PDN - December 2011

OUR PICKS OF THE MONTH
DECEMBER 2011

BOOK

Joel Sternfeld, The Early Years

Fans of early color photography, Joel Sternfeld and the richness of Kodachrome will all find much to like in this new book from Steidl. First Pictures features 140 of Sternfeld’s largely unseen early color images, dating from 1969, the year he began shooting Kodachrome with a 35mm camera, until 1980. In her essay in the book, Jessica May talks about the influence of Sternfeld’s meeting with another color pioneer of the period, William Eggleston. But the book shows that Sternfeld was exploring lots of different directions. It includes street photography, for example, as well as landscapes and his studies of light on objects and interiors. There are some flat-out funny images here, too. Any harried mom will appreciate Sternfeld’s photo of a woman lugging a laundry basket in her arms; our eyes are drawn to the face of the placid baby who’s been piled atop the towels and clothes heaped in the basket.

First Pictures

by Joel Sternfeld Essay by Jessica May

140 photos, $78 www.steidlville.com/books/1227-First-Pictures.html

“Egg Harbor, New Jersey,” 1972, from First Pictures by Joel Sternfeld.

EXHIBIT/AWARDS

Supporting
Projects in
Progress

In 2010, the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University teamed with the editors of Daylight magazine to create awards to support projects by talented photographers, both established and emerging. The first place winners, juror picks and honorable mentions in the 2011 Daylight/CDS Photo Awards competition are on display at Center for Documentary Studies until December 22.

“Night Watchman” was photographed in Budapest in 2009.

The image is from Tamas Dezso’s series, “Here, Anywhere.”

Tamas Dezso won the Project Award for his series, “Here, Anywhere.” Begun in 2009, it examines Hungary’s transformation by looking at places where “a certain outdated, awkward, longed-to-be-forgotten Eastern Europeanness still lingers.” David Price won the Work-in-Process Prize for “Friday Night,” photos of work and play in a remote village in Burkina Faso.

Each of the competition’s guest jurors suggested their own favorite projects to include in the
exhibition. The jurors were Anthony Bannon, director, George Eastman House; Darren Ching, co-
owner, Klompching Gallery and creative director at PDN; Stacey D. Clarkson, art director, Harper’s
Magazine ; Whitney Johnson, director of photography, The New Yorker ; Sasha Wolf, owner, Sasha Wolf
Gallery; and photographer Joel Sternfeld, who chose not to name
a juror pick. Daylight editors Taj Forer and Michael Itkoff, and
CDS publishing director, Alexa Dilworth, and exhibitions director,
Courtney Reid-Eaton, also participated.

Photos of the 2011 Project Prize Winner and the Work-in-Process Prize winner can be found on the CDS web site at www.cdsporch.org/archives/6756

2011 Daylight/CDS Photo Awards Through December 22 CDS Gallery Lyndhurst House 1317 W. Pettigrew Street Durham, NC 27705 cdsporch.org

EXHIBITION

New Photography, New (and Old) Processes

The annual “New Photography” show at New York’s Museum of Modern Art sets out to highlight themes and currents in contemporary photography by examining new images, usually by two to four forward-looking photographers. This year, curator Dan Leers wanted to portray the many ways that photographs are now being made, assembled and captured, and he selected six artists to show.

Doug Rickard uses Google Street View to get photos of areas where employment is low, crime and drug use are high, and educational opportunities are few. Moyra Davey makes traditional prints, then folds them into envelope shapes and puts them in the mail. When they come back to her with postal stamps and cancellations, she makes them into a grid. Zhang Dali has assembled images used as propaganda in China during Mao’s reign and exhibits them beside the original, unretouched photos.

Then we turn to straighter shooters. Deanna Lawson takes intimate photos of African Americans, examining relationships and identity. The Netherlands-born Viviane Sassen, who last year won the ICP Infinity Award for Fashion/Applied Arts, returns to Africa, where she spent part of her childhood, to recreate her dreams and childhood memories in colorful, sometimes surreal images. The documentary photographer in the group, George Georgiou, demonstrates his uncanny eye for composition in visually arresting photos that explore the clash of tradition and Westernization in Turkey.