this is a photo blog

“Best Mask?” By Shel Silverstein

They just had a contest for scariest mask,
And I was the wild and daring one
Who won the contest for scariest mask–
And (sob) I’m not even wearing one.

Inspired by a poem from Sara Marshall:

Adaptations

At the museum
one taxidermy lynx
perched on staged logs
ensnared me in its still
glass eyes, tall posture to

pounce.

I remembered being astounded once
by the disproportionate
length of their legs
in one of those poacher photographs
Bloodied lynx collapsed, hollowed
like empty Halloween costumes
across crude blue tarps -

their adaptations for
predation, their adaptation
for survival one in the same
a learned body,

a body learned to jump.

and for no reason,
there I was in my mind, bundled:
a coonskin cap, chicken wire box,
a drape of hare’s meat to tease you,
to cheaply trap you by your blood’s vices,
to contain your long legs when,
of course,

I’d love to say

I’ve let you loose, that I’d
let you pounce another
hundred times out of me
like that wild animal into
another world to be alone

though I’m afraid my body
also learned some things
it’s not so proud of.

Housing Crisis Las Vegas, NV

P O E M – “That people could come into the world in a place they could not at first even name and had never known before; and that out of a nameless and unknown place they could grow and move around in it until its name they knew and called with love, and call it HOME, and put roots there, and love others there; so that whenever they left this place they would sing homesick songs about it and write poems of yearning for it, like a lover; …”
by William Goyen, House of Breath

For this assignment, I took it personally. The country is over run with empty houses. I was on a street in Las Vegas suburban neighborhood recently where on one street there were 13 foreclosed / short sale properties. The ones pictured here were all in a row … 4 in a row. I stopped and wondered where are the families, lovers, couples, friends now? Where are these people living??? The houses are empty and sad, the street is empty. Neighborhoods are emptying out. Where are people moving to? I never thought of things this way until I recently moved into my own home… It is very sad to think of people loosing their homes.

The World Photography Festival offers photographers and its industry a fantastic 3 day program and features events such as talks by veteran photographers, portfolio reviews given by experts in the industry, exhibitions, screenings, workshops, daily live shooting stations and an industry symposium for all to attend and listen to renowned industry leaders talk about the current trends, issues and debates concerning photography today.

The Awards ceremony showcase is open for everyone to attend and will deliver a visual journey through many diverse genres of photography.

TIAPB photographers AND readers will receive a 15% discount on all tickets for the Festival and Awards ceremony event. Tickets start at £15 – £30 and portfolio reviews start at £60 for 3 sessions.

The promotional code you may use for the offered discount is SWPA15.

Confirmed leading industry participators this year are photographers Nadav Kander (UK), Bohnchang Koo (Korea) and Pablo Bartholomew (India), Chloe Limpkin (UK) (Photo Director of Harpers Bazzar), Aidan Sullivan (UK) (VP of Getty Images), Bill Hunt (USA) (Co-Founder of Hasted-Hunt Gallery), Trisha Ziff (Mexico) (curator and filmmaker), Zelda Cheatle (UK) Curator and Portfolio Manager of Tosca Fund, Roberto Koch (Italy) (Publisher of Contrasto and Founder of FORMA), Monica Allende (UK) (Picture Editor of the Sunday Times Magazine), Mark Sealy (UK) (Director of Autograph – the Association of Black Photographers), Michelle Dunn (USA) (Co-Publisher, Aperture Magazine; Editor-at-Large, Chronicle Books), Grant Scott (UK) (Group Brand Editor of Imaging for Professional Photography and Photography Monthly magazines), Scott Thode (USA) (Freelance Curator and Picture Editor), Sue Steward (UK) (Photography Critic, Writer, Radio Broadcaster and Photo Editor), Adrian Evans (UK) (Director of Panos Pictures Agency), Adrian Boot (UK) (Music Photographer and co-founder of www.urbanimage.tv), Jonathan Torgovnik (USA) (Photojournalist and Founder of Foundation Rwanda), Idris Khan (UK) (Artist) and many more to be announced.

Check out the website for updated news and more info! http://www.worldphotographyawards.org/festival/

On top of spaghetti,
All covered with cheese,
I lost my poor meatball,
When somebody sneezed.

“tourists Jan 2010″

Seeking Beauty by William Henry Davies

“…As long as I love Beauty I am young,

Am young or old as I love more or less;

When Beauty is not heeded or seems stale,

My life’s a cheat, let Death end my distress.”

“Has anyone supposed it lucky to be born?
I hasten to inform him or her it is just as lucky to die, and I know it.
I pass death with the dying, and birth with the new-washed babe….and I am not contained between my hat and boots, And peruse manifold objects, no two alike, and everyone good,…”
Leaves of Grass / Walt Whitman

Title: Poetry

Assigner: Brad

Description: Pick a poem and interpret it visually. It can be a whole poem or just a line or two – use it as a start pointing and post it along with your image.

Tamar recently redesigned her website. Please check it out at www.tamarlevine.com!

She also has a feature in UCLA Magazine this month, which you can check out on her photo bloghere.

In December Natalie released a book of the Georgia & Sabine fine art series. Here is a blog posting about it: click here
It is for sale on her website.
She released the book in conjunction with an exhibition of the work in December in Portland: click here!

Congratulations Natalie!

The Advocate featured our very own Chris Dibble this month for an artist spotlight! Check it out here: http://www.advocate.com/Arts_and_Entertainment/Art/Artist_Spotlight_Christopher_Dibble/

A warm welcome goes out to our newest member of TIAPB, Jose Mandojana! After the jump check out two new features he photographed. One for the current issue of Glamour, and the next one for the current issue of Money.

Wesley Brown will have work in a group show this month at WallSpace Gallery in Seattle, titled “New Directions 10″. Check it out from Jan 5-31!

The show then travels to 23 Sandy Gallery in Portland, February 5-27.

Click here for more info: http://www.wallspaceseattle.com/

J. Wesley Brown

Jenner, CA

El Sereno/Silverlake/Echo Park

In rural Kansas visiting my husband’s family farm for the holidays … we woke up on our last day to a light snow and a bright sunny day …