If you have any room left that is. I always find that a nice stack showing the edge titles can also work.

Well before we get into the NEW giveaway, Congratulations to Bob H. of Honolulu, Hawaii (ahhh to be there now…or anytime for that matter) winner of “The Decisive Moment” DVD and to Michael B. of Columbia, Sc who’ll be studying lighting via the Dean Collins DVD. Yep, that was the extra this week in the NEWSLETTER.

For this week, we have a very powerful collection from a recent exhibit at ICP in NYC.
Let Your Motto be Resistance: African American Portraits[photopress:letyourmotto.jpg,full,alignright]

When I see an exhibit of this depth, it is overwhelming and requires multiple viewings. But as it’s been stated before: the first time it washes over me and is a very gut reaction; the second time I look at the images instead of just feeling them.

What’s the difference?

Your first kiss, the time you saw your soul mate and were moved, that song that once you heard you knew would never leave you, your first bite of that incredible food.

And then it becomes more familiar. Not less, but perhaps you can delve into the complexities, once the rush of the unknown has passed.

In this case the stand out image, weeks later, is a carte de visite, a small print.The photograph is of a man who was enslaved and beaten. The scars are shown to the world. This image is from the 1860’s.
So strong was this image then, that politicians used it to turn the populace against slavery.Or try to.

Well, the power is still there. The triumphant portraits of the exhibit (on view til Sept. 9th) are made even stronger by their thread to this image.

In the simplest terms of the show I’m not sure I can say it any better than the description from the website:
“(It)explores the history of African American achievement from the mid-nineteenth century to the present through the changing roles of photographic portraiture. The photographs, many by noted photographers and portraying distinguished subjects, establish a sense of place and identity and explore both aesthetic and vernacular styles. Among the subjects are such luminaries as actor, singer, and activist Paul Robeson; trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis; legendary singer Nat “King” Cole; performing artist Eartha Kitt; opera legend Marian Anderson; jazz pioneer Louis Armstrong; vocalist Sarah Vaughn; choreographer and dancer Judith Jamison; and Harlem Renaissance poet and writer Langston Hughes. This stunning collection includes portraits produced by both well-known photographers such as Berenice Abbott, James VanDerZee, Edward Weston, Gordon Parks, Irving Penn, Carl Van Vechten, and lesser-known or anonymous photographers.”

From the show:
[photopress:motto_popup6.jpg,full,centered]

Photograph by Arnold Eagle
Gordon Parks, 1945
Gelatin silver print
© Estate of Arnold Eagle
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

And this week, you’ll only need to have signed up for the NEWSLETTER
watch you email in box on Weds. AM, hit reply, delete the body of the letter, put “Motto” in the subject line , think about your cultural history for a moment, and if you are #26 to reply, the book is yours. Free. No change. Nada.
And we ship ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!. That’s how we spread the love.
As has become a strange habit of ours, there will be a bonus item ONLY in the NEWSLETTER.
And here it is: [photopress:baBCOCK.jpg,full,alignright]
The Invented Camera – Low Tech Photography and Sculpture by Jo Babcock.

Just put “Babcock” in the subject line, be the 30th email reply we get. Make sure you add a shipping address.
The Post Office digs that.

The NEWSLETTER has been trimmed down to give you the main course links. A buffet of sorts. Eat what you like.

If you are in NYC , you must go see the ” Let Your Motto Be Resistance” exhibit at ICP for yourself. If not, try for the book, or what the heck, BUY the book.

Cheers!
Damon Webster