O and H Auto Repair by Joseph O. Holmes

We've been thinking a lot about work-spaces lately—more specifically, how they correspond to creative production. Only last week, we got a glimpse of Carrie Marill's beautiful new Phoenix studio, which was featured on Kate Donnelly's blog series From Your Desks, dedicated to visiting and considering the places where artists make art.

Interior design website Apartment Therapy, as well, has keen and very understandable interest in the office, and this week—despite their admitted tendency to focus on spare and modernist spaces—they've made an excellent exception for Joseph O. Holmes. They feature the Fall 2005 and 2006 Hot Shot (and 20x200 superstar!)'s navigation of cluttered but moving and intensely personal places where business, (both artistic and otherwise), is done, featuring photographs from his aptly-titled Workspaces series on their site Unplggd.

Joseph himself describes Workspaces as an "impossible amount of work in an impossibly small space"—and the photo tour reveals this statement as certainly-not-inaccurate. In spite of the seeming chaos of the depicted offices, studios, and bars, there emerges a purposefulness to the spaces Joseph photographs. His aesthetic sensibility is revealed in these places—not mess, not clutter—but rather an unexpected sense of order and beauty. (Note for example the beautifully balanced signs/photographs/post-its/etc. on walls/desks/bulletin boards/etc., or the four matching mini-lamps perfectly framing the bar at CBGB). Unplggd writes of Joseph's photographs:

These spaces are the antithesis of what we propose and promote here on the site, but the Where's Waldo effect of the layered textures of places where everyday people get their work done is arguably inspiring in itself. Joseph has been kind enough to allow us to share the worlds where work is done without regard for those damn minimalist sensibilities (aka the "mess is mine and I know where everything is" system)!

CBGB by Joseph O. Holmes

Inside Out, Feature Issue 38, a curated selection of artwork from Culturehall by Tema Stauffer

Not enough hours in the day to see all the gallery shows in the NYC art fairs this week? We're more than happy to help you get your fix after the lights have dimmed and the doors have locked from the art spaces you find yourselves visiting in the daylight hours. In this day and age, curating has gone digital: 20x200 artist Tema Stauffer has curated the current featured exhibition Inside Out, featured in Culturehall, an online resource for contemporary art. Culturehall describes itself as a place...

...where selected artists can share their work with curators, gallerists, collectors and other artists. We provide free artist portfolios with an easy to use set of web-based tools to make presenting art online simple and efficient. Our community of artists consists primarily of MFA graduates, arts professionals and teaching artists.

Inside Out presents four photographers that are coming out of the raw documentary traditions of contemporary titans like Robert Frank, Larry Clark, Diane Arbus and Richard Billingham. From the exhibition page:

In this highly personal and subjective tradition, Culturehall presents four contemporary photographers with a similar sensitivity to the struggles, fantasies and realities of diverse groups of people whose lives have resonated with the photographers' psychologies, personal histories, cultural backgrounds or social concerns.

Fishbowl, 2010 by Julianna Beasley

The featured photographers in Inside Out are Juliana Beasley, Wayne Liu, Heather Musto and Dave Jordano. Juliana Beasley is a Fall 2006 Hot Shot, whose haunting portraits of societally marginalized denizens of the Rockaways definitely harken the same conflicted care seen in the work of Richard Billingham.

The Inside Out online exhibition will be on view through March 9th.

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

We're excited to announced that Joe Holmes, JBP artist, Hot Shot and now seven-time edition-maker on 20x200 will be collaborating with the clothing line Rag & Bone in an installation at their new flagship store at 119 Mercer Street in Soho.

The new store officially opens next Monday, October 19th (though you might have seen their doors open during their ongoing soft launch) and will kick-off with a big fashion-and-photo-filled party that evening. Six 30" x 40" prints from Joe's Workspace series will be on display in the store for a run of at least six weeks. Make sure to stop by Rag & Bone starting next Tuesday, to see Joe's work as you browse for some new fall fashions.

July 22, 2009 :: Broadway by Joe Holmes

In addition to being ridiculously talented photographers, our Hot Shots (like Beth and Alison, among many others...) are fast developing a reputation for being experts in the field of self-publishing.

For example, last week we found out that Hot Shot Kurt Tong was awarded two spots in Blurb's highly competitive Photography.Book.Now competition.

Today, two-time Hot Shot, 20x200 edition-maker, and prolific NYC street photographer Joe Holmes is teaching a class on how to put together a photo book of your own. The class promises to "walk you through the process of editing your images for presentation in a hardcover photobook as well as show you tips and tricks to create the book you want." In addition, Allen Murabayashi, CEO of Photoshelter, will be talking about how to "promote your brand and market yourself as a photographer."

The class has a cover charge of $10, but that $10 will be automatically refunded in the form of a coupon towards your new AdoramaPix photo book, which they describe as having "high-quality silver-halide prints carefully bound to lay completely flat with no gutter or stitching to break up the view on double page spreads."

Space is limited; so if you are interested, make sure to RSVP online. If you're in New York today, this class could be just the push you need to start your book!

Monday, September 21, 2009
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Adorama
42 West 18th street
5th floor
New York, NY 10011

Psst! There's more to come from Joe today on 20x200... stay tuned.

Liao, Shanghai, China, 2009 by Shen Wei

This morning we received an exciting update from Fall 2006 Hot Shot and 20x200 edition-maker Shen Wei—he has been awarded the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center for the Creative Arts Residency in Lake Como, Italy for the month of October 2009:

Bellagio creative arts residencies - for composers, novelists, playwrights, poets, video/filmmakers and visual artists - provide time for disciplined work, individual reflection, and collegial engagement, uninterrupted by the usual professional and personal demands.

Shen writes that he will use his time in Italy to begin working on new projects.

In the past year, Shen has been busy, busy, busy, traveling to China for his beautiful new project Chinese Sentiment, having his first solo show in the US—Almost Naked at the Randall Scott Gallery—and putting together the series in a beautiful limited-edition book. In addition to being recently published in LIFE Magazine China, Shen's work is part of a traveling exhibition which just opened in Italy as part of the SIFest2009 photography festival.

To top it all off, Shen ends his email with a modest, "that's it for now."

Both of Shen's 20x200 editions, Yi, Beijing and Blessing over the Rice Machine, Guiyang, Guizhou Province, are still available and would make a fabulous addition to any collection.

Two Cowboys, 2006 by Juliana Beasley

Fall 2006 Hot Shot Juliana Beasley was recently awarded a NJ Arts Council Grant, and since then has been steadily showing work and receiving accolades from NYMPHOTO, as well as a feature on Lens Culture.

Images from Juliana's poignant series of Mennonites living in the Southern Yucatan are currently on view at Daniel Cooney Fine Art's Summer Salon of Emerging Photographers. The exhibition will run through July 31.

Summer Salon of Emerging Photographers: Juliana Beasley, Felix Cid, Bradley Peters and Rebecca Schrock
DCFA 511 West 25th Street, #506 | New York

Jody, 2003 by Shen Wei

Shen Wei was crowned a Hot Shot in our Fall 2006 competition. Since then, he's made quite a success of himself. Not long ago I let you know about his limited edition portfolio book featuring work from his series, Almost Naked, and this Thursday, April 2, Shen will open a solo show of the selfsame series at Randall Scott Gallery in Brooklyn. There will be a reception for the artist from 6-8pm.

Almost Naked
April 2 - May 2
Randall Scott Gallery
111 Front Street #204
Brooklyn, NY

Click here to learn more about the limited edition book, and here to visit Shen's site.

Nymphoto: Conversations Volume I will open at Sasha Wolf Gallery on May 6th, 2009, from 6-8:00 p.m. and be on view until May 20th.

The show features work by Michele Abeles, Juliana Beasley (Fall 2006 Hot Shot), Rona Chang, Michal Chelbin, Nina Buesing Corvallo, Candace Gottschalk, Jessica M. Kaufman, Klea McKenna, Talia Greene, Maria Passarotti, Susana Raab, Emily Shur, Tema Stauffer (one of Jen Bekman Gallery's first exhibiting artists), Jane Tam (former HHS blogger and JB intern), Garie Waltzer & Jennifer Williams. The show accompanies the release of Nymphotos' first publication by the same name Nymphoto: Conversations Volume I.

COMING SOONER! Nymphoto's very first Call for Entries Deadline: April 3rd. From the entries, Nymphoto will cull and curate Nymphoto Presents @ Sasha Wolf Gallery, opening two weeks after Conversations. Upload 2-5 images to have your work considered for this exhibition. One note: as Nymphoto is a collection of women photographers, you must be female to participate. Sorry guys!

Fall 2006 Hot Shot, Joe Fornabaio, was one of eleven renowned photographers selected for the USA Network's Character Project. During the summer of 2008, the photographers--including Mary Ellen Mark, Richard Renaldi, and Sylvia Plachy--set out about the United States to document characters far and wide: off highways, in farms, in the city, and in the country. Fornabaio's project focused around the common American ritual of the haircut. He ventured into salons and barber shops of all calibers, seeking the "visceral experience we share with our stylist or barber."

Forabaio's images join the work of the other photographers in a forthcoming book titled, American Character: A Photographic Journey, published by Chronicle Books this month. The work will also be displayed in a two day exhibition sponsored by the Aperture Foundation open today and tomorrow from 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. at Stephan Weiss Studio, 711 Greenwich Street.

Lynn, 2007, by Shen Wei

Flowers in the Backseat, 2007, by Shen Wei

Fall '06 Hot Shot Shen Wei has released a limited edition portfolio of his lush photographs that investigate "the complexity of emotional nakedness".

The unique portfolio book is truly a collectable item. The book is designed as an artist's portfolio, all pages are separated and placed in a custom made box.

Click here to learn more about the book, and here to visit Shen's site.

Applause is in high order for Fall '06 Hot Shot Juliana Beasley as she was recently awarded a NJ Arts Council Grant! Not too long ago I pointed you to an interview with Juliana, as well as a feature on Lens Culture.

Juliana will have work up in Station Independent Projects' group show The Bridge Art Fair.
March 5-8th, 2009
222 12th Avenue
NYC

Things are really coming up roses for this Hot Shot! Go Juliana!

View Juliana's images on Lens Culture
Visit Juliana's site
Read Juliana's blog

Warm congratulations are in order for Fall '06 Hot Shot, Sasha Rudensky. Sasha recently graduated from Yale, and is currently teaching at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Those are two excellent reasons to raise a glass, but what's even more is that she is about to enjoy her first major solo exhibition. Images from two of her series, Remains (2004/08) and Demons (2007-08) will be on view through February 15th at the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery.

The opening reception will be this Friday from 5 to 7 p.m., with an artist talk at 5:30 p.m. Gallery hours are Tuesday to Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.; Friday, noon to 8 p.m.

Wesleyan University Gallery
283 Washington Terrace
Middletown, Connecticut

Image from Juliana Beasley's series Rockaways

Fall 2006 Hot Shot, Juliana Beasley, has an interview up over on the NYMPHOTO Blog. I recently wrote about Juliana's feature on Lens Culture earlier this month. Juliana's spare and touching photographs document white poverty in New York City.

From Juliana's statement:

I visit the Rockaway Park community, the site of my project, on a regularly basis and have been doing so for the past four years. During that time I have developed close personal ties within the community.

While it is less than twenty miles from Manhattan, Rockaway Park is another country. It is a place that many financially-strapped mental hospitals and nursing homes have for years used as a dumping ground for some of their indigent patients. This famed Irishtown is the last remnant of hope for many elderly and low income families living in fear of homelessness.

View Juliana's images on Lens Culture
Visit Juliana's site
Read Juliana's blog

Joe Fornabaio for The New York Times

Fall 2006 Hot Shot Joe Fornabaioshot the above image (illustrating the resurgence of both bowling and White Russians) which caught my eye, and then I realized it was from a Hot Shot. Go figure! Joe has been a freelance photographer for The New York Times for a few years, along with fellow Hot Shots Kelly Shimoda and James Rajotte.

Here are two more of my favorites from Joe:

Joe Fornabaio for The New York Times

Joe Fornabaio for The New York Times

Now the next time you read the Times and you see an excellent photo, have a peek to see if it was from one of our Hot Shots...you never know.

Have a look at Joe's site for more of his documentary images. His Family Jewels series is especially wonderful.

Joseph O. Holmes is a Jen Bekman Gallery favorite. He was a Fall '06 Hot Shot and a Ne Plus Ultra, and he's had a few great 20x200 editions too. Kara Canal spoke (wrote!) with Joe about topics such as --

His favorite photographer:
"The photos of Thomas Roma, a friend from my neighborhood, have been a tremendous inspiration. It took me a long time to understand and enjoy Lee Friedlander's work, it was something I had to work at, but all of a sudden one day it all fell into place. And, of course, Alec Soth."

His influences:
"When I read or hear or see great art, I get filled up with an irresistible impulse to create. I used to read Don DeLillo, for example, and then immediately feel compelled to start writing, short stories pouring out of me. It was the same way with songwriting, and it's the same with photography: Alec Soth's Sleeping by the Mississippi powered me for days."

His own art collection:
"We have paintings and photos from friends on our walls, but I don't consider us art collectors in any way. The term 'art collector' suggests to me certain investment motives. This is exactly the kind of attitude Jen Bekman is battling with projects like 20x200."
His 20x200 favorites:

"I really enjoy Jason Polan's delightful drawings; Eliot Shepard has the freshest eye I ever knew; I'm really envious of every photo I see by Brian Ulrich; and Bert Teunissen's mission is wonderful and his photos are gorgeous."

And she gets the dirt on what Holmes is working on now, what he'd be working on if it wasn't photography and more!

Read all of Kara's interview on the 20x200 blog.

"Surreal and wacky ... Holmes' images grant an intimate understanding of homo sapiens' curiosity."

Democratic National Convention 2008: Attendees at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, on August 28, 2008. Joe Fornabaio for The Wall Street Journal . Fornabio is a Fall '06 Hot Shot

The Wall Street Journal puts it simply: "Joe Fornabaio photographs Democratic and Republican heavyweights," in their caption to Fall '06 Hot Shot Joe Fornabaio's slide show. Click through "Power Players" for Joe's portraits of Karl Rove, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah), Tom Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Former Republican Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Mark Warner, Democratic Senate candidate and former governor of Virginia, and New York Democratic Gov. David A. Paterson.

Fornabaio has been doing lots of on-the-road political reporting recently. Keep an eye out for his work throughout the remainder of the campaign season.

See Joe's website section "Conventional" for more of this great work.

Fall '06 Hot Shot Shen Wei has a solo show of his series Almost Naked at Kunst.Licht Gallery, September 13 - November 30, 2008 in Shanghai, China.

Wei writes:

"Growing up in Mainland China, I was brought up strictly and conservatively, any untraditional and unconventional ideas of life-style can sometimes lead to misconceptions. I was numbed about the ideas of intimacy, sexuality, and love. Since I moved to the United States, my needs for self-expression has grown. However, my curiosity about how others deal with their identity in what is a fairly open society like America has increased. As a result I started to photograph people and life in America.

The goal of my projects is to raise the question about human nature, about emotions, feelings, desire, instinct and identity, to reveal things that you can feel it, that are unexplainable but yet still solid. I am fascinated with exploring the complexity of emotional nakedness and psychological connection/disconnection, as it is often expressed not specifically but explicitly. Certainly my photography is my perspective and how I look at people and life in America. But most importantly, I want viewers of my work to make their own discoveries and judgments of my photographs."

Born and raised in Shanghai, China. Shen Wei is a fine art photographer currently based in New York City. Shen's photographs have been widely exhibited, including Griffin Museum of Photography, Seattle Center on Contemporary Art, Zone: Chelsea Center for the Arts, Australia Center for Photography, Lincoln Center and Saatchi Gallery at the Zoo Art Fair. His photographs have been featured in various publications such as American Photo, Chinese Photography, PDN, Vision and La Tempestad.

Shen Wei holds an MFA in Photography, Video and Related Media from School of Visual Arts (NYC), a BFA in Photography from Minneapolis College of Art and Design and a BA in Decorative Arts and Design from Shanghai Light Industry College.

Wei has a blog too.

Sex Worker Entwined With Client by HHS! winner Kate Orne

Kate Orne
Currently residing in New York, New York

Website: www.kateorne.com

Work Statement
Since '00 I have worked among the neediest people in Afghanistan and Pakistan and using photography as a tool to fight against indentured slavery and for the wellbeing of women, children, and animals. My commitment to social causes has become the defining part of my life as an artist. I have worked on several essays in South East Asia where the poor are sentenced to lives of disease and want. Throughout, I have been documenting their struggles in photos -- using art as a connection to wider awareness in the outside world.

Since '05 I have worked among the sex-workers and their families in Pakistan -- being the first photographer to document this shunned community. This body of work examines the uneasy peace between Islamic fundamentalism and profanity in the brothels. Repressive fundamentalist Muslim laws not only shun these women's existence but in some areas make their actions punishable by death. However, in their brothels the women are the breadwinners. This underlying dualism surfaces in portraits of the women sitting proudly on the same beds where they not only service their customers but share with their husbands and children.

I use this project to raise awareness about this little known community, and to raise funds for the two little schools, the first ones ever to offer education to the children of the sex-workers with the mission to break the cycle of children being born into prostitution, sex abuse, drug addiction and crime. There are currently 80 students enrolled.

Bio
Born in Stockholm, Sweden. Based in New York City.

'99 - present
Artist focused largely on women and children issues in developing countries.

'94 - present
Commercial photographer focused on portraiture and fashion.

'02 - Present Established myfarawayfamily.com, an organization providing Afghan refugee children with education and their widowed mothers with micro loans and guidance to start their own businesses. Provided food distributions in Kabul and Peshawar among refugees.

'92 -'94 Editor at Interview magazine.

'88-'91 Producer of still shoots for art and commercial photography.

Publications
The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Esquire, Interview, Artnet.com, Arena, Vibe, Spin, Marie Claire, Dansk, Harpers Bazaar, Glamour, Tokion, +81, Dune among others.

Exhibitions / Selected Awards
2008
Show&Sell Chelsea Art Museum NYC
Sideluck Potshow.
Selected participant, Review Santa Fe.
American Photography 24 Best Photography of 2007

2007
Act of Faith Nordlicht Photofestival, Netherlands 2007. Curated by Wim Melis
Up& Now! Photographic Center Northwest Judged by Charlotte Cotton, curator of LACM
Spectra '07 Silvermine Guild Arts Center Curated by Peter McGill, Pace/McGill Gallery NY

Brandon Herman's cover photograph for Kaiserin Magazine

Summer '06 Hey Hot Shot winner Brandon Herman has two photographs in the current issue of Kaiserin (including the cover!), a bi-annual art magazine that features emerging artists. Herman also has an edition available on 20x200.

Spring '07 Hot Shot Daniel Traub reports that the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has acquired four images from his City's Edge series. The very series that won him a spot in Hey, Hot Shot!

Traub was also recently included in the PDN 30 2008 - one of 30 "new and emerging photographers to watch," by Photo District News.

And he's not the only Hot Shot featured on that illustrious list. Fall '07 Hot Shot Birthe Piontek and Fall '06 Hot Shot Shen Wei are honored there too.

Untitled, from the series Concubines of New York by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Shen Wei

Fall 2006 Hey, Hot Shot! winner Shen Wei is one of those photographers who not only finds the time to make massive quantities of work that manage to remain cohesive and, well, good, but also is quite the man about town, with impeccable networking skills to boot. Oh,the juggle, he handles it well. Shen was recently awarded a Manhattan Community Arts Fund grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and New York City Department of Cultural Affairs for his documentary project Concubines of New York.

And some older news, Hey, Hot Shot! panelist and celebrity blogger Joerg Colberg named him a Photographer of the Year, along with Amy Elkins and Richard Renaldi. And at the same time our own Jen Bekman was named an Innovator of the Year, Shen received an Honorable Mention for American Photo's Images of the Year.

AND... Shen's work in the Hey, Hot Shot! Showcase received press in two Chinese periodicals, The Sing Tao Daily and The Ming Pao Daily.

A translation from The Sing Tao Daily:

Shen Wei focused most of his work on portraiture, his portraits are sensual and sensitive, fully expressed his idea about body, persona and identity. In this 10 artists photography group show, he showed works from his series Almost Naked, "I like to look at American society from a Chinese perspective".

Oh yes, how impressive our alumni can be! Congratulations Shen.

And last but not least, I give you Hot Shot Hans Gindlesberger. See you tonight!

Current place of residence?
Buffalo, NY

Birthplace? Where were you raised?
A small town outside of Toledo, OH

Your age?
25

What do you do to pay the bills?
I teach at several colleges in the Buffalo area

What initiated your committed romance with photography?
Lou Krueger, one of my undergraduate instructors, did a lot to support my work when I was figuring out what it was I wanted to do with photography. I probably stuck with the photo because of my experience in those classes.

What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians, politicians, painters, or the like?
Teun Hocks, Dan Bern, Beckett

What formal training, if any, do you have?
Its limited to school, recently finishing up graduate school last year.

What camera do you use?
Canon 20D

What piece of equipment do you fetishize the most and/or what is your guiltiest tech pleasure?
My own large format printer would be fantastic. And a new Mac would be good as well.

What are your loftiest goals?
I suppose like most artists, to be able to sustain myself just by making my work.

Do you have any other creative talents?
I love to cook, but I'm a slave to following the directions.

What are the top three movies on your queue?
The Spirit of the Beehive, Chinatown, Wonderboys

What book connects with your life the most?
I read Winesburg, Ohio shortly before beginning the series that I'm currently working on. Winesburg was based on a town neighboring the one I grew up in and the collection of short stories in there were recognizable to me and influenced the process a lot early on.

What are your favorite websites/blogs?
I compulsively check Boing Boing throughout the day. Alec Soth's blog always is interesting to check in on as well.

Any pets?
Two cats.

We are now only hours away from the Hey, Hot Shot! Winners' Showcase and what an event it promises to be! For now, get to know Hot Shot Joe Fornabaio.

Current place of residence?
East Village, NYC

Birthplace? Where were you raised?
Born-n-raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

Your age?
37

What do you do to pay the bills?
Shoot.

What initiated your committed romance with photography?
Boredom and a very smart high school teacher.

What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians, politicians, painters, or the like?
Edouard Boubat, Karl Bissinger, Leon Levinstein, Modigliani, Egon Schiele, Alexander Calder, Leonardo DaVinci, Bernini, Gianni Berengo Gardin, Pat Metheny, David Darling, Tom Waits, Duke Ellington, Brian Eno, that's a very short quick list, there's really too many.

What do you like most about being a "photographer"?
At least once a day it puts a smile on my face.

What formal training, if any, do you have?
BFA in Photography from SVA, and too many years of assisting.

What camera do you use?
Mamiya RZ 67, Yashica T4.

What piece of equipment do you fetishize the most and/or what is your guiltiest tech pleasure?
FILM!

What do you find to be the biggest cliche in photography these days?
You really want me to answer that? It'll piss off people.

What are your loftiest goals?
A career behind the camera.

Do you have any other creative talents?
Another? LOL, ya killin' me!

What are the top three movies on your queue?
Charlie Brown Christmas Special

What book connects with your life the most?
The Essential Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Who are your favorite musicians?
There's a few above. Bob Marley, Grateful Dead, Muddy Waters, Albert King, Ayub Ogada, Etta James, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Bland, Claudio Villa, The Rolling Stones, The Ramones, AC/DC, Rage Against The Machine, Juan Carlos Formell, The Temptations, The Supremes, The Flamingos, Radiohead, Ali Farka Toure, Neil Young, Annie Lenox, Steely Dan, Marvin Gaye, Led Zeppelin, gotta stop, too many to list 'em all.

If you were on a deserted island and could only take one luxury, what would it be?
A woman.

Favorite color?
Black.

Favorite food?
Italian.

Favorite possession?
My Mamiya RZ.

Favorite way to kill time?
Watching the world go by.

For this Monday night, I pass the mic to Hot Shot Sasha Rudensky.

Current place of residence?
I split my time between brooklyn where I've been living for the last 5 years and new haven, ct where I go to school.

Birthplace? Where were you raised?
I was born in moscow, russia and lived there till I was 11. When my family moved the states we briefly lived in new haven, then moved to Seattle.

Your age?
27

What do you do to pay the bills?
Now that I'm at school I live in debt, but beforehand I was mostly teaching photography at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT.

What initiated your committed romance with photography?
We had a pretty good photography program at my high school and my boyfriend at the time was very into it and he's the one that gave me my first camera. And after that it just happened on its own. At a number of points in my life I was thinking it was time to do something a little more stable and lucrative, but just couldn't bring myself to stop taking pictures.

What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians, politicians, painters, or the like?
I've had a lot of influences - very early on while still living in Russia my parents would drag me and my brothers to museums - I was in love with northern renaissance painting - van der weyden, van eyck, cranach. Though I didn't realize it at the time, I think that's what originally got me thinking about the function of color in art making. i also grew up reading a lot of poetry - axmatova, mandelstam, brodsky. The latter was especially influential in trying to wrap my brain around living abroad, while creatively being connected to the place where one was born. And of course there were photographic heros - koudelka, stephen shore, joel sternfeld.

What do you like most about being a "photographer"?
I like not being confined to a studio, I like being in the world, I like the pressure of having to actually meet and engage people when I'm with my camera

What formal training, if any, do you have?
Majored in studio art in college, though I went to a liberal arts school and we only had two photo classes - black and white photo 1 and 2. Now I'm making up for it at grad school when we have more brutal crits than any sane person can take.

What camera do you use?
For years I used a Konica Hexar, a tiny silent rangefinder, which I still adore. When I started shooting color I bought a Mamiya 7 and now primarily shoot with that. Recently I became interested in portraiture and have been borrowing the RZ from a friend, it's a bit clunky for me though and I might switch to something else.

What piece of equipment do you fetishize the most and/or what is your guiltiest tech pleasure?
I never think about equipment - I know very little about it and only use what I have or can get access to for free.

What do you find to be the biggest cliche in photography these days?
Sullen portraits of upper-middle class young people staring at the camera

What are your loftiest goals?
I suppose sustaining myself as a gallery artist - though I will always want to teach as well

Do you have any other creative talents?
I'm a good arm-wrestler.

What are the top three movies on your queue?
I recently saw a Melville film called Army of Shadows, which was absolutely amazing and have been trying to get my hands on it ever since. There is also a devastating Russian film called Ascent by Larisa Shepitko which appeals to my tragic side. Of recent stuff I loved Cronenberg's History of Violence.

What book connects with your life the most?
Do I dare say it? I guess Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.

Who are your favorite musicians? Do you have an anthem?
Musically I'm very torn - I listen to Sonic Youth, Stereolab, Pavement, but I also love old country - Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams. And Shostakovich makes me cry.

If you were on a deserted island and could only take one luxury, what would it be?
My husband.

Any pets?
My four pet fish died recently.

Brooklyn-based photographer Joseph Holmes is a two time winner with a superb eye and a worthy photoblog. Meet him and many of the other winners in person this Wednesday @ the JGB. Until then, enjoy.

Birthplace? Where were you raised?
I was born and raised in a tiny factory town in Pennsylvania.

Your age?
52

What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians, politicians, painters, or the like?
These days, every good photographer in the world inspires me, too many to name. Every great photo book and gallery show makes me want to immediately get out and start shooting. And I discover new great photographers all the time. Finnish photographer Esko Mannikko just crossed my radar&mdas;he's amazing.

What I find fascinating is that, even though I can't warm up to Lee
Friedlander's work, though I just can't get on his wavelength, the longer I see his stuff, the more I'm finding that he influences me. What's that about?

What do you like most about being a "photographer"?
Photography can be social in surprising ways. I don't often go out
shooting with friends, because shooting becomes a very meditative
experience. There's a kind of zen-like space I've learned to reach for, which doesn't lend itself to chatting. Very few friends are good companions for that. But lately I've been working on some things that involve approaching strangers. That turns out to be a lot of fun.

What formal training, if any, do you have?
My father taught me to use his Miranda Sensorex when I was in junior high school. A childhood in the darkroom is a wonderful teacher.

What camera do you use?
I like my Nikon D200, but I miss film.

What do you find to be the biggest cliche in photography these days?
Oh, where to start? Gas stations in the desert twilight. Lonely
shopping carts. Heroin addicts. Too many photographers seem to be all about reacting to other photos.

What are your loftiest goals?
I'm enjoying today so much that I haven't spent much time thinking
about tomorrow. I suppose my goal is to continue to find photo projects that excite me.

Do you have any other creative talents?
My short story "Keys" is appearing in the next issue of North Atlantic Review. I've won two screenwriting prizes. Long ago I acted in dinner theater and summer stock.

What are the top three movies on your queue?
I don't have a queue, but since we're talking about movies, I was
surprised lately to discover that Dr. Strangelove hasn't aged as well as I thought, while both Vertigo and McCabe and Mrs. Miller are timeless.

What book connects with your life the most?
Continuing in the vein of the last answer, I was recently disappointed to find that Catch 22 doesn't hold up well at all; I loved it as a teen, but I now find it unreadable. Walker Percy's Love in the Ruins also didn't hold up well, but I'm thinking of rereading Percy's The Moviegoer Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker however, remains a masterpiece.

What are your favorite websites/blogs?
They're almost all boring, technical things, but I'm happy to have discovered Alec Soth's blog. There aren't many really fine photographers willing to take that level of conversation online.

Who are your favorite musicians? Do you have an anthem?
My son is my favorite musician. Seriously. And my daughter's an amazing songwriter and singer.

If you were on a deserted island and could only take one luxury, what would it be?
A speedboat.

Today I give you Copenhagen-based Hot Shot Mette Maersk. Happy Saturday!

Birthplace? Where were you raised?
Copenhagen, Denmark. Fredensborg, Denmark

Your age?
36

What do you do to pay the bills?
My best

What initiated your committed romance with photography?
Instinctive flirting with found footage and discarded photographs at a young age

What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians, politicians, painters, or the like?
Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, David Hockney, Peter Fischli & David Weiss, Lynne Cohen, Len Lye, Man Ray, Stephen Shore, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Ed Ruscha, Oscar Niemeyer, Gordon Matta-Clark, Gabriel Orozco

What do you like most about being a "photographer"?
Being in motion, encounters and seduction. Analog equipment has all the pace and attitude, that I like. I can never fully grasp the implications of what I observe, but I can gradually approach a totality, subsequently. In the meantime, signatures have to be recorded and contours framed, as handles to grasp.

What formal training, if any, do you have?
Mixed and mostly self-taught

What camera do you use?
Yashica Mat, Polaroid SX-70, Richo GR1v ( like to try a Graflex Super Graphic )

What piece of equipment do you fetishize the most and/or what is your guiltiest tech pleasure?
cars, no guilt

What do you find to be the biggest cliche in photography these days?
The urge for asking artists to produce linguistic meaning and define the sense of their work. Curators are better at that.

What are your loftiest goals?
A loft! Frequent field-assigments and artists residencies. Working with photographic books

Do you have any other creative talents?
I am a documentarist, I thus could unfold my gaze to capture yet unknow subjects. Just ask.

What are the top three movies on your queue?
(un-numbered group) Music of Chance, In the mood for love, Ultimo tango a Parigi, Blow up, Chelsea Walls, Soy Cuba, Playtime, The Straight Story, Boccaccio '70, Jules et Jim, Det Perfekte Menneske, The Conversation, La Linea, Sheltering Sky, The Idiots, Down by Law, Lucia y Sexo, Bonnie & Clyde, The Night of the Iguana, Le Mepris

What book connects with your life the most?
Mac Powerbook

What are your favorite websites/blogs?
zoetati.blogspot.com ( and all the links listed on the blog )
patalab02.blogspot.com

Who are your favorite musicians? Do you have an anthem?
John Lennon, Thomas Dybdahl, Nina Simone, Jan Johansson, Kate Bush, Nick Drake, Cat Power, Gotan Project, Bob Marley, Chet Baker, Tom Waits, Eric Satie, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Beck, Omara Portuonda, Aretha Franklin

If you were on a deserted island and could only take one luxury, what would it be?
A swiss army knife with an espresso-machine, a fireplace and a male surf-instructor attached

Favorite food?
cod roe

Favorite possession?
rare collection of toy caravans

Favorite animal?
puppy

Favorite way to kill time?
Fleamarkets

Untitled (Self-Portrait) by Shen Wei

If Hot Shot Shen Wei isn't out practicing photography, he's probably looking at it online. Shen's favorite way to kill time is a popular one, by surfing the web. His favorite site, also a popular one, is our fabulous panelist Joerg Colberg's Conscientious. If you're in Seattle, plan a visit to The Center on Contemporary Art. Shen is one of 16 artists included in The 2006 CoCA Annual, curated by Jennifer Gately and up through the end of the month.

Current place of residence?
New York City

Birthplace? Where were you raised?
I was born and raised in Shanghai, China.

Your age?
29

What do you do to pay the bills?
Mostly freelance work and selling my prints

What initiated your committed romance with photography?
I came to the US initially to pursue a masters degree in Design; I was initially educated and worked as a designer in Shanghai. Before I started my study at Minneapolis College of Art Design, I only had experienced a Seagull point and shoot camera, but after I took a couple of photography courses, I absolutely fell in love with photography and decided to pursue serious training in photography. I feel much emotionally in control of what I want to express when I ready to take a photograph.

What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians,politicians, painters, or the like?
Thomas Eakins, Diane Arbus, Lucien Freud, Caravaggio among others are some of the inspirations for me. Composer Keith Fitch's work has been my major inspiration for my film/video work.

What do you like most about being a "photographer"?
Capturing the moment that's personally moving + contact sheet surprise.

What formal training, if any, do you have?
I received my MFA in Photography, video and related media from School of Visual Arts, a BFA in photography from Minneapolis College of Art and Design and a BA in Design from Shanghai Light Industry College. I have to mention that two of the most significant mentors during my photography study are David Goldes and Sylvia Wolf.

What camera do you use?
Most of my recent projects were filmed with a Mamiya 67 II and I also used a Toyo 4X5 View Camera for some of my early projects. I also start to use a Canon 5D for documentary and freelance work.

What piece of equipment do you fetishize the most and/or what is your guiltiest tech pleasure?
I refuse to take Polaroids in order to motivate myself to concentrate more on details. I hope that makes sense.

What do you find to be the biggest cliche in photography these days?
When a photograph is all about the lighting technique + overly decorative.

What are your loftiest goals?
To be able to build schools in the poorer regions of China.

Do you have any other creative talents?
Creative cooking

What book connects with your life the most?
The Dream of Red Chamber

Who are your favorite musicians? Do you have an anthem?
Jascha Heifetz, Tchaikovsky and Scissor Sisters.

Favorite color?
Turquoise blue for now.

Favorite food?
Chinese

Favorite animal?
All baby animals and dogs

Any pets?
Emma the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who I have been convinced is a part-alien dog.

Brooklyn-based Hot Shot Victoria Rich grew up drawing, studied graphic design while in college, and then realized that photography complimented her knack for image-making rather well. And it's a good thing... Perhaps I am far too lost in my holiday spirits, but Victoria has managed to capture something I am desperate to find. See that here.

Birthplace? Where were you raised?
Born in Lackawanna, NY. Grew up in Floral Park, NY.

Your age?
36

What do you do to pay the bills?
I teach at ICP, do freelance production/photo editing, shoot editorial/commercial work. I like being involved in different aspects of photography.

What initiated your committed romance with photography?
I remember always being interested in pictures when I was a kid. I liked the history of any family images. I also liked using the family camera, however unimpressive (110 point + shoot). I also remember getting in trouble for 'wasting film on unimportant things'. I always drew a lot, somewhat seriously by high school. I started to realize my drawings were very photographic, quite detailed, objects or often spaces, interiors w/ a person. I took a photo class my first semester in college which I had been looking forward to for a long time, and it made sense right away. The visceral quality of photographs, regardless of how that can be manipulated, has always interested me.

What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians, politicians, painters, or the like?
Eggleston, Robert Polidori, Paul Seawright. Vija Celmins. Painters such as Vuillard, Bonnard. Raymond Carver.

What do you like most about being a "photographer"?
I like the surprises. While I do have different specific projects or themes that I work on, I never set things up or have very specific ideas about what I am going to shoot. I like finding things along the way. I especially like when I initially think there is nothing to shoot, but then I discover lots of interesting things. That is what I also like about assignments, the opportunity to go shoot something you would not have access to otherwise neccessarily.

What formal training, if any, do you have?
BFA from SUNY Purchase, MFA from Hunter College.

What camera do you use?
My favorite camera for a while has been a 1956 Rollei. I like the square format, and the waist level viewing. Also the fact that there are no battery/electronic components to it. I have a 'modern' 645 and there are sometimes malfunctions. I also have an old 4x5.

What piece of equipment do you fetishize the most and/or what is your guiltiest tech pleasure?
Sometimes I look at other Rolleis, but then I feel guilty. I would not mind having a Hasselblad.

Do you have any other creative talents?
I've gotten pretty good at embroidery.

What are the top three movies on your queue?
Atlantic City
Midnight Cowboy
Badlands

What are your favorite websites/blogs?
The Lower East Side Tenement Museum (www.tenement.org). There are virtual tours + history.

If you were on a deserted island and could only take one luxury, what would it be?
lip balm

Favorite color?
Red. Or green.

Favorite food?
There are many. Kale and figs top the list.

Favorite way to kill time?
I run a lot, though that's not really killing time.

Any pets?
Yes, 2 cats, by default (stray rescue)

Untitled by Chad Muthard

Hot Shot Chad Muthard is not only a talented photographer and Photoshop master, but he also writes and plays the guitar, all at the prime age of 23. I give you Chad.

Current place of residence?
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Kensington)

Birthplace? Where were you raised?
Allentown, PA I grew up in Catasauqua, PA

What do you do to pay the bills?
I work as the Print Center Coordinator at Moore College of Art and Design at night, and during the day when I'm not pacing around or making art, I work as the Creative Director at Wonka Vision Magazine, where I am in charge of getting artists and photographers for the Artist Feature and Photo Essay articles of each issue.

What initiated your committed romance with photography?
I'm not quite sure how it began, maybe it was just something to do since I couldn't sit still, but what I think it has evolved into is a medium where I can start to analyze/criticize moments in life with better clarity and that is what has kept it as a constant for me. Most of my photography now is initiated by conversations with people or events that occur throughout the day or in the past. Recently, it has been more about questioning the purpose behind the actions of myself and others, whether that be conscious or subconscious decisions.

What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians, politicians, painters, or the like?
To be honest I think I am more inspired lately to create work from listening music and reading books, then I am by other photographers or painters, there is something about the intangibility of words that lets my mind wonder. Some musicians I listen to now are people like Micah P. Hinson, Tim Kasher, Maria Taylor, Jenny Lewis, Lucero, Jena/Berlin. Authors I have been reading are: alot of John Fante, Charles Bukowski, Kurt Vonnegut, Jeffrey Eugenides, J.D. Salinger, Brett Easton Ellis, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. But, I would truly be a liar to say that there have not been past influences from art, people like Jeff Wall, Duane Michals, Thomas Demand, Doug Aitken Jake and Dinos Chapman. Most of their work has guided my direction in how to go about using narration in art.

What do you like most about being a "photographer"?
Freedom to do whatever I feel and capture it instantly as a moment. That's the old cliche line, right? I don't feel much differently. But, really I think its all about connections, putting your personality out there, your life experiences, your problems, your ideas, and communicating with others. The images I create are mostly fictional, but under that they have real emotions, real stories, real philosophy and personality that other people can connect with, or take and interpret to connect their own life with mine. That's what I love about art and I think that's the most important part.

What formal training, if any, do you have?
I went to Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, there I was taught the basics. The best "formal" training it gave me was how to analyze art, and how to constructively criticize the work to get it to a higher level. Also, at Tyler I did a lot of work collaboratively with my friend Nils Orth, which was a great experience on many levels, and helped me to think differently about art, and opening up to different ideas and views on how to create.

What camera do you use?
Lately, I have been shooting with a Nikon D2x. I have a Mamiya RZ67 that I actually like a lot more but haven't used it lately because of the cost of film and the time it takes up to scan and dust, maybe one day I will bring it back and/or be able to afford a digital back.

What piece of equipment do you fetishize the most and/or what is your guiltiest tech pleasure?
I'd have to say Photoshop, I construct all the work I make, don't get me wrong, everything you see in the photographs is actually there in real life, but I am just insanely nit picky about things like layer masking. It gets to the point where a friend will look at my file and click layers off and on and have no idea what changing, sometimes I even have to stare at it for awhile til I know whats happening.

What do you find to be the biggest cliche in photography these days?
Jesus, that's a loaded question. In reality, a cliche is anything the public deems it to be, one moment everyone is saying its cliche to have trashy looking fashion shots, then its cliche to make narratives, then anyone who is creating digital composites is cliche, its all based upon whats hot for this moment. I try not to let myself get caught up in that kind of stuff, I make work I like to make and if I stop liking how it looks I will switch it up.

What are your loftiest goals?
To be able to make a living off of making artwork

What are the top three movies on your queue?
Mickeybo and Me (the best film in years)
Royal Tennebaums
High Fidelity

What book connects with your life the most?
Right now, I'd say Ask The Dust(I can't help but personify myself as Arturo Bandini).

What are your favorite websites/blogs?
tylerpaint.com (art blog started by students)
fallonandrosof.blogspot.com (art blog run by Roberta Fallon and Libby Rosof)

Who are your favorite musicians? Do you have an anthem?
Elliott Smith. If I had an anthem it would be...the Broken Social Scene CD You Forgot It In People

Juliana and her dog, Moishe Godoshevitz Beasley

Let's start with Jersey City resident Juliana Beasley. I had the pleasure of meeting Juliana and seeing some of her work first-hand last week. A disco fiend, if not out and about with her camera, she can be found at home dancing with her beloved pet, Moishe.

Birthplace? Where were you raised?
I was born in the East Falls part of Philadelphia, PA. I was raised in Philadelphia, New Rochelle, New York, and Florence Italy.

Your age?
I'm 39 years old.

What do you do to pay the bills?
I worked as a career stripper for eight years. Now, I take photos.

What initiated your committed romance with photography?
As a child, I was obsessed to create a sense of self and a personal history through my mother's intricately made photo albums of family snapshots. I began shooting my own work after modeling for my ex-boyfriend Christoph. I changed majors from Italian and French to photography in my third year of school.

What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians, politicians, painters, or the like?
I was inspired early on by Charles Addams, Oliver Sacks, and Robert Crumb. Later and now, I am inspired by Larry Clark, Boris Mikhailov, Jim Goldberg, Bill Burke, Kent Klich, Eugene Richards, and E.J. Bellocq. Wow, I picked all male artists...that's gotta' change.

What do you like most about being a "photographer"?
I enjoy getting to break boundaries and get close to my subjects. I like going to the point of "no return" when you go through the manic spells of the creative process.

What formal training, if any, do you have?
I studied at New York University for two years and graduated with a B.F.A. in photography.

What camera do you use?
I'm still trying to figure out if I should stick with one format. I can see the benefits of all of them...it's like changing your clothes, or better said I'm non committal in my format selections. So, here goes, I shoot with a Rollei Twin Lens, a panoramic, a polaroid, a Mamiya 645 and a Contax 35mm. I suppose I'm most fond of the square format. While working on a project, I will use several formats.

What piece of equipment do you fetishize the most and/or what is your guiltiest tech pleasure?
I love to color correct....I love getting down to the subtle nuances of color correction and the feeling of my own color vivid persona.

What do you find to be the biggest cliche in photography these days?
The dead zombie look of staged scenes crafted after Philip Lorca di Corcia. Children and adults naked and frozen in surreal situations. The lighting is flawless but the photograph is devoid of feeling and depth. After a while it begins to look like an exercise in masturbatory lighting technical finesse.

What are your loftiest goals?
Really simple. Have the means to travel as much as I can and photograph as much as I can and make more books. And get a deep tissue massage once a week.

Do you have any other creative talents?
I love to dance to Bollywood Pop music in my apartment with my dog, Moishe. I love words more than I enjoy reading books and I found out in my early thirties that I love writing...finding the right words without using too much vernacular and expressing myself though language to my deepest core.

What are the top three movies on your queue?
I would be lying if I were to say these are my top favorite three...there are too many good choices out there.

Four Hundred Blows
Harold and Maude
Vagabond

Favorite possession?
The air that I breathe.

While our Hot Shots! are busily preparing for the showcase, allow me the pleasure of introducing you to each of them. Check back regularly for the Hot Shot interview of the day. 10 Hot Shots, 10 days until opening.

And don't forget to pencil it in:

jen bekman presents:
Hey, Hot Shot! Winners' Showcase
Wednesday December 13, 2006 from 6-8 pm
6 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012

Paddy's Mother's Wig by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Juliana Beasley

Juliana Beasley
Currently residing in: Jersey City, NJ

Website: http://www.julianabeasley.com/

Work Statement:
The people in these photographs are largely disregarded: the poor, the elderly, the mentally ill, alcoholics, or drug addicts. They live in a close- knit community along the boardwalk of the Rockaways. I became accepted with my camera in hand.

I feel compelled to photograph the people I've met in the Rockaways with the same honor and clarity I would bestow upon my own parents. I document an illness we share in common; reflecting upon a chaotic childhood soaked in the misery of alcoholism and two parents dead of a fatal disease. Despite our worldly exteriors, our humanity connects us.

This project confronts various levels of marginalization. There is a geographic marginalization insofar as all of this takes place on a peninsula at the far-flung edge of the city where the fog rolls over the beaches. Secondly, there is the social marginalization, the fact that the subjects are poor, physically or mentally challenged, and otherwise living far outside the mainstream, virtually invisible. Finally, and most importantly perhaps, there is the interior marginalization, a loneliness that I attempted to capture in the portraits, a sense of personal isolation that is often exacerbated by or results in alcoholism or drug addiction.

Bio:
Juliana Beasley was born in Philadelphia, PA, USA, on August 16, 1967. After graduating from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in New York in 1990, she began working as a freelance photographer, covering the city's nightlife for the Village Voice. In 2003, she published Lapdancer (powerHouse Books 2003), an intimate photographic and text account of the world of strip clubs. In 2004, she photographed the rehabilitation of landmine victims in Cambodia. Her newest book project concerns substance abuse and mental illness in a boardwalk community in Queens, New York.

Her work has appeared in many major publications, including American Photo and The New Yorker in the US, and Max in Germany. Her work is represented Contact Press Images and the pH on-line gallery, both in New York. Ms. Beasley has participated in group shows and in 2006, had her first one-woman show in Stockholm at the Kontrast Galleri. Most recently she showed her work at the Camera Club of NYC Competition, juried by Antonin Kratochvil. She will lecture about her book and have a signing at the Camera Club in November 2006.

When not working she is dancing with her dog, Moishe in Jersey City.

Cakestare by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Joe Fornabaio

Joe Fornabaio
Currently residing in: Staten Island, NY

Website: http://www.joefornabaio.com

Work Statement:
My current focus is on my family but not just my parents, brothers and sister but also aunts, uncles, cousins and their kids. I grew up literally and emotionally very close to them so they're more than just an extended family. I enjoy the holidays and personal occasions that allow me to just be with them, and the pictures from these occasions are really an extension of the happiness of their gathering. On any occasion I'm there in celebration with them but they've become comfortable with my camera by my side so I get to shoot the things that I find interesting about them without drawing a glance. And what do I find interesting about them? Everything. I know, I know...cliche, but it's true. The kids are an endless source of entertainment and the adults make for and endless display of manners. There's no deep meaning to my work, I just enjoy the time I spend with them and I'm drawn to their little habits and quirks that make them beautiful. And as a result, I've started to explore this with other projects.

Bio:
Born and raised in Brooklyn,NY. Was introduced to photography by my high school arts teacher which led me to a BFA in Photography at The School of Visual Arts. Assisted editorial and commercial/advertising photographers for a bunch of years and now I'm pursuing my own career in editorial and commercial/advertising photography.

Untitled (theatre) by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Hans Gindlesberger

Hans Gindlesberger
Currently residing in: Buffalo, NY

Website: http://www.gindlesberger.com/

Work Statement:
As a result of neglect or inability to modernize, the American small town has fallen victim to economic decline and is forced to consider its relevance in contemporary society. As a remedy, there is a rush to embrace a nostalgic image of an idealized past. However, by adopting this mythical image, the small town becomes a simulated space. This work explores the strained relationship of an anachronistic simulation with the present reality and the residual effect on individual identity.

Probing the psychology of a transient character inserted within a variety of constructed environments calls to attention how the individual is affected by his environment. This staging references the form of theater along with silent film and pushes otherwise realistic images toward the threshold of a dreamlike space. These photographic scenes suspend a transitory moment in which the protagonist is presented with an opportunity to make a decision. In his aimlessness, the character is a product of the changing relationship of the small town to mass society. The repeated emphasis on the will of the character and the absence of decisive action renders these situations absurd and interrogates contemporary concerns about identity, authenticity, and the loss of belonging.

Bio:
The experience of growing up in the small town Midwest is the root of my work. I stayed in Ohio through the completion of my BFA at Bowling Green State University before moving to Buffalo, NY to pursue an MFA. Photography appealed to me first as a common interest with my father and then as a way to engage in a different way of looking at my environment. Currently, I hold positions as an adjunct instructor at several schools in Western New York. Aside from making work, I have enjoyed traveling extensively for the past several years, both throughout the US and abroad.

Hot and Cold Salad bar by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Joseph Holmes

Joseph Holmes
Currently residing in: Brooklyn, NY

Website: http://joesnyc.streetnine.com/

Work Statement:
Taking pictures is extremely gratifying. There are mornings when I'm wandering through Soho or Tribeca or Chinatown, when the sunlight is fine and diffuse and the air takes on an unfamiliar tint, when the hydrants and street debris seem a little too purposely arranged, maybe a little coy or ironic, and it's at those times that I'm seized by the feeling that the whole city is a film set. I imagine a crew of little film-set elves passing through during the night, sprinkling film-set dust everywhere and preparing the street for the arrival of camera operators, focus pullers, and little elf teamsters in their little denim jackets and white Adidas. On those days, we all live in a film set and I'm the set photographer.

Bio
I was born in 1954 and raised in a tiny factory town in rural Pennsylvania where my father taught me how to take pictures and use the darkroom; I spent many years shooting nothing but black and white film. I lived in various towns and cities in the Midwest and East before settling in Brooklyn in 1984 where I now live with my wife and two children. I teach photography at New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies.

Untitled (paintjob) by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Mette Maersk

Mette Maersk
Currently residing in: Copenhagen, Denmark

Website: http://www.mettemaersk.dk/

Work Statement:
The present text delineates my practice in words, differentiating from the visually explored territories, where I usually try to sense before reflecting. I often use small work titles, though. Short Maxims, simultaneously condensing and generating the core of matter(s) to be explored. They introduce gaming dialectics, and are the touchstones I work with.

Conditions of exile and identity have become my grounding as photographic story-teller. On most projects, the steppingstone is my physical displacement into a carefully chosen field, combining a geographical drift with an emotional one. Thus creating a polyphonic whirl, including exact phenomena and randomness. The work can best be described as embedment of matter density.

The visual matter develops and frames. In those visions, various architectural spaces are investigated as metaphysical conglomerates or invasive motives, initializing oblique stances on place and gender.

The fieldwork is thus double tracked. One exiled path in alien territory, and the other, its opposite: whereabouts in the familiar provincial, the grounding of identity, where personal matter can be handled exotically.

One can newer fully grasp the implications of what we observe, but we can gradually approach a totality, subsequently. In the mean time, signatures have to be recorded and contours framed, as handles to grasp.

Bio:
female > born 1970 > 182 cm tall > nearsighted > long dark hair > grew up in the countryside north of Copenhagen in a big house with 3 fireplaces > got my first camera at christmas 1985 > studied at the Danish Design School > post grad studies at the Danish film school > exhibitions in Denmark, Italie and Finland <

Untitled #1 by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Chad Muthard

Chad Muthard
Currently residing in: Philadelphia, PA

Website: http://www.chadmuthard.com/

Work Statement:
The work I construct is an attempt to resolve issues or conflicts in the mind. Most of the work is derived from events or moments in life, that I struggle to understand the affect of and/or outcome of the situation. These ideas are then taken and projected into narrative form in images, which tend to become elaborately fictional versions of the event. There is definitely a play between both reality and fiction in the pieces yet, I feel as though the work is still very much about documentation in how each body of work and/or series encapsulates a period of time.

Bio:
I grew up in the small town of Catasauqua, PA. A small town that was known for having a bar or church on every corner. When I was 16 my mother found an old Nikon that she had bought when I was born and gave it to me. I started shooting and then ended up at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA where I received my BFA in Photography.

Since graduating from Tyler, I have worked both solely and collaboratively, and have had a solo exhibition with the collaborative series that I worked on with Nils Orth at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia.

Untitled (Bethlehem) by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Victoria Rich

Victoria Rich
Currently residing in: Brooklyn, NY

Website: http://www.victoriarich.com/

Work Statement:
I started taking pictures in college after planning on being a graphic designer. Up to that point, the (non-graphic design) work I was making was incredibly detailed drawings of interior spaces and objects. I eventually realized my drawings were more like photographs I wanted to make and learned photography. My design skills are intact but my drawing skills have devolved greatly.

My current photographic work explores un-peopled landscapes and interiors, using history and remnants as a way to convey a present reality. The subjects I am interested in, ranging from highly personal landmarks to culturally significant landscapes, are treated with the same approach. Some of the images demonstrate a kind of unconscious registering and recording of the irrelevant or overlooked details that can often portray more about a space than a direct representation. For example, when at a location like Niagara Falls, I am more drawn to a little shed at the water's edge than the spectacle of the view.

Influences: Eggleston, Robert Polidori, Paul Seawright. Vija Celmins. Painters such as Vuillard, Bonnard.

Bio:
Born in Lackawanna, NY, outside of Buffalo.

BFA SUNY Purchase, 1993. University of Ulster in Belfast Northern Ireland, 1996-7. MFA Hunter College, 2001.

Recently began teaching at ICP. Published in American Photography Annuals (2001, 2002, 2005, 2006)

A few recent shows from this year include: Far From Home, Brooklyn Artists Gym, ICP Faculty Exhibition, International Center of Photography, The Spaces In Between, Silas Marder Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY.

Untitled #1 by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Sasha Rudensky

Sasha Rudensky
Currently residing in: Brooklyn, NY

Website: http://www.sasharudensky.com/

Work Statement:
I started taking pictures in high school, when I became jealous of all the time my boyfriend was spending in the darkroom. As soon as I got going, I was in the darkroom every free minute. Didn't expect to continue doing it in college as well, but ended up majoring in photography. I began as a black and white 35mm documentary photographer, and have recently moved to medium format color. Most of the work that I've done has been shot in the former Soviet Union, and is indirectly political, but also very personal. The last series I completed "Remains" is an examination of the transformation of the Soviet block in the aftermath of the collapse of communism.

I'm very formal in my work, driven by color. I've loved the work of Mitch Epstein, Joel Sternfeld, the older work of Alec Soth.

Bio:
Born in Moscow in 1979 and immigrated to the States when I was 11. I went to high school in Seattle, which is where I began photographing. Moved to the east coast for college and went to Wesleyan University, where I was a studio art major and did a thesis. I've been living in Brooklyn since graduating five years ago. I've been mostly teaching photography at Wesleyan as an adjunct. In 2004-5 I was away for a year on a grant shooting the series Remains. I started the Yale MFA program this fall.

Untitled (One) by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Patrick Smith

Patrick Smith
Currently residing in: Paris, France

Website: http://www.patricksmith.fr/

Work Statement:
To me, the camera has always been a tool of discovery and knowledge. If I am at first attracted by light and space, I then use the camera to discover and understand the world around me. By showing my works to others, it is this experience, both human and aesthetic, that I wish to share, bringing enlightenment and enrichment to the beholder and myself.

Bio:
I was born In France, educated in England, then came back to France to join a photography school in 1988. I got my first jobs shooting architecture. This led me to travel photography (people, hotels, landscape). Thinking about the rapid transformation of the travel industry (15% yearly increase) made me start this ongoing project, The Leisure Territories, which I am submitting here. I look at how our leisure activities interact with the environment, and the place of man in nature today.

Jamie, Mason, TX., 2006 by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Shen Wei

Shen Wei
Currently residing in: New York, NY

Website: http://www.shenphoto.com/

Work Statement:
I started photography when I first moved to US from China. I took a Photo One class, and I decided I am going to become a photographer, before that I have never touched an SLR camera. My primarily interest is people, the portraits by Caravaggio, Diane Arbus, Peter Hujar and Lucien Freud are my influences. I have an MFA and BFA in Photography and a BA in Decorative Arts & Design. My submitting photos are from my recent series Almost Naked, which is a long-term portrait project that exploring identity and sexuality in America, motivated by my desire to understand the complexity of emotional and physical nakedness.

Bio:
I am a fine art photographer currently lives and works in New York City. I was born in 1977 in Shanghai, China and moved to US in 2000. I have received an MFA in Photography, Video and Related Media from School of Visual Arts (NYC), a BFA in Photography from Minneapolis College of Art and Design and a BA in Decorative Arts & Design from Shanghai Light Industry College. I went to MCAD initially for an MFA in Design, but I just fall in love with photography after my first photo class. I have passion on photography more than anything else, that's what got me into photography.