Fault Lines at MoMA, NYC.

 

The New Photography exhibition at MoMA opened on Tuesday evening. As always with openings it's a little overwhelming and hard to take things in. However I did have a great night and it's amazing to see my photographs on the walls of this great institution. 

On the Friday we went back to the gallery and sat and watched people engaging with the work. I was delighted to see the sheer volume of people passing through. It's not often you get a chance to watch people looking at your work, as an experience I was filled with pride. 

New Photography 2011         September 28, 2011–January 16, 2012

 

New Yorker

This morning we went to meet the people at the New Yorker. We met with Whitney Johnson, director of photography, who I first met when she was working with the Soros Foundation, Jessie Wender and James Pomerantz, a photographer who is also the author of A photo Student blog. His blog is a useful resource for those who would like to study photography but don't have access to a college course, a virtual photo MFA.

Viewing Vanessa's Georgia book

 I did a small interview with Jessie for their Photo booth blog.

“The images are from my book ‘Fault Lines/Turkey/East/West,’ a look at a country that is at a political crossroads, with a number of fault lines at play, between modernity and tradition, secularism and Islamism, democracy and authoritarianism—often in unlikely and contradictory combinations,” Georgiou told me. “It was very important for me to allow space within the images, an openness or ambiguity, so the photographs can breathe.”

“In recent years there has been less documentary in the ‘New Photography’ show,” Georgiou said. “The genre is as valid today as it has ever been, and in many ways it plays to photography’s strengths, a representation and commentary of the world we live in and the emotional connection it allows for the viewer.”

Jason Eskenazi and Arai Akiko

Tonight we went to the New York Art book fair at MoMA PS1 in Queens.
The fair was a little overwhelming, partly because it was so crowded and humid.
One of the standouts were the books of Charles Lane Press. There were a number of beautifully crafted and designed editions at the fair and we bought 2 small booklets by Japanese photographer Arai Akiko,   Silver and trip journal #1

©Arai Akiko

We also bumped into Jason Eskenazi, just before he heads back to Turkey for the Bursa Photofest. Jason is the International Photographers Curator for the festival and has done an incredible job of attracting an array of talent to exhibit and talk. As the train pulled off we managed to exchange our books, we are now proud owners of Wonderland.

© Jason Eskenazi

Mr Toledano

For the first 4 nights in New York we were hosted by MoMA. For the rest of our stay in NYC, the very talented Mr Toledano has very kindly offered us his studio. It's great to wake up each morning with a wonderful view overlooking mid Manhattan and the Hudson river.
Phillip has a number of fine projects, including a flawless small book  about his aging fathers last years and their relationship. Days with my father, is a beautifully tender, honest and affectionate reflection.

Phillip handing over the keys

Our inflatable bed

View from the window of the studio

Phillips books

Phillip being the dictator Kim II Sung from his Kim Jong Phil series. Oil on canvas, 30×40 inches

 

MoMA New Photography opening

Had a great night at the opening last night and felt really proud seeing my work on the walls.
We all had to do a short introduction to our work. I never feel completely comfortable about talking in public, I should learned to prepare myself but never do, so I always end up loosing my thoughts. Looks like my hands were making more sense.

Arrival New York

The Map is Not the Territory

The title for the blog came from an email conversion I had with a friend as we were preparing for this extended  project into the USA.

ME: So I try to prepare for this big trip to the States, it seems like a strange thing to be doing now...
I have a huge wall map to make it feel more physical ..but I don't have a free wall to put it on so I must grapple with it on my desk, I'm partly trying not to spoil it, but at the same time I want to spread it out on the floor and tread on it and get it over with...

C: I understand, it is a weird feeling for you to prepare your travel, a big movement when everything already moves around.
I like so much the way you talk about your huge wall map. Do you know this expression "The map is not the territory" ?

The father of general semantics, Alford Korzybski stated, "A map is not the territory it represents, but if correct, it has a similar structure to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness". What this means is that our perception of reality is not reality itself but our own version of it, or our "map".

No two people can have exactly the same map.
So here we are, 2 photographers, 1 car, same journey, 2 visions.