South African photographer Mikhael Subotzky is making some of the most interesting photographs of post-apartheid South Africa that I have seen. Documenting both the imprisoned and post-prisoner, Subotzky's captures a historical institution representing racism and political oppression, and the outcomes that the result from the system. Subotzky also taught photographic workshops within the prison system, showcasing those images alongside his own photographs.

He published a book this year, and has a show currently up at MOMA in New York. His images can be seen here.

In case you haven't noticed... Pixcetera has teamed up with the NPPA (National Press Photographers Association) to host the award winning monthly clip contest. In case you haven't seen the first housed gallery on the site check it out here.



Check back for more gallery features every month, courtesy of the NPPA.

Tonight, Aperture held an event featuring Tina Barney explaining the trajectory of her career. With debonair ease, Barney meticulously described the start of her photographic endeavors as a curiosity catalyzed by an amazing high-school teacher. She went through her entire history of development-- working in black and white, moving to larger format, photographing families, her own family, the Europeans, editorial. Barney is a noted photographer with works in a myriad of famous museums and magazines; listening to her speak reinforced the idea of continuous, forceful progression instead of instantaneous success. She noted it took her 6 years, between 1983 and 1989, to build up enough strength to simply have her subjects gaze directly into the camera.

Barney reminded us that young photographers can't all be Ryan McGinleys. We cant all have a genius banner hung above our heads without going through year after year of ceaseless learning...and even after that, no promise is made.

It was refreshing to hear Barney, so incredibly talented, openly speak about her somewhat lengthy development time-line, and that a few key ingredients were her keys-- not technical training, not working as an assistant for top names and top connections, but understanding the matching colors of interior design and the beauty of renaissance art. The same set of rules to getting it right obviously don't exist.

The New Yorker recently ran an audio piece about foods that photographers have tried while on assignment in foreign places...Some interesting cuisines.

If you haven't already noticed, Pixcetera launched a full-screen template last week, allowing photos embedded in the everyday pixcetera galleries to expand full screen...



One of the most visual examples is the disturbing "Congo in Conflict" gallery. Not for the weak of heart, but the gallery definitely showcases the powerful experience of larger images.



Also, check out the first audiotrack integration on Pixcetera-- Angelo Guarracino, Italian photographer extraordinaire, documented Dia de los Muertos in Oaxaca. His somber black and white images capture the mysticism of the Oaxacan landscape in the days leading up to the Day of the Dead.

For the past five days or so, I have been wondering around with a Virigin Mary bag filled with camera, video, and audio gear in Oaxaca, Mexico. After trying oysters for the first time, I was invited to attend photographer David Alan Harvey's Dia de los Muertos workshop two weeks prior to the start of this adventure. I emphatically agreed, and found myself last Saturday morning stranded in Mexico city waiting for my brief flight (which offered free Modelo!) to Oaxaca.

The intensive workshops consist of long periods of shooting combined with in-depth morning critique sessions led by David and influenced by the rest of the class. The constant cycle of feedback and work is a pressure-cooker, but has produced obvious results in the students-- David has stressed the concept of personal vision and a stylistic approach over techincal refinement, and has influenced his students to push behind stereotypical images. Some of the portfolios developing are beyond impressive.

Oaxaca is a phenomenal city to shoot in-- the light is consistently vibrant, and the landscapes are multigenerational and rich in terms of texture and layors. From the beef, bags, queso and marigolds of the market, to the solitude of the northern wall of the cathedral in the main zocalo, images are so obviously extractable.

Here are a few images from the experiences in the city at large, and the community this workshop has created...

From one massive entertainment event to another...

Photographer Jennifer Macfarlane recently arrived home to New York from her travels with the band, Manu Chao. Manu, which can be described as a poly-lingual stoner version of U2, recently played shows in Mexico and Tijuana, and Jenn caught every moment of the dirty moshes and onstage frenzies. Although not well-known outside of eclectic music circles, the band is well-loved worldwide...

A while back I wrote about artist Li Wei and his death defying mid-air poses. SImilarly, Denis Darzacq's images have been appearing across the blogs, and recently popped up on FFFFOUND! It seems there is a recent trend towards images 'on the brink of total masochism' . The pictures eerily remind me of constant dreams I have; where Im not quite super enough to fly fully, but rather hover indefinitely in mundane situations.

Despite ominous storm warnings, Saturday night proved to be a win for SlideLuck Potshow....

Very Short List sent out a link to the wonderful art of Li Wei, who photographs deadly acts without the death through the use of mirrors, scaffolding, wires, and acrobatics. His photographs are superhero-ish, yet vulnerable; his improbable images don't accentuate super-human strength, but complete masochism and self-defeat. I'm so accustomed to seeing images such as these easily manipulated within photoshop (even though apparently photoshopping is harder than reality sometimes), but when a photographer disregards a simple cut and past for an intricately developed scene, I'm totally in awe.

I have recently seen a proliferation of photographers' websites created using the same template in LiveBooks. Sigh. The presentation is always clean and viewable, but after awhile all work melds into a single unmemorable slideshow in the same template... This is why, when I stumbled (literally, there was stumbling) across sleeth.info, I was utterly confused.

Matthew Sleeth has created an entire counterfeit world for self advertisement. Instead of maintaining a self-contained and navigable website, Sleeth has developed a page imitating Google with searchable results-- results which always lead to the same six links for Sleeth's career. The imitation continues past the links. Each link leads to a completely disconnected, diversely skinned site, such as the 'Downloads' page which looks like an illegal bit-torrent page complete with porn adverts and ugly flashing banners. Yet all links recirculate back to one of the six original links in the Sleeth network, so don't think topless women will be your end result.

I think it's an interesting to take the variegation of internet trash, information, and interest, and turn it into a single personal page. Sites have become stereotypes (the trashy illegal download site, for example) and Sleeth has appropriated these omnipresent pages and turned the tangle into his representation. Unfortunately, the tangle is what's discernible, while his work appears scattered.

I guess photo websites need a healthy balance between the mundane and absurdly intricate, otherwise the work is lost in the homogeneity or confused in the kitsch.

Shoot! The Blog posted a link to the stereoscopic (not really, but something to that odd dimension ) program PicLens, which converts seemingly ordinary viewing experiences into an interactive flights. The plug-in allows for a user to navigate through photos in three dimensions specifically in Google Images and Flickr. I was hoping for the plug-in to work with some of the agencies that I browse for content ... it would make my job seem more like Blade Runner, which I always include under 'suggestions' on work surveys ...

Other Blade Runner 'flight' experiences:

One that immediately pops to mind is Blaise Aguera and Arcas development for Microsoft, PhotoSynth. The program renders thousands of high-res images into a three dimensional wire frame that one can maneuver and zoom through. Think of flying around the Eiffel tower, and deciding to focus on a single beam to detect the urban touch of bird poo. That good.



A simple alternative is Airtight Interactive's flash template called the PostcardViewer, which creates a photo gallery on splayed postcards navigable with arrow keys. I once built part of my portfolio using this template, but found it a little dizzying for advertising content. The whizzing aspect is a lovely cheap thrill, and totally worth throwing a family album in there.

Why just view images when you can jump inside of them like a swimming pool?