Yes, I know. It’s been several weeks since I’ve made a posting here. That’s because I and my apartment have been swamped with visitors staying with me for the past several weeks. So, I’ve been busy dealing with them, and they’ve been busy using my computer here, too.
My life should return to normal in a few more days, at which time I’ll begin to catch up with things here.
For now, here are some images for Halloween – a couple of new ones of some stuff that I bought recently, and some favorite Halloween images I’ve made over the past several years.
I wanted to write a longer posting tonight, but I haven’t had the time. I also wanted to develop some film tonight, but I also did not have the time for that. Instead, I was busy matting and packaging the prints I’m donating for the Photo Review benefit auction next month. I’ll give more details when the auction preview is online.
For now, here’s a photo I made in Rome with my pocket digital camera during my trip to Italy in June. It’s a view from Castel Sant’ Angelo (see my earlier posting here to read more about it) looking toward the Vatican and St. Peter’s basilica. The long, wide view provided by the opening here looked good for a panoramic, so I’ve cropped it that way. Click on the photo to see it much larger.
For those who want to see some more nudes, please click here to see some recently scanned images that I made last year at Joshua Tree, California, posted on the blog Univers d’Artistes.
On the subject of Rome, here’s another photo I made there with my digital camera. I think it’s in front of the Museo d’Arte Antica in the Palazzo Barberini. The way they’ve worded the days the museum is open seems kind of bizarre. It says that it’s open every day, but closed on Mondays. I guess my question is: how can it be open every day if it’s closed on Mondays? *********************************************************************************
On the subject of benefit auctions, I went to one last night at Sotheby’s here in New York. It was a fundraiser for the New York Academy of Art, called “Take Home a Nude.” Most of the artworks were paintings, with most of them not being nudes. (The volunteers working there each wore a small sign saying “Nude Staff,” leading me to believe that they were grossly overdressed.)
I even heard a man say to his female companion, “So where are the nudes?” I told him that most of them were in the next room. Plenty of beautiful women were there, all dressed up, with quite a few six footers. (Well, in heels, anyway.) I also spoke briefly with the actor Liev Schreiber.
This was the first time I’d been to an auction that wasn’t all photographs, though there were some, including one by Ralph Gibson. Unfortunately, while the medium for the other works was fairly well described (ex, oil on canvas, lithograph, pen and ink on paper), the descriptions of the photos were fairly lacking. The Gibson was described as a “black and white print,” another was called a “photographic print,” and yet another was only described only as “archival paper.” Somehow, that’s not enough if I’m going to bid on something. (I mentioned this to one of the volunteers, and he told me that they can use only what each contributing artist gives them by way of description.)
Otherwise, the auction was extremely well handled in an exemplary manner. Each of the four rooms for the silent auction had a designated closing time for bidding on those items, and someone went around to each item and asked if anyone had any final bids, with a little live auction ensuing if there were. I didn't stay for the live auction at the end.
I didn’t want to spend much – and I didn’t – but I did get a couple of inexpensive, nicely framed drawings from recent graduates of the school. (Well, at least one of the artists was.) In fact, I was the only bidder on them, so I get them each for the minimum. One is a pencil drawing of a nude woman, very classically done. The other is a pen, ink and wash drawing a classical sculpture court at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Who says that only photos are worth having?
Still, I didn’t get my favorite drawing there. (Nobody did, as it surprisingly had no bids on it.) For me, the minimum bid was more than I wanted to spend, and with its frame it was much too big for me to put on a wall here. Titled “The Two Passions,” it showed a nude young woman, seated – with her right foot resting on a baseball.
If anyone's interested, you can read about the event here and here. I see that Heather Graham (Rollergirl in "Boogie Nights") was also there. I'm sorry I missed her.
Last but certainly not least, if you're a photographer or artist who works with the nude figure, please read this: http://exposedfortheshadows.blogspot.com/2009/10/2257a-lawsuit.html . My good friend Dave Levingston is taking part in a lawsuit filed by the Free Speech Coalition to overturn federal law 2257A - a parting shot from the Bush Administration that says that you could well be considered guilty of child pornography unless you can prove yourself innocent - and doing the latter is by no means an easy task. Good luck to Dave and all of the other plaintiffs in having this abomination of justice and freedom wiped from the books once and for all.
Born: 06.06.1988 Place: Skopje Height: 175 cm Weight: 55 kg Bust: 92 cm Waist: 62 cm Hips: 88 cm Hair Color: Light Brown Eye Color: Green Agency: Egzotik
Today’s photos are of Claudine, made last year at Joshua Tree, California. I’m posting these today for two reasons. One, I first scanned the negatives for these images yesterday; and two, I saw another photo of Claudine today made by a photographer somewhat better known than me.
I was walking through Soho in Manhattan this afternoon and decided to walk up Greene Street, which runs north/south from Canal Street up to Houston (pronounced ‘house-ton’) Street. I used to frequent Soho quite a bit some years ago, in the days when there were many photo galleries there, before most of them moved either to West Chelsea or to 57 Street. I don’t remember walking on Greene that much, but I do remember it being one of the less commercial streets in the area.
That’s changed a lot. As I walked on it going north today, I saw a multitude of higher end shops. Not so much big name brands but stores with innovative design, from what I could see, both in their layouts and the items they had. Several art galleries were among them.
At one point, getting close to Houston, I passed a shop with two books in its window. One book was large. The other was humongous. I quickly realized what these books were – Helmut Newton’s Sumo, both the huge original published ten years ago and the recent, smaller reprint. I looked up to see what this store was and saw the name Taschen. “Well, that makes sense,” I thought to myself. “Taschen is the publisher of these books.”
It also publishes a lot of other books about art and photography, and the store’s shelves were covered with them. I didn’t have time to stop into any other places, but I just had to step in here for a couple of minutes. I inquired about the price of the smaller Newton book, and as expected, I was quoted the list price. (It can be had for less elsewhere.) I had seen and looked through the book at the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin during the summer, so I chose not to look through the it this time. I also chose not to ask how much the original version costs. I have no place to put such a thing at home, but perhaps even more, I was afraid to find out the price.
There was one book I did ask to see, and that was Nude, the new book of nudes by Ralph Gibson. I’d looked through it briefly at an art bookstore in Berlin, but I wanted to see it again. I also asked if the store had the two special editions, each one coming with an 11 x 14 print of a Gibson nude. The reason I asked this was that the model in one of these two prints is Claudine. The people there showed me both prints, framed.
This is a big book, too – not humongous like the original Sumo, but at 11” x 14” or so, still quite large. I’d like to add it to my collection, but as it’s a limited edition, with each copy signed and numbered by Gibson, the price is very hefty, too (much more than the smaller Sumo.) The special editions with the prints are even more limited and more expensive. So, I will have to think long and hard about this one, but as I’ve already spent too much already this year, I’ve got several months to think it over until 2010 rolls around. Of course, if the version of the book that I want is sold out by the time I can act (if I choose to act), the decision will be academic. *******************************************************************************
The weather here in New York City has taken a sudden turn to the cold side, reaching down to 48 degrees last night and this morning. I had to cave in and finally wear a long sleeve shirt to work today. I guess summer is really over. *******************************************************************************
For those of you who like your nudes mixed with a bit of humor, check out this video:
If you happen to like C&W, so much the better. For what it’s worth, I came across it on Facebook, it’s having been posted there by a woman who’s a sculptor. She thought it was funny, so perhaps you will, too. (Apologies for the brief movie ad that precedes the video.) ********************************************************************************
In homage to Stephen Haynes and his risotto (which a third party has informed me is very good), I decided to prepare rice for dinner last night for the first time in quite a while. My method of preparing the rice is probably less involved than Stephen’s. I fill the pot with water, put in the bag with the rice, put the pot on the stove and turn on the heat. After it’s boiled for ten minutes or so, I turn off the flame, take the bag out of the water, cut open the bag and pour the contents into a bowl. Last night, I added some butter, olive oil and grated cheese. It may not be gourmet, but it wasn’t bad. (Of course, Stephen will probably have to reach for the Pepto Bismol after reading my account. Sorry.)
On the subject of Rome, here’s another photo I made there with my digital camera. I think it’s in front of the Museo d’Arte Antica in the Palazzo Barberini. The way they’ve worded the days the museum is open seems kind of bizarre. It says that it’s open every day, but closed on Mondays. I guess my question is: how can it be open every day if it’s closed on Mondays?
