Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Paris...


Harvey Benge - Paris, November 2008

I'm in Paris for Paris Photo from Wednesday November 9 until November 17... and London a week after that. If any photo friends feel like a coffee or a beer, whatever... please get in touch: harvey.benge@xtra.co.nz

Harvey Benge - Paris, November 2008

Monday, November 7, 2016

The geometry of framing, shapes within the frame

 

This short YouTube video is worth checking out. Although it deals with cinematography, I think you'll agree that the ideas apply to still photography as well. Basically different shapes within the frame convey different meaning.

You can go to the YouTube video HERE.





Saturday, November 5, 2016

Japanese Photography from Postwar to Now at San Francisco MoMA

 
Lieko Shiga, Tomlinson FC, from the series Lilly, 2005

Back in October I was pleased to get a preview of the the show - Japanese Photography from Postwar to Now. Curated by Sandra Phillips the show opened October 15 and runs until March 12, 2017.

SF MoMA say this: One of the most significant contributions to the art of photography comes from postwar Japan. After World War II, the country began to produce film and camera equipment, supporting a large amateur photography culture and sponsoring native photographers as important artistic producers. This exhibition highlights SFMOMA’s considerable collection of Japanese photography, focusing on generous gifts from our community and the important donation of the Kurenboh Collection, Tokyo. Japanese Photography from Postwar to Now includes photographs from the 1960s, when major figures such as Shomei Tomatsu and Daido Moriyama investigated Americanization and industrial growth; the more personal and performative work of Nobuyoshi Araki and Eikoh Hosoe; and photography addressing the present culture and the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Organized thematically, the show explores topics such as Japan’s relationship with America, changes in the city and countryside, and the emergence of women, especially Miyako Ishiuchi, Rinko Kawauchi, and Lieko Shiga, as significant contributors to contemporary Japanese photography. 

This is an immersive show which touches all the bases and is the best overview of Japanese photography I've seen.

See more on the SF MoMA site HERE.

Eikoh Hosoe, Kamaitachi #17, 1965

Tsunehisa Kimura, Untitled, 1977

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Sunny October in San Francisco - first images


 

San Francisco, October 4 to 8. Up hill and down dale, sun shining. Nice. Here are some of the first images I've printed.








Polycopies - an authentic photography experience in Paris, not to be missed!

 
© Koji Onaka

If you are in Paris next week for Paris Photo do not miss going along to Polycopies on the boat Concorde-Atlantique moored on the Siene a few minutes walk from the Grand Palais.
Founded in 2014 by the photo luminaries Laurent Chardon and Sebastian Hau, as always Polycopies is a total dedication to the photo book. I describe then event as authentic, it is that because at Polycopies there is a chance to meet the photographers (this year Pieter Hugo, Takashi Homma, JH Engström and Roger Ballen among many others) and publishers all of different stripes. All brought together in an intimate setting.

Polycopies say this: Since 2014 Polycopies has been hosting every year a selection of 35 specialised international photo book publishers. Polycopies is an association for the distribution and promotion of the photographic edition, which for four days during Paris-Photo becomes a large ephemeral bookshop, a space completely dedicated to photo books. Although Polycopies is first of all a market place, it has also become an important place to meet where a lively crowd of amateurs, collectors, photographers and publishers of different horizons share and confront their ideas on photography, better understand the stakes of publishing, exchange on discoveries made and favorite books, or even show their book dummies and see new projects come to live.
 
Exhibitors this year include:
/ AKINA BOOKS (It) / CAFE LEHMITZ PHOTOBOOKS (De) / CESURA (It) / CHACO BOOKS (Es) / CHOSE COMMUNE (fr) / DALPINE (Es) / DIENACHT (De) / EDICIONES ANÓMALAS (Es) / EDITIONS BESSARD (Fr) / LES EDITIONS QUEBECOISES (Ca) / EINER BOOKS (No) / FOTOHOF (At) / GWINZEGAL (Fr) / HERMANN LOHSS (De) / HOXTON MINI PRESS (Gb) / JIAZAZHI PRESS (Cn) / JOURNAL (Se) / KAUNAS (Lt) / MILLION BOOKS (De) / OODEE (Gb) / PHOTOBOOK PUBLISHERS NETWORK (Us) / PHOTOBOOKS FROM TURKEY (Tr) / PHREE (Es) / POURSUITE (Fr) / RODOVID (Ua) / RUSSIAN INDEPENDENT SELFPUBLISHED (Ru) / SKINNERBOOX (It) / THE ERISKAY CONNECTION (Nl) / TROLLEY BOOKS (Gb) / ZEN FOTO & SHASHASHA (Jp) /

Polycopies is open:
Wednesday Nov. 09: noon to 9pm / Thursday Nov. 10: 11am to 9pm / Friday Nov. 11: 11am to 10:30pm / Saturday Nov. 12: 11am to 6pm.

You can go to the Polycopies website HERE for among other things a list of the book signings.