Tuesday Briefs

+++ I must have this ! A transforming and OPERATING Voltron camera. Too bad it takes 110 film *sigh*

+++ Quick thanks to PIX Feed reader Patrick Posta for letting me know of the Robert Frank "The Americans" exhibition at MOCA that started just last Sunday. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Frank's book, MOCA will present the photographs in order as it appears in "The Americans" . I posted a while back about SFMOMA's exhibition of "The Americans" and how I would have to make a trip up to catch it but looks like I'll be saving some gas $$$ and catching the show here in Los Angeles !

In addition, this upcoming Sunday (6/21), MOCA will also be screening a number of his film and films about him.

: An American Journey (2009, color, 58 min.)

French director Philippe Séclier retraces the path followed by legendary photographer Robert Frank when he created his seminal photographic portfolio, The Americans. In an effort to examine the impact of Frank’s images, Séclier travels 15,000 miles through the various communities of America, moving between past and present.

: Conversations in Vermont (1969, b/w, 26 min.)

Directed by Frank and photographed by Ralph Gibson, is Frank’s first overtly autobiographical film. In it, he interviews his two children, Pablo and Andrea, about their experiences growing up with artists as parents. In the process, Frank questions his own world.

: About Me: A Musical (1971, b/w, 35 min.)

Originally planned as a study of indigenous American music, this evolved instead into a film about its author. The actress Lynn Reyner plays Robert Frank as he examines his life and questions his contributions as a photographer.

The films are free with paid admission to the exhibition

On July 26, 2009 at The Egyptian Theater, MOCA + LA Film Forum will present recent Robert Frank's films. Info here. I checked the LAFilmForum site and they haven't listed it up yet. The Robert Frank exhibition runs to Oct. 19th.

+++ Over at LACMA, they installed a "temporary" exhibition of Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Henry VIII and His Six Wives “portraits". Charlotte Cotton posted on LACMA's blog about a month ago and comments :

They are, in fact, photographs of waxworks made by the legendary Madame Tussaud. For each, Sugimoto placed a black velvet cloth behind them and used a 3/4 turned and cropped framing of the “figures” akin to the first portrait photographers in the mid-nineteenth century.

+++ And don't forget this Thursday, APA/LA + SAA will be presenting "Get META smart" . This is part of SAA's national tour to bring this issue to photographers. This is over at Helms Daylight Studio in Culver City from 4:15 to 9:30 pm. Free for APA folks, $5 for ASMP/students and $10 for all others. All the details are over at the APA/LA site.

+++ I like looking at promo cards. I admit it. I probably do so because I spend so much time on my own promo cards that I'm curious to see others. Once I found Dewey Nick's promo book at a used bookstore in Texas. Yes, a large hardcover book of his lifestyle images from years ago. I suspect the creative who received it just after a while, sold it off to the bookstore where I later found it with Dewey's rep card inside. In any case, over at Heather Morton's blog (an art buyer from up north), folks were ask to submit promo cards/images. The first 25 received will be posted and 5 will be chosen to be discussed by Heather and Myles (a photo editor). Today they posted 19 promos.



There's one I like. It's just black text on white and reads : "You remember 1/3 of what you read, 1/2 of what people sell you, but 100 per cent of what you feel". At the bottom it reads "timgruber.com images that make you feel"

I personally love it. It is against the grain and not what you expected and I suppose in these times, it helps to make you stand out. Who wouldn't be curious to check out his site if you happen to get a barrage of promo cards and this one is just a postcard white w/black text ?