CABLE RELEASE

As The River Runs

In her recently released book “As The River Runs”, photographer Agnes Thor returns to her childhood home in Sweden and visually explores the physical perimeters set forth by her parents around their home when she was a child. Revisiting places that once held a magical element during her childhood, Thor uses her elegant attention to light and detail to provide a visual narrative that draws the viewer into a place where time has stopped and all that remains is the wistful vision she has presented. With a beautifully tragic foreword by the artist, the scene is set for the viewer to explore the four sections of images. Through her pairing of images, a true sense of place is formed where the viewer can’t help but form an attachment to it’s structures, objects, and landscapes. “As The River Runs” is published by Blackbook Publications and was released in November 2015.

Text by Canbra Hodsdon

Amelia Maslen’s “Ultima Thule”

During her time volunteering for WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms), photographer Amelia Maslen documented life on the organic vegetable farm where she was stationed in Copper Center, Alaska. Throughout her images, Maslen paired the familiarity of vegetable farming with subtle hints of the majestic landscape present in the Alaskan wilderness. Each photograph provides clues as to the remote nature of her location through her attention to detail and eye for environmental compositions. Maslen explains, “In this body of work I focused on elements specific to this way of life and living with the land. My work as a whole examines the ways different people interact with nature and how lifestyle and geography dictate those terms”.

Wild & Precious

In his newly released book “Wild & Precious”, photographer Jesse Burke visually explores a five year time period of his daughter Clover’s youth. The book spans from her days as a curious and fearless child to her transformation into an intuitive and confident adolescent. Through their journeys across the country, Burke provided an education for his daughter that encouraged a thorough understanding and strong bond with nature. Every location provided new plant life and creatures to study. Burke explains, “I want my children to genuinely understand how magical the world we inhabit is and how we, as humans, are an integral part of the system. I want them to feel a deep connection to every aspect of their surroundings”. Clover’s painful encounters with the outdoors, including a black eye and bloody nose, remind the viewer of her mortality and the evident fragility that comes with being a child, but also reminds us that these confrontations are no reason to deter a child’s exploration of the outdoors. Burke’s work also serves as a touching visual lesson to parents about the importance of providing children with the opportunities to understand and fully immerse themselves in nature and to take part in their children’s outdoor adventures. “Wild & Precious” is published by Daylight Books in October 2015.

A solo exhibition of work from “Wild & Precious” will open at ClampArt (531 West 25th Street, New York, NY 10001) in New York on October 14 and remain on view through November 14. There will be an opening reception and book signing with the artist on Thursday, October 14 from 6-8pm.

All images © Jesse Burke

Text by Canbra Hodsdon

ALZHEIMER

(via Dashboard)

Inuit Now

With just over two weeks to go, photographers Dennis Lehmann and Lasse Bak Mejlvang are using Kickstarter to fund a photobook project that they have been working on for the past year. The book, titled “Inuit Now”, documents what it means to be Inuit in Greenland today. Lehmann and Mejlvang set out to eradicate any media influenced perceptions of life in the massive country by traveling to two different areas of Greenland. By juxtaposing images of the traditional ways of life found in Tasiusaq with the rapidly growing youth culture in Greenland’s fastest growing city of Sisimiut, they have created a visually cohesive and intriguing collection of images covering countless elements of Greenland’s culture. They explain on their Kickstarter site, “‘Inuit Now’ is a long-term photography project aimed at documenting the undocumented; telling stories about modern-day Inuits. In recent years the Arctic region has drawn international attention due to the possible finding of natural resources. But while stories about oil fields, rising sea levels and mines have been plentiful, there has been almost no attention towards the region's most important resource; the Inuits”.

Text by Canbra Hodsdon

Christopher Marley’s “Biophilia”

On April 14, Abrams Books published Christopher Marley’s new book “Biophilia”. In this new collection of images, Marley takes a kaleidoscope approach to photographing colorful patterns and designs that he creates with vibrant and beautiful living things found in nature. Through the use of insects, reptiles, birds, plants, and minerals, the book is a stunning combination of color, artistic design, and photography. Each design is engagingly unique and truly captures Marley’s background as a conservator, designer, and taxidermist with an exceptional love for natural objects. The Abrams Books website explains, “Marley has a brilliant eye for color and pattern in different natural objects, and he expertly captures the deep relationships among them. Biophilia (literally, “love of living things”) is a must-have for nature lovers, designers, artists, craftspeople, and anyone looking for visual inspiration in the arts.”

“Biophilia” can be purchased on the Abrams Books website or on Amazon.

Text by Canbra Hodsdon.

Carnival Strippers

From 1972 to 1975, photographer Susan Meiselas spent her summers photographing the female striptease performers who worked in traveling carnivals throughout New England, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. Meiselas captured the different aspects of live on the road as a traveling stripper with images taken behind the scenes, images taken during live shows, and images of the audiences who frequent the performances. She also taped interviews with the performers, their boyfriends, the striptease show managers, and paying attendees. All shot in black and white, the work is a raw look into the unconventional profession of a carnival stripper. A book of the images was published in 1976 and then again in 2003.

Text by Canbra Hodsdon

Gordon Parks’ “Segregation Story” @ Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta GA

Until March 14, a series of Gordon Park’s photographs will be on display in the exhibition “Segregation Story”. The images, which were created throughout the 1950’s, give a rare color film depiction of African-American segregation that was prevalent in the American south. Parks was passionate about social justice, specifically civil rights, and photographed such assaults on human rights up until his death in 2006. His photographs don’t depict his subjects as victims, but takes us into their everyday lives and shows the unity and love within their communities while placing glimpses of the cruelty of segregation with in the backdrops of different photographs. Coming from an era when black and white film was primarily used, Parks’ color images breath new life into the Civil Rights movement and what it was like to have segregation be a part of everyday life.

Jackson Fine Art

3115 East Shadowlawn Avenue

Atlanta, GA 30305

Text by Canbra Hodsdon

Nature Illusions

In her series “Nature Illusions”, German photographer Beatrice Jansen explores the different instances where we falsify nature to create a fictitious environment. Jansen takes us through created scenes at zoos for its wildlife from desert vistas to arctic landscapes. The series is an interesting look into the measures we take to infuse some flora and fauna into our everyday lives and those of the animals we keep in captivity. 

Text by Canbra Hodsdon