River XIV, 2014 © Adam Katseff
Water Memory, an exhibition of enigmatic landscapes by Adam Katseff, on view at Robert Koch Gallery through October 28, troubles one of the medium’s long-running legacies and quietly comments on our fraught environmental stewardship.
Exhibition review by Roula Seikaly
Photo: Catherine Losing // @catherinelosing
As much as we'd like to say we're sick of best-of lists, and as much as we might like to claim listicles and punchy headlines are as expired as pineapple still-lifes, we can't help ourselves. It's been a while since we've compiled a roundup, but we're excited about these 29 photographers who we've featured on our Instagram feed over the past few months, some as week-long takeovers, and others who have momentarily graced our feed. Like Catherine Losing, whose work treads a fine line between smart advertising and art photography, or Erin Elyse Burns and Ana Samoylova, who made some of the most innovative and off-the-cuff photographs of the 2017 solar eclipse. It's all good and we encourage you to follow them all.
2017 has been a taxing year. From the inauguration of a barbaric reality-tv star in the United States, to countless natural disasters, horrifying terrorist attacks in various forms, and a general feeling of global cultural division, it can often seem like we, as humans, are spiraling downward. But there have been elements of hope -- from large scale community organizing around the world, to the outpouring of aid.
A photographic meditation on the year feels aptly appropriate for Humble's next group show.
Show us your reflection on 2017. It can be abstract, "conceptual," or straightforward and representational. It can be grim or hopeful. We encourage showing us as much visualized frustration as optimism. Instead of a traditional roundup or "year in pictures," our curation, like previous shows, will take an open-ended approach.
The only requirement is that work must have been made after January 1, 2017.
Submission Details:
DEADLINE:
November 15, 2017
© Naomi Harris
Naomi Harris and I go way back. Her series of Floridian Jewish grandmothers, which appeared as the cover story for the second issue of HEEB magazine during my senior year at Bard College in 2003, was single-handedly responsible for me approaching the magazine to shoot for them, and later serve as their photo editor and Creative Director.
Harris' sharp observational hilarity, documentary chops, and an informed "art photography" sensibility is rare and unforgettable. Her most recent project EUSA, which documents American-themed places in Europe and European-themed places in The United States has been keeping my attention since she began, both for its strange sense of humor and for its rich cultural commentary. So when FlakPhoto's Andy Adams messaged me on Facebook a couple weeks ago saying. "Do you know Naomi Harris' work? Have you seen her Kickstarter? You should write something about it for Humble," I jumped to attention. It's a project that demands to be a book, and there are only a few days left to support it. WHICH YOU CAN DO HERE
If this isn't enough of a hard sell, spend some time hearing from Naomi:
Interview by Jon Feinstein
School portrait of McNair Evans
When asked about Begin Anywhere: Paths of Mentorship and Collaboration, a project realized as a book and an exhibition hosted by SF Camerawork, photographer McNair Evans described its origin as “a sense of overwhelming gratitude.”
Evans, Amanda Boe, and Kevin Kunishi experienced dynamic professional and personal growth through working with mentors during and after completing their graduate degrees in 2011. Through conversation, the three determined that a collaboration focused on the challenges and benefits of mentorship was a fitting way to thank those who had so profoundly influenced their respective practices.
In 2012, the primary artists contacted their mentors, and those who would become their mentors - Todd Hido, Alec Soth, Mark Mahaney, Mike Smith, and Jason Fulford - to ask about their interest in participating. Five years on, after multiple rounds of photographic exquisite corpse maintained via regular mail, word games, and the production of new work, the primary artists seek to answer the question posed by curator Monique Deschaines: “how do you show mentorship?”
Humble's Senior Editor Roula Seikaly interviewed Evans, Boe, and Kunishi about this unique project, and how being both mentee and mentor has impacted their work.
