Month of Low Art Photography

This is the time of year for the two big toy camera shows--one on the east coast the other in the west.  Rayko Photo Center in San Francisco hosts the 6th Annual International Plastic Camera Show.  Last year I was fortunate to be the featured photographer there.  The show runs from March 6th to April 22nd.  Featured photographer this year is the ever clever Thomas Michael Alleman.  Opening reception is the evening of March 6th.  

The east coast toy camera event of the year is Soho Photo Gallery's Krappy Kamera show in New York City.  This year's show marks the 15th year of showing inspiring work from humble tools.  I look forward to seeing the show in person for the first time and meeting lots of fellow low art enthusiasts.

After having had the pleasure of showing work at Krappy Kamera for the past several years I now have the opportunity of showing a selection of my toy camera panoramas.  Using the trusty Holga I've been somehow able to take multiple exposures that have the effect of disassembling a scene and putting it back together in the wrong order.  I use the word 'somehow' because there is little in the way of preconception that can be done.  Either magic happens or it doesn't.  I don't pretend to understand how these came into being.  I call them Polymorphic Panoramas.

The 15th International Krappy Kamera Competition as well, as a show featuring the 20th Annual Soho Photo Member Krappy Kamera exhibition, and the show I've organized will be opening on Tuesday March 5th, from 6-8pm at the Soho Photo Gallery, 15 White Street, New York City.  It runs until March 30th.

Square 3.2

Square Magazine 3.2 is out and has ten of my Holga images gracing inside pages.  Check it out, then submit some of your own square pix.

A Short Boat

For short trips.  It has the added advantage of being able to reverse course without turning.  In reality this is the bow of the decommissioned Royal Yacht Brittania located behind a shopping center in Edinburgh, Scotland.

This changes everything.

Space Agency Psych/Ops

I spotted this at the NASA Ames Research facility in Mountain View, California.  Could it be that 1. NASA is working their psych/ops with the human population, or 2. working on alien life forms behind the wall?  Having a loading dock suggests incoming shipments.  Makes me uneasy to see no agreement on the telephone number either.

Rayko Plastic Camera Show

Rayko's 5th Annual International Juried Plastic Camera Show opens Wednesday, January 18th with a reception between 6 and 8pm.  In the past this has taken place in March with the opening on a Friday night and accompanied with large crowds.  It will be interesting to see whether the mid-week January date has any effect on crowds.  Always lots of interesting images at this show.  I'll be eager to see what made the cut.  Your's truly will be 'the featured artist'.  Say hello at the opening and I'll give you a free print.

Update:  Good lively crowd at the opening last night.  I was particularly taken by the images of Erin Malone, Eben Otsby, Bob Delavante, Gayle Stevens and several others I fail to recall.  Choosing winners has to be difficult.  I have a few free prints left over.  Anyone want one should shoot me an email with your mailing address.

I was harassed by Gloria Allred

Call it sexual harassment or call it inappropriate behavior, never-the-less I was made to feel 'uncomfortable' by none other than attorney Gloria Allred!  Allred has a knack for being in the news by representing people connected to high profile news stories.  Yesterday she represented a woman accusing presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual harassment.  The press event (no questions allowed) was held in Manhattan at The Friar's Club, a formerly all male club for comedians.  Allred liberated the Friars Club Beverly Hills and engaged in a little sexual hostility while doing so.

Sometime in the 90s Fortune Magazine assigned me to photograph Ms Allred Esq. at the Bohemian Club in San Francisco.  You see the Bohemian Club is an all male club and Allred was and is opposed to all male clubs.  Fortune wished to get to the bottom of the issue with assistance from a bottom feeder.

Allred agreed to fly up to San Francisco for the photo shoot.  I picked her up at the airport and drove to the Bohemian Club.  Arriving at the Bohemian Club my assistant and I began scoping out the exterior of the club for a suitable vantage point.  We correctly assumed the club wouldn't allow a photo on its premises.  Before we could begin shooting Allred stationed herself by the club entrance and began scolding members as they entered.  As you would imagine this was not a one way conversation. Intending this to be a portrait rather than a re-enactment of the free speech movement I struggled to regain control of the situation.  Having shots of Allred only from the backside would not be a career enhancer.  This proved difficult so we moved Allred to a new location across the street.

Upon finishing Allred was freed to return to shouting at men entering the Bohemian Club. Rejoining Allred near the entrance she prevailed up me to enter the club lobby.  There she requested an application for membership from the person at the reception desk.  The receptionist directed Allred to a small phone booth across the lobby.  Allred entered the booth and beckoned me to join her in the cramped enclosure.  I did but she insisted I come even closer and place my head next to hers.  Some would say this was to facilitate  hearing her request over the shared telephone receiver, but could there have been another reason--perhaps one that was unsavory?  Momentarily Allred's perfume altered my senses and I remain unable to recall much else.

Were these the innocent actions of a well-meaning socially active citizen, or perhaps worse?  I'm ill-equipped to make that judgement without proper legal counsel.  I wonder if Ms Allred would take my case?