Hijacked 2. Edited by Mark McPherson. 
Published by Big City Press/Kehrer Verlag, 2010.

Hijacked 2

Reviewed by Colin Pantall

__________________________ 

MARK MCPHERSON Hijacked 2
Edited by Mark McPherson, Ute Noll
& Markus Schaden.  Big City Press/
Kehrer Verlag, 2010. 412 pp.,
Illustrated throughout, 10-1/2x8-1/2".

At first glance, there are few similarities between German and Australian photography. German photographers study at prestigious colleges and produce work that owes allegiance to the organisation and clinical finishing of the Bechers and their disciples. Australian photographers follow a more organic path in their work, bringing together a range of influences that include film, folklore and the mythology of the Australian landscape. 

The divergence of the work is apparent in Hijacked 2, the latest volume in Mark McPherson's quest to put Australian photography on a global stage. The German photography is more focussed on specific working practice and so has a sense of place provided by the visual history from which it has emerged. The Australian work is more chaotic, with Australian features such as the landscape providing connections between work that is incredibly diverse.

From the German side comes earnestness and anxiety, political sensibilities that point to the traumas of the past, and possibly the future. Josef Schulz's pictures of abandoned border posts show the disintegration of European national identities.  Backlit booths provide a nostalgic light, but there is also a feeling that the border posts are in mothballs and that one day soon, stamp-wielding officials in peaked caps will once again be checking exactly who is going where and why.

Hijacked 2, by Mark McPherson. Published by Big City Press/Kehrer Verlag, 2010.

Many of the German photographers play with our generic expectation of images. Jens Liebchen's DL07 does this most effectively with his smudgy black and white images providing an aura of threat and violence. It's supposed to be a war zone but it's not - it's Liebchen's holiday snaps of Tirana, Albania.

Hijacked 2, by Mark McPherson. Published by Big City Press/Kehrer Verlag, 2010.

Counter-culture is present in the form of Julian Roder's G8 protestors. Best of all is Johanna Ahlert's Convoi - sensitive and rather touching portraits of German travellers.

It's not all grim though. Jan von Holleben makes Stephen Gill style montages in Mystery of Monsters, his latest investigation into childhood, dimensions and play, while lyrical beauty comes courtesy of Thekla Ehling's delightful Sommerherz series, a nostalgic series that puts into visual form what it might mean to be 21st Century German.

Hijacked 2, by Mark McPherson. Published by Big City Press/Kehrer Verlag, 2010.

What it is to be Australian is an altogether more difficult question. Tamara Dean looks at motherhood, especially the less glamorous aspects of it, James Brickwood photographs Australian teenagers partying during the Down Under equivalent of the Spring Spreak, and Georgia Metaxas photographs homeless Australians while they're having a haircut.

Hijacked 2, by Mark McPherson. Published by Big City Press/Kehrer Verlag, 2010.

Both the rural and the suburban environments are portrayed through Louis Porter super-saturated pictures of the suburban landscape as well as Lee Grant's documentation of Adelaide. The new Australian and its up-and-down relationship with Asia is felt in Jackson Eaton's autobiographical series of his South Korean girlfriend Hasisi.

Hijacked 2, by Mark McPherson. Published by Big City Press/Kehrer Verlag, 2010.

Michael Corridore's Angry Black Snake is a fitting end to Hijacked 2, an antipodean reprise of Liebchen's DL07. Crowds of people crouch down and shelter in smoke-filled dunes of sand. It looks as if a bomb has gone off or a building collapsed. But it's no disaster, just pictures of smoke from the burning engines of car burnout competitions.—Colin Pantall

purchase book 
 
Colin Pantall is a photographer, writer and teacher based in Bath. His photography and writing have been shown and published in North America, Europe and Asia. More thoughts of Colin Pantall can be found at Colin Pantall's blog     (http://colinpantall.blogspot.com/). 

Hijacked. Edited by Mark McPherson and Max Pam. 
Published by Big City Press, 2009.

Hijacked: Volume One

Reviewed by Colin Pantall

__________________________ 

MARK & MAX PAM MCPHERSON Hijacked.

Edited by Mark McPherson and Max Pam.

Big City Press, 2009. 288 pp., Color and black & white illustrations, 8x10-1/2".

If 'quick and dirty' photographs wrapped up in the 'weird naughtiness of a generation' sound appealing, then Hijacked Volume One is a book for you.

Combining the zine ethic and media-savvy dynamism of FIGJAM street culture with the networking energy of its Perth-based creator Mark McPherson, Hijacked 1 is a compelling trawl through contemporary US and Australian photographic practice.

There are quiet dramas, constructed worlds and confused realities but it is the blast from the street that dominates the book. From the US, Todd Fisher's street photography shows people kissing, pissing and fighting, bravado work that may or may not be all it seems. Bill Sullivan's portraits of people posing while having their portrait painted is a smart layering of meanings while Sarah Small's concoctions are both odd and fresh.

Hijacked, by MARK & MAX PAM MCPHERSON. Published by Big City Press, 2009.

Hijacked, by MARK & MAX PAM MCPHERSON. Published by Big City Press, 2009.

Toni Wilkinson uses the rich Australian light to portray a nostalgic and beautiful view of Australian children, while Michael Gray's manipulations show the inner man struggling to get out but perhaps also struggling to return to whence he came - a near impossibility whichever the continent.

Hijacked, by MARK & MAX PAM MCPHERSON. Published by Big City Press, 2009.

Hijacked, by MARK & MAX PAM MCPHERSON. Published by Big City Press, 2009.

The Australian landscape is heard in Martin Mischkulnig's images of the Outback, pictures where even the interiors of bars and bowling alleys feel somehow temporary. These are only structures-in-waiting, buildings ready to be overwhelmed by the wilderness on which they have been imposed.

According to co-editor, Max Pam, Hijacked 1 is an antidote to the taste and ethics police of the Australian art establishment. In other words, it's not just another collection of the work of 'emerging artists.' Instead it is a book that feels good for the eyes and for the soul, a book that has a zest and energy that is at times chaotic, but also revealing of the similarities and differences between US and Australian obsessions.—Colin Pantall

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Colin Pantall is a photographer, writer and teacher based in Bath. His photography and writing have been shown and published in North America, Europe and Asia. More thoughts of Colin Pantall can be found at Colin Pantall's blog     (http://colinpantall.blogspot.com/).  

The Photographer's Showcase is pleased to introduce a new portfolio from Ernie Button: Vanishing Spirits

Balvenie 129, 2009 -- Ernie Button

It's easy to get lost in the rich colors and soft swirls of the images from Ernie Button's Vanishing Spirits portfolio. At times the fine lines create landscapes, topographical ridges, the deltas of rivers. Some have bubbles, drawing the lines around them like cloud formations and storm of distant planets. And some are painterly, beautiful in their glow of color. But what, exactly, are we looking at? They can't be what they look like -- images of Jupiter or highly colored aerial photography. Yet there is something oddly familiar about them. They are, in fact, the delicate lines of residue left in the bottom of a glass by Single Malt Scotch, their subtle detail enhanced by colored light.

Highland Park 175  -- Ernie Button

Few would give these pale lines much more than a passing glance before depositing the glass in the dishwasher, but Button has managed to turn happenstance into the fantastic. Button has a keen eye for detail and plastic imagination -- able to see what so many of us over look in the every day, and then reimagine it -- changing its context, allowing us to see it for what it is, but also much more.  This quality is also clearly demonstrated in Button's other body of work on the Photographer's Showcase, Cerealism.

View Ernie Button's Vanishing Spirits portfolio on the Photographer's Showcase.

For more information on Button's work, please contact photo-eye Gallery Associate Director Anne Kelly by email or by calling the gallery at (505) 988-5152 x202

Having just come back from a very brief road trip, I thought it was fitting that a copy of Alec Soth's upcoming book, From Here To There: Alec Soth's America, was sitting on my desk this morning. It was certainly a pleasant surprise, and one of those perks that makes me smile first thing in the morning.

Published by the Walker Art Center, this exhibition catalogue features the full spectrum of Soth's work and includes more than 100 photographs taken in the last 15 years. Not only is it a detailed retrospective of this important contemporary photographer, it is also a great companion piece to many of Soth's previous monographs. This book includes essays, a poem and an interview referencing specific bodies of work, while also including a complete exhibition history and bibliography. Also nestled in the back of this publication is a 48-page artist’s book by Soth titled The Loneliest Man in Missouri.

From the book From Here To There: Alec Soth's America

I will be writing a review of this publication in photo-eye Magazine. I could probably write several paragraphs just on the brilliance of the book cover.

For more information and to pre-order this title, click here.

photo-eye Book Division Manager Melanie McWhorter will be among the keynote speakers and portfolio reviewers at Click646 in Greenwood, SC this coming weekend. Among the presenters will be Ann Jastrab of Rayko Photo Center and photographers Cig Harvey and Ben Ham. For more info on the festivities, portfolio reviews or lectures, visit Click646's website.

The Santa Fe Art Institute is honored to present award-winning documentary photographer and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield to present an overview of her work on gender, media influence, and youth culture including some new work on the economic boom and bust as it relates to consumerism and overdevelopment with her projects kids + money, Foreclosure and Dubai. Following the talk Greenfield will sell and sign books.

photo-eye will be hosting the book signing before and after Greenfield's lecture and we will have copies of the books Girl Culture, Fast Forward and Thin and the DVDs Thin and kids + money available for sale before and after the lecture. If you are unable to attend, please click on the link for the books or DVDs to reserve a signed copy of the books or to order the DVDs.

Trailers for kids + money and Thin.

We just updated the photo-eye Limited Edition page with 35 titles recently added to our online catalogue. Many of the limited editions are in stock or can be backordered. Check out the new additons, a few of which are shown below. All listings should be fully illustrated with print choices if applicable. Email Book Division Manager Melanie McWhorter with questions on the limited editions.

UFO by Albert Watson

The Auckland Project by John Gossage and Alec Soth

Georgia & Sabine by Natalie Young

(print choice below)

Queen Ann. P.S. Belly Cut Off by Mariken Wessels(print choices below)

Contemporary Artists' Series. July 22, 1969 by Stephen Shore

photo-eye Bestsellers are published on a weekly basis on the Bookstore page of photoeye.com. We also have an archive of best sellers of the last twelve months. Take a look at this week's list below or check out the archive page.

1. Michael Kenna: In Japan (1 week on bestseller list)

2. 2011 Michael Kenna Wall Calendar (1)

3. John Gossage & Alec Soth: The Auckland Project - SIGNED and Limited Edition (8)

4. Nick Brandt: On This Earth, A Shadow Falls - SIGNED (3)

5. Daido Moriyama: Record No. 12 / Kiroku No. 12 (1)

6. Todd Hido: A Road Divided - SIGNED (15)

7. Takuma Nakahira: For a Language to Come (5)

8. Michael Kenna: Huangshan - Regular and Limited Edition (1)

9. Ed Templeton: The Cemetery of Reason - SIGNED (1)

10. James Mollison: Where Children Sleep (1)

The reprint of the 1985 Aperture publication The Pond by John Gossage has just arrived at the bookstore. The first edition of this photobook is a classic and is one of the most treasured items in my collection. This newest edition has three new pictures that Gossage wanted in the first edition, but were not included and features a new dustjacket designed in a different color and printed on the verso. Although it does not have a tipped in silver print on the cover as in the first edition, it does have a lovely illustration of one of Gossage's images debossed into the front cover hiding behind the double printed jacket (shown below). Gossage states that he believes this edition is better printed than the first. The first edition is selling for $375 and up. Signed copies arriving in 2-4 weeks.Click here for more info.

photo-eye, with Radius Books and Soth Photography, is pleased to announce The Auckland Project, a book by two vastly important American photographers -- Alec Soth & John Gossage. The trade edition of The Auckland Project will be available signed by both Soth & Gossage, and the limited edition of 40 copies will include a signed and numbered color archival pigment print by each artist and is presenting in a unique housing containing both the book and prints.

In the Spring of 2009, John Gossage and Alec Soth traveled together to New Zealand to work on a joint photography project. For both, it was a trip of departures. Gossage has been creating photographic literature in black-and-white for over 40 years, and this trip yielded one of the first bodies of work he had ever produced in color. Soth’s work with the 8×10 view camera has inspired an entire generation of his contemporaries, and leaving it behind was key to approaching the world from a fresh visual perspective.

John Gossage, print that accompanies The Auckland Project limited edition

Alec Soth, print that accompanies The Auckland Project limited edition

Essentially two books in one, The Auckland Project showcases a playful attention to materials and presentation by showcasing the two photographers' work separately but creatively combined through the device of the book and its housing.

Signed copies and limited editions will be available in early December 2010. For more information and purchasing price, click here.

"I really wanted to like Shirin Neshat's handsome new monograph from Rizzoli.  It's a well-made, impressive object with terrific image quality.  It's got original text by Art World Superstar Marina Abramovic and über-critic Arthur Danto.  I was pretty excited when I first got my hands on it.  (The pictures are so shiny.)"

---  from Jonathan Blaustein's review of Shirin Neshat by Arthur Danto in photo-eye Magazine

     
Read the full review here.

Paula McCartney -- Orange Thrush, 2005

Paula McCartney's Bird Watching project will be on display at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago until September 26th.  Make sure to stop by on September 22nd between 4-7 pm for an artist talk, closing reception and book signing for her book Bird Watching.  In her Bird Watching series, McCartney combines nature with fabricated nature -- creating hybrid scenes, an enhanced landscape.  View McCartney's series on the Showcase here.

Colette Campbell-Jones -- Abyss #1(detail)

 The Palo Alto Art Center will be featuring work by Colette Campbell-Jones in one of three exhibitions opening September 25th, opening reception from 3-5 pm.  In her show titled "Light from the Underground," Campbell-Jones will be exhibiting work from her Stories from the Underground series, specifically featuring her 20x120" murals, one of which will be installed on a curved wall.  The murals are richly detailed and definitely worth checking out in person, but if you can't make it to Palo Alto, you can see them on the Showcase here.

Learn more about exhibiting on the Showcase here.

Funnel-Cornfield -- Mitch Dobrowner

This July Mitch Dobrowner emailed me from South Dakota requesting that I "hope for bad weather" for him...

Ever since childhood Mitch has been fascinated by storms and has many fond memories of being caught in thunderstorms. Prior to the storm series Dobrowner photographed primarily in the Southwest. When there he would seek out the "nastiest, most unstable" weather possible, and in the summer of 2009 Mitch decided to take his work to the next level. Directing his focus away from the Southwest, Mitch started working on locating the most severe weather he could find, which brought him to Tornado Alley and the Great Plains of the USA.

Bear's Claw -- Mitch Dobrowner

I asked Mitch to tell us a little more about his storm chasing... how could he not have some exciting stories!?

 THE TRIPS
The trips to the Great Plains are an adventure unto itself. As I write this I sit in Tucson Arizona preparing go out on my 4th trek... chasing after monsoon thunder/lightning storms. In each of the last 3 trips we have traveled 5600, 4800 and last month 6100 miles (over 16,000 miles in total) - seeing over 14 states. Besides the great storms I've had the honor of seeing the Midwest and central states - whose small, tight knit communities make up a majority of the United States. But that's another story (and maybe another project).

Mitch: "I was standing in the pouring rain - soaking wet. It was awesome."

THE STORMS
The first time I witnessed a structured supercell thunderstorm was June 12th, 2009. What I saw gave me a fresh prospective on the power of Mother Nature and how small and insignificant we really are.

One memory is of June 13th, 2009 in Valentine, Nebraska: I was standing in a wheat field with wind gusts eclipsing 50mph, witnessing lightning strikes every few seconds, hearing the rumble of hail - all while standing in front of a 60,000' high mesocyclone. I could not believe what I was seeing; it was unlike anything I've even see before in my life.

It was also then that I realized that these storms are living, breathing things. They are born everyday, they fight against their environment to stay alive, change their form as they age, they lose their strength - and eventually they die. Standing in front of one of these phenomena's of nature is an adventure into the extreme. For me, I've had the honor to witness Nature in her beauty (illustrated in landscapes) but these storms (besides being beautiful) represent Mother Nature in her ultimate anger and fury. Seeing Nature in this manner is an extremely personal level experience as it has helped move my relationship with nature and our planet to the next level.

Mitch Dobrowner, photographer and storm chaser

As Mitch had hoped, he found the bad weather he was seeking. A selection of new storm images are now available at photo-eye Gallery, including the photographs featured in this blog post Bear's Claw and Funnel-Cornfield. Enjoy!

For more information on Dobrowner's work, contact photo-eye Gallery.