A Well Deserved Return to Philip-Lorca diCorcia's "Hustlers"

I was pleased to come across this today on Conscientious.  I'm in agreement with most, if not all, of what Colberg has to say.  I've long admired diCorcia's work, and especially this series.  You can read the essay HERE.  I highly recommend it.

Image Credit:  Philip-Lorca diCorcia (Sourced from:  Conscientious)

Dive Dark Dream Slow - Book Review

Image Credit:  ADP Workshop

I came across a review of this book on Conscientious yesterday, and it is very in keeping with our closing discussion in Memory and the Photograph yesterday.  The publisher's description describes the book as follows:

"Photographer and bookseller Melissa Catanese has recently been editing the vernacular photography collection of Peter J. Cohen, helping to organize this massive curated archive (a trove of 20,000+ prints) into a series of single-theme catalogues. Along the way, she has pursued an alternate reading of the collection, drifting away from simple typology into something more personal, intuitive, and openly poetic. Her magical new artist book, Dive Dark Dream Slow, is rooted in the mystery and delight of the 'found' image and the 'snapshot' aesthetic, but pushes beneath the nostalgic surface of these pictures, re-reading them as luminous transmissions of anticipation, fear, and desire. Like an album of pop songs about a girl (or a civilization) hovering on the verge of transformation, the book cycles through overlapping themes and counter-themes—moon/ocean; violence/tenderness; innocence/experience; masks/nakedness—that sparkle with psychic longing and apocalyptic comedy."

Click HERE to order the book from The Ice Plant.
Click HERE to read the review on Conscientious.

Art and Websites

Some interesting thoughts and good points made on Conscientious today by Joerg Colberg - good things to consider for artists working with photography and other media as well.  Colberg suggests that "An artist has to think carefully about how to present her or his photography online, ideally in such a way that the presentation serves the work (and not the other way around)."  I'm growing fond of the left to right scrolling page that I've seen artists using with more frequency (such as the image below from the website of Jason Reed).

Click HERE to read Colberg's essay, which is full of examples as well. 

Image Credit:  From the website of Jason Reed

Innovators in Contemporary Photography

Apparently, Colin Pantell and Joerg Colberg initiated an exchange of sorts between photobloggers this past week - opening up a discussion of which photographers "have demonstrated an openness to use new ideas in photography, who have taken chances with their photography and have shown an unwillingness to play it safe."  It's been great to see the nominations come across the various blogs.  A nice bit of overlap (particularly with Paul Graham - well deserved in my mind, at least) as well as some lesser known (to me) practitioners.  Good stuff to take a look at.  Joerg Colberg has published links to the various blogs today on Conscientious.  You can view that HERE.

Students in Memory and the Photograph might find particular interest in the reviews/discussion of works by Christian Patterson (the book Redheaded Peckerwood) and Erik Kassels.

Above Image From "Useful Photography #010" by KesselKramer Publishing