Someone missing: the still life

This week's post is inspired by an old friend of mine, Corey Seeholzer.  All three of the exhibitors' work remind me of Corey's photography.  Check out his photo blog

He has an amazing, quirky style.  Whether he includes models (by the way, wonnnnderful lighting skills!) or takes photos of environments void of people, his images provide a depth of storytelling and mystery.  These artists provide the same feeling of wonderment with their still lives.

Trent Parke

Untitled

Stills Gallery

36 Gosbell Street . Paddington

NSW 2021 Sydney

Australia

28 Oct - 28 Nov 2009

This is such a simple still life and is so beautiful.  The dark green/blue walls and the cords with the singular suitcase makes me giggle with enjoyment of the unknown.  Questioning the intent and who may have previously been in the environment is such a beautiful mystery to try and decipher.  This work reminds me a lot of Corey's environmental still lives, mentioned above.  Kudos, everyone!

Laura Letinsky

Untitled #1, 2009

 

BRANCOLINI GRIMALDI
ARTE CONTEMPORANEA

Via dei Tre Orologi, 6A

00197 Rome, Italy

23 OCTOBER – 13 DECEMBER 2009

Here is a prime example of the still life after everyone has left the party.  Letinsky is a Canadian artist who was commissioned to photograph tabletops in historic Roman Palazzi during one month this past spring.  Each photograph in the series provides a different, interesting story and is wonderfully photographed.  I love wanting to know more and I find myself continuing to look at these photographs to decipher the information that has been provided so that I can learn more of the mystery.

Chen Wei

Light on the Folding Bed, 2009

 C-Print. 100cm x 130cm, Edition of 6.

m97 Gallery

RC. Shanghai

14 Nov - 15 Jan 2010

Beaaautiful!  This still life's mirrors bring amazing visual interest to an otherwise empty room, notwithstanding the cot.  The reflections of light on the wall remind me of snow falling.  Well, maybe snow, maybe glitter.  Either way, there is a dreamlike quality to the image-sans people.

Somethin' missing...

I've become a huge fan of night photography.  In all of the following photographs, I'm physically in them, for at least a little bit of time but because they're about 30 second exposure times, I'm not in them the whole time.  Even in the last one, check out the transparent nature of my legs. 

© Jonah Wright

 

© Jonah Wright

 

© Jonah Wright

'Cuz trees are terrrrrific

Sure, so maybe I thought that 'trees are terrrrrific' was a fun blast from the past.  It was also ironic that there are three of them.  Thankfully the title wasn't "t(h)rees are terrific."  Heaven knows I enjoy using excess punctuation.  Anyway, I like trees; okay, I love trees.  A regular ol' tree-hugger, even.  This week, I'd love if we were all able to take a little bit of time to reflect on our friends, the trees and at least a few of their visual and symbolic referents.

Joel Sternfeld

Central Park, north of the Obelisk, behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, May 1993

C-Print, AP 3/3, Ed. 7

On this Site

Buchmann Galerie

Charlottenstr. 13/75
10969 Berlin
Germany
18 Sep - 07 Nov 2009

This is such a beautiful, encompassing tree and the warm (probably sunset) lighting does wonders for it.  The encompassing tree is juxtaposed by the reasoning of this photo locale.  "In this sobering collection, Joel Sternfeld looks at places where violence has stained the American Landscape. Arriving long after news photographers have gone, he presents us with the landscape that is left behind, the ordinary site that remains after the tragedy."  "I went to Central Park to find the place behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art where Jennifer Levin had been killed. It was bewildering to find a scene so beautiful... to see the same sunlight pour down indifferently on the earth."  I know, quite the juxtaposition, right?  The mixed feelings of the beauty integrated with the knowledge of the slain individuals are apparent in each of Sternfeld's photographs. 

Eve Sonneman

PINS PARASOL A CANNES, 2007

   

 Digitally printed color photograph on Japanese paper, Ed. of 10
20 x 30 in. 50.8 x 76.2 cm.

Nohra Haime Gallery
41 East 57th Street
NY 10022 New York
USA

07 Oct - 07 Nov 2009

Sonneman's diptychs are a bit on the lighter side, presenting sequence shots of leisure time.  She "explores the notion of the landscape as witness to the passage of time."  The silhouetted trees do a great job providing for the visual landscape and that relaxed leisure quality.

Michael Kenna

Flatiron Building, Study 2, New York City, USA, 2003

New York + New Works

Galerie Camera Obscura

268, boulevard Raspail
75014 Paris
France

14 Oct - 28 Nov 2009

Seeing as though I'm concurrently taking a History of Photography class, I smiled when I realized that this photograph didn't belong to Stieglitz or Steichen, but rather to Michael Kenna who is paying homage to some of the masters of photography.  Although they may sometimes be overlooked, the use of the tree(s) (branches) adds so much depth and character to the photograph.  It also provides an interesting juxtaposition with the concrete nature of the (city) building.  Trees really are terrific, aren't they?!

Falling for fall

     I'm not saying that I enjoy the cold (because I don't!) but all of those leaves that are sacrificing their lives as they fall off the trees in the cold make for pretty natural design.  Thanks, leaves.  Here are a few shots from my deck on a blasted overcast day (can we say muted tones?).

 

© Jonah Wright 

© Jonah Wright 

© Jonah Wright 

More of our 'other' kids

Our furry friends (and I don't just mean the bears) deserve their time in front of the camera.  Here are a few examples of current exhibitions somewhere in the world that include our non-human family and friends.

Michel Comte

Beauty and the Best l'Uomo Vogue 1996 

Retrospective

Galerie ACTE 2

41 rue d'Artois

75008 Paris

France

07 Sep - 30 Oct 2009

This looks a bit more like a fashion photograph to me but I love it.  The expressions of the models are wonderful in relation to the setting. And the print quality looks extremely well done.  I was trying to find more information about what kind of print this is.  I would be extremely impressed if it was silver gelatin and not a digital print. 

Charlotte Dumas

Untitled (Mask), 2009

Paradis

Foam_Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam

Keizersgracht 609
1017 DS Amsterdam
Netherlands

04 Sep - 22 Nov 2009

Dumas has a special talent with her portraits of animals.  Just look at the attention and personality that she was able to catch in that photo.  The lighting of the dog compared to the rich blue background creates a wonderful contrast of color.  Kudos!

Jill Greenberg

Portraits

Galerie ACTE 2
41 rue d'Artois
75008 Paris
France

Okay, so maybe this isn't someone's household friend but maybe it is.  Either way, what a beautiful, vibrantly colored photograph and headshot.  And look at those eyes!

Puppy Love

Yes, more love this week... this time I dedicate it to our 'other' family members, our pets.  Just yesterday I was sitting on the couch and the morning light hit my Lola so well that I had to snap a few pictures of her.  I'm starting to think after six years that she doesn't love her daddy pointing a random black box in her face.  Imagine: my little girl not loving the camera?!  Even if she doesn't love me waving the camera near her, the girl takes a good picture.  Exhibits (a), (b) and (c):

© Jonah Wright

 

© Jonah Wright

 

© Jonah Wright

Speaking of laughter

I went to the MCA Denver last weekend with a friend to check out their current exhibitions.  As we walked down a hallway, I'm sure we had a confused, perplexed look as we entered a gallery with strange noises coming from it.  Jim Green's installation made us laugh and laugh.  It was something to be experienced.  If you are here in Denver (or find yourself in Denver), check it out before the exhibition closes at the end of October.  It was a hearty reminder to me as to how difficult humor can be in art.  Sometimes we have a tendency to take ourselves a bit serious as artists.  I appreciate those that can pull off some humor in art.  The following photographs put a smile on my face.

Teresa Hubbard & Alexander Birchler

Grand Paris Texas, 2008

Aargauer Kunsthaus
Aargauerplatz
5001 Aarau
Switzerland

05 Sep - 08 Nov 2009

I can't decide if it is the sculpture, the photograph or both that make me giggle a little bit.  Talk about a great juxtaposition.  This sculpture is in Paris, Texas.  This photo is actually a still from a video piece about the intertwining of the folks in that little Texas town.  That red cowboy hat atop the pseudo Eiffel Tower is a winner.

Tim Roda

The Centaur, 2009

Galerie Michael Janssen
Rudi-Dutschke-Str. 26
10969 Berlin
Germany

18 Sep - 31 Oct 2009

What a beautiful photograph!  There is a playfulness in Roda's photographs and this very dreamlike image incites memories and contains a bit of enjoyable humor.  Oh, and of course the tonal range in the print is wonderful!

Rudi Weissenstein

Fisherman at the street, Tel Aviv, 1952

PHOTO 4 et Galerie Lucie Weill & Seligmann
4 & 6 rue Bonaparte
75006 Paris
France

01 Oct - 07 Nov 2009 

Humor, you ask?  I know, I know, it may not seem that this photograph contains that much humor unless you were me.  The first time I saw it, I totally thought that the man was wearing wings, like angel wings.  Look at it again... doesn't it look like those are angel wings?!  It might have just been me but I laughed pretty hard when I realized that was a big fish on his back and not angel wings.  It takes special people, okay?!

The best medicine

I love photographing people mid-laugh.   There is something so genuine, comfortable and real about capturing people in the middle of a funny story or good times.  Here are a few I've captured this past summer.

 

© Jonah Wright  

© Jonah Wright  

© Jonah Wright