A Tuning of the Formula for 2013

The windswept beach, the cresting waves, the melting warmth of the sun, they’re all a fleeting vacation memory at this point. Frigid temperatures, driveway ice, and rock hard snow have welcomed me back to a new year of writing about photography, and a bracing, fresh-eyed, skepticism has got me wondering about the nature of this never-ending dance with our favorite medium. With the benefit of some suntan lotion covered reflection, I’ve got some changes cooked up for this blog. Nothing major exactly, but a tweak to the formula to liven things up. Otherwise, we’ll all end up glassy-eyed and bored, frantically looking for something else.

Over the past few years, the terrain of this site has slowly but undeniably narrowed to a heavy dose of structured reviews of gallery and museum shows of photography in and around New York. This specialization has made managing the blog very straightforward, as it’s allowed me to stay laser focused on one kind of thinking/writing and to refine that approach without being otherwise distracted. At this point, I see shows and crank out reviews with a scary kind of military precision. (If you’ve ever seen my eye straining 400 line spreadsheet of current shows in the city, you’ll know that I’m not exaggerating too much with that analogy.) But this blindered method has crowded out lots of other potentially worthwhile photo-related ideas, mostly due to the constraints of the fixed amount of time that I can reasonably devote to this volunteer endeavor. It’s a zero sum game of available hours, and by forcing myself to write only reviews, I have effectively limited the size of my play space.

But ruthlessly churning out reviews, however well-crafted and thoughtful, leaves too much other intriguing stuff unconsidered. So I’ve decided that the best way to keep the reviews from getting stale and rote is to do less of them, thereby freeing up some mindspace and hours for thinking about other aspects of the world of photography. And so with a sweep of my keyboard, I’m preemptively eliminating roughly 25% of the reviews I plan to do this coming year. For context, I did 159 individual reviews in 2012, so we’re talking about 40 plus reviews not happening in 2013. If we make the assumption that I’ll still see and review all of the 3 and 2 STAR shows I would have written about normally, we’re talking about killing off a meaty cohort of 1 STAR shows. My hope is that this winnowing process will keep me on my toes and force me to really think hard about which shows truly merit a review, and perhaps make the 1 STAR rating something gallery owners and photographers hate just a little less (since it will be all that more scarce). And if the spirit moves me and a show really earns it with its astonishing flameout, I may yet unsheathe the mythical 0 STAR rating.

With roughly one day free each week (one of the reviews I would have written having now been eliminated), I plan to do two things. First, I plan to get back to reviewing photobooks again. Honestly, I’ve missed it, as there are plenty of books worth taking about that aren’t directly associated with a concurrent New York show, from museum catalogs from far off exhibits to independently published small runs. One new twist though is that I will only review books that I purchase with my own money. When I did photobook reviews before, I felt like I became trapped by the siren song of free books. I came to see that it was one thing to review a valuable book you had been given for free and quite another to plunk down $75 bucks for that same thick tome. So this time, I’m going purist - no review copies or freebies; if I review a book, you will all know that I actually consciously shelled out the cash to add it to our library. I think this better supports the publishers and authors/artists, and more accurately reflects the hard choices we photobook enthusiasts with limited budgets are forced to make.

Second, I’m going to start writing a column of sorts, longer essays that roughly run the length of a New York Times Op-Ed piece (plus or minus 800 words). These pieces will not dive into the specifics of a particular show, but will tackle many of the issues (large and small) that surround photography, from collecting and the art market, to the impact of changing technology and the coalescing of trends. Ironic types might say I am going meta. I used to think that someone out here on the interweb would eventually ask the questions I wanted to hear discussed or at least mentioned, but sadly, at least so far, I was wrong; perhaps this is a function of being an entrepreneur, investor and collector rather than a working photographer, gallery owner, or museum curator – my mind seems to be wired differently. In any event, using this longer form approach (and working on my craft as a writer in the process), I’m going to dig in and see what I can swirl up. I’m either going to be the guy who has timidly raised his hand and finally asked the question you always wanted to ask, or the jackass in the back row who has burdened the entire class with his annoying, tangential ramblings. Either way, I plan to have some fun and hopefully spark some broader and more analytical photographic debates.

So next week, I’ll begin with the various summaries of 2012 and then move on to the new crop of shows, with a sprinkling of books, essays, and my usual one-off diversions into relevant art fairs, auctions, and other marginalia added in for good measure. My goal is to have the new mix be more uneven and eclectic, with less room for boring, too nice reviews of expected, forgettable shows, and more space for ideas worth wrapping your head around.

The Hiatus Continues...

Now that the new Fall photography season is getting going, I had hoped to be back to full strength and ready to meet the challenges of endless new auctions to preview and shows to see. Unfortunately, the reality is that I have not yet completely recovered from the health issues that I mentioned earlier this summer, so the writing hiatus that began last July will have to continue a little while longer. Ugh.

This is a forum for the discussion of photography, so if you are not particularly interested in medical topics, skip this paragraph and continue reading below; otherwise, here's a short synopsis of what's been going on with me in the past month or so. In my last post, I mentioned that I had a pinched nerve in my back that had caused pain radiating down my right arm. And for most of the month of July, that's what everyone (including all my doctors) thought. The problem was that while I was getting treatment and physical therapy for the disc bulges, my arms were continuing to deteriorate on a daily basis, to the point that my right arm was numb/non-functional from fingers to shoulder and my left arm was numb/weakened from fingers to elbow. After much head scratching and some smart detective work by my neurologist, it became clear that my back issues were an unlucky coincidence, and that I also had late stage Lyme disease (apparently some call this disease "the great imitator"). In addition, the Lyme had kicked off a relatively obscure auto immune reaction (called CIDP, or chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, quite a mouthful) that was attacking the nerves in my arms. After confirming the diagnosis with another neurology expert in the city, I began IV infusion treatments for both the Lyme (antibiotics) and the CIDP (clean antibodies). Optimistically, I think I have hit the bottom and am now slowly beginning to recover; the good news is that my right arm has started to unfreeze and regain some motion, and the fatigue associated with Lyme has lessened significantly. Now I just have to work relentlessly to ensure that I regain full functionality in both arms.

So, since I am still a one finger, left handed typist at the moment, reviews, auction previews, and the like will have to wait a little longer. There are plenty of exciting shows and auctions coming up this Fall, and I'll do my best to get back to writing as soon as I am able; believe me, I am ready to get out of the house and think critically about photography again. So thanks so much for your enduring patience during this unexpectedly long interlude, and know that I am not somehow gone forever, but will be back to the galleries with my notebook in hand just as soon as my health allows.

The Reason for the Intermittent Posts

In the past week or so, many of you have emailed me directly saying "where are you?" The answer is that no, I am not on some exotic summer vacation, but actually, I suppose that you could say I am on a kind of medical leave. A couple of weeks ago, I somehow pinched a nerve in my upper back (technically bulged discs in my cervical spine). While this might not normally slow a person down much beyond some pain, in this case, I have the unfortunate side effect of pain and numbness radiating down my right arm. For a right handed person like myself, the lack of functionality of my dominant arm is plenty annoying and makes seemingly trivial tasks much more of an adventure.

In my normal life, writing for this site is carefully wedged between family and work time, with not much slack in the overall system. In the past few weeks, various doctor/specialist visits, physical therapy and the like have intruded into this tight schedule, effectively pushing my writing down a rung or two. Something had to give, and the volume of posts here is the victim.

That said, I do have plenty of shows backed up to write about, as well as an overdue response to collector and friend Joe Baio's recent thoughtful dissection of my auction results posts (found in the comments of the last Yann Le Mouel report). They'll just come a little more intermittently until my arm/back is in better shape, hopefully a couple per week, but not likely every work day for the time being. As soon as the body is willing, I'll ramp back up to my usual pace, so please bear with me during this more quiet summer interlude.

Summer Hiatus

At this point, we're going to drop off the grid for a while and enjoy a summer hiatus. Think of this as the equivalent of a public radio membership drive, where they withhold the content you so desperately want while they deliver an earnest message about becoming a member, but in this case, we'll be using a silent message. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?

Consider becoming a subscriber to the feed, so you don't miss us when we return. We'll see you again after Labor Day, when the photographic art world reawakens.

Summer Programming Note

Now that summer is in full swing, the photographic art world goes into a deep slumber for the most part. This poses a bit of a problem for those of us who need a steady fix of thought provoking photography to get through the sweltering days.

So what will we write about this summer? Well, there are no auctions to cover, so that entire genre of reporting is out (much to the relief of some of you I'm sure). Long time readers here will remember that I have a pet peeve about summer group shows (see The Curse of the Summer Group Show from 2009, here), so while I will likely begrudgingly review one or two out of sheer desperation, most will not merit your attention (or deserve even one star), and thus will not get reviewed here. There will of course be a few regular solo gallery shows that slip through the cracks, and we'll try to catch these, as well as any other unexpected standouts as appropriate. I have purposely "warehoused" a few of the big museum shows that you might have been wondering about, so that I can cover them later when the sun is the hottest and I am most in need of something to write about. Don't worry, I'll get to them all, the gratification will just be a bit delayed.

To pick up the slack, there will be many more book reviews (I've already got a big stack ready and waiting, but am always in need of recommendations), as well as few more acerbic opinion pieces, essays and other more random photo-related inclusions. If there are topics or photographers (especially those who will not show in New York any time soon) that you think need covering, please shoot me an email with a tip. Otherwise, ratchet your expectations back to roughly one post per day while the sun is beating down, with a fair number of sizzling days where I will maddeningly leave you empty handed with nothing at all.

Sidewalk Barrier as Expensive Art

During my last whirlwind tour of photography galleries in Chelsea, I found myself walking up 10th Avenue, between 22nd and 23rd Streets, on the left side of the street going uptown, where a construction site has walled off the sidewalk. To make a passageway for pedestrians, some unassuming barriers have been put out in the road, strung together to make a small path; the other side is a plywood wall, now covered with concert posters. The barriers are made of old railroad ties, two by fours painted a red and white candy stripe, and often some orange plastic netting. As I was walking along, writing down some last minute thoughts from the previous show, I looked down and noticed one of the barriers was a little different:

There's a small little plaque mounted to the base of one of them; easy to miss if you're rushing past or talking. So I peered down to see what it said:

This for me was an "only in Chelsea" kind of moment. Paul Richard's website can be found here, with many more of these random street-side designations, among other artistic projects. I realize that this isn't photography, but it made me smile nonetheless.

More Summer Vacation

We're off for our last week of family summer vacation. There will be no new posts until Monday, August 31st. As always, a break is a good opportunity to dig through the archives and revisit posts you've missed, to make that comment you've been meaning to make, or to tell someone else about what we're doing here. Come September, the New York photography world will wake up from its slumber and jump back into full swing, so take a deep breath and get ready for a flood of new shows and auctions.

Search Functionality Added

We've recently added a Site Search box to the sidebar on the right hand side of the site. For those of you who read via an RSS reader, this will of course be of no use at all. But for those of you who actually click through to the site, you now have an additional way to cut through the archives. Our Index only takes into account top level mentions and categories in any one of our posts; to see all the secondary references (including those in the comments), the Site Search will be a better tool. A search for "Weston" brings up 18 posts, even though there are only 3 indexed Edward Weston posts and none for Brett Weston or the Weston Gallery. You get the picture.

The results of your search are displayed at the very top part of the page (in a box that can be closed), so you may need to scroll up to find them, depending on where you begin the search on the page. There are two tabs: This Blog (mentions only on DLK COLLECTION) and Linked From Here (mentions on sites linked from DLK COLLECTION). Both can provide a very targeted view of your desired topic. Clicking on More Results will open a traditional Google search window with all the items in one place (the numbered paging at the bottom seems to be less than perfectly functional unfortunately).

Most importantly, if you found our site via a Google search, but the link didn't seem to make any sense or it brought you to some page that wasn't immediately obvious as to why it was relevant, try the Site Search, as there may very well be just the post you were looking for buried in the archive, but the keyword importance somehow got garbled along the way (we're too small for any fancy search engine optimization). Happy searching!

Administrative Notes

Next week, the kids are off from school, so we will be taking a hiatus from posting. There will be no new posts at all from now until Monday, February 23rd.

A couple of other general notes for those of you who do not follow us via an RSS reader, but visit the site daily or occasionally (given in the spirit of optimizing your time):

1.) Monday through Friday you can expect a minimum of one new post, sometimes two or three, based on what's going on in the world of photography.

2.) There are never any new posts on the weekends. Period. So feel free to come by and catch up on posts you've missed or to dig through the archives, but there won't be anything new, we promise.

We have plenty of terrific shows and books backlogged for when we return (including our second three star show of the year), so we look forward to continuing the conversation then.

Happy Holidays!

In our image saturated world, the photographic holiday card is yet another ritualistic way that people exchange pictures. What's interesting about these cards is that they often come from people that we don't see at all during the regular year, and so this is their one chance to give us a glimpse of their lives from afar.

As we have somewhat young children in our house, our card bowl is overflowing with shots of other people's kids: in perfectly posed and matching outfits, in costumes, in exotic locales, and in one particularly odd example this year, underwater. Adults are never seen in these images, unless it is a "family photo" (i.e. the one staged shot taken during the entire year when all of the family got into the frame, likely at some family gathering/reunion or taken by some random stranger passing by at just the right moment).

A decade ago, these pictures would have been actual film pictures, stuck onto the outside or tucked into the fold of the card. With the advent of digital technology, only the Luddites are still doing this. (I say this knowing that we did indeed send out actual printed pictures this year, as we went with a snappy letter press card.) Most folks have migrated to an online source (Shutterfly or the like), where their digital picture is merged into a template and printed together as one piece on card stock. To our eyes, while these cards might be "produced" better, they seem to have lost some of the craftiness and personality of the old kind. They all look the same, even when the photos are of people we know.

Artists and photographers have long sent holiday cards as well, usually not of their kids, but actual mini art objects. Our favorite is the one below:

Mapplethorpe got it just right. (Christmas Tree, 1987, above.) Simple, elegant, and somehow entirely festive at the same time.

This post will be our last of 2008, so there is no need to come back and check for something new in the remaining days of this year - there won't be anything, we promise. We will back with passionate, daily posting on January 5th.

We have thoroughly enjoyed the process of writing this blog in the past months and thank you wholeheartedly for taking the time to listen. If you are feeling particularly generous this year, introduce our blog to a handful of other collectors or photo enthusiasts that you know. There's nothing like a personal referral from a taste maker to get people interested in something new, and we will do our best to live up to your recommendation.

Overall, we look forward with great optimism and anticipation to new shows, new auctions, new books, and stunning photography of all kinds in 2009. Best wishes.

A Ratings System For Exhibits and Shows

We've happy to report that we've survived the first three full months of writing this blog and along the way, we've learned many lessons about how to make the content crisper and more useful. One of the things we've spent some time thinking about is how to make the gallery show and museum exhibit reviews more helpful. The fact that we seem to end each review by saying the show is worth seeing has been bothering us; this doesn't seem to give the reader enough information to make an intelligent decision about whether it is worth his/her time.

It is our view that the most precious resource any of us has is our time. And there are few things worse than blocking out some time to go to see a show, only to travel there and find that it was a complete waste of this limited resource. So we have devised a simple ratings system for shows and exhibits with time as its central focus. Depending on how much time you normally spend on seeing shows in a given year, the system should be able to give you a decent guide as to which ones are likely to merit your attention.

Here's the framework:

3 stars: EXCELLENT. If you only go to one show a month, or approximately 10-12 shows a year, you should limit yourself to this category, as you can't afford any missteps. These are, in our opinion, the best photography shows of the year, based on the quality of the work, the level of scholarship that accompanies the exhibit, and its overall "thought provokingness".

2 stars: VERY GOOD. If you go to one exhibit a week, or approximately 50 shows a year, then this is the category for you. It has a broader mix of large and small, broad and narrow shows, all of very good quality.

1 star: GOOD. This could be called "the best of the rest", a sort of top half of all the potential shows one could see in and around New York. If going to lots of shows is a hobby and you are interested in all kinds of photography, then this is our list of things worth seeing. There is a nugget of interest buried in each and every one, even if many of the shows are somewhat flawed or may be one dimensional. But since you love going to shows, you can handle some unevenness in quality.

While we could "grade the shows on a curve" and thereby ensure that there were the right number in each category, the reality is that the exhibits are spread out in time over an entire year, so we have to make judgements without knowing what great and terrible shows will come along in the future. So we'll try to apply the criteria fairly and consistently, and if we end up with more or less in any one group, so be it.

In the next few days, we'll be going back and retroactively rating the shows of the previous three months, not because you are likely to care about the rating of a show that is now closed, but more for consistency's sake and to try and set some patterns of how we plan to approach the ratings going forward.

Finally, while this new system has the trappings of objectivity, it is of course a subjective exercise in the end, and there will be shows we fail to go see, even if they are of high quality, just because their subject matter isn't of interest to us or the artist isn't on our radar. There will also be shows we don't like that you might find amazing, given the differences in peoples tastes and collections. So take it all with a grain of salt. Our hope is that the number of people who are pleased with this system will far outweigh the number who are somehow angry because we didn't rate their show or exhibit highly enough.

As always, comments are always welcome, so we can continue to refine the reviews and make them more relevant and useful.

Notes on the Link Lists

A few background comments on the various links we're recommending on the right:

Galleries/Dealers: While we have met with and purchased from a wide variety of galleries and dealers from around the world over the years, the ones on the right have consistently provided us with both great material and great service. The best of these have spent time getting to know our collection and our aesthetic taste and have proactively introduced us to work that fits our point of view. They have truly acted like partners in the process of collection building and have become friends. More broadly, these galleries and private dealers put on excellent exhibitions, publish high quality catalogues and are a tremendous source of expertise and learning.

Auction Houses: All of the houses at right have semiannual (or more often) sales dedicated to photography and we have purchased from each of them at one point or another. Auction previews have been a great opportunity for us to see (and touch) a wide variety of world class work and to learn first hand from the specialists.

The houses in Europe offer a different slice of material than the US based houses, and provide excellent packing and shipping services to make it easy for foreign collectors to buy and sell. Many other smaller houses around the world are getting tuned into photography, so the market is getting broader.

Museums: These museums consistently offer thought provoking and challenging photography exhibitions (even the ones that don't have a full time photography mandate). For the ones in our home city, we are members of the museum or at least visit often; for those out of town, we make a detour when we can.

Magazines/Newsletters: We read and subscribe to all the publications listed on the right. They each provide interesting/valuable insight into the world of photography and are worth your time/money.

Blogs: There are a multitude of blogs out there that have something interesting to say from time to time, so many that one can get lost just trying to keep up with them all. We find these blogs to be on a short list of those consistently worth checking out.

Let us know what we've missed in each category!