Since the early 1980's, Seattle's Photographic Center Northwest has provided opportunities for emerging and established photographers ranging from photography classes to community darkrooms, exhibition and studio space. Originally named The Exposure School of Photography, and later called the Northwest Center For Photography, the non-profit evolved from a small educational program into a vibrant, accredited institution, now led by Minor Matters Books founder, and former Aperture co-publisher Michelle Dunn Marsh, photographer Eirik Johnson, Terry Novak and Jennifer Brendicke. As the program has grown, they've been consistently generating some promising photographers, with this year's crop of thesis students rivaling many recent MFA graduates. Below are some highlights from the exhibition, which is up through August 10, 2017, alongside each artists's statement about their work.

PostedJuly 18, 2017

AuthorJon Feinstein

TagsJohn Wilmot, Thea Billing, Cian Hayes, Al Varady, Harini Krishnamurthy, Michelle Dunn Marsh, Eirik Johnson, Joan Dinkelspiel, Seattle Photography, photocenter northwest, PCNW, Terry Novak, Jennifer Brendicke

This weekend, the first annual Brooklyn Dirty Book Fair at Brooklyn's Point Green Studio celebrates independently published erotic material. Titled Crushed, it will serve as a platform for artists dealing with sex, curated by Matthew Leifheit. Elements include a selection of lewd prints and publications for sale, two exhibitions featuring nudes by George Pitts (RIP), the queer zine collection of Phillip Aarons and Shelley Fox Aarons, dirty film screenings, readings and performances. We've included some highlights below to give you an idea of what to expect. Starting Saturday, and continuing all weekend, Curator Matthew Leifheit will be featuring more photos on Humble's Instagram.

Full list of participants:

PostedJuly 14, 2017

AuthorEditors

CategoriesArtists

TagsBrooklyn Dirty Bok Fair, Matthew Leifheit, Art Books, erotic art

While our click-bait headline might reflect a charged visual history of western photographers insensitive attempts to photograph in developing countries, Chris Mottalini's latest photobook Land of Smiles is remarkably different. Mottalini breaks the tropes one might expect, capturing Thailand in abstract hues, balancing highly saturated, unreal landscapes -- both natural and man-made -- with mundane images of the city and countryside. Fluorescent alpha-tube lights jut into jungle landscapes like laser beams, alleyways descend anonymously, occasionally populated by a lone dog or cat, overgrown foliage sits haphazardly illuminated only by a small flashlight. Land of Smiles makes little attempt to provide answers about its subject matter, and instead functions as a series of open-ended visual notes and questions. I interviewed Mottalini to learn more about the book, which can be purchased on his site, and also at Dashwood Books, Printed Matter, Ampersand, and other fine bookstores.

Interview by Jon Feinstein

PostedJuly 12, 2017

AuthorJon Feinstein

CategoriesArtists, Publications

TagsChris Mottalini, Thailand Photography, landscape photography

The Brocade Walls, 2003, © Tina Barney. Courtesy of Tina Barney and Paul Kasmin Gallery. — *The Brocade Walls*, 2003, © Tina Barney. Courtesy of Tina Barney and Paul Kasmin Gallery.

The question How To Live Together, the title of an exhibition at Kunsthalle Wien running until October 15, is answered within five minutes of entering the first of two massive gallery spaces dedicated to the show: not easily, cacophonously.

Its mixed-media nature means that the myriad installations, videos, sculptures, photographs, and even an animatronic talking sculpture of a life-sized man combine to immediately overwhelm the viewer. How do we live together right now? Like this—with endless voices talking over one another ad nauseam, with countless noises thrown into the fray, with no one able to focus or listen in the face of so much distracting stimulation. The next question with which the exhibition grapples, then, becomes how can we live together—and how can we do better than what we’re doing right now?

Exhibition review by Deborah Krieger

PostedJuly 6, 2017

AuthorDeborah Krieger

CategoriesGalleries, Exhibitions, Artists

TagsDeborah Krieger, How To Live Together Exhibition, Tina Barney, Herlinde Koelbl, Wolfgang Tillmans, Pedro Moraes, Mohamed Bourouissa

Snapshot from the collection of Robert E. Jackson

We live in a time of political fragmentation and discord where cherished institutions seem under attack. America’s identity appears to be one of polarization, with a lack of common values to draw the country together. How does one define individual liberty during these times? What does the Statue of Liberty, which once inspired and beckoned individuals from around the world, mean to us on this celebratory Fourth of July?

It is an era of many questions and few answers. These snapshots of the statue from my collection are like shards of a mirror whereby the whole is elusive. They are abstractions which seem ghostly; a mirage thru which we are attempting and hoping to achieve some clearer vision of a brighter future for this nation. Photography can help elicit memories of better times, creating a nostalgia for what seems lost or missing and a hope for what will be. Patriotism isn’t an abstraction like these images. It is what this holiday is all about.

Images from the Collection of Robert E. Jackson. Follow him on Instagram to see more.

PostedJune 30, 2017

AuthorRobert E. Jackson

CategoriesPortfolio, Galleries

TagsSnapshots, Vernacular Photography, Statue of Liberty, July 4th, Independence Day, Patriotism

Seattle's Photographic Center Northwest is Producing Some Promising Photographers

Your Raunchy Weekend Ahead: The First Annual Brooklyn Dirty Book Fair

Chris Mottalini Photographs Thailand As You've Never Seen It Before

How To Live Together: Videos, Sculptures and Photographs Explore the Complexities of Community in a Changing World

Abstract Vintage Snapshots of the Statue of Liberty: a Metaphor for Fading Freedom