The Searchers

Temple 1, 2008 © Sasha Bezzubov and Jessica Sucher

From Taylor De Cordoba:

Taylor De Cordoba is pleased to present The Searchers, the West coast debut of a new series of photographs by the collaborative team of Sasha Bezzubov and Jessica Sucher. The exhibition will run from November 1 – December 20, 2008. The gallery will host an opening reception for the artists on Saturday, November 1 from 6pm-8pm.

The Searchers is a series of large-scale photographs examining Western spiritual tourism in India. Bezzubov and Sucher investigate the magnetic pull of India’s rich religious history and the utopian communities that cater to Western seekers. While exploring yoga centers, meditation retreats and ashrams, the artists straddle the line between observers and participants. The project results in distinct groupings: spatially astounding interiors, bizarre landscapes, and portraits of those who simultaneously appear both lost and found. The connecting thread is the visual strangeness and cultural collisions inherent in this phenomenon. This series includes photographs taken at the Osho Meditation Resort in Pune and the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhanwantari Ashram in Nayyar Dam, Kerala.

Taylor De Cordoba is located at 2660 S La Cienega Blvd in Los Angeles, CA and is open Tuesday thru Saturday, 11am-5:30pm. For additional information, please contact Heather Taylor at heather@taylordecordoba.com or (310) 559-9156.

A Conversation with Nina Berman

from "Homeland" ©Nina Berman

Growing up in Europe in the early eighties I remember seeing amputees on the bus on my way to school or in town. Most of these men, who were probably by then in their sixties, were injured in World War II. A bombed-out church in the center of my hometown purposefully remains a ruin serving as a warning, as a memorial.
It takes generations for the effects of war to subside. When war is fought overseas by a volunteer army it is easy for the civilian population to be disconnected . But the 'Homeland' is nevertheless affected. Nina Berman has photographed worldwide, but focuses on the US, telling American stories and observing her home country in transition. Her work asks urgent questions and confronts us with the America (& the world) of today.


from "Homeland", "Megachurches", "Marine Wedding" & "Singles"©Nina Berman


Nymphoto: Tell us about yourself.

Nina Berman: I'm a photographer and sometime writer and mother to a 4 year old girl, Carla, with my partner Carmine, also a photographer.
I ride a bicycle and live in Manhattan on the 9th floor of an old building which faces east.

from "Under Taliban" ©Nina Berman


NP: How did you discover photography?

NB: I discovered photography as a young teenager through Diane Arbus. I was at summer camp in Connecticut and some older kids were passing her book around in this very excited and secret almost illicit way. Well it blew my mind. I was struck by how the conventional people looked terrifying and how the so-called freaks looked so nice and friendly.
Then at 17 my dad got me a Petri Racer rangefinder and I discovered a dark room, and from there, I was kind of hooked.

from "Homeland", "Megachuches" & "Times Square" ©Nina Berman


NP: What inspires/drives you?

NB: Curiosity about the world outside myself is the number one inspiration. Anger can be another. I'm interested in how ideology manifests itself physically and visually. Some of my work has a politically subversive element to it, in that I photograph subjects or topics that our part of our political discourse, but in ways not conventionally seen. And sometimes, I'm just trying to work out questions in my own mind. For example, years ago, I spent a lot of time photographing Times Square because of memories I had of the place when I was a child, and the ambivalence I felt when it started to change into what it is today. I was struck by simultaneous feelings of revulsion and attraction. So I photographed it to try and explore my own responses.

From "Purple Heart"©Nina Berman


NP: How do you cope with what you see/experience?

NB: At times, I'm not sure I cope very well. When I can get away from my pictures, I'm fine. But when I'm talking about them, or I'm in the midst of photographing a project, like the Purple Hearts project on wounded soldiers, I'm obsessed and dark, and extremely serious which is why my partner calls me DandG which doesn't stand for Dolce Gabbana but Doom and Gloom. I think what I've seen and what I think about, and all that I read, which is a lot, has made me not as fun or free a person as I would like to be. One reason - and it may sound selfish - I wanted to raise a child so much, was so I could be part of a child's universe and have the opportunity to play and exist on that level.



from "Homeland" & "Nuclear Play" ©Nina Berman


NP: What's next?

NB: I have a new book, Homeland, so I need to work on getting that seen. As for the next photography project, I have some ideas, but they're complicated and I need to test them out to see if they're really interesting, or just interesting in my head.

NP: Thank you so much.

"Homeland" is now available in bookstores and online. See more of Nina Berman's work at www.ninaberman.com, or if you are in New York see her work at Jen Bekman Gallery - through November 15, 2008.

The Biz

Head over to A Photo Editor for some depressing updates & some good commentary on the industry.

Swingers

Swing over to WIPNYC to check out Naomi Harris' Swingers.

Domesticated: The Book

Amy Stein's Domesticated series will soon be available as a book. Check out Amy's blog www.amysteinphoto.blogspot.com for more information on her first monogram and how to win a signed copy.


The Cover of Domesticated © Amy Stein

Election 2008: The Square Foot Show at Art Gotham

If you need to focus your election anxiety on something other than political blogs and CNN, go check out Art Gotham's current exhibit.  There are photographs (including one by my friend Phyllis Dooney) as well as paintings.

Art Gotham

192 Avenue of the Americas

(Between Prince and Spring)

Works on view until Saturday November 8th

Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz- Artists’ Talk and Book Signing Tonight

(via www.aperture.org)

Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz
Artists’ Talk and Book Signing

Exhibition on view:
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
6:30 p.m.

Aperture Gallery
547 West 27th Street, 4th floor
New York, New York
(212) 505-5555

Within the simple constraints of a glass globe, the captivating images in Travelers (Aperture) conjure up entire sequences of imaginary worlds and events. Coinciding with the publication of the artists’ first monograph, Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz will discuss their collaborative process of creating mesmerizing miniature snowbound environments, then recording them in chilly color photographs. At first glance playful, closer observation of the work reveals darker narratives rife with anxiety and uncertainty.

Opening tonight: Catherine Leutenegger: Hors-Champ (Off-Camera)

(via www.aperture.org)

Catherine Leutenegger: Hors-Champ (Off-Camera)
Opening Reception and Exhibition

Opening Reception:
Monday, October 27, 7:00–9:00 p.m.

Exhibition on view:
Monday, October 27, 2008 — Monday, November 03, 2008

Aperture Gallery
547 West 27th Street, 4th floor
New York, New York
(212) 505-5555

Aperture Foundation is pleased to partner with Raymond Weil to highlight the winner of the Raymond Weil Club 2007 International Photography Prize, Catherine Leutenegger. Ms. Leutenegger's work will be on display for a special one-week exhibition in Aperture Foundation's bookstore and board annex concurrent with Aperture Gallery's show, Invasion 68 Prague, photographs by Josef Koudelka. Hors-Champ (Off-Camera) is an invitation to discover a place that often remains unknown: where photographs are made—workshops and studios, darkrooms, and labs for developing and printing. The work behind the illusion, so meticulously crafted by photographers in their studios, is indeed rarely revealed. The realization of this project arises from a personal desire to explore, behind the scenes, the world of photography professionals at a point in time when the medium is undergoing deep technological and aesthetic changes. In this digitalized age, what really occurs behind the scenes? What will become of studios and traditional photo labs? Hors-Champ is an homage to photography, its history, and to the creators of images, and encourages the viewer to reflect on the future of this medium of communication.

Nina Berman's G.I. Goat on 20x200

G.I. Goat © Nina Berman

Head over to 20x200 for the opportunity to own this Nina Berman print (tx my love for you is a stampede of horses). "G.I. Goat" can also been seen in Nina's latest Monogram "Homeland" and at Jen Bekman Gallery in New York through November 15, 2008.
Also stayed tuned for this week's Nymphoto Conversation with Nina Berman. The interview will publish as usual Thursday morning.

Kim Hubbard PDN Interview

PDN has an interview with Audubon's Kim Hubbard available online - article written by Reuel Golden and published October 17, 2008.

American Photo's Emerging Artists 2008

Among American Photo's 2008 13 emerging photographers selected by gallery owner Debra Klomp Ching, curator and writer Susan Bright, and art director Catherine Talese are Kelli Connell, Sarah Small, Julie Blackmon, Martine Fougeron, Kathryn Parker Almanas, Olivia Arthur, Edith Maybin, and Alejandra Laviada. Alejandra had a Conversation with us recently and I had the pleasure of meeting her and seeing her work in person at her opening at Danziger Projects (it's up until Nov. 22). Congratulations!


Giraffe, 2007 © Alejandra Laviada

Nina Berman: Book Launch & Opening Reception Tonight

from "Homeland" © Nina Berman

Nina Berman
"Homeland"
Exhibition & Book Launch
Jen Bekman Gallery
6 Spring Street
New York, NY
Opening Reception October 24 6-8 pm

Alejandra Lavidia in The New York Times

Head over to the New York Times to read Penelope Green's article "Left Behind, in Their Own State of Grace" published October 23, 2009 about Alejandra Laviada - who we featured for Nymphoto Conversations on October 9, 2008.


from Photo Sculptures © Alejandra Laviada

A Conversation with Tania Kitchell

I am excited to present an interview with Tania Kitchell, whose work I saw at her September solo show at James Harris Gallery in Seattle. Kitchell, a Toronto-based artist, examines the weather and environment through photographs, text-based works, and an ongoing weather journal. Her past photographs include works like Snow Factory (2004), in which an impervious Kitchell hugs giant snowballs into shape while wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt, and her Air series (2004), photos of her white breath against a snow-studded night.



Snow Factory, 2004 © Tania Kitchell

The camera is a chicken and an egg in these works; the photographs document actions that were performed expressly to be photographed. In her new Sunshine series (2008), outdoor performances are replaced by arrangements of grass and flowers inside a run-down home. Are these new works tableaux photographs because the scene has been staged for the camera? Are they landscapes, since Kitchell assembles fragments of the landscape indoors, perhaps presenting an extension of the idea that "nature" only exists under the thumb of culture? The conscious arrangement of the plants seems to suggest a thoroughly domesticated role for nature, and yet the house itself is halfway to ruins- it's hard to tell who is winning. The idea of choreography strikes me in both past and present work. Although the grass and flowers in the Sunshine series do not literally move in the same way that Kitchell herself performs in her earlier work, the plants are growing and the camera has captured them at the height of their grand jeté, while the flowers are in bloom.



Living Room 1, 2008 © Tania Kitchell

Nymphoto: Tell us a little about yourself.

Tania Kitchell: I was born in Central Butte Saskatchewan and grew up in Toronto. I have never been back to Central Butte but my family’s stories of the harsh climate have long stayed with me. I survived the 80’s in Toronto before heading out to Parson’s School of Design in Paris. Many people do not know of this little branch of Parsons but it truly was a little gem a decade or so ago. Living in Paris and studying art with an international group of students gave me a refreshing perspective on art and other cultures. I lived in France for 6 years before returning to Toronto. Working as an artist in this city has it’s ups and downs just like the weather but like most I have a picture of an ideal place I would like to live but I don’t know if it exists.

NP: How did you discover photography?

TK: I am not someone who took hundreds of photos in my youth nor did I take photography in art school. My photographic works are only a part of my art practice as I also produce installations and text based works. I started working in photography around 2000 as a means of creating staged images that were performance based.



Air No. 3, 2004 © Tania Kitchell

NP: Where do you find inspiration?

TK: Looking out my kitchen window and walking has played a large role in my art practice. My work revolves around the on ongoing fascination with the weather and our environment, and more specifically our perceptions of it. I make the time to look at my world around me and try to take note of its’ subtle changes. My fascination with the weather dates back since I can remember, not always so consciously but for approximately the last 10 years it has been at the forefront of my art practice.



Kitchen 2, 2008 © Tania Kitchell

NP: How did this project come about?

TK: The previous series I was working on involved taking elements from nature and recreating them in a sculptural form and then placing them back into the environment in order to question our perceptions and ideas about nature. In this project as I wanted to do the opposite and take nature from outside and create mini gardens inside of my home. As the house was in the beginning of a house renovation and I wanted to dig up the garden and pull it inside creating these small moments where on looked at the relationship between the architecture and nature.



Bathroom, 2008 © Tania Kitchell

NP: What's next?

TK: I am currently working on a project that looks at how different species are migrating due to shifts in our climate. Flora and fauna are appearing in regions where they have never existed. Shifts in temperature are slowly changing the way we see our world. I would like to produce a series of works that show the transitioning the environment with the feeling of uncertainty and with a hint of absurdity.

NP: Thank you so much!

Aftermath Project

Sara Terry presenting her work, En Foco's Miram Romais introducing the artists.

Sunday I attended a thought-provoking talk with artists Sara Terry and Hank Willis Thomas sponsored by EnFoco & The Lucie Foundation.

Sara Terry is a photographer, and also the founder of The Aftermath Project.

Application for the 2009 Aftermath Project Grants are due by November 3, 2008. Find more information at www.theaftermathproject.org.
The 2008 Grant Winners were Kathryn Cook and Natela Grigalashvilli.
2008 Finalist were Tinka Dietz and Christine Fenzl.

Cara Phillips: AIOP Project

© Cara Phillips

If you missed Cara Phillips working on her AIOP Project last week, you have another chance this coming Friday and Saturday:

14th St & 9th Ave (NYC)

Friday October 24th: 10 - 5pm

Sat October 25th: 10 - 5pm

Across from the Apple store.

It's a great project and Cara is producing beautiful work. I sat for Cara last Thursday and I can assure you it's a great experience. For a sneak peek head over to Timothy Briner's blog or head to Cara's blog & website to find out more about the project.
Via Cara Phillip's Women in Photography partner Amy Elkin's blog I found out that Cara Phillips could still use financial support for this project, if you are interested in contributing, head here.


Cara Phillips' set in Union Square © Nina Corvallo

Blurb's Photography.Book.Now Meet-up

Photography.Book.Now New York City Meet-up
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 from 06:30 PM - 08:30 PM (ET)
The New Museum - 235 Bowery - New York, NY 10002

Hosted by: Photography.Book.Now
Get your free ticket here.

Thanks Cara!
(Cara Phillips' book, Singular Beauty, 1st runner up will be shown.)

Nina Berman

There are lots of great opportunities to see the affecting work of Nina Berman currently:

"Purple Hearts & Marine Wedding"
Cicero Galerie
Rosenthaler Strasse 28
Berlin, Germany
through November 15, 2008

"Homeland"
Exhibition & Book Launch
Jen Bekman Gallery
6 Spring Street
New York, NY
Opening Reception October 24 6-8 pm

"Witness: Casualties of War"
7358 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA
through October 25, 2008

Her monogram "Homeland" is now available for pre-order.

Tonight: Sara Terry & Hank Willis Thomas Artist Talk

courtesy En Foco

Sunday, October 19, 2008, 5-6:30pm
Nueva Luz/Lucies Artist Talk

Join En Foco and the Lucie Foundation for a Nueva Luz Artist Talk and Signing, with Hank Willis Thomas and Sara Terry.
Both artists will be available for signing Nueva Luz and their Aperture books.

RSVP is required: lectures@lucieawards.com.

Location: Splashlight Studio SOHO
One Hudson Square
75 Varick Street, Third Floor
New York, NY 10013

Opening Tonight: Eileen Neff: The Key of Dreams

courtesy Bruce Silverstein Gallery

Eileen Neff: The Key of Dreams
Bruce Silverstein / 20
529 West 20th, 3rd Floor
October 18 - November 22, 2008
Opening: Saturday, October 18th, 6 - 8pm

Art in Odd Places- Laura Napier

© Laura Napier

Laura Napier is continuing project for a street corner with live actions/interactions this Friday and Saturday, outside on W 14th Street in Manhattan, as part of Pedestrian - a large show/event during the month of October.

project for a street corner
Laura Napier
A television monitor placed in a street-level cafe window displays live video feed of a nearby busy sidewalk.
The artist and friends appear on camera and carry out a series of actions to highlight and disrupt the ordinary behaviors of pedestrians.

Happening this Friday, October 17 (4-6pm); and also Saturday, October 18 (4-6pm), outside 348 W 14th Street.

see http://www.artinoddplaces.org for more info about this show.

PEDESTRIAN During the month of October 2008, the fourth annual Art in Odd Places will present Pedestrian on 14th Street, Manhattan - the great divider between uptown/downtown and highbrow/lowbrow. From the East River to the Hudson River, artists of all mediums will encourage the masses of daily pedestrians to rediscover this corridor of diverse commerce, including Union Square, historical site of social and political activism. Projects will explore connections between public spaces, pedestrian traffic, and ephemeral transient disruptions. Like a scavenger hunt, New Yorkers will use a map to discover art in unexpected places along this amazing street.

participating artists: Ethan Crenson * Eric Doeringer * Alicia Grullón * Terry S. Hardy * Illegal Art * Kenny Komer & Boris Rasin * Michael Knierim * L. Mylott Manning * Renny Molenaar * Aakash Nihalani * Cara Phillips * Jan Lynn Sokota * Margot Spindelman * Elena Stojanova* Benjamin Bellas & Justin Cooper * Matthew Blair * Arielle Falk * Patrick Grenier * Yvette Helin * Sara Holwerda & Nick Tobier * Ken James * Jesse La Flair * Katherine McInnis * Laura Napier * Calla Thompson * Yoonhye Park * Edith Raw * Hayley Severns & Angela Rose * Voulgarelis Illgen * Miryana Todorova & Hatuey Ramos-Fermín * Gretchen Vitamvas * Caroline Woolard

Hee Jin Kang

All images courtesy Hee Jin Kang © Hee Jin Kang

Art is all about expression and artist Hee Jin Kang is taken full advantage of her right.
Visit her blog for not only information about Hee Jin and her work, but also if you want to find out how to help in this election: www.heejinkang.wordpress.com.

Reminder: October is Breast Cancer Awarness Month

October is National Breast Cancer Awarness Month.
Photographer & filmmaker Jila Nikpay published Heroines in 2006, a collection of black and white portraits of 21 Minnesota women who dealt with breast cancer.
Find out more about this project at Jila Nikpay's website, www.jilanikpay.com. Or listen to Minnesota's Public Radio feature about the project, here.

A Conversation with Erin Patrice O'Brien

© Erin Patrice O'Brien

A few years ago when I worked as a freelance photo-editor I first came across the work of Erin Patrice O'Brien and I really like the energy in her book.

The following interview makes clear that the energy I saw in her pictures is a reflection of Erin herself.

© Erin Patrice O'Brien

Nymphoto: Tell us about yourself.

Erin Patrice O'Brien: I live in Brooklyn with my husband Pablo and my daughter Maya. MostlyI work for different editorial magazines and ad agencies specializing in portraits. I tend to do about half celebrities and the other half more reportage style portraits of real people. We spend part of the year in Buenos Aires where Pablo is from and I try to improve my Spanish. I have always loved photographing my family. I come from a big Irish-American family and they have always been an inspiration for me. I have always loved traveling and have lived and visited so many different countries.

© Erin Patrice O'Brien

NP: How did you discover photography?

EPOB: I studied fashion design at Drexel University and took lots of classes in photography. After a brief internship in fashion I realized I hated it and wanted to concentrate on photography.

I moved to NYC in 1995 after shooting weddings for 2 years for a totally conservative photo studio in Pennsylvania. I wanted to assist photographers whose work I liked but I really didn’t know what I was doing in the beginning. I worked for a lot of photographers. Eventually I assisted some people who were doing good work. I spent all of my free time shooting and printing for my book. I felt like I lived at Printspace. I learned everything technical from assisting other people and eventually figuring it out myself.

© Erin Patrice O'Brien

NP: Where do you find inspiration?

EPOB:I have always been inspired by people who I think are doing something positive for the world. On the project I just finished, (Mamás Adolescentes: NYC 2006-2007) I was greatly inspired by Dr. Yvette Martas who was the obstetrician for the girls.

On a basic level I’d say that I’m inspired by light, color and movement. And more than anything I love to laugh. I love people who are funny. I’m inspired when the person I’m photographing is relaxed and having fun. I have ended up photographing a lot of comedians.

I am fascinated by any kind of counterculture Especially people who define themselves and their group visually. I would love to photograph an FLDS polygamist family or a gypsy family in Argentina. Any kind of ritual or uniform is always interesting to me.

Other inspirations have been the work of Mira Nair, Wes Andersen, David La Chapelle, David Hockney, Helmut Newton, Peggy Sirota, Cleo Sullivan, Livia Corona, Chris Buck, Martin Parr,

Elaine Constantine, Nan Goldin, Diane Arbus and Brenda Ann Kenneally.

My husband Pablo has always been a great inspiration for me. He’s a musician and we are constantly coming up with new ways to shoot

his band for posters and albums. He has an offbeat sense of humor.

From The Mamás Adolescentes: NYC 2006-2007 project © Erin Patrice O'Brien

NP: How do your projects come about?

EPOB: The Mamás Adolescentes: NYC 2006-2007 project came about because I wanted to do a long term project. I had just had Maya . My idea of what it would be like to have a child versus the reality were very different. I wanted to know what it was like for a teenager. I had help and a career and even with that it was overwhelming for the first year. My doctor introduced me to the head of the Adolescent Clinic at Bellevue. I have found with photography that sometimes it’s just meeting the right person. Before meeting Dr. Martas, I had approached organizations but people were very wary of me. Nowadays there are so many privacy issues. I would go to the clinic every Monday that I wasn’t working and hang out and meet the girls. I convinced them to let me come to their homes and photograph them there. I wasn’t interested in the hospital setting. I started with about 10 different teenagers. Some were American and some were Mexican. I had to adapt to their schedules with no expectations. Many times I would show up at an arranged time and they wouldn’t be there. Or I would have to wait an hour while they took a shower.

I decided to present the work in a book format online. I worked with an Argentine web designer, Maria Onis. Even though I love books in print I felt like more people would see it online. For the gallery show we did really big prints and I went back and interviewed the girls. Their babies are now two. For the most part they are all having a pretty hard time. For so long I was working away at this project alone with the help of my assistants. In the end I met some great writers, Yesenia Ruiz and Franziska Castillo who helped with the interviews and gave me a greater understanding of some of the more linguistic nuances I was missing with the Spanish.

From The Mamás Adolescentes: NYC 2006-2007 project © Erin Patrice O'Brien

NP:What's next?

EPOB:I just returned from Argentina and am really interested in the online teen culture which is developing there. I plan to return in the early winter to start a new project of photographing these kids.

NP: Thank you so much!

To see more of Erin's work please visit her website: www.erinpatricobrien.com.