Photography

Tonight, Tuesday's Photo Art Tweetchat - What is photography's role in crises like Haiti?

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What is photography's role in crises like Haiti?

For tonight's Art Photo Tweet chat will will be joined my photographer and writer Michael David Murphy aka @whileseated2. Recently, he wrote this piece in foto8 Does Haiti's Crisis Call for a New Photojournalism? This started off a great deal of discussion.

These is also a huge post over on the blog Prison Photography Staring at Death: Photographing Haiti.

Another starting point will be Susan Sontag's classic essay: Looking at War, Photography's view of devastation and death. I will be re-reading that before our chat.

We will be having an open ended chat on how photography interacts with disasters and crisis, using These articles as a starting point. Here are some potential points of discussion:

  • What are the moral/ethical issues of creating photography in disaster/crisis areas, help the people in front of you or photograph them?
  • What contribution does photography play in helping those in distress
  • "artistic vampirism" - making money/fame based on the misfortune
  • Why do we love to look at decay. Why can't photographers get enough of Detroit?
  • Are photographers adding anything to public knowledge/information?
  • What's the value of pro photo vs vernacular (Here Is NY vs Meyerowitz vs Abu Grhaib)

Join in tonight at 9 pm EST.

NOTE: we will be making these tweets a biweekly event now. So Todd and I can better prepare. Maybe in the future if momentum builds more we can move it back to a weekly event. If you liked the weekly version please email / tweet us.

These Art Photography Twitter Chats anyone can join in or just read it live by using the hashtag #photoartchat on Twitter. One easier way to transform twitter into a chat room is Tweetchat.com and entering the photoartchat room here: http://tweetchat.com/room/photoartchat.

PS., you should follow OcularOctopus on Twitter, here:http://twitter.com/OcularOctopus and me here: http://twitter.com/harlanerskine

Tonight, Tuesday's Photo Art Tweetchat - Continuing the conversation: Is Photography is in its death-throes?

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Last Week's Tweet chat we discussed photography by starting with a comment left on Amy Stein's Facebook status by New York Art Critic Jerry Saltz:

I do not think that the word "emerging" is the problem; it merely denotes a phase of one's exhibiting career. I think that the lurking problematic term is, ah, "photographer!"

Photography is clearly going through simultaneous death-throes, transformation, rebirth, and other out-of-medium experinces.

That is what you should be thinking about. That's where the real THRILL will be.

This past week he dropped that comment into his own Facebook page and began a flood of over 300 comments. After his reposting Saltz also posed this question

Let's learn. Define the word "Postmodernism" (in art ONLY). Your definition CANNOT BE MORE THAN 2 or 3 SIMPLE sentences.

I responded:

Postmodernism in photography is photography that is meta aware. That is aware of its histories, truths, construction and realities and then communicates through that awareness.

In addition to the artist I mentioned last week I want to add a show I saw this past week "Lunch Break" by Sharon Lockhart at Gladstone Gallery.


Outside AB Tool Crib: Matt, Mike, Carey, Steven, John, Mel and Karl, 2008 Chromogenic print; 49 x 68 1/2 inches (124.7 x 174.2 cm) framed

That's where we will begin again for tonight using that quote as a starting point for our weekly photo art chat.

  • where is art photography NOW? dead/alive/rebirth?
  • what is transforming, rebirthing into
  • how do the practices of documentary live along side the conceptual, constructed, abstract and appropriation?
  • art art photographer's artists or art artist art photographers? does it even matter?

Join in tonight at 9 pm EST.

These Art Photography Twitter Chats anyone can join in or just read it live by using the hashtag #photoartchat on Twitter. One easier way to transform twitter into a chat room is Tweetchat.com and entering the photoartchat room here: http://tweetchat.com/room/photoartchat.

PS., you should follow OcularOctopus on Twitter, here:http://twitter.com/OcularOctopus and me here: http://twitter.com/harlanerskine

Tonight, Tuesday's Photo Art Tweetchat - Is Photography is in its death-throes?

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A few days ago photographer and blogger, Amy Stein broadcasted via her Facebook status a complaint about the definition of "emerging photographer":

Amy Stein: Can we please come up with a better benchmark for "emerging photographer" than age!?! Unrepresented? No solo exhibitions? Something?

Her status update set off a first storm of over 55 comments from a variety of perspectives. Much of the conversation centered around what the term means and how even today age is used as a factor for eligibility as an "emerging photographer." This is of course a silly factor to weather an artist is coming onto their own. Especially considering the recent New York Times article on a 94 year old painter emerged onto the art scene. Much of the conversation floated between the frustration in the looseness of the "emerging" definition and the problem with age discrimination until New York Art Critic dropped by to add his thoughts:

Jerry Saltz: I do not think that the word "emerging" is the problem; it merely denotes a phase of one's exhibiting career. I think that the lurking problematic term is, ah, "photographer!"

Photography is clearly going through simultaneous death-throes, transformation, rebirth, and other out-of-medium experinces.

That is what you should be thinking about. That's where the real THRILL will be.

That's where we will begin our chat for tonight using that quote as a starting point for our weekly photo art chat.

Ofer Wolberger has an interesting related post on his blog horses think here:

I obviously don't think that photography is dead but it's definitely due for some re-invention and I don't mean the digital kind.

Lately, I've been excited by some photographers who seem to have found a natural way out of the medium. That's not to say that they give up on making photographs. On the contrary, they continue to make photographic work but they are also beginning to engage in other art making practices. The freedom to begin exploring visual ideas through other mediums seems to lead to a re-freshed perspective when it comes back to photography.

Wolberger then points to several photographers who are pushing outside of their photograph to express themselves. His list includes:

Brian Ulrich, City Life, 2008-2009

from Christian Patterson's Out There

submitted jpeg from Jason Lazarus' Try Harder

Sam Falls, Figure Drawing (girls like us), 2009

A few artists I would like to add:

Wolfgang Tillmans and the sculptural photography he loops into his exhibitions.

Simen Johan for mixing in his sculptures with photograph in his series "Until the Kingdom Comes"

Phillip Toledano from his "America the Gift Shop" series.

And recently Alec Soth's web project:

Las Vegas Birthday Slideshow from Little Brown Mushroom on Vimeo.

Alec Soth celebrates his 40th birthday in Las Vegas by making a slideshow.

For more information, go here: http://littlebrownmushroom.wordpress.com/?page_id=894

I'm sure there are many others I will add them as they come up.

So...

  • where is art photography NOW? dead/alive/rebirth?

  • what is transforming, rebirthing into

  • how do the practices of documentary live along side the conceptual, constructed, abstract and appropriation?

  • art art photographer's artists or art artist art photographers? does it even matter?

Join in tonight at 9 pm EST.

These Art Photography Twitter Chats anyone can join in or just read it live by using the hashtag #photoartchat on Twitter. One easier way to transform twitter into a chat room is Tweetchat.com and entering the photoartchat room here: http://tweetchat.com/room/photoartchat.

PS., you should follow OcularOctopus on Twitter, here:http://twitter.com/OcularOctopus and me here: http://twitter.com/harlanerskine