While attending an event at a local museum, The Hammer, we made sure to get there early to wander around and catch up on the exhibits that we had missed.
One in particular struck us, not as much for the art itself, but for the concept.

To wit:

“The Darker Side of Light: Arts of Privacy, 1850-1900 draws the visitor into the intimate alcoves of Paris, London, and Berlin — a private world characterized by contemplative and melancholy subjects. The Darker Side of Light presents work one imagines being unveiled in the confines of the smoky interiors of a collector’s home or an artist’s studio. This was art for those who kept their prints and drawings under wraps, compiled in albums and portfolios; who stored bronze medals in cabinets, set a statuette on a table in a corner, or mounted it above the shelves in the stillness of the library. Such works of art were not an evident part of one’s day-to-day environment, like a picture on the parlor wall. Rather, they were subject to more purposeful study on chosen occasions, much like taking a book down from the shelf for quiet enjoyment. ”

Albert Besnard
Morphine Addicts
1887 Etching. Sheet 32.6 x 43.6 cm. Courtesy National Gallery of Art.

Yeah, morphine addicts. Not the art displayed in the general gentile collectors home.

Now we’re sure that many us have a similar situation in our own homes. There is art on our walls, all through the house.
Yes, even in the bathroom, although you have to be pretty careful on what goes in there and how it is presented.
We even have finished easels throughout the place to allow the shifting up of the visuals. Always good to move the art around. You see things a little different when it is in a new locations, as will your guests.

But this is about the art that is not seen. The special books placed on the shelf, or the prints held lightly in flat files or archival boxes, away from the light. And as the exhibit description reveals, these are the works that come out when you are ready for a quite contemplation. Or relaxation. Or emotional journey.

There is a book of Joel Peter-Witkin, beautifully published by 21st editions, that, quite honestly, only gets opened perhaps once a year. The images are so intense that a visual sorbet of Cowboy Kate, is needed to shift the mind. Or a single malt. Then Mr. Peter-Witkin goes back on the shelf

Yes, there is nothing like pulling down a volume of great photography, well presented, from the stacked storage of the shelving to change the mood.
Imagine that instead of watching 30 min. of a tired TV show, you spent it looking at an artists work. There is the opportunity to be moved, angered, melancholy, inspired, and perhaps uplifted at your own pace, in the quiet of your own head and environment.
Pretty darn good returns.
Now the imagery that is presented in the museum exhibit had a bit more controversial flair for the time period, whether it was sex, violence, death, or simply bizarre subject matter. Maybe that’s why it was not in plain sight.
But for the most part, any art hung on our walls for general consumption, may not be as “out there” as is contained in your collection, be they prints or books. You can’t show it all and there is gold in there.

Don’t get us wrong. This is not about hiding away the perverse photographs, only to to view them in a discreet manner.
It’s about rediscovering the richness of a book of photographs nestled safely on a shelf surrounded by their companions, that daily consumption has not made into the familiar. You may have even forgotten you had it.
Yep, we’ve done that.

In the multi-platform, perpetual engagement of our electronica, there is still a time to focus and quietly contemplate.
It can be that deep breath, that rejuvenates you. And proves once again the power of the still image.

Of course, when we look at images online, such as a slide show of Wyatt Neumanns work, Elephants and Boa Constrictors, we can get to that same place, but the risk of a “bloop” from an iChat buddy, or an email alert is pretty darn good.
(Heck, we’re listening to the Decemberists, while writing this.)
So in the art of privacy, you should gift yourself some of that time with art. Just for you.
Trying to decide which book to sit with right now.

A small part of the obsessive photo book collection.

Suggestions? What is your favorite book in your art of privacy?
And Happy Sunday!

Patrick Hoelck is a well respected commercial photographer, artist and now, film director. He is the creator and captain behind a new online magazine, Pilfered.
Now in the world of advertising, photographers and directors are asked to present a visual interpretation of how they would approach a concept or creative brief. This, in addition to an estimate, is what gets the money. the job. the work. the deal.
To make this presentation, they use images from all over, and not limited to magazines, videos, Flickr, and anything else that may help illustrate their approach.
Patrick and his team have spent countless hours, days, weeks, putting together these style boards, and figured…hmmm, wouldn’t it be great if there was a repository of all of these efforts. And maybe other folks would want a resource of inspirational photographs.

And so Pilfered was born. When I first heard about it, just the name kinda tweaked me.
Pilfered as in “to steal”. Got it, not happy about it. Didn’t everyone on Facebook just get majorly outraged about ownership of their images?

Readers are asked to submit images that inspire them, not necessarily their own, and let the mag know where they come from. Publication, site, etc., with credits. If they didn’t know, like if it was from an ad where photog credits were not clear, the images was classified as “pilfered”
ooohhh, naughty.
OK, I do understand the editorial rights and the magazine was not intended to be sold. On the credits page there were some photogs credited.
After some deep discussion with Patrick fans on FB, I figured it was best to ask the man what was up.
After all, on his photography site, there was a big section on licensing and copyright of his images. So why come up with a mag called Pilfered, deliberately going against what he wants his work to be?

As they describe it:
“PILFERED is a place where art buyers, photographers, artists and designers alike submit their favorite visuals pilfered from the web to share with one another. Founded on the spirit to inspire and aid in communicating ideas and concepts, PILFERED Magazine aims to assist in speaking the thousand words – visually.

Its founder, artist Patrick Hoelck, and his team (Nate “Res” Harvey & Mia Van Valkenburg) spent hours in the past surfing the web to put together presentations for various commercial ad and editorial jobs. Patrick quickly noticed the hours it took to gather the images and felt it was time to have a massive image collective shared by the people for the people to make this process easier and a lot more fun. His initial description of PILFERED was “It will be the of wikipedia of images”.

Teaming up with new media and advertising creative director RUDJ, the two hope to build PILFERED into a destination for creatives to share, discover and participate in the dialogue of a new, exciting and forever changed landscape.

• Content on PILFERED is submitted from around the world and carefully edited by an in-house team, as well as a new monthly guest editor to keep issues cutting edge, fresh and informative.

• Contributors will be credited if their submitted images are chosen for a given issue. As the monthly grows, PILFERED’s goal is to provide exposure for photographers, designers and artists alike.

WELCOME TO PILFERED MAGAZINE – By the people, for the people.”

When we first met, he understood what the issues were, and felt that with a tiny staff, getting credits was too tough, but he would try harder.
And he did. Does.

The mag is beautiful and shares some great work. Photographers have told me that to be in his mag is a huge boon to their career.
But riddle me this: if there is no photo credit, HOW DOES ANYONE KNOW IT’S YOUR WORK ?????

©dwebster2009

We visited Patrick at his office today to get a better sense of who this cat was.
Pretty frickin’ cool history.
He’s directed some of the best music videos, and shot most of the top celebs.
But the path was kind of bass-ackwards from what you may think. He went from motion to still. Not the usual path.
He learned from Herb Ritt’s partner all he needed to know to get him started in photography. And that relationship occurred from standing outside smoking many cigs, and a meeting of the minds.
The studio has 2 Epson printers high atop cabinets, ready to make the latest promotional book. Prints are stacked on the wall, in layers, as are the huge collection of photo books. His assistant sits 15 ft away typing into her laptop, and you know she is keeping things in his world in a collected manner.
As we discussed his first photographic works, where everything was Tri-X shot at 200, he reached under our couch and pulled a print out to illustrate his style at the time.
Yes, he speaks in visuals.
This place was an epicenter of his world, his mind. And he knew exactly where everything was.
It may have been made tragically easier as a fire in 2001, destroyed all of his work, negatives, everything.
But he rebuilt, grew and continued to press forward.
This man’s energy and enthusiasm is boundless. He loves what he does.
His stories are fascinating, and we’ll bring you those in a video shortly.

And his first feature is breaking soon. Check out the trailer:

Now at the top of the article you may have felt this was going to become a blast on a cool new on-line pub using ripped off images.
So did we.
But we know now that the leader of the team, never intended that to happen. As concerned as he is for his copyright being honored, he wants the images included in the mag to be credited. And recently he added a call to all to see if your image has been included, to shout out either your credit line, or your wish to have it removed.
Quite honestly, with the people that check this pub out, you would want to keep it in. But get that credit you are due.
So we advise you to go Pilfered, see if any of your images are included (check those back issues too), and do what you gotta do.

And in the meantime, engage and enjoy the purity of the layout of this fine new on-line photographic experience.
Wait till you see the video interview. Very cool stuff.

So, what do you think? In this current tornado of rights arguments and Facebook owning or not owning your posted materials, where does this sit in that spectrum?

Add you comments below, and don’t worry if it says there was an error. It came through. Our tech dudes are working on it.

Let’s walk over to the fun side of town. That place where you can take your snaps and play around with them right on your phone.
Yep, the movie hasn’t started yet, or the doctor is making you wait way too long, and you want to be productive. Or creative.
Or not go to Facebook again. So you turn to your mobile device (yeah, I said it)
So this guy Benjamin Kahle came up with a brilliant little easy to use iPhone photo app called “Animalizer.” For .99 cents you can’t lose.
Easy to use, funny, and a great thing to share and embarrass your friends.
Essentially, you pick a photograph of a member of the animal kingdom to work with, use a photo in your library, or take a new one, easily combine the 2, moving elements around with your finger, add a text bubble if you like, and Voila! you have done the impossible. Or improbable. Right in your hands. Save it, send it, whatever.
Hey kids! Save it on your iPhoto and make a greeting card. Fun for the whole family!
Recommended.

Thank you Sarah, for the use of your face.

Based on that same premise of combining photos in a way that could make the animal kingdom cringe, Benjamin came up with a way to place you or your friends face onto the body of a religious icon or leader. Of course, JC is in there.

Well that’s when the manure hit the fan.

Apple, still sensitive over it’s baby shaking app, and they should be, rejected this one called “Me So Holy”.

OK, we almost fell over laughing at the title, as he turned the classic line from Full Metal Jacket, that had also found it’s way into a song by 2 Live Crew, into the app’s name,

Me So Holy iPhone App from Benjamin Margolis on Vimeo.

This rejection has been getting a ton of coverage by the mainstream media, as he has now entered into the religious zone.
Oh yeah. Put your face on a sheep? No problem.
But if you’re telling me you can have your face on JC’s body. Sacrilege? or just fun?
It seems that the Apple store won’t let you decide. Yet.

This summer should bring some new apps that may be more adult minded, with controls that require certification of age. Like buying alcohol, as opposed to if you are tall enough to get on this ride.

Now we keep trying to bring out what we feel are the cool photo app for iPhone, based on what we see and use.
Camera Bag, Photogene, Color Splash, Picoli and HP iPrint are the apps we use all the time.

The image on the right was done with Color Splash, which converts your photo to B&W, then you use your stubby little fingers to add color where you want it. And there is a video you can play on your iPhone that teaches you how to do it.
Tons of fun, just wish I could use the Wacom pen for this.
Thanks Ashley for the turn on!

Tons of others, of course. Dig Photocalc, when needed. Mostly for sunrise and sunsets based on GPS location.
There are new ones coming out way all of the time, and we’ll try em out and let you know what we think.

Is there an app that you dig, that we should share here?
Let us know and we’ll happily take it for a spin and see what it can do.

So, if you are one of the over 20 million iPhone owners, and are lucky enough to be on ATT, you know that there is more to life than just phone, email, and txt. Hit the app store and search photo!

Somehow I’m always reminded of the scene from Animal House when they get ready to have a Toga party. It’s a chant for sure, except instead of getting wasted and wearing sheets, we’re talking about the cult classic Holga cameras.
These little plastic cameras have garnered the most amazing following with Flickr sites, fan clubs, books ( Holga: The World through a Plastic Lens), extra gear, and because these beauties have garnered the photographers of the worlds attention, they have some new models to bring out.

And we’re giving a couple away right here.

Yeah, we dig the digi but now and again, we just have to hit the film. And the Holga series helps us open up.
Free your mind a bit.
Continue Reading »

This man has a special mission and he is completing it with his photography.

Perhaps you are familiar with his work as a documentary photographer and his book “Workers”.

You may have just come to know him through his most recent work, “Africa”
The intensity of the images included in these tomes is matched by the passion, in person, for the worldly causes he supports.

The title of another one of his books “Migration:Humanity in Transition” seemed to sum things up as his mission to try to reverse the physical trends and practices destroying our earth, have been illustrated with the images herein, as you are taken on an even deeper emotional level, looking at the prospect of hope and diversity on our planet, while showing us the shocking realities.

This passionate master photographer, a former economist, has presented to the world a vision both beautiful, yet coupled with a an underlined warning. How do we prevent the loss, correct the mistakes, returning the world to it’s proper order ? Or perhaps is this an order we are destined to carry out? We hope not.

The body of work he shared last night was not judgmental or scolding, but rather a celebration of the lands beauty and the cultures that inhabit it. The quest he is on, is the preservation of the world he knows, and the respect for the cultures he encounters.

Quite honestly I’m not a fan of landscapes but Mr. Salgado has transformed these special places with his lens into photographs, that draws you into a multi layered, complex engagement of a static place, an infuses them with an organic life that assures you of their evolving energy. And why you want to preserve that.

In a lecture last night at the Hammer Museum, he shared a 20 min. slide show of the first in a 32 part series entitled “Genesis” where 100 images have been selected from his body of work, and accompanied by music composed by Jonathan Elias. It is currently only available when he lectures, but he travels the world, so seek him out.
The head of public programs at the Hammer Museum, Claudia Bestor and her team, were as happy as the massive crowds, to have secured the Salgado lecture. Well done. And free.

Of course the stark realities from his worker series, have created an intrinsic beauty while at the same time, pointing out the horrible conditions in which these people toil. When you see the now famous images of the mine workers, covering the hills like ants, blending into the land with a graceful design, yet a disturbing reality, you are powerfully seduced. You love the photograph, but how can these people be treated like this?
Surprisingly, there were not many images from that series included in last nights presentation.

His partner in life, his wife Leila, is the perfect compliment to his shooting.
She selects 100 images at a time to work with and from that exhibits, books, presentations are created. The slide show consisted of all horizontal images, and only enhanced the unconscious perception of the group as single piece.

The Genesis project will be approx. 3000 images at it’s completion, so be expecting a multitude of ways to experience them.

On a more technical front, Sebastiao Salgado spoke about film vs. digital. He no longer shoots with film as the reasons to go digital mounted up.
The silver in current medium format films, are currently at levels that 35mm was 25 years ago.
The 600 rolls of 220 he carried on shoots weighed about 60 lbs.
After 9/11 the security checkpoint that he goes through with exposed film (he told us 7 on the last trip) has affected the grain and contrast of the exposed film.
Plus there was the inevitable fight at each checkpoint to hand check the film. His assistant almost quit on his last trip from the constant battles.
So now it’s a Canon DSLR for him. 21 megapixels strong. But he is also looking at that new LeicaS2 with 37 megapixels.
And his “film”? about 1.5 lbs of cards.

Here is a small video

It’s a very long, so be aware.

Plus you can check out a multi-part shorter documentary on him, here.

The charity he and his wife have started to preserve and restore the Brazilian Rain forests is called Instituto Terra.

As a photographer he is represented by the agency Amazonas. It has one photographer on it’s roster.Him.
His gallery agent is Peter Fetterman of the Fetterman Gallery.