–T.S. Elliot in “Hamlet and His Problems” from The Sacred Wood; Essays on Poetry and Criticism.

I read this in a Louis Menand article from the Sept. 19 2011 issue of The New Yorker. We are widening our scope of reading material around here as the Mrs. just subscribed to the Wall Street Journal. These facts should immediately evoke the emotion of being overwhelmed as there is plenty of reading material delivered via mail in addition to the Absalom, Absalom and a bio of Alexander Hamilton just taking up space but the photography in the WSJ looked good in the weekend’s issue. England’s Guardian is arriving to NYC shortly so there may be some photographer movement in the works. Keep me posted if you hear anything.

–Roberta Smith in her review of Joana Vasconcelos’ “Contamination” at the Venice Biennale

For the record I think the piece is wonderful. Judge for yourself:

Artist Lisa Oppenheim’s series of worked based on the killed negatives of Walker Evans’ pictures reconstructs the missing hole punch and displays it next to a print from the photograph which Mr. Stryker struck out. She neatly touches on photography, memory, history, hidden versus revealed, reenactment and other smart stuff if you take the time to unpack the work.

I shot Lisa for The Ladies of Castor & Pollux and I’ve met her before but it is always funny what you learn about someone when you are taking their portrait. Like she is friend’s with my sister. Small world, right? (or maybe just small semiotics department at Brown University.)

Here’s what I found:

Herb was a collector and interested in Frantisek Drtikol, Clarence Bull, George Hurrell and Laszlo Willenger.
&
“Herb surrounded himself with fucking geniuses” –Tony Ward
&
“I’ve never seen a photographer get more excited” –Christy Turlington
&
“As soon as someone would become hot [...] he would go
schmooze them.” –Bruce Roberts
&
“Herb wanted to make a person look as good, as evocative,
and provocative as their persona could handle.” –Kevin Costner
&
“You realize that ninety-five percent of what got Herb behind the
camera came from the phone.” –Mark McKenna
&
“There was no angst with Herb. He didn’t want people to
look tragic.” –Anna Wintour
&
“We all only take one picture, ever, in our lives.
We keep redoing that same picture over and over again.”
–Helmut Newton as related by Nan Bush

So here’s what I need to do: keep delving into photo history, hire-a-genius, get amped, meet and greet, make ‘em look as good as they can, make some calls, get some assurance/calmness/composure/contentment/ease/happiness/nonchalance/peace/tranquility and acknowledge that repetition is my friend.

My old Editor-in-Chief, David Schonauer, from my American PHOTO days loved Herb Ritts and gives a much wider perspective on The Huffington Post (note: should you need such a thing, I’ve seen Dave write a 2000 word article in one sitting with minimal copy editing… booyah).

In an interview for the Cairo Blog she states:

“One of the most consistent themes in the decorative arts (and to me the most compelling) is to take forms from nature and organize them into strict and sometimes geometric patterns like the lotus leaf pattern of the Egyptian empire, or the lavish floral and feather-based patterns of the baroque era. I find it so interesting that we build structures to shield us from the chaos of the natural world, and then fill them with the references to the natural world, but in a way that is palatable and safe. It is our way of convincing ourselves that we are separate from, and in control of nature — or maybe an attempt to make some sense of it, while at the same time keeping a safe distance. It allows us to hold a romanticized picture of the wild unknown.”

• Dear Readers,
  Thanks for reading this column about my favorite paintings in New York museums.
  Do you have an inner art-critic dying to get out and get published? Maybe I can help. I’m expanding this article into a book: “An Art-Critic Pick his 100 Favorite Paintings in New York Museums.’ 100 100-word entries. 100 ‘guest’ artists to pick 1-painting & write 100-word entry. Some ‘guest’ critics, curators, dealers, etc.
  This is where YOU come in. If you’re up for it & understand there’s NO MONEY in this WHATSOEVER, take a crack at writing 100 words about a favorite painting of yours that is CURRENTLY in a New York Museum.
  Conditions:
  1. No more than 100 words. No exceptions. Anything over will not be read (you can do it in 35 words if you want.
  2. Do not use the word “I.” This is not about you; it is about the art.
  3. Keep it simple. Don’t use jargon. Write so your grand-parents who don’t know art would understand.
  4. Describe what this work does; why it does this; and HOW IT LOOKS.
  5. Don’t natter on about how “beautiful” or “scary” the painting is. Those words mean very different things to different people.
  6. All entries must be signed.
  7. Write as many entries as you like.
  8. Post your entry in THIS COMMENT thread.
  9. It is OK to write on paintings that others have already written on.
  10. All entries are subject to editing.
  11. I will read entries over the next 12 months. BE PATIENT.
  That’s it. You’d be surprised how once you’re in touch with your inner-art critic how thrilling it is to try to CLEARLY impart to others WHY something turns you on. If your entry is used in the book you’ll be given a by-line. NO MONEY! But that’s the art-criticism business. Hah!
  Thank you,
  Jerry Saltz

“My real job description is to light a set

and the ideas all come from a 300-400

year period of painting during the

Renaissance throughout 15th, 16th,

17th century in northern Europe.

All ideas about how to create

images that are expressive and

use light as the metaphor for

understanding a meaning of

what the painting or image is all

come from this one time period.”

–Robert Elswitt

Pulled from an interview with cinematographer, Robert Elswitt,
conducted by Bridgette Bates for The Sundance Institute.
Below a still from the Elswitt-shot There Will Be Blood.

There is an honesty and poetic realism to Sanguinetti’s work that I deeply admire. There is a certain dignity and respect.

I found an interesting interview with her over at Sabine Mirlesse‘s White Hot Magazine.  She talks about being more comfortable shooting in her native Argentina and heads back once a year to shoot for a few months. This is doing very little to alleviate the road trip itch I feel welling up inside me!

Nazraeli Press and Yossi Milo are publishing it so the quality should be impeccable.