An Hungarian in Paris

I went to the preview for SF Camerawork’s annual benefit auction last night. Lots of good contemporary work along with a smattering of older pieces.
One of the vintage images that jumped out at me was Geza Vandor’s “Scissors and Lace” (c. 1930) which shows a photogram jumble of sewing notions.
Born in Hungary in the late [...]

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Life in Miniature

Driving up to M+B Gallery in LA is a little like pulling into Pleasantville. The artspace is located in a little white clapboard cottage with neat green hedges out front, not the kind of place you’d expect to find an LA gallery in. But once inside, the place is definitely contemporary.
I was there a [...]

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Photo Trouvée

I’ve been planning a small display of some of my found photos for a local café. Right now I’m puzzling over what to show and how to arrange it.
I think I’ve got just about every book published on found photography and I’ve been paging through them for inspiration. Each editor has a different organizational method. [...]

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Photo Booth Redux

Say “photo booth” and most people think of cramming themselves into a tiny space to take a picture for an ID or to clown around for the camera. Who knew a photo booth could become an artistic device?
Liz Rideal takes the cells of the photo booth strip with their black frames and uses them [...]

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Secret Garden

About a month ago, a copy of New York Magazine started showing up in my mailbox every Thursday. I know I didn’t sign up for it and everyone I check with assures me it wasn’t a surprise gift so I’m enjoying this subscription that appeared out of the blue. I’ve taken to scanning [...]

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The Naked and the Dead

Robert Flynt overlays 19th-century tintypes with images of contemporary subjects, mostly naked, whose bare, languid, ghostly forms dance, pose or float on the surface of the photo.
An unsuspecting sitter from another era is subtly undressed by the naked figure hanging over them. Ribs glide across the surface of a topcoat, a bare arm brushes [...]

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Window Shopping

Paris Photo, the annual event where hordes of international galleries converge on the City of Lights to show off pictures, see and be seen, begins tomorrow. Since I can’t be there in person, I’ve had to make do with virtual gallery hopping to keep up.
I fell in love with the Italian photographer Luigi [...]

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Hide and Seek

Andrew Phares was in a show a while back at Aftermodern Gallery called “Nostalgia.” One piece that caught my eye was “Riveting: Victorian Mourning Jewelry” and I’ve kept it bookmarked ever since.
Phares earned a degree in jewelry design and metalwork, so trinkets and baubles play a part in his art.
The piece is a [...]

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(Misty) Watercolor Memories

Ian Everard’s work appeared in a recent show at the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery featuring up and coming local artists. Everard is a painter, but his inspiration often comes from old photographs found at flea markets. The relationship between painting and photography is central to his work.
In his pieces, the original photograph sits rolled [...]

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Postcards from the Edge

Any photo project wrapped up with travel and travel memorabilia gets my attention immediately. Michael Hughes created a clever photo series called Souvenirs on Flickr in which he playfully shoots tourist attractions with a tourist tchotchke slyly inserted in the frame—at Cadillac Ranch a red toy Cadillac held in a fist lines up [...]

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