It’s All a Blur

Russian photographer Alexei Vassiliev‘s hazy subjects hover just beyond the viewer’s reach, disappearing in a blur caused by a sudden movement or an out-of-focus lens. A woman in a turquoise coat stands in a metro station, bobbed brown hair and a tired swanlike sway to her neck. Her gaze beams directly at the camera, but [...]

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Tattered and Torn

Sculptor and photographer Nadim Sabella studied archeology in his native Germany. He’s now based in Oakland where he turns out artwork that is very much driven by his training as a cultural detective. Sabella’s work puzzles together stories from the remnants of a not-so-distant past. His photos capture abandoned rooms where plaster and sheetrock crumble [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 the photo [...]

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Splintered Reality

I discovered Haris Epaminonda at the Venice Biennale earlier this year. Epaminonda is a Cypriot artist who splits her time between London and Nicosia. Her work is all about the appropriation of images—whether they’re plucked off the Internet, ripped out of old French magazines or culled from vintage film footage. In a small, darkened room [...]

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Richter Scale

I visited the De Young Museum over the weekend and took a long look at Gerhard Richter’s “Strontium.” It’s the second time I’ve seen it and it’s still stunning. The image to the left does it no justice (you can click to see it slightly larger), but you won’t really get the full impact unless [...]

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Wish You Were Here

I had bookmarked this photo piece that appeared in The Morning News online gallery a long time ago just because I loved the idea. French filmmaker Julien Donada created this project called “I Was There” in which he documents scenes in old tourist postcards. For example: He finds a postcard of the plage in Biarritz [...]

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Paris Photo

Visited this little gallery/bookstore called Chez Higgins during my vacation in Paris this June. After walking through a very dark courtyard on rue de l’Ancienne Comedie, I stepped into a brightly lit room with no windows, only glass-covered cabinets full of books lining all the walls. The owner, Eric Higgins, creates limited edition photographic portfolios. [...]

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Concierges

On Friday night I drove to a quiet corner of North Beach at dusk, walked down a flight of cement steps, through a dark narrow corridor then out into a garden. Hidden at the back of the courtyard on the bottom floor of a small, white wood-framed house was the Bonnafont Gallery. Inside, bright lights, [...]

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