Be sure to go down to Magma to check out the prints they are selling, by our artists- Olaf Hajek and Nomoco! They have been featured in their window displays so cannot be missed!
http://bit.ly/c1Yhim
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Olaf and Nomoco prints now available at Magma!
Be sure to go down to Magma to check out the prints they are selling, by our artists- Olaf Hajek and Nomoco! They have been featured in their window displays so cannot be missed!
http://bit.ly/c1Yhim
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Interview with Larry Fink
While when he works it is with the familiar speed of light, much like a snapshot, his cultural influences are deep. Larry Fink is catalogued with the esteemed ranks of Robert Frank, Diane Arbus and Garry Winogrand. He first picked up the camera at the age of thirteen. He found that taking pictures relaxed the inhibitions of introduction, making social interactions a thing of ease. Amid the crowd, rather than outside it, Fink is not a voyeur, but rather his work speaks a visual vernacular. The results of his tutelage with Lisette Model is that his pictures tend to expose the flaws in the polished façades we all present in the public arena. Fink's images often display the sensitive core of interpersonal-relationships, prevalent despite social posturing, whether mingled among unctuous characters at a high-society benefit or a down-home potluck setting of family.
Editorially, Larry Fink has been a regular contributor to Condé Nast and Vanity Fair, and has worked for the The New Yorker, GQ, and The New York Times Magazine. In May, 1997 he won the SPD gold medal with Dennis Freedman at W Magazine for his story looking at the world behind the scenes at fashion shows. His advertising portfolio includes campaigns for Cunard, Chivas Regal, Smirnoff, Godiva, Nike, Adidas, Baccardi, W Hotels, MasterCard and Bank of New York. His 9 books float iconically within the visual world as examples of the wedding between heart, eye and mind. He has had major museum shows across the world and has been a professor of photography at Bard College, working with Stephen Shore for 18 years, and within his passion for teaching for now 44 years. He is a constant and generous perpetuator of the life of the eye within the soul of the young.
Looking at your work with people at parties and events, you seem to disappear. Being a big man, how do you and your camera manage to become invisible in such close proximity to your subjects?
Simple, I'm not a spy. I'm friendly and I care about people and shoot with honest intentions. People generally trust me.
Do you consider these photographs to be portraits or do they serve some other function?
Do you consider these photographs to be portraits or do they serve some other function?
They are portraits in action, but they serve so many functions that it would be encyclopedic to begin the journey. Plus it’s a question that you can ask each moment and the answer will change.
Much of your work seems to expose those rare intimate moments present in an otherwise public and theatrical arena. What is it exactly about the celebrity world that intrigues you?
The simple fact that these icons are simply people and go through much of the same sensations and emotions that we all do, plus some of their own from the specific context which is endemic to the star lit ambition of their lives. They are no more or no less than you or I.
The simple fact that these icons are simply people and go through much of the same sensations and emotions that we all do, plus some of their own from the specific context which is endemic to the star lit ambition of their lives. They are no more or no less than you or I.
Do people always know you are taking their picture?
Yes and no. They can feel my presence in their vector but they can’t know when I will respond. I am very fast and I might add singular. I don’t shoot a lot.... Except in advertising where the criteria is so specific to literal cast but always emotionally vague.
Which is the one iconic image you wish you had taken?
I have no larceny within me. The cultural property of the world is not to be auctioned off to silly desires of personnel destiny.
Yes and no. They can feel my presence in their vector but they can’t know when I will respond. I am very fast and I might add singular. I don’t shoot a lot.... Except in advertising where the criteria is so specific to literal cast but always emotionally vague.
Which is the one iconic image you wish you had taken?
I have no larceny within me. The cultural property of the world is not to be auctioned off to silly desires of personnel destiny.
Your project “Instantaneous” seems to enter a new realm of performance, can you tell us more about it?
Instantaneous is a shooting star, and as it disappears it reappears. It is not a project as such it is a life of milking the moment for its deeper worth.
If you had the chance to photograph anyone living or dead, who would it be?
If you had the chance to photograph anyone living or dead, who would it be?
The leaders of the Republican conspiracy in present America. I would do them no favors.
You have published some cult / classic photography books. What are the books you would have done but didn’t happen and why? Are you thinking / working on new titles?
Right now books are in jeopardy as is culture generally... The rapid truths of the internet are advancing... The sliding cultural mediocrity is on the march and capitalism is the winner in the losers parade of the soulless automatons. More practically spoken, the market for niche books is imperiled and there are many titles on my desk which will have to wait for the next river and tide in order to float.
Photography is in an interesting phase, the medium and its consumption / production changing almost daily. Do you have a vision for where it's going?
Where it is going is where it will go..... I don’t take wagers on things that are out of my control............ I’m a small morsel in the big stew..... Let's eat the future.
How do you enjoy spending your time when you are not taking photographs?
Playing piano, farm work… being with Martha... Anything to do with good music and movies.
Where it is going is where it will go..... I don’t take wagers on things that are out of my control............ I’m a small morsel in the big stew..... Let's eat the future.
How do you enjoy spending your time when you are not taking photographs?
Playing piano, farm work… being with Martha... Anything to do with good music and movies.
Can you tell us of any funny or bizarre moments that happened during one of your shoots?
Stories are to be told at midnight. Come see me when it is dark.
If you were given one last roll of film to use, what would you shoot with it?
If you were given one last roll of film to use, what would you shoot with it?
My digital camera and my computer.
Who or what has been your biggest influence?
Who or what has been your biggest influence?
Max the Dog.
What has been your greatest creative achievement?
To live as long as I have.
What are you excited about right now?
What are you excited about right now?
Right now.
What do you dream? And why do you take photographs?
I dream about jazz bands and tunafish..... Drum rolls and corn flake pie..... Sweet potato shake and naked bears.............. Hazy Sundays and ice floats in the summer morning....
I photograph because I live. I want to contribute that passion of living to posterity in the best way I can.
I dream about jazz bands and tunafish..... Drum rolls and corn flake pie..... Sweet potato shake and naked bears.............. Hazy Sundays and ice floats in the summer morning....
I photograph because I live. I want to contribute that passion of living to posterity in the best way I can.
Who is your favourite photographer at the moment?
Dani Bogenhagen
What advice do you have for young photographers?
If you are smitten with obsession then you will survive and the world will be larger for it... If not, you might simply make a living or simply go broke.
Dani Bogenhagen
What advice do you have for young photographers?
If you are smitten with obsession then you will survive and the world will be larger for it... If not, you might simply make a living or simply go broke.
See more of Larry Fink's work online
New work by Serial Cut
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Pocko Bunnies
Spring Glorious Spring
Olaf Hajek
Runny's Rig Bomance
Runny had a firlgriend,
Her name was Sunny Bue.
He called her nots of licknames,
Like "kitchy-Itchy Koo."
Sometimes he called her "Boney-Hun,"
And sometimes "Dovey Lear,"
But he only called her "Peety-Swie"
When no one else could hear.
By Shel Silverstein
Runny had a firlgriend,
Her name was Sunny Bue.
He called her nots of licknames,
Like "kitchy-Itchy Koo."
Sometimes he called her "Boney-Hun,"
And sometimes "Dovey Lear,"
But he only called her "Peety-Swie"
When no one else could hear.
By Shel Silverstein
For more work by Olaf Hajek, please click here
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Interview with Jeff Mermelstein
Best know for his photographs of quirky inhabitants in New York City, Jeff Mermelstein is considered one of the world's most prolific photojournalists. After completing an internship in photography in 1981, Jeff Mermelstein began a career that's combined personal photographs with assignment work for major publications including Life Magazine, The New Yorker, and The New York Times Magazine.
In 1991, he received the Aaron Siskind Foundation Individual Photographer's Fellowship, and in 1999 he won the European Publishers Award for Photography, which resulted in the publication of his first book SideWalk (Dewi Lewis Publishing, 1999). His advertising clients include AT&T Wireless, Commes des Garcons, Intel, Samsung, Red Stripe, Clarks Shoes and Hewlett Packard.
Can you tell us about your background and how you got into photography?
As a biology student in college I was very unhappy. I had been taking photographs since the age of 13 after I was given a camera from my older brother for my Bar Mitzvah. I am one of those lucky ones who never struggled to find what to do with their life. I was born a photographer. My mother would rather I had been a dentist but that is another story.
What were some real turning points in your career?
In 1983 GEO Magazine gave me my first big break in magazine photography at the age of 25. I proposed doing a feature story on Animal Actors such as Morris the Cat, Benji, Lassie, The Exxon Tiger etc., and I was given the assignment which ended up as a cover story. Another huge turning point for me was winning The European Publishers Award for Photography in 1999 which enabled my first book Sidewalk to be published.
Who or what has been the biggest influence on your work?
Ultimately it is the people around you that influence you the most. For me it was and is my family. I am the son of Holocaust survivors who immigrated to America in 1947. I know that the Yiddish speaking family that surrounded me has fed my drive and help to define my curiosity, humor and way of dealing with life. All artists are also influenced by other artists and I am no different. Arbus, Winogrand, Friedlander, Eggleston, Lartigue, Weegee, Faurer. There are so many and they keep changing.
What are you excited about right now?
I remain as excited as ever making pictures mostly in New York. I never tire of it and maintain a constant passion, love and obsession for my next New York image. New York is attractive to me because it has an edge. A grey grit even in color. There is an energy unlike any other city. It never bores me.
Which part of the process of photography is it you enjoy the most? Is it meeting the people, viewing the final image or something else?
Of course going out and making the pictures is exciting. But what is even more exciting is the feeling that I get in viewing pictures I made for the first time. Sometimes it is more than a month or two before I first view pictures I have taken. There is a perpetual thrill of catching up.
How do people generally respond to your voyeuristic curiosity, and has it ever got you into trouble?
There is a danger in what I do because I can not ask people ahead of time to take their picture to get the kind of picture I am looking for. I avoid tension. There have been rough moments, but I like to forget about them.
Much of your work looks at re-occurring patterns in human behaviour; notably the hair-twirlers and runners in New York city. Does your search for such themes ever become something of an obsession for you?
My obsession is with making photographs. I generally do not have a theme when in the act of photographing. Themes emerge after the photographs begin to accumulate. This happened in a clear way with my new book and exhibition Twirl / Run. For me picture taking is pure instinct. Gut. That is why I love doing it. I'm not thinking when I am working.
What are your thoughts on the validity of photojournalism as fine art?
Of course photojournalism can be fine art. The photojournalism of Winogrand is fine art of the highest order. Photojournalism with a personal point of view and expressiveness is fine art.
As the world is steadily becoming over-saturated with digital images, how do you see the future of photography?
Good images will always be good images and the huge increase in image numbers doesn't really effect what is good but just makes it harder to sift out.
Do you have any advice for young photographers?
In my opinion what is most important is to stay true to your personal vision and create a body of work that expresses that. I never believed in making pictures with the goal of showing those to obtain commercial work. Do what you do best and love the most and you will be doing all that you can to be happy.
See more of Jeff Mermelstein's work online, or to see his portfolio, drop us an email
Friday, 19 March 2010
See what Pocko is up to by becoming a fan on Facebook!
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Monday, 8 March 2010
Museum of Small Things Review
Museum of Small Things on CNA Taiwan!
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Interview with Ollie from McFaul Studio
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Interview with Ollie from McFaul Studio
Friday, 5 March 2010
Monday, 1 March 2010
Olaf Hajek exhibition
Olaf Hajek's "Masquerade" exhibition is open until March 20th 2010, at the Marci Wood gallery in Atlanta.
Hajek's work has been described as representing "an emerging new breed of contemporary fine artists dissolving the boundaries between high and low and challenging the division between commercial and personal work. Hajek's acrylic paintings on paper are vividly fanciful renderings of strange and wondrous worlds full of magic and beauty."
Hajek's work has been described as representing "an emerging new breed of contemporary fine artists dissolving the boundaries between high and low and challenging the division between commercial and personal work. Hajek's acrylic paintings on paper are vividly fanciful renderings of strange and wondrous worlds full of magic and beauty."
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