At the Sotheby's auction preview this week I met Beth Iskander, VP of Photographs. We knew we'd met before and realized it was 18 years ago when Beth took me on a tour of the Life magazine archives. I remember seeing the Liz Taylor files and thinking how wonderful it must have been when you got to spend a whole day, and sometimes longer, with a subject, and how few outlets were running full photo spreads any more. 18 years later I launched aCurator magazine with the hope of giving photographers the opportunity to see a whole spread of their work again.

JFK by Yousuf Karsh, cover by Life.

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"The sun had set and the sky was a strange electric blue; here was just an empty patch by the shores of Lake Michigan, a small pier, a grove of trees shuddering in the wind under a glaringly bright streetlight, and a nondescript park building. It was November, and as the Chicago wind picked up, it was a challenge to keep my fingers warm enough to work my wooden field camera. I set up the equipment on that cold shore, and made a long exposure, encapsulating the icy nothingness that represented the approximate location where the largest pavilions of the Columbian Exposition of 1893 - the Agriculture Building and the Manufacture & Liberal Arts Building - had once stood.

My current body of work is an examination of how the sites and structures of world's fairs - conceived and built for a temporary, specific purpose - interact in today's unforeseen environment. Some of the most important architects of the 19th and 20th century were commissioned to construct fair pavilions, dazzling, unusual structures incorporating the most cutting-edge materials and engineering prowess possible at the time. Among them are McKim, Mead, and White, Louis Sullivan, Gustave Eiffel, Le Corbusier, Ando, Mies Van der Rohe, and the landscaping of Frederick Law Olmstead.

Tragically, these extraordinary structures are often immediately demolished, reappropriated for far less grand ambitions, or simply neglected. There is a seeming arbitrariness to what survives. In Philadelphia, two of the four remnants from 1876 are fair toilet buildings. In Paris, there are national icons such as the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Palais, and the Palais de Tokyo. In Flushing Meadows Park of New York, Philip Johnson's New York State Pavilion of 1964 sits in sad decrepitude, its stocky concrete support columns chipped and covered in ivy. I became entranced with the fantastical buildings overgrown with weeds, often neglected and ill-fitting among the sleek, modern high-rises looming around them. I use time of year and day - as well as a lush or stark color palette - to further convey the atmosphere of these sometimes-ghostly sites." Read the rest of Jade's statement.

The Martin Luther King Memorial Organization is making a final push to reach their goal of a national monument:

"This month of April marks the 42nd anniversary of the death of Dr. King and we are commemorating his life and work by creating a memorial in our nation's capital. The Washington, DC, Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial will honor his life and contributions to the world through non violent social change. I've put together this micro-site to help get the message out - there are videos, photos, banners, and even a web toolbar that, when used, donates money to the creation of the memorial."

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1962 © Yousuf Karsh

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Snap Galleries, specialists in rare and exclusive music photography, are hosting a
retrospective exhibition for acclaimed photographer Simon Larbalestier in April 2010. The exhibition brings together, for the first time anywhere in the world, two distinct yet complementary bodies of work by Larbalestier: historic studio based photographs that appeared on Pixies record sleeves from the 1980s and 90's, and new images created in South East Asia in 2008/9 specifically for the Pixies' box set project, Minotaur.

"Decay, isolation and the visual impression of time ravaged objects were key elements in Larbalestier's work, and photographs from this early period were created using what Larbalestier describes as his 'scientific approach'. This was characterized by elaborately staged sets, where images were shot mainly on black and white film on large static cameras, and then sepia toned later in the darkroom to add feeling and atmosphere. Early work such as Come on Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa were shot on Polaroid type 55 film, which yields both a positive print and a negative image that can be used in an enlarger. The distinctive patterned borders of type 55 film served to heighten the sense of decay and otherworldliness." - Guy White, Director, Snap.

The entire exhibition, with supporting commentary from Simon, is also being released as an iPhone and iPad app.

Snap Galleries Press release.pdf

Monkey Gone to Heaven, from 'Doolittle' © Simon Larbalestier

Really wonderful news out of the UK, our fellow community of shouty photographers has managed to defeat Clause 43 of the Digital Economy Bill - it was to be a hideously vague orphan works clause. Back in the 80s, Boy George cut a track called "No Clause 28" - it was about a rather different issue - 'promoting' homosexuality - but the tune's been in my head as the Brits fought this from being washed through parliament without fair hearing. I haven't read the details yet but I'm ready to celebrate anyway.

Updated update: more details Stop 43

Boy George © Janette Beckman

"The deserts of the American West hold a particular fascination for me. Born and raised in England's green and pleasant land, I've lived in busy, crowded cities since my late teens. The vast open spaces of the West are a place of silence, wonder and mystery. I like to get lost there whenever I can." - Rob Hann

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aCurator is proud to support Aperture Foundation.

"Aperture Foundation is a non-profit arts institution dedicated to promoting photography in all its forms, and as part of our ongoing mission to support the work of emerging photographers, Aperture is presenting an exhibition featuring the work of Australian photographer Michael Corridore, winner of the 2008 Aperture Portfolio Prize, at Aperture Foundation. Part of a new initiative, these prints are available for sale, with the proceeds benefiting both the artist and the Aperture Foundation Emerging Artist Fund.

In the words of Aperture book publisher Lesley A. Martin, 'Corridore's project, Angry Black Snake, is an exercise in minimalism. Each image has been pared down to the barest of elements--urgent gestures and hardly traceable figures cloaked in smoke and dust. Yet each image pulses with palpable emotional tension, telegraphed by these starkest of representational sketches and the subtle shifting colors of the clouds that descend upon each scene like a flimsy curtain.

'As Corridore describes it, the project began as part of a larger portrayal of spectators at various events, including auto races, but became increasingly focused on those few moments where the event and the landscape in which it takes place come into direct and violent contact, for all intents and purposes eliding the spectator from the scene almost entirely. Car race or apocalyptic collision, the true nature of these events is never fully disclosed. Behind the scrim of kicked up particulate matter, however, it's evident that there is something afoot. The few discernible figures raise their arms - in victory, or perhaps to call out in distress; eyes are covered or screened for a better view. The work is remarkable for its use of restraint as a strategy to immerse the viewer in an indecipherable yet tangible Sturm und Drang.'

This year's winner, Alexander Gronsky, and the runners up can be viewed here, and Corridore's prints can be purchased here.

An exhibition of the winning series will be organized for 2011. Exclusive limited-edition photographs will be made available by Aperture. The purpose of the Prize is to identify trends in contemporary photography and specific artists who we can help by bringing their work to a wider audience. In choosing the winner, we are looking for work that is fresh and hasn't been widely seen in major publications or exhibition venues. The deadline for the 2010 Aperture Portfolio Prize is Wednesday, July 14, 2010."

From "Angry Black Snake" © Michael Corridore