20% off online orders at Spectrum

After the fantastic response to our last feature, Spectrum is excited to announce a 20% online discount exclusive to 1000 Words readers. Order fully archival prints ready for exhibition on a wide range of C-Type & Giclee papers, with mounting available also, at a fraction of their standard rates.

Online printing has never been easier - or more professional. If you are looking for the exacting quality of a professional photographic printing service, combined with the convenience, speed and low cost of online printing, choose Spectrum.

Their skilled technicians inspect every print with meticulous attention to detail, and every print job passes through the same calibrated machines as prints that are ordered offline. This allows you to order online, safe in the knowledge that you are getting a professional quality at the best price.

To take advantage of this exclusive offer visit www.spectrumphoto.co.uk and order your prints today. Or call 01273 708 222 to speak to their friendly team.

Brighton Photo Biennial - Alec Soth talks to Martin Parr

In this brilliant podcast from Daylight Magazine, Martin Parr interviews acclaimed photographer Alec Soth. As part of the Brighton Photo Biennial 2010, Soth was commissioned by Photoworks to be included in the exhibition "Strange and Familiar." For his contribution to the show, Soth collaborated with his daughter, Carmen, to produced a project titled "Brighton Picture Hunt," for which the father-daughter team explored and photographed the towns of Brighton & Hove.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few months you will be aware that Alec had some problems with his Visa and was denied permission to work in the UK. If you still don´t know what I´m talking its probably a good idea to have a read of this article in The Guardian to get up-to-speed. To put it simply, that he was barred from taking photographs is outrageous. Why are our border authorities curbing temporary visits by non-EU artists in this way? Thankfully Alec managed to sidestep this regulation in such a clever and inventive way. But then again, there are those that see this whole scenario in an entirely different light. Here is some food for thought from Foto 8 on Twitter:

@Foto8 Soth commission wasn't free. Did his daughter earn it? Not according to " the customs official", What happened to those public thousands?

@Foto8 Alex Soth Brighton tale smells bogus... 2 yrs jail, work permit, 7 yr old, vernacular photography. What says public funded BPB? Mr Parr??

@Foto8 How can picture of Brighton be vernacular if the indigenous photographer is not asked to shoot them.#bogusphotospeak

@Foto8 So apparently its ok to pay a seven year old child labourer in UK and not a commissioned artist? If no pay then customs law is rubbish.

@Foto8 Firstly why does Brighton need to be shot by Soth and secondly how does his daughter not break the same bogus law?

"Independent, outspoken, unfettered" reads the descriptor on their Twitter account profile. Good on them.

1000 Words Photography Magazine #9

We are delighted to announce that the Autumn issue of 1000 Words “Transformation” is now online. To view it please go to www.1000wordsmag.com















We start off this issue with Curator of photography at Tate Simon Baker’s review of Double Bind, an extraordinary installation of a new body of work from Leigh Ledare as seen at Les Rencontres d’Arles, France this summer. There is also an interview with Andrew Bruce, a recent graduate from the University of Creative Arts in Farnham, and an essay on another exciting talent to emerge from the UK in the last few years, Melinda Gibson. Louise Clements writes about Berlin-based photographer Isabelle Graeff, and The Telegraph’s Photography critic-cum-picture editor Lucy Davies offers her thoughts on The Flesh and The Spirit, the latest Sally Mann photobook which will be published by Aperture in November. Finally, 1000 Words Deputy editor Michael Grieve reviews Trevor Paglen’s first photographic monograph, Invisible: Covert Operations and Classified Landscapes, also from Aperture.

In the books section, we cover Patti Smith’s memoir Just Kids and Coming Up For Air by Stephen Gill. The range of photographers in this issue is eclectic and amazing. At a time when photography is becoming increasingly vapid and predictable, 1000 Words hopes to provide some precious insight in to the best work that is being produced today.

As always, thanks to all the artists, writers and advertisers, and we would like to express our deep gratitude to Santiago Taccetti of CCCH Creative Studio, Barcelona for his wonderful design work on the magazine.

Many thanks and best wishes,

Tim

Construction work to start on The Photographers’ Gallery, London

The Photographers’ Gallery is creating an iconic new building in the heart of London’s West End.

On 19 September 2010, the Gallery will close its doors to the public for a year while it embarks on its ambitious development of the building, creating a new, international home for photography in the UK. From October 2010, construction will begin at 16-18 Ramillies Street. Architects O’Donnell + Tuomey’s exciting plans will transform the former Edwardian warehouse into a state-of-the-art photography gallery.

The architectural plans include contemporary additions of textured acrylic render, Angelim Pedra hard wood and anthracite coloured terrazzo to elements of the existing structure and fabric of the building. The end result will provide three floors of dedicated public galleries that will enable the exhibition programme to be expanded; a floor dedicated to learning, offering space for a comprehensive programme of talks, events and education series and workshops; an enhanced Bookshop and Print Sales to nurture and inspire a new generation of collectors; a brand new café at street level; continued free admission and full access, including a passenger lift for public use.

Established in 1971, as the nation’s very first public gallery dedicated to photography, The Photographers’ Gallery always resided in the Soho area. Building on its heritage as one of the world’s primary venues for photography, it has welcomed around half-a-million visitors annually. Responding to the growing popularity in photography, in 2008 plans were launched to relocate with a major £8.7 million capital campaign. Now, two years later the gallery has reached a key moment in its history and are in the final stages of creating a unique ‘cultural oasis’ in the heart of central London.

During the construction period, the Gallery will operate a reduced programme offsite. Working in and around the Soho area, a series of innovative artist-led projects have been programmed, supported by Bloomberg, as have talks & events for visitors of all ages. The Print Sales will continue to be available to collectors through photography fairs and by appointment at its satellite location and the beloved Bookshop will be available to browse via its new online shop. To keep up-to-date with all the news, activities and developments join its free newsletter – sign up at www.photonet.org.uk.

Coinciding with its 40th anniversary, The Photographers’ Gallery will reopen in Autumn 2011. Further information on anniversary events and the opening programme will be posted on the website.

Lisa Elmaleh

All images © Lisa Elmaleh

Today's post features some good old honest and straightforward landscape photography courtesy of Lisa Elmaleh.

"As a native of South Florida," she says "the Everglades are an ecosystem that have shaped my own history. Inspired by the early photographers of the American west, I have documented the flora and fauna of the Everglades using my large format camera and the wet collodion process, a nineteenth century process which renders light slowly and reveals the passing of time."

"The Everglades are the only ecological system of its kind. To date, more than half of the Everglades have been repurposed for urban and agricultural use. 'Freshwater flowing into the park is engineered,' reads the brochure given to all visitors of Everglades National Park. 'With the help of pumps, floodgates, and retention ponds… the Everglades is presently on life support, alive but diminished.' I hope to preserve an essence of the Everglades, a land we are rapidly losing without knowing the magnitude of our loss."

You can also view a video of her project here on Kickstarter.

Elmaleh is a recipient of the Goldwell Artist Residency (2010), the Everglades National Park Artist Residency (2010), the Camera Club of New York Darkroom Residency (2008), and the Tierney Fellowship (2007). Elmaleh's work has been published in Harper's, Dear Dave, and Visura Magazine. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including a solo show at KMR Arts (2010 Washington, CT), Arbor (2009), Michael Mazzeo Gallery, New York, NY), Linked: New Yorkers Meet Londoners(2009, Keumsan Gallery, Korea), and the New York Photo Festival(2007&2010, Powerhouse, New York, US). She holds a BFA with honours from the School of Visual Arts.

John Szarkowski: Simply the best?

Was John Szarkowski really the most influential person in 20th-century photography? It's a no brainer, right? Of course he was.

"An insightful critic as well as a visionary curator, Szarkowski filled New York's Museum of Modern Art with the colour photography of William Eggleston, and championed the transgressive work of Diane Arbus and Lee Friedlander. Everyone who cares about photography is in his debt," writes Sean O'Hagan in this article over at The Guardian.

Now nobody is trying to downplay Szarkowski's contribution to the medium, but consider this response from Peter Galassi during a symposium at The Shpilman Institute for Photography:

"In a sense, for Szarkowski it was easier because nothing was worth anything, and nothing was shown anywhere else. And the artists came to him. Because there were no galleries that was the only way."

Watch this video clip, and decide for yourself whether there's an element of truth in this statement.

1000 Words Photography - The Collection

We are pleased to present three photographs from Virgílio Ferreira for the 1000 Words Collection.






















Medium - 1 available
Edition of 15
£700.00
50 x 50 cm paper size
40 x 40 cm image size

NB: This is a Giclée print on Epson Premium Lustre paper. It comes with a certificate signed by the artist and is number 1 from the edition. Each print is produced with a white border around the photograph to allow for framing. We also have included some cotton gloves to protect the print during handling.























Medium - 1 available
Edition of 15
£700.00
50 x 50 cm paper size
40 x 40 cm image size

NB: This is a Giclée print on Epson Premium Lustre paper. It comes with a certificate signed by the artist and is number 1 from the edition. Each print is produced with a white border around the photograph to allow for framing. We also have included some cotton gloves to protect the print during handling.























Medium - 1 available
Edition of 15
£700.00
50 x 50 cm paper size
40 x 40 cm image size

NB: This is a Giclée print on Epson Premium Lustre paper. It comes with a certificate signed by the artist and is number 1 from the edition. Each print is produced with a white border around the photograph to allow for framing. We also have included some cotton gloves to protect the print during handling.

All images © Virgílio Ferreira

Taken in and around the burgeoning Asian cities of Bangkok, Macao, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo, the photographs in Virgílio Ferreira´s series Daily Pilgrims are portraits of anonymous passers-by ensnared by his lens.

The faces are routinely blurred whereas the backdrop remains in focus, creating a seductive unreality that leaves an evocative impression without actually describing the specifics of the place. It is this precise "information deficit," Ferreira says, which is what "catches the eye of the observer and makes the portrayee stand out, also adding enigma."

By creating a symbolic tension between the subject and the setting, Ferreira has managed to poetically conjure up the feelings of solitude and alienation that are by-products of modern city living. Commenting on such places, he says, "in all of them, territory and behaviour are changing fast. Cities seem to mirror our state of mind and reveal secrets that can be decoded when minute details are looked at: it is between the lines that I seek ambiguities and contradictions."

Ferreira´s gaze is swift and furtive, presenting the viewer with glimpses of people´s untold stories. One image foregrounds a smirking youngster who exposes his tattooed arm to us while soaring sky scrapers loom large in the distance; in another, a face is simultaneously assailed and attacked by the street lights, this time spindly branches of trees sprout up behind. Elsewhere, as lovers embrace on a park bench their liquid outline almost melts into the brightly-lit futuristic building, the image becomes imbued with an emotional atmosphere that is typical of the entire series.

As such, Daily Pilgrims provides a fresh perspective on the tradition of street photography and offers a vision of the East that is so strange yet so familiar.

Collections is a new initiative that has been set up by Troika Editions to provide photography organisations with the opportunity to showcase their own art collections online and pursue alternative funding avenues through the sale of limited edition prints.

As a not-for-profit organisation the net proceeds from all sales of limited edition prints in the 1000 Words Collection will go entirely back into supporting 1000 Words Photography Magazine and help finance our extended programme of exhibitions and events including workshops; portfolio reviews; talks; panel discussions as well as prizes and awards.