Guns, Drugs, and Documentary Photography

Boston's Weekly Dig newspaper has an article about "Boogie," a Brooklyn-based photographer who has been documenting his city's gang culture. Boogie started on his photographic odyssey by hanging out with crack addicts, capturing them in their most unguarded moments, often while doing drugs. Soon, he moved on to photographing Bloods holding pistols and making drug deals. Boogie has an unusual philosophy towards his subjects:

“These are real stories,” Boogie says. “I just try to show things as they are. I’m not trying to preach, or moralize. These are real people, real lives. There are some reasons for why they are like that, but I don’t judge them—who am I to judge anybody? It’s somebody’s reality. I didn’t try to change anything. You know when people tell you the stuff like, ‘I’m trying to change, to make people aware of harsh realities’—I think that’s bullshit.”

Boogie has released his series as a book, titled It's All Good, named after an early photograph of crack addicts. It is currently being published by Powerhouse Books.

Photos of the Month: December 1-31, 2006!

From December 1 to 31, 2006, we will be accepting entries for our very first photography contest at The CameraArts Blog. The theme will be “People & Portraits.” We will accept jpegs only, color or black and white, digital or traditional. Every week during December, we will post our best submissions here.

...and that's not all. For the first week of the New Year, our readers will have a chance to vote on their favorite entries. Keep checking back for updates on how to participate. Three winners will be announced soon afterwards, and each will receive a FREE one-year subscription (or renewal) to CameraArts magazine. Photographers will retain all rights to each image and CameraArts will be able to use images for publicity and promotion. One image per person, please! Give us your best shot!

Leica announces M8 fixes

With the Leica M8, Germany’s most prominent camera maker took its famous M-series into the digital realm. The transition doesn't seem to be a smooth one so far, with some specific issues being reported through sites like Digital Photography Review. These have included banding, the appearance of mirror/ghost images, and high sensitivity to infrared light on lenses from 16 to 35mm, with a noticeable magenta tint on synthetic fabrics.

Leica has already announced an upgrade to address the ghost image issue. All future M8 models will be equipped with this upgrade. Current M8 owners are being asked to register on Leica's website effective December 6, 2006 to receive the free upgrade. Leica had this to say about the infrared issue:

During the development of the LEICA M8, we made important design choices to insure that the camera delivers the quality in images the Leica M System is known for. Keeping the protective glass cover on the sensor as thin as possible on the one hand has the benefit of allowing the full potential of Leica lenses on the LEICA M8 to be utilized with respect to their sharpness and contrast rendition, but it also absorbs less of the infrared light. In everyday photographical use the resulting above-average sensitivity for infrared light may lead to a faulty color rendition, especially in the case of synthetic fabrics which - depending on the ambient light - cannot be rendered fully black but only with a slight magenta offset.

We will offer special screw-on type UV/IR filters for all Leica M lenses. With respect to the Leica M's compact build the combination of a thin absorption filter on the sensor and a screw-on interference filter on the lens represents the best technical solution. It completely eliminates the color offset caused by infrared light. When using lenses from 16 to 35mm, we suggest opting for the 6-bit coded ones, in order to prevent a color offset towards the edges. No disadvantages must be expected for the images when the LEICA M8 is equipped with the latest firmware (from 1.10; available as of early December 2006).

Both fixes are being offered free of charge to current Leica M8 owners, which is a relief, considering the $5,000 price tag for the camera body. The M8 is compatible with all M-series lenses, but doesn't come packaged with any, and no new lenses have been released for the new digital series. The sense of tradition is strongly felt at Leica: the camera still has no auto focus, and has retained its classic look. The new digital body has to compensate for lenses that have remained the same. With the exception of engineers and a handful of professional photographers, the infrared correction issue is a trivial one. Change in only one component, however, still has its risks.

Notes from the front office...

Many of you have contacted me to find out why you haven't been able to find the latest copy of CameraArts at your local bookseller. Well, the answer is simple: more times than not it's up to the manager of the store whether CameraArts is carried, and where the display it. I have discovered that at my local Barnes & Noble, it isn't even carried any more. The manager didn't have any idea as to why "corporate" (the buck keeps on moving) decided not to carry it. I think, however, that I can come close to the answer: there just isn't enough room on the shelves, any more.

Readers will probably remember that when I decided to change the size of the magazine one of the main reasons was so it would be brought down in front on the racks. That idea has worked out for the most part. In my local B&N, however, shelf space for photo mags has gotten even more cramped, with most of the "shoving" coming from lifestyle and art titles. This has made it increasingly more difficult for niche magazines like CameraArts to find shelf space. Photography titles are more cramped than ever!

As a result of this new twist in distribution services, we will be instituting a new direction in our distribution process, moving into galleries, neighborhood bookstores and coffee shops, as well as museum bookstores. If you have a favorite place that you would like to see CameraArts, let me know. You will also need to start asking for the magazine at your local B&N and other bookstores, if that is where you usually pick your magazines. Next: another side to distribution...

Loretta Lux in The Guardian

The Guardian has a brief article about Lorretta Lux (CameraArts August/September 2005), her favorite photograph, and her painterly approach to digital photography.

I think a professional photographer would find my studio very uncomplicated. I don't use many kinds of lighting, but producing this picture was a long process. From the idea to the finished image took two months. I took some time photographing the cat; you can't plan exactly how animals will pose, but the cat cooperated very nicely.

However, I did have to repeat the shoot several times, and I retouched it on the computer as well. I need to have control over images, and I take a lot of care with the composition. I take time organising the forms and colours. I also save versions of an image and compare them and analyse why one is better than the other. I spend a great deal of time doing that.

In 2005, Lux was all the rage. She was featured at AIPAD 2005 and her eponymous book was released in the same year. Lux photographs her subjects hundreds of times against a white background, and inserts her background elements as needed. The resulting portraiture has a polished look that was nearly impossible to achieve before the advent of digital.

Many have considered her images closer to digital art than actual digital photography. Lux has maintained a relatively quiet presence in the fine art photography arena. Of course, attitudes regarding this distinction have changed, even in this past year. You can visit her website and view more of her surreal images here.

The Fine Art Question...

...or the other kind of F.A.Q., hasn't popped up for me, at least not as much as might be expected. Curious, considering that CameraArts is, above all other things, a fine art photography magazine. This past weekend, though, on a photographic expedition in Northwestern New Mexico—the land of the Navajo and the Bisti Badlands—my guide wanted my opinion. What makes a photograph "fine art?"

It wasn't posed as a serious philosophical or aesthetic quandary, just as a passing topic of conversation. I have to admit I treated it as such, taking the fifth with "well, it's all relative," and "it's in the eye of the beholder." And in a way, it is. Technical quality, use of color, mastery of composition—these all seem like natural components of the "fine art photograph." Who is to say, however, that a Polaroid or family picture can't transcend? In this postmodern paradigm, it no longer matters if anyone disagrees. The definition of art itself has become elusive, and framing it more difficult than ever.

Of course, in any serious discussion of art, the terms "truth" and "beauty" pop up frequently, both of which are just as abstract. Plato would say that the two are one in the same, but it's likely that even he could have appreciated the merit of Nick Ut's horrific Vietnam images. The late Robert Heinecken (CameraArts July/August 2006), to name another from an endless list of examples, was known (among other things) for the juxtapositon of mainstream beauty with the terrible or the grotesque. One serves as war documentary, the other as social commentary, both are attempting to convey truth. The biggest difference today, it seems, is that art can be ugly.

CameraArts draws its material from a wide variety of photographers, methods, and subjects. We seek images that are inspiring to many, but we leave it up to the individual to decide if any of it is art. The photographer's intention or chosen genre almost becomes irrelevent when there is only the image on the page to consider.

NOW ONLINE! Internet Neutrality: Go!

The Net Neutrality Act has many publishers, bloggers, and webmasters concerned about the freedoms of bandwidth use. In addition, photographers who rely on the online marketplace make up a considerable hunk of those who oppose the act. Our publisher, Tim Anderson, has written an article about this issue in our latest. We have just posted it online.

"Today, what (telephone companies) and cable providers want is to be able to control the Internet, and charge even more than we are paying at this time. According to the reporters on the Moyers program, they want to be able to control the traffic, where it goes and how. The analogy of a two-lane highway was used to explain that if Congress continues to work from a “blind-eye” angle on this subject, then the telcos would be able to select, for example only, eBay to get a “fast” lane, and Google only to get to use the “slow” lane. Of course, I am paraphrasing the subject, but my point is that if the telcos/cable providers and Congress continue to go in the direction they are moving, then we small businesses (us little guys, again), as well as the every-day consumer, will get the proverbial shaft. Please go to PBS’s site to find out more about this timely and VERY important subject."

Moveon.org also has a petition to keep this act from passing into law as written. You can check it out here.

UPDATE: Upcoming Deadlines for Review Santa Fe 2007

The deadline for Review Santa Fe 2007 at The Santa Fe Center for Photography (SFCP) is drawing near. This is a great opportunity for photographers to develop new connections in the industry.

"Review Santa Fe far exceeded my loftiest hopes and dreams… By showing my work to the diverse group of photography professionals, I was offered gallery representation and two offers to negotiate a book project.”

—Larry McNeil, 2004 Juror’s Choice award, participant Review Santa Fe.

"When I first attended Review Santa Fe in 2002, I had been pursuing my dream of making my living from my artwork for a year. I was quite nervous and unsure of what to expect. Over the course of one weekend I was able to meet with some of the most esteemed gallerists, curators and publishers in the photo world. I made initial contacts that eventually led to additional gallery representation, exhibition opportunities, and museum purchases. At the seminar I learned a number of invaluable lessons that have helped me with the business end of photography and enabled me to present myself more professionally. Of equal importance have been the friendships I've made with other photographers attending RSF. I have experienced a true sense of camaraderie and community, devoid of competition.
My experiences at Review Santa Fe helped me attain the knowledge and confidence I needed to take my artwork and career to the next level. I believe that RSF has been instrumental in the success I have had."

—Ken Rosenthal, participant Review Santa Fe 2002 & 2006.

“The Santa Fe Center of Photography offers one of the rarest and most important components in the evolution of contemporary photography.”

—Anne Wilkes Tucker, Curator of Photography, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, 2006 Project Competition judge.

The Project Competition honors committed photographers working on long-term documentary projects and fine art series. The Singular Image Competition recognizes outstanding individual photographs in color or black & white.

The Deadline for both competitions, and Review Santa Fe 2007, is December 15, 2006.

Read more about Review Santa Fe 2007 here and here.

The Online Photographer: "CameraArts' Dirt Cheap"

We've been featured on The Online Photographer, Mike Johnston's long-running blog about digital fine art photography and its presence in the blog-o-sphere.

"Camera Arts magazine is currently running a really good subscription offer in anticipation of its 10th Anniversary. Founded by Steve Simmons of View Camera magazine and named by unofficial advisor and regular columnist Jim Hughes (editor of the original, long-gone, early 1980s Camera Arts of sainted memory), the current magazine was purchased a few years ago by longtime editor Tim Anderson. Tim has done lots of good things: he's redesigned and reformatted the mag, started an excellent e-newsletter, is about to initiate a blog, and has some really good stuff in the way of editorial content coming up. From now until I don't know when (but not very long) you can get a year's subscription to the print magazine for a mere fifteen bucks."

This is all very true. Visit the man's site for more great news and images.

POLL: Photography Movies

We have a new poll on the site. Scroll down to check it out and vote for your favorite photography-centric movie. If you don't see it, post it here and let us all know.
(The criteria for the poll was this: the movie had to have a main character whose practice of still photography is in some way central to the plot. Feel free to post anything you like, though.)

Diane Arbus Biopic now on limited screening

When Clint Eastwood's new film, Flags of Our Fathers, came out in theatres, I'm sure there was a collective sigh of disappointment when Joe Rosenthal, creator of the iconic picture that the movie's story is based around, was relegated to background character status. Films and biopics about photographers and their practice are few and far between, even though photographs feature prominently in many movies. Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus, is certainly a biopic, but critics are not enthusiastic about its successful treatment of a photographer's life. The squeezing of porcelain megastar Nicole Kidman into the role caused my first alarm bell to go off.

This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to most photographers. Watching someone clicking a shutter and spending hours in a darkroom hasn't much appeal to movie audiences at large, unless the circumstances are dangerous or exceptional; although, given today's current events, we can expect to see a lot more films with photojournalists as protagonists in Iraq, Afghanistan, and even New Orleans. Other genres of photography, however, are sadly lacking, expecially that of street portraiture, Mrs. Arbus' longtime passion before her suicide in 1971.

So why "Fur?" This question was on my mind when I googled the movie. You are correct in guessing that I haven't seen it. Being in New Mexico, limited screenings rarely come my way. Saw sequels and Will Ferrell comedies abound, though. But I digress. From what I've learned, Robert Downey also stars, and spends nearly all of the movie in a full-body furry suit, and fills in as Kidman's imaginary friend/embodiment of her own fetishism. Manohla Dargis' New York Times Review puts it better than I ever could:

"Maybe they just got hung up on the repeated mentions of the word fur in the opening chapter of Ms. Bosworth’s biography. Whatever the case, they, like their subject, wander into dangerous territory, though without the same inspired results. In 1957, Arbus stopped working with her husband and began wandering New York after dark taking photographs. It’s instructive that the film doesn’t mention that she also studied with the photographer Lisette Model, whose interest in everyday people, with their odd shapes and suffering faces, was an obvious influence. The idea that art can also arise from example and instruction just wouldn’t jibe with the film’s vision of an otherworldly kingdom in which hard work, ego and depression of the sort that probably claimed Arbus’s life have no place."

So "An Imaginary Portrait," then, seems appropriate (and refreshingly honest). I'm reminded of the "biopic" A Beautiful Mind. No one wants to watch a movie about mathemeticians working. Instead, I saw Russell Crowe being chased by imaginary Soviet spies and experiencing life in a dream world fueled by his own exceptional genius—hence the title. This, again, is understandable. A movie about math would never work with audiences. The darkroom, at least, can serve as romantic or suspenseful backdrop.

It seems that with Fur, an attempt has been made to explore a photographer's hidden fantasy life. Let me know what you think, if you've seen the movie, or if you haven't, like me. Are there any films that have been successful in distilling the practice of fine art photography? Let me know.

New Exhibit by Photographer Dan Burkholder

High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography has been used for cityscapes, sunrises, and sweeping vistas under varying degrees of light, but rarely for interior shots. This is understandable—often there isn't enough detail to warrant the surreal modification of HDR, and if there is, light is often plentiful. In the abandoned interiors of New Orleans homes, Dan Burkholder (CameraArts September/October 2006) found a unique application for this digital technique and created a series of haunting images. The exhibit, titled "Shadows of Lives and Loss: Decaying Memories of the Gulf Coast," will be shown at Tammy Cromer-Campbell Photographs & Gallery, in Longview, Texas.

"Seeing New Orleans’ destruction in person was very different from watching it on TV at home. Mile after mile of neighborhoods were devastated. My first goal in making these photographs was to personalize the destruction and loss—to give the images a 'you are here' feeling that was intimate and personal for the viewer. Every place I photographed had been under at least ten feet of water for more than a week. The way building materials, fabrics and personal items were affected by this soaking in filthy salt water was like nothing I’d seen before. It was like 300 years of aging had taken place in the ten months since the storm."

—Dan Burkholder

You can view a pdf of the CameraArts article on Burkholder and his HDR method here. There will be an artist's reception on December 9. You can find more images and information on the gallery's website. University of Texas Press will publish a collection of Burkholder’s New Orleans images with a scheduled release date of early 2008.

The First Photoblogger?

In their inaugural issue, JPG Magazine held an interview with Emilie Valentine of SnapCity, a photoblog far older than the term itself. As the founder, Valentine never expected it to catch on in a community that was far from even forming.

"I was working as a webmaster for a San Francisco company and SnapCity was created as a feature on their site in 1995. I created a "Snapshots of San Francisco" section providing visitors with a peek into the city. It quickly grew into a site of its own. At some point its name changed from "Snapshots of San Francisco" to "SnapCity" but it was always the same project."

—From "The First Photoblogger? An Interview with Emile Valentine," JPG Magazine, Issue 1: Origin.

SnapCity is listed as a favorite among many other bloggers, despite being updated only monthly since 1998. Currently the site is on hiatus, but every hint is made that it will return in the future. For now, there is plenty of material that has attracted quite a following. In the JPG interview, Valentine cites many future projects of hers, including a large-format presentation chronicling 15 years of her life's work. Hopefully more updates are coming.

A Photographer makes her directorial debut

If you're one of those lucky individuals who get HBO, be sure to check out the new documentary "Thin" tomorrow evening. Shot at a Florida clinic for women with eating disorders, and focusing on four patients of varying ages and social dispositions, the documentary will examine the nature of the eating disorder as more than just a "phase" experienced by young girls, but a far-reaching and devastating mental illness. The director, Lauren Greenfield, has worked as a photographer for years and has made famous exhibitions out of series like "Girl Culture," in which she captures moments from young women living their lives while commenting on their interaction with popular culture and their on bodies. The subject matter of "Thin" seems a perfect fit for the photographer.

"Thin" is airing just days after the National Institute of Mental Health publicly declared that anorexia nervosa, marked by poor appetite, excessive activity and a misconception that one is overweight, is a "brain disease" with a biological core. A lawsuit filed Wednesday in New Jersey against Aetna Inc. cites that assertion in challenging the insurer's refusal to fully cover anorexia treatment.

"That's the paradox of eating disorders," Greenfield notes. "In some ways we feel like it's similar to dieting, or that it looks like something we understand and that's even sanctioned in our culture. And on the other hand, it's so counterintuitive to our most basic survival instincts, to eating. It's so irrational."

"Thin" will air 9 pm, PST, on Tuesday, November 13. Knowing HBO, they will run frequent replays. Visit the site for details.

Weekend Spotlight: Digital Photography Review

Welcome, and happy Friday!

We're getting a new feature started on the CameraArts blog. The blogosphere is a very big place, and to a newcomer it can seem an insurmountable challenge to find the good stuff that floats around in the electronic haze of 1's and 0's that makes up the internet. Therefore our Weekend Spotlight on a fellow photography website will close out every work week. Don't be shy—if you think our websites are great, or not so great, or if there's something exciting going on at a friend's photoblog (or your own), please tack it to this post. Nearly anything goes!

Digital Photography Review

There are few things in the world of photography more dismal than the technical press release. What makes them so daunting is the frequent rehashing of information from the prior version of X camera or Y memory card, intermixed with corporate buzzwords that must be intended to attract the reader's attention. I don't know about the rest of you, but if I see more than two positive adjectives in sequence, my brain shuts off for the rest of the sentence.

The folks at Digital Photography Review have risen above this challenge, and assembled a virtually comprehensive news site for camera releases, accessories, software, and more. To find infomation about my camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7, I can quickly pick and choose from their staggering selection of articles, previews, reviews, and sample galleries. A tech nut can wade around for hours, but for those with a shorter time budget, even the most arcane information is easily found on the site.

Digital Photography Review has been going since 1998, when dial-up connections were still common and tech forums were still kept in the darkest corners of the intraweb. Today, the site has somewhat of a blog format in their news presentation, and its archives, along with the forum, present an impressive base of information that grows by the minute, every day of every week.

The forum is a big part of this site, with its own subsection for any brand of digital camera that I, for one, would want. Once again, I used Panasonic as the filter when I browsed the site, and found, in addition to users posting their pictures, a number of questions about accessories and other basic nuts and bolts. The rate at which the user base offers up answers is impressive, often within minutes of the initial post. Forums are often overlooked as information sources, where communities of like-minded individuals share knowledge, purely to pass the time.

Accountability seems to be of utmost importance to the staff here, and announcements are released in step with the camera-makers, athough there are rare exceptions. Many assume that anyone with essential programming skill can launch a website, but the concerns in establishing a base and holding onto it are universal. Any one website is like a needle (or, more accurately, a bit of hay) in a haystack, and the fact that Digital Photography Review has survived on their integrity, as much as their presentation, says something about the ever-changing nature of the web.

GRANT DEADLINE: Getty Images

In September, the Getty Images Grant for Editorial Photography announced the three remaining recipients of their 2006 grant, coming to a total of $100,000 awarded to five chosen photographers. Along with a grant, recipients are offered a one-year exclusive-rights deal with Getty Images, in which they are benefited by the Getty's marketing expertise and made available to worldwide licensing, all while keeping copyright to their images. Applications are now beind accepted for 2007. There's still time to apply for the two grants to be announced February 2007—the deadline is on November 15. The second and final deadline will be on May 15, 2007. Complete details are available online here.

A Reader Writes...

We received this letter from a newsletter subscriber regarding our announcement of the Berenice Abbot Prize at the Julia Dean workshops.

Since you have elected to publicize the B. Abbott Award through the Julia Dean Workshop, I would like to see you maintain some accountability by asking for the Workshop/ Gallery to submit to a complete accounting of the amount of dues collected—at $95.00 an entry. This could easily be anywhere from $40,000 to $100,000…

I have the feeling that Ms. Abbott's name is being used by the workshop to make a handsome profit off of emerging artists' need/desire to exhibit their works.

It's certainly not unfair to ask for a reasonable contribution to defer some of the costs of an award or a show but this seems to me to be down right greedy and unnecessary. I would like to be proved wrong.

When it comes to announcements, publications like CameraArts (and, by extension, this blog) can only report on events as they are received. We can research the facts if needed, but it is not our place to judge the methods of any organization or business that receives editorial coverage. In this case, any questions about the process of the Berenice Abbot Prize, and its juried exhibition, are best left to Julia Dean Workshops. In providing the news, we have to remain impartial on these matters, so any questions about integrity of fees should be left to the organization itself.

If you, the reader, have any views on this issue, or any surrounding calls for entry and other opportunities, please give us your comments.

Angkor Photography Festival

At the end of the month, The Angkor Photography Festival will draw photographers from all over the world to Cambodia. The event was started in 2005, when the VII Photo Agency's Assignment in Cambodia series attracted interest from more than its attendees, but from locals, journalists, and imaging professionals. The festival combines free workshops and outreach programs with offerings from VII's 2006 workshop. It will take place November 25 to December 1. Read more here.

"The festival aims to be an enduring presence through its ongoing educational programs. Having engaged with the street children, we resolved to provide them with the tools necessary to break the cycle of poverty. An educational program has been established in collaboration with a local NGO, The Life and Hope Association. Today, thirty-five children benefit from a curriculum of daily Khmer, English and math classes as well as food and health assistance.

The photography and dance classes continue. With the support of Friends Of Khmer Culture Foundation Inc., a book will be published in 2007 with the children’s photographic work."

With the cooperation of VII workshops, the Angkor Festival will sponsor free workshops to educate young Asian photographers, enabling them to capture their surroundings. The free workshop begins November 20, a week before the festival. Applicants are required to create a flickr account with a selection of work.

Also, from November 19 to 25, the fourth annual Assignment in Cambodia, offered through VII Photo Agency, will take place near the world-famous temple ruins of Angkor Wat and the town of Siem Reap. It will be hosted by Gary Knight, and open to any professional or committed amateur photographer with full understanding of digital photography and editing software.

A free digital workshop will be available to participants in the free workshop and the VII workshop. The first of two will be held for the VII workshop participants, followed by a second for the students of the free workshop. Laurent Zylberman will demonstrate applications like Nikon NX, Gimp, PhotoMechanic, Fototrafix, IPTC captioning and networks set-ups, and Vincent Soyez will focus on Photoshop.

Reading about the kids who this program has benefitted, I keep thinking about the documentary Born Into Brothels, by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski. where photography plays a similiar role in benefiting the lives of impoverished children in Calcutta. If you haven't seen this amazing film yet, click here to learn more about the project.

In Paris...

The New York Times has an article about the upcoming Paris Photo Festival here.

"...The wider cultural appreciation of photography that swept France in the 1970’s and 80’s was driven by literary theorists like Roland Barthes and Jean Baudrillard, not by a rejuvenating generation of artists. Virtually all of the famous 20th-century shots of Paris — by Eugène Atget, Brassaï, André Kertesz, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Doisneau, Willy Ronis — were taken before 1960. To wander the city’s boulevards and alleyways is to bump into these yellowing images, though many of the sites have changed beyond recognition. Mondrian’s house, photographed by Kertesz in 1926, was torn down long ago, and even though many of the places he captured in the 20’s are still there — the staircase on Montmartre and the Fountain of the Medicis in the Luxembourg Garden — significant details are different."

—From "In Paris, Photographing a City That Has No Bad Side," by Richard B. Woodward for The New York Times.

The opening night of Paris Photo is on November 15, by invitation only. The fair will continue, with general admission, to November 19 at the Carrousel du Louvre, 99, rue de Rivoli, Paris. Visit www.parisphoto.fr for details.

Changing Ideas – a new charity for humanitarian photographic projects.

When it was established by David Graham, a former businessman turned photographer, Changing Ideas was a charity determined to make a difference. The organization has raised £100,000 and provides media and business expertise to assist photographers in realizing their visions for good works. Photographers, for the most part, want to believe that their calling has an influence in our world; Changing Ideas is dedicated to ensuring that it does.

“A blueprint for these awards was the partnership between the successful photojournalist Marcus Bleasdale and the charity Human Rights Watch. They compiled and presented documentary evidence to a Swiss Bank that was buying illegal gold from the war torn Democratic Republic of the Congo. Control of the gold mines was fueling the conflict. As a result of this action the bank stopped buying the gold and hostilities ceased.

This campaign was distinguished by its use of direct lobbying using solid research backed up by highly effective visual material. This well targeted campaign demonstrates that definable change can be best achieved by applying streamlined ‘business thinking’ to humanitarian projects. This approach can often be more successful than an extensive, high cost, public awareness campaign.”

Changing Ideas is now accepting proposals from photographers, journalists, charities or any other concerned individual in a position to make a positive and measurable change. The deadline is November 30, 2006. Click here for an application.

At the University of California Riverside (UCR)/California Museum of Photography...

"Recent Acquisitions"
Through January 7, 2007
Comprising about three quarters of a million photographic items, The UCR Museum's collection is the most comprehensive in the Western States. Acquisitions that were donated in 2005/2006 are on view within the Underground Gallery. The eclectic mix of objects goes far beyond simple 2-dimensional photographs—take, for example, an Ansel Adams panoramic photograph printed on a Hills Bros. coffee can, or a Zeiss Stereo-Telemeter that was used by German naval artillery in World War II. “Recent Acquisitions” is an opportunity for visitors to experience some of the bounty before it is tagged, bagged, and permanently sheltered in the museum's storage rooms.

"Ruby Satellite"
Through January 7, 2007
Inspired by the bizarre real-life case of Russell Eugene Weston Jr., who in 1998 stormed the U.S. Capital building in search of the Ruby Satellite (what he percieved as an all-powerful device capable of destroying an alien disease), killing 2 police officers. "Ruby Satellite" brings together a group of national and international artists who examine the complicated drives of the paranoid mind in a mixed presentation of photography, video, and installation works.

"Samurai"
Mark Stockton and Edgar Endress
Through January 7, 2007
A collaborative project by Chilean artist Edgar Endress and U.S. artist Mark Stockton, "Samurai" comprises a series of large-scale anaglyphs—stereo photographs printed in different colors, viewed through a chromatic lens, or 3-D glasses. The images depict members of a Japanese animation club in Trenton, New Jersey. Inspired by Japanese anime and culture, and dressed in costumes of their own design, the participants role-play and act out mini-dramas.

Visit the Museum's website here.

Harry Benson joins the Epson Stylus Pros

Epson America has announced that acclaimed photojournalist Harry Benson has joined Epson’s Stylus Pros. Benson has won numerous awards and has been featured in magazines such as Architectural Digest, Vogue and Vanity Fair.

Benson and other Epson Stylus Pros including CameraArts Contributing Editor John Paul Caponigro, Steve McCurry(CameraArts June/July 2001), Walter Iooss, Jay Maisel, Pete Turner, Howard Schatz (CameraArts December 1997/January 1998), and Joyce Tenneson (CameraArts February/March 2003 and August/September 2004) will be present at Epson’s PhotoPlus Expo booth (#816) in New York this week to sign photographs of their work printed on the new Epson Stylus Pro 3800.

The Epson Stylus Pro program was launched five years ago with the involvement of the best in the photographic world of fine art, portraiture, commercial, nature and photojournalism to provide insight into the needs of the most discerning visual communicators.

Visit Harry Benson's website here.

CALL FOR ENTRIES: Gallery twenty-four

International Photographic Arts Competition

Gallery twenty-four, in co-operation with ARTLINE:berlin and Mimosa Extra micro-magazine, is accepting entries for an international juried exhibition February 1-27, 2007, in Berlin-Friedrichshain. It will be open to any artist working in any photographic medium. The recipient of Best in Show will be exhibited at Gallery twenty-four's facilities in New York, in 2008. A 45.00 Euro entry fee applies for five images in digital format. Visit www.oder24.com for guidelines. Deadline is December 31, 2006.

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Inside Digital Photo to debut at PhotoPlus Expo

Inside Media Networks, in partnership with Popular Photography & Imaging and American PHOTO Magazines, will premiere its new program Inside Digital Photo at the PhotoPlus expo in early November. Inside Digital Photo is being hyped as the first radio show devoted to digital photography enthusiasts and professionals. For one hour every week, the program will feature news, interviews and tips of the trade from leading experts.

Hosted by industry insider Scott Sheppard, a respected technical expert in the converging arena of digital, online and broadcast media, the inaugural Inside Digital Photo program will feature the best of new products, trends, and technology exhibited at PhotoPlus Expo via select, scheduled tapings from the show floor.

Inside Digital Photo will air Saturday afternoons and is available via ABC Starguide III throughout the United States. The program will also stream live worldwide on the Internet. After broadcast, an expanded version will be offered up on iTunes.

PhotoPlus Expo will run November 3-5 at the Javits Center in New York. You can listen to the first two Inside Digital Photo broadcasts from the PhotoPlus Expo here.

2006 Lucie Awards: Photography Magazine of the Year is announced

The Lucie Awards have announced their chosen publication for Photography Magazine of the Year—American Photo! Congratulations to the staff of this fine magazine. American photo was chosen from a pool of six nominees, which also included two-time winner Photo District News, Black & White, Picture, Zoom, and CameraArts Magazine. We are honored to have been nominated this year, a first for our publication at the Lucie Awards. A big thank you to the board for our selection!