Eric, Big Bend, 2010 from Roadkill Family Album, by Nigel Grimmer

Happy Monday greetings! While many of you may be trickling along at a hot and humid summer pace, we're busily racing to the finish of the 2010 Hey, Hot Shot! competition, which closes for entries in just 13 days on Sunday, August 22nd at 8 p.m. (EST). That's right: if you've been holding out to the very end, the clock is ticking on your chance to get your work in front of this outstanding panel and win our grand prize.*

We're extremely pleased to announce that Tod Lippy, HHS! panelist and Editor-in-Chief of Esopus magazine, has selected Nigel Grimmer to receive the 4th Curator's Choice Award, a lifetime subscription to Esopus magazine. If it was us who won, we'd be off to our mailboxes right-this-second to wait for our inaugural issue. We'd like to extend our thanks to Tod for judging this round of Curator's Choice and hearty congratulations to Nigel!

Guest Curator Tod Lippy writes of Nigel's Hey, Hot Shot! entry:
Family members of artists are no strangers to sacrifice. We're all familiar with stories about long-suffering spouses and children who are forced to give up any semblance of a stable life (or, in extreme cases, life itself) in the name of art. And more than a few parents have found themselves--warts and all--used as "material" in work by their children (think François Truffaut's 400 Blows, or John Cheever's The Wapshot Chronicle, or--moving into the world of photography--Larry Sultan's Pictures from Home).

At first glance, Nigel Grimmer's Family Roadkill series takes this notion of familial sacrifice to a literal extreme. For the series, which he began working on in 2000, Grimmer photographs the seemingly lifeless bodies of his parents, siblings, and other relatives crumpled along the sides of roads around the world. There is a twist, however: each "victim" is asked to don a joke-shop animal mask before Grimmer snaps the photo.

There's a lot going on in this work. Grimmer forces us to think more critically about the artificiality of the family photo album, which is, after all, a compendium of unnatural poses and frozen expressions. He plays off human beings' identification with and sympathy for animals--even cartoonish versions of them--while making us rethink our relationship to the flattened corpses of those we barely notice (except to swerve around). These striking photos--grim, yet wry; melancholic, yet hilarious--also offer a refreshingly nuanced take on Oedipal dynamics and family power structures.

Most interesting to me, though, is the way Grimmer successfully subverts this longstanding notion of familial sacrifice. By obscuring his subjects' faces, he affords them discretion, even anonymity. By using cartoon masks, he leavens what could be a ponderous, morose "statement" with pathos and wit. In essence, he has taken a process that can often be one-sided and exploitative and turned it into what feels like a true collaboration. (It's impossible not to imagine this incredibly game--no pun intended--family having a blast working together on this project.)

I looked at a lot of terrific work while judging, but nothing else captured my attention--and rewarded my continued scrutiny--the way Grimmer's remarkable photographs do.

Mum, Fritton, 2000 from Roadkill Family Album by Nigel Grimmer

Jo, Hull, 2000 from Roadkill Family Album by Nigel Grimmer

Pasminda, Donegal, 2002 from Roadkill Family Album by Nigel Grimmer

Jayne, Hackney, 2007 from Roadkill Family Album by Nigel Grimmer

Nigel Grimmer's Statement:
Friends and family members have entered my imagery through the continual reworking of the family album format. The traditional family album images are shaped by strict but generally unacknowledged conventions that form a series of fixed narratives. My Roadkill Family Album is produced during family vacations, but here the constructed nature of snapshot photography is emphasised. Each photograph in the series depicts a member of my family or a close friend lying, apparently dead, by the side of a road wearing the mask of an animal. Although the sitter's identity is obscured, the image still fulfils the role of memento of the trip for both photographer and subject. Despite being explicitly staged events, these images conjure up feelings of abandonment and sorrow. The animals seem to have given up the will to live, but the underlying human presence creates an ominous tension. I am interested in the use of my photographic practice as a social tool; I involve as many people in my projects as possible. I also try to utilise low-tech methods of art production and encourage the gallery visitor to reproduce my methodology in order to record their own experiences, particularly people unable to mirror the traditional family album images. Gallery-based workshops accompanying my exhibitions often allow others to join in my art practice; I include other people's photographs, based on my photographic practice, on my website. This is the tenth year of the Roadkill Family Album project.

Tod also selected a few Honorable Mentions whose work stood out to him from amongst the entries: Jinkyun Ahn, Yuji Hamada, Sarah Malakoff, Nancy Newberry and Janet Taylor. Congratulations to all five of these photographers!

We couldn't be more excited to announce that Alec Soth, renowned photographer and founder of Little Brown Mushroom Books, will be serving as the guest curator for our 5th—and final—month of Hey, Hot Shot! 2010.

Alec Soth has emerged as one of the preeminent photographers of our time, working seamlessly across genres as fine artist, storyteller and documentarian. Soth's creative projects combine photography, video, sound and writing (and more!) into inspiring stories that emerge from his journeys on the meandering roads of America. In 2008, Soth was named a full-time member of Magnum Photos and this September, the first U.S. survey of Soth's work, From Here to There, will open at the Walker Art Center, not to be missed if you are anywhere near Minneapolis.

Two Towels, 2005, from Niagara by Alec Soth

To readers of this blog, he needs no introduction, especially as of late, with all of the interesting projects and upcoming exhibitions keeping his name at the top of our feeds and conversations. But before you race to upload your images, read on for details about the award and more about Alec's work.

Alec will be reviewing all work submitted between July 30th and August 20th (two days before the end of the overall competition entry period on August 22nd). The entrant of his choice will be featured on our blog and newsletter, and receive what he has dubbed the "Little Brown Mushroom Love Pack" which includes:

- An autographed edition of Bedknobs & Broomsticks by Trent Parke (from the SOLD OUT edition of 1,000)
- Lost Boy Mountain by Lester B. Morrison (edition of 1,000)
- The Last Days of W by Alec Soth (from the SOLD OUT edition of 10,000)
- and a screen-printed LBM t-shirt

"The Little Brown Mushroom Love-Pack"

Before starting LBM Books in 2008, Soth released several books of his own work with publisher Steidl: Dog Days, Bogota, Sleeping by the Mississippi and Niagara—all of which have become instant classics and collectibles. So it's no surprise that LBM has been producing some amazing (and quickly sold out) books.

But LBM is only a sliver of what Alec has been up to. In conjunction with his aforementioned show at the Walker Art Center, a book will also be published to accompany the exhibition. After that, another book project, a collaboration with photographer Catherine Opie and fashion designers Rodarte, will be released in November. You can keep tabs on Alec and LBM's ventures by following their blog, Twitter and Tumblr. Soth also maintains a blog at the New York Times, Continental Picture Show, featuring photo and video from his adventures around the country. One of Alec's images is part of Land Use Survey, our summer exhibition currently on view at Jen Bekman Gallery through August 15th.

Finally, you'd be remiss not to read through this insightful interview with Soth on Big RED & Shiny from last November to hear Alec discuss his various projects in his own words.

It is an honor to give you the opportunity to get your work in front of the eyes of one of the most respected—and busiest(!)—photographers around. Best of luck to everyone entering and let us know if you have any questions—about Alec's prize or anything related to HHS!—by leaving a comment or replying to us on Twitter @heyhotshot.

Ready to apply now? Go for it!

40 light-sensitive paper airplanes exposed to the sky over a period of ten hours at a WWII anti-aircraft lookout post. Tennessee Cove, CA, 2010 by Klea McKenna

We're pleased to announce that Lesley A. Martin, HHS! panelist and publisher of Aperture's books program, has selected Klea McKenna to receive the 3rd Hey, Hot Shot! Curator's Choice Award. In addition to being featured in today's newsletter and right here on the blog, Klea will receive a selection of seven incredible books published by Aperture. A huge thanks to Lesley for judging this round of Curator's Choice, and congratulations to both Klea for her outstanding entry as well as all the other contenders—your entries keep on raising the bar!

Tod Lippy, HHS! Panelist and Editor-in-Chief of Esopus magazine, will be our 4th Guest Curator. Tod will be reviewing all entries submitted before Thursday, July 29th, and the entrant he picks will receive a LIFETIME subscription to Esopus magazine, so submit your best work today!

Of Klea's work, Lesley writes:

Klea McKenna describes her series Slow Burn as "an ongoing series of experiments" in which each image reveals or teaches her something that leads her to the next. This approach—photography as a heuristic process, in which the "eureka" moment of one image pushes us forward toward new discoveries with every step—is ideally the foundation of any artistic practice to some degree or another. It can be a risky, but it can also be incredibly rewarding, for both the viewer and the artist. McKeeena's unique prints are made with homemade cameras or without any recording device at all (paper airplanes made out of photographic materials!). The work has its points of intersection with other artists, including Walead Beshty and Miroslav Tichy, while also seeming to represent a personal means of grappling with the inherent capacities of photographic materials and processes. The resulting work has a certain amount of rawness and tension to it—a quality much appreciated by this particular juror.

In reviewing the artists who have submitted and making this selection, I'm keenly reminded of how savvy the photo community has become as a whole—how much well-executed, carefully constructed, good work there is out there. What I find myself looking for, then, is the work that stands apart for its willingness to try to push a little bit against the expectations of "good." Not work that is different for the sake of difference, but work that takes risks; that reveals deeply held beliefs and interests in how a photograph works—or doesn't.

Detail of 40 Paper Airplanes..., 2010 by Klea McKenna

Untitled (East River) from the series Slow Burn, 2009 by Klea McKenna

Untitled (Lagunitas Creek), from the series Slow Burn, 2010 by Klea McKenna

Untitled (Interstate 5), from the series Slow Burn, 2009 by Klea McKenna

Klea's Artist Statement:

My relationship to the natural landscape lies somewhere between adoration and suspicion. This ambivalence has fueled each of my recent projects. I am interested in human perceptions of and representations of nature, and photography's ability to both confirm and disarm those perceptions. Slow Burn is an ongoing series of experiments. With each one, I learn something new which leads me to the next experiment. As we rush ahead to embrace new digital technologies we are leaving the imaging potential of traditional light sensitive materials relatively untapped. Confined, as they have largely been, to representational reproduction. With this is mind I push these materials to record perceptual experience rather than accurate image. Using analogue photographic methods and crude, handmade cameras, I explore the materiality of the photographic medium and it's capacity to interact with and represent place and landscape in new ways. Recent experiments have included filling the camera with live insect and plant specimens while photographing as well as folding the film up so that it reacts to light as a 3-dimensional object. I attempt to rupture our perception by making the flawed material of the film itself as visible as the image it has captured. There is also a sense of gradual loss in this work, the loss of natural places, of time and of the analogue photographic materials that make these experiments possible. My methodology is informed by the strategies of field biology, Victorian naturalism, and homespun science; practices that employ intense and prolonged observation of natural phenomena.

We're happy to announce that Tod Lippy, HHS! panelist and editor-in-chief of Esopus magazine, will be Guest Curator for our 4th Curator's Choice award. All photographers who enter the competition by Thursday, July 29th will have their work reviewed by Tod—and the photographer he selects will receive...(drumroll please!)...a LIFETIME subscription to Esopus magazine.

Every issue of Esopus to date.

Back in December, I was wandering through St. Mark's Bookshop when I spotted the colorful cover of Esopus 13. After flipping through and finding myself unable to tear myself away from the awesomeness, I knew that I had to take the issue home. I went home and wrote, on my own blog:

Today I picked up a copy of Esopus magazine and it reminds me of what I love about design. Esopus is a non-profit that "provides an unmediated forum through which creative people can interact with the general public." The magazine is lavishly produced with different paper for different sections including one well-played vellum overlay and at least three pull or fold out bits. It "never includes advertising or commercially driven content and is priced well below its actual cost of production so that it can be accessed by a wide range of readers." This is a thing of beauty.

Not only does the Esopus Foundation Ltd. (which encompasses the publication) talk about supporting artists, but they put their money where their mouth is and produce exquisite magazines and events. JBP is no stranger to the organization either; 20x200 artist Jason Polan has done a three day collaborative event at their Manhattan project space and to this day, the tear-out poster by Hot Shot Mickey Smith from inside Esopus 13 is hanging in my room.

So, you can imagine that when I heard Tod was both joining our panel and guest-curating, I couldn't believe my ears. Esopus is a truly awesome organization and the winner of this prize has both my envy and congratulations! We can hardly wait for you to show us (and Tod) your best work, so make sure to get your entries in by Thursday, July 29th to be eligible for this fabulous prize.

We're pleased to announce that Guest Curator Nion McEvoy, Chairman and CEO of Chronicle Books, has selected Kyoshi Becker Mckizzie (who we previously featured on the blog for another body of work) as the recipient the 2nd Hey, Hot Shot! Curator's Choice Award. Kyoshi will receive a gift bag from Chronicle with a hand-picked selection of photography books, including Andrew Zuckerman's Bird and Linda Connor's Odyssey: The Photographs of Linda Connor. We'd like to extend enormous gratitude to Nion for judging this round of entries and for the generous award, and offer our congratulations to Kyoshi!

Our 3rd Curator's Choice Award will be judged by Lesley A. Martin, publisher of Aperture's books program. All entries submitted by Thursday, June 17th, are automatically eligible for a selection of outstanding titles published by Aperture.

And, for all of you who've not yet applied—every day we're inching a little closer to our deadline. Send us your best work, and put yourself in the running for the Grand Prize of a $5,000 honorarium, 2 years of representation from Jen Bekman Gallery and a solo exhibition. Five photographers will also be selected for a group exhibition at JBG and a $500 honorarium. Last but not least, every entry is reviewed for participation on 20x200, and we're featuring new contenders daily on the HHS! blog.

Untitled 1, May 19, 2010 by Kyoshi Becker Mckizzie

Guest Curator Nion McEvoy writes of Kyoshi's Hey, Hot Shot! entry:
In Kyoshi Becker Mckizzie's Untitled 1, a brown hand extends between two brown feet and seeks to pry the lid off a washing machine. Toes curl around the coin slot.  The soles look--it¹s even clearer in the next shot--dirty. The off-white metal boxes in their metallic regularity seem unaware of the invading spirit. (Only the repeated words "Speed Queen" suggest they might be willing to play.) But really, these are mundane, simply functional objects, while the hand seems to come from one of island-dwelling mischief makers of The Tempest.  And indeed, the job of this and the other dancers seems to be to mess with the obdurate machines of the Laundromat just as Prospero¹s servants mess with the dull-witted invaders of his domain.

In the next shot a really filthy sole is shown off in the foreground, perpendicular to a granite countertop. Steel dryers gleam and drift into darkness, displaying a sinister red dot at regular intervals.  Dancers lie on them, pose on them wearing colorful floral dresses. As the sequence goes on, the dancers propitiate the machines, enter them and climb back on top of them. When they climb inside the machines, the women are both sexual and clumsy, innocent and artful.  There is a delightfully anarchic spirit at work here amid the well-considered staging, costuming, and choreography. The cropping and the changes in perspective underscore a sense of cinematic motion. The sequence jumps. And the sure visual rhythms conveyed by the rows of machines provide the drums and bass that anchor and set free the pretty colors and impish Terpsichore of the performers.

Playfulness and impish effrontery are surprisingly hard to convey well.  So although Kyoshi Becker McKizzie¹s entry was surrounded by a great deal of excellent work, including many stunning images, his stood out for me.  And it seemed the perfect way to start the summer.

Untitled 2, May 19, 2010 by Kyoshi Becker Mckizzie

Untitled 3, May 19, 2010 by Kyoshi Becker Mckizzie

Untitled 4, May 19, 2010 by Kyoshi Becker Mckizzie

Untitled 5, May 19, 2010 by Kyoshi Becker Mckizzie

One of the highlights of this year's competition has been working with our guest curators to offer you awards throughout the entry period. For our third month, we're proud and excited to share that Lesley A. Martin, Publisher of Aperture's Book Program, and a HHS! panelist, will be our Guest Curator. She will be reviewing all entries submitted by June 17th, and and will select one photographer to receive an incredible selection of books from Aperture's shelves.

Aperture, with which many of you are already familiar, is simply a remarkable photography institution, created out the vision of legendary photographers, curators and artists—Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange among them. Since 1952, when Aperture was founded, it has expanded to also include a gallery and publishing house, releasing books by artists including Robert Adams, Bruce Davidson, Sally Mann, Stephen Shore and many others of equal renown.

As Publisher of Aperture's book program, Lesley has edited dozens and dozens of gorgeous titles, ranging from An-My Lê's Small Wars and Richard Misrach's On the Beach to The Edge of Vision: The Rise of Abstraction in Photography by Lyle Rexer, reinforcing that Aperture's reach as a non-profit arts institution is also about constant advancement of photography as a fine art.

Lesley, and Aperture, will generously award the following titles to one contender who applies by Thursday, June 17th.

Words Without Pictures by Charlotte Cotton
Sawdust Mountain by Eirik Johnson (an exhibit of this work is on view at the Aperture Gallery till June 10th)
Winter Stories by Paolo Ventura
Photography After Frank by Philip Gefter
Legacy by Joel Meyerowitz
Explosions, Fires, and Public Order by Sarah Pickering
Kamaitachi (trade edition) by Eikoh Hosoe

Whether you're a book lover, photography lover, or both, this is a truly covetous selection of beautifully produced titles, so we encourage you to get your entries in as soon as you can! The photographer Lesley selects will be announced in our newsletter in early July, featured here on the blog, and notified by email!

We are pleased to announce that the first Hey, Hot Shot! Curator's Choice Award, chosen by founding editor of Radius Books and HHS! panelist Darius Himes, goes to Phil Underdown. Phil will receive a gift bag of three exquisite books published by Radius, including Transfigurations by Michael Lundgren, The Spirit & The Flesh by Debbie Fleming Caffery and Domestic Vacations by Julie Blackmon. "Thank you to all the photographers that submitted work. There was an amazing range of talent and it was a joy going through it all," writes Darius.

Our Curator's Choice Award for May will be chosen by Chronicle Books publisher and HHS! panelist Nion McEvoy. All work submitted by the 20th of May will be personally reviewed by Nion whose pick will be featured on the site and recieve a gift bag of five books published by Chronicle.

Without further ado, we present all five images from Phil Underdown's HHS! submission accompanied by words by Darius Himes about his selection. After the break are Darius's notes on the judging process—wise words of advice for those thinking about entering the competition—and Phil's artist statement.

The Trapper's Lament 4506_1, October 2008, by Phil Underdown

Guest Curator Darius Himes on The Trapper's Lament by Phil Underdown
Using the visual language of a Shore or Struth, Underdown presents the viewer with a record of his tramping through the gentle woods of upstate New York with his view camera and film holders by his side. Dense undergrowth, meandering creeks and a carpet of browned and decaying autumn leaves are stoically pictured in exquisite detail, the trademark of a large format camera. I can almost picture him in his wellies and khaki pants, red-checked flannel shirt loosely tucked in and a spot meter draped around his lightly bearded neck. But there is murder and betrayal lurking in the bucolic settings of Mr. Underdown's photographs. All is not what it seems.

Take, for instance, the dead snapping turtle sprawled on the muddy banks in the first image, or more damning still, the bloated and floating adult beaver spied through the yet-to-bloom branches of riparian foliage. Who's to say that Mr. Underdown himself didn't hunt these innocent creatures down merely for the sake of photographing them? Perhaps they are the trophies of a very sick game of photographer and prey.

This is actually not far from the truth. Underdown moved to a piece of property abutting the Adirondack park precisely out of a deep-seated love of natural settings. But, as he states, "Here is a landscape where our mythologies of nature and the realities of our daily lives combine in an uneasy confusion." Invaded by squads of beavers who were so industrious that they threatened the home's entire septic system, he reluctantly hired a trapper to come and remove the recalcitrant beavers. (What most city-dwellers don't know is that "trapper" is synonymous with "hunter" in that the animals are killed in the process.) Underdown, burdened by the weight of his decision, began to photograph the aftermath, standing as witness to a cause and effect scenario he put in motion. "I recycle, I drive a Prius, I give money to environmental organizations ... and I kill beavers. This is the landscape of that confusion, the trapper's lament." His images, quiet and formally elegant, inject a sense of foreboding and mystery that draws you deeper into the frame.

The Trapper's Lament 4506_2, October 2008, by Phil Underdown

The Trapper's Lament 73_2, May 2009, by Phil Underdown

The Trapper's Lament 87_9, July 2009, by Phil Underdown

The Trapper's Lament 4519_3, November 2008, by Phil Underdown

Last month, many of you applied for the opportunity to win our first month's Curator's Choice Award, a selection of books from independent Santa Fe based art publisher Radius, generously donated by founding editor Darius Himes. We'll be announcing the photographer Darius has selected in our newsletter on Monday, but today, we are extremely pleased to announce our second month's guest curator. Nion McEvoy, chairman and CEO of Chronicle Books—and also a HHS! panelist—will review all entries submitted by May 20th, 2010 and select one photographer for our 2nd Curator's Choice Award. Read on for details!

It'd be impossible not to have Chronicle on your radar—they produce a plethora of gorgeous books, gifts and paper goods available across the globe that range from art & design, food, pop culture, travel and literature. But, aside from the breadth of their publications, Chronicle is recognized for their exceptional quality and for the relationships their nurture with their artists, authors, vendors and customers. They deeply value creativity and the process of collaboration, and as evidenced by their blog, written by Chronicle employees, the company itself is rife with intelligent and original minds.

Many JBP artists have collaborated with Chronicle over the years, including Lisa Congdon, Stuart Klipper, Mark Richards and Andrew Zuckerman, producing unique works that celebrate the individual artist's mission.

Every entry submitted by May 20th, 2010 will be automatically eligible to win the following five titles from Chronicle:

Manuel Alvarez Bravo: Photopoetry

Odyssey: The Photographs of Linda Connor

Taking Aim: Unforgettable Rock n' Roll Photographs Selected by Graham Nash

Michael Jackson: Before He was King by Todd Gray

Bird by Andrew Zuckerman

All of these books were selected by Nion and the team at Chronicle especially for Hey, Hot Shot! and we're excited to offer them to you, contenders, as a prize. The photographer Nion selects will be announced in our newsletter in early June, featured here on the blog, and notified by email. So, make sure to get your submissions in by May 20th, 2010.

If you happen to be out in San Francisco next Tuesday, May 4th, we're heading out west for our Third Annual 20x200 Collectors' Confab at Chronicle Books. Jen, a few members of the JBP team, and representatives from Chronicle will all be there for meeting and mingling. We'll be serving wine and beer along with a few nibbles, and perhaps have a surprise or two for you too. Many of our Bay Area 20x200 artists will also be in attendance, so come say hello and have a drink on us!

Space is limited, so make sure you RSVP to rsvp AT 20x200 DOT com.

Who: West Coast Collectors, Artists & Team 20x200
What: Collectors Confab
When: Tuesday, May 4th, from 6-9 p.m.
Where: Chronicle Books | 680 Second Street, San Francisco, CA

Hope to see you there!