Wednesday, November 23, 2011

NYPD orders officers not to interfere with press



Breaking News Via the Associated Press:

Nov 23, 6:53 PM EST

NYPD orders officers not to interfere with press





"Thanksgiving Table With Turkey": The Carbro Process




"Daughter Linda At Thanksgiving Table With Turkey, Saturday Eve". Dick shot this image of his daughter Linda as a one-shot Carbro print that was built into the final cover for the Post. Dick did this by making multiple shots and carbros of various items such as the turkey, cranberry sauce and tableware, cutting and pasting the images together and re-shooting and reprinting the final carbro. Because that image became the first photograph to displace Norman Rockwell on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, when Dick told Paul Hesse, who had tried unsuccessfully for years to sell the Post a cover, Paul said that Dick was lying, since he believed that it was impossible to sell the Post a photograph. But Dick wasn't lying and it became a cover in 1941, launching Dick's commercial carreer.


"Daughter Linda At Thanksgiving Table With Turkey, Saturday Eve". Dick shot this image of his daughter Linda as a one-shot Carbro print that was built into the final cover for the Post. Dick did this by making multiple shots and carbros of various items such as the turkey, cranberry sauce and tableware, cutting and pasting the images together and re-shooting and reprinting the final carbro. Because that image became the first photograph to displace Norman Rockwell on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, when Dick told Paul Hesse, who had tried unsuccessfully for years to sell the Post a cover, Paul said that Dick was lying, since he believed that it was impossible to sell the Post a photograph. But Dick wasn't lying and it became a cover in 1941, launching Dickís commercial career.




The Carbro Process by Paul Martineau

Over a decade before the 1935 introduction of Kodachrome colour film by Eastman Kodak, a subtractive colour process was developed that made it possible to create vivid prints from black & white negatives. The tricolour carbro transfer printing process - or carbro - demanded strict technical control but produced highly-saturated and permanent colour prints.

BECAUSE OF its complexity and high expense (some practitioners reported a finished print took about 10 hours to produce at a cost of $125), the carbro process was rarely the province of the amateur. By 1937, full colour illustrations made from direct colour prints were being used regularly in the big subscription magazines such as Ladies’ Home Journal, Vogue, Vanity Fair, and House Beautiful. Colour photography in the form of carbro prints was also being shown in museums and in popular touring exhibitions. In the United States, photographers Anton Bruehl, Nickolas Muray, Paul Outerbridge, Edward Steichen, and H.I. Williams, among others, became identified with the quality and artistry of their carbro prints through a participation in these publications and exhibitions. The demand for colour advertising photography was such that a few of the top photographers regularly commanded prices ranging from $300 to $1000 per print. Continue reading here.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Happy 75th Birthday, Life Magazine

75 years of Life magazine

Life Magazine was first published 75 years ago tomorrow, November 23.


The magazine, once criticised as being "for people who can't read," became an instant hit in 1936 and went on to feature defining images of the Second World War, natural disasters, the lives of Hollywood movie stars and the turbulent events of the 1960s. At its peak in the 1940s it sold 13.5 million copies a week.

The magazine was last published in 2007 and it is now a website. The website editors looked back over more than 2,200 cover photographs to chose their 75 favourites, which included portraits of Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe and a notoriously racy cover of Sophia Loren.

The magazine's place in the history of  photojournalism is considered its most important contribution to publishing.

The 75 Best LIFE Covers of All Time   

The 75 Best LIFE photographs

The Connecticut Post: Ridgefield man brought LIFE magazine to life



Related: Visit Monroe Gallery of Photography to view original prints by Margaret Bourke-White, Robert Capa, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Bill Eppridge, Carl Mydans, and many other great LIFE photographers.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

The Sports Photography of Neil Leifer



Photo Finish: The Sports Photography of Neil Leifer



NEWSEUM
Concourse level
On exhibit through August 12, 2012



WASHINGTON — Experience some of the greatest moments in sports history through the lens of legendary sports photographer, Neil Leifer.

The exhibit, "Photo Finish: The Sports Photography of Neil Leifer," includes 50 images from the prolific career of a man who began taking pictures as a teenager and went on to become one of the most celebrated sports photographers in history.

The exhibit opens Nov. 18 and features Leifer's best-known photos, including one of the most famous sports photographs of all time: boxer Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston after knocking him out in the first round of their 1965 title fight.

Each photograph in the exhibit is accompanied by the story behind the image, told in Leifer's own words. The exhibit also includes an original Newseum-produced video in which the photographer talks about his photos and his subjects.

This exhibit was created in collaboration with Sports Illustrated.

Slide show here

"We are alarmed at the arrests of working news professionals..."










Mayor Michael Bloomberg
City Hall

Commissioner Raymond Kelly
NYPD
1 Police Plaza
 
November 18, 2011

Dear Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly:

As faculty members of the Columbia University GraduateSchool of Journalism, we are alarmed at the arrests of working news professionals during the ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests, and deeply concerned that the NYPD blocked reporters' and photographers' access to Zuccotti Park during the recent eviction of the Occupy Wall Street encampment.

The NYPD has had a distinguished track record in cooperating with news professionals in the coverage of demonstrations in New York City. For this reason we are greatly disappointed by what appears to be a pattern of arrests of credentialed journalists over the last two months, most recently a reporter and a photographer from The Associated Press, a reporter from The Daily News and a photographer from DNAInfo, all arrested at the Trinity Church lot during a demonstration on November 15.

We are equally troubled by the consistent blocking of reporters' access to the Zuccotti Park eviction earlier that morning. Numerous journalists attempting to monitor the actions of police and protestors, and to capture images of an important news event, have reported how they were forced away from the scene and prevented from doing their jobs.

We are particularly disturbed that at least one journalist reportedly had his press credentials seized by officers, and some other journalists have reported themselves or colleagues being physically assaulted by police. Such intimidation is in flagrant violation of the First Amendment and runs counter to the best traditions of New York City.

The First Amendment guarantee of a free press has long been understood to embrace a robust presence for news professionals reporting on public protests, among other events. In the case of Occupy Wall Street, both the protests themselves and the actions of police are matters of intense local, national and international public interest. The arrests of credentialed journalists and the blocking of news access to the clearing of Zuccotti Park impeded journalists' ability to gather independent information, and substantially curtailed the public's right to assess the actions of public officials and protestors alike. This is a blunt infringement on the First Amendment and does not contribute to public safety.

As Occupy Wall Street and related protests continue, we urge you to ensure that working journalists receive the full respect and support of the NYPD, included unfettered access to cover events as they unfold. Charges against journalists arrested in recent actions should be dismissed, and the circumstances of the arrests of news professionals should be fully investigated. We urge that commanders and rank-and-file officers be reminded of, and held accountable for, their Constitutional responsibility to protect and respect the First Amendment rights and privileges of journalists covering this important and ongoing story.


Sincerely,

Emily Bell, Professor of Professional Practice; Director, Tow Center for Digital Journalism

Helen Benedict, Professor

June Cross, Associate Professor

John Dinges, Lowell Cabot Professor of Journalism

Josh Friedman, Director, Maria Moors Cabot Prize for Journalism in the Americas

Todd Gitlin, Professor and Chair, PhD Program

Bill Grueskin, Dean of Academic Affairs; Professor of Professional Practice

LynnNell Hancock, H. Gordon Garbedian Professor of Journalism; Director, Spencer Fellowship Program

Michael Hoyt, Executive Editor, Columbia Journalism Review

Marguerite Holloway, Professor and Director, Science and Environmental Journalism

Judith Matloff, Adjunct Professor

Arlene Morgan, Associate Dean, Prizes and Programs

Victor Navasky, George T. Delacorte Professor in Magazine Journalism

Edward Schumacher-Matos, James Madison Visiting Professor

Bruce Shapiro, Executive Director, Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma

Paula Span, Adjunct Professor

Alisa Solomon, Associate Professor; Director, Arts Concentration, M.A. Program

Duy Linh Tu, Professor of Professional Practice; Coordinator, Digital Media Program

Andie Tucher, Associate Professor; Director, Ph.D. Program

Betsy West, Associate Professor of Professional Practice



COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM
2950 Broadway New York, NY 10027

Friday, November 18, 2011

JOHN LOENGARD EXHIBITION CELEBRATES "AGE OF SILVER"


Henri Cartier-Bresson sketching in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris, 1987
John Loengard: Henri Cartier-Bresson sketching in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris, 1987


Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar, is pleased to announce an exhibition of photographs by John Loengard celebrating his new book, "Age of Silver", an ode to the art form to which he dedicated his life. The exhibition opens with a reception and book signing on Friday, November 25 from 5 to 7 PM. The exhibition continues through January 29, 2011. Signed copies of the new book will be available throughout the exhibit.


La Lettre de la Photographie: John Loengard  Age Of Silver

Life: John Loengard's 'Age of Silver'

David Schonauer's "The Big Picture": Books: Loengard’s Ode to the Age of Silver

Wall Street Journal Gift Guide: Photography Books

Thursday, November 17, 2011

FRENCH PHOTOGRAPHY AUCTIONS SET NEW RECORDS






The market for fine photography has had a pretty spectacular week in France. Last Friday night at Christie's 100 photographs by the legendary Henri Cartier-Bresson hit the auction block, sold by the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation and netting a hefty €2 million ($2.8 million). Ninety-one lots sold, and a 1946 silver print of "Derrière la Gare Saint-Lazare" ("Behind the Saint-Lazare Train Station") achieved an artist's record when it soared to €433,000 ($590,455), more than doubling its high estimate of €180,000. This sale was followed the very next day by a sale of 51 Irving Penn photographs from a private French collection, which achieved a rare 100 percent sell-through rate and totaled €2.1 million ($2.9 million).

During the Cartier-Bresson sale, an anonymous telephone bidder won a five-way bidding war for "Derrière la Gare Saint-Lazare," which was one of the photographer's first silver prints. A 1999 print of "Alberto Giacometti à la Galerie Maeght, 1961" fetched the impressive price of €75,400 ($102,818), five times its low estimate of €15,000. An anonymous European collector purchased the photo, which shows the sculptor in blurred movement, looking very much like his "Walking Man" sculpture, which is in the foreground. A 1957 print of "Coronation of George VI, Trafalgar Square, London, 12 May 1937" sold for €70,600 ($96,273), and "Sringar, Kashmir, India, 1948" achieved the same price. Most of the buyers were European collectors, though an Asian buyer snapped up "Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, 1949" for €63,400 ($86,455). (The proceeds of the sale are go towards the Cartier-Bresson Foundation's move to a larger space in the Marais near the Pompidou Center.)

As for the Irving Penn sale, it may not have set any records, but it did mark the second-highest price ever for a Penn photo. The 1951 print, "Woman in Moroccan Palace (Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn)," sold for €361,000 ($492,273), surpassing its high estimate of €300,000. (Penn's auction record was set at Christie's New York in April 2008, when his 1948 photo "Cuzco Children" fetched $529,000. ) While all the Cartier-Bresson images except for the top lot sold for less than €100,000, two other Penn photographs reached six figures. A 1979 print of "Harlequin Dress (Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn") sold for €265,000 ($361,364) and "Poppy, Glowing Embers, New York, 1968" achieved a price of €193,000 ($263,182).