LENSCRATCH: Mixtape by Aline Smithson

Photograph © Jerry Atnip

I've been L E N S C R A T C H E D  by the remarkable ALINE SMITHSON. L E N S C R A T C H is considered one of the 10 Photography-related blogs you should be reading by Source Review, Wired.com, Rangefinder and InStyle Magazine. I'm honored to be included in Smithson's Mixtapes, profiling many distinguished professionals in the fine art photography world.

Aline writes: "Constructing today’s MIXTAPE was incredibly exciting–I learned in-depth about a friend and design icon who has traversed a remarkable photographic terrain, creating a legacy for excellence and creativity. Elizabeth Avedon's blog  is a go-to destination for photographers, bringing her unique perspective to her observations and posts.  I first met Elizabeth Avedon when she reviewed my work at Review Santa Fe. I had no idea what to expect, but it turned out that our twenty minutes was my favorite of the event. She was warm, funny, engaging, and encouraging.  We kept in touch and several years later, when I was exhibiting in New York, she attended my opening. It was a reflection of the kind of person she is, someone who makes the extra effort to support, encourage, and educate. It was great to reunite with her in Chicago at the Filter Photo Festival this past fall."

"Elizabeth carries a lifetime of creative seeing, that combined with her exposure to the the greats of design and photography, add up to a remarkable ability to make her mark on all aspects of design that surround the photograph. Her down-to-earth generosity and unflagging enthusiasm for all things photographic make her a very special member of our community." 

Read It Here

THE ELIZABETH AVEDON MIXTAPE

L E N S C R A T C H

BOOKS I: Photography Books Given and Gotten

Robert Polidori: After The Flood (Steidl)

Flowers Gallery, London

In late September 2005, Robert Polidori traveled to New Orleans to record the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina and by the city's broken levees. He found the streets deserted, and, without electricity, eerily dark....read more here

Matthew Flowers with Photographer Robert Polidori

Photo (c) Elizabeth Paul Avedon

 Ken Rosenthal: Photographs 2001 – 2009

Photographs: 2001-2009 is the long awaited first publication of work from Ken Rosenthal. Published on the occasion of his Fall 2011 exhibition at Wall Space Gallery, titled Retrospective, this catalogue offers a condensed yet potent survey of Rosenthal's evocative split toned silver-gelatin prints....read more here

 Ken Rosenthal: Limited Editions

Designed and published by Jace Graf, Cloverleaf Studio

Bruce Morton: Forgottonia

Bruce Morton: Forgottonia

Yes, such a place exists.  It is actually the nickname for several counties in far west central Illinois.  The reason for the nickname started in the 1950s and 1960s when the interstate highway system was being designed and constructed.  Many times a route from Chicago to Kansas City, which would run thru the heart of this region, was considered but....read more here

Tom Chambers: Entropic Kingdom

 Tom Chambers: Entropic Kingdom

Having grown up on a Pennsylvania farm, I am inspired by Andrew Wyeth's rural landscapes, characterized by subtle, but powerful emotion. I hope to strike a similar emotional connection in the viewer by illustrating a disturbed ecosytem created by man's self-serving interests....read more here

 

Jane Fulton Alt: The Burn (Kehrer Verlag)

 Jane Fulton Alt: The Burn (Kehrer Verlag)

 Book Review by Douglas Stockdale here

 

Kottie Gaydos: Genong

 

Kottie Gaydos: Genong

The images in Genong were taken in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan, China between 2010-2012. This handmade casebound book is the culmination of the three year photographic project, Genong....view more here

This is the first of several BOOK posts coming up. I was honored to receive most of the above books from their authors, including three from this year's Filter Photo Festival; Kottie Gaydos, Jane Fulton Alt and Bruce Morton. This list includes some famous photography publishers as well as a self-published book or two. – EA

AMY ARBUS: Tintype Portrait Evening Dec 13

One 8" x 10" portrait with Amy Arbus - $600

Penumbra Foundation brings you the exclusive opportunity to have your own 8" x 10" tintype made by renown portrait photographer Amy Arbus. For more details and to book your appointment visit their Website. 

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AMY ARBUS
Tintype Portrait Evening
December 13th | Friday
3:00 PM - 9:00 PM

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Photographer Amy Arbus has published five books, including the award winning On the Street 1980-1990 and The Inconvenience of Being Born. The New Yorker called The Fourth Wall her masterpiece. Her most recent, After Images, is an homage to modernism's most iconic avant-garde paintings. Her photographs have appeared in over one hundred periodicals around the world, including New York Magazine, People, Aperture and The New York Times Magazine. She teaches portraiture at the International Center of Photography, NORDphotography, Anderson Ranch and The Fine Arts Work Center. Amy Arbus is represented by The Schoolhouse Gallery in Massachusetts. She has had twenty-five solo exhibitions worldwide, and her photographs are a part of the collection of The National Theater in Norway, The New York Public Library and The Museum of Modern Art in New York.View more of Amy Arbus's work.

NY ART BOOK FAIR PS1 MoMA: Self Publish!

 Q13 "Self Publish, Be Happy" Publisher Bruno Ceschel

 http://www.selfpublishbehappy.com

List of Book Publishers showing at the 2013 NY Book Fair

Top; Q13 "Self Publish, Be Happy" Publisher Bruno Ceschel talks Self-Publishing to my SVA students outside; Ceschel with Harry Gould Harvey IV, author of "Canadian Fruit". Center; B13 Pau Wau Publication Founders Andreas Laszlo Konrath and Brian Paul Lamotte. R01 Little Brown Mushroom Books, Alec Soth Publisher.

THE NY ART BOOK FAIR

September 19 – 22,  2013

MoMA PS1

FILTER PHOTO FESTIVAL: Self-Publish + Design Your Own [Photo] Book Workshop 9.26.2013

 Portfolio Reviews • Workshops • Evening Programs • Exhibitions  

 In The American West • Book Design by Elizabeth Avedon

FilterPhotoFestival

Self Publish+Design Your Own [Photo] Book 

Workshop with Elizabeth Avedon

My Brother's War • Photographs by Jessica Hines

Book Design by Elizabeth Avedon

View Here

FilterPhotoFestival 

Self Publish+Design Your Own [Photo] Book 

Workshop with Elizabeth Avedon

With the emergence of high quality commercial digital presses and the availability of design software, artists are now able to produce their own hardcover and softcover books online at a relatively low cost and with the creative freedom of going it alone.

Self-Publishing Your Own [Photo] Book will cover the basic principles of designing your own photography book. Drawing on over thirty years of experience, Elizabeth will demonstrate the bones of putting together a successful photography book; demonstrate how to easily design a great book dummy, including interior design decisions, editing, sequencing, typography and cover design. We will explore what comprises good design from bad, creating a framework for the participant to build upon with their own book project; and the importance of branding, including using your self-published book as a valuable leave behind. Details here

FilterPhotoFestival 

September 25 – September 29th

Chicago 2013

The 2013 Filter Festival Portfolio Review

Check out all of the great Programs, Workshops, Exhibitions

SVA MASTERS in DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY: Silent Auction to Benefit Scholarship Fund

End of the Year Party + Silent Auction

and photos from my "Thesis: Book + Branding" Class Review

SVA Digital Photography End of the Year Party and Silent Auction to benefit the 2014 Scholarship Fund was a HUGE success raising $4200 that was matched 100% for a total of $8400! View photos here

SETH CASTEEL: Five Questions for the Author of "Underwater Dogs"

 From the New York Times Bestseller, Underwater Dogs

 From the New York Times Bestseller, Underwater Dogs

From the New York Times Bestseller, Underwater Dogs

 

 The New York Times Bestseller, Underwater Dogs

 5 Questions For Seth Casteel

Author of the NY Times Best Seller Underwater Dogs

Seth Casteel is an award-winning photographer and New York Times Best Selling Author. His series of photographs, Underwater Dogs, has been seen by hundreds of millions of people around the world. He cheerfully answered my 5 questions:

EA: What camera do you use for shooting underwater dogs?
 

SC: Canon 7D, Tokina 10-17mm lens, Speedlite and Surf Housing.

EA: Were your first underwater shots by accident or were you experimenting for awhile before you achieved these extraordinary results?

SC: My first shots were with a point-and-shoot underwater camera, and then I began to explore the concept further with different gear. :)

EA: Did you study Photography or assist for a commercial photographer?
 

SC: I am a self taught photographer and have never assisted for a commercial photographer.

EA: What have you learned about dogs single minded attention to their ball or ring?
 

SC: I have learned that game is a favorite among many dogs and have also learned that so many dogs around the world love the water and have a connection with it.
 

EA: What was your first dogs name and how old were you at the time?
 

SC: I grew up with a Miniature Dachshund named Duchess. She came into my life when I was 5. :) I absolutely credit her with inspiring my love for dogs. 

ONE PICTURE SAVES A LIFE

Seth Casteel and model

Photographer Seth Casteel is passionate about helping animals. He volunteers with animal shelters and rescues around the world, professionally photographing homeless pets to increase adoption rates. By teaching workshops at shelters, Seth's mission is to educate and inspire other passionate animal ambassadors to improve the image of rescue and adoption.

Seth is excited to partner with Greater Good, The Animal Rescue Site, The Petfinder Foundation and John Paul Pet to inspire others to save lives through grooming and photography! If you would like to help with this effort, please visit OnePictureSaves.com to sign up for a workshop in your area! You don't need to be a professional photographer! You just have to have a passion for animals and a dedication to help!

SETH CASTEEL

and on Facebook

JEFF JACOBSON: The Last Roll [Of Kodachrome]

 Diner, Lone Pine, California, 2009

Photograph © Jeff Jacobson

 Mt. St. Helens, Washington, 2008

 Photograph © Jeff Jacobson

 Motel 6, Kansas City, Kansas 2009

 Photograph © Jeff Jacobson

"For 35 years, photographer Jeff Jacobson has worked exclusively with Kodachrome film to create images of people and landscapes, mostly made in America, that push the boundaries of photojournalism to present a more poetic and subjective view of the world. Jacobson has described his approach to his photography as rooted in the world but having "one foot in the real world, and one foot somewhere else." His photographs, which are sometimes difficult to decipher, can be beautiful, dreamlike, theatrical, artful, meditative, or quirky, reflecting the artist's personal approach to his work."

"The work in The Last Roll was not a pre-planned concept, but rather evolved out of the blue as a result of timing. In December of 2004, Jacobson was diagnosed with cancer. He underwent chemotherapy treatment, and his life temporarily stopped. While recovering at his home in the Catskills, he was at first too weak to leave the house so he started shooting inside (something he would never have imagined doing previously), out the window, and as he regained his strength outside the house in his backyard, on the street, and by the river. After six months he took his first trip on a plane to resume photographing the rest of America."
 
"In 2009, while still working on the The Last Roll, Kodak announced that it was discontinuing the production of Kodachrome film. The last roll of the film that Jacobson had used throughout his career was processed in 2010. While grappling with his own mortality, Jacobson was working in a medium that had already ended."

"In his personal statement Jacobson writes: "A few days before Christmas, 2004, I was diagnosed with lymphoma. Some present. After each chemotherapy session I retreated to our home in the Catskills to recuperate. I began photographing around the house, as I was too sick to go anywhere else. As my strength returned, my photographic universe slowly expanded. Shortly thereafter, Kodak discontinued production of Kodachrome. I loved Kodachrome. It helped shape my photographic vision. I filled my refrigerator and wine cooler with the stuff and kept shooting. I have outlived my film. A few days before Christmas, 2010, I exposed my last roll."

"The Last Roll is Jacobson's attempt to answer his question "what do you do when you are presented with your own physical and creative mortality?" This beautiful and compelling body of photographs provides a nuanced, first person depiction of a cancer patient's changing perspectives on life, death, art and the world at-large. The colors in Jacobson's photographs of deer basked in car headlights, a lake at dusk, cranes in flight, a tree splattered with blue paint, Mt. St. Helen's, his wife looking out the window, a self portrait, are more muted than in his previous work as he moves into a deeper place of self reflection. Jacobson refers to photography as the fulcrum of his life, no matter what else is going on, and this feeling is celebrated in The Last Roll. The photographs are accompanied by a poem written by Jacobson's wife Marnie Andrews." (Courtesy of Daylight Books)

JEFF JACOBSON: THE LAST ROLL

THE CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY AT WOODSTOCK

Exhibition through June 16, 2013 

The Last Roll  

Daylight Books, 2013. Printed in Iceland by Oddi Press 

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THE CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY AT WOODSTOCK
is located in upstate New York in the heart of the Catskill Mountains