Los Angeles. Tradition names it the City of Angels. Orson Welles called it “that bright, guilty place.” In modern pop culture it’s known as ‘La La Land.’ In an earlier era, L.A. was said to be where intellectuals went to ruin themselves. In its long … Keep readingJohn Humble
Over the last year and a half, in the course of preparing these salon discussions, I’ve done quite a bit of research on a lot of photographers. Not surprisingly, a lot of the same names kept turning up when those photographers discussed their influences. They’re … Keep readingEvelyn Hofer
He was born Gyula Halász in the ancient Transylvanian city of Brassó. In 1902, his family moved to Paris for a year (his father, a professor of literature, had a one year lectureship at the Sorbonne). Given that he was only three years old at … Keep readingBrassaï
Richard Barnes is usually described as an architectural and editorial photographer, which is probably an accurate although limited description of the work he’s actually done. When he was a fine art student at U.C. Berkeley, he wanted to incorporate some photographic elements into his printmaking. … Keep readingRichard Barnes
We’re doing something a tad different this week. Last week we took a look at Alessandra Sanguinetti’s series On the Sixth Day ; this week we’re going to look at the same photographer, but a different series. Sanguinetti photographed The Adventures of Guille and Belinda … Keep readingAlessandra Sanguinetti – Part Two
One problem with writing a series of essays on photographers is the necessary evil of categorization. Is this photographer a portrait artist, is that photographer a street photographer, is this other photographer French because they grew up in France, or Hungarian because they were born … Keep readingAlessandra Sanguinetti – Part One
Every few years the world of art photography discovers a new golden child. From 2000 to 2005 the golden child was Ryan McGinley. He was young, he was gay, he was a skateboard thrasher, and he had moderately attractive friends who got high and were … Keep readingRyan McGinley
In the late 1950s when director Federico Fellini was writing the screenplay for his classic movie La Dolce Vita he needed a name for a character–a news photographer. He chose the name Paparazzo. Where did he get that name? One etymologist says Fellini claimed it … Keep readingRon Galella
Sometimes the accident of birth shapes the course of one’s life. It’s true for Shomei Tomatsu. He was born and raised in the industrial city of Nagoya, Japan in 1930. The fact that Nagoya was an industrial center became important 15 years later when U.S. … Keep readingShomei Tomatsu
She was born in the spring of 1907 in Poughkeepsie, New York. Her parents named her Elizabeth Miller, though she went through life using her nickname ‘Lee.’ Her career–in fact, her entire life–could be described as remarkable. It could, with equal accuracy, also be described … Keep readingLee Miller