Marketing Photos with Mary Virginia Swanson

My colleage Darius Himes at Radius Books tells me there are a few spaces left in his one-week publishing intensive that is part of the Santa Fe Workshops this summer. His course begins the evening of the 13th and wrapping up the morning of the 19th. Click here to view the course description.

And those of you in the Santa Fe area - remember that the Monday and Tuesday evening Santa Fe Workshop Faculty Lecture Series is free and open to the public - take advantage of these inspiring presentations!

From the press release:

“The faculty speak each Monday and Tuesday evening at 8:30 p.m. now through Tuesday August 5th, held at in the are held in the newly remodeled and air-conditioned auditorium of the Santa Fe Preparatory School on Camino Cruz Blanca. These lectures present three or four photographers each evening and are free to the public. For up-to-the minute scheduling, call the Workshops office at (505) 983-1400, extension 11.”

From the Corcoran website:

ACCESS TO LIFE

Exhibition on view at the Corcoran from June 14 - July 20, 2008

In 2007, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria initiated a joint project with Magnum Photos to graphically document the positive impact that free antiretroviral drug treatment is having on the lives of millions of AIDS patients around the world. The AIDS pandemic is the greatest public health challenge the world has ever faced. It has had a particularly devastating impact in many parts of the world where access to even basic health care is limited. Internationally, the story of AIDS’ toll on communities is better known than the efforts financed by organizations like the Global Fund. Through carefully-monitored grants, the Global Fund supports treatment for millions of AIDS patients, individuals who would face certain death if antiretroviral drugs were not made available for free. Access to Life is an artistic and educational response to the lifesaving success of this effort.

To document its efforts, the Global Fund turned to photographic cooperative Magnum Photos in order to utilize the talents of the some of the best photographers in the world. An international team of eight noted photographers traveled to nine countries to document the transformative effects of treatment on more than thirty individuals and their families. The photographic team included Americans Jim Goldberg, Eli Reed and Steve McCurry; Canadian Larry Towell,; Norwegian Jonas Bendiksen; Italians Paolo Pellegrin and Alex Majoli; and Frenchman Gilles Peress. In India, Haiti, Mali, Peru, Russia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland and Vietnam, the photographers created visual chronicles that encompassed their subjects’ lives both before and after drug treatments. The resulting exhibition, curated by William Horrigan, director of media arts at the Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio State University, is a powerful document of the strong spirit of each patient, of the life-changing impact of the drugs and of the crucial benefit of international funding.

After opening at the Corcoran in June, the exhibition will travel to Mexico City, Paris, London, Berlin, and Rome throughout 2008 and 2009. A book will be launched to coincide with the European launch of the project.

Magnum Photos is a photographic co-operative of great distinction owned by its photographer-members. Acclaimed for their powerful individual vision, Magnum photographers chronicle the world and interpret its people, events, issues, and personalities with empathy for their subjects.

Founded at the Museum of Modern Art upon the close of World War II (1947) by legendary photographers Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, and David “Chim” Seymour, Magnum Photos celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2007. Today, the agency encompasses more than 70 members of extraordinary talent and diversity and reflects a long-standing tradition of individual vision. Through its four editorial offices in New York, London, Paris, and Tokyo; a digital library of 450,000 images; and a network of 15 sub-agents, Magnum Photos provides photographs to the press, publishers, advertising, galleries, and museums across the world. Its Cultural Department produces more than 200 exhibitions per year worldwide. By capturing defining moments of the 20th century with iconic images that have shaped our collective memory, Magnum Photos continues to set a standard for photographic integrity and authorship.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is supporting lifesaving treatment with ARVs for more than 1.4 million people worldwide. The Global Fund is a unique global public/private partnership dedicated to attracting and disbursing additional resources to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. This partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector, and affected communities was founded just over six years ago and represents a new approach to international health financing. The Global Fund works in close collaboration with other bilateral and multilateral organizations to supplement existing efforts dealing with the three diseases.

Apart from a high standard of technical quality, the Global Fund attaches no conditions to any of its grants. It is not an implementing agency, instead relying on local ownership and planning to ensure that new resources are directed to programs on the frontline of this global effort to reach those most in need. Its performance-based approach to grant-making is designed to ensure that funds are used efficiently and create real change for people and communities. All programs are monitored by independent organizations contracted by the Global Fund to ensure that its funding has an impact in the fight against these three pandemics.

From the En Foco website:

Artistic & Professional Development Workshops

“Successful Strategies for Professional Photographers”

Instructor: Lauri Lyons

June 28, 2008, 12-2 p.m.

Open to all, this seminar is designed to build solid career-building skills for emerging photographers in the fine art and commercial arenas. It will answer frequently asked questions such as:

• How do I get my work published?
• How can I get funding for my projects?
• What does a good portfolio look like?

Successful Strategies will provide the essential tools to organize, plan, promote your artistic vision and achieve your goals consistently. Participants will be also receive handouts of key points and resources, and a goodie bag.

Topics Covered: Portfolio Presentation & Feedback, Structuring Your Goal, Writing Sponsorship Proposals and Artist Statements, Working with Non-Profit Organizations. This is a great way to prepare your work for our Portfolio Review Sessions in September!

Bio:
Lauri Lyons, was born in the Bronx, New York. She earned a BFA for Photography from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and then came to En Foco for an internship, which led to her first New York City exhibition as a Touring Gallery Artist. In the years following, Lyons worked as a Photo Editor for Magnum Photos, The Source Magazine, B.E.T, and Essence Magazine. She has created and photographed essays in Brazil, Mexico, West Africa, and the United States. Her photographs and essays have appeared in such publications as Fortune, Stern, The Fader, Trace, Vibe, and The London Observer. Her advertising clients include Pepsi and McDonald’s. Lyons’ work has been exhibited at the International Center of Photography, Brooklyn Museum of Art, and the Civil Rights Museum. Flag: An American Story (Vision On Publishing) is her first published book. ‘In The Frame’ is an award winning documentary film about her work as a photographer, featured in October 2006 at Angelica Film Theatre in New York City. She is a faculty member of the International Center of Photography, the Rhode Island School of Design, the Educational Alliance, and is the Director of Photography for the Leave Out Violence youth program. She is commercially represented by Getty Images. www.laurilyons.com

From the En Foco program website:

Emerging Photographers: Get Your Work Noticed!

WHAT: Come to En Foco’s FREE professional development seminar, “Foot in the Door: Tips for Submitting your Work”

WHY: With so much competition, how can you make your work stand out? Learn about the tips, standard guidelines and procedures needed to apply for grants, artist residencies, exhibition and publication opportunities.

WHEN: Friday, June 13, 2008, 6-8pm

WHERE: El Taller Boricua Gallery
Julia De Burgos Latino Cultural Center
1680 Lexington Ave at 106th, New York, NY 10029
About the Presenter:

Marisol Díaz (En Foco Program Director) has been with En Foco since 1999, and in addition to curating its Touring Gallery exhibitions, her accomplishments include teaching photography classes at the Bronx International High School, Bronx River Art Center, the Millbrook Community Center in the Bronx, and Pelham Hutchinson Elementary in Pelham, NY, Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Bronx Council on the Arts and Pepatián. Díaz has served as a panelist for the Bronx Council on the Arts, Bronx Net and Coca Cola’s Art in Harmony program and is a current member of NPPA. She is a recipient of the Brio Award (Bronx Recognizes its Own, 2004) from the Bronx Council on the Arts and the NY State Senate Award for her contribution to the arts in her community (2002). Her work has been exhibited in several galleries and alternative spaces in New York and Philadelphia.
RSVP: info@enfoco.org

The 19th Annual NPPA Women In Photojournalism’s Conference is approaching (August 8-10, New Orleans), it features a juried exhibition, still aqnd multimedia critiques, worldshops on lighting and business practices. Professionals and non-professionals are welcome to attend.

The juried exhibition is entitled “FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION” for which the deadline to enter is June 23rd.

Additionally, there will be a hands-on video workshop; registration deadline is JULY 1st.

I have learned so much at these conferences in the past and encourage you to try to attend.

Three great public panels/presentaitons coming up at LACMA. From the LACMA website

Photography Discussion: The Value of Photographs
Thursday, June 5 | 7:00 pm

In this panel discussion, curator of photography Charlotte Cotton and artists Anthony Pearson, Paul Graham, and Soo Kim consider how the way we look at photographs is changing in light of the approaching obsolescence of analog photographic prints. Focusing on the work of each of the individual artists, the panel explores how this shift affects our understanding of the history of photography and the values that we assign to contemporary photographic prints.
Brown Auditorium | Free; tickets required | Tickets are available at the box office one hour before the program begins.

Conversations with Artists: Philip-Lorca diCorcia
Tuesday, June 10 | 7:00 pm
In conversation with curator of photography Charlotte Cotton, the influential photographer Philip-Lorca diCorcia expands on the nature and meaning of his art. LACMA’s exhibition of diCorcia’s photography, which opens May 25, demonstrates his long-term agendas and presents one thousand of his Polaroid pictures together for the first time.
Bing Theater | Free, no reservations

Conversations with Artists: Hosoe Eikoh
Saturday, June 21 | 2:00 pm
Hosoe Eikoh has devoted much of his career to creating images of butoh dancers, setting a benchmark for the visual arts through his fusion of photography with this avant-garde dance tradition. He and curator of Japanese art Hollis Goodall will discuss his work in the exhibition Hosoe Eikoh and Butoh: Photographing Strange Notions, on view in the Pavilion for Japanese Art June 22 through September 14.
Brown Auditorium | Free; tickets required | Tickets are available at the box office one hour before the program begins

On Friday morning, May 23rd, our photography community lost on of its strongest voices. Cornell Capa was an outstanding photojournalist but will be best known among photographers young and old for his contributions as president of Magnum Photos and founder of the Internation Center for Photography, both pillars of excellence. The number of photographers who have been inspired by all that ICP offers is impossible to count. And, Cornell’s loss comes painfully close to the recent loses of his Magnum colleagues Philip Jones Griffiths and Burt Glinn.

To read the ICP remembrance click here

To see read about Cornell’s life and view the prepared slide show on Magnum’s Blog, click here.

Read the New York Times remembrance written by Philip Gefter here

Read the LA Times obituary here

Read the International Herald Tribune obituary here

To read the PDN Obituary, click here.

Read and listen to the remembrance of NPR’s All Things Considered here

When print dealer Peter Fetterman produced a catalogue of Capa’s work in 2001, it featured this piece written by the late Richard Whelan, biographer of Cornell’s older brother Robert Capa:

“During the course of his life, Cornell Capa has had three major and interrelated careers: (1) as a photographer who worked extensively for Life magazine and who has long been a member of the influential Magnum agency; (2) as the champion and editor of his brother Robert Capa¼s work; and (3) as the founder and director of the International Center of Photography in New York. After the opening of ICP in 1974, Cornell Capa had no time to pursue his own career as a photographer. Furthermore, his modesty and ethics prevented him from using his position to promote the photographs that he had made during nearly thirty years with Life and Magnum. Thus Cornell Capa the photographer has been overshadowed- indeed, almost completely hidden- by Cornell Capa the founder of ICP and by Cornell Capa the brother of Robert. Cornell Capa coined the phrase “concerned photographer” to signify a photographer who is passionately dedicated to doing work that will contribute to the understanding or the well-being of humanity- work that focuses with compassion, with intelligence, with warmth and generosity of spirit upon the human condition. Cornell Capa is himself a deeply concerned photographer. To all his work he brings his love of people and his profound concern for the plight of humanity. Robert Capa never photographed war as a dispassionate observer but rather always as a partisan. He used his camera not merely to make an accurate record but also to help the side in whose cause he believed. Cornell Capa has done the same as a photographer of peace. He has photographed, as a partisan fighting the cause of humanity, what he loves and what he hates. He often quotes the words of reformer-photographer Lewis W. Hine: “There were two things that I wanted to do. I wanted to show the things that needed to be corrected. And I wanted to show the things that needed to be appreciated.” That is precisely what Cornell has dedicated his life to doing. As a teenager, Cornell wanted to become a doctor so that he could help humanity. Instead, he became a humanitarian photographer. It is very revealing that he became deeply involved in photographing the work of missionaries in Central and South America, for he himself is a kind of missionary, dedicated to advancing the cause of human decency through the power of photographic images to changed the ways in which people look at their world. Cornell Capa is above all else a photographer of people. No landscape or citiscape interests him unless it is populated. Robert Capa once remarked that the best advice he could give to other photographers was: “Like people and let them know it.” That phrase could easily serve as the motto for the entire professional career of Cornell Capa. Without any doubt the quality that characterizes and unites all of Cornell¼s work is his extraordinary rapport with the people he photographs. Like his brother, Cornell puts his subjects at ease with his friendship, his sensitivity, his sympathy, and his enthusiasm. Cornell never exploits his subjects to make a sensationalistic picture; to him a good picture is one that does justice to its subject. Similarly with John F. Kennedy, Cornell was an enthusiastic supporter. After having covered Kennedy’s campaign, he was so moved by the new president’s inaugural address that he conceived- and was able to put into immediate execution- a project for nine Magnum photographers to cover every aspect of the administration’s first 100 days. Cornell himself covered the White House, where he was warmly accepted by Kennedy and his wife. (Indeed, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis became an important early supporter of ICP.) In a completely different area of experience, Cornell’s photo-essay about an elderly woman living with her son and daughter-in-law in Philadelphia certainly derived much of its effectiveness from Cornell’s great sympathy with the old lady. His own beloved but demanding mother had lived for many years with him and his wife, Edie, and he was thus well aware of the difficulties on both sides of such a situation. When Camera magazine asked Cornell in 1963 to make a selection of his own photographs for publication, he replied, “Single photographs are not what I do best. My most effective work is groups of photographs which hand together and tell stories. My pictures are the words which make up sentences which in turn form the story… I hope that as often as possible my pictures may have feeling, composition, and sometimes beauty- but my preoccupation is with the story and not with attaining a fine-art level in the individual pictures.” Nevertheless, although Cornell nearly always set out to shoot groups of pictures that would cohere to form a factual and revealing narrative, the fact remains that within most of his photo-essays certain pictures stand out so strongly- because of the feelings that they capture, because of the effectiveness of their composition, and because of the beauty of the impact of the subject as seen and recorded on film by the photographer- that they sum up the entire story and even transcend it. They remain imbued with the very essence of the specific situation or person that they portray, and yet they simultaneously resonate with universal human experience. In other words, they are art. Even in isolation they speak whole sentences, and indeed whole volumes. They stand very solidly on their own and engrave themselves permanently upon the memory. © Richard Whelan, 2001. All rights reserved. From to the book, Cornell Capa, published by The Peter Fetterman Gallery, September 1st, 2001″

If you haven’t heard of LOOK 3 happening in Charlottesville Virginia in mid-June, you will.

From the website:

“3 days of peace, love and photography. A festival for those that love the still image, celebrating the careers of legendary artists, emerging talent, and the best work from the past year.”

If you haven’t attended, you will. Lectures, panel discussions, conversations, exhibitions, workshops and more. This event has evolved from a gathering in National Geographic photographer Michael “Nick” Nichol’s backyard to a major event and memorable experience.

Check it out here - and don’t wait too long to register, secure housing and make plans to BE THERE.

Last night was ICP’s 24th Annual Infinity Awards, a wonderful event and the major fundraiser for ICP each year; visit the link to view the list of this years honorees, among them my mentor from my graduate studies Bill Jay was among those honored for their contributions to our field. Darius Himes, another of Bill’s students was also present to celebrate with him. Read the event entry on the blog PDNPULSE.com

Tonight was the launch of the PDN Annual, another wonderful evening filled with innovative photography, inspiring discussions and great company. Read about it on www.pdnpulse.com

Tomorrow is the launch of the first-ever New York Photo Festival, taking place in Brooklyn from the 14-18th. Have a good look at the event website for maps of the curated exhibition pavilions, lists of event lectures, panels and films.

BOOK SOUP: Thursday night

Book Soup
A Photography Panel Discussion and Book Signing Event

Thursday, May 15, 2008
Panel Discussion: 8–9pm
St Ann’s Warehouse
38 Water Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Book Signing: 9–10pm
The powerHouse Arena
37 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

To kick off the evening programming for the New York Photo Festival, co-founder Daniel Power, CEO of powerHouse Books, will lead a panel discussion with five of powerHouse Books’ most acclaimed authors to discussing the future of photography book publishing. Featured authors joining Power for the 8pm conversation at St. Ann’s Warehouse include:

Harry Benson, author of R.F.K.: A Photographer’s Journal, discussing the future of photography and classic canons.
Leora Kahn, author of the Lucie Award-winning collection Darfur: Twenty Years of War and Genocide in Sudan and the forthcoming fall 2008 release Child Soldiers, discussing the power of photojournalism to affect sentiment; Joseph Rodriguez, author of East Side Stories: Gang Life in East L.A., Juvenile, Flesh Life: Sex in Mexico, and the upcoming fall 2008 release Still Here: Stories After Katrina, speaking on the power of documentary photography to change attitudes; Slava Mogutin, author of Lost Boys and NYC Go-Go, revealing how improvised situations can document an imaginary reality; Brian Finke, author of Flight Attendants, discussing how improvised situations can document a reality; Jamel Shabazz, author of Back in the Days, Seconds of My Life, A Time Before Crack, and The Last Sunday in June, speaking on how street photography can document a time and place.

Following the panel discussion, there will be a book signing extravaganza at The powerHouse Arena at 9pm with authors including:

Lili Almog, Roger Ballen, Juliana Beasley, Harry Benson, Kevin Bubriski, Julia Calfee, Vivian Cherry, Livia Corona, Valdir Cruz, Lalla Essaydi, Larry Fink, Brian Finke, Ron Galella, Stephen Gill, Arlene Gottfried, Christopher Griffith, John Gruen, Alice Harris, David Alan Harvey, Henry Horenstein, Ellen Jong, Leora Kahn, Seth Kushner & Anthony LaSala, Christopher LaMarca, WassinkLundgren, Jeff Mermelstein, Slava Mogutin, Rachel Papo, Martin Parr, Nigel Parry, Mark Peterson, Thomas Roma, Steve Schapiro, Joachim Schmid, Jamel Shabazz, The Snorri Bros., Michael Spano, Peter Sutherland, Linda Troeller, Victor Vazquez, Veronique Vial, Nathaniel Welch, and David Yellen.

Thursday night in NYC there are gallery openings all over town, many in Chelsea.

Friday through Sunday, May 16/17/18, the

NYPF AWARDS: The 2008 Nominees for the New York Photo Awards are posted online and will be announced on Friday night, the Awards event will be held on Friday the 16th.

Tickets are still available for all NYPF programming; see the website for details; remember that programming is held from May 14-18.

AGENCY VII SEMINAR:

VII Seminar will be held in Brooklyn as well, not far from the NYPF activities. Daily portfolio reviews, and book signings are offered as well. Not to be missed; as of this morning there were still seats available.

It is a week of learning, to say the least. See you in Brooklyn this week!

Young Americans: Photographs by Sheila Pree Bright
May 3 – August 10, 2008

The High Museum, Atlanta
Lower Level, Wieland Pavilion

Young Americans is a portraiture project exploring the attitudes and opinions of young Americans (18–25 years old) toward their nation and their identity as Americans. Individual relationships to the nation as a whole are of increasing relevance as political engagement comes to the foreground in the 2008 election year. The themes explored in Young Americans also echo those of  the Civil Rights Era, as examined  in  Road to Freedom: 1956–1968 and After 1968: Contemporary Artists and the Civil Rights Legacy, on view simultaneously beginning June 7.

Exhibition Details

Young Americans consists of 28 large-format chromogenic prints, several accompanied by statements from the subjects revealing their opinions and attitudes about American culture and society. Sheila Pree Bright began working on the series in the fall of 2006, and her swift development of the project led to her selection as the inaugural recipient of an artist-in-residency at the Amistad Center for Art and Culture. Her subjects are photographed with the American flag in poses reflecting elements of their identities and feelings about their country. Pree Bright collaborates with her subjects by inviting them to choose their own clothing, poses, and interactions with the flag. She has said of the work, “Young people born between 1982 and 2000 constitute the largest generation since the baby boomers, but they are often portrayed negatively in our society. I wanted to give them a platform to speak for themselves—to show and describe how they feel about this country. I also wanted to include young people from diverse backgrounds and socio-economic groups.”

Sheila Pree Bright

A 2002 National Graduate Seminar Fellow at the Photography Institute at Columbia University, N.Y., Pree Bright earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in photography from Georgia State University in 2003. Her photographs are included in public and private collections across the United States. In 2006 she was awarded the prestigious Santa Fe Prize. Presented annually by the Santa Fe Center for Photography, this prize recognizes young artists working in photography who show special promise. Currently a studio artist at The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, she was awarded the En Foco New Works Photography Award (1999) and the National Bronica Award (2001). Pree Bright’s work prior to Young Americans highlights issues related to ethnic identity and gender and includes the series Suburbia, which focuses on home environments of African Americans residing in the suburbs.

Exhibition Organization and Support

The production costs for the Young Americans project and exhibition have been generously underwritten by the AETNA Foundation. The exhibition is organized by Julian Cox, Curator of Photography at the High Museum of Art, in partnership with the Amistad Center for Art & Culture at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut. The exhibition will travel to The Amistad Center for Art and Culture, an affiliate institution housed within the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Conn, this fall and will travel to additional venues to be announced.