La Porte, Indiana- Trailer

First the book, now the movie!

LaPorte, Indiana Trailer from Joe Beshenkovsky on Vimeo.

The 21 Looniest Legislators

Anger Has Its Place

Got that right!

Int'l Exposure Awards...

Annie Get Your Gun

Photo: Jill Freedman

Don't like getting my jollies when someone's down and out- but hard feeling sympathy for someone who amassed multiple million dollar properties and all the publicity, work and prestige one could possibly ever dream. Jill Freedman never lived anywhere near as large.

Still, when a third party can actually lay claim to your very images, that does strike a nerve. Although it seems the original plan all along was to buy time, cut the deal- and then raise the drawbridge...

Seeing, Knowing, Trusting, Lying...

“How Can I See What I See, Until I Know What I Know?”

As expected and obvious as the work itself-- one massive, convoluted dump of an excuse! How can we trust what you show, when we can't trust what you say? Now flip it for symmetry-- How can we trust what you say, when we can't trust what you show?

NEDA- A Celebration Of...

image: Jacques Brinon/A.P.

Brian Rose- Berlin In From The Cold

The Lost Border by Brian Rose is one of my favorite photo books of all time. He has a new book out via Blurb called Berlin In From The Cold. The bad news is that it costs $200- the very good news is that you can view all 200 photos right online!

The Photoblogging Hierarchy

Recently, someone contacted me with a rather simple, and rather good idea for starting a new blog. He had also contacted several other photographers and bloggers to participate in his project. I told him I'd be honored to take part, but that I wouldn't at all be surprised if general response and participation were less than enthusiastic, being that he was a relative newbie and that the online photo "establishment" can be rather clique-ish (as in high school). I just hoped that wouldn't be the case.

About a week later he replied that response had, in fact, been considerably less than forthcoming- perhaps for the reasons I had stated, and that he was now considering working with unknown, "amateur" photographers in a somewhat revised format.

Although his original idea was not something radically unique (it has certainly been done on many an occasion), there was no such site (far as I know) that was devoted exclusively to it on a regular, consistent basis. Unfortunately, egos being as they are, people were not going to give an unknown that chance- someone who could not immediately guarantee furthering and advancing their work.

Funny how we treat our own.

Hear It And Weep...

Photo: Julian Cardona

I've posted on this before (on the prior incarnation of this blog), and there is now an absolute plethora of information available. That said- we are still no closer to ending this orchestrated mass killing which continues to this day. It is the sad and tragic story that is Ciudad Juarez, a story of extreme violence, corruption, and everyday murder fueled by rampant drugs and a global economy hell bent on squeezing out every last penny human life can possibly offer.

Visit it during the day for a few hours (as I did) and other than the usual poverty of a developing country, you may leave unaware that anything more's amiss. Walk its streets as a citizen, and the light of day will not protect you from the evil that both surrounds and terrorizes its very heart.

But I Don't See Race...

And uh, neither did Michael Jackson...

Nothing personal, folks- strictly "business." Click on book cover featuring photo of white girl to illustrate novel about... a black girl. (via boingboing)

Vive Le Tour & Viva El Contador!!!

Photos: Jasper Juinen- Getty Images

Three weeks of torture, pain and discipline ends today with a triumphant Alberto Contador riding into the steets of Paris- a champion who was unjustly prohibited from competing last year in Le Tour despite being its previous year's winner, simply because he had the misfortune of joining a team which was then banned from participating for behavior prior to his joining! This year he took it all, despite competition even from within his own team, competition in the form of 7X champion Lance Armstrong. And despite what you may think of the latter (bully, cheat or ultimate champion) Armstrong's hawk like presence does add Drama with that capital D. Watching both ascend, along with second place winner Andy Schleck, trying to outpsyche and outpace each other up the vertical path to hell called Mont Ventoux was a cramp inducing spectacle of pain and persistence personified.

And they'll all be back for more next year...

Shopping Your Wares To Prospective Galleries?

Good Luck with that!

In the past two years, at least 24 galleries have closed in Manhattan, mostly in Chelsea, according to New York City-based Artnet magazine, which covers the fine art world. "That's really dramatic," said Artnet editor Walter Robinson.

The Delocator

Just watched a rather intriguing documentary Black Coffee on PBS- from old world discovery to present day free trade. Having grown up in a Latino household, I got all my coffee needs met at home. It wasn't till I moved out that I realized how uniformly bad "regular" American coffee was. And while I confess I've occasionally succumbed to a Starbuck's Frappucino under super heated weather conditions (and those days are rare indeed in San Francisco), I otherwise refuse the services of The Evil Empire. Fortunately, the Delocator will help find you a decent alternative, if you already didn't know (& my little Krups Il Primo cappuccino maker performs just fine).

Lived His Life Without Any Baggage...

Never knew the man- just wish I could aspire to his epitaph...

Floaters, Handicaps & Stupidity...

Well, it's not exactly dodging bullets for that world renowned Pulitzer Prize winning photo essay, but at least the Pork Pie looks kinda good...

I distinctly remember the time and place when it happened ten years ago. I tried to read a list and my eyes couldn't focus. What the!?! Age had finally come calling- prolonged late night TV and intense staring and straining through a grain magnifier had finally taken their toll. I needed reading glasses. Five years later, I woke up one morning to blurred spots of fuzziness and "flashing lights" in the corner of my left eye later that evening- that kinda threw me. Found out I had developed floaters. These are not the traditional spots in front of your eyes that everyone experiences, they're small masses of cells that separate from the back of your eyeball and start floating about casting "shadows" on the front. If you squint in bright light against a light background, they appear as if small jellyfish lazily hanging about, otherwise, they're just small out of focus grey spots. Fortunately, they only obscure about 10-15% of the sight in my left eye and the situation has stabilized, but since I photograph with my left eye, it has sometimes made critical focusing difficult.

With considerable patience and practice however, I have trained myself to photograph with my right eye- something I had previously thought absolutely impossible (notice how nose in photo is seemingly enlarged and bent towards left). It took some time to get my overall sense of balance and composition using my other eye, but now I actually forget which one I used.

And speaking of vision- I just got my first pair of prescription polarized sunglasses, and...Wow! Feel like I have the eyes of an eighteen year old (outside anyway)- it's like switching from 35mm to large format, everything's as if cut with a razor in 3D!

(Photos: Lisa Wood)

Hip Hop, Crack Head, Low Life, Gang Banger...

I mean... eminently distinguished Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates busted for being black in his own home.

Let It Not Be Said...

That I don't stand up for all oppressed minorities...

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Reverse Racism
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Jeff Goldblum

Still Enough To Go Around...

Frank Rich claims this may, in fact, be the final swan song of the racist mindset that epitomized the world I was born into. Me, I'm not that optimistic. There's still many a complete Neanderthal babbling about (not to mention their sympathizers)- and their "apologies" somehow fail to reassure me...

San Francisco...

San Francisco is arguably the most beautiful city in the US of A. And as previously alluded to, certainly not without its own problems- homelessness being one, and rising crime another. The former has long been a huge problem, and the latter can only increase with the current economic crisis...

Two For The Road...

Got beaten to the punch twice this past week- and on consecutive days! The almighty Duckrabbit posted on Mark Page's new book (which never fails to bring a smile to my face). Obviously, much thought and reflection have gone into the concept, execution and naming of this uniquely handsome and singular production. Click on photo to order...

And what will remain an unnamed blog highlighted Sophie Gerrard's E-Wasteland, an extraordinary essay about e-waste "recycling" in India. Her other work's well worth a look too... (via BoingBoing)