“Pin-up Girls, Coney Island, Brooklyn” by Valery Rizzo
website: www.valeryrizzo.com
Monthly Archive for December, 2008
Self portraits are strange animals. For most photographers being at the wrong end of the lens is not our first choice. Besides wasn’t it Narcissus who was so mesmerized by his own reflection in the pond that he forgot to eat and pined away and died? Too much self-absorption can be dangerous.
But there can come a time when the only person who can tell your story is yourself.
That’s where I was when I started this self portrait project six months ago. I call this essay “Falling Into Place” because, in some strange way, I feel this IS my place, to see the world waist-high rather than face-to-face. Besides, it all started with a fall, a knee-buckling ankle-spraining fall onto an unyielding sidewalk one cold January day.
After the fifth unexplained fall in six months, I saw a neurologist who put me through a series of tests. Two months later he gave me a “75% certain” diagnosis of chronic progressive multiple sclerosis. Within the year he’d changed it to 100%.
Twenty years later I wonder who I’d be and what I’d be doing were it not for this unexpected assault on my body. I’m not going to say I’m glad it happened. Sure I’d love to be able to run another marathon, or bike another 200-mile weekend tour, or even open a flip-top can by myself. It’s a real pain to take a half hour to change into my swimsuit, to wet my dress because I couldn’t make it to the toilet in time, to ask for help opening every door that pulls rather than pushes. And more. Much more. Being disabled can really suck.
And it can teach too. Patience, humility, determination, even gratitude. How much I appreciate small things like being able to pick up my camera’s memory card when I drop it (again and again) on the floor. How proud I was last August when I drove by myself the 1300 miles to and from New York City. How pleased I am that my claw-like fingers can still hit the shutter release button.
So much of what I show in these portraits is private, the side of my life that no one sees. Until now, that is. And the strange thing about opening my bedroom, my bathroom, my nakedness to view is that my former sense of shame and embarrassment is gone.
I now see my life as a disabled woman is normal in its own way.
-Patricia Lay-Dorsey
“Jim Morrison” himself once told me:
“…there is no way in hell you can go CLOSE to the flame and not get burned…
go close, closer, get BURNED feel the pain, feel the devil breathing on your neck…
pay your dues… “
That was the thought that kept me sane while i was sweating at the back seat of that police car… those words kept my brain in order when i was struggling with those handcuffs… The “either my wrist is too big or the cuffs too tight” thought wasn’t really helping me at all…
Go CLOSE, “if you hands are free, you ain’t close enough”, i thought and then i passed out….
It took me a while, quite a few visits to Venice Beach to realize that there is more than the eye can see…
There is the MORNING, welcoming Venice Beach, rollerblades, beautiful one speed beach bicycles, hot girls with bikinis, studs with their ipods strapped on their bare arm… tourists, kids, little dogs, big dogs, INNOCENCE….
As the sun dives into the pacific, as the noon passes quickly, there is another
“cast” waking up, slowly… the “unfortunate”, the drunks, the homeless, THE UNSTABLE…. you can hear the beer pouring & smell the “mary-jane” burning…
SUNSET comes, the vampires now are really up…
the FREAK SHOW begins…
The TRANSITION from light to darkness comes through the Venice Sunset.. the golden lights,
the MAGIC begins…
The “innocent families” are heading home… Another beautiful day in the Beach is over…
Over ??????… Hmmm , i dont think so…
When the darkness comes, a whole another Venice wakes up…
Sirens, handcuffs, pain, suffering, BLOOD…. lot’s of blood…
Ladies & Gentlemen,
Welcome to Venice Beach… to my venice world….
relax, enjoy and remember : ” …if you don’t feel the pain, you ain’t CLOSE enough….”
ok, next Corona on me !!!
peace
panos skoulidas
Bangkok, November 28, 2008:
Nat , 22, a prostitute and single mother, poses in a short-time hotel.
photograph by katharina hesse
This is the first chapter of my long term project called “Maybe Tomorrow”.
The project aims to reflect upon the perception man has of his own future in relation to his life on Earth, but mostly in relation to the idea of a possible life after death.
In this manner, I’ve tried to find all the elements that create not only a visual continuity but mostly a conceptual continuity with very strong symbols and cultural references. I have, thus created a link with the theme of hope and the theme of doubt and fear, for the weight of life and death.
Walking through the streets of Oaxaca or its countryside, I felt a strange emotion in seeing the moments of daily life of “campesinos”, artisans, workers, old and young people. There was an incredible power, nearly like that of magic, to their faces. In spite of the heavy work, there was a serenity and a limpid hope in their eyes.
I immediately understood that that was what i really wanted to represent with my photography. I also understood that I did not want to give answers in a journalistic manner, but would alternatively try to create questions.
I simply wanted to catch that innate suffering every man has because of being human, one who lives with a conscience in his own existence on Earth. At the same time, by living this life with effort and sacrifice, he can hope for a new life, perhaps not today, “maybe tomorrow”, maybe after the death.
Angelo Guarracino
This is a story about Birgit, a six year old sweet kiddo. She’s been diagnosed with diabetes about a year ago. Incurable. This story is about how, through her, I myself am being confronted with the fact that her illness is much more of an issue to me than it is to her. She taught me a lesson there… The things that are on top of a kid’s list, should in fact be on top of anyone’s list:
Life is about playing with friends and family and having fun as much as you possibly can…
These intimate, close images, are freeze-frames out of her daily life. Random. Lots of different moments. Almost no visual context. Bare essentials. More about feeling the moment than looking at the moment.
There is no beginning and no end. A collection without order. You’ll recognise inside, outside, darkness, light, a bike, a bed or even a beach. But they are all irrelevant…
Just try to hear the laughter, hear the playing… Remember your own childhood… Feel like you’re there up close with her, her brother and her sister. Sometimes she will notice you and say hi. Sometimes she will play and laugh with you until her stomach aches. Sometimes you feel like you need to let her be, dreaming.
She stares into the sea.
—
anton kusters, december 21, 2008
Turkish style bath party in Budapest, Hungary…
photographer Gyula Sopronyi writes:
It's a taking place in a bath from Turkish-ages, call Rudas- thermal bath, and the name of event is Cinetrip. The most important feature of this happening is the following: young people occupy historical territories for themselves, lots of dj-s mix transcendent-music during the night, while the mass is dancing in swimming dresses, under colorful, lightened arches. Those who get slow in the stream are fascinated by Turkish music and dancers. Taking photos of faces and figures getting long in lights of Cinetrip - which is mentioned as a hungaricum in partyculture nowdays - a special, local subculture, an underground community gathering together strictly for one night. The twilight ashes together all externals - conquering, and making similar to space remaining from past.....Date: 2008
my favorite holiday card by one of my favorite humorists..
self-portrait by Elliott “I hate Photoshop” Erwitt
now , this feels strange…
why??
i just cannot tell you…for one thing i felt more than a little bit of sentiment as i closed down “road trips” and our old blog platform…i mean, we all hung out there for almost two years and she served us well…we all made new friends , got a lot of work done and, well moving out of an old house and into a new one always leaves one with mixed feelings…
however, i feel we will easily continue our community here…the most obvious thing is that you will now have a real venue…a place to be published….and with many more watching than you may realize…it will take us some time before we will have a significant amount of content of yours up, but that really is just a matter of YOU getting us material we request…
there is a new e-mail for you under “submissions”…this will be used primarily for you to submit for our ever changing “selected photographs”…..
instructions will come soonest for how “work in progress” will be applied…basically, i will take on up to 5 photographers as a special mentored group….just as i have mentored online with Patricia, Panos, and Rafal …..we will use PhotoShelter as a place to “hang” , edit your stories etc…
“photographic essays” will be the place for final finished stories, text, videos etc etc..this will be THE place to aspire as well as will “selected photographs” which may change daily in the very near future…your .”photographic essays” will be on the “front page” for probably one week each and will always be easily accessible…these essays will also evolve….for example, “Sugar” could end up with a video component at some future point as could Patricia’s “Falling Into Place” and so on…
the nature of our forum has always been like a darkroom print in the developing tray…we have always watched the print develop so to speak…our new Burn will be no exception….
if you do not see your name on the “photographic essays” to come list, do not despair….i know there are several others coming…some are just more ready than others….you know who you are, so get your material together please!!!!
yup , Anton has his story up first….damn right…the boy deserves to be up first (please DO NOT MISS THE RED BUTTON right hand corner for full screen viewing and turn your speakers up)…for one thing, he and i have been working nonstop for days and days…..there is no time of day or night when Anton has not been available for my questions and has not been willing to work and to tweak things out…plus, i just love starting with “Sugar” …..Birgit is a light burning bright….inspiration for us all….
concept and photograph by Patricia Lay-Dorsey
the man is a teddy bear….a family man…he would much rather talk about his teenage daughter Nina and French wife Sophie than about photography…honesty is his best policy…. you never never have to worry about what he “really thinks”…i live in Brooklyn…..but, Bruce Gilden is Brooklyn….
many think Bruce “attacks”…i do not know this for sure, but i am imagining Bruce has had a least one of his subjects “attack back”…but, Bruce and i are as much on the “same page” as anyone i know in Magnum …we surely have opposite personalities and ways of working, yet we have exactly the same “code” for life regarding fairness, transparency, and family….
Bruce is now working on a project on foreclosures in the U.S….a hardball look at one of the primary reasons for the financial collapse in America and the folks who “lost it all”…
his new Magnum in Motion digs in deep and gives us a vision of a side of this country that most ignore…
when Bruce went to Florida for the opening series on foreclosures, he showed us a certain kind of sympathy that i just do not recall in his previous work…
my first impression of Bruce came with his book on “Coney Island”…then “Haiti”, then “Go”….i thought Bruce harsh , but irresistibly fascinating…and funny…i can never take my eyes off of Bruce’s pictures even though i might feel a bit guilty for “intruding”, even as the viewer….if Bruce appears somewhat cynical with his work , when you know him personally , he is more “realist” than cynic….there is a difference…..the man’s work reveals a part of his personality, but not all…there is a straight up kindness in Bruce Gilden..and nobody but nobody has a better sense of humor…
please keep your eye out for Bruce’s continued work with foreclosures….anybody can smell a book in the making…
i am only hoping that i do not become one of his subjects…..
nothing happens until it happens , but things are happening…cracking, buzzing, and yes burning bright…we will launch soonest a working model of BURN magazine (or journal or??)….the house will not be finished…we still need to get in the wiring and plumbing and it will be a long time before all the furniture is chosen and the interior is decorated and we all feel "at home"…but, at least you will have a sense of it….and you will have a "place at the table"….
i must right now thank Anton Kusters for his tireless efforts working on design and function…the boy flew all the way from Brussels to spend four days here sleeping on my floor…..in the next sleeping bag was Tom Hyde and tossing and turning on the sofa was Chris Bickford…my place looked like a homeless shelter rather than a home for a wellspring of ideas…reminiscent of my grad school days or some version of a camping out road trip….
all i can say is that i was totally humbled by all of the hard work from Tom Hyde(flew from Seattle), Eric Espinosa (flew from Cincinnati), Erica McDonald, Andrew Sullivan, David McGowan, and Andrew Owen from Look3..and i will never forget Kelly Lynn James who gets total credit for suggesting BURN as a title…many thanks to all of you who wrote, phoned in, and sent constructive emails..but, it ain't over yet….
today and tomorrow i must attend our Magnum board meeting…our winter interim gathering of the tribe…who would have ever thought i would be on any "board", but well life has its twists…i might be able to get an interesting post out of it , but in the meantime all of you will have time to chew on this…..
oh yes, if you are in New York, we have our annual Magnum book signing at Aperture tonight…please join us…
back soonest…..
some of you might be interested in what is going on right now in my loft…the assembled below are gathered at my space to help make some decisions on the future of our forum…we are buzzing buzzing on the potential of an online magazine..so many good ideas (and a few bad ideas) are zipping around the room…
we are interested right now in any input you may have….very soon we will be working on all the titles you so kindly suggested….and i think we have a nice clean design that will set up selected essays in the most special way and will also include a “behind the scenes” or “the making of” element that so many will find invaluable…
you will now have about four or five hours to make comments…to me, or to anyone you see below….we should be able to have at least a pretty decent preliminary site within a week or two..or maybe sooner..
i cannot believe that Anton Kusters flew here from Belgium, Tom Hyde from Seattle, Eric Espinosa from Cincinnati …i also cannot believe we stayed up ’til 4am for a pre-meeting meeting….and this was air mattress/sleeping bag central around here last night…
please ask us some questions..give us your thoughts….we will respond immediately…..
Erica McDonald, Andrew Sullivan, Chris Bickford, Tom Hyde, Anton Kusters, Eric Espinosa and on screen via webcam, David McGowan
nobody loves books more than Gigi Giannuzzi….he loves them so much that he publishes instinctively and without any thought of "commercial appeal"…he does not do "readership tests"….he goes by his gut and then scrambles like a madman to try to sell enough of his little masterpieces to be able to go on to the next….
Gigi claims he was "conceived in Sicily, born in Rome, and never grew up in Turin"..if you know Italians, Gigi pretty much has it covered..Trolley Books, his mastermind and "baby" has for ten years created quite a stir in the publishing world…"unconventional wisdom" comes to mind when i think of Gigi….and his authors form a prestigious list..
Philip Jones Griffiths, Carie Levy, Stanley Greene, Nina Berman, Deirdre O'Callaghan, Tom Stoddart, Alex Majoli, Paolo Pellegrin, and Alixandra Fazzina just to name a few…please go to: trolleybooks.com to see Gigi's entire lineup of artists and titles….
you may not find Trolley Books everywhere….like many fine objects, you have to look to find…and Gigi is the first to recount the trials and frustrations of the book publishing world….if you wanted to go into a business , you would not try to make photo book publishing your business…nope, only love gets you to do what he does…
last night Gigi slept on my sofa…but, not for long….he stayed up late and got up early..my kind of guy!! tonight in my loft will be presented the above listed shows and the new books will be here and some of the authors as well…Gigi always comes to New York right before Christmas to launch his books…and i suppose it is "my turn" to help him do this…like all of us in this business, we do indeed get by with a little help from our friends….
tonight will be just the kind of event i like to have in my space…like minded folks looking at pictures…in addition to the listed slide shows, there will be others…i will show Anton Kuster, "Sugar"; Patricia Lay-Dorsey, "Falling Into Place"; and Bob Black, "Bones"…
this event came up at the last minute , and i just do not have powerful music slide shows for some of you who do indeed have books near completion…but, please please do not feel left out if you are not being shown tonight….there will be other times, other venues….any of you who i am mentoring now for a book to be published, please be assured that i will get you in front of the right publisher at the right time…i think you already know this…
if you love books, buy one from Trolley…do i sell books?? no, of course not…but , i do know that photographers should always buy other photographers books…i remember Eugene Richards telling me years ago, that if photographers all bought each others books, then the circle would be unbroken…i think this is true…
Hannah Watson, Managing Editor of Trolley, just told me that if you send her an e-mail saying that you are part of my forum, she will give you a 40% discount on any Trolley books…hannah@trolleybooks.com ….
ok, that is about as close as i ever get to selling anything…but, you know what? i will stand by Trolley…these are special books from special photographers…..you will not be disappointed…
if you are in New York, come and meet Gigi's and some of his authors tonight…after all my friends, you could be one of them someday…
GIGI GIANNUZZI FOUNDER/PUBLISHER TROLLEY BOOKS
meetings are not really my thing….a career in photography has afforded me a natural escape from meetings…looking at graphs, flow charts, cost projections, etc etc. is generally better than a sleeping pill for me…if i start snoring, just roll me over!!
however, i have called a meeting..what is my world coming to when i am the one who actually organizes a meeting?? this meeting is a meeting of the minds…at my apartment this thursday…things have been brewing behind the scenes for awhile regarding our new site forthcoming …the amount of input recently by Anton Kusters, Tom Hyde, David McGowan, Kerry Payne, Marie Arago, and Pete Marovich and wife Jenny Jones, humbles me beyond belief…these forum members and friends have gone way way beyond the "call of duty" to help design a new looking, interactive "magazine" of which i believe we are all going to be most proud…
if any of you will be in New York on thursday and want to participate, please let me know…and even without actually being here , i will be expecting thoughts from you…i think it is too early to actually launch a full blown regularly updated online magazine with all of its ramifications, but what we will soon have will at least be the first stage…it will certainly "look like" an online magazine…whether or not we actually go on to a serious active online magazine remains to be seen…there are so many factors to consider, not the least of which is the time and manpower it takes to produce one…not only from the "editing team" which would be required, but from all of you as potential photo essayists…
Kerry Payne (a very astute lurker) must have spent days creating a brilliant potential business plan and our Anton Kusters (above and below design/ graphics) has gone beyond the beyond as our web design guru..David McGowan is on the case designing a print version….Marie Arago is working non-stop creating a special web page for our workshop student essays…. and the advice from Pete Marovich and Jenny, who both previously created an online magazine, American Journal, is so well taken…Tom Hyde, whose career is in publishing, has researched every online magazine out there and if he sends me one more link i will go crazy!!! you guys are just the best!! many many thanks…..by the way, both Tom and Anton will be sleeping on my floor (air mattresses) , both flying thousands of miles just for this meeting…
we have assembled here on our forum quite a team of photographers and writers…and unlike some other online magazines, i would envision some truly creative text essays to be just as important as the photographic essays….in theory, people are not supposed to enjoy reading on line…i would have been an antagonist myself…but,let's see if that is true…in any case, i want to give it a try….
right now, i need everyone's help on just one thing….a title….what do we call our online magazine??
David McGowan came up with Emerge…this is the best title we have so far..can anyone better that one?
All of you who produce fine photographic essays are going to have one really nice place to show your work, IF that work is of the highest standards…this will NOT be a site where anyone can randomly post any picture or essay…there are already a plethora of such sites and they are terrific for what they are……..but right here, we will have a carefully curated/edited photographic and literary forum…quality content will reign supreme…
kindly give us your best title thoughts….and please stay tuned….
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