Spring news

 

Spring is here at LAST! Pretty flowers, warm winds, glass of wine on rooftop terrasses... and allergies!
During the cold month, I have been busy shooting more galerists portraits for Le Journal de La Photographie (Sacha Wolf, Yancey Richardson, Debra and Darren Klomp Ching, Daniel Power...) and teaching a Photo 3 project class at ICP.  As often, I was blessed with an awesome and super motivated group! We focused on creating a blurb book and printing large sclae. I think we all had a GREAT time. Hopefully I'll share some of their work here soon.
The highlight of the season was a trip to Shanghai to visit my brother and shoot the portraits of Lise at the Vanguard gallery, Huang at the Ofoto gallery and the unforgettable Jean-Loh at the Beaugeste gallery - Images and texts coming soon in Le journal!
While i was away, my fridge series was featured in SOURA magazine in the UAE and in the British GUARDIAN - Enjoy!

 I am now packing my cameras meticulously for a 4 month trip to the Middle East!! More news soon!
I'll be back one week July 15 to 19 to teach a Photo 1 intensive class at ICP and then back permanently at the end of the summer to do a first "Back to School" with my 2 year old son Sacha. I'll also be teaching at ICP: Photo 2 every Wednesday morning and Photo 1 every Thursday morning in the Fall season from October 2 to December 12 2013.

Have a happy spring and summer!!

Stephanie

Galerist Portraits: Daniel Power by stephanie de Rouge for Le Journal de La Photographie

Daniel Power – Powerhouse and Powerhouse Arena

From his first encounter with photography to the opening of his gallery…

In the 80’s, Daniel was working in a bookstore where he says photography books existed mainly as traditional monographic books of straightforward documentary type. Photography was not an art form yet. In 1988, he joined Aperture and remembers discovering through the works of Diane Arbus and Nan Goldin how reality could be taken to a deeply personal level and photographs shot from an individual and intimate point of view. He adds that his years at Aperture started a radical change in his way of looking at images.

In 1990, he left Aperture and co-founded D.A.P. (Distributed Art Publishers), a book distribution company with Walter Keller (Parkett Art Magazine). Together and through Walter Keller’s publishing company Scalo, they contributed to sell, publish, re-edit and spread major photography books (Nan Goldin, Robert Frank…)

In 1994, Walter helped Daniel leave and create his own publishing house: Powerhouse. His first book was a collaboration with Thea Westreich: Jack Pierson’s All of a Sudden followed by his first “solo” book: Red Light – Inside the sex industry by Sylvia Plachy and James Ridgeway. In 1996, he hired Craig Cohen and taught him everything he knew on book publishing.

In 2003, from his office building on Varick street, he saw a “for rent” sign on an old factory across the street. He and Craig decided to rent the first floor and create an event and exhibition gallery as a way to make the books come to life. In 2005, the building was sold and they opened The Arena at 37 Main street in Dumbo, Brooklyn.

A fond memory…

When Aperture first published a hardcover of Nan Goldin’s Ballad of Sexual dependency, it didn’t sell well. In 1989, Aperture was obligated to produce a paperback version of the book or they would lose the contract. Daniel was working there and completely convinced by the intensity of the book so he created a series of event around the book to help sales. He remembers organizing a signature session at a major bookstore in the city, and waiting 20 long and empty minutes with a very nervous and mortified Nan Goldin.

A bad memory…

When Scalo published a Larry Clark book (Draper later re-titled A perfect childhood) that could not be imported in the United States because there were a lot of pictures of children under the age of 18 that Larry had not asked permission for.

A photograph that has a special importance in his life…

Untitled portrait from Perfect Intimacies photography project and book by Lili Almog. Daniel likes the solitude and formalism of this image. He adds that the nun in the image represents a cathedral. “She inhabits the cathedral, she is the house of worship”.

A photography book that has a special importance in his life…

Boxing by Larry Fink. Daniel adds that it was the very first book that he and Craig intended to be a high-end photo book monograph. They did the separation with Thomas Palmer, the printing at Eurographica in Italy, and Daniel had commissioned all the text including a history of boxing by Bert Randolph Sugar.

On his bedroom wall…

Nude photographs of his wife Suzanne by Fred Aufray

Thank you Daniel

Galerist portrait: Debra Klomp and Darren Ching by Stephanie de Rouge for Le Journal de la Photographie

I was lucky enough to get to meet with Debra Klomp and Darren Ching in their 111 Front street gallery in Dumbo just one week before their first show at AIPAD. I was even more lucky to be able to peek in the mock up they made of their booth – it looks incredible. Can’t wait to be at the opening party!

From their first encounter with photography to the opening of their gallery…

Debra remembers the retrospective of Robert Mapplethorpe at the Stieglitz museum in Amsterdam in 1987 as being a turning point in her life. It was her first photography exhibit, she says she stayed for hours and found it “completely magical”. A little later she studied MA in critical history and theory of photography in England. Since then, her entire working life has been involved with photography one way or another: she was a teacher, founder and policy maker for the British art council, curator for shows all over the world, reviewer for major portfolio reviews, juror for major awards…

Darren was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. He says he can’t remember a time in his life when he was not looking at photography. He went to art school in San Francisco, majored in painting, moved to New York as a designer and worked in various magazines before he got his position as creative director of Photo District News Magazine in 1998. He adds that he is not a photographer but loves more than anything else looking at photography, judging it, talking about it. “It rocks my boat”.  

They met at one of the 2004 Rhubarb Rhubarb portfolio review in Birgmingham, England. On the last day of the event, there was a print auction in which Darren and Debra were sitting at the same table.  They ended up biding on the same print (Blind by Magali Nougarède) against one another. Darren got the bid. At the end, Darren explains that because he did not really have space and time to take the print with him or prepare it to ship to New York, he asked Debra if she would take it back to NY for him. She did and kept it for 3 month. They started dating the day she delivered the print to Darren in October 2004. They got married in October 2006 and felt solid enough in their vision, respect and taste to open their gallery in October 2007.

A good memory…

A bad memory…

Debra explains that the good and bad memory happened at the same time on the opening night of their gallery for Simon Roberts’ show Motherland in 2007. They expected about a hundred people and ended up being three hundred in their 111 Front street space. Debra tells how “terrifying” and at the same time “extremely exhilarating” that night was. She adds that some people came to the event but had to come back the next week because they couldn’t make it into the space that night.

A photograph that has a special importance in their life…

Blind from the Toeing The Line series by Magali Nougarède. The famous print that created the magic.

On their bedroom wall…

Their bedroom walls are completely blank.

Thank you Debra and Darren!

From The Stroller A travelling book

Hi all,
One of my students asked me this morning: "Stephanie, how do you know when you start a project if tit is going to be a book, an exhibition, an installation..." My answer was simple: "I don't".
As I don't know what the end of the road looks like when I start a hike...
To illustrate my point, I told her the story of my From The Stroller project that I shot in 2011 and 2012 when my son Sacha was between 3 and 18 month. I was interested in shooting form his point of view to experience the city in a different way. I have tons of these but jhad no idea what I was going to do with them until I heard about the sketchbook project. The principle is smart and simple: artist of all age and background can create a sketchbook that will then travel around the country in libraries in major cities. Sacha was 2 at the time and I thought it'd be great to have him participate to the project. I basically made my selection of prints, glued them into the book and let Sacha write his own poem or memory of that particular scene witnessed from his stroller...
Here is the link to the digital version of the book - Enjoy!

Galerist Portrait: Yancey Richardson by stephanie de Rouge for Le Journal de La Photographie

Day 19 – Yancey Richardson

From her first encounter with photography to the opening of her gallery…

Yancey discovered photography when she was in graduate school studying ancient Greek art. She explains that her reward when she had read ancient art history all day was to look at photography magazine in the library of her university (SMU Dallas, Texas).

In 1979, she wrote an essay about photography as a universal language, at a time - she says - “ where she didn’t know much” and was awarded a fellowship at the Whitney museum in New York. She explains that before the 80’s the Whitney was neither collecting nor showing photography. She convinced the director to modernize the museum’s collection and spent a year curating photography shows.

In 1980, she became a private dealer buying and selling vintage work and managing private collections. It didn’t take her long to realize that she wanted to represent living artists too and help them build a career. One of the first she worked with was Alex MacLean, an aerial photographer. That’s where she realized that she needed a space to exhibit her artists work, she opened her first gallery on Broadway in Soho in 1995. After 5 years, she moved into a “raw, concrete, just-transformed warehouse” in Chelsea.

A good memory…

Yancey shared a few stories with me but my favorite is her description of the young members of AIPAD, in bathing suits, playing water volleyball in the pool in a conference center in Virginia where they had gathered to rethink AIPAD’s mission.

She laughs and adds: “ We were all doing a lot of meetings, and a lot of drinking!”

A photograph that has a special importance in her life…

A portrait of her daughter Grace when she was 8 weeks old, photographed by Adam Fuss as part of his baby series. Yancey knew Adam and loved his work and asked him if he would make a piece for her. She says it was a miraculous moment of her life to be a new mom at 42 and she wanted something very special. Adam invited her and her newborn to his studio for the day. She says she was very curious and grateful to be part of Adam’s creative process and also very excited to actually get to see the end product – would she like it?

Her answer sounds like honey: “I looooooved it. The picture is so ethereal, it is not just a portrait of your child, it talks about something bigger”.

In her bedroom…

A 4 panel piece by David Hilliard, a Sally Mann, a Vik Muniz and 2 black and white photographs of herself and her husband in their 20’s.

If she was a famous photographer…

“ Cindy Sherman – she has always been able to work for herself and by herself… She has been so influential and so impactful. … Her show at Moma was quite extraordinary and it made it clear that she must be the most important contemporary living female photographer today”.

Galerie portraits: Sasha Wolf by Stephanie de Rouge for Le Journal de La Photographie

Day 18 – Sasha Wolf

From her first encounter with photography to the opening of her gallery…

Sasha’s father made television commercial and taught her photography. She was making her own photographs when she was 14.

At the age of 15, she was offered a rigid monograph of Paul Strand (Aperture) and discovered formalism: “ that you could photograph part of a plant or part of a machine and that this was art”. That’s when she understood how her work fit into some kind of art: “that was what was interesting to me so I was very happy to see that that was a type of art … that I could turn everything into a graphic. And it is still what I do and love now.”

She studied photography and writing in college and art school (Purchase, NY) and graduated in 1987. Then she turned to filmmaking. Her short film “Joe” was selected in the Cannes Festival in 1997. “It really looks like I took a bunch of photograph and put them together.”

In 2002, she asked her long time friend Peter Kayafas if she could sell her work. She tried and it worked well enough that she became a private dealer until she opened her first space in Tribeca in 2007.

Sasha is what she shows, she likes when things are strong and simple, in the work she used to do as a photographer and filmmaker but also when she works on the philosophy of the gallery, on installations, on organizing shows or promoting artists. She places a great importance into “making it worth for people to take some time off their day to watch her or her artists’ work”.

A good memory…

The first show she put up for Paul McDonough. She had always thought he was one of the great street photographers of all times and was really happy to be able to give him his first solo show in a New York gallery. “ The show was fabulous, we worked really hard on it - Paul was just so happy- it got a beautiful review in the New Yorker – It was such a feel good experience!”

She adds that it is always very moving to see her artists discovering their own shows just after installation or to witness that precious moment when someone walks in her gallery and has a strong connection to a piece.

A bad memory…

The recession. It started in 2008 just after she opened her space and she remembers how intense it was: “we had a lot of sleepless nights, it felt like [the City was stuck], once Lehman Brothers was down, we didn’t know if we were entering another Great Depression. It was really terrifying.”

A photograph that has a special importance in her life…

Eleanor and Barbara (On Bed), 1954 by Harry Callahan

Sasha says that Harry Callahan is without hesitation the photographer that influenced her the most. She says of all his photos of his wife Eleanor that they have this formalist touch to it that elevates the images from what could be mundane portraits. “At first you love the photograph but soon you love the person in the photograph which is quite a brilliant talent”.

On her bedroom wall…

2 anonymous old little prints from the 50’s – one is 2 silhouettes playing baseball and the other an old motel sign.

Central Park couple with baby in newspaper 1978 Paul Mcdonoughs

A black and white Still life photograph that she made in New Mexico

Havanna, Cuba, 2001 by Peter Kayafas

A few Milton Rogovin

Winter update -

So it is already the end of January, 2013 is on its way and I thought I'll keep you posted on a few projects.
I began the year really crazy:
Before the 4th, I had interviewed and shot a portrait of galerist Yancey Richardson, galerist Sasha Wolf, and librarian Greg Newton for Le journal de La Photographie. Here is the pic and interview of Greg Newton who is opening a queer Library in Lower East side. I will keep you posted when both Yancey and Sasha's portraits come out.
From the 7th to the 11th, I was teaching a one week full time Photo 1 digital workshop at ICP - Fantastic class! - I am always amazed at how talented the beginner students are. I mean, let's be honest, I take them out to shoot for a couple of hours only and then ask them to put together and print a 3-9 images consistent project - difficult challenge... And they always come up with terrific project!!
Hopefully I will be sharing some of their work on that blog soon.

Since then I have walked on dry lava for 2 hours one way and 2 hours by night the other way to get to see some real active lava from Kahaualea Volcano kissing the Pacific Ocean - I usually don't share personal stuff her, but this time I have to - I don't think I ever saw something so powerfully amazing in my entire life... Enjoy!
I flew back yesterday to freezing New York... Happy to start a Photo 3 project class with 13 returning and new students!

I'll be back soon for more photo news!
Ciao!

BGQSD: A queer Library in New York
Last year, Greg Newton and his partner Donnie Jochum realized a horrifying fact: there was no longer a queer bookstore in New York… They immediately decided to remedy the situation by quitting their job and creating BGSQD: The Bureau of General Services - Queer Division.
Since November 15th 2012 and until the end of February 2013, their queer bookstore and event space is hosted by Strange Loop Gallery (Claire Fleury and Alesia Exum) at 27 Orchard Street on the Lower East Side of New York City. They are currently working on gathering money to open a permanent address.
Opening February 7th (opening party from 6pm to 9pm at 27 Orchard Street) and until the 28th, they will be hosting a photography show by Samantha Box. INVISIBLE is a series of photographs taken between 2005 and 2012 documenting homeless queer and transgender youth in New York City.
I spent a little time today talking with Greg, one of the founders. He is sweet, fun and passionate, has a pretty interesting selection of photography books, good coffee and delicious conversation! 
Long live BGQSD!