FEATURES This fall, Flak Photo highlights a selection of artists featured in The Center for Fine Art Photography's 2009 International Exhibition. MORE » |
WEEKEND This month's series features work from Andrew Phelps' Not Niigata, a project commissioned by the European Eyes on Japan Festival. MORE » |
IN PRINT Three new books: Keith Carter's A Certain Alchemy, Jessica Backhaus' One day in November and Who We Were: A Snaphot History of America. MORE » |
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RECOMMENDED READING A selection of quality online photography exhibits published elsewhere on the web. Updated monthly.
Photographs by Bill Vaccaro 
Roadside Attractions is part of a long-term project of images taken on numerous road trips east of the Mississippi River (including
Canada) that began in 2005. Strongly influenced by memories of a childhood of family vacations watching the world wiz by from the
back seat of the family Chevy — the view of the dome of the U.S. Capitol for the first time, a miniature re-enactment of the Civil
War in a Gettysburg, Pennsylvania museum; a visit to the family farm of his cousin's father in the hills of West Virginia — Vaccaro sees
the road as a beacon that has drawn him to sights as unusual as eight cars impaled on a spindle, or as commonplace
as the swoosh of a horse's tail.
Photographs by Kent Rogowski 
Bears is a series of portraits of the most unusual sort: ordinary teddy bears that have been turned
inside out and restuffed. Simple patterns and
devices never meant to be seen are now prominent physical characteristics, giving each one a distinctly quirky personality: fasteners become eyes,
seams become scars, and stuffing creeps out in the most unexpected places.
Together these images form a topology of strange yet oddly familiar creatures. They are at once hideous yet cuddly, absurd
but adorable, while offering a metaphor for us all to consider. Rogowski's bears reveal an inner core that might help us to better understand our own.
Minnesota Center for Photography 
This fall, Flak Photo teamed up with Minnesota Center for Photography in support of PhotoBravo, a celebration of photographic
arts to benefit the MCP. A selection of photographs from the exhibit ran in these pages from October 29 - November 3, 2007. PhotoBravo is an annual event that provides an opportunity to see a cross-section of today's most
intriguing and collectible photographic art. This year, through live and silent auction, nearly sixty fine photographs are available
for bidding. PhotoBravo provides crucial support for MCP's programs while providing opportunities to acquire contemporary art
from some of today's most exciting photographers.
Ed. Davin Risk & Ross Evertson 
MakingRoom is a magazine about the process, intention and results of image-making. Each issue presents a series of
galleries and interviews with visual artists. Edited by Davin Risk and Ross Evertson, the magazine dispenses with talk of
technique in favor of discussing what compels artists to create. While the online version of MakingRoom continues to evolve, a series of print projects are in
the works under the same name — the first print journal will be released in 2008. A recent addition online is the SOLO feature series; a
single image is chosen to highlight a new artist each week.
A Jen Bekman Project 
This summer, Flak Photo featured photographs from A New American Portrait. Co-curated by Jen Bekman and Jörg Colberg, the exhibit ran in these
pages July 30 - August 8, 2007. These environmental, posed, and self-portraits express a distinctly American point of view. While they appear to be "honest" representations, some revealing and confessional, in truth the subjects
exist within narratives and environments carefully constructed by the show's nine photographers. The exhibition explores potent
themes and emotions which shape contemporary life in America: sexuality, gender, desire, heroism, consumption, fear, class, hope and loneliness are all
in the mix.
by Photographic Resource Center 
Last month, Flak Photo featured a selection of images from Exposure: The 12th Annual PRC Juried Exhibition. Juried by NYC
gallerist Jen Bekman, the exhibit ran in these pages July 10-27, 2007. Another exciting project from Boston University's Photographic
Resource Center is Northeast Exposure Online (NEO), a web-based showcase of emerging photographic artists in the New England
region. Highlighting an artist each month, the online gallery includes images, artist and curator statements, and links to each
photographer's website. Featured artists are promoted in the PRC's monthly newsletter, in the loupe, and past presentations
are archived online. For more information about the program, email PRC Curator Leslie K. Brown .
Photographs by Mark Brautigam 
Admittedly wide-eyed in scope, Brautigam's large format photographs highlight the idiosyncratic character of those environments that have frequently been disregarded. Though captured exclusively in the state of Wisconsin, the photographs do not represent a single locale. Instead, they subtly suggest the universal qualities that comprise this modern existence: irony, humor, beauty, heartbreak, excess and destruction. On Wisconsin is a personal journey that captures the unconventional side of a place and its people by seeking out the intrigue in otherwise overlooked settings. The result is a body of work that comments on the nature of man's interaction with the landscape to reveal a sense of wonder in the ordinary.
Photographs by Amy Stein 
This selection of photographs explores our paradoxical relationship with the "wild" and how our conflicting impulses continue to evolve and alter the behavior of both humans and animals. We at once seek connection with the mystery and freedom of the natural world, yet we continually strive to tame the wild around us and compulsively control the wild within our own nature. Stein's photographs draw on real stories from local newspapers and oral histories of intentional and random interactions between humans and animals to examine the primal issues of comfort and fear, dependence and determination, submission and dominance that play out in the physical and psychological ecotones between man and the natural world.
A Brandon Stone Project 
Flak Photo is excited to announce that it was named this year's "Best Kept Secret" at the 2007 Photobloggies, held last month in Chicago. Founded three years ago, the annual ceremony celebrates the art of photoblogging around the world and includes a variety of awards based on geographic region, subject matter, and several "best of" categories. Flak Photo finds itself in good company, featured alongside a mix of international winners in 25 categories, some of whom have been featured in these pages. In addition to this year's winners, the nominees are posted for each category, providing a "who's who" of some of the best photoblogs and web photography projects currently published online.
Photographs by Bill Sosin 
Like Giacometti's elongated statues, a jaywalker surveys the gridlocked traffic as the camera observes the shallow focus scene through a foreground field of condensation. This image is a part of Bill Sosin's "City Rain" series — scenes of Chicago photographed through his car windshield. Neon fluorescence and radiant reds from car brake lights are common, but abstract and suggestive patterns also appear: silhouetted pedestrians hasten along sidewalks with pendulous umbrellas, tow trucks and sixteen wheelers lumber ominously in these out-of-focus dreamscapes, and lonely objects in storefront windows are rendered redundant by the inclement weather. Sosin's work is a voyeuristic, random pursuit; he wanders the streets searching for something, capturing the colorations that comprise his ethereal tableau along the way.
A Jen Bekman Project 
Hey, Hot Shot! is Jen Bekman Gallery's quarterly photo competition — hundreds of online photographers vie for spots in her seasonal showcases. Those quarterly winners are featured in Jen Bekman's New Photographers Annual, published each spring, but they also have their eye on the big prize: representation by the NYC gallery through 2008 and a spot in next year's Ne Plus Ultra exhibition. The HHS! blog keeps its readers current on a variety of emerging photographers from all over the world, featuring entries from contenders, news and updates from Hot Shot Alumni. The Fall 2007 Edition is on — submissions will be accepted until November 6th, so apply today!
Photographs by Mikael Kennedy 
Armed with a Polaroid SX-70, photographer Mikael Kennedy has spent the past several years on the road, documenting the people and objects that inhabit his world. The series derives its name from a conversation Kennedy and his brother had while climbing over a barricade onto a crumbling pier, and Passport to Trespass provides a glimpse into this life — one of roaming and restlessness rendered in a vocabulary of landscape and vision. The resulting collection of images reads like small-scale paintings comprised of long exposures and rich colors, each preserved within the white borders of the polaroid print.
Photographs by Todd Deutsch 
Family Days takes place in the middle of a minor madhouse in the upper midwest. It is an autobiographical project based on family, fatherhood, and young sons. Deutsch's photographs describe the fatigue and tension that develop when the arrival of his third son upsets an already fragile domestic peace. Constant activity, endless jockeying for attention and a rising testosterone level spin the family closer to the edge of physical and psychological exhaustion. Set in common centers of family life — the kitchen, living room, backyard, and bedroom — these photographs reflect the craziness in a world overtaken over by three growing boys.
ed. Jon Feinstein 
A non-profit arts organization whose sole mission is advancing the careers of emerging fine art photographers, Humble Arts has launched numerous projects, the most notable being group-show, a monthly online gallery featuring single photographs from a variety of contributors. Earlier this month, Humble outfitted its website with a new design and expanded its projects to include a monthly "solo show" exhibition featuring a larger body of work from individual photographers. Humble will host its Chelsea debut at New Century Artists gallery on Thursday March 15.
Photographs by Jeff Brouws 
Like many who grew up during the spread of sprawl — with its predictable landscape of housing developments, interstate highways, and big-box construction — acclaimed photographer Jeff Brouws is intrigued by places that still show signs of the vernacular past. What began as cultural geography of Main Streets became a visual critique of the myth of upward mobility that created this car-centered, paved-over universe. Combining a minimal, bleak beauty with understated social commentary, his evocative color photographs seek a deeper meaning behind the cycle of construction, decay, decline and renewal.
ed. Humble Media 
Group Show is an online exhibition featuring the work of emerging and established photographers. Launched last spring by Humble Media and curated by a handful of editors, there are no conceptual guidelines or requirements to the images in its pages — The galleries provide a collage of the world as its contributors see it. Each monthly installment presents a revolving assortment of 24 photographers, mixing familiar names with new ones from beneath the surface.
Photographs by Terry Evans 
Renowned landscape photographer Terry Evans explores the complexities of Chicago's "urban prairie" from an all-seeing observation point in the sky. Evans' dramatic aerial portraits explore the topographical diversity of the city's contemporary landscape, while exposing the environmental, economic, and social challenges it faces with continued development.
Photographs by Ryan Keberly 
Detroit photographer Ryan Keberly takes his camera into the city to capture a photo a day. He puts his subjects — often homeless folks living on the streets — directly in front of the lens and their gazes are penetrating. The up-close portraiture compels, because it begs us to look at the people whose glance we usually try to avoid.
Photographs by Simon Hoegsberg 
Over the course of three months, Danish photographer Simon Hoegsberg approached 140 strangers on the streets of Copenhagen and New York City and asked them what they were thinking the moment before he stopped them. He recorded their replies and then took their picture. Subtitled, "Life-Snaps," this elegant collection of portraits captures the daily minutiae of modern survival. His subjects' replies — published verbatim from the street recordings — range from the expected ("Should I grab a coffee before work?") to the surprising ("What is the cost of an intermediate-range ballistic missle?").
Photographs by Paul Fusco 
Twenty years ago, Chernobyl's Reactor no. 4 unleashed a modern plague that condemned a region and seeped invisibly into the bodies of those exposed to its destructive presence. Magnum photographer Paul Fusco's interactive essay examines the event's horrifying consequences.
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FLAK PHOTO FEATURES The Center for Fine Art Photography | 2009 International Exhibition Earlier this summer, Flak Photo editor Andy Adams juried The Center for Fine Art Photography's 2009 International Exhibition. The group show is on display at The Center's gallery in Fort Collins, Colorado this month as well as in an online gallery on their website. For more information about the C4FAP and to view the exhibtion online, visit C4FAP.org In support of the project, Flak Photo highlights work from twenty-one of these photographers in the month of October, including images from Nicole Hatanaka, Maureen Drennan, Bethany Souza, Alison Smith, Erin Toland, Janet Pritchard, Bonnie Jones, Justin Walker, Jonathan Blaustein, Stuart Brown, Yijun Liao, Stuart Clugston, Elizabeth Fleming, Salma Khalil, Ted Casey, Julie Young, Ali Smith, Aaron Thomas, Darren Lee Miller, Eduardo Maurizio, and Stephen Weissberger. The exhibition features photographers from the United States, Mexico, Canada, China, Argentina, France and the United Kingdom and celebrates the Internet's influence on contemporary photography culture around the world: connecting international audiences to art experiences, enabling the discovery of new work and presenting never-before-seen channels of expression and communication. Flak Photo's C4FAP International Exhibition feature runs weekdays from OCT 2-30, 2009. Don't want to miss a day? Subscribe to daily email delivery of Today's Flak Photo and connect with Flak Photo on Twitter + Facebook!
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CALL FOR ENTRIES Project Basho is pleased to announce ONWARD, an annual juried photography competition exclusively featuring the work of new and emerging photographers with unique vision and talent. Deadline for submissions is Friday, November 13. For details, visit the ONWARD website by clicking the graphic to your right. |
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IN PRINT / NEW PHOTO BOOKS Flak Photo considers unsolicited photography books from artists, publishers and galleries for inclusion in its pages. To submit a title for consideration, contact editor Andy Adams by email at photo@flakmag.com. 
A Certain Alchemy | Photographs by Keith Carter
Lauded as "a transcendent realist" and "a poet of the ordinary," Keith Carter is an internationally acclaimed photographer whose work has been shown in over one hundred solo exhibitions in thirteen countries. At first finding his subjects in the familiar, yet exotic, places and people of his native East Texas, Carter has since expanded his range not only geographically, but also into realms of dreams and imagination, where objects of the mundane world open glimpses into ineffable realities. Here, he explores relationships that are timeless, enigmatic, and mythological. Drawing from the animal world, popular culture, folklore, and religion, Carter presents photographs that attempt to reflect hidden meanings in the real world. Accompanying the images is an introduction by Carter's friend and fellow photographer Bill Wittliff, who describes Carter's artistic journey and the epiphanies he has experienced. Patricia Carter, Keith's wife and muse, also offers her insights into the wellsprings of his work. Hardcover • 182 duotone photographs • 184 pages • 12 x 12 in. • $50 US • About the Book 
One day in November | Photographs by Jessica BackhausJessica Backhaus’ book is a tribute to Gisèle Freund on what would have been her 100th birthday in December 2008. The book One Day In November is a testament to the friendship between the great photographer and a young photography student in Paris during the 1990s. Intended as a posthumous birthday present, Backhaus compiled a collection of images that are meant to convey visually what Gisèle Freund taught her and what Gisèle meant to her. Freund herself, a former Magnum photographer, can certainly be considered as one of the great artistic and intellectual figures of the twentieth century whose impact can be traced to her photographic work and colorful biography. Hardcover • 1 B&W / 99 color photographs • 128 pages • 8.5 x 9.5 in. • $78.00 US • About the Book 
Who We Were | A Snapshot History of America
Since the birth of snapshots, Americans have used simple, inexpensive cameras to record their life stories. In the process, they have left behind millions of pictures that document the story of America. The book's authors — Michael Williams, Richard Cahan, and Nicholas Osborn — spent the past decade at flea markets and antique stores, and went online looking at more than a million family photos to find snapshots that tell America's story. The book begins in 1888 with the earliest snapshots and ends in 1972, when a NASA astronaut placed a cherished family snapshot on the moon. With 350 color and black-and-white photos, Who We Were shows a side of America not reflected in history or photography books: a racy, quirky, fun-loving nation. It shows real America. Hardcover • 350 B&W / color photographs • 240 pages • 10 x 9.75 in. • $45 US • About the Book |
CONNECT WITH FLAK PHOTO
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WEEKEND / NOVEMBER 7, 14, 21 & 28, 2009 We're pleased to present Flak Photo's WEEKEND series, a curated selection of images that highlights work from new photo essays, book projects and gallery exhibitions. Series photographs are published on Saturdays and shown throughout the weekend.
Not Niigata | Photographs by Andrew Phelps When traveling in a foreign place, we tend to be fascinated with both the exotic and the mundane. The two are often one and the same, especially in a place where the gap between old and new is astronomical. But what does it mean to photograph with the pretense of documentation? Earlier this year, Andrew Phelps was commissioned to photograph in Japan’s Niigata Prefecture for the European Eyes on Japan Festival. Rather than attempting to portray an illusion of cultural comprehension in the resulting images, Phelps' used his camera to observe the gap between cultures. These pictures don't claim to "tell the truth" about his experience — they're merely a visual response to his brief encounter as a traveler, passing through, always lost and illiterate. In fact, they present a story about not understanding Niigata. About the Photographer | About the Book | Order the Not Niigata Special Edition |
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SPONSOR FLAK PHOTO Do you have an online photography project you'd like to promote? Share it with our readers by placing a graphic advertisement in this space. Banner ad space is available for use on a rolling basis. For details about our readership, website statistics, or to inquire about placing a graphic ad, email editor Andy Adams at photo@flakmag.com. |
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ABOUT FLAK PHOTO Flak Photo is a daily photography website that celebrates the art & culture of photography online. Produced by Andy Adams, the site highlights new series work, book projects and gallery exhibitions from an international community of contributors. SUBMISSIONS An online gallery and social media magazine, Flak Photo provides unique opportunities for artists and photography organizations to share their work with a community of photographers, galleries, publishers, curators and editors. To submit your work for consideration, email your photograph (sRGB JPG format, minimum 1000px wide) with title and caption details to photo@flakmag.com. Please include the following information with your submission:
Naturally, photographers retain all copyright on submitted materials. Contributors are formally credited and Flak Photo's style is to link the credit to a contributor's website. THE FINE PRINT All photographs presented here are the sole property of the contributing artist unless otherwise noted. Published works are protected under domestic and international copyright laws and are not considered to be public domain. No photograph may be reproduced, copied, manipulated, or used whole or in part of a derivative work, without written permission. All rights reserved. |
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