It’s been a decent year in the world of photography. Stellar? Hmmmmm….

Some huge retrospective exhibits that reached the mass consciousness, more mega pixels, new classic books, and records set.

Let’s start with the biggest show this year: Annie Leibowitz at the Brooklyn Museum.
Not only was this a major retrospective of a rich life, but Ms. Leibowitz found herself on the cover of Newsweek, a guest on the Today show, subject of a new documentary on the American Masters series on PBS, author of a best selling book of photographs “A Photographer’s Life: 1990-2005”.
Truly the year of Annie Leibowitz.

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On a smaller note: The Unknown Weegee exhibit at ICP. An amazing find of photographs from a photographer with a style that spoke of an era in photojournalism with no apologies for a slanted view.

Best books of the year?
Once again Annie Leibowitz spoke to the masses with a companion book of her Brooklyn Museum exhibit. A weighty tome, that was our most popular giveaway this year.

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© Cindy Sherman by Chuck close

However the most beautiful photographic book of the year was Chuck Close “A Couple of Ways of Doing Something” by Aperture Books. As a piece unto itself it rose above the rest. And I check out many, many books every year. One of my weaknesses.
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NB: -“End Times”- Jill Greenberg’s Self Promotional softbound book with the only printed collection of her work I could find. Purchased from Paul Kopekin Gallery. You have got to check her work out!

For Gear, the D200 from Nikon was the dream come true. Priced right, feels great, all of the buttons and features are right where they should be. As people in the food business speak of “mouth feel” in a product, Nikon built this camera with “hand “ feel. And speaking of Nikon, they gave us all access to some of the best online instructional guides of any manufacturer. If you own any current Nikon Product check this out. And if you are thinking of a purchase, check this out. Nikon Digitutor

Hoodman knew what we needed with digital cameras and delivered:”Hoodloupe” was the tool that let us review the digital info on the screen with the right, light tight magnifier. Always carry one with me.

Of course lots of manufacturers have come out with a camera bag for every need. Most shooters I know have more than you would think. Always depends on the gear to be carried. My current favorite? The Slingbag 300 from Lowepro. Carries what I need (2 bodies, 4 lenses, Epson P-5000, battes, cards, flash, and notepad) Works great in front of me and slides back easily for backpack transport.

The record was set this year for a photograph sold by a living photographer: 2.4 million for the 99 cent store diptych by Andreas Gursky. Yes that means 2. But it is still considered the record.

More people are making the switch to digital imagery every year.Not big news. Digital camera shipments increased 20 percent to 4.5 million compared with the 2005 holiday season.
Interesting note though:
While at PhotoPlus Expo in Oct. this year, I saw the longest line of the trade show. Of course something was being given away.
What was it?
Kodak Film!
Yep, I guess more people are still shooting film than you would think.

You know, I still have negatives from when I was 8 years old. But I’ve had a hard drive or 2 crash.

Hard drives got a lot cheaper this year and we hope you picked up a couple to back up ALL OF YOUR DIGITAL FILES. Was that too subtle?

Photo Software also got a shot in the arm this year.
Our vote for cool new products got split up depending on your level of need:
Photoshop Elements: huge leaps this year, gave the neophyte tools that would take regular Photoshop users 20 steps to accomplish, in a couple of moves. Highly recommended.
Then came Exposure from Alien Skin Software. If you every wondered what happened to the look of the old film emulsions, well they are all right here in this package. Beautiful.
For the pros or heavy users, IVIEW has some solid features in a very lightweight software package. I’m a fan of the batch tools. Any thing to save me some time.
And of course the end of year beta release of Photoshop CS3
.

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At the first sight of her husband’s flag-draped casket, Katherine Cathey broke into uncontrollable sobs, finding support in the arms of Major Steve Beck. When Beck first knocked on her door in Brighton, Colo., to notify her of her husband’s death, she glared at him, cursed him, and refused to speak to him for more than an hour. Over the next several days, he helped guide her through the grief. By the time they reached the tarmac, she wouldn’t let go.
© 2005 Rocky Mountain News


The Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography was awarded to Todd Heisler of the Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colo., for his haunting, behind-the-scenes look at funerals for Colorado Marines who return from Iraq in caskets.

One of the coming things for 2007, according to reliable sources, is digital Black & White. As a subject, method, trend, with software and gear helping along the way.

You heard it here first. We’ll check in mid year and see if that crystal ball was right. Till then i’m still loving the Epson 2400 with extra ink colors. Of course there will be more. Count on it.

So that’s a wrap from my perspective. I have seen, handled,installed,perused all of these and tons more.These are the items that made an impact this year. But you be the judge. Check out the links. See for yourself.
And let me know what I missed.

Happy New Year!

Cheers!
Damon Webster