A Photography Blog.

excuse the crummy iphone picture quality

I went home to my mom's house in Maine last week and saw an old friend: a postcard that has been tucked in her mirror for a good long while. I think I sent it to her the summer I was a maid on Martha's Vineyard in college.

I did not know who took the picture at the time, and was delighted to turn it over now and see that it was Magnum's own Richard Kalvar.

Today it snowed big globular snowflakes, and the snowflakes stuck. Got to love that magical nature.

For the southern folks with no snow, here are some wayward tumbleweeds:




If you'd like to create your own intervention, perhaps you should put some umbrellas in your tree.

David Axelbank's work wins the oh-so-coveted prize of "most interesting photographs to me on December 15, 2008."

Take a look.

 
Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #14, 1978

Some blue-chip gallerists are apparently frizeaking out in the current economic climate. I guess people aren't shelling out thousands to get their grandma a Cindy Sherman Film Still this year.

I know this because I read Gawker yesterday and it told me so. Also it showed me a snippet from Larry's memo to his employees:

"If you would like to continue working for Gagosian I suggest you start to sell some art. Everything is going to be evaluated in this new climate based on performances. I basically put in eighteen hours a day, which any number of people could verify. If you are not willing to make that kind of commitment please let me know. The general economy and also the art economy is clearly headed for some choppy waters; I want to make sure that we are the best swimmers on the block. The luxury of carrying under-performing employees is now a thing of the past."

I did something my mother would not approve of at all on Saturday; I bought a Christmas Holiday (and Hannukah!) tree.

Then I covered it with 300 lights. I wanted it to be so bright that it took down the whole grid, but 300 lights don't actually go that far. I'm going back to CVS first chance I get to find 600 more.

I felt tremendous guilt about this, and then the requisite twinge of resentment. I mean-- what's more fun than putting  a TREE in your living room and making it sparkle?! It's hard to keep that from a person who enjoys an installation.

The picture above is the one that goes with the guilt. It's by Katie Murray and I've loved it forever.

But here's the one that goes with the joy:

It's from the supremely talented Emily Shur. I actually had no idea she had a tree image but I felt an inkling and I went to her site and THERE IT WAS. In all its saxophonic splendor. Also there were some other pictures in the same, clean, colorful vein, and I've included them here for you.

Carson City  Nevada



Koi Fish  Japan



Perfume  New Jersey

I bet you pulled a face of puzzlement on Thursday too, when you saw Vladimir Putin on the cover of the Times with a baby and a lady with curlers. I mean, how inexplicable!

But it made me click. I was not less confused when I read the headline:

"Economy is Subject as Putin is Peppered"


See? :




Is a photo editor getting loopy on 4pm cheesy poofs and going nuts in the Getty grid?

I clicked again to see it bigger.

Ok ok ok, I KNOW I have been a tremendously delinquent blogger, and I plead for your forgiveness. You've all been so helpful with the pestering kind words, and I promise to do my very best to get back on track asap.

I have a real, live, grown up job now, and my free time has been squozen into a few hours a week. But we will persevere, etc etc.

Here are three things I like. I will go think of more and show them to you tomorrow.

x, R


photo by John Vachon

I squealed with delight when I saw the Obama baby on New York Magazine's cover last night, and I registered even more excitement when I saw the photographer was my pal Fiona Aboud. Turns out Fiona got this fist pump wholly by luck, though she does have some experience capturing the gesture from one of her own twins. Anyhoo, I'll let Fiona explain it all to you:



"The parents of this baby already had this Obama shirt and so naturally we shot it. It was really just the case of being ready and having all of the pieces in front of you. I think it is one of the first times I have ever seen a newborn on the cover of the magazine. The photo editors were brilliant for having the vision to put this together. I have gotten a tremendous response and I have been promoting like crazy this week.

Basically what happened was Tuesday evening I got a call from NY Magazine asking me if I could go and photograph babies at some hospitals. Nothing was confirmed at this point, and the next day I got a call saying that Lenox Hill hospital was available in the afternoon. It was challenging because I was not sure If I would be going room to room or be shooting in one room. Also I tried to use the minimum amount of flash because newborn eyes are so sensitive. I had about 2-5 min with each baby or until they started screaming for food (I got a couple of great screaming shots!) When I got home I retouched and sent in the shots immediately.

 

The next day I went to Harlem Hospital in the morning and shot the next bundles. And then I had to deliver the images that night-- so the whole job was done shooting, retouching etc. in less than 48 hours. In terms of the baby with the fist in the air-- newborns do the craziest stuff with their arms/hands because they have no control over their body. One of my twins used to do what I called a Che fist (see a photo in my personal section on my website) so I was delighted to see that this baby also had that inclination."