Marilyn Monroe, The Last Sitting, Bert Stern, 1962 Bert Stern was commissioned by Vogue Magazine to shoot a photo layout of actress Marilyn Monroe in late June 1962, some six weeks before her death. He shot Monroe over 3 daily sessions, and the work resulted in a book that sampled some of the 2500 images…
I’m going to try an experiment I’m calling “Photo of the Day,” wherein I post a photo I’ve come across and fallen in love with. I’m hoping it stimulates my not leaving this blog idle for so long. It will only work, however, if people view the photo and the brief blurb on its background.…
In 1977, Winogrand was invited by photographer and professor Geoff Winningham to speak with students at Rice University in Houston. The video of the event, below, was produced by the National Gallery of Art in conjunction with the exhibition Garry Winogrand, organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the San Francisco Museum of…
I’m finding the futility of life oddly poetic today, given the most recent acts of violence in Dallas. Carved into the hard grain of reality is a word that people seldom know how to pronounce: accountability. Whether we are directly affected by events or not is moot. We are all in some way accountable because…
History lies. That is, the human interpretation of historical events is and has always been subject to change and distortion from historians. Stated more directly, people bend facts in order to substantiate whatever socio-political view they are expectorating. However photos, although subject to the same distortions as anything else, are unique in that they allow…
This year alone, we’ve lost many cherished celebrities, including the likes of David Bowie, Alan Rickman, and now, Prince Rogers Nelson. The question posed, is why? To many of us, it seems they just keep coming. Others would argue that it’s an illusion, but a few statistics that bear this out. The UK’s Daily Telegraph…
I’m a street photographer at my core, so what do flowers have to do with shooting street, you might ask? For me the definition between a street photographer and a photographer are marginal, and so it becomes more a question of shooting technique than it is about style or genre. Life is unfolding and happening…
Art & Portraiture, & Other In making a selection of the “Best of” anything, two criteria come to mind. First, one should consider the longevity and consistency of the work. A hall of fame, so to speak, should examine whether the body of work produced was substantial enough to warrant such acclaim. Secondly, one must…
Like everything else, being an artist requires work. We are not defined by who we say we are. We are not defined by who we surround ourselves with. We are not defined by what we intend to do or intend to be. We are defined solely by what the hell we do. If you do…
The Artists' Sanctum 