Saturday, September 15, 2012

The REMIX Culture Panel Discussion on Vimeo

Via photo eye Blog

The REMIX Culture Panel Discussion on Vimeo



We are happy to share the video of the final part of our three part summer Art Law Lecture Series -- The REMIX Culture: Appropriation Art and Fair Use in the Digital Age. Led by moderator Talia V. Kosh of New Mexico Lawyers for the Arts, panelists David L. Dirks, Sid Monroe, Casey Bock, Craig Anderson and Benjamin Allison discussed the high profile Cariou v. Prince appropriation case and the importance of appropriation and forms of visual referencing in our culture.


The REMIX Culture: Appropriation Art and Fair Use in the Digital Age

Taking place on August 15th, the panel discussion was co-sponsored by photo-eye and New Mexico Lawyers for the Arts. Our thanks to all those who participated.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Rise and Fall of Apartheid

 An anonymous photograph of the crowd at the opening day of the 1956 'Treason Trial', in which 156 anti-apartheid leaders were accused of treason. Photograph: Times Media Collection/Museum Africa, Johannesburg

Rise and Fall of Apartheid – review

 
An ambitious exhibition at New York's International Center of Photography documents the cruelties and absurdities of life in apartheid-era South Africa
 
South Africa has given the art world a good number of famous photographers – David Goldblatt, Santu Mofokeng, Roger Ballen – but the wider photographic history of the country remains almost unknown. That would be enough to make Rise and Fall of Apartheid, the extensive and strikingly ambitious exhibition now open at the International Center of Photography in New York, into an important event.

 What makes this show unmissable is something else: the forceful argument of its Nigerian-born curator, Okwui Enwezor, that apartheid-era South Africa was "essentially a neofascist culture", and photography, more than any other artistic medium, offered a means to reinforce it or to contest it.
It's a broadly chronological show, and its opening galleries show the speed with which South African photography was transformed from an ethnographic practice to an engaged, politicised one.

Photographic output exploded after the institution of apartheid in 1948, especially in the contested spaces of South Africa's cities. In one shot we see a bench marked Whites Only, where a young fair-haired girl sits while her black nanny hovers behind her. In another, an older white woman in pearls is sitting on a bench with the same repugnant text on it – but she's wearing a black sash, the symbol of the non-violent women's anti-apartheid organisation.


South Africa goes on trial South Africa goes on trial, by Alf Khumalo, shows the scenes outside courts when three major sabotage trials started in Pretoria, Cape Town and Maritzburg in 1963. Photograph: Baileys Archives


Photography was never just a documentary tool in South Africa. It was also, especially for the black majority, a means of self-fashioning. Drum Magazine, founded in Johannesburg in 1951, modernised the image of the black South African from rural native to urban habitué. Photographers of all races contributed, and the magazine mixed reportage with fashion and arts photography: there's a killer shot by Jürgen Schadeberg of Miriam Makeba in a strapless dress, singing with her eyes closed. Elsewhere in the show there are grimly fascinating photographs by Billy Monk, a bouncer at a Cape Town nightclub in the 1960s, whose snaps of drunk white revellers necking liquor and groping each other are a far cry from National Party propaganda, or the arid fashion magazines Enwezor displays beneath them.

But as the apartheid regime grew more severe – with the banning of the ANC and the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela – the character of the photos changed. The photographers of this era were rarely on assignment: they were actors in the struggle. During the Soweto Uprising of 1976, Sam Nzima photographed a 12-year-old boy shot by police – and then bundled him into a car to take him to a clinic, where the boy was pronounced dead.

Funerals, in particular, frequently served as a key vehicle for black visibility and political action. Mourners gathered by the thousands after the Sharpeville massacre, Steve Biko lying in his open casket, Winnie Mandela alongside the mothers of assassinated activists: these images came to symbolise the apartheid struggle itself, and made racial separation into a matter of life and death.


Gille de Vlieg, Harriet Gavshon in Jan Smuts Ave, Johannesburg Harriet Gavshon in Jan Smuts Ave, Johannesburg, by Gille de Vlieg. The image records part of a Black Sash protest stand on 19 July 1985 in which protesters had to stand alone, or be arrested as an illegal gathering. Photograph: Gille de Vlieg


By the 1980s, the anti-apartheid movement had gone global, and the art world took notice. Hans Haacke created fake advertisements for Alcan, the erstwhile Canadian mining giant with large holdings in South Africa, that featured Biko beaten to death. Adrian Piper defaced pages of the New York Times which featured reports on apartheid with grotesque charcoal drawings. And in turn South African artists, from William Kentridge to Zwelethu Mthethwa, gained international attention for work that exposed the cruelties and absurdities of life under the apartheid regime.

In the final gallery we see the famous photograph, shot by Graeme Williams, of Nelson Mandela emerging from prison, his fist raised in the air. But Enwezor refuses to sound a falsely triumphant note at the end of this commanding exhibition. There are no images of happily queuing black South Africans voting in the 1994 election – but bodies dead in the street, or graves being dug for the victims of political violence that continued even after apartheid's end. And the young photographer Thabiso Sekgala shows us a scene from one of the former bantustans: scorched grass, stunted trees, barbed wire, a rusting car, a shack made of plywood and corrugated iron. There is little sign that anyone will ever live here again. The photograph is called "Inheritance."

More on this story

  • The crowd at a protest against Chris Hani's assassination, 1993
    Rise and Fall of Apartheid: photography captures the protests and prejudice – in pictures
    A new photographic exhibition in New York examines the legacy of the apartheid system through nearly 500 photographs, films, books, magazines and newspapers, covering more than 60 years of South African history
  • Wednesday, September 12, 2012

    Unpublished JFK Photos: Houston Remembers President Kennedy's 1962 "Moon Speech" At Rice Stadium




    Via KUHF


    Today is the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's famous speech in which he declared, "We choose to go to the moon ..." He delivered it here in Houston, vowing to put Americans on the moon within the decade.
    I'm sitting here in the bleachers at Rice, on the stadium's east side, where most of the 40,000 people had gathered to hear Kennedy speak. It was Sept. 12, 1962 and reportedly it was quite hot but clear that day. The crowd included not only the mayor of Houston, the county judge, and the president of Rice, but also the Texas governor and various Texas congressman.

    "It was blazingly hot. And poor Lyndon Johnson was drenched with perspiration."

    Bob Gomel was photographing Kennedy that day for LIFE magazine. He says the president, unbelievably, didn't seem sweaty at all.

    "He was cool, man. He just didn't, he just somehow or other, was oblivious to it. He looked perfectly fine."

    Houston was the third stop on a presidential tour of aerospace facilities.

    Gomel had gone with him to the rocket facility in Huntsville, Alabama and to Cape Canaveral.
    At Rice he was so busy taking photos that he didn't realize the importance of the speech until later.

    "It was very daring, it was very daring. I mean the Russians were out there in space. And he elected to put us in competition."

    Excerpt from speech:
    "But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard …"

     
    • JFK and Bob Gomel

      President JFK and LIFE magazine photographer Bob Gomel

      LIFE magazine photographer Bob Gomel, 28, at right in background holding camera, as the president enters the stadium before the famous speech. Photo credit: Unknown.
    • JFK pokes his head out of spacecraft

      Unpublished Photo by Bob Gomel

      At Houston's Manned Spacecraft Center on 6040 Telephone Road, President Kennedy pokes his head out of a spacecraft in this previously unpublished photo. Photo credit: Bob Gomel.
    • JFK speaking from the podium

      President at the Podium

      At Rice University, the presidential speech that ignited the dream. Photo by: Bob Gomel
    • JFK speaking from the podium

      "We choose to go to the moon ..."

      "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard ..." Photo by: Bob Gomel
    • President JFK and VP Lyndon Johnson

      Space Industry Tour

      President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon Johnson began their space industry tour on Sept. 11, 1962 at rocket-production facilities in Huntsville, Alabama. Photo credit: Bob Gomel.
    • President JFK and VP Lyndon Johnson

      President JFK and VP Lyndon Johnson

      President Kennedy, with Vice President Johnson by his side, speaks at Cape Canaveral during his 1962 tour of U.S. aerospace facilities. Photo credit: Bob Gomel.
    • JFK at Cape Canaveral

      President Kennedy at Cape Canaveral

      President Kennedy at Cape Canaveral. Photo credit: Bob Gomel.
    • JFK walking

      President Kennedy walking into Rice Stadium

      President Kennedy walking into Rice stadium. Photo by: Bob Gomel
    • JFK at the podium

      President at the Podium

      At Rice University, the presidential speech continues. Photo by: Bob Gomel
    • JFK with cleched fist

      President with Clenched Fist

      President Kennedy with clenched fist during speech. Photo by: Bob Gomel
    • JFK druing convocation

      President during Convocation

      President Kennedy during Rice University's Convocation. Photo byBob Gomel
      
    Rice presidential historian Douglas Brinkley says this was not only the most important event in Rice's 100-year history, but it was also one of Kennedy's best and most successful speeches, in which he sold the American public on a vast public works project, that despite its expense, united the country.

    "It was a way to get Congress to appropriate hundreds of billions of dollars into the space program. This was the single largest public discovery project ever. In scope, it dwarfed the Panama Canal. Maybe only the interstate highway system of Eisenhower is comparable."

    Brinkley says Kennedy wisely sold the project as more than just a Cold War space race with the Soviets.

    "Kennedy framed it as the march of human civilization into the galaxies. And framed it in that language of breaking the shackles of earth."

    Brinkley notes that this was the last time a U.S. President managed to unite the country around a vast, expensive, and noble goal.

    The tragedy of the Vietnam war, followed by Ronald Reagan's call to shrink government, made Americans more skeptical about public spending, especially on infrastructure and exploration.

    "We aren't seeming to do public discovery anymore. It's all become private sector. And you don't have the government leading the charge on one big grand possibility like Kennedy threw out in front of the 40,000 people at Rice Stadium."



    Bob Gomel: LIFE in The 1960s will be on exhibit October 5 - November 18, 2012 at Monroe Gallery of Photography. Bob Gomel will be in attendance at a reception in his honor on Friday, Oct 5, 5 - 7 PM.


    Related: 50 years ago, Kennedy reached for stars in historic Rice address

    50 years ago a promise made, a promise kept: going to the moon

    Kennedy’s speech a ‘tonic’ for nation losing to Russia

    Friday, September 7, 2012

    Panel Discussion | Shifting Sands: Conflict Photojournalism and Ethics



    featuring Marcus Bleasdale and Stephen Mayes
    Tuesday, September 18, 2012, 6:30pm
    Aperture
    547 West 27th Street, 4th Floor
    New York, NY 10001

    What are the ethical responsibilities of a photojournalist who chooses to cover conflict? Can he or she be truly neutral, or do they have a responsibility to reflect the moral and political imbalances of the situations they report on?


    Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2003
    © Marcus Bleasdale/VII

    The panel will explore the ethical pressures on photojournalists in conflict and will consider their accountability for the positions they take and the pictures they make, how they make them, where they place the work and the voice they attach to it. The discussion will consider the responsibilities and consequences, intended and otherwise, of reporting on conflict.


    Marcus Bleasdale – Photographer, VII
    Jason Cone – Communications Director, Doctors Without Borders USA
    Philip Gourevitch – Journalist, The New Yorker
    Thomas Keenan – Director of the Human Rights Project, Bard College
    Kira Pollack – Director of Photography, Time Magazine
    Stephen Mayes, Moderator – Managing Director, VII


    More here.

    Wednesday, September 5, 2012

    Bill Eppridge speaks at Echo Foundation and Charlotte Observer exhibit of
    Bill Eppridge's photographs. Photo by Meredith Jones

    Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/09/03/3501561/dnc-party-pics-090312.html#storylink=cpy


    Via Charlotte Observer


    Kathleen Kennedy Townsend speaks Echo Foundation and Charlotte Observer exhibit
    of Bill Eppridge's photographs. Photo by Meredith Jones
     
     
     
    Echo Foundation and Charlotte Observer exhibit of Bill Eppridge's photographs.
    Photo by Meredith Jones

    Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/09/03/3501561/dnc-party-pics-090312.html#storylink=cpy

    Read more here: http://www.cDNC Exhibit showcases photos of harlotteobserver.com/2012/09/03/3501561/dnc-party-pics-090312.html#storylink=cpy
     

    Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/09/03/3501561/dnc-party-pics-090312.html#storylink=cpy


    Related: DNC Exhibit showcases photos of Robert F. Kennedy

    FreePress: Journalists in Need of a Safety Net





    Via FreePress

    September 4, 2012


    More and more independent journalists and citizens are putting themselves on the front lines to cover city halls and city streets, politics and protests — and they’re doing so without the support or protection afforded staff at established newsrooms.

    Indeed, these journalists undertake incredible personal and legal risks to do their work. The Committee to Protect Journalists found that of the 179 journalists imprisoned worldwide in 2011, 86 were digital journalists and 78 were freelancers. Here in the U.S., nearly 90 journalists — many of whom are independents or freelancers — have been arrested or detained in the past year, and in state after state people have scuffled with police over their right to record.

    We cannot build a bright future for news if we cannot create ways to protect and support the independent and citizen journalists who are trying to create that future.

    Some of these journalists are building new networks of support to expand their reach and insulate them from legal threats. Learn more about these ad-hoc support networks in my post on PBS’ Media Shift site.

    Original photo by Flickr user P. Weiskel

    To support our journalism campaign, please consider a donation to the Free Press Action Fund.

    Monday, September 3, 2012

    DNC Exhibit showcases photos of RFK


     Bill Eppridge, Senator Robert Kennedy at a rally in Sioux City, Iowa 1966
      ©Time Inc.


    Via Charlotte Observer
     By Claire McNeill
    cmcneill@charlotteobserver.com

    Magazine photographer followed Kennedy during 1968 presidential campaign


    Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/09/02/3499126/exhibit-showcases-photographers.html#storylink=cpy
    Life magazine photographer Bill Eppridge shadowed Bobby Kennedy on the 1968 presidential campaign trail, witnessing everything from quiet moments to massive rallies.

    On June 5, 1968, Eppridge took a famous photo of Kennedy lying on the floor of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, moments after he had been shot.

    “There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about that man,” Eppridge said.

    Now, with politics on center stage in Charlotte, a special exhibit featuring nearly 40 of Eppridge’s photos of Kennedy will be on display.

    The show, “One America, One American,” is sponsored by The Echo Foundation and The Charlotte Observer.

    Housed in the Observer’s lobby, the exhibition is open to the public Sept. 4-Oct. 19, following The Echo Foundation’s 15th annual award gala opening Monday.

    Eppridge, born in 1938 and still taking photographs, will attend the opening, as will Kennedy’s oldest daughter, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a former lieutenant governor of Maryland. Townsend will accept the foundation’s inaugural Family Legacy Award on behalf of the Kennedy family.

    Former presidential candidate and retired Gen. Wesley Clark will deliver the night’s keynote address, “Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times.”

    Eppridge, a self-taught photographer and veteran of Life, National Geographic and Sports Illustrated, said the exhibit’s timing – coinciding with the Democratic National Convention – is “really special.”
    “I think a lot of (delegates) don’t really know who he was or what he stood for or the importance of that man, and maybe this will get them thinking about where we’ve been or where we might be able to go,” he said.

    Before Kennedy became a Democratic senator from New York, he was attorney general in the administration of his brother, John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963. Bobby Kennedy was an icon of the civil rights movement and took a strong stance against the war in Vietnam.
    Eppridge said Bobby Kennedy’s importance lay in his honesty, popularity and dedication to getting troops home from Vietnam as soon as possible.

    “I had quite unusual access to that man. I heard and saw and knew things that other people didn’t, and I realized that he was dead serious when he told us, ‘We are out of Vietnam on the day I take office,’ ” Eppridge said. “I don’t think anything was impossible to him.”

    The Echo Foundation will also display the winning photographs from its international student photojournalism competition, which sought photography responding to the question, “What does democracy or tyranny; justice or injustice look like?”

    From more than 500 entries from students across the globe, Tobin Jones, who attends the University of Westminster in the United Kingdom, was chosen as grand-prize winner.

    Jones won the opportunity to travel to Charlotte during the convention and take photos alongside Eppridge for one day.

     Want to go?
    The free public exhibit, “One America, One American,” is open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 4-Oct. 19 in the Observer lobby, 600 S. Tryon St.   

    Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/09/02/3499126/exhibit-showcases-photographers.html#storylink=cpy

    Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/09/02/3499126/exhibit-showcases-photographers.html#storylink=cpy

    "labor Day and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers"





    John Loengard: Ranch Foreman, Whistle Mills, Flagstaff, AZ, 1970
     
     
     

    US Department of Labor: The History of Labor Day


    Labor Day 2011

    Labor Day 2010