Can't Make It Up, Part...

At first I thought this from The Onion. Alas, apparently it's on the reals...

This week, Guantánamo!!! It was an incredible experience...All the guys from the Army were amazing with us. We visited the Detainees camps and we saw the jails, where they shower, how the (sic) recreate themselves with movies, classes of art, books. It was very interesting.

God help us all- It's Coming...

The Conficker worm/virus thingie is coming, has come, is in our very homes and will lay waste to all that remains come 4/01. It's the Apocalypse, The Rapture, 666, Armageddon, Y2K and Cindy Sherman all wrapped into one- and there's nothing that you nor I can do to stop it! See you all on the other side of hell...

Any Ideas?

David Simon (creator of The Wire- the world's best TV series past, present and future) makes sense, and it's pretty damn scary if it turns out true. I'm not gonna even pretend I've gotta clue, but there must be somebody out there who can somehow figure out a way to keep the newspaper ethic (at least as far as investigative reporting's concerned) alive and profitable in the age of the internets...

Update: It's a start...

Mother Russia!

I know at least one guy who could seriously get into doing a series on these (from the delightfully eclectic blog English Russia).

And this is why we would have never won The Cold War had it ever gone hot. Sure Americans all think their bad with their steroids and their guns, but there just aint no beatin' this kind of mindset- and that there's a female! (both via TYWKIWDBI)

Young Guns 2

It's interesting to note how far these young critics have progressed with their insights into photography since their astute teacher's previous urging to take their reviews (and themselves) more seriously! Pity adults can't display similar progress...

Bailout!

‘This was a crisis that was fostered and boosted by irrational behaviour of people that are white, blue-eyed, that before the crisis looked like they knew everything about economics,’ he declared.

‘Now they have demonstrated that they don’t know anything about economics.’

President Lula, head of Brazil’s main left-wing party, said that ‘no black man or woman, no indigenous person, no poor person’ had been in any way culpable for the global banking crisis.

‘I’m not acquainted with any black banker,’ he said. ‘The part of humanity that’s responsible should pay for the crisis.’

Sin Nombre

Sometimes one gets reminded just how lucky they truly are. Actually, those reminders are more frequent and immediate in our everyday lives than one probably likes to admit, which is why we're so damn good at ignoring them and carrying on with our own little petty concerns and tribulations. Why deny ourselves anything but the full measure of self absorption that our own self involvement so adequately affords us?

That is why we will always need socially conscious and responsible art the likes of Sin Nombre (Without Name) to make us look in that mirror- and if we don't see our own reflections in the lives of others, at least give thanks we're not in their shoes...

All Hail, The Single Speed!

San Francisco is not a particularly fashion conscious kinda town, like a London or NYC. And the California slacker motif just doesn't cut it for this New Yorker. But it does have way cool bikes! Mountain bikes, racing bikes, commuter bikes and cool ass single speeds. What's so cool about single speed bikes? First, a lot of 'em don't have brakes- you read that ever so rightly. Which means if you wanna stop, you slow up the pedals (given you have enough time), slow the back wheel by reaching back and applying friction with your shoe sole (requires particular speed, agility and balance), or just plain crash. Having one speed is fine if you live where it's flat, San Francisco- anything but. All this means that you rarely see anyone but twenty year olds atop these particular steeds, those athletic and crazy enough to actually attempt such an alternative life style.

The really cool thing about single speeds however, is simply how they look. Aesthetic purity on wheels- clean, graceful lines with no extra anything! Man and machine as one.

Fortunately, some do come with hand brakes- but I'm happy with as many speeds as I can get in this horizontally challenged mecca. My half century legs may not get many admiring glances, but they still get me up the hill (with camera in tow).

Generation Loss

Generation Loss from hadto on Vimeo.

Mixed Blessings...

Like all prodigies, Allonzo Trier's path to professional success is laden with career ending possibilities each and every day of his pre-adult life, obstacles that can lay waste the dream quicker than it flashed unto his prepubescent consciousness. Physical injuries and limitations, financial skullduggery- and the potential psychic trauma of such premature exposure to all that is best and worst in the human condition. Everything that can turn a blessing into a curse.

I grew up loving the sport. There's something so fundamentally pure at its core- a leather ball, a metal hoop, and whatever spark of ingenuity one brings to the hardwood. But this avenue to success has long been overcrowded and oversold, like the asphalt streets surrounding many a broken backboard.
Photo: Lauren Greenfield

Mmmmmmmm........

“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.” - George Bernard Shaw

Whenever I think of Europe, I always think of the sights- and the food. And the latter often made up for the fact that despite all the beauty, I'd often come back with a less than satisfactory number of quality images. When going cross country (NYC-San Francisco) two years ago in well under two weeks however, I managed to compile a good number of keepers- but anything near edible eats was slim pickins at best.

I was reminded of that fact while viewing This Is Why You're Fat, which actually features a few items I would have gladly substituted for some of the greasy gastronomic cardboard I had to endure. "Favorites" include The Slinger and the Hamburger Crust Pizza! (via boingboing)

HooverVille 2009

Coming soon to a city near you...
photo: Genaro Molina

Even in Japan!

Way Too Funny!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
The New White Face of Crime
comedycentral.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Important Things w/ Demetri Martin Political Humor

For years I'd wonder- wouldn't it be nice if they'd show all the white, "upright and respectable" executives responsible for the heinous, monstrous crimes that are continually perpetrated upon the helpless throughout the world doing the perp walk on TV as a nice counterbalance. Sometimes if you're patient enough, dreams do come true... kinda. (via HuffPo)

Curious Expeditions

Way cooler and sexier than the internet, and it all runs on "a series of tubes," seriously.

"A Sadness Tinged With Arousal"

They Hate Us For Our Freedoms!

Why are we still "debating" whether the US tortured, when the US military has already ruled that at least 25 of the over 100 deaths of detainees within their custody were, in fact, homicides?


The autopsy reports list deaths by "strangulation," "asphyxiation" and "blunt force injuries." An overwhelming majority of the so-called "natural deaths" were attributed to "Arteriosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease."

EXPIRATION NOTICE- VOL. 2

Volume 2 is now online and looking good! And how could it not, with photographers the likes of: Seba Kurtis, Sparky Campanella, Tim Atherton, and Jamie Drouin- amongst others.

Expiration Notice receives no sponsorships or grants of any kind- and my partner and I are hardly power names in the industry. We'd like to keep this going as long as possible, so if you like what you see and what we stand for- please, continue to submit, tune in, and tell others. That's right- we aint asking money, only your cooperation.

No, we can't publish everyone's submissions, frankly, some of them have a way to go- being of a certain age and having a group of related images does not guarantee publication. And make no doubt- the individual taste of the individual judge is always paramount, as with any other place you'd submit images. If your work needs refining, keep shooting; I've been doing it some thirty five years and I still aint got publishers and gallery dealers lining up outside my door. If you think your work is there, keep pushing it- anywhere and everywhere! And good luck to us all...

Photo: Keith Dannemiller

Forbidden Science- Jacques Vallee

I just happened to luck out this week in the neighborhood second hand bookstore chancing upon an autographed copy of Jacques Vallee's Forbidden Science. The good doctor by the way is the astrophysicist who was the model for the character played by Francois Truffaut in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Anyway, here's a real hardcore scientist daring to do what a real scientist should- be unafraid and ask questions no matter where they lead... Prevalent belief systems be damned!

What should a a small group of researchers do when they find themselves confronted with a phenomenon that does not follow the recognized laws of nature? How far should they go in alerting their colleagues and the public in the absence of definite proof? Can they really hope to influence an academic community that is notoriously enamored of the status quo and intimidated by political intrigue? Is it even possible to to preserve the intellectual traditions of scholarly research in an environment marred by the secrecy of government budgets, the drudgery of government bureaucracy and the public's fear of the unknown? -Dr. Jacques Vallee

Executive Assassination Ring

Sy Hersch comes up with another Cheney humdinger. Which reminds me... anyone remember the DC Madam, who predicted on several occasions that she would be suicided? Corporate media were quick to report her suicide, with little to no mention of her prediction- and just how many women hang themselves...

Walk Down The Street...

Street Photography is such a loaded term, an all encompassing but very limiting definition. A good ninety per cent plus of my photography has been in the urban environment- yet I would never consider myself a "street photographer." That title conjures up names like Winogrand, Mermelstein, Gilden- photographers best known for their slice of life compositions of people going about their roles in the theatre of life; photographers practicing environmental street portraiture, if you will. Densely populated urban areas (eg- NYC) induce this type of photography- environments that deny one a background and a horizon line cause one to alter perception, approach, subject matter, style. Lee Friedlander said as much when stating that all the normal rules of photographic composition get tossed when photographing in New York.

But many other photographers who photograph the urban environment are not immediately recognized as "street photographers." They photograph the urban landscape, and the compositions therein, more or less regardless of the people that inhabit it- Friedlander himself would fall into that category. Then there are those who accentuate and incorporate the various relationships between man and his urban surroundings- Thomas Roma, Henry Wessel, Martin Parr...

I realize street photography hasn't been in vogue for years, neither has jazz- and that doesn't mean I'd mock jazz musicians or their art form, just because I can't appreciate them. If an artist has "mastered" a particular art form (such as street photography) and has gone unto bigger and better pastures like a young Picasso or Meyerowitz, I could then understand the arrogance of a remark like "walk down the street if you like street photography," otherwise... But I digress.

There's a really good interview (not just concerning street photography) with Jeff Ladd at Blake Andrew's blog (via 2 point 8). After the interview, make sure to check out Mr. Ladd's sight, the sheer eloquence of which will not disappoint.

photos: Jeff Ladd

Like Photography?

Well, ya may wanna wander over to American Suburb X, call in sick and spend a few days. Guess I'm late to the party once again since I never heard of it till now, and it's a veritable cornucopial plethora of all things photographic art- theory, interviews, videos.... intense!

Volume 2!

EXPIRATION NOTICE latest edition due next Monday 3/16... Eight more photographers, B&W and color-- and looking good!

The Doomsday Vault...

You just know that somewhere there's a highly imaginative and resourceful sci-fi writer who's writing up a great post apocalyptic thriller that either ends or begins right here in remote Arctic Norway (can't wait to see the "fine art" photo essay either).

And I pray we never have to actually open and use this arc of life that someone has had the incredible foresight to construct as we continue to poison and imperil our planet (ie-ourselves) with pesticides and genetically modified food substitutes!

Week In Review...

No breaking news here, but there have been some interesting things around... First, must comment that I still find it pretty amazing that with all the hundreds of people who previously had their say on Ryan McGinley's style, talent, lighting, marketing, you name it, only two people made any mention of the 800lb gorilla in the room- his all white world view! Tell ya something???

Elsewhere of note in blogdom (via Colin Pantall, and Jim Johnson) there's this thought provoking series of night time prison landscapes by Stephen Tourlentes, particularly relevant in a time when judges have been caught sentencing juveniles to private adult prisons in exchange for bribes. The prison industrial complex in this country is way the fuck out of control- people debating whether to put preteens in adult jails, adults being sentenced for years on end for simple marijuana possession, prisoners who can't vote but are counted as residents of their "host" community to increase the town's state and federal revenues. Is it any wonder the US leads the world in incarceration... including that of children! Jeff Brouws photograph of graffiti at the Dystopia group exhibit at The Robert Koch Gallery pretty much sums it all up!




Then there's Ian Teh's mesmerizingly beautiful landscape essay in Deep Sleep Magazine caught over at Exposure Compensation.


Finally (as in last and certainly not least), a heart felt shout out to Benjamin Chesterton at DuckRabbit for extending "concerned" photography into the digital age with his brilliant audio slide shows, and more so-- for actively advocating for the empowerment of individuals who are the usual subjects of this genre to become some of its primary documentarians. If I had a MacArthur Grant to give...

(c) Yasuyoshi Chiba

Spammed!

Monday evening some little anonymous dick headquartered in Taiwan launched an all out spam attack on yours truly. Fortunately, I was able to thwart the little shit in the act, throwing up every Blogger comment security/spam guard into effect before the little twit exhausted himself. He managed to spam a good quarter of my blog, and I don't know how these things operate- whether he had an active, real time hand in it, or just let loose some malevolent spambot into the blogoshere. Hope it was the former, cause I certainly had more fun slamming his sad and sorry attempt at affirming his own existence then did he trying to... whatever it is these twits think they do.

I guess R-F has finally come of age! So keep in mind folks, Big Brother commentary protocol is now up and running- and Anonymity is officially verboten! Otherwise- comment away! Other bloggers with their defenses down may want to reconsider...

What If Ryan McGinley's Models Were Black?

Allow me the hypothetical here... If Ryan Mcginley's models were Asian, Latino, or Black- would he be:

1) Every bit the celebrated wunderkind.

2) Another emerging photographer with potential.

3) Ryan who?

Please Note: This is not solely about Mr. McGinley, whose website continues to resemble a David Duke wet dream. He is obviously free to photograph whatever he wants, whomever he wants.

The question is a much broader one. Why has this hedonistic celebration of young, white, sexuality been so enthusiastically embraced by both artistic and advertising establishments alike? Is it somehow more innocent, more aesthetically appealing, more worthy of visual commemoration? Is non white sexuality more threatening, and less inherently appealing? And how is this all relevant in the age of our first multiracial President?

Sorry, The Casino's Closed!

Another War, Another Generation...

These portraits by Louie Palu are exceptional in their power, eloquence and simplicity. And once again we're left to think- for what? How many bloody, futile wars and conflicts have inundated our landscape just between Viet Nam and Iraq alone- and how many more to come before we depart this mortal coil? And always the same haunting stares. (via Bag News Notes)

Too Good To Be True?

It is-- and it aint the White House lawn either!

We've Come A Long Way Baby!

Opportunity and fair play is now the name of the game of The Grand Ol' Party when you can have a brown skinned lad like Gov. Jindal lie outright about his exploits to the public at large with their outright blessed approval.

Yup, we've progressed right to the point where those traditionally in power can feel downright comfortable in sharing their particular sense of "humor" with those they traditionally oppressed. (Update).