Donald Weber

Currently residing in Toronto, Ontario and Kiev, Ukraine

Website: www.donaldweber.com

Work statement
At the core, my work is an examination into the curse of power, the wounds it inflicts on those who don't have it, and probably never will. It's a universal story, really. One that we can all identify with. For if we don't quest for power, what do we really quest for? What's important about this work, in my view, is that it reveals the fateful intersection of history and the human soul. The West has its own versions of materialism; we may pretend that these people and their sad condition have nothing to do with us. But something in their eyes tells us more than we want to know. We are being tested, all of us. These photos confront us with the inescapable truth: life is a journey through a dark wood. We must take it one step at a time.

Bio
Originally from Toronto, Canada, Don is an award-winning photographer currently residing in Kiev, Ukraine. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2007, he also received the Lange-Taylor Documentary Prize and a World Press Award in 2006. Amongst other citations, Weber was named one of PDN's 30 in 2008 and an Emerging Photo Pioneer by American Photo Magazine. Prior to photography, Don worked as an architect for Rem Koolhaas' Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. He has also received a Governor's General Gold Medal for Architecture while working in Canada. Don has exhibited widely and has shown work at galleries and festivals worldwide. As a documentary photographer, Don believes in the power of the medium and has been involved in three major campaigns to provoke change. In 2006, he was a part of C::20, a traveling exhibit at the United Nations and Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, looking at the impact of Chernobyl on its 20th anniversary. As a part of the VII photo agency, he contributed to the 60th Anniversary celebrations of the Declaration of Human Rights, exhibited in over 50 cities worldwide. As a photographer for the NGO War Child, his photography from seven war-torn nations was shown at twelve University campuses and hundreds of high schools across Canada. His work from Ukraine won the Grand Prize for the 2007 PHODAR Photography Biennial in Bulgaria. In 2008 he had his first solo show at the Blue Sky Gallery in Portland, Oregon and in 2009 his second will be a featured exhibit during Contact Toronto, one of the world's largest photography festivals. His Guggenheim Fellowship allowed him to continue work on a book about life in Russia. 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. This work was completed in the Fall of 2008 and is entitled 'White Nights, Russia After the Gulag.' His first book, 'Bastard Eden, Our Chernobyl,' will be released Fall 2008 by photolucida as part of the Critical Mass book publishing prize.

Hosang Park

Living in: Seoul, Republic of Korea

Work statement:
I photographed a small park located within a living space in downtown. I paid attention to images seen from a bird's-eye view and proceeded working on them. While working, I focused on not relating special stories, but in presenting spaces. I think that the pictures presented this way can be a pathway to remind viewers of their thoughts on familiar places. In particular, their thoughts or discussions regarding park spaces. The parks seen here and the details taken from a bird's eye view will reflect characteristics of downtown areas and distorted realities. In addition, I presume that they will also reveal fabricated Korean-style spaces and the stark realities of democracy in a more comic way. These parks are that of fragmented space intended as patronizing and face-saving moves, a park that mimics real parks and a place intended to be used as a park. That case is an outcome of scars of Korean-style capitalism, simulacra. Every apartment complex is decorated with a park and is adorned with playgrounds and strange-looking installments. The place created along with green areas of land demonstrates coarse, improvised landscape architecture, an artificial scenery. I tried to capture such interesting, but strange-looking, scenes.

Bio:
HOSANG PARK, Sex: male, Born: 1977 in Korea. Education 2006: Finished Dept. of Fine Art photography, Graduate School of Art & Design, Sangmyung, Seoul, Korea. 2004: B.A. Dept. of Photography, Undergraduate School, Sangmyung, Cheon-an, Korea.

Cara Phillips
Currently residing in Brooklyn, NY

Website: cara-phillips.com

Work statement
Singular Beauty: In 1907 Charles Miller wrote the first how-to book on Beauty Surgery. The volume was largely dismissed by the mainstream medical community as fringe medicine, however, this one time "quackery" has evolved into a 15 billion dollar-a-year industry in the United States. Why has it flourished? According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeon's website, "Even a small change on the outside can create an extraordinary change on the inside, allowing an individuals self-confidence to flourish." Cosmetic surgery is now a common, if still stigmatized, part of our culture. When you enter the offices of Cosmetic Surgeons you not only discover the promise of happiness but also the fear, self-loathing, anxiety, and desire of millions of Americans. This collection of photographs resulted from both a personal struggle with body issues, and a long history in the beauty business. While photographing these doctor's offices, I was less interested in capturing the actual place or thing, than in capturing the experience of it, and in the words Susan Sontag make, "familiar things small, abstract, strange and much farther away." Because it is our emotions, which have the deepest impact on our intellects.

Bio
Cara Phillips is a Brooklyn based photographer. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Sarah Lawrence College and came to photography after a childhood spent in front of the camera and many years in the beauty business as a make-up artist. Her work has been featured in numerous group shows, and images from her Singular Beauty series can be seen in Issue #31 of Cabinet Magazine. In addition to her own photography projects, she writes a successful photo blog, Ground Glass and is the co-founder/co-curator of Women in Photography, an online exhibition project featuring the work of emerging and established female artists.

John Mann
Currently residing in Tallahassee, Florida

Website: www.rockpapercloud.com

Work statement:
Following five years of photographing the landscape and those who travel through it, the series Folded In Place finds its exploration of place though a visualization of the map as the final destination. These images turn the abstract representation of the map back into a physical landscape, by looking at the map as a geography of its own.

Bio
I was born in the East, raised in the Midwest, and schooled in the West. Upon graduation from the University of New Mexico with an MFA in Photography in 2002, I headed back east to start the cycle all over again. I now live in Tallahassee, Florida, where I make images and teach at Florida State University. My work has also traveled, and has been exhibited nationally.

Very soon! I promise. We're running a little behind schedule, as all of you who have been waiting since 1:00 p.m. EST know, but we have some Hot Shots and we're going to tell you about them really, really soon! Just hold on, I'll keep you posted!

It's my last contenders post of 2008! I can hardly stand it. It feels like Christmas! Tomorrow we'll have 5 *brand*new* Hot Shots. The only thing that could make the evening more magical would be some of those fluffy white snowflakes that graced NYC so briefly on Saturday. But instead, it's just really, really cold so, to sustain the suspense, let me present the work of James Griffioen. Or rather, let me let him present the work:

I live in a shrinking, once-great city and I document the indifference of nature as it reclaims the urban landscape block by block, building by building. I am interested in the duplicity of this urban flora as somehow both innocent and strangely sinister. Detroit has long suffered from a natural disaster worse than that wrought by a hurricane or an earthquake. Cries for help from Detroit don't bring FEMA, the press, or Robert Polidori. Our natural disaster is one of simple indifference to the suffering caused by racism, post-industrial decline, crime, and implacable poverty...

Even though he's making work that is very close to home, Griffioen lives in Detroit, it first reminded me of the work of a photographer who habitually travels from Manitoba to Chernobyl, David McMillan. I feel like both photographers are out to prove that this planet will be a better place without us, or at least, that it will survive even if/when we perish.

These two also share an intense respect for a sense of place, in this regard, Griffioen's work reminds me of Philadelphian Zoe Strauss. And truth be told, Detroit and Philly are two cities that could see a little more attention, and not just in times like now, when bad gets even worse. Griffioen and his wife maintain a blog that shows their love for their fine city, Sweet Juniper! Check it out and see why they are "just two more people raising their kids in the most dangerous city in America." It'll give you some good reading material while you're waiting for the big announcement....

Untitled (Bondi Baths, Sydney, Australia) and Untitled (Blue Lagoon, Reykjavik, Iceland) are from Carlo's fantastic Swim series.

There are almost no word to describe my desire to jump into one of Fall '07 Hot Shot Carlo Van de Roer's photographs right now. I spent a lovely evening at the gallery last night, at the Thrilla In Manila opening, and then at dinner, and then on seemingly interminable walks between restaurant and subway and subway and home. We all compared new scarves, and tried to figure out new ways to wrap ourselves up to steel ourselves from the cold. It was new use.

I invite you to look at Van de Roer's work this way too. What an oasis! The blue of the pools! The quiet drama! He's talented; they're beautiful. Buy one, or both, now on 20x200.

These photographs are also available "in an "off-menu" XL editions of 2 at 40"x50."  All the better to swim in.

The entirety of both of these editions is part of 20x200 AAA (Agnostic Art Advent):

"Our gift to you this holiday season is a dazzling array of choices from your favorite 20x200 artists, introduced daily through December 18th. AAA editions are comprised of 2, 3 or 4 images from the same artist. You can buy just one, or collect the whole set! Each image is available in three sizes, and prices range from $20 - $5000. As always, we're committed to art for everyone, so every single edition has a $20 or $50 version. (Some even have both!)"

It's really a bummer that HHS contender Sandra Fine doesn't have a website. But I'm not going to hold it against her because it's the second thing we have in common: I'm also a photographer who hasn't yet managed to put my own site together, and we're both Pratt MFAs. So, I included all three images from her submission. They're tiny but they're lovely, aren't they? Sandra writes:

Since 2000, I have traveled every year to China visiting ceramic and porcelain factories. The factories range from very modern mechanized facilities to small artist studios. While involved in production work at the factories, I always ask for a tour of the facilities. It is during these tours that I carry a small portable camera. While observing the factory production, I have the opportunity to photograph the visually rich environments. Because of the parameters of these visits, I have to photograph extremely quickly and unobtrusively. I consider these images, 'Still Lifes.' 'Still Life,' as a genre celebrates the beauty in everyday life.

While her process seems to rely on furtive shooting like a photojournalist, her resulting photographs are well-composed and clean, so much so that their formal qualities remind me of Sean Scully's paintings. Of course, Hiroshi Sugimoto's Colors of Shadow project also comes to mind, but for some reason, I link this work, and maybe because of its subject matter, more strongly to painting, including Giorgio Morandi.

Morandi and Sugimoto are two of my favorite artists, so thanks to Sandra for bringing them to the forefront, for five minutes of some peace and quiet and contemplation on an otherwise hectic deadline kind of day! There's a lot in the works around here this week, including the benefit for Thrilla in Manila, which Jen Snow's been busy keeping you all up-to-date on. And of course, we'll be announcing the winners of this round of Hey, Hot Shot! competition about this time, tomorrow! Stay tuned!

Please join us tonight, for Thrilla In Manila: A Benefit by Jason Polan, Jane Mount, and Jen Bekman Projects to benefit 826NYC.

• Thrilla in Manila: Reception and Sale to Benefit 826NYC
• Jen Bekman Gallery (6 Spring Street)
• 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
• Reception and sale to benefit 826NYC
• Work will be available to take right off the wall at affordable prices from $50 to $1,000.

In the past few months, I think that every day I've received upwards of four "We're Having Big Sale!" e-mails from stores large and small. Summer '06 Hot Shot Kate Bingaman Burt has been on top of her spending, and allowing us to be on top of her spending, for years now.

For sale now on Etsy, via her websiteObsessive Consumption, is the November edition of her zine, What Did You Buy Today?

Kate writes:

Hey Hey November! Purchases this month ranged from a bag of rice to an iphone. I also happened to buy some swimming medals from the mid 90s and a package of gremlins cards for no reason what so ever. OH and I really wanted our house to smell like fall and winter (hence the candle and incense purchases).

The cover pattern pays homage to the rice that I purchased on November 1st. The rice was white...not red, teal and peach.

Enjoy!

Every copy of What Did You Buy Today comes with a button or a sticker or a postcard or whatever I happen to think would be awesome to give away that day. The covers are color laser printed onto cardstock and the guts are b&w photocopies. Oh and a plastic bag. It all comes in a fancy schmancy plastic bag. SWEET!

Each issue contains 30 or 31 or 28 or 29 (leap year) drawings

You can browse Kate's November purchases and purchase her original drawings as well.

You can still purchase Kate's 20x200 editions. One of my all-time favorites: I Bought All of These and the almost-sold-out
Plattsmouth, Nebraska, Carts #1.

Speaking of buying, be sure to visit the gallery tomorrow night for the benefit finale of Thrilla In Manila!

It's the last weekend of anticipation for Hey, Hot Shot! contenders and hundreds of you have dotted your Is and crossed your Ts just as surely as these shoes are lined up on their shelves. So, I hope that you all are relaxing, knowing that you've done what you can and now it's up to our esteemed panelists to separate the cream of the crop, the 5 contenders who will be 2008's Second Edition Hot Shots and featured in an exhibition at the gallery next year. One thing is for sure, this year's contenders were of the strongest and the best that we've ever had, making the judging harder than ever.

Among this talented pool of entries, floats the work of Austrian photographer Monika Holzner. The glowing, creamy palette of this photograph runs through all the work in book 1 on her website. The images are warm renderings of other people's private spaces, investigations into the details that define a person's existence. As Monika writes:

I'm generally concerned with the way people live their lives, which of this immense array of our world's aspects they choose to build up their own worlds. In my photography I seek to find instances of the individuality of these worlds, moments when this individuality becomes visible.

See more work on her website.

HHS contender Zack Seckler is funny. At least, he makes funny photographs, ones that will definitely make you laugh out loud, or at least snort, a little. And at the end of a long week after a holiday, I'm pretty grateful for that. Who doesn't need a good guffaw? As Zack writes:

Humor functions as a way to process and escape the reality of everyday life. It may entertain, but it may also serve as a therapeutic tool. At this point in history, with major problems at home and abroad, we need, more than ever, the opportunity comedy gives to come up for air, to reframe our images so they are no longer uniformly dark. My imagery gives an opportunity to buoy the spirit by letting in a little light.

I'm not even going to try to be as clever as he and make any jokes here, so happy Friday everyone!

Hey, Hot Shot! contender My Le Nguyen's work looks like selected screens from a filmstrip, or freeze frames of a public access television show. Men on TV loom large over what seems to be a fitful woman sleeping. Trying to sleep. Maybe just lying there, but moving. It is the movement that seems most important. We see moments from what one can assume is a stream of movement. The television shows drone on, the scene changes every second on the screen and the figure in the foreground moves through her night -- or her nap -- too.

She writes:

"Two encounters with my father in Vietnam after 20 years separation elicited a need to create the story of my parents. Because of the nature of my mom's routine after supper, my watching her watch TV and then falling asleep became the means by which I could explore my parents' story. The story contains 13 images. Each image has two elements: my mom lying in the foreground, and a man on the Television set in the background."

Nguyen continues and offers a fairly literal explanation of the prone woman/mother and man/father separated by the distance of a screen. But she calls it like we see it. An interesting looking series, for sure.

View Nguyen's previous entry, in 2007.

Boy and Girl at U.S. Marines Recruiting Event, Orchard Beach, The Bronx, New York, 2007 by Nina Berman

Spring 2007 Hot Shot Nina Berman just wrapped up a show, Homeland, at the JB Gallery. She's not one to pause for long so it's hard to keep up with her. Yesterday's interview with David Schonauer of America Photo fills us in on some of Nina's recent work, including the image above. It begins:

Each Memorial Day, New York City celebrates Fleet Week. Navy vessels dock on the Hudson River, fighter jets roar overhead, and sailors disembark for shore leave. 'Usually I just shoot them wandering through Times Square,' says photojournalist Nina Berman. In 2007, however, Berman went to Orchard Beach, a park in the Bronx, for what was billed as Marine Day.

'Helicopters flew over and landed, and the soldiers came out with a tarp filled with weapons,' recalls Berman. 'Families gathered, and the Marines painted the kids' faces in camouflage. Little girls and boys were posing with rifles. There was a kind of gangster vibe -- kids saying, 'Hey, this is what they used in Scarface!'

The pictures Berman made that day -- advanced military weaponry in the happy hands of children painted as warriors -- capture a sense of absurdity and danger that often passes unnoticed in the social fabric of post-9/11 America.

Read the rest of the interview here. Nina also recently published the book Homeland that encompasses this work, a project spanning 7 years and the entire country.

Happy birthday to me, 2007, by Christopher Handran

There's so much going on here at Jen Bekman Projects, it's hard to keep track! But, don't worry, I'm counting down the days until we announce the winners of 2008's Second Edition Hey, Hot Shot! Competition next Tuesday! 5 days to go! And I've got a contenders post lined up for every last day.

I'll start with Aussie photographer Christopher Handran. Here's what he had to say about his series, Happy birthday to me, including the above image:

My practice draws on the most basic principles of photography, seeking to re-enact the experimentation and alchemy of early photography using materials and subjects drawn from my immediate surroundings. Employing d.i.y. techniques, junk shop materials and op shop technology, I make and modify cameras, lenses and viewers. By deconstructing and reconfiguring photographic processes and materials, my work explores our relationship to photography in everyday life... the resulting photographs present a fragmentary time lapse of my own life, recorded in a haze of photographic grain. In these works, the nature of the photograph as a trace and the physical experience of perception is foregrounded.

Before I knew what he was up to, Handran's images reminded me of Peter Coffin's Aura Portraits and Noah Sheldon's North series, both featured in the current issue of Blindspot, and of course, 2007 Fall Hot Shot Carlo Van de Roer's project, The Aura Portrait Machine. Carlo's new work received a write-up in the NYTimes Magazine blog and Kara posted about it over on the 20x200 blog. If you're checking out this other work along with me, you'll see, yes, the color palettes are similar, and there is also a soft, un-photographic feeling throughout all of the images, I think, because, all of these photographers are trying to capture those things that are left out of photographs, things that, sometimes, even in that moment the photograph is taken, aren't seen, only felt.

On top of that, both Carlo and Christopher are using modified equipment, Carlo, an Aura Camera 6000, and Christopher, a macro lens he created with rubber bouncy balls, pointing to the fact that cameras, on their own, might not be enough. Further distorting images, Christopher is re-photographing his childhood birthday photographs, records of the day of every year past that he blew out candles on a cake.

Re-visiting old photographs and re-considering how they function is something I touched upon when looking at James Reiman's HHS entry. And really, what these two photographers seems to be getting at is that idea put forth by Barthes, that the photograph is not so much a document of 'what is,' but 'what was' and 'what has ceased to be.'

So, why do we photographers even bother to take pictures when it is so hard to translate what was and what is and all of those thoughts, feelings, and things that can't even been seen to a 2D plane? Because sometimes, we come close.

We talked about Thrilla in Manila already, but we're going to talk about it again. A few times, we promise. Because it is awesome. Right now. Like, literally, right now, Jason Polan and Jane Mount are drawing. They've taken over the Jen Bekman Gallery in the name of some generous charity work and some great drawings.

Do visit them today. Tomorrow! Friday! I'll meet you there.

If you're far away and/or you want to check out the scene, read the Thrilla in Manila blog for tips on finger exercises to aid in prolific drawing, historic background on the event's name, and general fun with Jane, Jason, and whoever happens to stop by to join them.

P.S. There is ONLY ONE PRINT LEFT in Jason's 132 Birds at The American Museum of Natural History edition on 20x200.

The Lost Mitten, 2008 (From the series "Sparrow Lane"), C Print on Fuji Crystal Archive Paper, 14 x 18 inches, Edition: 20