Jen Bekman Gallery blog

ANAP Required Reading (Pt. 2)

Image currently on view at jen bekman thru August 3
© Todd Hido

Jörg Colberg, co-curator of the A New American Portrait exhibition, writes one of the internet's most widely read blogs on photography. Jörg's blog, Conscientious, considers the scope of contemporary photography, some current photo-related news, and acts as a hub for many of the other photography blogs online. Somehow, Jörg also manages to find the time to interview interesting photographers, one of my favorite parts of his blog. He then shares these interviews in a category he's labeled "Conversations."

Over the course of time that he has been conducting these interviews, Jörg has actually spoken with many of the ANAP artists: Amy Elkins, Todd Hido, Alec Soth, Alec Soth (again), Brian Ulrich, and Shen Wei.

Take some time to read through all the conversations, learn more about the photographers and see what each of them have to say about their own work.

American Photo ' s Innovators of 2006

Being named an Innovator of the Year by American Photo makes me feel like a freakin' rock star.

Photo by John Von Pamer

It's not the surprising congratulations I've received from unlikely quarters, it's not that it made my momma proud (in fact I don't think she's even picked up the issue yet), it's not that they managed to come up with a photo of me that I actually like (after I totally dropped the ball on getting one to them, thanks guys!) But really mostly it's the very fine company I am in. Other Innovators on the list:

Caterina and Stewart (for Flickr, but of course)

Lesley Martin, Executive Editor of Aperture Books

Joerg Colberg, founder of Conscientious

All these Innovators have something in common: They are past, present or future panelists for Hey, Hot Shot!, a cornerstone of the gallery's program, and one of the main reasons I was selected as an Innovator. As an added bonus, Fall 2006 Hot Shot Shen Wei get an Honorable Mention in the Images of the Year section. It's great to be in such fine company, and I know for a fact that each and every one of us has some more innovation on tap for 2007.

Also, American Photo deserves an Innovator shoutout itself. Their State of the Art blog is starting to make waves. Web editor Jay DeFoore conceived the blog as a supplement to the print version and has managed to create a nice blend of old school and next wave. It's great to see the EIC David Schonauer making regular contributions. Miki Johnson is the chief contributor, and she's prolific in the way that bloggers ought to be. Her recent Blog It, Share It post was widely linked to, not just because she linked widely, but because it was a great synopsis of the whole blogging photographers thang. (Go, Miki, GO!)
Originally posted on Personism, I apologize for the cross-posting/repetition.

Bold Tings

Installation View of the Summer Edition of HHS, originally uploaded by msjenbee.

As I've discussed extensively with the talented, gorgeous and awesome La Lux, it is a time of Bold Tings.

Over on Personism, I've been pretty fired up lately about the under-representation of women in tech, in art and um, rather broadly speaking creativity. Rather than pointlessly bluster, I started (you have to start somewhere) with a List of Women Speakers for Your Conference.

In other news: we've got a whole new crop of excellent interns here at the jb. Be on the look out for their blogging debuts. (Alice Wells made her debut on the Hey, Hot Shot! blog just the other day.)

Speaking of HHS, as previously announced: we're accepting entries for the Fall Edition of Hey, Hot Shot! The deadline is Tuesday November 7th @ 6pm, but why wait? Apply now.

Special guest panelists this season include Amit Gupta of Photojojo fame and Joerg Colberg who writes the must-read fine-art photography blog Conscientious.

The last edition got some terrific press:

Kate Bingaman was featured on Cool Hunting.

Rob Walker of my most favoriteist NYT Sunday Magazine column, Consumed gave Ernie Button a shout-out on his blog Murketing. (Did you know he has a blog? He does and it's good.)

Paddy Johson, of Art Fag City fame, stopped by and liked what she saw.

This is the last season of HHS for the year - we'll be announcing the Ultras in December and their group show will open in January.

Regarding our current exhibition, Solid Ground:

On Thursday October 26 I'll be hosting an artist talk with Holly Lynton. She'll talk about her current exhibition, Solid Ground and we'll ply you with booze. Not to be missed! Reception from 6pm - 8pm, artist talk at 7.

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