Through A Real Imitation, photographer T ommy Kha, a native Memphian of Chinese descent, uses performance, self portraiture and Memphis iconography to understand his experience and the nuances of feeling different. Obsessed with photography's tendency to reveal and conceal, and a nod to Diane Arbus' description of photography as a "purveyor of secrets," Kha pushes its function with quiet and sometimes humorous images that depict and exaggerate his alienation. Upon the release of his recent monograph published by Aint Bad, Kha spoke with friend Justine Kurland to dive deeper into his process and the psychology behind it.

PostedApril 7, 2016

AuthorEditors

CategoriesArtists, Portfolio, Publications

TagsTommy Kha, Justine Kurland, Aint Bad Books, A Real Imitation, Yale Photographers, New Photography, Narrative Photography, Large Format Photography, self portraiture

La Familia de Felipe V. Jean Ranc (1674–1735) — *La Familia de Felipe V.* Jean Ranc (1674–1735)

Folks, it was bound to happen: a Humble Arts Foundation group show devoted exclusively to Kanye West. With the release of The Life of Pablo and YEEZY Season 3, we believe the timing apropos (and too ironic to avoid). How the F do you curate a photography exhibition about one of today's most notorious pop culture icons without any images of the rapper himself?

PostedApril 4, 2016

AuthorAmani Olu

CategoriesExhibitions, Open Call

TagsOpen Call, Photography Open Call, Kanye West, Amani Olu, Jon Feinstein, Humble Open Call, Yeezus

Today's so-called "sharing economy" can be brutal on professional photographers. Exposure for no pay, and Instagram's democratizing of photography for the masses has made your uncle's family backyard BBQ cliché comments like "but what do you do for a living?" more real than ever before. Photographer Timothy Briner, known for his series Boonville and Sandy, is getting fed up. Over the past decade he's occasionally shot jobs pro-bono, with an eye for invaluable exposure, but recently, this work-for free mindset, recently pushed him one click of the shutter too far...

PostedApril 1, 2016

AuthorJon Feinstein

CategoriesArtists

TagsExposure, spec work, photographers' rights, legal advice for photographers

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While trolling Ryan McGinley's Instagram a couple weeks ago, we noticed a photo of him with Cindy Sherman at a Gucci event. Yes, we went a little #newyorksocialdiaries on this, but more importantly, we were surprised, as he linked to it, that Ms. Sherman's complete works, which now have their own Instagram handle, at the time, only had 248 followers. (Editor's note: within about an hour of this post going live, "Cindy Sherman Complete" followers exceeded 300.) So, despite whatever's going on with Instagram's algorithm change and whether you'll actually be able see her updates, it's a nice, growing overview of some of her most recognized works. And while you're at it, consider following these 12 photographers who have been taking over Humble Arts Foundation's Instagram over the past few months, with spontaneous visual diaries, or, like Sherman, as a vehicle for showing longer term projects. One (Eleanor MacNair) even has a nod to Sherman's famous Film Stills in Play Dough.

PostedMarch 28, 2016

AuthorEditors

CategoriesArtists, Galleries

TagsCindy Sherman, Ryan McGinley, instagram, Tom Beresfo, Derek Shapton, Philip Rodriguez, Lindsay Metivier, Peter Baker, Paula McCartney, John Goldsmith, Alison Postma, Chase Barnes, Eleanor Macnair, Birthe Piontek

Photographic buzzwords are still some of the most heavily used, yet meaningless forms of journalism today. Possibly the "millennial" answer to The New York Post's historically obnoxious front page headlines, these "delicious" words continue to get our clicks, regardless of how hollow they might actually be. They make stories more "digestible" with language designed to entice even your feline friends. For many photo editors, this tendency towards linguistic carelessness also finds its way into image requests, and for the self-proclaimed intelligentsia, using art-speak can often seem a bit more "complex" than it actually is. Since we at Humble are guilty of all of the above, for the second time, we invited some of our favorite art and photography curators, writers, editors, and producers to share some of their most beloved/hated photographic buzzword pet peeves, which we illustrated using some of our favorite stock photos and illustrations of cats. Enjoy, and "please share this magical work" widely. Wanna see our 2015 list first? Click Here

PostedMarch 24, 2016

AuthorJon Feinstein

CategoriesPublications

TagsCharlotte Cotton, Liz Lapp, Elizabeth Renstrom, Ellyn Kail, Bryan Formhals, Stephanie Heimann, Jenna Garrett, Jordan Teicher, Jacqueline Bates, Toby Kaufmann, Paddy Johnson, Kate Osba

A Real Imitation: Justine Kurland in Conversation With Tommy Kha

Open Call: group show #49 I Love Kanye

Photographer Tired of Working for "Exposure" Boycotts Family Photos

Cindy Sherman's Complete Works Have Less Than 300 Instagram Followers?

12 Click-tacular Buzzwords Photography Writers Need To Stop Using (part 2)