SPD (St. Patrick's Day) 2011, New Haven, 8

New Haven, CT

Police presence.

SPD (St. Patrick's Day) 2011, New Haven, 6

New Haven, CT

Himself.

SPD (St. Patrick's Day) 2011, Hartford, No. 8

Hartford, CT

This notion of carrying around a life-size poster may be a one-up or a trend I'm not aware of. Either way I've never seen it before, with or without a parade all around.

Guest Post: AIPAD Notes

And now for something completely different. A guest blog post by Lyle Allan:

New York, NY

I agree with your comments posted March 20th. I tend to take the show in small pieces over 3 days. That said, I had the time to find some hidden gems by favorite photographers that I hadn't seen before (Strand at Andy Smith's, and an Adams that I hadn't seen at Greenberg). And then there are the photographers that I always enjoy seeing and feel don't get enough exposure (Gilpin, for example, again at Smith's). And new prints such as Salgado's landscapes (at Fedderman) w/ 35mm - brilliant! Yes, I saw some terrible prints, a "Half Dome" for example. And yet, the gallery I am associated with, Wach Gallery, had a superb display of Adam's master works. I think that the reason we are seeing uneven prints and may I say, 'minor' prints, is that most of the prime work is now in private hands or museums and we are starting to see the secondary things coming to market.

Then I ran into some prints by Drtikol. Yes, a photographer I know, but not in any great depth so these finds are always fun to see. And then there are the 'academic' questions that can be asked. I saw Tice's "Petit's Mobil" in 20x24 platinum (at Alexander) vs. an 8x10 silver at Nichols. How does process affect the image? How does size? [I preferred the silver version of Tice's iconic print (cw)].
Speaking of size, yes BIG is in. And not just digital, I didn't see any new, small platinum/palladium prints. It seems like every pt/pd printer, including myself, presented large prints (16x20 to 30x40) from digital negatives.

I asked about the recessed framing.  It seems that mounting large digital prints on aluminum is the preferred method if the prints are going be moved around and displayed in a large crowd (yes, I saw folks actually touching photographs) and the mounting on aluminum in a recessed frame is the easy way to pull this off. [The preferred material appears to be Dibond®—think foam board with the outside paper layers replaced by aluminum, and think of prices upwards from $150 for a 4x8 foot sheet (cw)]. I also happen to like the look! Also talked about was that face mounting to plexi is now starting to go out of style as questions about permanence are being asked.

If your readers have a chance to go to AIPAD next year, I would encourage it. Lots of things to see and think about. Just wear some good shoes, the floors at the Armory are nasty!

(Photographs by CW)

Some Snaps from AIPAD

New York, NY

I spent Friday afternoon at the AIPAD photography dealers' show. There's an enormous amount of work on display, something like 77 different dealer booths with anywhere from a few to dozens of pictures in each. I'm not a reviewer but I'll make a couple of observations. As always the work on display was split between vintage and contemporary, with a smaller selection of modern printings of older work. The vintage material tended to be everybody's Greatest Hits, with prints of highly variable quality. A few gems, but others of quite poor quality. I didn't have any, "Wow, I've never seen that Koudelka before," experiences, though someone dedicated enough to spend all four days of the show digging through the bins and looking at every nook and cranny of wall space might well find a few.

Contemporary work leaned heavily to the Conceptual—pictures about the artist's ideas rather than observations of the world. This just seems to be what is "in" at the moment. Big is also in. Really, really BIG is even more IN. Digital prints appear to have nearly universal acceptance and present no impediment to high asking prices.

With notable exceptions, presentations tended toward simplicity. With contemporary prints of all sizes the dominant presentation is a self-bordered (wide or narrow) print in a floating, recessed, frame. Since I happen to like and use this type of presentation for my digital prints at least I'm in style on that, even if out of step with Conceptualist tendencies. Vintage prints are still almost universally presented in wide bevel-edge over-mats and simple frames.

SPD (St. Patrick's Day) 2011, Hartford, No. 4

Hartford, CT

Picture Takers

New York, NY

New York, NY

New York, NY

Train Window Reflections

Metro North, Westchester County, NY

Dynamite Angel, III

Marbledale, CT

Dynamite Angel, II

Marbledale, CT

Brazen Betties, V

Torrington, CT

The block party continued with an instrumental "surfer band," complete with go-go dancers. The band was called The Clams, because, "we don't sing."

Brazen Betties Fashion Show, III

Torrington, CT

Brazen Betties Fashion Show, II

Torrington, CT

As always, you can view a larger version of the picture by clicking in the image. Use your browser's back button to return.

Brazen Betties Fashion Show, I

Torrington, CT

Paddy's Day 2010, IV

Hartford, CT

Snaps, III

Snaps, II

Roxbury, CT

Snaps, I

Roxbury, CT

SANTA IS HERE

Bethlehem, CT

Veterans Day, V

Hartford, CT