Car thief. from the series Interrogations by Donald Weber

2008 Hot Shot and Donald Weber is fresh off of his five year photo project in Russia and Ukraine, and he's giving a workshop at the Roman School of Photography this Friday and Saturday, November 26 + 27th.

In addition to teaching attendees how to turn their aspirational longterm projects into reality, artists will get a sneak peek of Interrogations, Weber's forthcoming book about the way power is bartered and sold in the unjust interrogation rooms of Ukraine. VII Photo Agency has a slideshow of some of Weber's powerful images, which show petty criminals in the process of their interrogation. Weber carefully positions himself between the police and the accused, some of which he describes in a blog interview with Colin Pantall:

I saw some very terrible things and was quite disturbed by the whole process, still am, but I believe I am not a judge of their crimes nor of the methods. I am not there to intervene in the process, that would be a betrayal of my years of trust built up with the police. The work formed in this manner because I was not interested in the physical violence, but the psychological violence that we as humans seem to have a special affinity for.

On the first day of the workshop, Weber will offer a big picture view that explains the process of successfully executing a longterm photo project both economically and logistically. Saturday's agenda will then push into more tactical instruction about writing successful proposals that make future dream projects a reality.

To learn more about the upcoming workshop, please contact the secretary at the Roman School of Photography at 064957264 between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Donald Weber Workshop
Roman School of Photography
Friday November 26, 4:30pm - 8:30pm
Saturday November 27, 10:00am - 2:00pm

From the Thinner Air series by John Mann

Second Edition 2008 Hot Shot, John Mann has certainly been busy of late. He's recently completed a new project (and accompanying book): a photographic sequence titled Thinner Air, which engages with the themes of travel and escape that we know and love in his earlier work. From his website: "At once examining the distant and the close-at-hand, this photographic series follows the making of a small plane until it escapes into a space that is both abstract and tangible."

The book component of Thinner Air was printed in a limited edition of 150, and each is hand-numbered and signed. You can preview more images from it here.

John also has an image in the September issue of GQ Magazine, and his work is included in four (!) group shows this fall:

If you're in New York, American ReConstruction, a group show including photographers Matthew Albanese, Jowhara AlSaud, Jeremy Kost, Mark Lyon, Curtis Mann and Cara Phillips, opens tonight at Winkleman Gallery in Chelsea. The exhibition "features artists who construct photography-based work through an array of pre- and post-printing considerations or processes."

Foldings (guided tour, Golan Heights), 2010 by Curtis Mann

Curtis Mann will be showing new works titled Foldings, which resemble the ink blotches of Rorschach tests. However, he has created these graphic reinterpretations by applying bleach to images printed off of Flickr and folding the paper in half.

Untitled Ultraviolet #60, 2010, by Cara Phillips

Images from Cara Phillips' series Ultraviolet Beauties, which are captured using the same method that plastic surgeons use to expose flaws in their patients skin, will be on view alongside works from her Singular Beauty series of cosmetic surgeon offices.

On Saturday, June 5th, Cara will also set up her UV studio at the gallery and offer collectors the opportunity to commission an Ultraviolet portrait. For cost and scheduling information, and to reserve your spot, you can email info@winkleman.com.

You can view a full set of images and read more about the exhibition at the gallery's website, and, of course, check it out in person tonight!

American ReConstruction

May 7 - June 12, 2010
Opening Reception, Friday, May 7, 2010

Winkleman Gallery
621 West 27th Street (NEW LOCATION)
New York, NY 10001

Rincon Artificial Island and Pipeline, Ventura, California by Ian Baguskas

Hope it's not too early to say, Happy New Year everybody! There are only eight days* in the new year to take in Mixtape at Jen Bekman Gallery, which runs through January 9th, 2010. Mixtape is a delirious, kaleidoscopic show, but one reason we're so excited about it is that nearly every photographer included, going back half a decade to our first round in 2005, has held the rank of Hot Shot.

On-screen reproduction just does not do this work justice, but for those of you who can't make it to the gallery, I've taken the liberty of linking up the following list to each photographer's piece in the show so that you can click through and get a peek at the work:

Jessica Eaton—2009 Second Edition
Mike Sinclair—2009 First Edition
Michelle Arcila—2009 First Edition
Colleen Plumb—2008 First Edition
Yijun (Pixy) Liao—2008 Second Edition
Gregory Krum—Summer 2007 Edition
Scott Eiden—Fall 2007 Edition
Kate Bingaman-Burt—Summer 2006 Edition
Ian Baguskas—Spring 2006 Edition
Joseph O. Holmes—Fall 2006 & Fall 2005
Matthew Tischler—Spring 2005 Edition

Another thing to note is that many of the prints in the show are genuine 20x200 editions. If you see something you like at the show, it may be more affordable than you think! Make sure to check the Mixtape page on 20x200 to see what's available for collecting. Stay tuned for news about out 2009 Second Edition Hey, Hot Shot! Showcase which is set to open in early March 2010.

* The gallery is closed on January 1st but will reopen from 12–6 on the 2nd

Untitled from Ultraviolet Beauties, by Cara Phillips

Cara Phillips, 2008 Second Edition Hot Shot, is in Miami this weekend showing off work at SCOPE. Above is a piece from Ultraviolet Beauties, a series of portraits created with the same kind of UV photography used by cosmetic surgeons to show patients their normally invisible dermal "flaws." Auerus Contemporary, who will be showing her work, writes that, "[Cara's photography is] highly detailed and enigmatic . . . a fascinating insight into the emotional and technical aspects of the idea of beauty and the industry created to support it."

Cara herself will also be available today, Friday, the 4th and tomorrow the 5th of December to discuss her work and meet collectors. If you're lucky enough to find yourself in Miami this weekend, this is a great opportunity to see Cara's work in person and to meet the artist.

AUREUS Contemporary | Booth 333
SCOPE Miami, Soho Studios, 2136 NW 1st Avenue, Miami
Friday | Dec 4 | 11am–7 pm
Saturday | Dec 5 | 11am–7 pm
Sunday | Dec 6 | 11am–6 pm

Untitled by Scott Eiden

Hot Shots Cara Phillips and Scott Eiden both have work featured in Graphic Intersections, a collaborative online photography project presented by The Exposure Project. The series of photographs is based on the Surrealist game The Exquisite Corpse, a visual version of the old camp game, telephone. If you aren't familiar, here's a rundown of how it works:

The first photographer made a photograph, which was subsequently forwarded to the second in line. The 2nd then, based solely on their own visual, emotional, intellectual or philosophical response, in turn made photographs in artistic reaction to the one they were given. The artists involved were not given any written material to accompany the photograph, nor did they know whose image they were responding to. This was designed to propagate chance, or as the Surrealist's put it, exploit "the mystique of accident."

The system behind the creation of the images leads you to examine each frame in the context of the photographs before it, after it, and the series as a whole. In the age of the Internet our three-second attention spans can lead us to make snap judgments about what is and isn't interesting. Collaborative work like this, that demands slow consideration and unpacking, is not only a joy to behold but a triumph!

You can check out Graphic Intersections online.

Congratulations to the Hot Shots and to all the photographers included in the project:
Ben Alper, Anastasia Cazabon, Thomas Damgaard, Scott Eiden, Grant Ernhart, Jon Feinstein, Elizabeth Fleming, Alan George, Hee Jin Kang, Drew Kelly, Michael Marcelle, Chris Mottalini, Ed Panar, Bradley Peters, Cara Phillips, Noel Rodo-Vankeulen, Irina Rozovsky, Brea Souders, Jane Tam and Grant Willing.

Former Prison Guard Barracks, Vorkuta, Komi Republic, Russia by Donald Weber

In addition to being awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2007 and two Canada Council visual arts project grants in 2008, Donald Weber, a 2008 Second Edition Hot Shot and 20x200 edition-maker, has won the Duke and Duchess of York Prize in Photography, an $8000 reward for being an "outstanding visual artist working in photography."

It's likely that this will go towards supporting Donald's ambitious current project, a book about life in Russia, about which he writes, "It's about the curse of power, and the wounds it inflicts on those who don't have it. It's the 18th century with jets flying overhead."

While you wait for Donald to complete his work abroad, you can hop the ferry to Staten Island to catch a glimpse of his photographs from Russia, which are running through December in an exhibition at the historical Alice Austen House Museum. If you can't make it out in time, be sure to check out the Stories section of Donald's website, which features large, journalistic series from Russia.

Donald Weber: Russian Archive
September 26th -December 31st, 2009

Alice Austen House Museum
2 Hylan Blvd.
Staten Island, NY
(map)

A Square, the NYC debut show by 2008 Second Edition Hot Shot and Ne Plus Ultra Hosang Park, is up at the gallery through Saturday, November 7th. If you haven't yet stopped by, we strongly encourage you to! Seeing these prints in person is nothing at all like seeing them online.

For those of you are sadly far, far away from the gallery, luckily our own Joe Holmes stopped by to take installation shots of the exhibit.

Jen Bekman Gallery
6 Spring Street
New York City 10012
On view: Sept 25 - Nov 7, 2009

Read the press release and see the full set of installation shots here.

Hosang also has two edition available on 20x200, Uman and Howon; Howon is part of the current exhibit (pictured in top photo, furthest to the right).

2009 First Edition Hot Shot Parsley Steinweiss sent us exciting news that two exhibits featuring her work are both opening this week. The first, Derived, Borrowed, and Stolen, curated by Basak Malone and Sara Wight, runs October 1st–15th at Broadway Gallery (473 Broadway, 7th Floor) in New York. The opening is tonight, October 1st from 6:00–8:00 p.m and also includes work by Sarah Sharpe, Katie St. Claire, Sara Wight and Jordan Tate.

Frome the press release,

Derived, Borrowed, and Stolen brings together artists whose work addresses the nature of originality and its complicated relationship with the visual arts. The central theme and title is inspired by the well-known quote, "talent borrows, genius steals," which is said by some to have come from none other than Picasso (rumor has it that it might also have been Morrissey's, of the rock band Smiths, or even Oscar Wilde's). The uncertainty surrounding the origins of the quote is ironically apt. Linked by this common thread, the works in this show raise questions about what constitutes creativity in today's world, one in which the Internet has rendered copying and plagiarizing in the visual arts easier and more socially acceptable.

For those of you out in Colorado, Parsley's work is also on view at the 2009 International Exhibition of Fine Art Photography juried by Andy Adams (of Flak Photo), at the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, CO. The opening reception is tomorrow, Friday, October 2nd from 6:00–9:00 p.m and will also feature images by 2008 Hot Shot Yijun (Pixy) Liao and Jen Bekman Gallery artist Brad Moore.

The Center for Fine Art Photography also has two open calls for juried exhibitions with deadlines on October 20th and October 27th. The first, New Visions will be juried by Michael Itkoff, founder of Daylight Magazine and offers the opportunity for cash prizes and being featured in various online galleries. The second, Portfolio Showcase, Volume 4 has an open theme and will select fifteen photographers for an exhibition, with the image from the winning portfolio to be used as the cover for the Volume 4 publication. Click on the above exhibition titles for more information about submissions and prizes!

And, last but not least: our 2nd Edition 2009 Hey, Hot Shot! competition closes in just a few, short weeks! The deadline is 8:00 p.m EST on Friday, October 23rd. Enter here!

Hosang Park, recently selected as one of two HHS! 2008 Ne Plus Ultras to receive representation by Jen Bekman Gallery, has also been honored as a winner in the PDN Photo Annual 2009. His image Howon-dong has been selected in the Personal Work category alongside photographs by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Christoph Gielen and Lauren Greenfield, among others. We enthusiastically congratulate Hosang for this honor!

If you would like to get your hands on one of Hosang's prints, Howon-dong and Uman-dong, both from his series A Square, are for sale exclusively through 20x200.

The bi-ennial Review Santa Fe juried by LACMA Department of Photography curator Charlotte Cotton recently wrapped up, and we've been excitedly glimpsing through the portfolios of The Review Santa Fe 100, which names the top hundred nominees of the review. Many of the names are familiar to us, with Hot Shot! and JBP artist Brad Moore and Hot Shot! John Mann making the list, as well as contenders Katrina d'Autremont, Susan Worsham and Lacey Terrell featuring accolade-worthy work.

The 2009 Santa Fe Prize of $5,000, an online exhibition, and participation in the Review went to Hiroyo Kaneko for her series Sentimental Education, a collection of intimate images of her multi-generational family bathing together.

She writes,

Bathing in hot tubs is one of the most ordinary daily rituals in Japan. Because our modern society is highly competitive and reserved, we tend to be uptight. However, once soaked in hot water, we emerge relaxed, revitalized, and unspoken emotions with others and nature.

We bathe with family, friends, strangers and sometimes with the opposite sex showing subtle impressions which waver between vulnerability and flexibility, openness and hesitancy, and intimacy and loneliness. I focus on these impressions as I believe that they represent a fundamental form of humanity.

Kaneko's work offers a consistent quietude in the rituals of daily life in Japan. The baths portrayed are sensual and private, revealing without being invasive. In another series, Picnics which also made The Review Santa Fe 100, Kaneko offers a similarly calming portrayal of controlled community as friends and families gather under blossoming cherry trees in the park. Both series offer an unobtrusive glance into the private moments of families and friends, inviting the viewer in with an uncommon openness.

See additional work by Hiroyo Kaneko on her website and read about one photographer's experience at Review Santa Fe on Emily Shur's blog.

The Center for Photography at Woodstock's Photography Now 2009, an annual exhibit curated this year by Charlotte Cotton, head of the photography department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, will open June 13th featuring the work of eight selected photographers.

Photographers on exhibit include:
Alex Aristei, Spring 2007 Hot Shot Clint Baclawski, Shane Lavalette, 2008 2nd Edition Hot Shot Yijun Liao, Betsy Seder, Lacey Terrell, Stacey Tyrell, and Toshihiro Yashiro.

Congratulations to all! Their will be an opening reception at CPW on Saturday June 13 from 5 - 7pm to celebrate the opening of the exhibit, which will remain on view through July 26th.

Center for Photography at Woodstock
59 Tinker Street Woodstock, New York 12498
June 13th, 2009, 5-7 p.m.

Whiling away at your desk before the long holiday weekend? Check out this video with apparently-made-for-radio Second Edition 2008 Hot Shot Donald Weber. Photographs from his series, The Drunken Bride, Russian Unveiled, are on view at CONTACT Toronto Photography Festival.

Read more about Weber's work in this interview and the 20x200 newsletter announcing his editions. Acquire (affordably!) Forest. Exclusion Zone, Chernobyl or Dinner. Village of Zorin, Exclusion Zone, Chernobyl for your photography collection.

A warm congratulation to Cara Phillips, a 2008 Hot Shot! Work from her series, Singular Beauty, is currently up on Newsweek.com. Cara also writes a personal essay detailing her motivation to create work on the cosmetic surgery industry. See and read it here.

Women in Photography, co-founded 2008 Hot Shot Cara Phillips and Amy Elkins last summer to showcase the works of female art photographers, has announced their first grant, funded by Lightside Photographic Servces and co-sponsored by LTI. One grant will be awarded in the amount of $3,000.00; applications will be accepted online at wipnyc beginning on April 1, 2009 at 12 a.m., when the submissions will be possible through the site.

The grant award-winner will be announced at the National Arts Club on June 10th, 2009, where a slideshow of the winner's work will also be presented.

Visit Women in Photography for more information about curators Elkins and Phillips, and look forward to the grant application on April 1st.

Chess Game, 2008
by Rachel Hulin

Rachel Hulin was crowned a Hot Shot way back in Spring '05. Since then she has built a blossoming career for herself as a working photographer, photo editor and writer. Her blog, A Photography Blog, is a jovial mix of photo news and insights, rambling thoughts (that somehow always seem relevant), and a lovely dose of idiosyncratic humor.

Perusing her blog today I learned that another Hot Shot (Summer '05), Noah Kalina, will be shooting for I.D. Magazine's annual design issue.

Scanning a little further down, I spotted an image from one of our newest Hot Shots, John Mann.

Seems like Miss Hulin truly has her (trigger) finger on the pulse.

Bookmark A Photography Blog today, and it'll make you smile tomorrow, I promise.

Sinbong Dong by Hosang Park from his series A Square

Brand new Hot Shot, Hosang Park, is featured on Geoff Manaugh's architectural blog, BLDG | BLOG. Manaugh's guest writer Nicola Twilley gives particular props to Park's series A Square. Read it here. View more of Park's work here.

Today and tomorrow mark your *last* chance to catch our exhibition of photographs by Hot Shots John Mann, Hosang Park, Cara Phillips, Yijun Liao, and Donald Weber.

Swing by the JB gallery stat (!), 6 Spring Street, sometime between noon and 6 p.m., now through Saturday.

If you're not in NYC and won't get to see the show, you haven't missed out on viewing the Hot Shots' work in person. Yijun Liao is the first new Hot Shot to be featured on 20x200 and there are more to come. Resting on a Bush (above) was just released and is available as an 8"x10," 16"x20," or 30"x40" archival pigment print.

It's a charming and endearing image, so very much like Pixy herself.

Before and After Room, Tribeca
by Cara Phillips

Hey, Hot Shot! (volume iv, edition ii)

It's time for an exhibition of photographs by second edition finalists! Please join us at the gallery this Friday, January 30th, from 6pm-8pm, at a reception for the artists:

John Mann
Hosang Park
Cara Phillips
Donald Weber
Yijun Liao

The show will be on view @ Jen Bekman Gallery from January 30 through February 14, 2009.

Jen Bekman Gallery
6 Spring Street
(between Elizabeth + Bowery)
New York City
The gallery is open Wednesday -- Saturday from 12-6pm or by private appointment

Hi there and happy Monday! It you're already looking forward to the weekend, I have just the right thing to kick it all off:

Hey, Hot Shot! (volume iv, edition ii) Showcase Opening
Friday, January 30th, from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Jen Bekman Gallery
6 Spring Street (between Elizabeth and the Bowery), NYC

Thirteen works from our newest Hot Shots will be on view until Saturday, February 14th:
Yijun (Pixy) Liao
John Mann
Cara Phillips
Hosang Park
Donald Weber

Regular gallery hours are Wednesday - Saturday, from noon to 6:00 p.m. or by private appointment.

See you there!

2008 Second Edition Hot Shot Cara Phillips (self-portrait from her project Ultraviolet Beauties)

Last but not least in our interview round-up of new Hot Shots is Cara Phillips. If you're a regular reader of photography blogs, her name and work might already ring a bell, or two... Jorg Colberg interviewed her for his blog Conscientious a year ago in February, Darren Ching interviewed her for PDNPulse last November, and she maintains her blog Ground Glass, and curates the site Women in Photography with Amy Elkins.

From:
I was born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit, MI.

Formal and/or informal education and training:
I went back to finish my BA in my mid-twenties at Sarah Lawrence College. While I was there I found my way to photography and studied with Joel Sternfeld and Penelope Umbrico. Informally, I have been incredibly lucky as well, I met photo agent Marcel Saba at an ICP week long class as he was launching his agency, Redux Pictures. Our class was during the big summer black out in New York, which was a crazy time for me in my life, but out of chaos comes growth and I ended up interning and working there. I was privileged to learn so much there and meet some great photographers. I was actually there while Hey, Hot Shot! superstar, Nina Berman was making Purple Hearts. Nina is force of nature!

How you pay the bills:
Well, I graduated a little over a year ago, and for the past several years, like most artists, I have been working at part time jobs that don't pay a lot, but where I learned things of immense value. But recently, with the cost of making my work going up, I am doing some freelance photo editing, which is great. And I am doing some editorial work. I think figuring out how to support a career is actually one of the greatest challenges for artists.

Best advice you ever received as a photographer (and/or as a human):
Focus on process, if you are not in love with making work, you will always be unhappy. Because acclaim comes and go, and you will always get criticism, if you live in your process, you can weather it all. An, to always wash your face before you go to sleep.

Top 3 Favorite Artists:
I always find this to be an impossible question. When I nine I would have said: George Balanchine, Billy Wilder, Tennessee Williams & Degas. But for me now there are so many artists in various mediums I admire. If I could have three photographers work in my house right now I would say: 1. Sander 2. Frank 3. Evans. To remind me that what is revolutionary one day eventually becomes classical.

Photograph (or other work of art) that you can't get out of your head, ever:

I am afraid it is a cliche, but I would have to say Eggelston's Adam & Jasper. I could look at that image forever and ponder its secrets. And the first time I saw Rineke Dijkstra, Tecla, Amsterdam, Netherlands. May 16, 1994, I was so upset. The image horrified me, the blood dripping down her leg, the violence of it, it took me a while to understand the significance and beauty of it.

Reading now:
Sadly, I have very little time to read lately, I have been so busy. But I love to read the New Yorker on the subway. I also read the nytimes.com everyday. But to me, reading is one of the most relaxing and indulgent pastimes.

Favorite Book:
I don't think I could pick a favorite book. But I suppose The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton was the most devastating thing I have ever read, I don't think any other book ever made me cry. That book really captures the experience of women, and the ways in which society functioned as a prison for them for much of Western history.

Top 3 non-photo websites/blogs:
Lately, I have a hard time keeping up with the all the photo blogs, but my boyfriend has a lovely blog on furniture design called Brooklyn Modern, which I like to divert myself reading. Also, I like to collect information, so I often will spend hours researching things online, it is one of my favorite activities. For instance, I probably have a collection of 300 or so quotes from online forums of plastic surgery patients and lots of info from various related surgery sites, from my research for Singular Beauty. All of my work starts with intense information gathering followed by my visual and emotional response to the actual environment. I find intellect to be intrinsic to image making. If there is no thought process before, for me the images are never as strong. However, all thought and no emotion is equally lacking. Finding the right balance between the two is what makes the most compelling image.

New Year's Resolution:
I spent most of 2008, focusing on getting my work out into the world, I am looking forward to turning more inward this year and focus on making new work, and on my current UV project. I have a finished maquette of the surgery project and I would like to devote some time to developing it further. Also, hopefully find some spare moments to take care of myself. I am excited to see where the next chapter takes me.

Hot Shot John Mann's New Year is off to a great start. His photograph Untitled (Libya) is up for grabs on igavel and he'll have work up at the JB Gallery with his fellow Hot Shots at the end of the month, adding to the list of exhibitions he racked up in 2008. What's next for Mr. Mann? We'll just have to wait and see....

From:
I did my growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, after a bit of time living in Virginia. I now live in Florida, but thankfully some distance from Disney.

Formal and/or informal education and training:
I got into photography through skateboarding, mostly as a way to make images of what we were up to. I took classes during high school in photography and offset printing. I later got a degree in photography and printmaking from Arizona State University and an MFA in photography at the University of New Mexico.

How you pay the bills:
I keep the lights on with a job teaching photography at Florida State University. The job offers a great deal of time/support for making art, and this has been great for my production.

Best advice you ever received as a photographer (and/or as a human):
"Remember to breathe."

Top 3 Favorite Artists:
Dieter Appelt
Giorgio Morandi
Andrei Tarkovsky

Photograph (or other work of art) that you can't get out of your head, ever:

Reading now:
Reading the New Yorker keeps me pretty busy, but Bill Bryson's The Lost Continent sits next to the bed with a bookmark in it.

Top 3 photo-related websites/blogs:
The Year in Pictures - an interesting commentary on photography in the art world.
Photograph Mag - a great resource
Flak Photo - a great way to see who is coming up in the photo world

Top 3 non-photo websites/blogs:
Strange Maps
Ed Templeton's skate/art blog

Untitled (Libya), 2007
by John Mann

One of our newest Hot Shots, John Mann, currently has a photograph up for auction on iGavel.

Come see more of John's work at the opening reception for the Hey, Hot Shot! (volume iv, edition ii) Showcase on Friday, January 30th, 2009, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Jen Bekman Gallery.

Edition ii Hot Shots
John Mann
Cara Phillips
Park Ho Sang
Donald Weber
Yijun Liao

Work will be on view through Saturday, February 14th, 2009

If you had a chance to read the Nymphoto interview with Yijun (Pixy) Liao, you know that dropped a career in graphic design to pursue something she's "truly interested in," she's just finished her MFA at the University of Memphis, and has recently relocated to Brooklyn. A few more things about Yijun (Pixy) Liao:

From:
I'm from Shanghai, China.

Formal and/or informal education and training:
I went to grad school for photography, but before that I didn't have any art training.

How you pay the bills:
Well, I don't know yet. I just graduated & am looking for a job.

Best advice received as a photographer (and/or as a human):
Be true to yourself.

Top 3 Favorite Artists:
Bjork, Edward Hopper, Cohen Brothers (if I can call them artists)

Photograph (or other work of art) that you can't get out of your head, ever:
Hannah Starkey's Untitled March 2002, a woman with long silver hair sitting in a restaurant.

Reading now?
I avoid reading. It's gonna mess up my mind.

Top 3 non-photo websites/blogs:
nicolas cage vampire teeth's photostream, design-milk, ffffound

Image from Yijun Liao's series Stills From Unseen Films

One of our brand new Hot Shots, Yijun Liao, was interviewed for the NYMPHOTO Blog. Liao's work will be on view at the gallery starting January 30th along with our other newly minted Hot Shots:

John Mann
Cara Phillips
Park Ho Sang
Donald Weber

Hey, Hot Shot! (volume iv, edition ii) Showcase
Opening reception: Friday, January 30th, 2009,
6-8 pm at Jen Bekman Gallery
6 Spring Street, NYC.

Work will be on view until Saturday, February 14th, 2009

Happy Holidays Hot Shot readers! And cheers to the New Year! We took a little winter break but are getting back into the swing of things &mdash and just in time to get you primed for the opening of the Hey, Hot Shot! (volume iv, edition ii) exhibition at the gallery on Friday, January 30th. Over the next couple of weeks, I'll make sure you get to know a little bit more about each and every one of this season's Hot Shots.

First off is an introduction to Donald Weber. Weber's won a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Lange-Taylor Prize and a World Press Photo Award; he's published a book, Bastard Eden, Our Chernobyl, with photolucida; he's worked as an architect for Rem Koolhaas. AND, as a photographer, he works hard to make work that he "owns" - his projects, his ideas, his terms. I caught this great, lengthy interview with Donald on Monday over on dvafoto and Donald was kind enough to oblige a few questions of my own before he hopped on an eastbound plane.

From:
Well, Canadian, from Toronto, downtown, which may have influenced my outlook. Taking the subway at 12 years old to school everyday definitely gives an impression on a youngster, glad I was able to see what I did.

Formal and/or informal education and training:
My academic background is not so academic, I studied at an alternative high school that offered an intensive arts education, from the age of 16 until graduation in Grade 13, I studied art all day everyday. We had four hours of life drawing two days a week - that would be nudes, thus lots of people were jealous of us, plus an 8 hour day of art history and then we would major and minor in two artistic pursuits. I wanted to be an artist, not really sure what that was or how I would do it, but initially that was my goal. I then went on to study at art college, the Ontario College of Art & Design, where I majored in - I forget the complex phrasing of the subject, something like Art and the Environment. Basically, making massive intrusions into the public landscape. Great!

How you pay the bills:
Grants, and then when those are done, more! I have some assignments, but not too many, it's really tough, but I have faith and every time I'm about to drop off the planet, something comes along. I believe in looking at alternative methods to photographing what I want to do, no other way.

I have a very good friend who is a writer, and we are constantly looking at ways to getting work, either through corporate or government sponsors, NGOs, whatever. I am lucky as I am a member of the VII Network so with that comes a certain sense of prestige, and we are working towards doing something as a group project, something that we wouldn't be able to do on our own. Also, VII does a great job of selling the archive and stories, and made me realize that as photographers, that is our pension - the archive. So if VII can keep selling whatever I produce and mixed with grants, NGO's and other forms of sponsorship and assignments, I should do okay. But one day I just want to blow $4000 on a 52″ television and not have to save it for a photo project!

Best advice received (as a photographer and/or human):
As per my high school photography teacher who said, and I quote:

"You suck as a photographer!"
That taught me to never listen to authority!

Top 3 Favorite Artists:
Well, number one is Raymond Depardon.
Two - Norman Mailer
Three - Artist Number Three would have to be: Ukrainian Photographer Boris Mikhailov. Not to be confused with writer Boris Mikhailkov, whose son is the filmmaker Nikita, a Russian director of great epics investigating the same subject matter as myself, although Russians find him rather sentimental and too cheerful. In any good Russian film, all the protagonists should die a horrible death. Watch Burnt by the Sun.

Photograph (or other work of art) that you can't get out of your head, ever:
Does architecture count? If so, Rem Koolhaas' study of high rise buildings opposite the Maas River in Rotterdam. Not the architecture per se (it's just a study) but the thought and ideas behind the work, was one of the first pieces of anything to truly move me and make me ponder what we can do with our creative resources.

Photographically, I cannot pick just one photo from Depardon, for me he has to be viewed as a collective. But the photo of a Christian falangist soldier during the civil war in Lebanon stands out as the zenith of what photojournalism could and should be, a perfect blend of immediacy, intimacy in a very un-intimate place, depth and document.

Reading now:
The Great Terror by Robert Conquest, The Black Book of Communism, Let's Put the Future Behind Us, by Jack Womack. And I'll be saving The Road by Cormac McCarthy for my travels in Kazakhstan. (Thanks, Sara!)

Top 3 photo blogs/websites:
5B4 - after reading that, everything else just falls flat. Strong contenders I like dvafoto, and PDN for industry news. A little boring, but what the hey!

Top 3 non-photo blogs/websites:
BLDGBLOG, Strange Maps and Russia Blog