Dutch photographer Erik Klein Wolterink makes these composite portraits of kitchens; the voyeur in me can’t get enough. The more you look, the more you see. My favorite is the third image down, where the oven is packed full of dirty dishes. The Slate article quotes Wolterink “I can’t cook, for example,” Wolterink said. “And I’m not really into kitchens. I’m interested in the way we live, our daily environment, what surrounds us, the everyday stuff we normally don’t see or pay attention to.” Click over to Slate to see more and larger images.
I came across this amazing photograph of Walter Gropius’s 80th birthday party in the Archives of American Art and it reminded me of the photo below that Joanna posted this week.
T: Walter Gropius’s 80th birthday, 1963. Photographer unknown. Marcel Breuer papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. B: Photo by Streetfsn, via Melanie.
One of my favorite parts of NYC is the laundries in every neighborhood that wrap up clean laundry in brown paper packages. I’m always catching a glimpse of neat rows of packages waiting to return to their rightful owner out of the corner of my eye.
On my list of exhibits to go see is Lorna Simpson’s exhibition Gathered at the Brooklyn Museum. In one of the works in the exhibition, Simpson juxtaposes images of a young woman who posed for pinups in Los Angeles in 1957 with self-portraits in which she replicates with precise detail the poses and settings of the original photographs. Simpson bought the album on Ebay and then spent nine months thinking about how to incorporate the images into her work (the video below gives more detail!). The exhibition seems to explore ideas about photography and memory, fact and fiction, and identity and history.
The Metropolitan Museum recently acquired one of the first photographically illustrated books, Peter Henry Emerson’s Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads (a coastal region northeast of London). This image is one of my favorite from the book; the composition, the content and that perfect water lily.
Unknown Artist, American School, Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks Selling Liberty Loans During the Third Loan Campaign at the Sub-Treasury Building on Wall Street, New York City, 1918, Gelatin silver print, 19.4 x 24.1 cm., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 1996 (1996.246).
Currently on view as part of the Stieglitz, Steichen, Strand exhibition up at the Metropolitan, through April 10. I was obsessed with Charlie Chaplin movies when I was little. We’d didn’t get any TV reception (I grew up in the sticks) and cable was a distant technological dream. So we watched a lot of Charlie Chaplin on VHS. I also think its interesting that Charlie Chaplin was selling Liberty Loans; Today that would be sort of like having Adam Sandler sell Treasury Bonds. Funny.
New York is bracing for another storm: I just discovered the site Printersting, and this awesome piece of snow art by Luke Aleckson. I especially appreciate that he made this installation with bread tray snow shoes. A little reminder that art can be made with anything.
Santa, Just one of these photographs from artist Yuji Obata (which are of actual snowflakes as they fall from the sky!). I’ve been a good girl, I promise.
My orange nails make me feel like a young Mick Jagger. Found at an interesting exhibit up at the Gagosian Gallery. Hope you feel like a young rock star this weekend.
Every year since 1936 Ria van Dijk has taken her self portrait in a unique way — she goes to a fair shooting gallery booth - one where every time you hit the target it triggers a camera shutter and you win a portrait of yourself in firing pose. I love self portraiture, especially when thoughtful done. See them all here. Found via The Year in Pictures. I love the emerald green of the shirt next to Ria and the bright lipstick on the young lady behind her. So much vitality in a snapshot.
“First Photograph of Lightning” W. N. Jennings. I’ve gotten a number of emails asking for more frequent posting around here. So, I figured I’d just start posting what I’m looking at these days. The first of many to come! PS: There is a lot more content on my FFFFOUND profile, for those who are as voracious as I am.
A house is more than just a shelter from the storm. How we shape our homes, and how we behave within them, speak volumes about our history, our values and our way of life. - New York Times
Living is the greatest art of all. - Alfred Stieglitz
To have less would be in many cases to have more - more tranquility of life, more ease of mind, more knowledge and more real enjoyment. - Candace Wheeler
