What sort of strange fascinations do people seem to have with discarded furniture ? Apparently they've hooked UK photographer Nicola Collins and tonight she has her opening reception in Downtown Los Angeles from 7 to midnight over at R&R Gallery/Studio on 929 E. 2nd St Suite 106 90012.
Even more curious about abandon furniture ? I've been reading Peggy Archer's blog for a while now and she has a Flickr collection of abandon couches she's photographed around LA. Check her photo stream for current ones.
Maybe this is more of a film industry thing - I do know a location scout who has been taking photos of discarded furniture for years and hopes to do a book of it one day. And I bet some of the readers of this blog has a stash of their abandon furniture photos somewhere too !
In any case, today I'm gonna start my own photo collection of discarded Rosco or Lee gels you see on set lying next to twisted C-47s. And why are they even called C-47s anyways ?
California is loaded. From Disneyland to farmland, we’ve got Scientology and superstars, Silicon and silicone, crips and bloods. The border. Krunkin’ Clownin’ Jerkin’. The surf and the turf. The boom and the bust. California is humanity run amuck and then packaged, branded and sold. California Cuisine, California Love, California Casual, California Gold, California Girls, and of course, California Dreams. If it exists in the world, it exists here and it does so with pizzaz.
Obviously, we love this stuff. That’s why we’re doing this project. Simply put, California is sensational. And the closer we look the better it gets: words and images, stories and songs, opinions and ideas. This project is ongoing. We hope you like what you see and say so. We plan to post often. So until that day, when we finally float off into the Pacific, California is a place. Stay tuned.
I stumbled upon from a link to link and found myself at California is a Place. A website with a collection of stories that we as Californians may not have a chance to really look at but we are aware of. The site is run by Drea Cooper & Zackary Canepari and truthfully, I can't wait to see more of their work !
I posted my favorite story, Big Vinny above. What he talks about in the car business, I can see shades of it here in the photography business.
This Friday, May 14th, the good and awesome people at Subliminal Projects will be holding a photo exhibit and book release for Giovanni Reda’s Demigods and Cosmic Children. It all happens from 8pm-10pm, and the exhibit features over 60 portraits of professional skateboarders, artists, musicians, and personalities from the photographer’s inner and outer circles, including Angela Boatwright.
Oh, I remember Angela - in the early 00s, her photography inspired me and she later worked as an photo editor for Mass Appeal magazine which died in 2008. Anyways, tonight over at Subliminal is an exhibition and book release of Ciovanni, a skateboard photographer. I found an interview with him when asked why he did a book of portraits vs. book of skateboarding and he replied :
I shoot skateboarding every day, I live it , I breath it and I plan on shooting skateboarding till Im dead. I love shooting skateboarding. I wanna do a skateboarding book, maybe the next one, maybe in 10 years I dont know. I came up with the portrait book because a friend of mine who is a fashion photographer in NYC named Zach Gold has a huge studio, all the equipment, cameras, computers and everything. He told me, when ever he is not shooting I could use it. I never knew what I wanted to shoot in there. I’ve been shooting skateboarding for so long, I’ve met all sorts of people. I thought it would be cool to have all these people I’ve met through the years of shooting skateboarding in one book. I had access to a studio and equipment that should cost about 2 g’s a day for free, so I took advantage.
Excuse me while I toot my horn for a second. For the past year I've been working on a photography book on cosplay here in the United States. For the project, I travelled to six anime conventions in America in five months, racked up over 1,6,164 miles in travel and photographed over 1,600 cosplayers between May to September of 2009. (If you thought it was strange I posted about Morel Studio Support, a photo rental house in Atlanta last year, now you know why ! ) The following 6 months I spent editing the book down to 260 cosplayers representing over 30 states. Now next Sunday (5/23) I'll be having my book release party @ Royal/T, a cafe/store/art space in Culver City from noon to 5 pm.
Cosplayers will be in attendance, j-pop/j-rock provided by Tune In Tokyo DJs, and a mini-exhibition of five images will be shown. I'll have to thank The Icon for assisting me with the prints.
For readers outside Los Angeles, I will be travelling on tour with the book to Dallas, San Jose, Miami, and Baltimore with future stops in Seattle, New York and Chicago. Find out more at my website, Cosplay in America.
I'll be writing about how I use social media with this project on a semi-weekly basis. You can see my first post about it here.
So if you are curious about cosplay, come on down to Royal/T and check it out. I'll be happy to discuss cosplay, the process of making a book or social media aspects of it.
Sunday May 23, 2010 noon to 5pm
Royal-T 8910 Washington Boulevard Culver City, CA 90232-2326
Once a year, the artists of the Santa Fe Art Colony open their private live/work studios to the general public. A wide range of styles and mediums will be on view, with over 40 artists, ranging from established to emerging, presenting their work. The complex, comprised of three buildings, houses a vibrant community of creative individuals. Art will be available for purchase. Free.
This goes on Sunday from Noon to 6pm. I dug back through the blog and found what I wrote about in 2009. Unlike last year that was held over 2 days, this time around - just Sunday. So get off your computer and go check out the different artists at the art colony.
I admit I have a certain fascination with vintage photographs. I used to look through Ebay and wonder about buying those lots of black & white images. These lots are just a collection of random photographs - some with writing on the back, some faded, some torn. I've never bought any but I've "watched" several auctions. I've also collected old yearbooks. I have some from the 1920s, 30s, others from the 60s and up to the 70s. I find them fascinating to look at the photography of that time as well as the fashion.
Recently I read Hey Hot Shot blog about John Maloof who at an estate sale acquired around 40,000 undeveloped negatives and embarked on a journey to pierce together this story of the photographer behind the images.
Starting his research with a name written on an envelope inside the box, "Vivan Maier," John began to piece together the story of the photographer. Vivan was a French nanny who photographed the streets of Chicago throughout the 50s and 60s. Though she was an extremely prolific photographer, she apparently never showed her images to anyone. Strangely enough, Vivan passed away just days before John discovered her identity and tried to seek her out, stumbling instead upon her recently printed obituary. The story itself is fascinating enough, but what is most interesting about it all is that images John began to develop proved to be far more than snapshots. Vivan's images are funny and sophisticated—a brilliant look at a world long gone.
Although Vee Speers wasn't at the opening last night, copies of her book "The Birthday Party" were. I love the large size and the feel of the paper. Environment is a furniture store over on Beverly and this exhibition was done in conjunction with Jackson Fine Art of Atlanta. I could see the placement of the image in the space was done with thought and it isn't every day you walk into a showroom to look at art.
I did notice Lisa Jack's "Barack Obama: The Freshman" was hanging on the wall - some of the readers will remember that M+B Gallery in WeHo had an exhibition of Lisa Jack's images last May. Well, it turns out the store has a working relationship with the gallery and thus some of the pieces of their previous shows are here in this space.
I'm curious when this show goes down, what will go up from M+B's collection.
+ An Evening with David Maisel "Black Maps" @ Annenberg Space for Photography's IRIS Nights next Thursday May 20th. Tickets are available at 9:30 am today, Thursday (5/13) here
+ Blogdowntown has the rundown on tonight's Downtown Art Walk. Check out Christopher Hernandez's “09 Reflections” over at Spring Arts Tower 2nd Floor and over at the Annex, Woodcraft Rangers Afterschool Photography Program will have student photos up. Public is encouraged to vote as 25 of the pieces will be exhibited at the 11th Annual Urban Youth Photography Show.
+ There's a few opening events tonight in Los Angeles. Just click here to see the list.
Anyone in Los Angeles on May 13th is welcome to come to my photo exhibit opening at Nikki’s, 72 Market Street, Venice, CA. I’ll be there by 9 and plan to stay through closing. Since I’m primarily showing Haiti work we’re making the event a fundraiser as well, with voluntary donations being collected at the door. As with my last fundraiser, the money will benefit Habitat for Humanity, with all money going directly to their efforts to provide shelter and long-term housing for those affected by the January earthquake. I’ll also have a few images from Venice up on the wall. Also note that there’s a special happy hour from 10-12, so drinks will be cheap! It should be a fun night. Hoping to see a good turnout!
VISUAL ACOUSTICS, 2008, 84 min. Dir. Eric Bricker. Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, this unique film celebrates the life and career of photographer Julius Shulman. Shulman, who died in 2009, captured the work of nearly every major modern and progressive architect since the 1930s, including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, John Lautner and Frank Gehry. Both a testament to the evolution of modern architecture and a joyful portrait of the gentleman who chronicled it with his unforgettable images
This Wednesday (5/12), the Egyptian Theater will be screening this documentary followed by a Q&A with director Eric Bricker. Event starts at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $11 general / $10 KCRW members / $9 seniors & students / $8 American Cinematheque members.
Then on Saturday (5/15), the American Cinematheque and the Modern Committee of the Los Angeles Conservancy will host a private cocktail party and a tour of Julius Shulman's home. This benefit will include a silent auction as well as guest speakers. The event is $125 and limited people. Info here.
Just got word from PIX rentals that they are selling about 20 used Profoto reflectors. $40 each. (Profoto 100-610 Zoom Reflector) Just call PIX over at 323-936-8488 / sales@pixcamera.com or just come on by and check it out !
"The best and worst thing about being a LA photographer is Freedom. Freedom to do whatever we want and the freedom to not matter."
This Thursday is the opening reception of RJ Shaughnessy "These Photographs Will Heal Your Soul" and “Your Golden Opportunity Is Comeing Very Soon” over at Lead Apron on Melrose from 6-10 pm.
"I’m from Hollywood, Florida. I moved to Hollywood, California in late 2000. In 1998, I was 18. I started taking photos as a hobby. I wasn’t taking it very seriously. One night everything changed. I was out taking photos during a storm, and literally, got struck by lightning. During my recovery in the hospital my friends brought me photography books from the college’s library. From that moment on, I knew what I wanted to do. Shortly thereafter, I got a job in a drug store’s one hour photolab. This was in Orlando where I was in college studying Mathematics and Biology. A year later, I left Florida to attend Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, where I graduated with a BFA in 2004."
His books will be available at the show. "These Photographs Will Heal Your Soul" 11x16 hardcover, 62 pages/29 black & white. 1st edition / 200 copies signed & numbered. $150 "Your Golden Opportunity Is Comeing Very Soon" 9.75x12.25 hardcover book. 44 pages / 37 black & white. 1st edition / 500 copies signed & numbered. $50
Capturing the last days of childhood and seeing that slipping away with my own daughter; realizing that once you’re a teenager you’re not innocent anymore and that’s the way life is. I really wanted to package up that little world. That was my initial motivation. After that, I wanted to get in there and really explore that childhood through a child’s eyes. I shot them low down so they were dominating. We always look down on a child, they are small, but in the photos are taken at the child’s eye-level, so the children dominate. They’re not smiling but they are in control. They’re not unhappy. They are in their own world.via
Social media, social media, that is what everyone is talking about. I recently found this video which is of course advertising a book called "Socialnomics". The last two years has been an upswing on the social media. It has literally exploded where now companies have a blog, Facebook page and/or Twitter. How will this translate into work ?
Well, I'm about do a little experiment.
Many of you know me as Eric or Ejen and know me from PIX. Some of y'all know I'm currently collecting days to get into the union for production stills for the motion picture industry and many of y'all may know I've been working on a photography coffee table book for the past year.
In 2009, I travelled to six anime conventions in the United States, photographing over 1,600 people for a book project. The book is edit down to 260 people representing 30 states. I've contracted a printer in Shanghai to print the books - 272 pages, hard cover, 8x10 and will be sold at $40 each. Currently thousands of copies of my book is on a freighter heading to Los Angeles.
As I have no publisher or distribution, my experiment is to see how well I can sell this book via two methods :
1) going to conventions where I'll have a table to sell the book 2) online on my website using Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, deviantART, YouTube, Flickr and Model Mayhem for exposure.
I started many of the site last year as I began the project. Obviously there will be many crossovers as the same person can be flowing me on multiple platforms. Some platform lend itself better than others. Model Mayhem for example does not provide a way to update your viewers - they do not see any new images you placed while on Flickr, every new image you post will alert your friends.
My plan is to use social media to connect me with the fans. Every convention I go I'll be tweeting, facebooking, myspacing, as well as making videos. I'm creating a story that folks can follow on my adventure through America. I'll be updating you about my progress throughout the year and my thoughts on how social media is working for me. I'm interested as you are to see how far and how many books I can sell just by using the two methods mention.
(By the way, this is on top of everything else I do for PIX's social media. In my world, I update two blogs, three Facebook pages, and two twitters as well as assorted other social media for my book. Luckily, the conventions are on weekends so I can still work on the PIXFeedLA.)
+ Oh, all weekend you can catch a Special exhibition of George Hurrell photography @ Todd Hase Furniture, Inc. 729 N. La Cienega Blvd. 90069 and ‘Take It Off: A Color Exhibition Story,’ featuring photography by fashion and celebrity photographer Douglas B. Friedman @ Jean de Merry 8417 Melrose Place 90069.
+ 10 am over at The Icon, Tom Stratton will be talking about Photoshop Layer Masks. It's $10 and last I check at 1:23 AM, there is still 11 tickets available though the sale ends at 7 am. My guess is if interested, I'm sure you can show up and get in. The event is from 10 am to noon at The Icon.
+ If you're in Venice on Sat, go over to Venice Art's opening reception for their student group showing students’ films, photographs, animations and multimedia pieces from the 2009-2010 workshop session. It is from noon to 2 pm.
+ Were you at Smashbox for MOPLA's Group show amd had your photo taken at their photo booth ? Well, the photos are up ! Oh, hey, there I am !
This afternoon, Ovation TV will be broadcasting the 2002 documentary "The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia" at 4 PM PST and 7 pm PST followed by Jazz Seen, a documentary on William Claxton at 5:30 PM and 8:30 PM here on the West Coast.
You can check out Shelby's work over on his site here. In one of his posts, he asks Hobert White, the father of one of the boys he has photographed about the images he took of Appalachian life.
"You see a generation of people that no longer exist. When you go to the heads of these hollers those people still preserve the old ways. They do things the way we done'm 30 to 40 year ago. They's people that hang true to that. The pictures that you take, when I first saw them, they automatically take me back to my childhood, that old plow, that wall paper made out of old newsprint, the fact that they are black and white, that brings back happy memories to me, yet they are of today, too. The good part of it to me is the memories. Pictures are good memories, past and present, and good for our children's future."
If you remember, Shelby had an exhibition over at Fahey/Klein last June. I regret I never made it out to catch that.
Oh, if you miss the documentary on TV, it is available on DVD over on Amazon.
I believe William Claxton needs no introduction. A celebrated photographer who recently left us in 2008 was best known for his images of the jazz scene. Once many years ago, he walked into PIX where I literary drop everything and had to go get an autograph and a Polaroid taken with the man.
A feature-length journey through decades of American entertainment history as seen through the eyes of talented jazz photographer William Claxton. The film focuses on the man who has given us images of film stars, jazz musicians, top models - icons of the American dream. Claxton started his career in the early fifties with a photograph of a young Chet Baker. He captured the moments when a young unknown actor became known as the famous Steve McQueen. Jazz Seen features interviews with Chico Hamilton, Burt Bacharach, Dennis Hopper, Helmut Newton, Vidal Sassoon, and many others. Claxton himself shares insights of his life, his work and the fascinating world in which he lives.
The documentary airs today on Ovation at 5:30 PM and 8:30 PM.
Right now, the Elle Decor Legends of La Cienega Design Walk is going on for the next few days. This should be a must-see for architectural and interior design photography as well as stylists, interior designers or anyone interested in design. I took a quick look and picked out the following that have a photographer on the panel. BTW : all events are open to the public and free.
++ FRIDAY ++
1 PM to 2 PM "Smoke & Mirrors"
Beauty revealed from beginning to end—inspirations and insights from the creatives who meld myth and magic. Panelists include Lighting designer Jonathan Browning; fashion journalist and television personality Merle Ginsberg; Patrick Hoelck, photographer and director of Mercy; and Todd Willamson, painter and recipient of the Pollack Krasner Award
Moderated by Arianne Nardo, Editor in Chief, Interiors
Navona Antiques 739 N. La Cienega Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069
2 PM to 3 PM "West Side Story"
Discover how L.A., the lifestyle capital of the world, has influenced the interior design, fashion, and film industries. Panelists include Roman Alonso, Commune Design; photographer Lisa Romerein; and interior designer Schuyler Samperton
Moderated by Andrea Borda Stanford, Design + Style Editor, C Magazine
Maison au Naturel 819 N. La Cienega Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069
++ SATURDAY ++
10 AM - 11 AM "Hollywood Glamour"
Defining the look of Hollywood opulence in fashion and at home panel discussion with panelist : fashion photographer Tony Duran and celebrity stylist Estee Stanley Moderated by Degen Pener, Editor in Chief, Angeleno
And all weekend you can catch a Special exhibition of George Hurrell photography @ Todd Hase Furniture, Inc. 729 N. La Cienega Blvd. 90069 and ‘Take It Off: A Color Exhibition Story,’ featuring photography by fashion and celebrity photographer Douglas B. Friedman @ Jean de Merry 8417 Melrose Place 90069.
BTW : Fashion Rules ! blog has an interview with Douglas Friedman as well as Huff Post.
Found a video on Feature Shoot about Martynka Wawrzyniak's new series. Her last series "Kids" is currently up over at Kopeikin Gallery on Melrose as part of their "4 x 4: four figurative photographers" exhibition until June 5, 2010.
The IRIS Nights series continues with a lecture by photographer Dennis Dimick, Executive Editor for Environment at National Geographic Magazine, who helped guide the creation of the April 2010 issue on global freshwater on display at the Annenberg Space for Photography.
His lecture will focus on environmental photojournalism and share behind-the-scenes details about the freshwater issue. A picture editor with nearly 30 years of experience at National Geographic and 14 years as a faculty member at the Missouri Photo Workshop, Dimick will show recent outstanding environmental photography from the pages of the magazine and discuss how photographers interested in the environment can produce insightful reports.
As always the IRIS lecture series is free, just need to get a ticket. Available at 9:30 PST this morning here. If you don't get in, there's always stand-by.
Not Just for Hipsters Plastic Fantastic is a photography competition and group exhibition presented by APA San Diego featuring images created with plastic cameras. We’re calling for photographs that reveal your unique outlook. Each artist will approach their imagery with a singular voice, utilizing a variety of film types and techniques — using plastic cameras. So, dust off that Diana, load up the Holga or borrow a Lomo from that plaid flannel wearing friend to show us your best blurry light leaked, flared photos.
The Details Thirty images will be chosen for display at Subtext Gallery. Frames and matte will be provided. Finalists will donate the proceeds from a silent auction to The Joy of Giving Something charity foundation and the San Diego Chapter of APA. All entries will be judged by respected photography gallery owner Joseph Bellows, and prizes will be awarded for the top three images.
We strongly suggest all entries be created with a plastic camera, using film. All entries will be judged and the top thirty will be exhibited at a one night only benefit auction at Subtext Gallery in Little Italy on Friday, September 3rd. 2010. The competition is limited to five entries per person.
Deadline for Submissions All images must be submitted in jpeg format, no larger than 1000 pixels for either dimension at 72dpi. All entries must be submitted by Friday, July 9th, 2010. For entry submission and more information visit apasd.org.
So yup, bust out that Holga and hey, if you need film, PIX got expired film at 50% off ^^ (plug, plug)
In the May issue of Los Angeles Times magazine, there's a profile of Laker star Kobe Bryant as photographed by Ruven Afanador. Let's just say Kobe thinks the images are a bit "too artsy".
James Valeri, the stylists chimes in here and check out the comments.
Following in the steps of The Sartorialist, The FaceHunter (Yvan Rodic), a street fashion blogger/photographer has a selection of 300 images from his four years of posting at Facehunter.blogspot.com collected into a book form.
Character and charisma are what he prizes people who wear their clothes with confidence. The result is a contemporary portfolio of what s chic on the street, and an insightful predictor of what will be chic on the runway. Whether you re fashion forward, backward, or sideways, you ll find something inspiring in this radical, personal, and unpredictable book of street style around the world.
Tonight, he'll be signing at LeadApron in WeHo from 6-8 pm. If his fans on Facebook (12,157), MySpace (21,706) or Twitter (18,953) are any indication, I expect his signing tonight to be extremely packed.
LeadApron 8454 Melrose Place West Hollywood, CA 90069
+ If you're down in OC, “15 Minutes of Fame: Portraits from Ansel Adams to Andy Warhol” open this past weekend over at the Orange County Museum of Art. Exhibition goes till Sept 19, 2010.
This spring, the Orange County Museum of Art showcases more than 175 works primarily from the museum’s significant collection of photography, including many that have never before been exhibited. 15 Minutes of Fame: Portraits from Ansel Adams to Andy Warhol explores a diverse range of photographic portraits from early modernism, to photographs of celebrities from the 1930s to 1960s, photojournalistic street photography from the 1960s, and contemporary portraiture.
Other photographers include Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks, William Claxton, Andre Kertesz, Robert Mapplethorpe, Catherine Opie, and Edward Weston.
+ NPR Picture Show on The Art of Food Photography (which btw "Tasteful Pictures" is an exhibition currently @ the Getty)
+ Lomography Gallery Store LA is going on a their first LomoJourney to Farmer's Market over on Fairfax on may 23, 2010 11 am - 1 pm.
+ Jonas Lara Legal Defense Fund has a Facebook page. Discarted has an interview with Los Angeles photographer Jonas Lara and PDN reported about his incident with the LAPD last week.
+ 48 Hour Magazine . On May 7th, they'll announce an theme. Creators (writers, photographers, designers, etc) will have 24 hours to submit work. Then they spend 24 hours to put it together and in the end, there'll be a website as well as a magazine. Oh, this should be interesting ! Plus, they're streaming live for on Ustream.com too !
Writers and artists from some of your favorite publications like Rolling Stone, Wired, Dwell, Gizmodo, GOOD, Lapham's Quarterly, HiLoBrow, Fray, Paleofuture, and The Rumpus have already signed up. Mainly because we promise that this thing will be fun. No long commitments. No pitches. No grinding editing process. You make good stuff fast; we publish it with other good stuff.
+ Wanna win $200 gift certificate from Aperture ? Click here !
Lee Varis presents a new lecture/demo this month with material from his upcoming book "Mastering Exposure."
The first half of the presentation features new calibration procedures for digital cameras working with Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw. Lee will show how to use the free public beta of the Adobe DNG Profile Editor to create custom "camera profiles" for use inside ACR and Lightroom plus he'll go over editing "tweaks" for adjusting skintones in these camera profiles. In addition he will also show the use of X-Rite's Color Passport system for generating custom camera profiles with push button simplicity right out of Lightroom.
The 2nd half of the presentation will introduce a new imaging workflow for digital photography that Lee calls the 10-channel image workflow. He will demonstrate a complete image construction method from RAW file to print ready image that takes advantage of the unique channels of the 3 standard workspaces, sRGB, Lab and CMYK to build an image with dramatically improved contrast and color.
Got this in my inbox yesterday. The judges are : photographer Lauren Greenfield, New York Times photo editor Maura Foley, MOMA museum curator Nora Lawrence and the founders of JPEG magazine - Derek Powazek and Heather Champ.
Grand prize is either $10,000 cash or 1 year free living at a 1.2 million dollar apartment in New York as well as a reception at a Manhattan gallery and airfare and shipping to and from New York for the event.
There's also a People's Choice Awards - $2,000 in cash, reception at a Manhattan gallery and airfare/shipping to/from New York.
Here's their website. The deadline is May 28, 2010
Every once in a while, we'll have a local college come by and tour PIX and last Friday photo students from Long Beach City College came up by and I had a chance to get some first hand info from the students about their 3rd Annual PhotoFest that just happen last month. Douglas Kirkland, Barry Schwartz (President of ASMP/LA), Maria Piscopo and Aline Smithson were some of the speakers.
"Whenever I see something I don’t quite understand—a shape, a color, an odd juxtaposition of the real and the abstract—nine times out of ten, it’s my reason for taking the photograph. For me, taking pictures is like asking questions."
Joey Grey will be signing his new book tonight over at Book Soup. Here's a video clip from NBC's Today Show where Joel Grey talks about his book. You can see some of the selected images also here and here.
In 1996, Jim Goldberg's Raised by Wolves was released. Spanning 10 years, Jim photographed the homeless teenagers in LA and SF. In his latest work focuses on the exodus of refugees, immigrants and victims of human trafficking coming from countries ravaged by war and economic crises to remake their lives in Europe. His latest book is the first of that series called "Open See"
(photos from The Photo Book blog)
This coming up Thursday, Jim Goldberg will be speaking at the Hammer Museum in Westwood as part of their Hammer Lecture series at 7pm. The event is free, no RSVP required. Tickets available first come first serve and is available at 6 pm. Details here.
Thursday May 6, 2010 7 pm
UCLA Hammer Museum 10899 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90024
The Katsura Detached Palace — photographed by Ishimoto Yasuhiro in the 1950s — was originally built as the villa of the Japanese Imperial Family on the Katsura River, on the western outskirts of Kyoto, in the early Edo period (17th century). The villa maintains the traditions of Japanese architecture — namely, simplicity and harmony with nature — in the composition of the Shoin-style buildings, based on straight lines; the diagonal arrangement of its buildings; and the rhythmical arrangement of the stepping stones along its path. The exhibition presents Ishimoto's attempt to liberate tradition through a contemporary view
From what I gather, Ishimoto's first was attracted to architecture and studied at Northwestern University in Chicago before WWII broke out and he was interned at Amache Internment Camp in Colorado. There he found photography to be his calling and after the war, he went back to Chicago and studied under Harry M. Callahan and Aaron Siskind at the Chicago Institute of Design in 1948
In 1982, he revisited the villa, this time photographing in color and published as "Katsura Villa: Space and Form".
Currently at UCLA and only in town for a few weeks, this exhibition has been traveling the United States with previous stops in Washington DC and Chicago earlier this year. This exhibition ends May 21, 2010.
Perloff Gallery UCLA Department of Architecture 1317 Perloff Hall Los Angeles, CA 90095-1467
