Diane Arbus: Portrait of a Photographer

©tod papageorge

I just finished reading Arthur Lubow's new biography on Diane Arbus. I regard Arbus as one of my leading influences.

Regarding influence, it's worthy to note, I don't consider the influence of an artist to imply that there physical body of work is what is most impactful. There are plenty of influences that share no resemblance to my own personal work, yet I can site them as having a profound impact on my life, and more importantly, my life as an photographer. This especially rings true with Diane Arbus' work.

What strikes me about Arbus, and is beautifully written in this book, is her emotional connection to her subjects, especially as it relates to her upperclass upbringing. In an Arbus photograph, something is revealed, and often times, it's Arbus who is reflected most prominently in the physical photograph. "This can be said about Robert Frank, who led the charge in redefining documentary photography as a path to self expression, but with Arbus, the connection between subject and photographer is transformative. There is a "nakedness" in her photographs that is other-worldly.

When I finished the book, I took out a few books from my collection of Arbus' contemporaries; photographers that are associated with the New Documents exhibit. What's abundantly clear, as I'm sure it was when the New Documents exhibit first opened at the MOMA in 1967, is how Arbus' work completely stands on it's own accord. While Winogrand and Friedlander were trailblazers in their own right, Diane Arbus is an anomaly.

The internet has further illuminated the chasm between Diane Arbus and her contemporaries. So much so, that most street photography looks passé now when you compare it to the work of Diane Arbus. If you browse the hashtag #streetphotography on Instagram, you will see millions of present-day photographers, trying their hardest to emulate the style of Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander and Garry Winogrand. Especially Garry Winogrand! Seldom do you see work that encapsulates what Arbus was doing in her lifetime. Bruce Gilden has tried, but with Gilden's work, there is an emotional dis-connect  between him and his subjects. With Arbus, the bond between photographer and subject was quintessential to her process.

This is an exhausting and comprehensive biography, that reflects with great detail, the complexities and vulnerability of a great photographer. It's a worthwhile read if you can stomach the downward spiral of a conflicted artist who unravels with each ensuing chapter of this book.

Norma Jeane Mortenson

From a series of photographs taken by photographer Bert Stern.

Harper Avenue, Detroit, MI

©tom stoye

I'm enamored with this appliance store on Harper Avenue in Detroit. I keep returning to it when I'm making my rounds of the city. The side of the store, located right next door to a pawn shop, has some beautiful "commercial folk art" gracing it's building.

Detroit photographer David Clements has an entire book dedicated to preserving the art form. His book, Talking Shops, is available here.

Ivy League Power Lines

©tom stoye

Please forgive me ahead of time for posting this. Photographs of overgrown urban prairie are so 2005. I know it's been done a thousand times, but I still find the ivy covered power lines incredibly intriguing, so fuck it, add this to the mix. I promise I won't do a coffee-table book of vine laden power lines. This is one and done. My apologies to Andrew Moore and those two French guys, whose names I can never remember.

Leonard Freed

Leonard Freed (b.1929 d.2006) was born in Brooklyn New York, to working-class Jewish  parents of Eastern European descent. He was a long standing member of Magnum.

His original ambition was to become a painter, but in 1953, while visiting the Netherlands, he discovered photography. In 1954 he studied at the New School under Alexei Brodovitch.

Throughout the sixties he worked as a freelance journalist, traveling the globe, while documenting a wide variety of  subjects. From 1964-1965, he accompanied Martin Luther King during his Civil Rights March from Alabama to Washington D.C. The end result of this, was his 1968 book, Black in White America. He also published, Police Work, a notable book, that examined life inside the New York Police Department.

©leonard freed

©leonard freed

©leonard freed

©leonard freed

Charles Harbutt, 1935-2015

Charles Harbutt b.1935 in Teanack, New Jersey, was an American photographer, and the former president of Magnum, who also taught at the Parsons School of Design. Harbutt's work was deeply intrenched in the social documentary and journalistic tradition of photography. He passed away this week at the age of 79 years old.

In 1959, Harbutt was invited by members of Fidel Castro's underground, to document the Cuban Revolution as it was taking place.

Harbutt left Magnum in 1981 to dedicate himself to pursuing his own personal work, and subsequently began to teach full time at Parsons.

His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, The National Museum of American History, the George Eastman House, the Art Institute of Chicago,the International Center of Photography and the Maison Europeene de la Photographie in Paris, to name a few.

In 1997, his complete archive was acquired by the Center for Creative Photography, in Tucson, Arizona.

©tim mantoani

©charles harbutt

©charles harbutt

©charles harbutt

©charles harbutt

Photographer-Stephen DuPont

©stephen dupont

Stephen DuPont b.1967 Sydney, Australia.

Chris Steele-Perkins-Self Portrait

©chris steele-perkins

Photographer Chris Steele-Perkins b. Burma 1947, moved to Britain as a child.

His work mainly focuses on social issues dealing with urban poverty and subcultures. In 1949 he joined Magnum Photos and began to work primarily in Africa and Central America, as well as the Middle East. He's also worked extensively photographing Japan, after marrying his second wife Miyako Yamada. In 2007, he published the book, Northern Exposure, an essay dealing with country life in northern England.

Andreas Feininger

©andreas feininger

Andreas Feininger b.1906, was an American photographer (born in France) known for his black and white photographs of New York City. He also wrote comprehensive manuals about photography-his most known one being The Complete Photographer.

His most famous photograph, often mistaken for a self portrait, is a dynamic black and white image of photographer Dennis Stock, pictured above.

Paolo Reversi-Self Portrait

©paolo roversi

Otto Umbehr-Self Portrait

©otto_umbehr

Umbo, b. Otto Umbehr, was a German photographer, influenced by members of the Bauhaus, especially Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

In 1928 he was one of the founding members of the photo agency Dephot, along with Robert Capa and Felix Man. The agency was closed by the Nazis in 1933. During this period, he worked as a photojournalist in Germany.  In 1943, he lost up to 50,000 negatives as a result of a bombing raid. Very few works from that period have survived. After the war, he returned to Hanover, Germany, to teach photography at the School of Applied Arts.

O. Winston Link

©tom stoye

O. Winston Link and George Thom, with Link's flash equipment, 1956

United Community Hospital, Detroit, MI

©tom stoye

Super

©tom stoye

Photographer Vincent Cianni

Below is an excerpt from photographer Vincent Cianni, regarding some recent photos taken at the "Lelo Burti in the country of Georgia. They warrant a look.

Every year on Orthodox Easter Sunday residents of lower and upper Shukhuti village in western Georgian region of Guria, compete in Lelo Burti, a traditional Georgian game similar to rugby, and at the same time, engage in a day-long festival with bands and entertainment. In the morning, people gather and tables are laden with food and wine, and are placed in the cemeteries to commemorate the dead. Meanwhile, the bishop sits with the men, who are competing in the game, while they drink wine and fill the ball with dirt, wine and straw, to prepare it for the rigorous game. The game, which looks more like a melee, has simple rules-the number of players in each team is not set; neither does it have a fixed time limit; the game ends only after one team successfully pushes its way through its opponent, and brings the heavy leather ball, tightly stuffed with dirt, on the outer edge of its opponents field. Then it is taken up to the respective cemetery on the top of the mountain, on the winners' side of town, where it is placed on the most recently deceased person's grave, and the flow of food and drink continues into the night.

©vincent cianni

©vincent cianni

©vincent cianni

©vincent cianni

©vincent cianni

©vincent cianni

©vince cianni

Post Modern Structure, with Earl Scheib Paint Job, Detroit, MI

©tom stoye

Found this post modern structure while roaming the city with my camera in tow. What intrigues me about this building is the owners attempt to keep it as inconspicuous as possible, contrasted by a Earl Scheib (esque) paint-job that makes it stand out from the surrounding buildings.

Photographer Doug DuBois

©doug dubois- Jordan Up the Pole- Cobh, Ireland

In 2009, photographer Doug DuBois was visiting Ireland for a month long stay. That visit ended up turning into a five year stay after a chance encounter with a group of teenagers from Russell Heights, a housing estate in Cobh, Ireland, a coastal town near Cork, where DuBois was a resident at the Sirius Arts Centre.

Harper Avenue, Detroit, MI

©tom stoye

Walter White @ The UFO Factory

©tom stoye

Mary Ellen Mark, 1940-2015

Rest in Peace.

©mary ellen mark

©mary ellen mark

©mary ellen mark

©mary ellen mark

©mary ellen mark