Singularity
visual culture

This is a rather interesting ongoing collection of photographs of London’s shop fronts. Well, perhaps not your high street average shop front, but that makes it even more interesting. Would love to see that done in many other european cities that still enjoy some really old ones. Its all Eugène Atget allover again. Great!

via Emily Webber

THE GALLERY OF PHOTOGRAPHY ARTIST’S AWARD, now in its 7th year, offers exciting opportunities for an artist of any age who has a significant lens-based project or body of work underway. The winner receives:

• A solo exhibition in the Gallery of Photography in 2010 or later.

• €5,000 towards the exhibition and/or publication.

• Access to the Gallery of Photography’s Artist’s Digital Studio – high-spec Mac, scanner, exhibition quality printer; and to the Gallery of Photography’s Darkrooms.

• Technical assistance with all aspects of exhibition production.

• Ongoing mentoring, curatorial feedback and publishing expertise.

• A full colour editorial feature in The Irish Arts Review, media partner for the Award.

Entry Conditions & Requirements:

1. Entry is open to artists of any age.

2. Artists must be either resident in Ireland (32 counties); or Irish citizens; or show evidence of a longstanding involvement or connection with Irish culture, including the diaspora.

Entries should consist of:

1. A maximum of 8 work prints no larger than A4 from the work-in-progress, or, if the project is still in inception, 8 prints representative of a previous project which was in the opinion of the artist, similar in scope and ambition. Please note: work is only accepted on CD/DVD if the proposed project takes a non print-based form, eg projected DVD, web project etc.

2. A paragraph outlining the project’s subject/theme/treatment.

3. A paragraph outlining the planned schedule for completion of the project.

4. An up to date CV, including email address.

5. A stamped, self-addressed envelope for return of prints/materials if required.

6. An entry fee of €10 (cheque, postal order payable “Gallery of Photography” or by paypal).

DEADLINE: 5pm MONDAY MARCH 9th 2009

via The Gallery of Photography Dublin

‘Ireland. An Insiders View’ gives an impression of up-and-coming Irish photographic talent.
In the last few years unprecedented changes have come about in Ireland. The country has transformed itself into a modern, competitive and multi-faceted nation.
The cultural landscape of the country, in particular, has undergone important changes. Increased subsidies and the development of photography courses have brought forth a new generation of critical and informed graduates. These talented photographers play a key role in the investigation of contemporary questions within Irish culture. The works exhibited here reflect the wide range of issues in a phase of Ireland’s self-discovery.

Ireland [an insider’s view] presents a brief overview of emerging Irish photographic talent.

In recent years Ireland has undergone an unprecedented process of change. The country has developed from an inward-looking society into a modern, competitive, diverse and wealthy nation.

In particular the cultural landscape of the country has undergone significant changes. Increased funding for the arts and the emergence of photography degree programmes have created a new generation of critically informed photography graduates. The emerging Irish photographic talent is playing a key role in the investigation of contemporary issues within Irish culture.

The works selected here reflect a diversity of concerns as Ireland struggles to make sense of itself: the new generation of young ‘post-conflict’ northern Irish Diaspora: the effects of the ‘Celtic Tiger’ boom on the landscape; suburbanisation of the rural landscape; the hedonistic night life of the capital city. The images selected reflect a brief account of these insiders’ views.

The 12 artists are: Kim Cunningham, Tadhg Devlin, Kevin Fox, Ben Geoghegan, Angel Gonzalez, Louise Maher, Eoin O’Conaill, Mandy O’Neill, Fred O’Reilly, Anna Rackard, Darlene Shannon, Ruby Wallis.

Ireland [an insider’s view] is curated by Darragh Shanahan for the Gallery of Photography, Dublin.

This project is supported by Culture Ireland – promoting the arts abroad.

Martin Parr’s Lecture at the Ranelagh Multidenominational School, Sunday the 28th of September 2008, as part of the Ranelagh Arts Festival.
Duration: 52mins.
Thanks goes to Ramona Farrelly at Brightlife, for her technical support, and Maryrose Lyons for her help with the recording.
If you would like to get a copy of this video for educational purposes, just contact me.

Here’s award-winning photographer Chase Jarvis, a Hasselblad Master, litteraly running throw the steps of a commercial photo shoot, right from contract to delivery.
Another reason to keep subscribed to his podcasts.

Henri Cartier-Bresson | Marc Riboud | Jean Marquis | Werner Bischof |
Robert Capa | Inge Morath |
Ernst Haas | Erich Lessing

September 3rd – October 24th, 2008

The Flo Peters Gallery
Chilehaus C . Pumpen 8
20095 Hamburg, Germany
www.flopetersgallery.com
Monday to Friday 12pm-6pm
Saturday 11am-3pm

Magnum Photos and the Flo Peters Gallery present the sensational rediscovery of the first Magnum Group exhibition of 1955.

Research shows that the exhibition “Face of Time” was first shown in June/July 1955 in the French Cultural Institute in Innsbruck. Their existence forgotten, the 83 Magnum Vintage Prints lay hidden in two wooden boxes in the basement of the French Cultural Institute for more than 50 years. Only in 2006 was this treasure rediscovered and returned to Magnum Photos. This unique historical discovery revises the belief that the Magnum exhibition curated by Fritz Gruber for the Colonial photokina in the autumn of 1956 was the first.

This rediscovered original exhibition of 83 images from 8 photographers of the first Magnum-generation is now presented exclusively at the Flo Peters Gallery. Included are Henri Cartier-Bresson’s reportage on his encounter with Mahatma Gandhi shortly before his death, Marc Riboud’s picture series from the Balkans and Jean Marquis’ images from Hungary. Works by Werner Bischof and Robert Capa are also shown. Ernst Haas is presented with a series that emerged during the shooting of the Hollywood film “Country of the Pharaoes” under the direction of Howard Hawks while the London district of Mayfair is the subject of the works of Inge Morath. Erich Lessing’s pictures show the children of Vienna.

The catalogue “MAGNUM’S first” by Hantje Cantz, edited by Peter Coeln, Prof. Achim Heine and Andréa Holzherr with an introduction by Dr. Christoph Schaden, art historian, publisher and member of the executive committee of the German Society for Photography, shows a complete documentation of this historical exhibition.

3rd September – 7th October 2008

MICHAEL HOPPEN CONTEMPORARY
3 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TD
www.michaelhoppengallery.com
Tues-Fri 12noon – 6 pm . Sat 10:30am – 5pm

“On my first trip to Greenland, I was told I would definitely be coming back. According to a Greenlandic tale, a human being can turn into a qivigtoq, run around the fells, live there and finally die there. My desire to return to Greenland goes beyond reason. On one of my trips there I tried to shake off this madness and leave wandering in the northern landscapes, like a qivigtoq. I did not succeed.”

These large-scale colour photographs capture the artist’s fascination with the cold, barren and infinite landscape of Greenland. Steeped in blue light many of these photographs show the human outposts, the dog sledges and brightly coloured houses, in this Ultima Thule, border of the known world.

There are no roads between towns in Greenland so travel is not easy. Itkonen journeys by helicopter, small plane, hunter’s boats and dog sledge but only if the weather permits, if not then maybe tomorrow – “immaqa agaqu”. She will wait for the right moment to shoot, sometimes for hours, sometimes for days, preferring to photograph when it is cloudy or foggy due to the variations in light quality.

“It is fascinating and comforting being able to see far away. No trees or tall buildings to block the view. A broad view can be hard to capture in a single frame. The picture does not tell what is far and what is near, nor what is large and what is small. An iceberg is the size of a house of flats. An island that looks like it is two kilometers away is actually ten times further. Even my eyes cannot tell these things.”

As global warming closes in on Greenland the shrinking glaciers reveal new land masses, the winters are milder and the ocean does not freeze for long periods. At Illulissat, where many of these photographs are taken, the ocean has not frozen for years and the ice in northern parts of Greenland is getting thinner. The ice now only supports the weight of a man for a few months a year, putting hunters and fishermen with their dog sledges in danger. This makes Itkonen’s photographs more poignant – she is now capturing a vanishing landscape.

Tiina Itkonen (b. 1968) lives and works in Helsinki where she studied photography at the University of Art and Design. Exhibiting in Finland and abroad since 1996, Tiina’s work has most recently been seen in Switzerland, Germany, Norway and England. Her works are held in collections at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Fundacio Foto Colectania in Barcelona, Helsinki City Art Museum, the Finnish State Art Collection, DZ Bank in Germany and the Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection/EMMA amongst others. Winner of Finnish Young Photographer of the Year 2003 and a Fotofinlandia finalist in 2004, Itkonen has been photographing Greenland for the past ten years and her first book, Inughuit, was published in 2004.

Portraits taken in Greenland between 1998-2002 by Itkonen will be exhibited at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, from 3rd September to 8th November 2008. www.spri.cam.ac.uk/museum/

National Portrait Gallery
16 October 2008 – 1 February 2009
Wolfson and Ground Floor Lerner Galleries
St Martin’s Place
London WC2H 0HE
Admission £11
Concessions £10/£9

A Photographer’s Life presents over 150 images by one of the world’s best-known photographers. Leibovitz’s celebrated portraits of public figures, including her famous images of Queen Elizabeth II, and the then-pregnant actress Demi Moore, are shown alongside personal photography, which documents intimate and moving moments from her life, including the birth of her children and rites of passage with her parents and extended family.

Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990–2005 includes over 150 photographs by the celebrated photographer, encompassing well-known work made on editorial assignment as well as personal photographs of her family and close friends. “I don’t have two lives,” Leibovitz says. “This is one life, and the personal pictures and the assignment work are all part of it.”

The exhibition features many of Leibovitz’s best-known portraits of public figures, including actors such as Jamie Foxx, Nicole Kidman, and Brad Pitt; athletes preparing for the 1996 Olympic Games; George W. Bush with members of his Cabinet at the White House; and her famous 1991 image of then-pregnant actress Demi Moore, one of the most recognisable photographs of its time. The show also highlights images of artists and architects such as Richard Avedon, Brice Marden, Philip Johnson, and Cindy Sherman. Leibovitz’s assignment work includes reportage from the siege of Sarajevo in the early 1990s and the election of Hillary Clinton to the U.S. Senate.

At the heart of the exhibition, Leibovitz’s personal photography documents scenes from her life, including the birth and childhood of her three daughters, and vacations, reunions, and rites of passage with her parents and extended family.

Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990–2005 threads together the two sides of Leibovitz’s work both chronologically and creatively, projecting a narrative of the artist’s private life against the backdrop of her public image as one of the world’s best-known portrait photographers.

The artist Hans-Christian Schink opened in spring 2008 his own show room in Berlin, where he intends to invite other artists for guest exhibitions. Parallel to the big “Tropics”-Show in the Martin-Gropius-Bau he is now pleased to present DAVAO, new work by Ingar Krauss. Davao is situated in the very south of the Philippine Isles and is after Manila its second biggest city, but it is more a huge conglomerate of villages than a metropolis like Manila and is therefore dominated by agriculture and country life. Due to colonial history Spanish Catholizism and American lifestyle are belonging to the Philippine identity. But in particular the country people still live with animistic cults and the traditional pre-colonial mythology, which consists of a collection of magic figures and creatures lots of the Filipinos are still believing in, despite the strong Western influence. Ingar Krauss brought from Davao a series of portraits and animistic still lifes which he printed on outdated East-German photographic paper. He treated the prints then with oil colours, to give them a bit of a tropical sultriness.

Showroom Hans-Christian Schink
Heidestr. 46-52, Building 2, first floor
10557 Berlin, Germany
September 5 – October 25, 2008
Opening hours: Wed – Sat 2 – 6 pm

Abigail O’Brien indulges our sweetest fantasies with this elegant body of work. Running like a glamorous ‘photo shoot’, each portrait uses a different color and pose to suggest the different personalities of the exquisite Bella. The petti coated fading Belle poised on her stilettoed pedestals, this ’Glamour Puss’ is at once complex and playful. With each new pose Bella appears sensuous and voluptuous, delicate and imperfect.
The Bella Series (2006/07) consists of fourteen pieces, each 130 x 90 cm / 52 x 36 inches. Seven works are in the exhibition at Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer. Each photo is a Lambdachrome Print in an edition of 1 unique (+ 1 artist proof), mounted on dibond and framed under museum glass with coloured wood (148 x 108 cm / 59 x 43 inches).
With Bella, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer is presenting its fifth solo exhibition of works by Abigail O’Brien.

Abigail O’Brien (*1957) lives and works in Dublin. Her major piece of work to date, the extensive cycle The Seven Sacraments (1995–2004) consists of six individual works, each again of several parts, mixing media such as sculpture, photography and video. It was first exhibited in its entirety in 2004 in Germany, at the Haus der Kunst, Munich. It achieves a critical and complex questioning of the function and meaning of the Christian sacraments; and of the rituals of everyday life that run their course in mute seclusion.
The artists work is in many international private and public collections including IMMA The Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, the Caldic Collection in Rotterdam and the Volpinum Collection in Vienna.

Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer
Mutter-Ey-Str. 5, 40213 Düsseldorf
Germany
www.bugdahnundkaimer.com
Exhibition to October 18, 2008.
Gallery open Tuesday – Friday 12 noon – 6 pm, Saturday 12 noon – 4 pm.