The Meal Back Then, Self Portrait. Rockport, Maine, 2003 © Cig Harvey

Cig Harvey is a fellow ex-pat Brit, living in Maine. Cig's images are breathy, expansive, dreamy, and packing a colorful punch. After a personal introduction Cig posted me a copy of her new bright-red book 'You Look At Me Like An Emergency' and I consumed it like a tube of fruit gums.

'Emergency' is "A book of photographs and text about a life being lived." The storybook opens with the statement "Photography is my way of slowing the world down and creating order from chaos" and interspersed throughout are snatches from a personal diary. "He said, 'Your hair is so wonderfully disheveled.' I thought 'you should see the inside of me.'"

View the aCurator full screen magazine photography feature.

Morrissey. Dunham Massey, Greater Manchester, September, 1983 © Kevin Cummins

I've just about stopped panting enough to write about Proud Galleries' new exhibition of The Smiths by Kevin Cummins this week. The Smiths have the biggest place in my heart that a band has ever occupied, and Kevin Cummins has a place in my heart for making my first day in the photo biz, back in 1989, mounting transparencies into cardboard and writing his name by hand, just that bit less boring.

Manchester: So Much To Answer For, opens at Proud Camden, June 1st to July 15th 2012. I trust my London pals will be sure to go see this and let me know how great it was.

Proud Galleries have been doing the 80s, and music in general, well, proud!

Get your photos ready! The International Fine Art Photography Competition is now open for submissions. The first year of this annual competition is gaining momentum - with the express purpose of celebrating fine art photography and discovering new talent. Promising emerging and mid-career photographers will receive the recognition they deserve - a path to have their work seen and appreciated by a wider audience, with a rich exhibit and publication schedule for the winners and finalists.
 
A diverse jury will review the work - a panel noted for their creativity, expertise, and support of emerging photographers. We're honored to have two of the most distinguished museum curators of their time, Jean-Claude Lemagny of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and David Travis of the Art Institute of Chicago, both making significant contributions to the appreciation of fine art photography around the world. We're also honored to have two talented and successful contemporary photographers, Michael Kenna (who had a major retrospective at the Bibliothèque Nationale last year) and Jane Evelyn Atwood (who had her retrospective at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie). And rounding out the jury panel are Alexandre Percy, owner of the Acte2 experimental gallery in Paris and Julie Grahame, publisher of aCurator magazine in New York.
 
Also called the Grand Prix de Découverte, this international competition is open to photographers around the world. The images submitted can be far reaching - any subject - as long as they fit into one (or more) of the seven categories - People/Portraits, Landscape/Seascape/Nature, Cityscape/Architecture, Street Photography/Documentary, Still Life, Abstract, Experimental.
 
What are the Paris connections? The exhibit of finalists will be presented in Paris in November at NoFound Photo Fair in the Marais (more than 10,000 visitors), in conjunction with Paris Mois de la Photo and Paris Photo 2012. The awards ceremony will take place the week-end of November 17-18, and there will be a special event at the American Library for the jurors and the Grand Prix winner on November 13.
 
The winner of the Grand Prix de Découverte (the best image in the competition) will be awarded travel to Paris and accommodations for the awards ceremony, in addition to the cash prize of $5,000. There are cash awards for the winners of each category, and winners and finalists' work will be accepted into the prestigious collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale. There will also be a catalog of the winners and finalists' images and publication in aCurator magazine (seen by curators all around the world).
 
So, take a look through your photographs (or get your camera ready) and find/make images that have the elegance, impact, or creative chutzpah to make them speak out to the jurors.
 
Bonne chance! Bon courage! Go get 'em!

The residency is for nine months, and the artist will be involved with various aspects of the museum, and will receive a stipend. You'll need to either live in Staten Island or demonstrate a strong connection thereto and eligibility marvelously includes 'Photographers who are members of groups under-served by the museum community.'

"When Alice Austen turned eleven in 1877 she received a camera from her uncle Oswald. Over the following half a century she developed into one of America's earliest and most prolific female photographers. Her technical skills and strong aesthetic eye continue to fascinate us."

Contact Alice Austen House for details.

The prints are already selling well through Peter's galleries "All of the prints are combinations of Platinum/Palladium, Gum Bichromate, and Cyanotype hand made only by me... All of my gallery frames are made from scratch as well."



Let's Go Home. Platinum Palladium print from waxed paper negative © Peter Liepke

Peter intends to produce about 40 images in the series and is planning the book (with foreword by a secret A-list New Yorker!)

Head over to Peter's website for many more.

Sollsbury Hill. Platinum Palladium print from waxed paper negative © Peter Liepke


*Get off my lawn etc.