The Greatest #2: Amanda Friedman

Amanda Friedman's night landscapes blow me away. They have her signature unexpected colors but it's a very different approach: mysterious, unpredictable, moody, sensual.

I don't know how she finds the places she does, or rather, how she reinvents these places one drives past everyday without looking twice, but it is a testament to her talent that she can truly turn the everyday into something remarkable.

American Photography 25

announced their winners last week and one of mine was a 'chosen' image!

Very unexpected and lovely. You have to scroll down to find mine, it's a woman in a bathroom.

The Greatest #1: Julia Galdo

I have decided to feature someone who work I admire in a new section called the greatest.

This entry is about Julia Galdo, who is an amazing photographer, she just moved from SF to LA and has a gorgeous portfolio.

Her work has the dreamy, sensual qualities I always admire, coupled with a feeling of precise and finely-tuned attention to detail. Nothing in her images feel like a mistake. That being said, she finds unusual locations or poses that give her images an unexpected playfulness.

I haven't been this excited about a photographer in a long time.

The Pre-CG

A friend of mine who is a fantastic illustrator, Deanna Staffo, posted a blog on the photographer Melvin Sokolsky, who did incredible special effects photography in the 1960s and 1970s. What is wonderful about his work is the way in which the device enhances the photo, but is not the only remarkable element in it. The models, the atmosphere, the styling, all are spot on and the images are exciiting and inspiring even today. His later is not something I'm crazy about, he goes too far into fully CG'd images. His Polaroid work (in the Fashion section, for the NT Times Magazine) are paricularly nice, filled with femininity, playfulness and ease.

If only

I was reading Wes Brown's blog, who happens to do great nighttime photography, very evocative and moody, when I saw he referenced a photo I love by Bill Henson.

Coupled with that, I was looking at some new work by my friend, Polixeni Papapetrou, who is an amazing photographer from Australia and Mr. Henson, again, came to mind.

Thus I thought it was fitting to post about him.

I have loved Mr. Henson's work from the first frame I saw. They are utterly unique in their sexuality, their melding of frames, their unexpected, beautiful points of light seething out from the darkness. He always takes my breath away.

He has a book I have wanted for ages, Lux et Nox, which now sells for over $1000. If you can find it to look through, it is beyond words. The blacks in the photo are fairly dense; it is a huge compendium of his work and completely inspiring.

Mr. Henson came under fire by the Australian government for his use of children in what was considered an "inappropriate fashion" (many of his images are of young, naked girls), which is ludicrous and sad.

I can only hope to one day own one of his works.