SVA (School of Visual Arts) Theatre

333 West 23rd Street, New York, United States

Opening Time: 7pm

Admission: Free and open to the public

Telephone: 212.592.2980

RSVP: info@deardavemagazine.com

“I spent a great deal of my life being ignored. I was always very happy that way. Being ignored is a great privilege. That is how I think I learnt to see what others do not see and to react to situations differently. I simply looked at the world, not really prepared for anything.”

On Wednesday the 22nd of May photographer Saul Leiter, who is best known for his colour photography, will be discussing his photographic work with Vince Aletti, an accomplished photography critic and reviewer for the New Yorker, at the School of Visiual Arts Theatre.

Leiter’s photographic journey began when he started recording moments of urban life in both colour and black & white in the 1940s New York. Yet having had no formal training his early work was quickly spotted by Edward Steichen, resulting in two significant MoMA shows in the 1950s. Only over the last few years has Leiter received recognition for his role as one of the pioneers of colour photography, as he was one of the first, alongside photographers like William Eggleston and Stephen Shore to use colour photography for artistic work.

In a Lens Culture article about Saul Leiter it revealed some interesting stories about this photographer: At the press conference in Paris, Leiter confided that he often purchased inexpensive colour film that was past its expiration date: he loved to be surprised by the odd shifts in colour that would result. He also told funny stories about Robert Frank and his friend Diane Arbus. “Robert complained to me one morning over breakfast at the L&M that he was going back to Switzerland because there was nothing interesting to photograph in America!” (at this point Leiter pauses to laugh) “Then he went out and made The Americans!” Leiter also recounted how he turned down Steichen’s invitation to participate in the now-famous Family of Man exhibition: “It seemed to me that that exhibition was less about photography, and more about things that I wasn’t sure of.”

This talk is presented by Dear Dave, magazine as part of their ongoing series of conversations on contemporary photography.

Information: School of Visual Arts 

 January 26, 1897 - July 4, 1969

BBC Four has put together an exciting documentary about the legendary experimental and innovative fashion photographer, Erwin Blumenfeld, revealing the gripping and shocking story about him.

Credits: Narrator: Erin O’Connor, Producer: Remy Blumenfeld, Director: Nick Watson, Executive Producer: Michael Poole

Information: BBC

(Post to follow about the upcoming exhibition at Somerset House)

Film’s not Dead

13 Mount Pleasant, London, WC1X 0AR

Opening Times: Monday – Friday 11.00 – 6.00

Closed – Saturday & Sunday

Admission: FREE

For any further information: info@filmsnotdead.com

“First thing that comes to mind is ‘Hiatus’ as I had grown up working in the family business and I started to break away when I discovered travel. So more and more I started taking long breaks from work to go travelling.” 

We are very pleased and excited to announce that the second show in our new space is Dan Wood’s insightful yet gritty street photography, running from the 3rd of June until the 25th of June.

“I was born in Bridgend, South Wales 1974, where I still live to this day, working from my home based studio/darkroom. I have always been dedicated to black and white photography using film and traditional methods. I have not been swayed by the digital revolution, if anything, it has confirmed my loyalty to film. For me, it is in the darkroom where the work of the artist meets the work of the artisan. Personally I feel it is this that sets the traditional photographer apart from the modern day digital photographer.”

To see more photographs from Dan Wood please click Here

What is Welsh – Dan Wood / Featured Photographer – Dan Wood

Michael Hoppen Gallery
3 Jubilee Place,
London SW3 3T

Opening Times: Monday-Friday: 10.30am – 6pm
Saturday: 10.30am – 5pm
Sunday: Closed

Admission: Free

For Further information: +44 (0)20 7352 3649/contemporary@michaelhoppengallery.com

“…the time when a picture is taken is like an emotion, it’s like a sexual encounter. It’s like a fuck! So, timing is very important.”

We are delighted to see that the Michael Hoppen Contemporary gallery is currently showing the often shocking and yet beautifully composed photographs by the acclaimed Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki, who has been capturing women for now 40 years whose work is consistently criticised/discussed as sexist, degrading and on the verge of pornographic.

 Michael Hoppen Gallery will this year stage major solo shows of two of its grand masters: Nobuyoshi Araki and later in the year, Miyako Ishiuchi. Each an artist with a unique vision and aesthetic, both producing highly charged work in examining the sensitive subjects of that society.

 Araki is the king of provocation. In a very particular – and arguably peculiar – way he has made the subject his own. And here we celebrate those images from his most controversial body of work, Kinbaku, the Japanese art of bondage. Kinbaku-bi meaning literally the beauty of tight binding. And yes, though strong and offensive to some, disturbing to others, the pictures are often beautiful.

Araki’s other great obsession, which he started photographing as a schoolboy, is the traditional districts of Tokyo. In his mind the two – the women and the city – seem to be inextricably linked as themes. He has often spoken of his fascination with beginnings, the idea of the womb, and his desire to uncover that which society seeks to conceal. Sex, death and the transitory nature of life are the ideas that persist throughout his work. 

Unashamedly, proudly Araki challenges the social mores of his home country and especially its censorship laws. With this in mind, alongside his kinbaku works (recently published in a de-luxe edition by Taschen), the gallery is also displaying alongside original 18th and 19th C Japanese Shunga prints – an early form of covertly distributed erotica. These are exquisite woodblock engravings. Highly prized and brilliantly coloured Shunga prints are found internationally in important public and private collection. The British Museum in London is staging a major survey show this autumn.

Araki has spoken of the influence of Shunga on his work: “I’d like to take photos similar to Shunga, but I haven’t reached that level yet. There is bashfulness in Shunga. The genitals are visible, but the rest is hidden by the kimono. In other words, they don\’t show everything. They are hiding a secret.” 

 Displayed alongside these woodcuts some of the parallels with Araki’s own aesthetic will be clear, such as in the colourful, luxurious Kimonos and the traditional Japanese settings. This exhibition, uniting these two – the high drama of the large, colourful photographs and the intricate, fine details of the small clandestine erotica engravings – will, we hope, appeal to the private passions of an eclectic mix of people.

 This exhibition runs in conjunction with the release of  ‘Nobuyoshi Araki. Bondage’ by Taschen – available from their store at the following address: Taschen 12 Duke of York Square London SW3 4LY 02078810795

Information: Michael Hoppen Gallery

Recently all kinds of apps have been popping up to help us along with are photography, even your very own darkroom timer app. The next on to the scene is the PhotoExif, which is a beautifully designed app created by Oriol Garcia that allows you to record vital information about each photograph you take such as your shutter speed, aperture, camera, lens and so on.

Garcia says: “I wanted to record the info of every analog photos I take (camera, lens, shutter speed, aperture, GPS coordinates). I know many people write those on a Moleskine but I don’t usually carry one, so I decided to create an app for my iPhone to help me record that information.”

Instead of having to enter those details in manually every time it allows you to store a catalog of cameras and lenses that you use, it also has an interface that even replicates the design of an SLR camera. To select your lens, aperture, shutter speed, and focal length you simply have to turn digital sliders and dials.

To store your information you have to press a digital shutter button that records the information along with GPS coordinates and time, which is then organised into rolls of film. When you have finished your roll of film, that roll’s digital counterpart in PhotoExif should have the same number of “exposures” and contain the necessary details for each one!

Once you have your roll of physical film developed and scanned, you can easily apply the PhotoExif information directly to those digitized photos. Yet it doesn’t stop there, Garcia has also created a free companion desktop app called PhotoExifDesktop that applies each frame’s data to each digital frame on your computer.

PhotoExif/ App Store

It is that glorious time of year everyone when Ilford roll up their sleeves and begin to make an array of delicious Ultra Large Format Film! Now with their biggest ever offering yet (65 + items)

As of from yesterday (May 13th) until Friday the 28th of June, Ilford will start taking orders for sheet film in formats up to 20 x 24 inches, 70mm film, 122 and 127 format film, and even 120 format backing paper in 100ft lengths for those of you that make your own film rolls at home. Ilford are offering an extremely unique service, where photographers will be able to get their hands on very obscure sizes. The Film types that are available to choose from include FP4+, HP5+, Ortho Plus and even Delta 100 Professional in specialist formats, with an additional three sizes now available.

Steven Brierley, Director of Marketing at HARMAN, said, “It is vitally important for us to 
support users of large format sheet film, and other specialist film users. By amalgamating world-wide orders on an annual basis it allows us to make a viable production of large format sheet film or custom sizes once a year, and providing the volumes are sufficient we are happy to continue doing so.” 

Another amazing detail about this annual tradition is that you won’t be limited on the amount of custom-made specialty film you can order either. From the 28th of June Ilford will start the manufacturing process, once they have all the orders in. The process  of fulfilling these orders will begin, and by September you should have your fresh pack of uniquely sized film!

 Now that’s what I call a film company that goes all out to help the analogue community, thank you once again Ilford!

Please click below for a full list of participating dealers and terms.

Information: Ilford/ Press Release/ PDF

It’s that time of year everyone to start getting your pinhole cameras ready because it is World Wide Pinhole Day! This is a fantastic event that takes place each year on the last Sunday in April, where anyone and everyone from anywhere in the world can enter their pinhole photographs to the World Wide Pinhole Website. Your photograph/s will then become part of the World Wide Pinhole community on an online gallery where you will be able to view 1000 of different creative ways to make cameras and produce unusual photographs. This is an international event to celebrate the art of pinhole photography, to encourage us to go back to the simplicities of photography!

On the World Wide Pinhole Photography website they say: “Pinhole photography allows you to make a photograph that requires only a light-tight container (box, can,…) with a tiny hole in one side (as a camera) and any photo-sensitive surface in it. You can adapt an existing camera, or make the camera yourself . The experience of image-making becomes a little more special when created with your own hand-made camera; so, we provide different instructions in making your camera on our Support page.”

“With your own camera, infinite depth-of-field, skewed perspectives, and slower exposures, you may ultimately become more creative and more selective about what you choose to photograph. Magical things happen in pinhole photography…”

To become part of World Wide Pinhole Day, read on their How to Participate page.

To find out about the basics of Pinhole photography please visit DIY Photography for a brilliant compehensive guide on this unique photographic process.

Information: World Wide Pinhole Day 

Related Information: Handful of wacky cameras/ World’s Largest Pinhole

Michael Hoppen Gallery 3 Jubilee Place, London, SW3 3TD

Opening Times:  Mon – Fri 9.30 – 18.00 & Sat 10.30 – 17.00

Admission: Free

For further information:  020 7352 3649 / gallery@michaelhoppengallery.com

“The camera for an artist is just another tool. It is no more mechanical than a violin if you analyze it. Beyond the rudiments, it is up to the artist to create art, not the camera”

Information: Michael Hoppen Gallery / Brett Weston 

“I don’t photograph life as it is, but life as I would like it to be.”

Today is the birthday of one of the greatest pioneer’s of Photojournalism, Robert Doisneau, who would’ve been 101 on this day! Doisneau is regarded as one of France’s most popular and prolific reportage photographers, who is known for his playful, and ironic photographs of the growing eccentric life of Paris in the 20th century. This influential photographer is best known for his magical photograph entitled Le baiser de l’hôtel de ville (Kiss by the Hôtel de Ville), 1950 (shown below), which has been reproduced upon thousands and thousands of times over and over again, making this picture over many others of the ‘city of love’ the symbol of young love in Paris.

During his expansive career, photographer Robert Doisneau documented the French people is such a compelling way, where he with camera in hand sought for the surreal in everyday life. Doisneau’s work contained a distinctive sense of humour as well as a deep empathy for his subjects.

Doisneau was exposed to photography in the advertising department of a pharmaceutical firm. He embraced this new-found interest in photography and largely taught himself. Outside of his job, he began to see photography as a medium for at first a hobby – recording every day life during his wanderings through the streets of Paris. He began photographing details of objects in 1930 and sold his first photo-story to the Excelsior newspaper in 1932.

Robert Doisneau was born in 1912 in Gentilly in the Val-de-Marne near Paris. He studied engraving and lithography were he went on to work at lettering and advertising photographs in 1930. By 1931 he began to work for André Vigneau as his cameraman, and then joined the Renault factory in Billancourt in 1934 working as an industrial and advertising photographer.

In 1939 Doisneau was fired for being consistently late, he then decided to try some freelance advertising and postcard photography to earn his living. The postcards were a major outlet for photgraphers at the time and France had Europe’s largest industy. Later on in the year Doisneau was hired by the Rapho photo agency, where he created some of his professional street photographs, yet with the outbreak of the Second World War, however, he was called upon to serve in the French Army for a year before working for the résistance until 1945.

Some of Doisneau’s most memorable photographs were taken after the war, where after the war he joined the Alliance Photo Press Agency but finally returned to Rapho a year later, and remained with them throughout his working life, despite receiving an invitation from Henri Cartier-Bresson to join Magnum Photos. In 1949, Doisneau signed a contract with the fashion magazine Vogue, for which he worked as a full-time staff photographer until 1952 and from then carried on as a freelance photographer. Through his activities for Vogue, the photographer became acquainted with high-society circles, for which, however, he did not have as much sympathy as he did for the common people in the streets.

“The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street.”

In 1950 Doisneau created his most recognizable work for LIFE – Le baiser de l’hôtel de ville (Kiss by the Hôtel de Ville), a photograph of a couple kissing in the busy streets of Paris, which became an internationally recognised symbol of young love in Paris. The identity of this couple remained a mystery until 1992.

Jean and Denise Lavergne erroneously believed themselves to be the couple in The Kiss, and when Robert and Annette (his older daughter and also his assistant at the time) met them for lunch in the 1980s he “did not want to shatter their dream” so he said nothing. This resulted in them taking him to court for “taking their picture without their knowledge”, because under French law an individual owns the rights to their own likeness. The court action forced Doisneau to reveal that he posed the shot using Françoise Delbart and Jacques Carteaud, lovers whom he had just seen kissing, but had not photographed them initially because of his natural reserve; he approached them and asked if they would repeat the kiss. He won the court case against the Lavergnes. Doisneau said in 1992, “I would never have dared to photograph people like that. Lovers kissing in the street, those couples are rarely legitimate.”

Information: Robert Doisneau/ Staley Wise Gallery 

André Kertész circa 1980 © Bill Rauhauser 2010

Atlas Gallery

49 Dorset St London, Greater London W1U 7NF

Opening Times: Mon – Fri: 10.00 – 6.00/ Sat: 11.00 – 5.00

Admission: Free

For further information:  info@atlasgallery.com/ 020 7224 4192

“Mr. Kertesz was known for his drive and enthusiasm. At 90, he produced a portfolio of new pictures and showed it to the photographer Susan May Tell. When she asked him what it was that kept him working, he replied, “I am still hungry.” Included in the obituary of Kertesz written by John Durniak, NY Times, 30, September 85.

Images from a single-owner collection of over 400 signed prints by Hungarian photographer André Kertész, originally acquired by the current owner from his long standing assistant Nicolas Ducrot over 20 years ago, will go on display at Atlas Gallery on from today.

The show is divided into two halves, exhibited over the gallery’s two floors. Well-known works that illustrate the various eras, locales and subject matters of his work, including ‘Mondrian’s Pipe and Glasses’ (1926), other still lifes, photographs of New York and Paris, and autobiographical images of his home and his wife, Elizabeth, will be displayed in the upstairs gallery.

The downstairs gallery will be devoted to works from the Distortions series. This important body of work, begun in the early 1930’s, consists mostly of nudes photographed using convex mirrors. The exhibition will include a selection of early reference prints made for the publication of the book ‘Distorsions’ in 1976, in which the works were published for the first time. Ducrot was instrumental in bringing the work to completion and many prints bear his manuscript annotations and crops.  Perhaps the most celebrated of all images from this series is the famous ‘Melancholic Tulip’ (1939).

 Gallery owner Ben Burdett says: ‘This unique collection of prints has been kept together since they were acquired from Nicolas Ducrot. They are an important group of images, representing an ultimate edit of Kertész’s work, many being master prints retained by the studio, in some ways as the definitive interpretation of the photographer’s negatives.’

Kertész is often considered to be the founder of the photo essay, having earned his living as a photographer primarily through commissions for magazines and under contract to Condé Nast Publishing for twenty years of his career. The Distortions series retains a certain formality that is evident in his photojournalistic work, but is innovative and distinctive, clearly referencing the Surrealist influence of the time. In many ways these images best represent the identity of Kertész’s creative work. Kertész is known for crossing the boundary between modernism and documentary, with creative phases generally being divided into the Hungarian, French, American and International periods.

Information courtesy: Atlas Gallery