Featured Artist: Simon Pinter

© Simon Pinter

© Simon Pinter

Tisch Photo and Imaging senior, Simon Pinter has been chosen as a Featured Artist for the next issue of ISO Magazine. Look out for an interview in which he discusses technical and conceptual aspects of his photographs, as well as his adventures in the sea while taking these photographs. Currently, there is an exhibition of Simon Pinter’s series, On Depth and Existence on the first floor (near the lounge) at 721 Broadway. The prints are 20 x 30 inches, and even more beautiful in person.

http://www.simonpinter.com/

Photographer Jeff Wolfram sees himself as an agent for architectural design- showcasing the design of buildings and the stylized space in a perfect light. While his gallery is a bit odd to navigate (it being separated into the categories of agency- architectural photographer, interior photographer, industrial photographer – rather than the type of photography, not to mention all of this being in the lower left corner) it is a collection of beautiful photographs, both interiors and exteriors, as well as photographs of industrial sites, communities, and a gallery of personal favorites.

© Jeff Wolfram
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Mad Men, in my humble opinion, is currently the best show on television. With Season 4 airing this summer, the show is as close to perfection as one could get.

Every shot in this show is clearly composed with the utmost care and precision. There is a delicate balance in the composition of the shots–the colors are bright, but not gaudy; the shadows are defining without ever being overbearing. It is tasteful, almost never resorting to sudden or shocking images, yet the camerawork never becomes boring or unimaginative.

If you haven’t seen it yet, do so. It’s a masterpiece.

Ryan McGinley Everybody Knows This is Nowhere
March 18th – April 17th, 2010

Team Gallery 83 Grand St. New York, NY 10012

All of the photos below come from the incredible digital archive at Southern Utah University’s Sherratt Library. I’ve been clicking through the photos for hours, fascinated by the distant world and culture they represent. I love that these photos were most likely compiled from stacks of crumbling albums that we would’ve never seen otherwise. Most intriguing are the photos from the late 1800′s to early 1900′s. To browse through a bit yourself, click here: Sherratt Library Digital Collections

Basketball- 1937 – Branch Agricultural School Collection Read the rest of this entry »

Recently, while browsing the William Eggleston Trust website, I came across a series of photographs shot on 2 1/4 film.  They look like his other photographs that I know and love.  Except they are square–and there is something in the square that is methodical but at the same discordant with what I associate with Eggleston’s imagery.

When I think of Eggleston, I think of beautiful, saturated reds that drip from the walls and ceiling; they envelope the viewer in Kama Sutra lightbulbs, binding us with extension cords.  There is a sense of lightly masked dissonance despite the logic of each line.

We may feel unsettled because of or in spite of the innocence of the gaudy-colored barnyard animals that parade across steel Plains.  Do they march along the diner counter-top or perhaps the butcher’s scale?

The square images have a balanced-unbalance; they show overt racism and modern geometry in a Faulkner-esque South.  They like their rectangular cousins may read simply at first, but the images begin to divulge invitations for deeper examination.  A vase of flowers on a metal radiator pulls the viewer into its simple composition but it is rich with intrigue.  Are the flowers actually a mix of real and flat paper cut-outs–like the movie-set towns of the old west–standing in proxy for their real, neighboring, relatives?

Three black busts, the whites of two eyes peering from the frontman leader of two blind companions.  Vodka, whiskey and Old Taylor’s cash register stand at the ready.  Blood orange desk lamp light showers the room just as it did in good-old golden days of the past in which the this photograph is stuck.

The writing is on the wall.  The color palate and the geometry of this industrial image are strikingly similar to those of the red room.  Mechanistic apparatus and social dereliction are omnipresent but fenced off, guarded by chain-link and barbwire.  We may ascend soon, but not yet.

Jonno Rattman is a Staff Writer for ISO Magazine and a freshmen in the Department of Photography & Imaging.

All images copyright © William Eggleston

Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century opens tomorrow (April 11th) at the MoMA. Everyone should go see some amazing work from “one of the most original, accomplished, influential, and beloved figures in the history of photography.” His work has strongly influenced the creative direction of modern photography, and this is an exhibit that’s sure to be well worth your time. I’m going tomorrow, so I will update with a post-experience recap. Don’t miss this!

It will be at the MoMA through June 28th, so there’s no excuse to not make it over. Also, just a friendly reminder that admission to the MoMA is free on Friday nights.

Read more here.

The hooker with a heart of gold has become a stock character. They lead risky lives but have a pretty smile and usually a shiv but a handsome rich man sweeps them off their feet and they live happily ever after.
But what about the ones who don’t find their princes? The ones who rely on their occupation until they can’t work anymore? What happens to them? They go to the House of the Setting Sun.

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Last semester, while I was studying abroad in Prague, I really enjoyed posting about Czech photographers, exhibitions I attended while I was there, and various other local finds. The other day, my German friend was visiting New York and told me to look at the work of photographer, Michael Kenna. All of his photographs are beautiful, but I, especially, love his photographs of Prague. These are some of my favories…

© Michael Kenna

© Michael Kenna

Color can be a defining characteristic of a photograph. Maybe, it’s an image of the same skyline you’ve driven past every time you drive down to your grandmother’s house, a cluster of buildings that you’ve seen hundreds of times on every major news network in your area, as part of billboards and travel brochures, but the way the light plays against the glass in that particular rendering of New York City affects you differently than it ever has- you can see the beauty in the way color stretches across concrete. Southern Philadelphia is like most cities; dingy, industrial, and colorful in it’s monochromatic tones. William Taylor, of Taylor Photo, has a habit for capturing the more vibrant elements of South Philadelphia.

© William Taylor
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