POST FILM MOMENT

Printing this show for the RNC starting Monday has been a real last minute #$%&*, not to mention I cannot seem to find some film fundamentals.

It's a POST FILM MOMENT when you cannot remember where your Lupe is or the last time you saw it.

ALEXEI RECOMMENDS CLASHES

My Russian painter friend Alexei has your St. Paul plans figured out for RNC DAY 01, September 1, 2008:

Going to a festival in St. Paul on Sep. 1 - Wilko, MosDef, Pharside, Atmosphere and so on - for 10$ only - I'm going for free, thanks to RadioK! - on the same day of GOP convention opening. Traffic jams on forecast, may be some clashes between drunk hipsters and republicans. Highly recommended!

It's called "Take Back Labor Day" and it looks pretty damn good.

STAGING MY COMEBACK

Walking through the "trendy Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis" where I spent three of my first years in Minnesota cultivating opinions about worthless zombies, I noticed the ReVamp spa had gone book gaga over the above title.

From 0 to 120 copies in a salon is a big change in vain literacy, so from where does this fire burn?

In the deep recesses of the Midwest, where people evaporate into the dark, windswept background by default and everyone is looking for an excuse to write you off for an offense you committed which they refuse to indicate exists, you have two options:

You are either "staging a comback" or you are entertaining your defeat.

Related topic: The only place I ever lived I can't seem to remember anyone's name. I never had this problem before. I never had problems with spice before. Hazards of the bland.

LOST EMPIRE at The Museum of Russian Art

The Lost Empire - Photographer to the TSAR

Until October 1, but I wouldn't wait and chance missing it...

The only art museum in North America devoted exclusively to Russian Art graces our presence in Minneapolis - and - has one of the better photo shows this photographer with 7 years in NYC under his belt has seen....

I'm not sure if this image was allowed, if not I plead ignorance. The show is in the lower level, painted dark in a dark room and the color images are printed on duratrans transparency. It shows what you might call 'properties' of the Czar's empire.

I was expecting laudatory images of the Czar hisself, but it is in fact the kingdom as it appears - and the photographs of the people and places characterize in a fantastic and natural way. A way that your truly, who fully embraces Friendlander's mantra "Photography is a generous medium," appreciates.

If in Minneapolis I recommend you take the trip down 35W. It's a couple of exits south and a great show.

The Czar's photographer, Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii, essential made a great pitch to the czar to photograph the empire - and the most amazing trick he had in his hat was to do so in color.

How? He took three photographs, each filtered for one of the three primary colors of light. He then printed these plates as individual colors and somehow put them all back together in a single image. Kind of like a primitive dye-transfer I imagine.

The result is that if something moves, the rainbow that creates the image of that thing when blended together, pops out from the canvas and shows itself. Ergo the rainbow colored smokestack coming from this port city on the Volga (if I remember correctly)

My Russian friend Alexei, a very good painter from St. Petersburg himself, it should be noted, guessed nearly every place right off the bat. I guess he knows the empire pretty well.

GETTING READY SALON DU NORD

A visit today to the MIA, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Photography Room.























Christian Peterson, Associate Curator of the Department of Photographs, was kind enough to walk me through a variety of MIA's Photography print folios. Walker Evans, Robert Doisneau (who is responsible for the lovely helicopter vs. voluptuous sculptures pictured below), Stephen Shore, Joe Deal, Richard Misrach, Diane Arbus' only Folio Edition ever made from 1970(!), Edward Weston, and Ansel Adams are close to all of what I spied today.

A huge thank you to Christian for walking me through the production techniques of a Fine Art folio - it takes some learning.

And that learning will be put in place at Salon du Nord in St. Paul on September 1. The show "On the Level: Wall Street 9/17/01" will open with the RNC and shows Wall Street workers emerging from a the Wall Street 2/3 stop in Lower Manhattan. The expressions are a mix of fear, courage and determination.

About the show:
The images are taken on Monday following the Tuesday lower Manhattan was evacuated in September of 2001. The photographs show commuters rising from the 2/3 Wall Street subway stair to street level on Wall Street. They are all returning for the first time since the Twin Towers fell the previous Tuesday Their expressions are a mix of fear, courage and determination.

Prints are by the photographer. Nine archival gelatin silver prints make up this edition and are all numbered and signed individually by the artist. The edition of twenty will be $1200 for first five, $1500 for next ten, $2000 for last five, with five Artist Proofs in the edition.

Jill Pridemore is curating. The opening will be later in September.

COLOR CODED KALEIDESCOPE

Happy graduation - you top cream o' the true crop newGen - an' the world looks better with yous innit, vivrant thing

SERIOUSLY.... LADIES COMING SOON

Justin of Minneapolis' singular college station Radio K before Square Lake Film Festival. Next it's time to take these guys to ModelMayhem.com and get the male/female scenarios into the advertising portfolio.























Billy Young, left, and Chris Maddox,top photo and right above, comedians at the Square Lake Festival, and part of a group I'd call "The Wrecking Crew" (above)

Two photographers + two other photographers

Recent conversations and web trolling have arrived me at these two photography sites I really enjoy:












Angela Boatwright who really made it happen when I was getting legs in NYC - she got her start with skaters. Her gallery show and the gallery on the big wall of her east village studio both rocked - shout out Angela









Technically imperfect, completely compelling. Pointed out to me by Chad Olson at Graphiculture in Minneapolis and I really enjoy this site - the images flush to the edges - the unclean graphic nature - the expressions of the people over the technique - the feeling of the situation. I'm fully down and I'm ready to do some commercial shooting along these very fine lines - DaniBruabaker.com

And a final mention to Anthony Kurtz' apocalyptic future view. Bio says he grew up in Switzerland with an American family I believe has created some amazing mutant aestetics - craft and detail of Europe, raw expanse of graphic overload compliments of the United States. Reminds me a lil of young Dan Eldon, stoned to death at 20 something in Africa, while living there with his family.

Anthony has an intellectual distance and a lot of colorization, but is without a doubt outstanding in imagery - the site design (i believe he did it himself) is also amazing.

MY FAVORITE PORTRAIT OF THE SUMMER

This is my favorite portrait so far this summer. So wrong.
Then you meet the guy and it's so right.

do digital images age?

just askin' - anyone?

tobinrussell.com is finally....done

It's a whole new portfolio at Tobinrussell.com - and I'm 100% behind it.

Minn-photojournalism.com is a consortium of 3 photographers in the Minneapolis metro

Our recently landed from Germany and married to a good friend fellow, Gunar Junkel of optikjunk.de has put together a clearinghouse for the documentary photography talents of three of minneapolis' tightest, most insightful and best recognized documentary and event and wedding photography photographers, myself - in all humility, Mark Wojahn and

Minneapolis wedding photography website clearinghouse link is at minn-photojournalism.com

We all offer excellent packages to the twin cities metro area clients for your wedding, corporate, bar mitzvah or any other hourly event. Additionally there is plenty of editorial and art portfolio pieces on the site to please the less pragmatic side of the visitor.