Blog About Photography

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I’m straight up stealing a post from Conscientious, but that’s ok, but that’s ok because Amy Stein is a great photographer who we can all learn something from. From what she puts on her website, it would seem that her work adheres closely to the themes she sets forth, using a combination of found and posed subjects. Some of these speak to me more than others since I belong to the school that says it’s more interesting to discover interesting things out there in the world than to set them up yourself. Even so, her work is engaging and thought provoking, particularly her “Women and Guns” series. And, better yet, she writes an interesting and insightful blog which is something everyone can behing.

This is a fascinating article from Slate about a serious problem facing emcees these days: the Sample Troll. What is a sample troll, you ask? From the article:

Similar to its cousins the patent trolls, Bridgeport and companies like it hold portfolios of old rights (sometimes accumulated in dubious fashion) and use lawsuits to extort money from successful music artists for routine sampling, no matter how minimal or unnoticeable. The sample trolls have already leveraged their position into millions in settlements and court damages, but that’s not the real problem. The trolls are turning copyright into the foe rather than the friend of musical innovation.

The article is long, but it really is worth reading. There’s an audio version of it floating around somewhere, too.

This trolling thing is serious business. I hadn’t heard of the sample trolls before, but I remember reading an article in the New Yorker about a patent trolling company that was taking down RIM, the company that developed the BlackBerry. They had patented a crude wireless email system that is sort of like RIM’s, and they were suing them for like a gajillion dollars. It was going to totally sink the company but then of course Microsoft bought them out and solved the problem.

This article only relates only peripherally to what I just said. It’s interesting though, because unlike the New Yorker article, it gives suggestions about how the music industry might address the sample troll threat. I hope to see some lively discussion about this here, assuming that anyone is reading this. Post comments if you’re out there! Let’s make this a back and forth!

Well, maybe funny. Fox News is getting ready to try out a “Daily Show”-esque political satire show that leans right instead of left, according to Hollywood Reporter, via the HuffPo. It’s going to have writers from “24,” “Politically Incorrect with Bill Mahr” and the “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson”. So you know it’s going to be hilarious.

I, for one, welcome this new program which for now is called, “This Just In.” After the repudiation of their world view, I appreciate that Fox is trying to get creative with their programming. I mean, they have 24 hours of airtime to fill with hatred and bile and lies, so I’m glad that they’re thinking about making it funny as opposed to infuriating. They still call themselves a news network; they may as well admit it’s just a joke.

The Jen Bekman Gallery has announced the winners of the Hey, Hot Shot competition for fall 2006. I won. No, not really. I didn’t even get honorable mention. All the work is really good though from some pretty serious and talented photographers, some of whom I’ve heard of, so I’m more awed than disappointed. I entered:

This is what won:

So there’s a pretty clear aesthetic difference, and um, you know difference in say, ease of execution and, you know. Quality. So I guess I have some work to do. Congratulations to all the winners. But know that Spring ‘07 is going to be an total shut out. I’m comin’ back, baby!

This is taking forever.

A little later today I’m getting on a plane to go back to Houston, which is where I’m from. I’m going to be there for 8 days and I’m really excited about it for a couple of reasons. The first is that I haven’t been back there since May and it’s going to be good to sleep in my old room and all that. When I go home, life is easy and action-packed. Mom is always thrilled that I’m back and loves to be a hostess. It’s going to be great to see her and also to eat well. Ha. I’m totally out of money right now. Ex 1,Tonight’s dinner: Mug of instant oatmeal, two cups of apple sauce, Coors. My friends are usually stoked to see me since I stay away for such long stretches and they don’t have time to get sick of me, so it’s a whirlwind of activity. And then there’s this guy.

Going back to Houston is also turning into more and more of a creative endeavor. I have use of a car there, which makes indulging a photographic whim pretty easy. Plus, I have months to think of all the stuff I want to shoot when I’m down there (it’s going to be churches this time), make lists, and then execute them with military efficiency*.

So, the next few posts will either not happen or happen from Houston. It should be a good time for everybody, except for, say, the people who have to clean up after us.

*The use of this idiom hearkens back to a day when the American military was, in fact, efficient. There was a time in this nation’s history that it’s military prowess actually saved freedom and did so in a mere four years. This phrase is quite obviously anachronistic and I apologize for any confusion my use of it may have caused.

I’m sure by now most of you have either seen the preview for or otherwise heard of “Death of a President,” the fake documentary about the fictional assassination of President Bush. The film was controversial for about a milisecond; then it won best film at the Toronto Film Festival, and I think maybe some others. It was supposed to come to theaters, I don’t know if it did or if it didn’t, but it has made its way onto Google Video, and is free for the watching. I also have the torrent for you if you prefer, courtesy of mininova. Man, has the internet gotten great or what?

I want to mention something about the fake news photograph, which is pretty interesting. it really is a fantastically iconic image, instantly recognizable and well done. I imagine that it wasn’t all that easy to coordinate such a shot; it has the spontaneity of a true news photograph, one that would be the go-to image for this would-be violent turning point in a sad period of America’s history. The assassination, however, is staged. So rather than being elevated to icon, this photograph is merely fantastic marketing for a controversial film.

My good friend Molly, who is wonderful and amazing, just sent out this email:

So, the dramatic story goes like this… my decietful landlady illegally rented her apt to us. Now she got kicked out of the co-op,i.e. voted off the island, and she has to sell the unit.

I am looking for a sublet or 6 month lease starting Jan 1-ish. Everything is flexible. The only issue that matters is reasonably cool housemates/roommates.

I’ll tell you what the real tragedy is here. The apartment Molly has to vacate is really fucking cool. But that’s life under a co/op board, I suppose. Please let me know if you are in Washington, DC and you have someplace for her to live. Thanks!

This is something I hope to make kind of regular, since, as it turns out, we’re still having regular elections in this country. No, but seriously. My good friends Katarina Jerinic and Bryan Schutmaat (sometimes) both work in video and they’re really on to something.

I’m not sure how to do this properly quite yet in terms of the feed and all that (email me if you do) so for now, just download the podcast and I guess play it in quicktime or what have you.

UPDATE: I would appreciate any and all feedback on this thing. I got three people’s responses in the past couple of nights, and have incorporated much of what was said into a second cut, which is now what is on view here. So post comments!