Arturo and Maxwell Vale - Pocantico Hills, NY 2006 by contenders James Tribble and Tracey Mancenido

Has this ever been done before on the Hey, Hot Shot! blog? Has there ever before been a photo duo vying for one of the 10 winning spots of a hot shot competition? A married photo duo, I might add??

That's right, today's contenders (!), James Tribble and Tracey Mancenido are a newly married photo duo who have been "shooting in tandem for 2 years." The above portrait is from a series called "TUE, WED, SAT", which has a special meaning for the pair:

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays are the days that we, as newlyweds have dedicated time to spend with one another photographing the world around us. Awkward at times, we all have brief encounters with strangers on a daily basis. Living and working in such a busy city we all become consumed and operate on a continuous routine. It’s that constant divide of time away from home, working, and being in transit that separates us all from one another.

I've never really given much thought to the authorial issues at hand with a media-based duo. I've thought about auteur theory in relation to cinema and its strong directorial personalities, but never applied this school of thought to the work of a directorial duo, like the Coen Brothers, for example. I wonder how the concept of authorship applies to photographic work. Is it a matter of shared intellectual property? Ok...now I'm rambling to myself...

Speaking of duos, the boys in the photo above are quite the dynamic duo, right? Arturo on the left looks like he learned his pose from a Banana Republic ad, while little Maxwell projects comedic genius, unless he's just really uncomfortable in front of the camera. It's a beautifully posed photo, as are the other images of children in parks that Tribble and Mancenido submitted. They also have another great series called "Pillow Talk" that can be seen on their website (and was also featured on jb friend Amy Elkins' blog wanderlustagraphy), which explore the physicality of intimacy and shared space in relationships. Looks like this pair is pretty keen on shooting people in pairs, and they're good at it.

Here's a little more about James and Tracey:

Our curiosity of people drives us to create portraits as a collective glimpse of where we live. During moments of passing and obligation do we find inspiration in our subjects. These images are an extension of the only time we manage to share together, both working different schedules. They are portraits of strangers, co-workers, passerby and friends. As an ephemeral survey of our daily encounters, we hope to stir the same curiosity for one another and influence similar friendships.

Tribble is a former SVA student originally from South Carolina. His wife, Tracey, grew up in New York City and studied in Florence, Italy. The are currently living in upstate New York where they are working on a project that explores the states, commerce, and goods.

10 days left, friends. 10 days.
(Submit now.)

Let's Go to the Strange Places by Summer '07 contender Paul Paper.

Today's contender, photographer Paul Paper, hails from a place quite far from here: Vilnius, Lithuania. And, yet, looking through his photos, it is evident that he is quite at home with his English, which is tinted with a mix of wit and poetry that comes across in the titles of his work, like "He was Naughty and He Liked Biology" or "With Bated Breath (In the Field that Breathes)".

His photo, "Let's Go to the Strange Places" has a surrealist cinematic quality to it. There's something of the Czech animator Jan Å vankmajer's aesthetic in Paper's photo, and there's also a drug-induced dreamlike quality to it.

Coincidentally, Paper calls photography an art of perception. "It's not about giving something for the eyes to see," he says, "but rather sharing something for the mind to perceive." His photos never give you a straight answer, but rather challenge you to determine the story being presented to you. They are meant "to be looked at with the eyes and mind," explains Paper, "or one might miss out part of the story they tell."

Paul Paper was born in Vilnius, Lithuania in 1985. He began to shoot photos around the age of 15 when his aunt gave him a camera. Eventually he bought his own camera and began to take photos more increasingly. Of the magic of photography, Paper says, "The somewhat extraordinary capability of photography to create story within a simple frame is what really captured me in this media. Sometimes I am really moved to see a good, subtle picture which tells only 'half of the [truth], trusting the viewer to create the other half."

As for his creative influences, Paper cites "life and all it's implications", as well as "odd places in foreign countries" as his primary sources of inspiration.

Make sure to check out Paper's awesome photo site, It Is My Party.

Good luck, Paul!

A week and a half left for submissions, so keep them coming!

Dear friends and cherished readers,

Today I made the long and difficult journey from Manhattan to East Hampton by bus. Subsequently, after a Big Gulp-sized iced coffee I bought as I disembarked the Jitney, I spent the day helping out jb in a big, arty warehouse for this evening's preview of Scope.

After this morning's 6AM wake up call and the hearty burger I just devoured at some place called Rowdy Hall, I am exhausted.

So, I apologize for not presenting a new contender to you today--I had a good one lined up and everything. However, my bed (or lovely corner couch, that is) is beckoning and I must forgo this evening's post for some shut-eye. I know you're all demolished and distraught by this unfortunate news, but I'm sure you'll get over it at some point in the near future.

I'll see you all tomorrow, I hope.

All my love,
Marina

P.S. At Scope, we're showing plenty of former hot shots, like Karolina Karlic, Brad Moore, Ian Baguskas, James Deavin, Joe Holmes, Christine Collins, and Alison Grippo. So, maybe you should try and be a hot shot, too!

The Eldest Daughter by Summer '07 contender Kathleen Robbins.

"Do you have someone in your life?
Mam? Oh. Yes, Frances.
Don’t forget to fall in love. You will fall in love, won’t you?"

These few words encompass my introduction to the work of today's contender Kathleen Robbins. I hadn't even seen her images yet and I was all of a sudden swept into a new world. From there, it continued:

Each time I visited there was a greater sense of urgency in her voice. The machine that pulls water from the air kicks on and inside it’s now, outside it’s then. Inside it’s 1928. Outside it’s now. Time and place are experienced differently here. It’s a disorienting place to be, and when I come back I lose my sensibilities after a few hours. I forget how long I’ve been gone and which life I’m living. Mine or my mother's. My mother’s mother. Some ancestor I only know from photographs.

I'm no longer sure if Ms. Robbins is a poet or a photographer. Coming upon her images and looking at the above photo, I let the words that served as my introduction linger between my ears. A story colored the frame before my eyes. The photograph offers a delicate view into a pristine home, with its hand-made bedspread drenched in antiquity, and a room so white that I can only think of weddings. To top it all off, the picture is titled, "The Eldest Daughter."

So, I've already mentioned once that I have this problem where I automatically create stories for everything, right? Well, my mind is basically writing a book about today's photo. All I can think about is the eldest daughter. Is it her wedding day? Is this the room she will be leaving for good? What does all the white say about the situation? Such a beautiful, homely bed has strong connotations of family and warmth, and all the white gives the room a godly quality to it. There is something so well put-together and Southern about this image that makes it completely foreign to me, yet it's also kind of mesmerizing for that reason.

Robbins understands this eccentricity of the South and goes on to explain how her interest in this region came about:

I was first introduced to images of the American South through film adaptations (Long Hot Summer, Baby Doll, Ode to Billy Joe, Sweet Bird of Youth, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof). Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor, dark and sad and so over the top you couldn’t take your eyes away. I loved how the southern landscape looked in Technicolor, but I hated what the stories revealed about us. My photographs weave together my own memories of “home� with those of my friends and family, collapsing a sense of personal history with a broader visual concept of the Mississippi Delta. My own image of home was formed by an experience, which straddled the line between myth and reality. While many areas of the southeast are beginning to resemble any city or town in the US, the delta refuses to assimilate. It remains profoundly eccentric.

Kathleen Robbins was born in Washington D.C. in 1976 and grew up in the Mississippi Delta. She has a BFA from Millsaps College and an MFA from the University of New Mexico's graduate photography program. Her work has most recently been exhibited at the 2006 Ping Yao International Photography Festival in Ping Yao, China and in the 2006 International Juried Exhibition at the San Diego Art Institute’s Museum of the Living Artist. She is currently the Assistant Professor of Art and Photography at the University of South Carolina.

Check out Kathleen Robbins' website for more photographers of her home in the American South.

The deadline is getting closer, you future hot shots, so get your work in today!

Adult Books, Kenosha, WI by Summer '07 contender Vanessa Sanchez.

"Though the advent of the Internet has revolutionized the pornography industry," explains today's contender, Vanessa Sanchez, "in certain areas of the United States, strewn along long stretches of highway there [remain] small colonies of porn shops and hole in the wall strip joints."

Aside from the beautiful combination of the snow-covered ground set under an icy, white sky, this photo has an irresistible ironic charm to it that I love. Sanchez's point-of-view in shooting these middle American porn shops from a distance is funny and almost endearing. It reminds me of a Coen Brothers-type point-of-view, very much akin to the humor of their 1996 hit, "Fargo". I also love the trace of one set of icy footprints leading out of the warehouse-sized bookshop.

Sanchez explains that this series "takes viewers on an alternative road trip to the seedy places many of us simply bypass in our cross-country travels." Of the humor inherent in the photographs, Sanchez says that the hilarity comes from simply acknowledging a "roadside phenomenon that is generally disdained or disregard."

The following is a little more about this witty contender:

Vanessa was born in Evanston, Illinois and grew up in Waukegan, Illinois. She has been involved in photography since begging her mother to purchase a Mickey Mouse camera for her at age four. Growing up in the North Shore, she developed a strong appreciation for strip malls, Louis Vuitton, and Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. Spending time in the city of Chicago, traveling around the world, and frequenting museums and galleries provided a framework for her photography. Vanessa focuses her work in the style of the New Topographics, using Americana and kitsch as a framework for her images. She is 26 and a graduate of Columbia College Chicago.

Best of luck, Vanessa!

Exactly two weeks left to get your entries in, so submit your work now! It's easy, I promise.

The Hanging Space by Summer '07 contender Donina Asera.

This picture reminds me of an empty house in the South, one that used to be warm and full of life, but has since then degenerated into a decrepit space. There's something of A Streetcar Named Desire's Blanche in it--soft beauty tarnished by an unfortunate fate. I'm also reminded of the house in Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, in which the wife and mother, Addie, is dying, and the family's troubles begin to unravel.

Between the soft blue shade of the wall and the white lace in the frame, there is something really feminine about this image. However, the blue is also fading and the lace is torn, so the femininity is kind of tainted. About her photographs, Australian contender Donina Asera says, "My aim is to create emotionally evocative images. The majority of my photos are unpeopled, although there are often traces of a human presence, like a lingering trace or debris of an event." This lingering, but absent human presence is exactly what I sense in her photograph, and that quality isn't eerie or strange, but particularly sad.

As a photographer, Asera is fairly new to the craft:

I started taking an interest in photography about 3 years ago having started in digital with a Canon 300D, then a 30D. I am now finding myself shifting to large format photography and have an old press camera. I'm attracted to the formality of large format and the process, which to me is ceremonial. An act of devotion. A ritual of respect.

Of her formal training (or lack thereof), she says the following:

My grandfather was an artist in both oils and watercolours and I loved to watch him work in his studio. While I have no formal training in photography or art, he taught me many things about art. In 1990, I was accepted into a Fine Arts course at a university, but declined the offer. I wonder now how my life might have been different.

According to super-string theory, there are parallel universes. In at least one of these, I completed the Arts course. In others, my photography is crowded with people. There are infinite possibilities of pasts and futures. I want to capture these imagined possibilities in my photography.

It's nice to think that as an artist, she was trained in multiple universes--her technique bestowed upon her in a different universe, and her passion for the art-form engendered in this one.

Donina Asera was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1971. Her grandfather, who taught her a lot about the world of art, passed away while she was in her first year at university, studying psychology. Although she considered earning a degree in Fine Arts after his death, she decided against it and left college for the working world. Her interest in photography came a few years ago after she bought a DSLR 3 to take along with her to Europe. Upon her return to Australia, she was encouraged by a friend to further pursue photography. The rest, she says, " is trial and error. Well... Okay, mostly accidents and flailing about uselessly."

Be sure to check out Asera's photographs on her website.

And while you're surfing the web, you may as well head over here and apply to the Summer edition of Hey, Hot Shot!

Greta, Austin by Summer '07 contender Jennifer Loeber.

Having just read New York Magazine's article on the late fashion icon Isabella Blow, I am really hooked up on glamour, and the above photo by contender Jennifer Loeber strikes me as très glamorous. I grew up under the guidance of a very fashionable mother, the kind who has a different shade of lipstick for each day of the year and has never thrown out an old pair of shoes. Through my mother, who is actually a fashion designer, I became addicted to high quality fashion magazines and, more specifically, fashion photography. Loeber's photograph reminds me of a chic, on-the-go photo shoot--the kind my little girl fantasies have always put me in.

Back to the subject at hand: the Brooklyn-based Loeber began taking pictures after, and I quote, "being forced to wear pink sequined gypsy pants as a stand-in model for a high school photography class" and realizing that the other side of the lens was more appealing. Loeber says that her work is inspired by a wide range of photographers and artists, but explains that her most recent inspirations include "the evocative palette of Evelyn Hofer's portraiture" and "the subtle gestures of Rineke Dijkstra's beach series."

Loeber's photos are images of transitory moments, what she calls "the subtle turning points between past and future." She aims to capture the moment in time in which "a glimpse of an inner narrative or true spirit may be revealed." She continues:

In an increasingly corporate and media dictated world determined to unnaturally separate the human experience into black or white, I prefer to concentrate on the muddied up gray areas of neither grandeur nor debacle that make up the larger portions of most peoples lives and experiences. Although my subjects are varied, the overall focus echoes our daily expectations, our overabundance of choice, and the hidden dangers of the unknown that threaten us profoundly yet internally.

Loeber has a BFA in photography from the Massachusetts College of Art and exhibits her work regularly in Boston and New York. Most recently, she participated in a group show at New Century Artists and her first feature-length documentary Fish Kill Flea premiered at this year's South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas.

Good luck, Jennifer!

You still have time to submit your work to the Summer edition of Hey, Hot Shot! Do it!

Mattress, Northampton, MA 2007 by Summer '07 contender Ben Alper.

Today's contender, photographer Ben Alper, is interested in the American landscape. He speaks of "evaluating man's imprint on the modern urban fabric" through photographing exclusively urban areas. I am immediately reminded of former hot shot Ian Baguskas's series, "Search for The American Landscape", and his Blurb-published book of the same title that I can't keep my hands off while hanging out at the gallery.

Unlike Baguskas's landscape, which centers around the rural West Coast, Alper's landscape consists of urban centers on the East Coast. On The Exposure Project, a blog for the photography collective he participates in, he exhibits a series of Polaroids taken in Manhattan and Brooklyn that tightly frame the urban landscape which he admires. On his site, he also has a smart series entitled, "Urban Nature", in which concrete and vegetation co-exist to a certain degree of aesthetic pleasure. His landscapes often depict a quality of abandonment, as with the photo posted above. At first it's just a photo of a poorly-kept backyard, until you notice the beat-up and deserted mattress hidden among the reeds.

Why the interest in the American landscape?

The contemporary American landscape is a complex and sprawling organism rife with both immense beauty and stark loneliness. Sometimes these emotional lines are clearly defined, but more often, these places attain a synthesis somewhere in the middle. I am drawn to neighborhoods that are inherently ambiguous in social distinction. Often forgotten and neglected, the weathered architecture and discarded personal relics fundamental of these neighborhoods, represent traces of humanity that have been displaced. What remains is a fragmented history of culture and community.

Alper goes on to explain the method to his madness:

I search for the subtle imperfections and uncharacteristic nuances that make these areas unique. By highlighting them, I hope to emphasize the aesthetic and social merit prevalent in these scenes. The potency of the social landscape lies in what it truly symbolizes; the effects that our decisions have on the vitality of the communities we live in.

Ben Alper was raised in Western Massachusetts and is currently based in Boston. He is a founding member of the aforementioned collective The Exposure Project, whose goal is to give exposure to emerging photographers working on long-term projects. His work has been exhibited on websites such as F-Stop Magazine and the Photographic Resource Center's Northeast Exposure Online. This fall, Ben will be focusing on photography at the Massachusetts College of Art.

Best of luck, Ben!

It's not too late for the rest of you aspiring hot shots to enter the running!

Pin Up Pageant by Summer '07 contender Beth Dubber.

Today's photo by contender Beth Dubber could pass for a 1950s postcard of Californian pin-up girls. Except these girls look too bad ass to be from the 50s. Check out that full sleeve on the center model! Unlike a typical pin-up photo, however, Dubber's portrait is too detailed and full of life to be staged. She explains that she likes to "shoot 'loosely' and be as candid as possible." Her philosophy is to be a "visual documentarian" of the life she experiences around her, because, she says, "I think we all have something special to share about our experiences and life."

Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1971, Dubber got her start in photography at the tender age of 17, when she won a photo competition that she believes gave her the confidence to keep on shooting photos. During her time at Cleveland State University, where she earned her BA in Studio Art with a concentration in photography, she also spent time studying in Bali, Indonesia and in Weingarten, Germany. She cites her time in Bali as a challenging experience that has significantly affected her current work:

One of the best photography opportunities I have ever had was living in a small rice farming village in Bali for 3 weeks and being able to photograph their way of life and take portraits. At the time, I had only 13 rolls of film, I am grateful for the challenge, it made me extremely mindful of each frame I was taking. I carry this with me even now when I am shooting digitally, with the seemingly endless amount of frames one may take.

As for her main influences, Dubber cites photographers Diane Arbus, Nan Goldin, Harry Callahan, James Nachtwey, and Cindy Sherman.

Check out Dubber's "Photo of the Week" series, available on her site, in which she sends out a fresh, weekly image to those on her mailing list.

You know what else you should check out? The application page for the Summer 2007 edition of Hey, Hot Shot!

Spring by Summer '07 contender Sarah Claire Ahlers.

At first sight, I wanted to describe contender Sarah Claire Ahlers' photographs as 'feminine', but that's not what they are. With femininity there is a primary concern with beauty and aesthetics, which is not the case with Ahlers' photos. Instead, I find them to be overwhelmingly maternal, since she appears to be taking care of her subjects through the photograph. Her portrayals of people are never sarcastic or intentionally ironic. She is kind to her subjects and depicts them in an honest, simple fashion, which in turn gives her a sense of integrity as their photographer. Nowadays, that's a rare and refreshing quality to see in someone who bears the power of a camera.

The above photo of two young boys comes from a series wherein she followed and photographed one family. About this work, Ahlers explains:

Our lives are shaped by the circumstances and experiences surrounding our families. I am curious about the definitions and connections that bond a family together and make us who we become. I befriended and began photographing this family in small-town rural Massachusetts in 2005. I followed them closely through highly scheduled days filled with tasks that coordinate a family’s life and experience together,: sitting down for dinner, playing in the yard, band practice, family pets, and boy scout outings. The every day mundane--the small important points in time that make up our lives. My photographs document the routine and the unexpected. They are portraits of this family, their relationships, with each other and as individuals.

Sarah Claire Ahlers was born in Duluth, Minnesota in 1978. She attended the Rudy and Lola Perpich Arts High School, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and the New England School of Photography. She is an editorial and documentary photographer currently living in Boston, MA.

The Hey, Hot Shot! deadline is fast approaching, so enter the competition before crunch time!

Wild Horses by Summer '07 contender Erik Hagen.

"In the past couple years I have seen a great deal of America in a transient way," says contender Erik Hagen. "Cars, planes, motels, hotels. Ups and downs in a sense."

All I can think about now is Simon and Garfunkel's "America", which is my favorite lyrical interpretation of America, more so than the interpretations offered by songs like Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." (which is no less awesome, by the way,) or Don McLean's "American Pie."

Kathy, I'm lost, I said, though I knew she was sleeping I'm empty and aching and I don't know why Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike They've all gone to look for America

Hagen's point of view on America is like that of a matured Huck Finn. It is adventurous and romantic, yet still proletariat and shrewd. He says, "I've seen America in a new perspective than in my youth," and goes on to explain how his eye matured:

I had the privilege as a child of going many places in the country on vacations with my family. I saw the great national parks out west. I went to the Smokies multiple times, fishing for trout in small, stocked pools and panning for gemstones in fake tourist mines. Seeing the country in this way, the way so much of the middle class sees it, is to view a spectacle; it is grandiose and there is no denying the massiveness and the awesomeness of the spaces when viewed in this manner. As I got older this pure vision became stained, I went from my hopeful view of childhood to something more dark, truthful, and humble.

Having grown up in an immigrant family in Los Angeles, I've always felt somehow excluded from this kind of American experience. There's this concept of a rugged American lifestyle behind Hagen's childhood memories that make me ache so badly for the Grand Canyon or a fishing trip in Mississippi. Hagen says that the change between his childhood vision to his matured one reminds him of a Warren Zevon lyric:

When I was young the sky was filled with stars I watched them burn out one by one

"I feel these few lines best represent the feelings of my recent pictures," explains Hagen. "A group of work where I point my lens at America with an awkward irony, and then celebrate it with all the glory my youth had shone upon it."

Reading the Zevon lyric, I can't help but be reminded of that famous Kerouac quote from "On the Road":

"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars, and in the middle you see the blue center light pop, and everybody goes, 'Awwwww.'"

Both of those lines have striking images of bursting or falling stars--I guess that's how I free associated the two of them. But, who better to quote on the topic of America than Jack Kerouac, right? Essentially, it was Kerouac and co. that made me realize I wasn't an American outcast for not having grown up in the Midwest, via family car trips to national landmarks. It was through them that I understood America to be a concept, or more of a state-of-mind; America was also about about tenement rooftops and music--it included me. It was about finding a place for yourself, working hard, and enjoying life even harder.

Whew! Aside from all that America mumbo jumbo, I must say that I really like today's photo, and I mainly put it up because it really disturbed me. I felt really confused when I saw it--confused about the point-of-view, the staging, the darkness. There is something really creepy about how this horse's body is the focus of this image amid the darkness of the night's sky. I have to say that I really can't stop thinking of Peter Shaffer's "Equus", which is the story of a psychiatrist who is trying to treat a disturbed young boy who has a pathological fascination with horses. The play is based on a true story of a teenage boy who blinded six horses, and was recently revived in London this past year, starring Mr. Harry Potter (I mean, ahem, Daniel Radcliffe). If you haven't read it, please do! It's one of the best modern British plays out there.

Now that I have spewed out everything I have to say, I will leave you with a little more about Erik Hagen.

I am 22 but often say 21 when asked because I forget that i have turned 22. I grew up on a man-made finger island in Florida. The island sits in Boca Ciega Bay between St. Petersburg and Treasure Island. I spent most of my time as a child fishing. I attended an art magnet school from the third grade until I graduated high school. By the time it came to choosing a major at RISD, I was rearing to leave the studio behind and avoid the pretentious delusions of the painting department. Photography allows one to look to the world outside the studio for more honesty and intrigue than they could ever hope to conjure up locked in their own mind. I abandoned the notion of creating a tableau entirely, and instead sought to venture out into America, in order to find images that represented the thoughts I harbored about it.

And his inspirations? Hagen cites: William Klein, Daido Moriyama, Edward Hopper, Garry Winogrand, Lars Tunbjork, Joel Sternfeld's "American Prospects", Mitch Epstein's "Recreation", Gram Parsons, Richard Ford and Florida.

Bye-bye, now. And, once again, how many times do I have to tell you to submit yourself to the Summer edition of Hey, Hot Shot!? Just enter now. Thank you.

Iran Series - Lost by Summer '07 contender Afshin Dehkordi.

Burnt sienna wallpaper (or tiles?) + a bumblebee striped tee + a sullen expression in the distant center + an out-of-focus cigarette... What do these add up to? In my mind, I see a 70s era profile piece on a malicious crime boss. In actuality, this image belongs in U.K.-based contender Afshin Dekhordi's new series of photographs on Iran.

Dekhordi moved to the U.K. at the age of three, following the Iranian Revolution of 1978. He began taking photographs as a teenager, after borrowing a Canon AE1P from his parents. From there, he created a makeshift darkroom at home and taught himself how to print.

The only other Iranian photographer I am familiar with is Paris-based photographer Abbas, who is a member of Magnum Photos. I first came across his photographs while visiting Istanbul this past March, at an exhibit called "Turkey by Magnum" held at the Istanbul Modern. Abbas, who photographed the revolution in Iran, published a book of his photographs and writing, called IranDiary 1971-2002 of his personal experience with the past 30 years of political turmoil in Iran.

As for Dehkordi, in addition to his project on Iran, he is also part of two contemporary, collective projects:

“Re-loading Images Berlin/Tehran" is an exchange of young artists working with media art, design and installation between Berlin and Tehran. It will include a preliminary weblog, a workshop, seminars, a final presentation and documentation. The exchange project will take place over a period of three weeks in both cities.

“Youth in the Countryside� is a European photography project in which 25 young photographers from eight European nations will work together. Topics attend to social/cultural differences and similarities, as well as the chances, changes and identity of young Europeans. The project creates a European network of photographers that contribute with their work to diversity, civil society and understanding among nations. The work will be presented to a pan-European audience through a touring exhibition and book.

Best of luck, Afshin! You all should try your luck this summer and apply now to the current edition of Hey, Hot Shot!

Elaine impersonating Tony, on the morning of her heart attack by Summer '07 contender CoCo Walters.

When I asked my roommate what this photograph reminded her of, she immediately said, "Florida", and I agreed because that shirt is so Miami. Then she added, "Oh yeah, and Christmas." And, I thought she was referring to the obvious red-green color combination, but then she added, "Because of, like, the polar bears and stuff." Huh. First of all, since when do polar bears have anything to do with Christmas? And secondly, I'm pretty sure those are just plain, old teddy bears and that the toy manufacturers did not intend to adhere to the specific breed of polar teddy bears. But, understandably, my roommate is from Colombia. (They don't have polar bears there.)

Trying to think of what this photo reminds me of, I came up with a few things. First of all, it reminds of those crazy distant relatives that we all have, who never had kids, so they dress up the stuffed animals they bought to keep around the house for when their nephews or second cousins eventually visit. Secondly, it reminds me of the kind of characters Diane Arbus photographed, kooky Coney Island-types. I also see this warped parallel thing happening with this Eggleston photo of the older woman on a couch.

Aside from its colors and all-around wackiness, the photo's title, "Elaine impersonating Tony, on the morning of her heart attack", was what really sparked my interest. So, I turned to contender CoCo Walters' website to find out more. There, I clicked on "Seeing Red", which is the series featuring Elaine, whom the photographer met by chance at Michael's Arts and Crafts. In her statement, Walters acknowledges her initial curiosity for this weird woman and her even weirder house--the same curiosity that initially piqued my interest in the story. However, Walters' statement beautifully analyzes how this striking persona developed out of a complicated life. I don't want to give it all away, since you should read the statement yourselves on Walters' site, but I personally like the part where on the morning of her heart attack, Elaine's husband said to her, "I'm not calling the ambulance. That costs money. You do it."

Reading about the contender, herself, was just as interesting as reading about Elaine.

I grew up in Northern Virginia and therefore, much to my chagrin, I do not have a slow, slurring southern accent reserved for those residing further south. Mostly I went to work with my dad, which began my love for the smell of sawdust, played pilgrims with my sister, and squirted water guns at passing cars while the baby-sitter was inside. I've probably taken the worst pictures of my life in Stafford, Virginia; maybe someday I'll change that.

So, how did this big personality get her start in photography?

I got started in photography when I applied to the Yearbook staff in 10th grade with pictures I had taken the day before and that I had stolen from my sister's scrapbook. They loved it.

Saucy.

Walters cites Mitch Epstein's Family Business as one of her earliest inspirations. She understood "Family Business" to be a real personal project and goes on to explain how this affected her work:

As a student majoring in Photojournalism I never really felt like I had the chance to do a personal project, one that was solely about me and it's something I've always felt like I was missing. But I've figured out that no matter who or what I'm photographing, somehow it shows me more about myself than I ever expected.

So, what else is there to say about CoCo Walters? Well, there's her awesome flickr site and I think her quirky list of inspirations should sum it all up. Walters cites Ebola Virus, once again Mitch Epstein, boring pictures, bored people, and "staying as un-bored as possible" as her all-time obsessions.

So many people are entering the Hey, Hot Shot! competition! YAY! You should enter, too!

Covering the Set by Summer '07 contender Eric Hart.

When I'm not blogging or slaving away in a busy restaurant, my creative efforts are primarily dedicated to the theater. As an upcoming graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, I was lucky enough to have trained with the Atlantic Theater Company for two years and to have recently visited Prague's prestigious Academy of Performing Arts.

Today's contender, Eric Hart is also a man of the theater. Though raised on a farm in Central Pennsylvania, his theater work has driven him all over the place, "from New York City, to Hersheypark, Santa Fe, Louisville, and Ohio." His massive flickr site serves as a testament to all the places he's been.

So, what's a man of the theater doing with a camera?

I bought my camera as a way to document my work as a theatre artist. Though I am largely self-taught as a photographer, my training in scenic and lighting design over the years has benefited me immensely as a photographer.

His photographs offer a satisfying behind-the-scenes sneak peak into the world of theater, but with a heightened sense of artistry in mind. Looking at his photos from the Santa Fe Opera, they seem to mystify the life of a theater artisan, whilst (like any good theater artist, director, or designer) creating a captivating story simply through the use of spatial relationships and lighting.

There's this exercise we used to do in one of my movement classes called an "Open Viewpoints Session" that comes out of a technique called Viewpoints expanded on by SITI Company founder and director, Anne Bogart in "The Viewpoints Book". It's basically a loose-form improvisation where some actors move about the space while others watch, creating a dramatic event based off of impulses garnered by different factors like the actors' spatial relationships. The point of referencing this improvisation is that while you're in it or watching it, you naturally tend to create a dramatic story in your head all based on a confluence of events in the moment, like where the actors are in the room, which way they are facing, and whether the sun is shining light upon certain faces or parts of the stage. This is what creating theater is about. While looking at Eric Hart's photos, that's what I was doing in my head--attaching dramatic qualities to his subjects based on the way the images were set.

Hart talks about how theater and photography overlap in his work:

I started shooting seriously about three years ago with my first digital camera. I got it to document my own work as a designer and props artisan in theatre, and it quickly expanded to a full time pursuit. I like to capture the people and places that my life in theatre takes me, from my parents' farm in central Pennsylvania, to New York City; from Louisville, Kentucky to the Santa Fe Opera in New Mexico. I think of my photographs as I think of my job: showing a world backstage which most people only ever catch a glimpse of.

As for the photo I posted above, I just love how epic it looks with that massive blue sheet looming in the background, that guy suspended in mid-air, and the sheet of water sweeping in below him. Mainly it's that guy caught in mid-air, though. So epic.

That's all folks. I better see some more new entries tomorrow, since you're all about to click here and submit your photos to the awesome Summer 2007 edition of Hey, Hot Shot!

Lifeguard Station by Summer '07 contender Fran Minien.

I was stuck inside all day. For those of you who aren't in New York, I have to explain that today's weather was impeccable: it was warm, perpetually sunny, and not at all humid (as has been the case for the past few days.) It was, in essence, a perfect day. At least it was for all the Saturday strollers and lucky brunch-ers I got to serve from within the confines of my East Village restaurant.

Peeved by my indoor day, I was ecstatic to find relief in Fran Minien's sunny seaside photos. The above image of a lifeguard station has enough color in it to make up for my entire day. I also checked out Minien's collection of photos from the British seaside, which offer a beautiful glimpse into what he calls, "coastal culture." I'm particularly fond of number 4--the image with the colorful tents crammed onto the shore.

Mr. Minien was born and raised in Reading in the U.K., to an English mother and a Mauritian father. After studying History and Media Studies, he decided to pursue a Masters in Photography, since it was the field in which he excelled most. Of his interest in photography, he cites a memory of her grandmother snapping away family photos and eventually buying Minien his first camera. He also cites the creative power he found in the medium:

I have always taken photographs, I have always felt that in gave me a sense of freedom to explore my environments, something I loved to do. The moment I realised the full potential of photography [was when it became] a way for me to communicate and engage audiences through what I saw and how I interpreted my vision. The moment the creative side took off for me was the moment I first stepped into a darkroom and realised the potential for my image making.

His influences (besides grandma)?

Some of the photographers who have inspired me and opened my eyes [on] how to look and explore these themes would be Don McCullin, with his work on the human condition, be it at war or impacted by war. In addition, the photographs of Eggleston and Friedlander provided me with a new way to look at taking photographs and the subject matter of what one is taking. They provided, along with Martin Parr, a way to view popular culture and its environments, a fresh approach with a creative and artistic view.

The above photo of a lifeguard post reminds me of my time spent on the beach in Tel Aviv during a recent trip to Israel. There, the lazy lifeguards just sit in their posts shouting at the swimmers through a megaphone, saying things like, "Hey, you! The boy who looks like a girl! Get outta the water!" (I'm pretty sure this was aimed at my well-coiffed kid brother whose blond locks make him look like a 9-year-old Rod Stewart.)

Anyway, I enjoyed looking at Minien's seaside photos on a day like today. It's nice to look at good pictures of the beach, especially when you can't make the trip yourself. Sometimes, it's even nicer just to look. That way you don't get sand stuck in your bathing suit, or sunburnt, or have to schlep around all of your beach gear. In all honesty, a trip to the beach--especially when the closest one is Coney Island, is such a hassle. After a long and tiring day of work, I'd rather just sit back on my Manhattan couch and enjoy Minien's bright blue seaside photos.

For all the rest of you, also sitting back on your city couches after a long day's work, all it takes is a click here, a few words, and an upload for you to be entered in the Summer 2007 edition of Hey, Hot Shot! With only about 3 weeks left, you should really enter now!

home project 1 by Summer '07 contender Dan Boardman.

Reading the work statement of today's contender Dan Boardman, I found myself drawn to his latest inspirations, which he lists as "Martin Parr's boring postcard collection", "all things Russian", and (of course) "ponies off and on". So, I'm down with Martin Parr (read Joerg's conversation with him on Conscientious) and I'm into ponies (My Little Pony anyone?), but what I'm all about is Russia.

Aside from the fact that my parents and larger family are from all over the former Soviet Union, all of our family friends (writers, painters, and general alcoholics) are Russian as well, so I grew up surrounded by Russian cultural influences. From within my parents' social sphere, I discovered two wonderful Russian poets who now mean the world to me: Anna Akhmatova and Marina Tsvetaeva, both of whom I later studied more thoroughly in this unbelievable class I took in Prague, called "Post-War East European Poetry: The Still Unborn About the Dead" taught by poet Michael March (read his syllabus here).

Anyway...while browsing through Dan's flickr page, I found a lovely series called "from the motherland", a work in progress of moody and diverse images of Russia. Then I moved on to his series entitled home from which the posted photo comes from. About this work, which came out of a series of trips to his hometown, he writes, "I found something static about home. In a front yard, or a parking lot I could find my feet stepping into my old footprints, but seeing now what I had missed then... This work was an investigation into memory, how it changes and what traces trigger a relationship between then and now." These words share an interesting connection with the "motherland" images, since Russia is somehow (for me, at least) the be-all and end-all of homes, both physically and conceptually.

Dan, however, is not from Russia. At least his quirky bio doesn't say he is:

I was born in Ontario, California and moved to a small town in Central New York when I was in third grade. My pop's job moved him from UCLA to Syracuse University. I spent most of my youth like Tom Sawyer, (swimming, eating pancakes, faking my own death). In high school as a door prize at my after prom party I won a digital point and shoot. The camera had no screen and a mere 2-Mega Pixels. It held fifteen shots. I'm glad my Mom made me go to prom, I'm also glad I was nerdy enough to spend the rest of prom night with adult chaperones and teachers in the converted casino cafeteria.

He is now entering his senior year at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He describes his beginning with photography as an accidental introduction to two photographers:

When I first started shooting, a friend recommended me to slower.net. Which was incredibly inspiring and important in getting me to shoot everyday, and chronicle all the nooks and crannies of my day-to-day life. Around the same time another friend came back from New York City with Stephen Shore's Uncommon Places, which he found at random on the side of the road, and gave to me. Stephen Shore opened up a world contrary to that of Eliot Shepard, and even though I didn't fully understand Shore's work then, it did, to say the least, mark the beginning of my love for formal photography.

That's all for today, folks! Meanwhile, every single one of you should enter the competition now!

Winter Hit Hard by Summer '07 contender Lane Collins.

I was just listening to Elvis Presley's Stranger in My Own Home Town, which led me to the following corny opening for today's post:

New Zealand-based photographer Lane Collins is no stranger to the home of the Hey, Hot Shot! blog (you follow my lead?!). Her work has caught the eye of my compatriot bloggers previously and now she is back on the blog after this beautiful, autumnal photo of hers captured my eye. (Plus, I just noticed that she's been keeping up with us as well on her personal blog, where she just featured a post on yesterday's contender Liz Kuball!)

Her bio paints her to be quite the world-traveler: though raised in North Carolina and schooled in San Francisco, she has spent her recent years on the other side of world, both in India (where she travelled to in her last year of school) and in New Zealand, where she currently resides. Reading her biography and her work statement, in which she touches upon the expatriate's struggle to merge contrasting cultural identities, I was reminded of my recent experience in Prague (where I lived and studied for four months earlier this year.)

These photographs are lifescapes -- they are artifacts of a time when everything for me is uncertain except the familiar feeling of a camera in my hands. While the subjects vary from meditative to facetious, the imagery is from the same psychological vein. In moving from the United States to New Zealand, I've found myself searching for an identity within a new context while also struggling to reckon with and maintain ties to the life and home I've left behind. My photographs depict these themes as part of a narrative which is intensely personal and at times maybe a little bit strange. The series is ongoing.

Thinking about why I like this photo, I've come up with the following answer: Anthony Bourdain says that the best food reminds you of long-forgotten flavors, usually associated with your younger years. (There's a great scene in "Ratatouille" where the uppity food critic experiences this and is transported back to his childhood home after one bite of Remy's ratatouille.) Anyway, where I'm going with this is that Collins' photo, "Winter Hit Hard", reminds me of two things:

1. This old Juergen Teller ad for Marc Jacobs, which in turn brings up scent memories of vanilla and musk (random, I know.)

And, more importantly:

2. This train ride I took from New York to Boston one autumn when I was 17. It was my first time alone on the East Coast and when the train rolled through Rhode Island, I had never before seen such vivid, warm colors alive on trees. Growing up in California, I hadn't experienced the radical shift in colors that occurs as the seasons change on the East Coast.

So, that's what I'm pleasantly reminded of when looking at the image I posted today. In other news: enter, enter, enter all you future hot shot boys and girls!

59, 57, 55, 53, 51 by Summer '07 contender Liz Kuball .

To kick off the review of the Summer 2007 Hey, Hot Shot! entries, I've been looking at the work of Southern California-based contender Liz Kuball. Liz, who was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in suburban Michigan, writes that her photography "explores the excesses and deficits, hunger and satiety, loneliness and community in urban and suburban living."

Whilst roaming about her dedicated photoblog, I ended up traveling to the website of a collaborative project she participates in (along with many other jb artists) called A Field Guide to the North American Family. The project is both a published novella, written by jb friend Garth Risk Hallberg, that features photographic contributions from a list of artists including Kuball, herself. The work can also be viewed on the website under different tags associated with North American family life, like adolescence or boredom. This project aptly fits Kuball's work, which is filled with questions of suburbia that pertain to the North American family.

Looking at her photos, I am reminded of growing up in Los Angeles, a city of suburban culture built into urban sprawl. Her photos explore the concept of "storage space"--alloted plots of land or closets that we claim as our own in order to ensure a place for the maudlin junk we cannot bear to throw out, yet have no sensible place for in our daily lives and homes.

Between 1985 and 2007, the square footage of self-storage facilities in the United States grew 740 percent, and driving the freeways of Southern California, this growth is evident. This incredible expansion has been spurred by Americans' accumulation of things, gluttony of the material form. As I drove by storage facilities, I started thinking about what was behind those garage doors and padlocks. It occurred to me that the warehouses weren't full of meaningless "stuff"—they were the repository for all kinds of memories that people weren't willing to part with. Old furniture inherited from the recently deceased. Boxes of old love letters. Books and LPs and photographs. In this ongoing project, I look for the beauty in these places, imagining what's behind closed doors.

Well, that's it for today's featured contestant. All the rest of you better start jumping the gun, because the earlier you apply the better chance you have of getting some sweet words laid on you right here at the Hot Shot blog by yours truly. Enter now!

It's prime Hot Shot season here at jen bekman and submissions are beginning to roll in. That means its about time for you readers to get a glimpse into what kind of Hot Shots are competing this summer. So, that's where I come in. I'm Marina, a recent add-on to the jen bekman bandwagon and a new, enthusiastic blogger. You religious readers should remember me from a previous post I wrote where I introduced myself with great fanfare. However, if you don't, I will benevolently forgive you and offer you this generous re-introduction. With Alice away traipsing around Europe, I'll be filling in as your dedicated Hey, Hot Shot! newscaster. Stay tuned for daily updates on the competing photographers as well as announcements about the competition.

Meanwhile, for those of you looking to enter, you have until Tuesday, August 7, 2007 at 11:59pm to submit your work. So, get the ball rolling and enter the Summer 2007 edition of Hey, Hot Shot! here.

Installation shot, HHS! Spring Edition, 2007 -- courtesy of Joe Holmes

We are now accepting entries for the Summer Edition of Hey, Hot Shot!.

The deadline is Tuesday, August 7 @ 11:59pm ET and winners will be announced at noon on Tuesday, August 21, 2007. Submissions are open to everyone, from anywhere in the world!

The benefits of entering? HHS! offers amazing visibility to emerging photographers. A very impressive panel will be looking at your work this season!

Being selected as a finalist puts you in great company -- the HHS! Alumni are some of the very best new photographers. Though, it's not just the finalists who benefit from entering -- contenders who are featured on the blog also get quite a bit of attention, not to mention an increase in their website traffic.

In other words, your work gets seen.

The Summer Edition Showcase opens at jen bekman on Wednesday, September 12, 2007 and will be up through the 16th. In the meantime, bookmark this blog to stay up to date on the contenders and any other Hey, Hot Shot! news. Also, take a look here for more installation shots from the Spring Edition.

Go, go, submit your entry now!