greatness: andy warhol's polaroids of athletes...

i love this picture of dorothy hamill, though i remain haunted by that haircut.

faded, but still great.

one of my idols. and my first racquet.

warhol.
polaroids.
athletes.

done.

on view at danziger projects, until december 12.

autoportrait: willy ronis

willy ronis, autoportrait, 1951.© willy ronis, rapho eyedea via liberation.fr

i love willy ronis' self-portrait.
is it me, or is his shoe on the wrong foot?

i hadn't heard of mr. ronis, until i read of his passing in the new york times. but the images he's captured are very recognizable. there's definitely a population of new york girls, of a certain age (mine), before email ruled the way we wooed, that has wishfully penned a ronis postcard or two (or absent the nerve to send it, taped it to a wall or mirror somewhere in her apartment).

le petit parisien. 1952.

les amoureux de la bastille. 1957.

ah, those were the days...

***

i appreciate his inspiration and his intent:

“It is my contemporaries who most interest me, ordinary people with ordinary lives,” he told The New York Times in 2005, when a retrospective of his work at the Hôtel de Ville in Paris was drawing enormous crowds. “I have never sought out the extraordinary or the scoop. I looked at what complemented my life. The beauty of the ordinary was always the source of my greatest emotions.”

“I never took a mean photo,” he told The Associated Press in 2005. “I never wanted to make people look ridiculous. I always had a lot of respect for the people I photographed.”

link to the full nytimes piece here...

and a very nice video, via france 24....

a way of seeing...

helen levitt
new york, c.1939

via the laurence miller gallery.

i visited a museum with a cousin of mine (i can't quite remember which one--museum, that is) but i do remember the distinct moment she strolled through one of the galleries, barely looking at what was on the walls and said plainly that photography didn't do much for her.
she didn't appreciate it on the level of "art."

i didn't really pursue this with her--seemed to me, like any art, photography moves you or it doesn't. but it stung me that an entire discipline could be so easily dismissed. i also didn't have the language to defend it, and i was disappointed with myself on that score.

recently, i interviewed a comedian, who is also a photography enthusiast, and i asked him a very basic, but perhaps unkind question. the kind of question he's either been dying for someone to ask, or that he's been avoiding: what is it that you love about taking photos?

he told me it was a legitimate question, but tough, and that he'd get back to me a couple of days. i was on a deadline, so it turned out i wasn't going to be able to pursue this with him. i was disappointed, but completely understood. how do you explain photography? the things you see and feel that compel you? for some of us, if you haven't been forced to articulate it, and you care to get it "right," it doesn't quite roll off the tongue.

last night, i was reading the introduction that james agee wrote for helen levitt's collection of lyrical photographs, a way of seeing. and he gives me some of language that i've been looking for, speaks to some of the questions and feeling i've been trying to sort through, and offers much else to consider. if you are so inclined...

here are a few snippets:

"In every other art which draws directly on the actual world, the actual is transformed by the artist's creative intelligence, into a new and different kind of reality: aesthetic reality. In the kind of photography we are talking about here, the actual is not at all transformed; it is reflected and recorded, within the limits of the camera, with all possible accuracy. The artist's task is not to alter the world as the eye sees it into a world of aesthetic reality, but to perceive the aesthetic reality within the actual world, and to make an undisturbed and faithful record of the instant in which this movement of creativeness achieves its most expressive crystallization...

It would be mistaken to suppose that any of the best photography is come at by intellection; it is, like all art, essentially the result of an intuitive process, drawing on all that the artist is rather than on anything he thinks, far less theorizes about.

Almost no photographer whose work is preeminently worth looking at has managed to produce more than a small fraction of the work he was capable of, and the work, as a rule, has remained virtually unknown except to a few friends and fellow artists. This is true to a great extent, of course, of artists who work in any field. Yet distinctions, standards, and assumptions exist and have existed for centuries which guarantee a good poet or painter or composer an audience, if generally a small one; and these are not yet formed in relation to photographs..."


read the full essay here...

pretty city: the real deal

ted croner's "time square montage," 1947-48 via the nytimes.com ("capturing the city" slideshow). ps. i don't know if the title is really "time square montage" or if that is a ny times typo.

in my last post i talked about one of the highlights of the past weekend being a night at my sister's house, skimming fashion mags and watching tv. i'm a thrill-cat, aren't i?

but i suppose i just needed a night of pure relaxation. this weekend, my plate is three-quarters-full (dancing...filming...birthday-partying) but i'm hoping to steal a little time on the couch, to read and watch "rafaelito" make his real summer debut in montreal.

if i get a little ambitious or antsy, I may make a trip down to the yancey richardson gallery. i read this article in today's times, and was inspired. and i heard from a very reliable source here at the office that the yancey richardson gallery is one of the best in town. if i don't make it to chelsea on sunday, (you and) i have until august 28, to check it out. that's not a lot of time, so we'll have to make time.

ps. the helen levitt show at the laurence miller gallery, further uptown, also sounds great. on view only through aug. 20...

monfils le magnifique

on the list of "dream assignments" or things i'd like to do before i die: to spend some weeks photographing atp tennis players--specifically nadal and monfils--during the european clay court season.

however mercurial or frustrating his game and attitude can be to someone who roots for him, monfils is soaring inspiration for a photographer. the clay brings out the best in him and it shows in the shots...all the "flights of fancy" and falling to earth:

this was the point of the match, if not the tournament. it went something like: backhand-pirouette-belly flop-backhand-recover-rush the net-forehand volley-forehand volley winner. monfils secured the break... even melzer gave him a high-five. tho if memory serves...monfils lost the set?
may 30, 2009. photo via rolandgarros.com

monfils won in 4: 6-2, 4-6,6-4,6-1. photo via rolandgarros.com

i love this one, also taken during the melzer match, by award-winning getty photographer, ryan pierse. may 30, 2009.

more of pierse's award-winning photos here.

aiga: everybody dance now...

on the avenue, 164 fifth avenue... nyc. april 2009.

last month while running errands on fifth avenue, i was teased by a huge storefront sign: EVERYBODY DANCE NOW. i stopped outside just long enough to see that it was an AIGA exhibit, which was even more curious: what was the premier design association's interest in dance?

i was in too much of a hurry on that day to stop in--i hit the road again with only the tune stuck in my head...

i returned another day to investigate further: the exhibit is actually called "everybody dance now: 20 years of dancing in print" and is a retrospective of two publications, dance ink (1989-1996) and 2wice (1997-ongoing), published by patsy tarr and designed and art directed by abbott miller, a partner at pentagram.

there is, on pentagram's site, a tidy overview that puts both the exhibit and the publications into context to those of us who are not (yet) familiar with the work, and they have posted some beautiful photos from the magazines.

rob besserer, of the erstwile white oak dance project, photographed by duane michals for a 1996 issue. via pentagram.

flamenco star pilar rioja. via pentagram.

the picnic issue, summer 2002. via pentagram.

the merce cunningham dance company photographed by christian witkin for the summer 2002 issue. via pentagram.

if you are able to get to the AIGA national design center, you will see these and many more: there are 40 issues presented in succession, on accordion-style metal displays.

the 2008 issue, false start, featuring jonah bokaer. installation photo by harry zernike. via pentagram.

opening night party photo by federico rodriguez-caldentey. via pentagram.

i don't know if the displays were created specifically for this installation, but it is a wonderful way to experience and celebrate movement--there's symmetry and energy to the exhibit. there are also intact issues of 2wice for folks to peruse, but the ladies that were there when i was were too engaged with them to let me have a look. ah well, i wanted to go back again anyway.


if you would like to check it out, get there soon! it closes may 22. here are the deets:

164 fifth avenue (between 21st and 22nd Streets), nyc
gallery hours: monday through thursday: 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m; friday: 11:00 a.m–5:00 p.m.

***

there is a wonderful quote from merce cunningham that adorns the walls of the gallery, and i've been thinking about it often since my first visit:

"you have to love dancing to stick to it. it gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive. it is not for unsteady souls."

of course, one could happily argue that ms. tarr, mr. miller and all the contributors to dance ink and 2wice, have managed to defy this on some level, because they have preserved dance in another form for us to appreciate...

but the essence of his statement is striking...

i recently took a dance/stretch class at my gym with an instructor who encouraged me to take formal lessons. this felt like the scariest, greatest idea in the universe. i'm not sure there is anything that makes me happier or feel most like myself as when i can listen to music and dance around--not in any formal way, at all. i just do it. for hours. and i have taken classes here and there, but never really studied it. i wondered, for me, at this point in my life, what would be the point?

but the cunningham quote reminded me that "dancers" (and maybe this is truer for those who are not now and will never be professionals?) dance precisely for how it makes them feel.

the point need not be grander than that.

read a good poem: us together (and see fine pictures)

todd hido, landscape, 2653. via monthlyphoto.com and toddhido.com

nude, 1927, 61n, by edward weston. edward weston negative, cole weston print available at edward-weston.com

us together

i do not like anything the way i
like you in your underwear i like you
and in your party clothes o my in your
party clothes and with nothing on at all
you do not need to wear a thing at all
for me to like you and you may talk or
not talk I like you either way nothing
makes me feel so nearly at home on earth
as just to be with you and say nothing.

george johnston. from the essential george johnson, selected by robyn sarah. copyright the porcupine's quill, 2007.

via the writer's almanac.

***

i love the playfulness and simplicity of this, and the rhythm too.

last month was "poetry month" and there was hardly one that i read of the offerings by the poetry foundation, the ny review of books, or the writer's almanac that really grabbed me. i suppose it had something to do with my own frame of mind (distracted, impatient).

but what i am always open to, stopped and stilled in my tracks by, is a "love" poem. sweet or lusty. clever or plain. celebratory or crushing. truthful...

"us together" is the first george johnston poem i read. of johnston's work and the "essential" collection, the canadian book review annual said:

he is preoccupied with rhythms, with diction, with tones and nuances, and the creative challenge of complex metres and stanza forms. ...this verse celebrates ordinary life in tones that vary between the ironic and the sombre, and the tender and the stoic, but its technique is impeccable, and its chief pleasure lies in the display of an unostentatious but formidable artistry...'

anyway, it is a favorite. hope you like it, too.

***

as to the photos:

the directness and clarity of the verse made me think that a straight-up nude be too obvious. these seem dreamy, sensual, rightly suggestive.

think they work here? i'm still deciding. but i like them on their own.

read a good poem, and see a fine picture: todd hido, #6242

todd hido, #6242. via squarecylinder.com

today is "poem in your pocket" day--the academy of american poets is trying to spread the poetic love by offering a little template, with 25 selections that can be printed out for folks to either carry around for themselves, or share. of these, i like lost by sara teasdale...

there is a poem that i carry around, it was sent to me by my aunt several years ago. she knows too well my dreamy, broody side and during a particularly difficult period, i received in the mail a handwritten note from her, on hotel stationery:

be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves.

do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them.

and the point is to live everything.

live the questions now. perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it live along some distant days into the answers.

she came across that passage in "a year by the sea" by joan anderson, which she'd been reading during her vacation. it was written by rainer maria rilke ('letters to a young poet").

i read it from time to time, encouraged by the words, still amazed by the timeliness and thoughtfulness of her sending it. but that is just how she is...

***
i've linked to todd hido's work before--he is a newly discovered favorite photographer of mine, and i really love the shots through a wet, dirty windshield in "a road divided."

here is david m. roth's brief review of his recent show at the stephen wirtz gallery and many more shots from "a road divided" here, via americansuburbx.com.

enjoy.

maybe not a dream match-up, but a dreamy one

i woke up in time to catch a few games of the battle of the handsomes: safin v robredo.
and then, with robredo serving at deuce, down 2-4, the rains came.

marat safin, during his match vs. tommy robredo at the internazionali bnl d'italia. photographed by julian finney for getty images. april 28, 2009.

to be continued...

***

in the meanwhile, here's a favorite photo of safin from last year's australian open:

marat safin, at the australian open 2008. photographed by greg wood for getty. january 18, 2008.

and to keep the "handsome guy with racket" theme going, one of robredo:

tommy robredo at the 2004 french open. photographed by clive mason for getty. may 30, 2004.

what i think about when i think about monaco...

cary grant and grace kelly. 1955. unknown photographer.

prince albert, prince rainier, princesses stephanie and caroline, and princess grace. on holiday, 1960. photographed by alain nogues. via alain nogues/sygma/corbis at corbis.com.

when i was a young teen, the royal family of monaco held court, likely against their will, over seemingly all the magazines and tabloids. they would make regular appearances in news weeklies, fashion books, lifestyle mags and the gossip rags--the ladies in my family became pretty fluent in who they were cavorting with and what they were wearing. it seems strange now that i came to know grace kelly as a mom before i saw any of her films.

maybe this is less strange, but what i knew of "european style" also evolved from photos of taken of the royal family at that time. as someone who'd spent little time thinking about clothes to that point (except in the form a "lucky leotard" or tennis togs), the younger princess' style--reflective of her interest in sports--appealed to me. she was always traipsing around the alps, or hanging out at the races, in gear that seemed pretty cool.

(i tried to rock this bandanna look for waaaay too long...)princesses stephanie and grace in gstaad, switzerland. 1980. photographed by laszlo veres. via b.d.v./corbis pro.corbis.com.

princess stephanie, 1983. photographed by laszlo veres. via b.d.v./corbis at pro.corbis.com

but everything about that continental, cosmopolitan principality and the royal family was steeped so long in sadness after princess grace's death. it was hard to look at photos and see past that.

stephanie at val d'Isere, france. january 10, 1983. photographed by stephane tavoularis. via bettmann/corbis at pro.corbis.com.

prince albert and princess stephanie. december 12, 1982. photographed by richard melloul, via richard melloul/sygma/corbis at pro.corbis.com.

but in the last few years that i've been tuning into the tennis at the monte carlo rolex open, i've loved the stunning view of and from the courts, and the tennis has been just as spectacular. it is my second favorite clay court tournament, and pretty near the top of the list of tournaments i'd like to attend. the stadium seems only as big as a high school football stadium. and then there's the sea...

but i won't lie: to see prince albert ii making appearances at matches and presiding over various ceremonies, looking older and settled and happy, gives the tournament a special allure.

monaco, a locale perhaps not ever as idyllic as the "playground for the rich" moniker would imply, does seem quite glamorous again.

rafael nadal at the 2007 monte carlo open. photographed by michael steele, april 21, 2007. via getty images, at montecarlo.masters-series.com.

andy murray, prince albert II, and rafael nadal in monte carlo, monaco. april 12, 2009. photographed by michael steele, getty images. via boston.com

read a good poem: "tossing and turning"

untitled, #1447-a, 1996. by todd hido. via the rose gallery, santa monica, ca.

The spirit has infinite facets, but the body

confiningly few sides.

There is the left,

the right, the back, the belly, and tempting

in-betweens, northeasts and northwests,

that tip the heart and soon pinch circulation

in one or another arm.

Yet we turn each time

with fresh hope, believing that sleep

will visit us here, descending like an angel

down the angle our flesh's sextant sets,

tilted toward that unreachable star

hung in the night between our eyebrows, whence

dreams and good luck flow.

Uncross

your ankles. Unclench your philosophy.

This bed was invented by others; know we go

to sleep less to rest than to participate

in the twists of another world.

This churning is our journey.

It ends,

can only end, around a corner

we do not know

we are turning.

"tossing and turning" by john updike, from collected poems 1953-1993.
via the writer's almanac, feb 19, 2009.


i hadn't read any of john updike's work until this poem, today. i had made a plan to, though, after reading this recent tribute by my favorite writer...i'm getting excited all over again.

i love "unclench your philosophy" -- those few words stayed with me all morning.

"uncross your ankles" is a pretty great line, too.

right after i read the poem, i did a quick search for a photo that might be suitable.
i happened upon todd hido's work--i love the moodiness.
if you're interested, here is a link to more of his photos on the rose gallery site and on the stephen wirtz gallery site.
i also found an interview from 2007, where he discusses his book, between the two. i enjoyed reading his thoughts on portraiture and the book editing process.
here's a taste:

re: his focus, and his portraits of women...

To me it is no mystery that we can only photograph effectively what we are truly interested in or -- maybe more importantly -- are grappling with. This is often an unconscious process. Otherwise the photographs are merely about an idea or a concept; that stuff eventually falls flat for me. There must be something more, some emotional hook for it to really work for me. I tend to photograph things I've had problems with or I have struggled with, stuff that used to keep me up at night. It's the same process with my photographs of houses -- they are about recognizing some mysterious element of my childhood.

I've read that sources of terror in childhood often become sources of attraction in adulthood. I've found that true. It's disturbing to me how many of the models remind me of past women that have been in my life -- not in terms of how they look but in terms of who they seem to be underneath their surfaces. There is a familiarity to them, something that resonates, something kind of troubled about them that is very recognizable to me. It is endlessly fascinating and utterly simple as to why we gravitate to what we do. Of course this is not stuff that I've worked out completely, which is precisely why it's engrossing to me. That is why I do it. That is the focus.

re: editing the book with chris pichler of nazraeli press...

The editing process is part of making the work. I gather up the images I am interested in and then start to lay them out using just a standard book dummy, weaving the images together over a long period of time. With Between the Two, it took about three years of constantly shuffling unpublished work in with new images that I was making on a weekly basis. There was real joy in leaving the darkroom and stopping by the copy shop to make Xeroxes in order to slide them into the dummy, seeing if they fit in someplace. Sometimes the images would work, and sometimes they don't. But almost every image I've made in the last few years was tried out. Some were perfect and added just what I needed and others I've saved for the next project, whatever that may be!

want more? here's a link to the full interview, between hido and darius himes ...

hom-age

natalie coughlin, photographed by marc hom, for men's vogue, april 2008.

i have "used" the obvious charms of some of my favorite female athletes (tanith belbin, ana ivanovic, maria kirilenko) to lure a couple of (now former) boyfriends, with less than zero interest in sports, into watching the olympics with me or joining me at the us open. shameless? perhaps. maybe even a little bit wrong. but it worked. i am actually a little proud that, after initially appealing to them on this most superficial level, the merits of these and other athletes and the thrill of sport-spectating left a lasting impression on one of them (maybe he doesn't watch figure skating anymore, but i know he follows tennis. and, most unbelievably, i managed to turn him into a baseball fan).

but if there were a need for me or anyone else to employ such a tactic again, i'm pretty confident that with si's 2009 swimsuit issue, we could turn a few disinterested heads toward the wta. the ladies know how to "represent": tatiana golovin, looking mighty comfortable as the bombshell; daniela hantuchova, revealing even more (i would argue) with her lovely, vulnerable gaze; and maria kirilenko, starring as the most adorable, enviably athletic girl-next-door. these might be the best tennis pictorials in si's swimsuit issues to date.

but i personally favor a different kind of swimsuit shot: the portrait of natalie coughlin by the danish photographer marc hom. it marries the classic with a sleek, modern look. i love that it is basically a three color affair, with terrific geometric repetition of right angles and triangles.
has a gal in one-piece ever been more devastating?

********
the coughlin shot, which appeared in men's vogue in april 2008, inspired a little research on marc hom.

if you've admired these esquire covers of angelina jolie, sienna miller, keira knightley, and johnny depp (and the march 2009 clive owen shot that's on newsstands now), then you're a fan of his work. and if you're like me and blessed with a fashion-obsessed sister/friend and you've been perusing her issues of harper's bazaar, black book and british vogue, then you know his fashion photography pretty well too.

take a quick scan through the marc hom galleries on the trish south management site, and you'll see a lot of bare legs, bare feet, and cool (very cool) scandinavian blue highlights.

his book, "portraits" is a collection of some 260 shots from a 12-year period, featuring celebrities like lauren bacall (who also penned the foreword), anouk aimée , christopher walken, martin scorsese, liv and steven tyler and many more.

here are a few black and whites that i found especially appealing:

rachel ward and bryan brown

juliette binoche (and friend)

a very pretty pink

bjork (little bare feet)

a bit more on marc hom, via a 2006 copenhagen exclusive article, here.

interested in natalie coughlin's book (published in 2006 by the company i work for)? you friends o' mine can borrow my copy, or buy it here.

7:07 pm

(afternoon?) delight

from "on the street....big bad plaid, bowery. january 5, 2009. photo by the sartorialist.

some days i miss living on the lower east side...

getting up early on a saturday, and heading over to the essex street market to say hello to ms. anne saxelby (and getting schooled on american farmstead cheeses. personal favorites: brebis blanche. the grayson. and mmm the mecox sunrise...) and sir jeffrey, of jeffery's meat market (where kids can get a pig's foot for free). or skipping over to my favorite "appetizing shop" so that i could create a little herring smorgasbord at home...

this "big bad plaid, bowery" photo brought back some nice memories.

i really like the light here (does it look like afternoon to you?) and his hands-in-pockets (thumbs out).

*******

i've not been following the sartorialist for very long, but i'm definitely hooked. one of the things i've been curious about is how he approaches his subjects.

i found reuel golden's interview with him, re-posted on pdnonline (it was one of their top 40 online stories of 2008). he sheds a little light:

Tell me a little about the shooting process.

It's pretty quick. If I'm in New York, I will pick a certain area to roam, downtown, or Williamsburg or Harlem, and then head out with a Canon 5D and a 50mm lens. If I spot someone whose outfit I like I will maybe walk a half block behind him or her, and then try and stop him or her in a place that will make a good picture. You can tell from person to person who is in to it and will give you time and who just wants you to take the shot. As I've become more known it's become a lot easier. I generally don't pose them too much or move them away from the place that I stopped them.

What about the editing?

I don't shoot a lot and I'm picky about what I put up. In a very good day I'll get five shots, but most of the time maybe two or three. The biggest challenge is trying to look at the photos that I've got and then thinking how do I spread it out so I can have people constantly returning from the site. I look at where I've been and try and mix it up with different neighborhoods and getting different looks. It's not all about bespoke. Right now I've got a lot of high end fashion from the shows in Milan and Paris, so I can really put in some street style in there.

it suddenly seems ok to have a little "stalker" in me.

here's a link to the entire (albeit brief) interview. there are some good tips for folks who want to try to market their blogs to a wider audience (calla style? film snobs?)...

re-fashioning rafael

rafael nadal at qatar exxonmobil open, doha. photo by julian finney/getty. via atptennis.com

my favorite tennis player has a new look. sleeves! i predict that once my friends (especially pia) catch wind of this (which, unless i decide to hang this photo in my cubicle, will be a long time, since not too many of them are keeping tabs on what goes on in doha, or at the australian open or anywhere, until roland garros so...if rafa keeps the sleeves through the french open) i will be asked by my friends for my opinion, and i will answer: i like them! maybe not the actual shirt, but the idea of a new look.

and he will likely keep it, as it is part of the effort to re-fashion his image and his game to be more like federer's: to elevate his stature, broaden his appeal, and ensure his longevity in the game.

do sleeves make the man? he already struck me as someone mature for his age--he's got the energy and enthusiasm of a kid, but he's seemed also respectful, level-headed and unspoiled (oh yes, and he's very good). and if folks choose to read into his lack of sleeves, then they'll probably read into these new ones. maybe they will be less distracted by what he wears, and just focus on what he does, and how well he already carries himself?

but probably the more meaningful change that fans can look forward to is the one they are attempting on court: re-tooling his forehand...ending points more quickly...making his game easier on himself.

if you're interested in full-color details, here's the link to the time mag article (though, i disagree with the whole "subversive instinct" characterization, as if it's subversive to simply be yourself? play the game the way you want? it's still worth reading.)

that article also links to a nice little gallery of "alternative" photos from wimbledon, including these two:

photo of nadal by glyn kirk, afp/getty via time.com

photo of rafael nadal's shoe...by ryan pierse, getty images via time.com

the year in sports photos

photo of kim sookyung by bill frakes/si

photo of japanese synchronized swimmer, by lorenvu/dppi-sipa/icon smi

i'm finally catching up with some of my reading material from late last year. i don't tire of "best of" or "favorites" lists -- especially from people i'm a little in love with and whose opinions i trust. i look forward to scanning the "year in review" issues of my favorite magazines (and try to note things i've missed!). one that i take special interest in is sports illustrated's "year in photos" issue.

it arrived a few weeks ago. and while i loved the tips and insight from the photographers, i thought that, overall, the issue was pretty disappointing. how was there not a single tennis photo? no nadal? fed? and gymnastics--no nastia? how could it be?

i tossed it into my unwieldy "to be recycled" pile.

but i picked it up again today, reminding myself that these guys know their stuff, believing that i had to be missing something. and i looked at it a few more times, and finally read the editor's letter.

i agree with terry mcdonnell: "there is nothing in sports journalism more powerful than a single image, the shot that defines the moment with detail, clarity, and nuance." i get all dreamy about the idea, and think, oh, i could look at photos for hours...but pausing to consider that si photographers shoot tens of thousands of pictures a week, and that photo editors review those and close to 100,000 pictures (a week) from outside sources, it's pretty damn humbling (though there are still a few i'd swap out).

here are links to si's "best of" galleries. there are actually many more great pictures online than were included in the (single-advertiser sponsored!) magazine.

maybe when you're flipping through, you'll consider what the editors look for when putting this collection together (which is what i should have done from the outset): "for pictures to be effective they have to be affective. they have to invoke a reaction--make you laugh, make you cry, make you cringe, make you linger just a little bit longer to absorb all they have to offer. if it's truly a special picture, it will grab your heart."

best shots of the year (from outside sources, getty, ap, etc)

si's greatest shots of 2008

and...tips from si photographers

street chic and hollywood glam

photo via the sartorialist, may 2007.

"on the street.....pixie, sodermalm stockholm."

posted may 11 at 8:00 am.

when i'm too too distracted or brain-numbed to read (or write), i troll design blogs and fashion sites for inspiration--not so much for fashion inspiration (while i do love looking at how the gals on street chic and the sartorialist combine colors, choose accessories, layer upon layer, that kind of unstudied chic or high style is not something i am apt [read: able] to mimic) but for pure, romantic, creative jolts.

the actual photos are glorious for light and color. i love that some are charmingly posed, others discreetly snapped...

it's lovely escapism.

i can imagine the kiss of an autumn breeze in paris...

the sartorialist via style.com september 30, 2008

or happily growing old in milan...

via the sartorialist, style.com, september 25, 2008.

i can witness "a moment"...

via the sartorialist at style.com, september 27, 2008.

i look at the backgrounds, the locations, and am reminded of my trip to france earlier this year and some of the things i loved: luxurious afternoons and evenings in outdoor cafes... blue-grey sky enriched by triumphant afternoon sun...mopeds and cool architecture... trees...windy strolls about the eiffel tower...crepes...

and sometimes from these blogs, i can uncover something new.

last week, i noticed the teaser for a post called "depression era beauties" that featured a famous george hurrell glamour shot of of jean harlow, and when i clicked through the accompanying slideshow, i fell in love with these photos of my favorite actresses:

myrna loy

carole lombard

i looked at the credits to note the names of the photographers, and found that more than a few were from the collection of john kobal. and i wondered, who is he?

it turns out he was a writer, film historian and the premier collector of hollywood film photography. if you read the bio on his foundation's website, you'll see he's basically a film superfan, who smartly amassed movie memorabilia, surely believing that others would share his obsession, and their preservation would be of eventual value to film historians and photographers.

there is a "made in hollywood" exhibition, featuring 90 vintage prints by some of the most important film photographers from the 1930s-60s that will open in may 2009, at the knoxville museum of art in knoxville, TN.

for a bit more context, check out this la times piece, first published in august 2008, when the exhibit opened in santa barbara.

exhibition "travel details" here.

and for a peek at photos from the accompanying book, "the glamour of the gods," visit newsweek's gallery.