Exhibitions

Last Days of the Arctic

Masauna Kristiansen with whip, Inglefield Fjord, North Greenland 1987 © Ragnar Axelsson

A new show opens next week at Proud UK's Chelsea gallery. A little different to the usual, 'Last Days of the Arctic' features photographs by Ragnar Axelsson of the Inuit.

Girl in a swing, Tiniteqilaaq, East Greenland 1997 © Ragnar Axelsson

"This is a moving and insightful photographic portrait of a disappearing landscape and its Inuit people. As the world turns its gaze toward the Arctic; the landscape whose inhabitants have done the least to cause climate change is where the devastating effects are most visible. Their ancient culture is set to become extinct; the probability of these communities continuing to live traditionally is becoming increasingly unlikely. In his native Iceland, Ragnar looked at the fisherman and farmers of remote villages and thought if he did not photograph them, then no one would know they ever existed. It is this thought that has led to this unique body of work captured in Greenland, with unprecedented access to a community that rarely let outsiders in."

Exhibition runs from 26th January - 11th March 2012 - not to be missed!

Little Bent with puppy, Kap Hope (Itterajivit), East Greenland 1995 © Ragnar Axelsson

Polar bear skin, Ittoqqortoormiit, East Greenland 1996 © Ragnar Axelsson

All images courtesy Proud Gallery

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Weegee Map Update

Update: New exhibition opened at ICP in New York this week. There is a lot more than just photographs including a mock-up of the man's sleeping quarters and his hand-written notes. Go see.

In a quite brilliant move, Chris George at the ICP archives created a Google map not only of all the locations where Weegee took photographs but including a clip from the newspaper. There is tons of other interesting stuff at ICP's 'Weegee's World' including photos, audio and a searchable database, but this is genius.

"Firemen William Murawski and William Miller went to the rescue of this cat when it wedged itself between the walls of the buildings at 51 and 53 Barclay St.
PM Daily, Oct. 6, 1942, p. 19"

Have fun!

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New Orleans Photo Alliance

I'm super duper honored and excited to be the juror for a new exhibition by the New Orleans Photo Alliance.

"Photography, in fact vision itself, is not possible without light. No surprise, then, that light often becomes the subject of photography itself. The play of light and shadow defines an an object, tells us what time of day it is or creates a mood. Please submit photographs in which you explore the meaning of light, its visual, sensual or emotional qualities."

Call for entries is out now and you have until January 16th to submit images that fulfill the spec. Plus, you get to use the brilliantly-named Entry Thingy to upload your submission. I look forward to seeing your work.

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Klaus Pichler: Scarred For Life

aCurator contributor Klaus Pichler will be signing copies of his new book, 'Fürs Leben gezeichnet' this Wednesday, December 7th 2011 at 7:30 pm at galerie OPEN, Legiendamm 18-20, 10179 Berlin. As well as some great portraits and detail photos, 'Scarred For Life' includes interviews with prisoners about their tats.

"There was no way of stopping people having tattoos done in prison, not even back in the 70's when we weren't allowed ink and needles weren't available. We just made all the stuff ourselves. The colour was made by cutting a piece off the rubber sole of our prison shoes, burning it and covering it with a tin bowl which created a layer of soot on top. We mixed the soot with toothpaste or shampoo. The red colour was made using brick dust which we scraped off the prison walls. Our needles were usually sharpened paper clips, pieces of wire or guitar strings." Mr. J., 57 years

"Traditionally tattooing used to be mainly for people from the prison scene, nowadays it is trendy everywhere. I'd say if you compare modern day tattooing to the old tradition, many people just feel very important nowadays. It never just used to be a tradition, you know, but it was also a sign of being part of a criminal culture. Everybody who got put away for a while just had to have some done. Well, you didn't exactly have to, if you didn't want to do it you didn't do it, but nearly everyone had some done. Criminals were criminals and they were tattooed. That was it. We were outsiders and with our tattoos we made a promise not to join the mainstream." Mr. L., 63 years

All images © Klaus Pichler

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Lisa Ross

Rooftop © Lisa Ross, 2011, courtesy Asya Geisberg Gallery. 40"x60" archival digital print on cotton paper

Lisa Ross has documented the ritual objects and burial sites of the Uyghurs of Western China.
In her new series, 'After Night,' she focuses on the sparse beds found outside in this community.

"Isolated within the vast and arid desert landscape, they... suggest an aesthetic intervention, when in fact they are captured as they were found."

'After Night' is showing at Asya Geisberg Gallery in NYC now through December 17th, with an artist talk at 1 pm on November 12th.

Canal © Lisa Ross, 2011, courtesy Asya Geisberg Gallery. 22"x33" archival digital print on cotton paper

Companions © Lisa Ross, 2011, courtesy Asya Geisberg Gallery. 40"x60" archival digital print on cotton paper

Pink Trim © Lisa Ross, 2011, courtesy Asya Geisberg Gallery. 28"x42" archival digital print on cotton paper

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Greg Lotus: Paper-Cut-Project

Opening November 3rd at Jackson Fine Art in Atlanta, is 'Paper-Cut-Project'. As per the press release, Amy Flurry and Nikki Salk of Paper-Cut-Project are Atlanta-based artists whose innovative paper wig sculptures have captured the imaginations of fashion's most illustrious houses. In 2010 their debut collection of paper wigs was featured as an installation in the Atlanta and New York locations of Jeffrey boutique.

I, of course, just love the photograph, by Greg Lotus.

Image Courtesy of Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta and Greg Lotus. Image Copyright Greg Lotus.

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Louie Palu: The Fighting Season

Afghan police officer preparing to patrol a village, Panjwa'i District, Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Photo © Louie Palu
20 x 24 inch pigment print. 2010

Honfleur Gallery presents award winning photographer Louie Palu's work, The Fighting Season, which was completed as several related studies of Kandahar and the surrounding region of Southern Afghanistan. October 2011 marks the tenth anniversary of the current conflict in Afghanistan and FotoweekDC is the perfect opportunity to showcase this timely work. The exhibit's opening reception and artist talk will open November 2nd at 6pm, a few days before the official start of this year's FotoweekDC.

Three brothers wounded by an insurgent's bomb, Zhari District, Kandahar, Afghanistan. 2010
Photo © Louie Palu
20 x 24 inch pigment print.

Dust and smoke on helicopter landing zone, enemy possible, Zhari District, Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Photo © Louie Palu
24 x 30 inch pigment print. 2010

2010. A wounded soldier in a medevac helicopter after a night raid, Zhari District, Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Photo © Louie Palu
20 x 24 inch pigment print.

Many of Palu's photographs featured in this exhibition were taken in combat conditions. Palu worked independently of military units and also worked embedded while covering military operations where he spent extensive periods of time with the U.S. Army, U.S. Marines including Canadian and British combat units. In 2010 he flew on over 100 MEDEVAC missions to the front lines with the U.S. 101st Combat Aviation Brigade. - Honfleur

aCurator had the honour of meeting Louie Palu at FOTOfusion in January where we were each on panels talking about our work. At the time, we were in the only contiguous state that was without snow, which is a good reason to join us this coming January for the 17th annual FOTOfusion.

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Loli Kantor

Opening today at B. Hollyman Gallery, Austin, Texas, with a reception on the 6th, and a talk on the 13th, is Loli Kantor's 'And If A Voice Was Heard'.

"Loli Kantor reminds us of the power of the photograph; the life it breathes, the destruction it stills. In her solo exhibition, 'And If A Voice Was Heard', Kantor shows us a collection of images anchored in history, loss and survival. Balanced by a personal exploration of her own roots, Kantor documents the complexities and remnants of Jewish life in Eastern Europe after the Holocaust and a tumultuous century of the rise and fall of the Soviet era.

In 2004, Kantor traveled to Krakow, Poland to participate in a reclamation project in Plaszow, a former Nazi labor camp. It was here she began researching the whereabouts of her immediate family, many of whom had perished during the Holocaust. What ensued was a journey into Eastern Europe's narrative of destruction, death, absence and grief, revealed to her along the many trips she took to Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine over the next three years. Using a variety of camera formats, the works were created in black and white and printed in gelatin silver. They are a poignant archive of survivors, empty synagogues, dilapidated monuments, and the faces, hands and homes of a generation old and new. Within a body of work so resonant with memory and what once was, Kantor also asks us to imagine what is to come."

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The Beautiful Eyes

© The Beautiful Eyes

Hans Agterdenbos from the Beautiful Eyes Gallery wrote about how he and his partner "created and run a fine art photography gallery in world heritage Stone Town in Africa with workshops and more much more. The idea to initiate 'The Beautiful Eyes' as a place to present art photography started in May 2008 when three photographers visited Zanzibar for a week of photography. They missed a place to talk, present and to even buy photography."

Visit their website for info about the gallery and workshops; check out their blog for stories such as 'Belly Dancing in Stone Town.'

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Lars Tunbjork

Opening at Amador Gallery in midtown NYC on September 13 and running until November 19th, 2011, is an exhibition by Lars TunBjörk. It looks to be most entertaining.

"Amador Gallery is pleased to announce the exhibition of color photographs by internationally renowned Swedish photographer Lars Tunbjörk, featuring works from 1988-2002. This exhibition in many ways constitutes a trilogy, focusing on an investigative arc that Tunbjörk has examined through a series of lauded photo-books: Landet Utom Sig (Country Beside Itself), Home and Office."