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London Jazz Festival Round-Up… The First Weekend

Jez Smadja — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:16:53 +0000

The London Jazz Festival comes to Scunthorpe, whoops, I mean London, once a year. Although officially kicking off last Friday, the Thursday night saw the opening of Peter Williams’ astonishing exhibition of black and white photography. For the best part of two decades, commissioned by Straight No Chaser magazine, everyone from Nina Simone to Yusef Lateef, a very young Questlove of the Roots, Dee Dee Bridgwater, Miles Davis, DJ Shadow was captured by Peter’s lenses. Amongst the jazz heads at the well-attended launch party was Marshall Chess of Chess Records fame, making for a very special night. The exhibition runs till 20 November at the Maverick Gallery so do yourself a favour and seek it out.

But back to the music, and the first weekend of the Jazz Festival has seen its fair share of fireworks already … Saturday night on the South Bank people had to make the difficult choice between Herbie Hancock at the Royal Festival Hall or Esperanza Spalding in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, although if you managed to get yourself a ticket to either you could probably count yourself lucky. Both, I’m reliably informed, were special occasions, and even if the Herbie Hancock sextet swerved occasionally into jazz-world territory (including Irish folk music), he gradually managed to get the crowd on side with classic material, covering ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ and Headhunters-era material. Meanwhile, over in the smaller venue, Esperanza Spalding seems to be putting the razzmatazz back into jazz, and supported by vocalist Gretchen Parlato, this gig was booked up weeks ago. It did not disappoint and the crowd on their way out of the venue seemed to have their mouths filled with superlatives when trying to describe what had just taken place before their very eyes.

The tempo was kept up on Sunday night over at the Barbican Centre with a K.O. double-header – Robert Glasper playing the first session and Terence Blanchard, the musical director behind many a Spike Lee joint, playing the second. Glasper brings some youthful swagger to any jazz festival and his latest joke is to come onto the stage body-popping. He’s a funny cat and his bass player, Derrick Hodge, plays a willing foil both throughout the jokes and for Glasper’s elaborate piano style. Covering anything from Herbie Hancock to Nirvana (didn’t’ the Bad Plus do that too?), Glasper’s gig went overtime to the chagrin of exactly zero persons in the audience, and even stretched to taking requests for the last song. For a forty-something trumpeter, and one who’s described himself as shy, Terence Blanchard is also a smart and forthright entertainer. We knew we’d get some politics in this set, what with his latest album ‘Choices’ featuring interviews with Dr. Cornell West and the album before that dedicated to Hurricane Katrina, so aside from jokes about not having Texas barbecues for eight years while Bush was in the White House, with Blanchard you sense that jazz is a powerful medium for saying things where words fail. Certainly with his young band, a fearsome drummer playing crashing cymbals, a dapper bass player and Blanchard’s experience, it was a glimpse into where jazz is headed.

Still to come this week, concerts from British jazz players, from the new guard – Soweto Kinch , Zed-U, Empirical, Neil Cowley – to elder statesmen like Stan Tracey or Cleveland Watkiss, as well as interesting internationals like Louis Moholo-Moholo from the South African band, The Blue Notes, and pianist Geri Allen. Listen and learn.

PARIS – STREET PHOTOGRAPHY NOW

Jez Smadja — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 13:00:22 +0000

Does street photography have to be taken on the street? What if you’re standing on the pavement, does that count? And what if you’re in a park where, technically, there are no streets, but you spot a guy dressed up in a canary-yellow bear suit taking pity on a distraught stranger on a bench. What if you take a photo of that? And what about on the subway / underground / metro / chikatetsu? Not a street in the strictest sense of the word, but aren’t the tunnels where the tracks run along effectively street-like? You’ll be relived to know that the rules of street photography aren’t hard and fast, like, say, traffic codes. The art form has an illustrious history – from Henri Cartier Bresson’s seminal images of the French capital through to Martha Cooper’s photos of the Bronx – and it shows no signs of slowing down. Au contraire. for most of the month of November, the Canal St Martin area in Paris will be turned into an open-air gallery as the shop-windows of a local boulangerie, hairdresser, bistro (the famous Chez Prune), pharmacy and a handful of boutiques (agnès b) show the work of 18 street photographers from around the world. The photos are culled from the comprehensive Street Photography Now anthology by Thames & Hudson. Meanwhile, over in London, the Street Photography Now blog is calling for photographic responses to weekly assignments, so if you’re a budding photographer, put on your sneakers on and snap to it.

Rappin’ With the Rickster

Jez Smadja — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:00:17 +0000

There’s no disputing that Ricky Powell was there at the golden age of hip-hop – he’s got the photos to prove it, tons of them, and a few stories to tell as well. From Public Enemy to Doze Green to Run DMC to Basquiat, he shot them all – and when he went on the road with the Beastie Boys in 1987, he soon became the unofficial Def Jam photographer. His close affiliation with the Beastie’s saw him christened the fourth Beastie, and in the early 90s he earned himself a cable access show called Rappin’ With The Rickster. VHS recordings of the shows were circulated between friends like hard currency, and it’s these VHS recordings that have been restored to DVD for this newly released Rappin’ With the Rickster DVD (courtesy of NY connoisseurs, Five Day Weekend). Ricky gets up close and personal with, amongst others, Sophia Coppola, a very young Larry Fishburne and Run-D.M.C. It’s vintage NYC and Ricky is the most unpredictable of interviewers, smoking weed on camera and generally behaving badly. Here’s a sneak preview of Ricky with Cey Adams, Adam Horovitz and Ione Skye from 1990.

Click here to view the embedded video.

New Classic: Cecily Upton’s Bike Polo Pics

Matt Diehl — Fri, 28 May 2010 13:00:29 +0000

The always good Good turned us on to yet another iteration with our fascination with bike polo, the upcoming sport that makes us always think, “Of course! Why didn’t we think of that first?” Good showcases the work of Portland-based photographer Cecily Upton who captures the growing bike polo obsession in all its casual, crash-friendly glory: from Kentucky to Paris (the shot with the Eiffel Tower in the background is classic), Upton’s images capture bike polo’s individual, early-adopter style.

Image courtesy Cecily Upton

Jordan Wolczak: a young one to keep an eye on.

andrew flanagan — Tue, 04 May 2010 13:00:13 +0000

Jordan Wolczak is a Midwestern photographer and illustrator with scant experience but a prolific bent, turning out works at a pace belying his young age. He recently earned a nod in Village Voice Media property City Pages’ Best of 2009 issue, for a graffiti piece less street and more modern notion. Also, he’s not a graffiti artist, and doesn’t claim as such.

With a stark photographic style often lovingly marred by a ‘light painter’ in the frame, the pictures have a nitty-grit austerity that’s urban and pastoral in equal turns…they immediately arrest, subsequently soothe. His illustrations are equally interesting and diametrically childish, simple scamps and space parties and smirks. A young one to keep an eye on.

You can find more information and works at Jordan’s website and Flickr.

Classic photog Jim Marshall R.I.P. 1936-2010

Jonathan — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 23:33:32 +0000

Boxing has kinda always been the rockstar music and art infused sport what with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Tyson, Warhol and Basquiat (classic boxing meets art poster show), iconic SA prez ‘Madiba, and even Miles Davis who chased his blues away in the ring (as seen above and in our boxing culture album ). There are many many incredible photographic references to this but here in this instance, it was legendary music photographer Jim Marshall who captured Miles’ moods as a boxer, as well as his many fantastic shots of musical icons ranging from Dylan, to the Beatles, Stones, to Monk, Miles, ‘Trane, Hendrix, The Who, Jerry to Woodstock and the Summer of Love.

Sadly Jim passed on from this realm 24th March but clearly his photographic legacy will live on- R.I.P Jim and thanks for the magical memories …..

David Maisel: Heady Beauty

andrew flanagan — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:00:31 +0000

David Maisel takes beautiful photographs, and this is something wholly unremarkable. He stands apart and above by way of razor-sharp subjects and heady concepts: documenting “rusted-out urns of metal patients” all blooming with color and vitalic ooze, his inverse black and white aerials of “wide, wide Los Angeles”, x-ray-as-wraith reshoots…the work is arresting and provoking, you swoon and rescind, they tug and you run.

Maisel recently made available a video slideshow, with minimal music by Bjork collaborator Howie B, of his flyovers of Salt Lake; the effect is very near to finding what you want to see in the clouds. You can view the slideshow here.

Those in the San Francisco area can see Maisel’s work on display at SF Camerawork, where he is in Part II of the gallery’s 35th Anniversary show, “An Autobiography of the San Francisco Bay Area: The Future Lasts Forever.” Maisel is featured alongside some of our photography favorites: Todd Hido, Robert Mapplethorpe, and many more.

Ed Templeton: Where The Street Hits The Gallery Wall

Matt Diehl — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:49:47 +0000

“There is a scribble of asphalt and meandering ribbons of concrete tangled all over North America in a contiguous line of material that connects each of us to whomever else is also in contact.”—Ed Templeton, The Seconds Pass

We’re fans of Ed Templeton’s work here at Kspace: hailing him as a “pioneer at the cross section between street art and street skating.” In his visual work spanning painting to photos, Templeton, a former pro skater, brings the energy of the street and half pipe to gallery walls. His latest exhibition, which opened February 26th at L.A.’s cutting-edge Roberts & Tilton Gallery and runs until April 3, 2010, exhibits images from the recent publication of his book The Seconds Pass, which takes a fresh, different tack from Templeton’s previous efforts, while continuing its vitality and sincere, raw point of view.

The Seconds Pass documents Templeton’s travels in search of sublimity, with photos taken largely from the moving vehicles getting him from place to place (per the quote above, the exhibition installation links the prints in one continuous line spanning the entire gallery cube, giving a sense of linear travel that one couldn’t get from seeing them in reproduction). In some ways, it’s Templeton’s asphalt-scarred take on Robert Frank’s classic The Americans, taking us to places we never knew existed, even in our backyards.

Terry Richardson Blogs!

Matt Diehl — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:09:15 +0000

Terry Richardson, being one of the dopest photographers ever, does things in his own time. We told you about Terry’s crazy Pirelli calendar a minute ago (NSFW), and now he’s gone all 2000s on us and started his own blog!

Richardson’s entrée into blogdom has been a long time coming, but it’s worth it. While not teeming with his trademark high-class T&A (yet), “terrysdiary” definitely gives a deep insight into the mind of this game-changing artiste. For one, it provides a record of all the hot models that saunter into his lair/studio (nice!). Two, Richardson documents all the cool t-shirts he snags (like a super-rare/cool Slayer shirt, and a Cro-Mags shirt I clearly shouldn’t have thrown away in 1989…). You also see his immense collection of plaid shirts, truly horrifying images of Richardson dressed as DEVO and wearing Uggs (this is a man that’s clearly unafraid to make fun of himself), and candids him gallivanting in St. Barts on a yacht with Anthony Kiedis, Orlando Bloom, and Marc Jacobs. In other words, essential stuff. Bookmark it now!

Terry’s Diary

The Story of Last Year, As Told Through a Parrot’s Lens

tcroberts — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 04:31:41 +0000

A ton of random stuff happened in the last year, from deaths of superstars and some pretty close friends. We got a new president, and a bunch more reality TV which started to mirror the scandalous lives of sports figures. 2009 may have been the most historical year for changes in many ages, but there’s still really not much else to say about these dramatic shifts — other than LET’S PARTY!

I think no one but Arab can look back on the year in quite the way he did. At least in pictures it seemed like a pretty good year for the Parrot. Let’s hope next year is even better.

Cheers! to 2010 and beyond… Happy New Year!

Flashbeak: The Arab Parrot

Ryan McGinley ‘Olympic Swimmers’ Photos at Opening Ceremony

tcroberts — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:45:45 +0000

Photographer Ryan McGinley originally shot these photos for The New York Times, documenting the 2004 US Olympic Swim Team. His images of Michael Phelps, Ian Crocker, Aaron Peirsol, Diana Munz and Jenny Thompson were stunning examples of McGinley’s prowess behind the lens, capturing the team underwater in a variety of states of play. While the Times showcased them well surrounding the Games, now the collection is available as a box set of 500 postcards and 16 prints, suitable for framing. This may well be the last opportunity to get your hands on these, and is certainly a great holiday gift in the making.

Only at Opening Ceremony via Slamxhype

Terry Richardson Has the Best Job… Ever ! (NSFW)

tcroberts — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:58:06 +0000

It makes perfect sense for Terry Richardson to shoot the 2010 Pirelli Calendar. I mean who else but the lecherous but oh-so talented model photographer would be the first to be tapped to shoot a bunch of really hot women in the jungles and beaches of Brazil. Featuring Miranda Kerr, Daisy Lowe, Catherine McNeil, Lily Cole, and Eniko Mihalik and their breasts, Richardson proves again that he has the job that you probably should have added to your shortlist in high-school but didn’t. Richardson is known for his ability to take point-and-shoot technology and sell it to the glossy women’s magazines as art. No doubt there is an art to it, but he certainly makes it look really easy. He doesn’t even try to pretend that he’s making good dough for being what every dude would kill to be — a perv with a camera and money in the bank !

Click here to view the embedded video.

- get your own copy of THE calendar of 2010 now and props to director Rafael Rubira for his above gem of a short “The Making of the 2010 Pirelli Calendar”

Sport: Iooss & Leifer – Legendary Sports Photographers on Exhibit in LA

tcroberts — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:49:14 +0000

“Sport: Iooss & Leifer” will open to the public on November 14, 2009 and run through March 7, 2010.

Walter Iooss and Neil Leifer are two of the most legendary sports photographers. Their work has become part of the cultural lexicon, as well as inspiration for new generations of photographers as well as athletes aspiring to be captured so artistically.

Iooss is best known for his portraits of famous athletes like Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Brett Favre, Joe Montana and Wayne Gretzky. In his career, he has covered virtually every major sports event, including all 43 Super Bowls. Iooss has also photographed performers like the Rolling Stones, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.

Leifer’s photos have regularly appeared in every major national magazine, including the Saturday Evening Post, Look, LIFE, Newsweek, People and, most often, Sports Illustrated. Most notably, Leifer photographed Muhammad Ali on 80 occasions, including the photo above of his knockout of Sonny Liston. Along with celebrating these two titans, this exhibit, at the new innovative Annenberg Space for Photography, is also a rare peek at the artistry of Sports Photography, as it is not usually shown in an exhibition space.

The Annenberg Space for Photography
2000 Avenue of the Stars, Century City, CA. 90067
Tel: 213.403.3000

Open Wednesday through Sunday: 11am-6pm. Admission FREE
Closed Monday and Tuesday.

Welcome to Frezno: Central Cali Teenage Wasteland

tcroberts — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:07:05 +0000

People come to California, expecting a perpetual sunbathed beach front that glide right up to the Golden Gate bridge — a beautiful, exotic locale. However, there’s a big expanse between LA and SF, which is filled with some of the best agricultural and natural land in the world. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some incredible sights along the coast. However, there’s also one city, the equivalent of the flyover states for California, a town called Fresno. Nicknamed by many “the armpit of California”, the city is largely the resulting urban blight from decades of migrant farmers and capitalists decending on the ripe Central Valley. It’s been given the short end of the stick, however the names and the reputation are there for a reason. If you’ve ever driven through Fresno, you know that Fresno is weird, and oddly depressing, probably because of the largely immigrant population and the magnet for American low culture that has made it one of the biggest Meth cities in the world. Now, CA-born photographer Tony Stamolis has released a new book “Frezno” which examines life in California’s sixth largest city with vivid, stark and honest imagery. He captures his hometown, once a beacon of booming surburbia, with a harsh, unsettling light. However, beneath the surface there is a new kind of DIY culture brewing, something uniquely its own… and perhaps something even more interesting seen through his lens. No doubt there will be more and more wondrous bands, artists and the like coming outta Fresno.

Photo Album Exclusive: Burning Man 2009 by Dillon Morris

Dillon Morris — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 10:51:27 +0000

My trip into the dust and my adventures on the playa led me to taking a few photos on multiple formats of film, no digital cameras. The trip was my first time out, and truly amazing. I narrowed the stack of photos I took down to 12 and wrote a little about each one. Enjoy!

Album here: Burning Man 2009 by Dillon Morris

Bonus: Download and listen to an unmarked CD I found in the middle of the desert at Burning Man.

Manchester United, Indeed: The Images of Kevin Cummins

Matt Diehl — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:17:33 +0000

Kevin Cummins Gallery: Manchester Music

From Ian Curtis to Liam Gallagher to Morrissey, Manchester has produced its share of rock and roll legends, and photographer Kevin Cummins has been there to document them all. Indeed, Cummins’ shots have proven instrumental in forging the infamous, indelible personas of some of the most incredible Mancunian music icons, as becomes clear from his evocative new book, Manchester: Looking For The Light Through The Pouring Rain.

It’s not all natives that get caught in Cummins’ lens, as a gallery recently published in the Guardian makes clear: there’s a rare shot of Madonna at the Hacienda, which proves priceless, as is a portrait of Factory major domo Tony Wilson standing between the club’s signature striped columns. But Cummins’ gaze is truly about capturing the vibe of Manchester above all else. Despite the concentration on pics of music notables, Manchester’s history as a soccer/football stronghold comes through clearly in certain images: one features Liam and Noel of Oasis playing footie “like girls,” while another is the famed playful shot of the Stone Roses, given the Jackson Pollock action painting treatment but in Manchester City team colors. That explosion of yellow and blue stands out: most of Cummins’ shots are in vividly graphic black and white, which is how many think of Manchester – a moody cocktail, equal parts real funk and European industrial gloom, that continues to provide a kick.

Classic Landscapes: Bat For Lashes Polaroids The American West

Matt Diehl — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:38:42 +0000

After triumphant appearances at Lollapalooza and everywhere in between, Bat For Lashes rocked the final stop on her American tour last night at Los Angeles’ Henry Fonda Theater. It was an incredible performance, with stellar visuals and a powerful performance from Bat For Lashes frontwoman/mastermind Natasha Khan, who bizarrely happens to be related to some of the greatest squash players in the sports’ history!

Now, we know Khan is a creative genius – in addition to her incredible, evocative songwriting, she also thinks up and art directs many of her innovative videos and album covers, bringing high visual-art élan to everything she does. But we had no idea she was such a great landscape photographer until National Geographic recently published a series of Khan’s Polaroids documenting her travels through the American West. While Ansel Adams may not be worried about his place in photo history, Khan’s images are as spectral, haunting and beautiful as her songs, imbued with the same wanderlust that her voice evokes.

Photographer: Ari Marcopolous

tcroberts — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:17:03 +0000

Ari has been shooting the zeitgeist that is his life, from snowboarders and skateboards that he calls friends, and the obligatory downtown characters, for over 20 years. He came up alongside the Haring and Basquiat, and had deep connections to the art community that nourished his raw talent. He is self taught and like many classic talents, he managed to find his niche outside of the typical professional track, always drawn to young talent, whether it be sports or budding film directors. He defined the style that so many point-and-shoot photographers have been drawn to lately, yet his images and his ability to capture moments are inspiring and simple at the same time. Marcopolous is getting a retrospective at the UC Berkley Museum of Art early next year. “Within Arm’s Reach” is a big show, filling two gallery spaces at the museum, but it seems appropriate at Marcopolous is a big talent.

via Slamxhype

Urban Riders – East London Unicyclist

Peggy — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 04:47:53 +0000

Unicycles weren’t only made for riding bears and circus clowns. This growing sport has now been spotted on the streets of the London’s Borough of Hackney. These particular young cyclists are bringing their own flavor to the singular tandem jumping on rooftops, strolling with their pets and promenading along Regents Canal. London photographer Alex Sturrock has manage to beautifully capture these urban riders within their concrete settings. Some real cool stuff here!

http://alexsturrock.com/

The Vice Magazine Photo Issue 2009

Peggy — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 23:57:33 +0000

It’s already that time of year where we get to see a year of shockingly cool pictures from our friends over at Vice Magazine. Beatles fame photographer Harry Benson took the cover shot featuring Terry Richardson and a seemingly look-a-like pal. To celebrate the 205 page glossy they’ve curated a two week exhibition at The Printspace gallery in Shoreditch before taking it on the road to Spain, Italy, and France. The exhibition, opening on Wednesday August 13, will also include material from previously unseen archives and new work from the leading Vice photographers.