harlan erskine * photography/blog

In Beijing, China for the next week...

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 06:55:00 +0000

Harlan Erskine, “Out apartment window, Beijing, China” © 2008

So, I have been on a traveling bender for almost all of August and now I find myself in Beijing, China until the 29th to see the Olympic Games (hopefully if I can find a ticket) and to take some pictures. Anyone have any recommendations on what to see and where to go?

Hair Hats by Japanese Pop Artist Nagi Noda

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 02:17:00 +0000

all above images © 2005 Nagi Noda/Uchu-Country Co. Ltd.

I came across these Hair Hats images via Gawker (via omgowned) and haven't stopped regularly coming back to look at them. I wasn't going to post anything about it but then I noticed that neither Gawker or Omg OWNED didn't point out that these images were produced by Japanese Pop ArtistNagi Noda (wiki). Noda is well known for her videos that have become viral sensations like the Weird exercise routine by Mariko Takahash below.

YouTube - Poodle Exercise with Humans

These Hair Hats pictures, I just found out, were photographed at MILK Studios in New York by Kenneth Cappello.

Also, Nagi Noda has directed these other great clips:

YouTube - Coca Cola "What Goes Around Comes Around"

Scissor Sisters - She's My Man

The meeting of medium and message.

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:01:00 +0000

Clifford Ross, HARMONIUM MOUNTAIN I, Archival Pigment Print 70 3/4 x 203" (framed quadriptych) 2008, Archival Pigment Print 42 3/4 x 93 7/8" (frame) 2008, Archival Pigment Print 26 1/4 x 54 3/4" (frame) 2008

Recently Jorg Colberg wrote a post in reference the use of various mediums and photography. Colberg argues intelligently that sometimes photographers confuse the format choice for actual content in photography. In his original post he argues:

Using a so-called toy camera, for example, doesn't automatically produce a great photo. A light leak or a soft lens might contribute to what makes a particularly photo good, but that doesn't mean that if you buy a Diana camera (which are now in production again and sold for way too much money - seriously, if you want one buy a vintage one on Ebay) you're guaranteed good photos.

The same is true for large-format cameras. There almost is a cult of large-format photography out there. It's true, large-format cameras can lead to very spectacular results, but using a large-format camera is no guarantee for that.

Or take vintage/alternative photography processes, many of which are notoriously hard to use. But as before, using a wet-plate collodion-type process (or whatever that might be called) does not guarantee good photographs.

The medium a photographer uses does not grantee quality artwork and this conversation reminded me of a lecture my professor of last semester, Philip Perkis (book) gave to the class. In the short lecture, Perkis, strongly urged the class to stick to a particular medium; that is find the medium that you like best and stay with it learn it inside out use it all the time. He even went so far to argue against the zoom lens. After Perkis's lecture I kept thinking about his arguments while I was looking at established artists in the New York galleries and museums and on the whole the majority of the shows the medium of the photographer what integral to their style.

Colberg brings up Gursky and an example of a photographer who:

produces equally large and involved images (please don't email me to start arguments about whether or not those are "Gigapixel" or "What-have-you-pixel"!), using Photoshop (or whatever else), but whose images are vastly more interesting. Seriously.

I think part of Gursky's strength flows from his evolutionary track. Andreas Gursky uses a large format 5x7 camera and has learn over the years what the world looks like through this particular view. Gursky found a format that suited him and committed to it.

A photographer does not have to work in the same format their whole life but Clifford Ross's scattershot approach lead to the flop of his most recent exhibition Mountain Redux. I really enjoyed his previous work for the Hurricanes and then the Mountain work with his new R1 Camera. Part of what I really enjoyed with Clifford Ross's R1 camera and the Mountain series is described by Peter Galassi in his introduction to Andreas Gurski's Book (MoMA 2001):

A small picture is illegible except from near at hand, but a large one may be viewed from a distance and then by degrees more closely. This range of regard is an old story for painting, but it became familiar to photography only recently. Many artists have treated it with indifference, making big pictures whose imagery, as we approach, simply dissolves into the unlovely industrial material of photographic paper. Some of Gursky's largest productions, sacrificing precision of detail to grandeur of effect, do suffer slightly at close range. Most of his pictures, however, offer a continuous reward from very far to reasonably near, as the macrocosm reveals its microcosmic structure.

Clifford Ross made a successful first crack at exploration this relationship that larger photograph can have with the viewer. But in moving from his R1 camera into remixing these images into "Harmoniums" through the use of 3d software and a lot of computer power I believe he is loosing the original qualities that I enjoyed in the original Mountain Series.

More restrictions on photography.

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:03:00 +0000

This is not good...

British Journal of Photography - Home Secretary green lights restrictions on photography

via NOTIFBUTWHEN

Ultra Large Format (ULF) Color Photography (Clifford Ross's R1 vs. Graham Flint's GIGAPXL Camera vs. Alastair Thain's 9"x9")

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:20:00 +0000

I have been following Clifford Ross’s photography since 2005 when I read my first article about the R1 Camera he commissioned to build. The camera is based around an old World War 2 era arial film cartridge system that is still in circulation and Kodak still manufactures color film for it.

The New York Times article puts it nicely:

The camera, called the R-1 (R for Ross), looks oddly rigged, like something out of Dr. Seuss, and almost like an antique viewfinder camera on legs. In fact, Mr. Ross pulls a cloth over his head and the back of his contraption when he takes a picture. But with this camera that he concocted out of 60-year-old camera parts, mirrors, a microscope and other items - none of them digital - Mr. Ross has taken photographs on 9-by-18-inch negatives that when slowly processed by hand and digitally scanned contain 100 times as much data as the average professional digital camera.

For example, in the mountain photographs that Mr. Ross took in Colorado - of Mount Sopris, near Carbondale - shingles on a barn appear in sharp focus 4,000 feet from the camera, as does a tree on a ridge four miles away.

You can get some sense as to what standing in front of a Clifford Ross print is like from a zoom feature on his website.

Clifford Ross, Mountain III, Chromogenic Color Print, 71.5"x130" (frame) 2005 and 53"x93" (frame) 2006

Clifford Ross, Mountain III (full size detail)

Not long after reading about Clifford Ross I stumbled upon the Gigapxl Project (wiki). Forming around the same time as Cilfford Ross; the Gigapxl Project was created by retired physicist Graham Flint. Using a surprisingly similar technique Flint’s Camera uses the same film format as the R1 Camera thus the two cameras have a vaguely similar tank like look. If you are interested in the technology of these types of cameras Gigapxl’s website has a geeked out technology section for your statistical pleasure. I am much more interested in the aesthetics of creating landscapes so dense with details then diving into technical differences.

WIRED has a good discription of looking at a Gigapxl image in a 2005 article, “Photographer Seeks Resolution:”

A photograph of a San Diego beach shows a paraglider swooping over bluffs. Zoom in on some tiny dots on the cliff, and a group of people with binoculars and telephoto lenses can be seen. Follow their gaze, and you’ll see naked sunbathers on the beach.

These cameras allow for a viewing interaction where the viewer’s distance far to near adds a layer of intensity usually only seen in large paintings. Now that these photographs can be produced in similar size and intensity the interaction with the picture becomes vastly different then when you look at a standard sized image.

Copyright 2006 Gigapxl Project, Mount St Helens National Volcanic Monument. Southwest Washington, Gigapxl 480-mm (normal) camera, f/19, 1/60s

Gigapxl Project, Mount St Helens National Volcanic Monument. Southwest Washington (full size detail)

When an image lush with detail such as the mountain images produced by Clifford Ross and the Gigapxl project the viewing experience becomes charged with interaction. Not only do your eyes dart across the image building the image in your minds eye but upon closer inspection since detail is maintained your eyes are flooded with information and leads to a more immersive viewing experience.

Alastair Thain, 560,000.00 Hours, London 2004

While I was writing this post I came upon another photographer using a home made camera largely based upon the same aural film cartages. I found Alastair Thain’s work via Flat-e: ICA: The Show episode seven. ICA: The Show is a British based video magazine. Although Thain’s Camera is quite similar to Ross’s and Gigapxl’s his images have more in common with Eggleston then with Adams.

Alastair Thain, I -10 Freeway 1989

I will certainly keep looking into these three artist’s development and what the will happen as the digital world collides into their film biased practice. Already they are going into new directions. Clifford Ross is experimenting with 3d manipulation which so far has underwhelmed me (at least in web form). And in August of last year Google started incorporating the Gigapxl photos into the 3d virtual environment of the Google Earth.

I also have to wonder what other artist would yield if they worked with these oversized cameras and really go to know them. Would a Andreas Gursky be improved is you could see more detail?

Artist a Day

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:02:00 +0000

So, last Thursday I get an email from the publisher of the blog Artist A Day asking me for permission to be featured on his website. I was in the middle of a freelance job and I quickly looked at the blog. If you're not familiar with the blog, everyday the blog posts a new artist with two images from that artist followed by their bio and or statement and a link back to their website. And they allow their readers to rate each artist on a scale of one to five stars and post comments below the post. After seeing that few days before he contacted me, my friend Jen Stark was posted and was doing nicely in the site's ratings I gave them my blessing to post me (link). (maybe they got to my work from a link from her?)

Right after I gave them permission I got a little freaked out thinking back to my old rating/commenting experiences with someone posting me on metafilter and I was also thinking of Alec Soth's experiences with the dpreview lighting forums. But I didn't have much time to really think it over I had to get back to what I was working on so, I was hopeful this wouldn't lead down a bad road.

So, first of all I have to thank everyone for all the lovely comments. Its seems like their audience was the right one for this kind of thing. I have heard Metafilter and forums like dpreview have a different critical (?) audience.

Its also been fun to watch as the site seemingly goes through and posts new artist from my link section. First came Emiliano Granado then Amy Stein and then today Alec Soth!

So all this raises some questions for me that I haven't adequately answered. What does looking at artwork in the small format of the internet and then rating it to to art? it this progress? how does or doesn't this encourage critical discourse to allow for instant knee jerk ratings? What would happen if we were to give viewers rating meters when they browsed the MET or MoMA? Does art need a high popular rating to be critically good? In regard to this last question I am thinking no high popular ratings might kill good art. But then again I feel like lots of art would be considered good it its audience spent more time with it to understand it better.

Drunken Boat Finalist

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:36:00 +0000

I have been meaning to post this for a few weeks now. Dunken Boat is a Panliterary Awards web publication. They graciously included me in their last issue, issue #9. This Issue's Photo and Video categories were Judged by British artist David Hall.

all Festivaled out

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Mon, 19 May 2008 07:12:00 +0000

So, the Festival is over I am exhausted but visually satisfied. I had tons of fun and I will write some more about the highlights next week. You can read the list of award winners here. Congratulations to all the winners and especially to Amy Stein for reppin' SVA in the Canon G9 winner's circle.

New York Photo Awards, 2008 Nominees

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:43:00 +0000

Over the next, few days leading up to the festival on the 14th I hope to complete this compilation of portfolio websites for yours and my photographic surfing pleasure. If you have any comments of portfolio suggestions, requests for additions and or removals please email or comment in this post’s comment section.

2008 Nominees

Multimedia Photo / Audio
Ed Kashi
Jessica Dimmock
Vincent Baillais

Multimedia Video / Audio
Anthony Fuller
Brenda Ann Kennealy
Christine Gatti
Marcus Bleasdale
Michele Borzoni
Patrick Brown
Shannon Ghannam

Advertising - Series
Chase Jarvis
Flynn Larsen
John Offenbach
Marilyn Minter
Marlene Marino
Matt Hoyle or is it this guy
Matt Hoyle
Nigel Parry
Raul Krebs
Shi Xiaofan
Simone Lewis

Advertising - Single
Carol Friedman
David Harriman
Dominik Sklarzyk
Jason Bell
Jill Greenberg
Joel Redman
Minori Murakami
Paul Elledge

Editorial - Series
Alex Tehrani
Balazs Gardi
Benny Snyder
Brent Stirton
Christopher Morris
Danny Wilcox Frazier
Donald Weber
Ed Kashi
Elliott Erwitt
Espen Rasmussen
Jan Banning
Marcin Łobaczewski
Marlene Marino
Michele Borzoni
Moises Saman
Myriam Abdelaziz
Nigel Parry
Paolo Pellegrin
Paula Bronstein
Sally Peterson
Tivadar Domaniczky
Yuri Kozyrev

Editorial - Single
Alana Cundy
Benjamin Rusnak
Benny Snyder
Bob Bovin
Chenoa Maxwell
David Black
Deirdre Brennan
Ed Kashi
Filippo Mutani
Francesco Tonelli
Igor Stevanovic
Larry Louie
Lyle Owerko
Maciej Nabrdalik
Marc Yankus
Marcin Łobaczewski
Sarah Bones
Tanit Sakakini

Personal work /
fine art - Series
Aaron Hobson
Adam Bell
Andres Gonzalez
Anthony Blasko
Bill Armstrong
Borkur Sigthorsson
Christian Patterson
Edgar Martins
Erica Mcdonald
Greg Merhar
Gregg LeFevre
Harold Glit
Kyoko Hamada
Lamia Maria Abillama
Leslie Sokolow
Loretta Rae Keith
Mark W. Mann
Martine Fougeron
Michael Corridore
Santiago Mostyn
Will Steacy

Personal work/
fine art - Single
Andrea Sohler
Cesar Lechowick
Filippo Mutani
Gabriela Herman
Jessica Todd Harper
Juliana Beasley
Marc Yankus
Matthew Weston
Melanie Einzig
Noah Greenberg
Paulo Roberto
Rob Hann
Shannon Fagan
Sian Kennedy
Sinisa Vlajkovic
Tanit Sakakini
Ugnius Gelguda
Willamain Somma

Photography Book
Amy Stein
Anders Birch
Ashley Gilbertson
Christoph Bangert
Christian Marclay
Danny Wilcox Frazier
Edmund Clark
Jessica Dimmock
Jessica Todd Harper
Jill Greenberg
Jim Reed
Joan Villaplana
Johnny Miller
KayLynn Deveney
Lisa M. Robinson
Martine Fougeron
Matthew Monteith
Michael Cogliantry
Naho Kubota
Paolo Pellegrin
Pierre Crocquet
Romain Blanquart

Student Categories

Student Editorial - Series
Christina Clusiau
Jesse Slotterback
Monique Jaques
Steph Plourde-Simard
Tobias Kruse
Tzu Cheng Liu

Student Editorial - Single
Alexander Gilfillan
Joannie Lafrenière
Kevin Kunishi
Laurent Peter
Markus Linderoth
Paul Patrick Borhaug
Tiana Markova-Gold
Toni Greaves

Student
Personal work/
fine art - Series
Adam Rose
Anna Skladmann
Annie Thornton
Brett Bell
Bruno Quinquet
Christina Clusiau
Christina Tisi-Kramer
Daniel Holfeld
Jason Reblando
Katarina Wos
Kelly Heck
Laura Glabman
Lisa Cook
Rick Odell
Satomi Shirai
Sheila Griffin
Tobias Kruse
Veilhan Clemence
Yanwu YUAN

Student
Personal work/
fine art - Single
Alana Celii
Andy Tew
Becky Holladay
Douglas Emery
Emily Burke
Harlan Erskine
Jasper Sanidad
Jill Cole
John Sloan
Josephine Friedrich
Kelci McIntosh
Lara Wechsler
Lisa Albert
Maki Ueno
Michael Ott
Rhea Karam
Rhian Walters
Ruthie Shapiro
Steve Coleman
Tzvetana Tchakarova

Student Photography Book
Bryan Lear
Collin LaFleche
Emily Burke
Tiana Markova-Gold

2008 New York Photo Award Nominee

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:03:00 +0000

Harlan Erskine, “Guest Bedroom. Vero Beach, Florida” 30" x 24" © 2007

The image above was my submission to the Student Personal work / fine art - Single category that is now a nominated work.

From the events Press Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

The New York Photo Festival is pleased to announce the

Nominees for the
New York Photo Awards
View the Nominees at
www.newyorkphotoawards.com

Friday, May 16, 2008
Awards Begin at 8pm
St. Ann’s Warehouse, Brooklyn

After Party Begins at 9:30pm
The powerHouse Arena, Brooklyn

Sponsored by PhotoShelter Inc.
Music by DJ Disco Wiz
Drinks Courtesy of Stella Artois

Tickets available at www.newyorkphotofestival.com/tickets.html

The nominees for New York Photo Awards have just been announced! View the list at www.newyorkphotoawards.com

The New York Photo Festival invites you to celebrate the work of the Winners and Honorable Mentions of the inaugural New York Photo Awards. The New York Photo Awards Ceremony will take place on Friday, May 16 at 8pm.
Selected works of the Winners and Honorable Mentions will be presented
on the big screen before a packed audience of industry luminaries.
Sixteen major awards will be publicly presented to the Award Winners,
and thirty-two artists will receive Honorable Mention certificates.

One Award and two Honorable Mention certificates will be presented in each of the following categories: Editorial (series/single), Personal Work/ Unpublished/ Fine Art (series/single), Advertising (series/single), Books, Multimedia (photo/audio and video/audio), and in each of the Student categories: Editorial (series/single), Personal Work/ Unpublished/ Fine Art (series/single), Books, and Multimedia (photo/audio and video/audio). Each category winner will also receive a Canon PowerShot G9 Digital Camera, courtesy of Canon USA.

Located in the St. Ann’s Theater, designed to accommodate 500 persons, the ceremony will feature guest speakers, a/v projections of winning works, presentation of the awards and subsequent acceptance speeches. Award Presenters include: Tim Barber (tinyvices.com and New York Photo Festival curator), Michelle Bogre (Parsons New School for Design), David Friend (Vanity Fair), photographer Lauren Greenfield, Bill Hunt (Hasted Hunt Gallery), Meagan Keane (PhotoShelter), Charlie Melcher (Melcher Media), Alison Morley (International Center of Photography), Jules Naudet (Hachette Filipacchi), Evan Nisselson (Digital Railroad), Jody Quon (New York magazine), David Schonauer (American Photo), Mary Virginia Swanson (Marketing Consultant and Educator), Lauren Wendle (PDN), and the festival founders and co-chairmen, Frank Evers of VII Photo Agency and Daniel Power of powerHouse Books.

The New York Photo Awards After Party will be located at The powerHouse Arena and will begin at 9:30pm. Classic soul tunes courtesy of the legendary DJ Disco Wiz. Drinks will be served.

Admission to the Awards Ceremony and After-Party is included in the Evening Programming ticket.

About the New York Photo Awards:
A new international, annual competition launched during the New York Photo Festival, the New York Photo Awards, will honor talented photographers from all over the world whose exceptional work breaks new grounds visually, intellectually and aesthetically. The Awards will give those visual artists the opportunity to reach key decision makers in the photographic community and the editorial, fine art and fashion worlds.

All Award Winners and Honorable Mentions will enjoy unprecedented visibility for their work. In addition to the New York Photo Awards ceremony, their work will be showcased on the New York Photo Awards and New York Photo Festival websites, and published in leading photo magazines. These artists are also automatically eligible for inclusion in a beautifully produced New York Photo Awards Annual by powerHouse Books. The Annual will be published in November 2008.

Jury:
The Chairwoman of the jury is Elisabeth Biondi (The New Yorker). The members of the jury are: Bill Hunt (Hasted Hunt Gallery), Jody Quon (New York magazine), Benjamin Trigano (M + B Gallery), and Charlie Melcher (Melcher Media) from the New York Photo Festival Advisory Board, photographer Lauren Greenfield, Tim Barber (of tinyvices.com, and New York Photo Festival curator), and the festival's founders and co-chairmen: Frank Evers of VII Photo Agency and Daniel Power of powerHouse Books.

A separate set of jurors from the multimedia industry will judge submissions in the Multimedia category, including the Snorri Bros. (famed Sprint commercial directors), Bjarke Myrthu (Magnum In Motion), Meredith Birkett (MSNBC) and Greg Clayman (MTV), as well as Lauren Greenfield, Frank Evers, and Daniel Power.

As part of PhotoShelter Inc.’s sponsorship of the event, the PhotoShelter Personal Archive will be used to store each photographer’s images, distribute galleries to jury members, support the process of filtering and the ultimate selection of winning images. The Personal Archive is PhotoShelter’s solution that allows photographers to archive, organize, distribute and sell their images online with powerfull tools including slideshows, lightboxes, ecommerce capabilities, and website customization.

DJ Disco Wiz, (born Luis Cedeño), is credited with being the first Latino DJ in Hip-Hop music. Wiz teamed up with Casanova Fly (Grandmaster Caz), to form the Mighty Force crew in the mid-70s in the Bronx. Wiz is also credited for being the first DJ to create a "mixed plate" in 1977 (hip-hop’s first mixed dub recording) when he and Caz combined sound bites, special effects and paused beats. The creator of The Hip-Hop Meets Spoken Wordz Series, a hip-hop and poetry performance series that gives a voice to up and coming Latino talent in New York City, Wiz has performed as a poet at the Apollo Theater and the landmark Nuyorican Poets Cafe. A major contributor to the Experience Music Project in Seattle, Washington, Wiz is also a board member of the Universal Federation for the Preservation of Hip Hop Culture, chaired by Afrika Bambaataa of the Universal Zulu Nation. At present time Wiz is co-authoring his memoirs with Simon
& Schuster author Ivan Sanchez. The book is titled, It’s Just Begun: The Epic Journey of DJ Disco Wiz, Hip-Hop’s First Latino DJ.

For more information, please contact Sara Rosen, Publicity Director
New York Photo Festival, 37 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tel: 212-604-9074 x105, Fax: 212-366-5247

email: sara[at]nyphotofestival.com

Tonight!!! William Greiner opening at Klompching Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:12:00 +0000

Loungers
Noac, 1995, Digital C-Type Print, Signed & Numbered Verso

I am exhausted, spent and still unfinished with my final projects for the School year but I have to go to this for a bit tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing the final images in printed form. So far, I have only viewed Greiner's work on his website and his blog.

FALLEN PARADISE — William Greiner
May 1 — June 27

OPENING RECEPTION: May 1, 6pm — 8pm

This is the underbelly of pre-Katrina New Orleans. Greiner presents an image of a city that was already devastated, by neglect and abandonment, long before natural disaster struck. His imaging of New Orleans' urban vernacular is perceptively pictured through a carefully constructed use of color, form and content.

William Greiner's modus operandi is the American Color Tradition — the snapshot that isn't. Here, the familiar becomes unfamiliar. The seemingly objective actuality of the city, its banality, its ordinary everyday impression, is transformed into a vista of flush saturated palettes of color. Born, raised and (until Katrina) living and working in the city, New Orleans has always been an importnt source of inspiration for Greiner's work.

Here, a decade of looking and picturing his immediate environment, is brought together and displayed for the first time. Fallen Paradise is a celebration of apparent incidental imagery that is, of course, abound in formal devices — frame, vantage point, shape and line. Although there exists an autobiographical subtext, Greiner is most successful in compelling us to also look, not just at his city, but at the photograph itself. Whilst the importance of his subject does not disappear, these images function as photographic artifact — at once, they are observation and cultural object.

William Geiner lives and works in Baton Roughe, Louisiana.

KLOMPCHING GALLERY

111 Front Street, Suite 206
Brooklyn, NY 11201

What is wrong with AIPAD?

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:21:00 +0000

Photo of the 2008 New York APAID show by Susan Sermoneta.

A few weekends ago, I went out to see The AIPAD Photography "show". I wouldn't call it a show - that would give it too much credit. The only thing that was like a show was the price.

$25 dollars for the day.

No student ticket pricing.

Zero.

What is wrong with these people? Are they that elitist that they need to overcharge EVERYONE? Even the bigger more prestigious and more historically significant show, The Armory Show has a fair student price of $10. I am glad I didn't post this right after I went since I was in a angrier mood then and I maybe would have said something rash.

I almost didn't go until I found an artistic method of entry. As for how the fair was? It was ok there were some highlights and some embarrassments. I would post them here but I wouldn't want to help them. One thing I will note is how interesting it is to see who isn't represented at these fairs but are in other fairs. Those famous Germans with the big price tags weren't there at all as far I saw.

So, next year AIPAD please consider at student pricing all the cool Art Fairs are doing it.

Lots of blog coverage here here here here and countless others...

The Black Sun by Ansel Adams and Minor White.

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:02:00 +0000

Ansel Adams, “The Black Sun, Owens Valley, California,” 1939
From the book “Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs,” page 124.

Last fall, after the bulk of the Black Sun Project shooting was complete I began researching and writing about the work. I looked into symbolic and historical meanings of a Black Sun, the history of photography as well as the more recent artist manipulations with glitches. Its quite amazing how research can help you more full understand what you were doing with in your own work.

I hope to discuss the symbolic meaning of a Black Sun and glitch art in other posts. Now, I want to discuss the biggest revelation in my research; two historical photographers have come up with very similar Black Sun pictures. The first image I came across is the image above by Ansel Adams made in 1939 and the other is by Minor White produced in 1955.

Through a bit of Google image searching I came upon several blogs that mentioned an Ansel Adams’ image called “The Black Sun, Tungsten Hills, Owens Valley, California.” There is very little web information and virtually no good images floating around but Ansel talks about this image quite thoroughly in his book “Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs,” starting on page 124.

My first negative was planned for development in Kodak D-23. The film was Kodak Super-XX, a fine material of the "thick emulsion" type. The sun flared strongly in the sky, and in the center of the flare was a small circle of slightly gray value, representing a partial reversal of the sun's image. The second exposure was identical to the first, but compensating development was planned for the desired reversal effect. It was gratifying to see both negatives as experiments and one, The Black Sun, as a striking surrealistic image. It was proof that the subject may prompt ideas, ideas crave visualizations, and craft makes their realization possible.

Ansel does a nice job of talking about where the technical and the aesthetic join up and work together. I am not sure if he imagined the outcome before the negative was produced, like he claims, or if it was a happy accident. Either way his image stunned me when I first found it in his book.

“The Black Sun” by Minor White, 1955 from Time-Life’s “Great Photographers,” ref. 163, p. 185 via “Solarization Demystified” by Professor and artist William L. Jolly.

Another surprising discovery happened more recently, when I came across an article on solarization by Professor William L. Jolly. Apparently “Adams claimed that the reversal was anticipated and previsualized. White admitted that, in his case, it was an accident and rhapsodized, The sun is not fiery after all, but a dead planet. We on earth give it its light.”

Another contemporary photographer working with similar content of sun images with a different method to get there is Chris McCaw. Chris has been letting the sun literally burn the photographic medium and has been getting some breathtaking results. I look forward to seeing the real prints in person someday.

Sunburn GSP#039, by Chris McCaw 2006.

Black Sun Project, debuts at Bas Fisher Invitational, Miami, FL (UPDATED x2)

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:02:00 +0000

UPDATE: The show will be up for on more gallery walk this Saturday April 12th 7-10PM. Although I can't be down in Miami the gallery will be open, please invite everyone you know, stop by, check it out and let me know what you think.

On Saturday, March 8th, 2008, I opened my first solo show at the Bas Fisher Invitational. It was great to be back in Miami to get some fresh air and see all my friends there. Please check out the images of the show below the Press Release.

PRESS RELEASE

The Bas Fisher Invitational presents “Black Sun Project,”
a new series of photographs by Harlan Erskine.

Harlan Erskine
“Black Sun Project”
March 8th - April TBD, 2008

Opening Reception: March 8th 2008 7-10PM
Closing Reception: April 12th 2008 7-10pm

other viewings by appointment only: lightofman[at]gmail.com

Bas Fisher Invitational
upstairs on the 2nd floor
of the Buena Vista Building
180 NE 39th St. Suite 210
basfisherinvitational.com

Black Sun Project

“The sun is not fiery after all, but a dead planet. We on earth give it its light.”
—Minor White

My photography certainly began in a formalistic project based practice but this particular project is very much a departure for me because I am experimenting in photographic abstraction. Not long after photography’s invention, many photographers experimented with abstraction of photographic space. Even the early contact prints of plants produced by the inventor of the Calotype, Henry Fox Talbot, are in essence an exploration in photographic abstraction. I am particularly interested in the later abstraction from the 1930’s of Man Ray and his then assistant Lee Miller and their rediscovery of Solarizations or the Sabattier Effect. Particularly interesting are the more direct echos of my project in the singular images from Ansel Adams and Minor White. Their Black Sun images, through overexposure solarization, are the analogue version of my images. Therefore, in a similar way, they explored abstraction in relation to the contemporary photographic technology of their time–this exploration, titled Black Sun Project, explores photography through a significant contemporary technology, the mobile phone.

Contemporary practice has very much brought a particular kind formalism into vogue but with new sets of guidelines. I am certainly guilty of applying many of these parameters within my own work but in moving away from my previous methods of working, I have found some clarity in my previous explorations as well as a new avenue to explore. I will continue to work the way I used to but every so often, it is beneficial to perform radical change and see where it leads. Taryn Simon’s photograph of the albino tiger is good example of a photographer who is photographing an evolutionary glitch/mistake. Nature normally weeds out albino tigers born in the wild since they are not well suited to their surroundings and have a very tough time surviving–they tend to get horribly sunburn and stick out in its surroundings. By the same logic, technology companies normally weed out glitches from their products (we hope they do anyway) to improve their products. The manufacturer of this cellular phone eventually weeded out the black sun solarization effect so this artwork is self–reflexively about that mistake or glitch in the technological evolution of mobile photography and photography in general.

The Bas Fisher Invitational is a artist run alternative art space, located in the Buena Vista Building in Miami’s Design District. It was founded in July 2004 by artists Hernan Bas and Naomi Fisher in the wake of losing their favorite alternative art space “the House” to Miami’s rapid gentrification. Their premise is to simply invite artists who they are inspired by to publicly showcase their work, exposing additional exciting voices to Miami's growing art scene.

For additional information please contact the gallery at lightofman[at]gmail.com or contact Harlan Erskine at Me[at]harlanerskine.com

Black Sun 0006, c-print on diasec in wood frame, 48" x 64"

Black Sun 0009, c-print on diasec in wood frame, 48" x 64"

Black Sun 0181, c-print on diasec in wood frame, 48" x 64"

Infinite Black Suns, 104 c-prints, 4" x 6" each

Peter Funch

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:36:00 +0000

"Communicating Community" from the series "Babel Tales" by Peter Funch 51 x 23 inches.

One of the many people I got to meat during last weeks Armory Show madness was photographer and gallery owner Peter Funch. I got to take a quick look at his prints at The Volta Show but I wanted to spend more time with them. Hopefully they will be up again in New York.

Peter is a cofounder o f V1 Gallery in Copenhagen, Denmark. Their website has a nice gallery of Peter's Babel Tales. Peter was also selected by Getty Images in their New Photographers 2007 collection of image makers.

April Art opening weekend...

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:53:00 +0000

"Laura (Thunderstorm)" Ryan McGinley, 2007
c-print, 20 x 24 inches, Exhibited in I Know Where the Summer Goes 2008

So, after a mad mad Armory weekend - Spring openings are upon us in New York. Here is my rundown am I missing anything?

Tonight, Thursday April 3rd 2008

Ryan McGinley at Team
Grand street, 83, b/w wooster & greene

"Dream-Self" Group Show at Broadway Gallery
473 Broadway, 7th Floor
Featuring works by Allison Kaufman, Bedel Tiscareno, Lambert Fernando, Erica Allen, and Alison Malone.

Victoria Sambunaris "Yet All Remains" at Yancey Richardson Gallery
W 22 street, 535, floor 3

Sze Tsung Leong at Yossi Milo Gallery
W 25 street, 525

David Plowden, Fred Herzog "Vancouver Color and Vintage America" at Laurence Miller Gallery
W 57 street, 20, floor 3

Tomorrow, Friday April 4th 2008

Nancy Davenport "Workers (leaving the factory)" at Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery
W 26 street, 526, #213

Gregory Crewdson concludes the Beneath the Roses series at Luhring Augustine Gallery
W 24 street, 531

I don't think I will be able to make it to the uptown opening tonight but let me know if anyone makes it and report back.

UPDATE: Gregory Crewdson's opening was on Friday night not Saturday I guess artcards is not always 100% - I thought it was an odd opening day for Chelsea.

New York Times: On Miami's Art Scene

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:56:00 +0000

Reflection of a visitor to the Rubell Family Collection in the Wynwood Art District is seen in an untitled work by Anselm Reyle. Chip Litherland for The New York Times.

In Sunday's New York Times Travel Section there is a article that not only got Miami's art world right but mentioned some friends of mine. Have a look The Miami Art Scene: The Beach Party Moves Indoors. Congratulations Jen Stark, Frank Wick, Scott Murray at Twenty Twenty getting a huge write up, Naomi Fisher and Jim Drain and many others. Its a great write up that is surprisingly on point with where the spots are while avoiding all the South Beach clichés of the standard Miami Travel article.

Selections announced for Humble Arts Foundation's "31 Under 31: Young Women in Art Photography"

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 02:24:00 +0000

Image by Sara Padgett Heathcott

Hot off the mass email today Humble Arts Foundation has announced the 31 selections out of over 1000 submissions for the upcoming show “31 Under 31: Young Women in Art Photography.” The exhibition opening reception on Saturday, March 1st at 3rd Ward in Brooklyn and the show will stay up for the month.

I went through the Exhibiting photographers and found as many websites as I could. They may be showing newer work then what they have on their websites but it was still nice to take a look at some new voices as well as the friends and fellow SVA Students and Alumni that made it in. If any of these websites are wrong please let me know and I will correct it.

Congratulations to all.

Alana Celii
Amy Elkins
Ahndraya Parlato
Allison Grant
Ashley Lefrak
Alejandra Laviada
Alex Van Clief
Catherine Maloney
Dina Kantor
Dru Donovan
Elaine Stocki
Hannah Whitaker
Helen Maurene Cooper
Jaimie Warren
Jessica Bruah
Jessica Roberts
Ka-Man Tse
Kate and Camilla
Kelly Kleinschrodt
Manya Fox
Marta Labad
Mary Mattingly
Molly Landreth
Nadine Rovner
Rachael Dunville
Reka Reisinger
Sara Padgett Heathcott
Sarah Small
Sarah Sudhoff
Tealia Ellis Ritter
Talia Chetrit

Thinking about Art/Photography blogs

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 04:31:00 +0000

Alec Soth, Bonnie (with a photograph of an angel), Port Gibson, Mississippi 2000

Alec Soth’s departure to blogging has left a deafening silence in the Internet for me. From September 3rd, 2006 through September 30th, 2007, Alec provided a haven for not only reading about photography but a virtual hub to openly discuss and debate photography away from the Flickr and forum hounds. However, as I think about the mark he made in the community the silence has made me think about the roll of blogging in the photographic and art communities. These questions keep circling through my head:

What and how do blogs function in the long term?
What happens to his blog now that it is idly sitting on his server?
What is it now but an archive of artist’s thoughts over the course of a year? How refined is it? Would Alec change anything he wrote?
What does Alec think of his yearlong experiment? Is this it or will he ever return and blog/write again?
What would a blog from Jeff Wall (1980 or today) read like? Longer more theoretical posts? Would that work? Does Jeff Wall Google himself?
Is there a place for an October like blog? would the Art and Photography communities care?
Do long form and/or more theoretical essays have a place in the blog format?
How does blogging about photography affect your art work and your standing with in the art world? which follows What did Alec Soth get out of making his blog?

All this was sparked by a recient post from Christian Patterson who is feeling burnt out on the whole blog thing. We’ll see what happens with his blog as the months roll on it doesn’t seem like he has thrown in the towel yet.

As for me, I feel like I never really put enough effort into this. Therefore, this next year I hope to be more vigilant with this blog thing, give it a real show, run it through its paces, and then evaluate it. Maybe a medium of journals and magazines can better discuss photography but maybe there is a place for this as well—despite some recent dwindling numbers?

Tonight: Screening and Talk with Filmmaker Jem Cohen

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:59:00 +0000

I first came upon filmmaker Jem Cohen (wiki) (Video Data Bank) in a 2002 show at EYEBEAM. He was showing Chain, a new three channel piece shot in 16mm film, with a fantastic soundtrack by Godspeed You Black Emperor. The film washes the viewer with images in a Koyaanisqatsi (wiki) style and I remember his film being the highlight of that show so It will be interesting to see him talk tonight.

The Change You Want To See Gallery
Monday, January 28th, 7:30pm, free
84 Havemeyer Street, at Metropolitan Ave
Williamsburg, Brooklyn 11211

New York Gallery ratings

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:52:00 +0000

Interesting new blog How's My Dealing? is a place for Artists to share their positive/negative experiences with critics, curators, and galleries. There aren't too many comments so far and some of the comments a bit on the whiny chip on my shoulder side but this experiment could be quite interesting and telling if the right people find it and start posting constructive comments. With enough support it could turn into a Epinions for the art world.

Let Me Take Your Foto

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 23:11:00 +0000

Check out the original video by the band the Speedies made in 1979. The Speedies were originally made up of
JOHN "BUCK WHEAT" MARINO - Frontman, Lead Vocals.
ERIC "POP" HOFFERT - Lead Guitar, 11 string Acoustic, Computerized Keyboards.
GREGORY "ZAP" CREWDSON - Rythm Guitar, Backing Vocals, Snapshots.
ALLEN ZANE HURKIN - Percussion, Gong, Cowbell, Amazing Drums.
JOHN CARL - Bass, Backing Vocals.
via Speedies MySpace Page

Directed and Edited by Danny Cornyetz and Dennis Politakis.

More info, here on the Speedies website. Reciently the folks at Goodby Silverstein & Partners used it in a hp ad. You can read the story for whats going on in a New York Times Online article "A Photographer's Pop Star Moment". I must say I really like both versions.It’s good to see songs used in advertising where you not totally grossed out by the ad and then soured by even hearing the song ever again.

height="375" codebase='http://www.apple.com/qtactivex/qtplugin.cab'>

controller="true" loop="false" pluginspage='http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/'>

here is another hp ad with a similar feel:

height="375" codebase='http://www.apple.com/qtactivex/qtplugin.cab'>

controller="true" loop="false" pluginspage='http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/'>

Pictures of you
via duncans.tv

and originally pointed out via
Christian Patterson's blog

also interesting the speedies reunion:

NPR Music Interview: Jandek: The Man from Corwood

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 07:05:00 +0000

Fascinating interview or rather article with/on the illusive Jandek.

“Many people are famous just for being famous. But singer-songwriter Jandek has shunned recognition to such a degree that, intentionally or not, he's developed a kind of celebrity all his own.

Jandek's music isn't for everyone. It's what New York Times and Rolling Stone music critic and author Douglas Wolk calls “very dark, half-decomposed blues.”

this is his first recorded concert.

Miami Basel to Brooklyn and then straight into finals...

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 07:00:00 +0000

I have been meaning to write about Art Basel Miami Beach 2008 here since I got back on Monday but I have been neck deep in finals so that will have to wait until Wednesday. I will however post a interesting interview I just happened upon (see above).

Off to Miami

noreply@blogger.com (harlan erskine) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 08:52:00 +0000

Tomorrow afternoon (or make that THIS afternoon) I am off for another episode of Art Basel madness. If your heading down as well or already there let me know–I plan on not sleeping so I'm sure there will be time to meet up over drinks on the beach. There are a few good guides worth checking out:

critical miami has several posts including a nice photo spread.

and the New York Times has these two articles so far.