SF Cameraworks sale

Looking to add some museum-quality photography to your collection? San Francisco Cameraworks just announced its 2008 slate of limited edition prints, including this exquisite one by Todd Hido. Prices range from $350 to $1,250.

Strangers in Paradise

I just got Susana Raab's photo 'zine Rank Strangers in the mail, so even though I recently blogged about how great she is, you have to hear it again. Yowza! Who wouldn't love these images of Elvis impersonators, Superman convention-goers, medieval reinactors, Playboy bunnies dressed in lettuce bikini tops serving tofu hotdogs (I kid you not), and other wildly delicious images of Americana.

For some reason, her 'zine reminds me of those great scenes in Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, in which the hero and his beloved drive cross-country through America. Rank Strangers has the same sly hilarity and a keen eye for the simultaneous vulgarity and romanticism of American passtimes. (No teenage nymphettes, though. Sorry.)

Buy the 'zine for $15 here.

Photo book of the year?

The only thing that keeps me from declaring Strangely Familiar the best photo book of the year is knowing that Amy Stein's Domesticated comes out soon. But this book should be on everyone's short list.

Michal Chelbin's images of acrobats, matadors, wrestlers, and cadets transcend the "Hey, look at the freaks" trap of Diane Arbus imitators. They're entirely fresh, original, and gorgeous meditations on adolescence, family dynamics, performance, old Europe, and more. Astoundingly, every image is strong enough to be a stand-alone (whereas many photo series have images that, out of context, don't look like much). I also love the way the series creates a world, rather than just making the same conceptual point again and again.

Strangely Familiar is available from Aperture now, though it's cheaper on Amazon. My advice: buy two copies -- one to keep pristine, and one to thumb through again and again and again.

P.S. If you want to have some of these images on your wall, Aperture is selling two limited edition prints.

The Brothers Grim, and why artists have it better in Canada

Attention, fans of Carlos and Jason Sanchez. Through the CONTACT photography festival, you have a chance to buy a 20"x24" photo of their stunning image "Descent" for $2,000. Now, some of you may wonder: why is this a good deal? Even though the immensely talented Sanchez Brothers were chosen for American Photo's list of the Top 15 Emerging Photographers, 2K for an edition of 25 hardly seems like a run-grab-it-now bargain. Some other artists on that list sell even bigger prints, in smaller editions, for the same price. Ah, but THEY're not from Montreal.

Let me explain.

Montreal is a wonderful place to be a struggling artist (cheap rent, free healthcare), but for an artist on the cusp of getting international (read: American) attention, it's paradise. The Canadian art world has a chip on its shoulder about New York, so Carlos and Jason Sanchez are treated like hometown heroes. Canadian Museums -- with government-funded mandates to promote Canadian art -- snap up works by les freres Sanchez and give them important shows, entirely out of proportion to what their American peers are getting.

At the Sanchez Brothers' 2007 exhibit at Montreal's Mois de la Photo, a museum director took me around, telling me which major museums had bought which pieces. The photos were all museum-size (such as 7 feet by 5 feet), available only in an edition of 5, and at museum-budget prices. Clearly, the Sanchez Brothers don't have to worry about making lots of small prints and chatting up pesky collectors at parties. That's why this CONTACT print is a rare deal. If you've been admiring their work, as I have, get a move on.

Oh, and for any artist reading this and thinking what an unfair advantage Quebec artists have, take heart: If you move to Montreal as a Permanent Resident, you'll get all the same government-support goodies (grants, subsidies, healthcare, gay marriage, the works).

Your Sister Wears Combat Boots

Two photographers I admire both have series about women soldiers: Claire Beckett's images of U.S. troops [both male and female] "simulating" conditions in Iraq (above) border on surreal -- not through image manipulation, but simply because the real-life situation is surreal.

Meanwhile Rachel Papo's series Serial No. 3817131 (below) looks at everyday life for female soldiers in Israel. (I remember once, as a kid, watching a Miss Universe pageant; the narrator was saying "Miss Italy is an actress... Miss Sweden is a model...Miss Israel is a soldier." It made quite an impression.)

Both series are acutely observed, highly nuanced meditations on gender roles, patriotism, war, and more. I never get tired of looking at them.

25 Under 25

Normally I'm not a big fan of age-based exhibits or books, but for 25 Under 25 I'll make an exception. This soon-to-be-published book will feature some staggeringly talented photographers, all chosen by Sylvia Plachy.

It includes Peter van Agtmael, whose work I revere (and am lucky enough to own), SVA alumna Lissa Rivera, and some previously unfamiliar names that I definitely want to keep an eye on.

At the same time, though, I wish someone would do a book on photographers whose fine art careers didn't even start until they were post-30. Heck, I can come up with a pretty good table of contents just off the top of my head...

Take the Intrepid Challenge

Mystified about how dealers choose the art they show? Think you could do better? Take the Intrepid Challenge!

I challenge you to sift through the Saatchi Your Gallery site -- where thousands of dealer-less artists post their work -- and identify one to three artists you'd represent if you had a gallery. Tell us who they are, and why you like them, in the comments section. (Please note that you CANNOT pick your own work. But since this is, after all, the art market we're talking about, feel free to pick friends or acquaintances.)

Here. I'll go first with two photography picks (excluding artists I've written about before, to be fair): Jennifer Loeber, whose exquisitely observed nudes are illustrated here, and Susana Raab, whose "Consumed" images are simultaneously witty, grotesque, alarming, and memorable. (Take a look, but perhaps not while you're eating a super-sized combo.)

So get to work, all you would-be gallerists!(Note: If you're an artist on Saatchi, don't feel I'm dissing you -- I likely just haven't seen your work on the site yet.)