Book Marked

You know you’re in the right place when there are art books around. With subjects from hip hop, fine art to new wave Cuban culture, CY gets a Q & A with the artists behind three of photography’s newest titles.

Humble Arts Foundation, The Collector’s Guide V2 [ Editors: Humble Arts Foundation's Jon Feinstein & Amani Olu]

9 x 10.5 in, hardcover
216 pages
$49.95
Available March 4th 2011

How does your selection process differ from editing a book as opposed to curating an exhibition?

Given the book’s larger scale than most exhibitions we’ve curated (it includes 100 photographers in contrast to our exhibitions which have included 31, at most) it gives us the opportunity to showcase considerably more artists than we’d have the opportunity to with a traditional/ thematic exhibition. As we look at thousands of new photographers over the course of a year, this gives us a chance to pare it down to those we think are most promising, and deserve to have their work seen by people of influence in the art and publishing world.

Photography has been in transition in recent years as digital makes the medium more and more accessible, has that changed the way you work, if so how?

It has given us the ability to see more and more photography on a daily basis than we might have in the past. There are positive and negatives to this on the positive side, it has given photographers the ability to explore new ideas on an accelerated level, using the internet’s photographic presence to borrow influence internationally, and also learn about photo history on a much more agile level. Digital cameras have allowed everyone to think they’re a photographer, and while this has many negative sides to it, it has helped many photographers who didn’t have the privilege of going to art school to join the discussion.

What are your thoughts on curating as an art form?

I think it can be just as significant as making work itself. While curating and editing are different animals, both are practices that can help to organize or clarify artists ideas, or bring them new light or definition by placing them in new contexts. This might sound obvious, but I think curators rely as much on artists as artists do on curators and vice versa; not in making or breaking a career, but in helping to clarify or reinterpret one’s vision, relationship to photo/art history, and the works interaction with a larger cultural sphere not necessarily immediately related to visual art.

Adam Eckberg, Arrangement #2

Generally speaking, we’re drawn to work that pushes photography’s visual and conceptual potential with some kind of discussion on its history. Arrangement #2, like much of Adam’s work does this with a playful sensibility. His photos play with staged scenarios, still life and documentary traditions in a magical way that are smart, but don’t take themselves too seriously.

Wendy Given, Of Augar and Auspice: No 5

I find Wendy’s work to be both funny and terrifying. Like Adam Eckberg, Wendy Given creates staged scenarios, but are much more narrative driven. While Adam’s work pays specific attention to the phenomena of light and color, Wendy’s staged work deals more with fairytales and cultural tableaux.  I think what attracts me most to her work is its ability to take a genre that’s been done to death in art school, and give it a fresh life.

David Leventi, Curtain Palais Garnier , Paris, France

I’ve always had problems with photographers who either rely too heavily on concept, or are entirely decorative in their approach, without combining the two. David, however, manages to make stunning, visually arresting images that I’d hang over my couch any day, but are rooted in both cultural exploration and photographic history in their references to the Becher’s typological traditions.
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Mike Schreiber, True Hip Hop

7.1 x 7.3 in, hardcover
96 pages
$14.95
Available now

Your career took off during a huge magazine boom in the early 2000′s, do you miss shooting for magazines? Do you think we’ll see a resurgence?

I do miss shooting for magazines. I was busy all the time, and within each magazine you’d see many different styles of shooting. There might be a resurgence, but one without any money involved.

During your 12 year career, Hip Hop has obviously made some transformations, how is shooting this new generation of artists and has it affected your enthusiasm at all for shooting?

I havent really shot much Hip Hop in the past few years, so I can’t really comment on the new generation. My enthusiasm for shooting is always the same, but the subject matter changes.

What are your plans now that the book is out?

Since the book came out in November, I’ve been working on promoting. Having shows and book signings. Doing interviews. I have a show coming up in Atlanta in July and I’m planning to do something in London soon. As far as shooting goes, I’m just grinding as always, trying to get more work.

Common

Most people think this picture of Common was taken in a barbershop, but it was actually in the apartment of the guy that was assisting me that day. He had a loft, and there was little budget for the shoot, so we used his space. Common was getting his beard touched up and I took pictures of it.

Beastie Boys

 

There was a New Yorkers for Peace concert after 9/11 and before the U.S. invaded Iraq. I was shooting the show for Spin Magazine and this picture was taken in the Beastie Boys dressing room. There were wives and kids all over, a very familial atmosphere, and I couldn’t help but wonder how much differnt the scene would’ve been a decade earlier.

Juelz Santana

I was in a car on FDR Drive [in NYC] one day and drove past the “Crack is Wack” mural by Keith Haring on 125th St and I decided that I wanted to shoot there. XXL called me to shoot Juelz and asked where I wanted to do it. Since Juelz is from Harlem, I thought the mural would be perfect. We shot there and Juelz’ only request was for me not to show the words “Crack is Wack” in the photo.

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Helena de Braganca, I am Cuban

11.9 x 8.5  in, hardcover
168 pages
$50
Available March 31st 2011

Cuba is a pretty restrictive place, what are your plans on promoting the book in Cuba?

Yes, Cuba is quite restrictive and unfortunately because of the content
of some of my photographs I could not promote or distribute this book
throughout Cuba even though I would like to.  Pornographic material is
against the law and taking pictures of naked Cubans constitutes pornography although it is well known that many foreigners fly to Cuba as a sex destination and seek out prostitutes whom you see roaming the boardwalk “Malecon” in Havana.  Cuban culture has always been openly sexual and isn’t seen as being taboo or something only practiced behind hushed doors.  My book “I Am Cuban” is a compilation of raw, intimate portraits of Cubans fro all walks of life and I wanted to take photographs of consensual adults, not paid prostitutes, enjoying their sexual pleasures.  These few photographs are taken artistically and composed thoughtfully being more evocative of sex than the typical “pornographic” image but the subjects are nude and I am not sure how the Cuban government would see them, I am not willing to take the chance!  I hope that one day the Cuban government will be less restrictive and I will be able to share my book with it’s citizens openly.

Why did you choose to work with film?

I chose to work with film for a variety of reasons. I love working with
my two Leica M6′s, one I load with a film for daylight and the other for low
light situations.  The lens’ are incredibly sharp and the camera is
elegantly light and unobtrusive.  When I work with my subjects I want them to feel comfortable and intimate with me, letting their inhibitions go.  In my opinion, if I pulled out a huge, modern digital camera with a big lens, I would lose this moment of intimacy immediately.  I also enjoy printing in the darkroom and love the final look of a Chromogenic Color photograph. Although digital photography is advancing at a rapid pace and I use a Canon 5D for my commercial work, I still like being restricted to 36 frames in a roll which forces me to be mindful of every single image that I take.  Also, taking film images protected me in a way, they could only be reviewed after being developed which I did upon returning to New York City.

What are your plans after this project?

I have many projects brewing and a couple that I have been working on.
I am mostly focused at the moment on promoting “I Am Cuban” and organizing exhibitions/book signings.  It has been two years since I have been in Cuba and I would like to return as there are many changes that are occurring with the power change from Fidel Castro to his brother Raul and  US policy change implemented by Barack Obama.  I have also found the stories of Cubans who have married foreigners to leave their country and families in search of a better life quite compelling as they try to assimilate into a new capitalist society.

Boxer Boy

I was walking on the outskirts of Camaguey and came across this cute boy training with his boxing coach on the dirt roads.  He was passionately boxing with worn gloves and suddenly got punched by his coach in the right eye which swelled up immediately. He was furious when I asked him to take this shot, full of bravado and pride.

Profile Landscape

The streets in Camaguey are labyrinths that were created to deter pirates. The tiled roofs are 18th Century and caved in from its age. I was admiring the roofs against a blue sky when a man passed by me and turned to look at what I was photographing. I snapped and captured his profile in the shade.

No Future

I met a young man who was desperate to leave Cuba because he had a sad past and no family, his home in an alleyway. He told me that he had no future in Cuba.

Buy I am Cuban