James Delano : BLACK TSUNAMI : Generosity of Spirit

BLACK TSUNAMI
JAMES WHITLOW DELANO

Cherry blossoms have open on a tree that seems to rise right out of the rubble.  Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. copyright James Whitlow Delano

As some of you may know I am not always dark  hearted and brittle,over the years I have worked on a number of charity events with the help of many photographers who have one thing in common " a generosity of spirit" I have often wondered about this out pouring of giving and the closest I have come to understanding it ,is that idea of photography preserving our humanness. One of the charities I lend my support to is Friends Without a Border,which was found by Kenro Izu.In the last 4 years an artist has donated a portfolio of prints created especially for FWAB . James Whitlow Delano was our 2012 portfolio contributor.This is a small way for me to thank him by sharing his Kickstater project with you.

BLACK TSUNAMI :

Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined such a natural and man-made disaster hitting my adopted home of Japan.  By the time we arrived in the tsunami zone, there was snow falling and mud everywhere.   People shuffled almost as in a dream through twisted and tormented debris that suggested the forces at play.  By the time we reached the first evacuation center, taking off our shoes, soaked with frigid sea water, and entered a cold, dark gymnasium, chill had penetrated to the bone, but as much as we felt the cold, the young and old were hit far, far worse.  Survivors huddled around kerosene heaters.  After 20 years in Japan, I looked out at people who could have been my neighbors, friends or even members of my own family.  Never had a disaster been more raw, more real, more personal.

We seek your support to make a permanent record of this event, which changed Japan forever. 

A little help from lots of people can go a long way."Generosity of spirit ",I know it is a cliche ,but it is one I believe in.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2066133663/black-tsunami-japan-2011

www.jameswhitlowdelano.com
http://www.fotoevidence.com/

Go + See
KEITH SMITH
April 18 - June 1 2013
Bruce Silverstein Gallery
535 West 24th Street
New York, New York

Untitled, c. 1973
Photograph with stitching and pencil drawing mounted to paper

In a Split Second, 1966    
Print emulsion with drawing mounted to paper

  Aatis Lillstrom, 1965    Gelatin silver print, printed c. 1965

1971 for Book 22, c. 1971 
Photo-collage with hand-stitching

After Thought of Book 3, Frontrunner of a page in Book 11, 1968    
Gelatin silver print

Aatis Lillstrom, 1965    
Gelatin silver print, printed c. 1965

About a year ago the Bruce Silverstein Gallery had a surprising and elegant exhibition of handcrafted books by the artist/photographer Keith Smith. A year later the gallery has installed a new exhibit of Mr Smith's photos and photo based creations, which are like his books a delight.

This is a large exhibition which gives the viewer an inside into the creative process. We gets a chance to see the artist return to ideas, themes and motifs that drives his art over time. There is innocence, mystery, magic, humor and well as mastery of craft.

I was thinking about other artists when walking away from this exhibit last evening and the name that came to my mind first was Joseph Cornell an artist that created an intense personal world that still intrigue. One day I would love to see these two artists together
in dialogue exhibition.

Go and see this show in fact make a couple of visits each visit will be rewarding.

All images are copyrighted and used with permission of the artist and Bruce Silverstein Gallery

Bruce Silverstein
535 West 24th Street
brucesilverstein.com/artist/294/keith

212-627-3930

Raymond Adams AMERICA : WITNESSED

Go + See

Raymond Adams
AMERICA : WITNESSED
photographs by Raymond Adams
essay by Duane Michals

Patriot
New York, New York 12 September 2001 

One never knows what to expect from day to day, so today when I received a call from Ray Adams I was surprised that he found me talkative and revealing. Part of the conversation had to do with the idea of uncertainty. Part of the conversation was about his book America : Witnessed and the unending quest to identify and understand what American is. At one point it seemed so fixed. I feel it will always be more fluid now. That there will be more young people taking there cameras on a trip to answer that question on the great American road trip, It is part of our being to hit the road to see. Looking at a pdf of America :Witnessed, I found myself not wanting to reduce the 47 images down to 5 or 8 .

Is American the cities, the land or its' many people or is it just an illusive dream that inspires ? As I grow older I feel it may be just an illusive dream,that is why I chose this image Patriot ,you may read into this image whatever you want.

America : Witnessed also represents another aspect of the American idea it will be published with the help of many people through Kickstarter ,maybe you would like to participate too .I am adding a link at the end of this post, but before I do here are some of Ray's thoughts about this project

" What is the American Dream? Is it a big house, and a fast car? Is it a right to free speech? Or is it my right to defend myself? Am I constitutionally guaranteed access to a cheap gallon of gasoline? Or am I guaranteed clean drinking water?

These photographs are an effort at tying an anchor to my own notions of these ideas, as they are continually being dragged by the current of time. From what I can tell, I don’t think anything can definitively define the American Dream, and I believe that’s the reason it continues to breathe."

This is what I’ve seen. 

Raymond Adams 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1049083645/america-witnessed

www.raymondadams.net

If you are near Asheville North Carolina : Go + See Gerald Slota: Story, at the Castell Photography Gallery

Go+See

Gerald Slota : Story
A Retrospective Exhibition
April 12 - June 28 2013
Castell Photography Gallery
2C Wilson Alley
Asheville,North Carolina

FOUND Family With Still Life

TRUE Screaming Boy

TRUE Untitled Scout Leader

Home Sweet Home

FABLE : Hansel & Gretel.

When I first started to collect,to be honest I preferred formal images with a little
added little that distracted over the years I would like to feel I have grown.One of the artists who has expand my vision with his visceral photographs was Gerald Slota

Story represents a selection of photographs, most of them unique, from five different bodies of Slota’s work beginning in 1998. Gerald Slota, whose entire artistic oeuvre has focused on imagined secret histories and subliminal narratives, often begins work on a new photograph with a sketch in one of his many journals. Much of Slota's work, often torn and marked, is eerily nostalgic-- quirky strange narratives, seemingly referencing other people's dreams, nightmares, and memories. This exhibition explores both Slota's process and his artistic projects. Featured is a selection of photographs, many of them unique, from 5 different bodies of work as well as a selection of Slota's journals.

There will be a reception and book signing at Castell Photography Gallery on Friday April 12 starting at 06:00. his book, Story, was listed as one of The New York Times Magazine’s top photo books of 2012.

All images courtesy of Castell Photography and Gerald Slota

www.castellphotographygallery.com 
828-255-1188

BRIAN DAVID STEVENS : Those Who Survive

" THEY THAT ARE LEFT... "
  Remembrance Portraits : by Brian David Stevens

All pictures taken on Armistice Day 2002 - 2012 in the United Kingdom a ten year project by Brian David Stevens

I saw this quote in The NYT today " The past is never dead. It's not even past." William Faulkner. These words reflect so well how memory keeps old friends, family and comrades alive.

I had to correct , Sorry about getting your name wrong again Brian,for me your images are hard to forget. Someone wrote that there is something in the eyes, stories are being told.

" They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them..."

from Laurence Binyon's 'The Fallen' (first published in The Times, 21st September 1914)

Jim Naughten : Re-enactors

JIM NAUGHTEN : RE-ENACTORS    

                                       

U.S. Master Sargent

  Evacuee with Mickey Mouse Gas Mask (2008) 

                       

Norland Panzer Grenadier (2008)

Evacuee Girl in Blue Coat (2008)

Red Cross Nurse (2008)

Civilian with Black Fox Fur (2008)

Soviet Cossack (2008)

Corporal, German Navy (2008

                          

Young Solider (2008)

Red Cross Panzer Grenadier Medic

The idea about people who reenact famous periods in time intrigue me .Maybe it  explains my fascination with costume dramas. Anderson Scott Civil War images with their irony and tweaking of expectation is one way to deal with the power of recreating the moment.Then there is Jim Naughten's portraits " In this body of    work, Naughten has photographed some of the thousands of people, who step out of their daily lives to transform into historical characters from the First and  Second World Wars and re-enact battles and drills. "                                    

These images stand in direct contrast to the work of Mr Scott who behind the scene images creates a wry smile . Naughten's 2008-2010 images Inspired by Richard Avedon’s In The American West, has stripped away the context of the participants, heightening the sense of artifice and, through photographic technique, sublimated his subjects.These prints that include tanks and battle scenes—chromatically echo photographs of the past, yet are undoubtedly contemporary. 

At the moment I am fascinated about the idea of cataloging types of faces and people.Do the eyes reveal the soul or is it a small undetectable gesture that give these assorted characters their humanity.  

  

WHISTLING DIXIE

Go+See
Anderson Scott : Whistling Dixie
a new book
published by Columbia College Chicago Press
available nation wide and Amazon.com

     all Images ©Anderson Scott, Columbia Press


I first became aware of Whistling Dixie in late 2007.When Anderson Scott showed me a portfolio that he had been working on and asked  my opinion, much to my surprise and maybe his too, I loved the images and kept up with the project over the years it took to get this interesting and timely body of work published.

A note to artists/photographers if you believe,in your project, then see it through.

I learned a lot about re-enactors.but what I found compelling is the tension of capturing history, spectacle and the  ritual of a war long past. The Civil War is considered to be the rebirth of America. We benefited from the technological advances in photography which were all made within 50 years  and recorded this great event.I sometime think, this war, photography and the Industrial Revolutions were part of the catalyst for the 20th century

I am southern so I can understand the struggle some may have with this book.In fact what these photographs represent is just an essay about a period of history and trying to  remember it. What fascinates me are the young who are trying to remember their ancestors reality and find their own
in the digital age.

I am not adding captions until later.I will ask that you look at and read these images there are many details that you should discover for yourself

One or two notes when  I was art director and editor of SXSE magazine the first 9 issues, Andersen Scott and I spoke and this was one of the first artists chosen for the publication in the premier issue in 2011.

There will be a book signing and artist talk at
A Novel Experience March 23 at 6:30pm
426 Thomaston Street, Zebulon, GA.
(770) 567-1103