere.
ok, talk about diverse styles here. how do you pick a winner.

8:37 and the winner is Brent Stirton – Editorial Category
he’s shocked. nice speech thanking getty and newsweek.

Achievement in Documentary Josef Koudelka Presented by Elliott Erwitt

Erwitt: koudelka is a bohemian from bohemia. Magnum has 50 prima donnas. his devotion to craft is humbling to the rest of us. photography does not get any better than that of Koudelka.
video of his work now. stuning.

8:45- koudelka is not here. out shooting I’m sure.

8:46 – PHOTOGRAPHY CURATOR/EXHIBITION OF THE YEAR
Presented by Benoit LaGarde, Collector & CEO Splashlight Studios

Melissa Harris for Josef Koudelka – Invasion 68 : Prague | Aperture Gallery, NYC
PHOTOGRAPHY CURATOR/EXHIBITION OF THE YEAR
Presented by Benoit LaGarde, Collector & CEO Splashlight Studios

Melissa Harris for Josef Koudelka – Invasion 68 : Prague | Aperture Gallery, NYC
Terence Pepper + Vanity Fair Editor David Friend for Vanity Fair Portraits 1913-2008| National Portrait Gallery, London
Brian Wallis and Cynthia Young for Cornell Capa : Concerned Photographer | International Center of Photography, New York
Virginia Heckert for Bernd and Hilla Becher : Basic Forms | Getty Center, Los Angeles
Jeff L. Rosenheim for Lee Friedlander : A Ramble in Olmsted Parks | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Brian Wallis and Cynthia Young for Cornell Capa : Concerned Photographer | International Center of Photography, New York
Virginia Heckert for Bernd and Hilla Becher : Basic Forms | Getty Center, Los Angeles
Jeff L. Rosenheim for Lee Friedlander : A Ramble in Olmsted Parks | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Benoit: the role of curator is as important as it ever has been. there’s so much imagery available.

8:48 And the winner is Terence Pepper + Vanity Fair Editor David Friend for Vanity Fair Portraits 1913-2008| National Portrait Gallery, London.

the crowd not completely stoked on VF winning over more documentary fare.

8:51 Achievement in Advertising Erwin Olaf Presented by Kathy Ryan

hold on kathy has some very intelligent remarks about his work… I just cant spell those words. dang.

short speech. thanks the people who works with him.

8:57 – PRINT ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR
Presented by tk

180 Amsterdam/TBWA Chiat Day/China | Client – Adidas | Campaign – Impossible is Nothing | Photographer Marc Zibert
Ogilvy & Mather – Paris | Client – Louis Vuitton | Campaign – Journeys | Photographer Annie Leibovitz
180 Amsterstam | Client – Adidas | Campaign – Originals | Photographer Nadav Kander
Ogilvy & Mather – Mexico | Client – Mattel | Campaign – Scrabble | Photographer Vincent Dixon
Client/Campaign – Marc Jacobs | Photographer Juergen Teller

8:59 – 180 Amsterdam/TBWA Chiat Day/China | Client – Adidas | Campaign – Impossible is Nothing | Photographer Marc Zibert
thanks his agent… this is the oscars people

9:00 – tony bennett- huge applause. holy shit it’s tony bennett!

Achievement in Portraiture Herman Leonard

Tony:way ahead of time this next artist. we still live in times that don’t realize how great Jazz is. never met anyone more spontaneous as this with his instrument,,, a camera. his timing is impeccable…. compares him to great jazz mucisians.

video now. the work is stunning. jazz musicians on how important his photography is to their music (rare to hear this kind of appreciation from subjects). miles davis his greatest subject. why? because he didn’t like to be photographed. didn’t like the intrusion. he felt it a privilege to shoot him.

HUGE applause for herman leonard

9:07 by far the most honerable award he’s ever received he says. thanks everyone… including bennett.
60 years traveliing around the world. started here 52nd and broadway. club owners gave him access to backstage. not allowed to shoot during a performance because it was distracting.
what could be better than doing what you loved and being entertained at the same time.
test to become a photographer in WW2 what are the ingredients in developer? he didn’t know. just added it to water. they made him an anesthetist instead.
tried to get a job with Yosef Karsh. he said i don’t need an assistant but invited him up to the house for lunch. you’ve come so far. i’ll let you be an apprentice because I can’t pay you. met truman, einstein… greatest people in the arts. it was a life changing experience. left karsh and plunged himself into the jazz world for 15 years.

man that was awesome. way to go herman!

9:13 – DISCOVERY OF THE YEAR AWARD
Presented by Pilsner Urquell

Non-professionals and students Nominees:

Faisal Almalki – Fine Art Category
Rachel Blaser – Special Category
John Delaney – Editorial Category
Weronika Gesicka – Nature Category
Benny Haryanto – Advertising
Lung Liu – People Category
Marcin Stawiarz – Architecture Category

9:15 – And the winner is John Delaney – Editorial Category

thanks his parents and wife… man this is.. oh nevermind.

9:19 – Humanitarian Award Sara Terry The Aftermath Project Presented by Anne Wilkes – Tucker

Anne: photographing the people in bosnia left behind after the conflict. woman bent over going through bodybags looking for some sign, then the killer on graves with guns then the selling a small bag of goldfish on the street. she’s doing a really go job describing why the phtography is so important here. photographing after the conflict are the hardest to fund. her aftermath project gives grants to photographers who want to photograph that subject.

video. sara: I was a writer but had a personal crisis and words failed me for the first time in my life so I picked up a camera to communicate…

powerful. the project is so deep. the pictures amazing.

9:25 – amazing speech. shot video of it for you. she says “the stories we hold up define who we are as a society.” pow people.

9:33 – Lifetime Achievement Gianni Berengo Gardin Presented by Elliott Erwitt

published over 200 books. Elliott say he takes his camera to bed to save time and photographs his dreams. snap.

video now. the work is fantastic. strong b/w. life, people. gianni: calls himself the handyman of photography. i like to be the one that builds with my hands and mind. the amazing object is the camera.

Gianni could not be here.

Ok that’s it. Thanks for tuning in people.

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