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By Webmaster, June 16, 2011 12:08 pm

Surprise

Earlier this week I was pleasantly surprised when a former intern told me that a photograph of mine is being exhibited at the Bel Art Gallery in Paris. The exhibition, entitled Bel Ephémère, will display works from celebrated artists of the 70’s and 80’s, including Andy Warhol, Paul Morrissey, Claude Guillaumin, and contemporary photographers Emma Barthere and Juliette Butle.

Despite the awful weather last weekend, I visited a few of my favorite galleries and saw some wonderful work.

Argentinean photographer Alejandro Chaskielberg had his work displayed at the Yossi Milo Gallery at an exhibition entitled, The High Tide. His photographs displayed the relationship between people and their environment, capturing the daily work of local islanders -farmers and fishermen- which he observed during his recent visits to his native land.

The Yancey Richardson Gallery showcased two new artists: Field Recordings by photographer Bryan Graf, marking this artist’s first solo exhibition, and Sleeping Beauties, a project of photographic works by Melanie Willhide. In his photographs, “Graf used unexposed color film to record the direct contact of ambient light flooding onto the film without the use of a lens.” In addition, Graf used the exposed color film as a composite layer in the darkroom. As for Willhide, this is the artist’s first exhibition at the gallery, and her works on display appear to be old, found snapshots with personal messages scrawled on their backside. The “front side” image reminded me of Egon Von Schiele’s erotic nudes lying down. These works took four years to complete, the results are seemingly personal, intimate, and feminine.

Graf: Self Portrait

The Steven Kasher Gallery displayed a wonderful collection of photographs that appeared in the New Yorker accompanying the magazine’s fiction pieces. The photographs, selected by the magazine’s visual editor, Elisabeth Biondi, and Steven Kasher, were take from issues published between 1998 and 2011. I was amazed by the great photographs Biondi displayed in the magazine throughout the years.

My coverage of the new opening at the Steven Kasher Gallery last Thursday went very well. So well in fact that La Lettre de la Photographie newsletter announced, “fashion photographer, Andrea Blanch, will now be covering the New York openings. I’m very excited about this new adventure.

Finally, last night I was delighted to visit the Big Eye Gallery where photos of Elizabeth Taylor were being exhibited and sold. I quote Ms. Taylor when I say, “I adore wearing gems, but not because they are mine. You can’t possess radiance, you can only admire it.”

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By Webmaster, June 8, 2011 2:29 pm

Meet Sofya

Love this girl!

She’s Russian, 15 years old, and reminds me of the fabulous Veruschka! (If you don’t know Veruschka, Google her!)

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By Webmaster, June 8, 2011 1:42 pm

A Film To See…

The other night, I saw Terrence Malick‘s new film, The Tree of Life, and thought it was incredibly beautiful! The story follows the O’Briens, and the lasting effect the death of a child has on the entire family. The story is non-linear, and changes directions and time frames. But if you’re able to keep up, it makes the film more meditative, and provides some interesting takes on how a family handles and deals with life and grief.

Visually, I thought the movie was exquisite. I thought the camera movements and shot compositions were some of the film’s most interesting aspects. Also, the story relies on a lot of narration, which made it interesting, though at times I wished there would be more dialogue between characters.

The friend who I went with said she believed the whole story felt contrived… but I don’t know if I agree. My only criticism is that the film is lengthy, and there were moments when I wasn’t certain whether I was looking at an art film, a National Geographic documentary or a feature film for theatrical release.

But I did think the actors (Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain) were really great in their roles. Jessica was really incredible — she has such a compelling face — and I would love to photograph her! She is a future star.

Also, a note to all readers: I heard that Chelsea Clearview Cinemas has bedbugs as of last weekend! I’m not one to spread rumors, but I want to make sure all of my friends stay safe!

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By Webmaster, June 8, 2011 11:30 am

Looking for the Dumped!

I’m re-visiting an old project of mine, and need some help with it!

A year ago, I began ‘The Dumped Project’, a video series featuring people who were recently dumped by their significant other. In the clips, people had the chance to say what they never got to say to their ex — and tell their side of the story.

I’m looking for more people to take part in the project! If you or anyone you know would like to be a part in this exciting new piece, send me an email at dumpedproject@gmail.com.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Xx A

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By Webmaster, June 6, 2011 11:48 am

Some Art and Culture

Last Thursday, I saw one of the most spectacular shows I’ve ever seen on Broadway — The Book of Mormon!

I heard all the hype around the show, and I just hoped it would live up to it. It completely exceeded my expectations, and was one of the satisfying shows I’ve ever seen, next to King Lear at BAM earlier this summer. The show follows two Mormon missionaries in an African village — it was hysterically funny, smart and sensitive and touched on so many issues. I encourage everyone I know to go and see it! It was such an incredible time!

I also saw quite a few photo exhibits… some were good, others proved to be not as inspiring as I hoped they would be. Maria Antonietta Mameli’s exhibit ‘Long Takes’ at the Bruce Silverstein Gallery was conceptually very interesting. She photographed passersby on the Manhattan Bridge, but completely eliminated their surroundings. You can see people go about their daily lives — carrying balloons or moving a mattress — but they are frozen on a white background. It was really beautiful!

I also visited the Gladstone Gallery to see Jack Smith’s exhibit “Thanks For Explaining Me” that used film, photography and collage to depict an avant-garde look at his life living in downtown New York. To me, the whole thing was just confusing and overwhelming. There was everything from photos of drug use to pornographic videos playing — it was a lot to take in. It’s something that you need half a day to spend looking through everything — because it takes awhile to make sense of all of it.

I was surprised by Laurel Nakadate’s “365 Days: A Catalogue of Tears”, where Nakadate spent everyday for a year looking sad or crying in the camera. The whole thing came off as rather banal — which was disappointing because I’ve been such a big fan of her work since her exhibit last summer at P.S. 1.

In visiting a lot of these galleries, I was concerned to hear a lot of them are tying up their final exhibits in June, and not opening back up until September. I like to get out of the city on weekends, but on the random weekends I am here, I’m hoping there will still be some new shows to see! Let’s hope there’s some places that will be showing some good artists throughout the summer!

Another exciting thing that did happen this weekend — my friend and I were supposed to see a show at Lincoln Square Cinema, but they were all sold out that evening. We decided to skip it and head up to the Red Rooster Restaurant in Harlem. My friend is a big walker, and suggested that we walk the 6 miles up to 125th and Lenox from Lincoln Plaza. I was against it at first, but it turned out to be a fun trek! It helped that our destination had great food! Here’s to a summer of good health!

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By Webmaster, June 6, 2011 10:51 am

We’re Extending Our Deadline!

We are extending our deadline for submissions to my new online magazine, Musée, after hearing from some potential contributors that they wanted more time to compile their best work. And we’re happy to oblige — we want the best photos possible!

Our new deadline is June 30th. Selected contributors will be announced by July 15th.

Please refer to our submission guidelines below. We look forward to seeing your work!

Xx A

Musée Magazine — First Issue call for submissions

Publication date: September 2011.

Musée Magazine is an online publication that showcases the work of emergent art, fashion and beauty photographers. You can be of any age, but must be just starting out — from no previous experience to about two years working professionally in the industry.

If you’re interested in joining the inaugural issue of my magazine, please submit:

1. Five still shots of your best work. This is meant to be a fashion/art magazine, so we’re looking for photos in that genre.

2. A brief (paragraph) description of yourself. Where you’re from, what your background is, and for how long and in what capacity are you doing photography.

Please send all submissions to ab.photosubmissions@gmail.com.

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By Webmaster, June 1, 2011 5:03 pm

Some Rest and Relaxation

Over the Memorial Day weekend I had a great time getting some rest and relaxation! I spent Saturday and Sunday at a friend’s house in Montauk. It’s a beautiful place on the ‘Golden Coast’ of Long Island — a cliff that overlooks the ocean. The views are absolutely spectacular. On Saturday morning, there was a thick fog under the cliff. It made for a great photo!

Unfortunately, my friend’s cat got sick on Sunday, so I was back in the city on Monday for some cultural sight seeing. I made a stop over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to take a look (for a third time!) of the Alexander McQueen “Savage Beauty” exhibition. There aren’t enough adjectives to describe what a genius that man was — he knew so much about history and science and incorporated all of his knowledge into his work. I believe the MET did a spectacular job exhibiting McQueens’s art — by  using his quotes and clips from his fashion shows to really do the man justice.

I stopped by the Mario Testino affair last Thursday (the one I was supposed to photograph), but unfortunately there was a snafu and I was stuck in the paparazzi pen along the red carpet. I was dressed in my cocktail wear, while everyone else looked like they’ve been on the job all day long! Oh well, tis the life of a photographer!

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By Webmaster, May 23, 2011 12:49 pm

Day at the Musée

Even though this week was a total washout with the weather, I had a spectacular weekend indoors at the New York Public Library. I had RSVPed to attend a workshop put on by The Believer magazine on ‘The Art of the Interview‘. It was a panel of distinguished writers and actors who were able to explain what’s a ‘good’ question when interviewing someone, and what made a ‘good’ response to interview questions. There was a star-studded group on the panel: author and television host Dick Cavett, New York Times writer Claudia Dreifus, author Kenneth Goldsmith and Lorin Stein, editor at The Paris Review.

The panel discussed their own experiences with interviewing, gave out some good interview questions we could use in our own work and even gave us a chance to interview each other in the audience. But perhaps the best part was the performance by Saturday Night Live‘s Paulo Costanzo, who interviewed himself! The script was written by SNL writer Simon Rich. It was fantastic and hysterical!

But one of the biggest surprises of the day was discovering a gem of an exhibition in the Library’s main hall. It was a set of photographs that were printed in an incredibly interesting way — all of which are recent acquisitions of the Library’s Miriam and Ira D Wallach’s Division of Art, Prints and Photographs. The photos were of a huge range of subject — from buildings to people — and were from all over the world and from photographers of different nationalities. But what was fascinating about these photos were the printing techniques these photographers used — many of them that were used decades ago using Lumen negatives and different types of tissue filters.

This one is from Vera Lutter of the Corte Barozzi in Venice. Stunning! It’s so amazing how photographers today are re-using older techniques to create something exciting and mysterious. Other photographers shown in the exhibit included Huma Bhabha, Stefan Kürten, Beatriz Milhazes, Lothar Osterburg and Darren Almond. Go see it! I was so impressed with it!

In other news, I have decided on a name of our new online magazine! Musée will be coming out this Fall! We’ve received so many amazing contributions from emerging photographers, and we’re currently in the process of going through all of them. But we’re still accepting submissions for the next week or so, so keep them coming!

If you would still like to contribute, but haven’t so yet, send your best five fashion or art shots to ab.photosubmissions@gmail.com for consideration.

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By Webmaster, May 18, 2011 11:56 am

School’s Out

Last night was my final class at ICP, and it was absolutely fantastic! I was lucky enough to bring in some amazing speakers, and everyone presented their final projects… which came out great! I was so proud.

The photographers from Guzman came to speak — one of the first collaborative teams in the business. I met Connie Guzman awhile ago at a photography salon, and it wasn’t until then that I realized ‘Guzman’ wasn’t one photographer but two — and the other ‘person’ of Guzman was Connie’s husband Russell. They gave some great insight about working with another person on photo concepts, and spoke about how they divvied up responsibilities. Connie does most of the shooting, and Russell does the post-production.

They also spoke about how the business has changed since they first started out. The digital era has made the demand for photo projects much faster and on a tighter budget. It’s just one of the many challenges facing our industry.

Beatrice Dupire also came to speak, which was a great treat given her amazing connections in the commercial and art world. She’s acting as an international consultant to artists, and is the publisher of ‘Th(e) Influencer‘, a platform for alternative forms of advertising. She’s currently working on some really cool projects, including a 3-D commercial for Donna Karan’s ‘Be Delicious’ fragrance. Beatrice showed us a rough cut of the piece that’ll be used in television and web campaigns. It makes every commercial I’ve ever seen look boring!

And of course, last night was when my students presented their final projects. They were assigned to do a series of six images, showing ‘their greatest fear’. The projects turned out incredible, and really ended the course on a high note. I’m so proud of them — congratulations! When I have the chance, I’ll post some of my favorites here on my blog.

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By Webmaster, May 16, 2011 5:00 pm

A Day at the Galleries

Last Saturday, I toured the amazing exhibits of the New York Photo Festival, and was completely floored by some of the incredible work photographers are doing around the world. While some exhibits were stronger than others, many were absolutely astounding.

One of the most profound I saw was the Festival’s ‘Subjective / Objective’ exhibition, curated by the New Yorker‘s Elizabeth Biondi. Elizabeth brought together documentary photographers from all walks of life, covering everything from uprisings in Middle East to the lives of women in Argentina. I went into the exhibit armed with my  iPhone, and shot a few photos of pieces I really liked.

Interesting, Balazs Gardi, a photographer who shot in Afghanistan, used  ‘iPhoneography‘ — taking amazing photos with his iPhone. Using the ‘Hipstamatic’ app, he produced some shots with a really nice vibrant color.

Congratulations Elizabeth on a wonderful exhibit!

Another exhibit, ‘Life Science’ by Dr. Eran Gilat was absolutely fascinating. The photos were of scientific lab methods, and the photographer, a scientist himself, explored the aesthetic of research methodology. It’s a topic that people wouldn’t usually think of exploring through photography — something that I would always thought was sterile, not visual and just not ‘art’. This work was absolutely beautiful, though some images were somewhat troubling and made me uneasy. There’s some things that happen in laboratories that shouldn’t be shown to the public! The photo below makes me never want to be near meat again.

There were so many great collections, and I’m sad I wasn’t able to see them all. Overall, it was a great experience, and I can’t wait to see next year’s festival!