Great to see Sylvie Fortin talking about Atlanta’s role in the art world, specifically explaining the benefits of living in this unique, (sweltering) “second-tier” city.

“The power structure is not set here, yet. The terms have not been yet dictated. There’s room for people if they have the energy, and intelligence, to claim a space; to make things happen.”

Sylvie Fortin, Art Papers Editor-in-Chief from ArtRelish.com on Vimeo.

South by Southeast PhotoMagazine launched today, with an online subscription of $12/yr. From Southern Photography blog:

“Nancy describes the magazine as ‘a new online monthly and in-print quarterly magazine that will bring you anything and everything about photography in and of the Southeast. From galleries of work by our established masters to interesting series by new emerging artists—you’ll be covered. You will also see feature videos of the artists discussing their work while bringing you into their studios, as well as beautiful imagery they’ve created in motion.’”

Martin Parr, who was just in town working on a commission for the High Museum, has posted a thought-provoking round-up of photographic clichés over on his blog. Here’s a sample:

“Let me try and outline the basic genres that can be found.

1. The above ground landscape with people.

This is a relatively recent development with the major influence of Gursky, being the starting point. You take a high vantage and place people within the frame setting them in a larger urban or even rural landscape.

2. The bent lamppost.

You see this a lot in the USA, where they are blessed with many bent lampposts. The scene is urban and generally quite run down. This can be traced back to Stephen Shore amongst others.

3. The personal diary.

Nan Goldin gave this genre a major boost with the famous “ Ballad of Sexual Dependency ” project, but there are predecessors with the likes Larry Clarke and Ed van der Elsken.

4. The Nostalgic gaze.

Photographers love to shoot a factory, a shop, a club or some institution that is about to close. We, of course, welcome and praise the sense of community that is threatened.

5. The quirky and visually strong setting.

In terms of documentary we are much more likely to see a project done on a circus than say, a petrol station. The simple reason is that photographers love shooting situations where there is an inherent visual quirk. So we see plenty of this type of subject such as mental hospitals and animal clinics.

6. The Street.

Street photography has evolved in recent years, with many more humourous scenarios now making the edit, and of course the shift to colour. In Britain we also have the great tradition of shooting on the beach, but this has declined in recent years because it is tricky to do this now, without being accused of being paedophile.

7. The black and white grainy photo.

Daido Moriyama is, if you like the Godfather of this school of photography, and he combined the imagery of Andy Warhol and William Klein to arrive at this groundbreaking photographic language. The subject is combination of cityscape and personal.”

Young Photographers Alliance is looking for photographers to participate in their YPA mentorship program, sponsored by ASMP.

Great to see Atlanta photographer Jason Travis‘ interview here with CNN about his “Persona” series. And here’s a CNN article about the project. Cheers, Jason!

If a residency at Light Work in Syracuse, NY is not on your radar, they have an extraordinary track record of working with over three hundred artists, and you should apply!

“The application process was designed to be flexible to the needs of artists. There is no deadline or application form. We only ask for a letter of intent, a resume, an artist statement, and visual support material. Reviews of applications take place every four or five months, with the next one scheduled early November. We are currently scheduling 2011 residencies.”

It’s great to see that John Maloof’s discovery from a few years ago of Vivian Maier is reaching a critical mass, like this video from WTTW. Here’s the long article from Chicago Magazine.

Try full-sized, via “Cameras I Have Known and Loved, by Blake Andrews

From Adam Lisagor and Noah Kalina.

Atlanta artist Beth Lilly has photographs in the upcoming exhibition Earth Now: American Photographers at the New Mexico Museum of Art. Check out Beth’s projects on her site. Former Atlanta resident Brook Reynolds’ project Light, Sweet Crude is also included in the show!

“Earth Now: American Photographers and the Environment opens at the New Mexico Museum of Art April 8, 2011 and its online component can now be found on the web at http://earthnow.nmartmuseum.org.

Fraction Magazine, the on-line magazine of contemporary photography, will partner with the museum in presenting and expanding the exhibition’s web site.

Katherine Ware, exhibition curator and the museum’s Curator of Photography, selected works for Earth Now showing how a range of contemporary landscape photographers are responding to some of the most pressing environmental issues of our time, such as energy consumption, changing agricultural practices, toxic waste, and the human relationship to animals and the land. Twelve photographers will be highlighted in the Earth Now on-line exhibition.

The museum’s first socially optimized exhibition will showcase some 104 images – from Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter who place the exhibition in historical context to Subhankar Banerjee, Daniel Handal, Brad Temkin, Dornith Doherty and Sharon Stewart. There will also be a blog, a wide range of videos, podcasts of lectures, and links to other sites. The Earth Now site itself will be its own ecosystem remaining an active forum through the run of the gallery exhibition ending August 29, 2011 with frequent additions of fresh content.

Just in time for July 4th, a patriotic photography exhibition in Zebulon at A Novel Experience. A percentage of sales from the exhibition will benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.

Visions of Old Glory

More info about Georgia Professional Photographers Association on gppa.com.

Denise Lira-Ratinoff (a past ACP participating artist & Portfolio Review attendee) has work from her “Glacier” series available in Christie’s Green Auction. Check it out!

Radiovisual podcaster Michael Connor asks where the “Red State” artists are in this year’s Whitney Biennial, in episode #004 of the Radiovisual podcast.

“I don’t know what the purpose of the Whitney Biennial is, if it’s not to represent a nation of artists. I don’t feel like the Biennial did that. So here’s my question; where are the artists from the flyover States? From the red States? There just not there. I’m sure there’s artists out there – I want to see them.”

For what it’s worth, Georgia is still definitively red, and no artists from Georgia were selected for this year’s Biennial, where 33 of 55 artists selected live and work in New York.

If you’re not following what documentarian Errol Morris has been writing on the nytimes blog “Opinionator“, you’re missing some of the most intriguing, controversial, exploratory contemporary writing about photography.

His latest posts, about a photograph of a Mickey Mouse doll on a war-torn street in Lebanon, including an at-length interview with the photographer Ben Curtis, have been particularly revealing. Have a look!

Question: What is the difference among these three photographs?

I invite the Times readership to respond. Is it photojournalism, propaganda or art, and why? My own answer is below.

Answer: There is no difference. The photographs are the same. (Although the three captions are different.)

If you like entering your work in contests, you’ll want to check-out the DVA Photo Calendar, a subscribeable Google Calendar run on the DVAFOTO blog by Matt Lutton and M. Scott Brauer. Here’s hoping they stay on top of it and keep it rolling!

To subscribe, just click the “+ Google Calendar” button at the bottom right corner of the calendar.

Photographer and filmmaker Ryan Lobo has a great Ted Talk that was released today.

“Ryan Lobo has traveled the world, taking photographs that tell stories of unusual human lives. In this haunting talk, he reframes controversial subjects with empathy, so that we see the pain of a Liberian war criminal, the quiet strength of UN women peacekeepers and the perseverance of Delhi’s underappreciated firefighters.”

The Frankencamera is a camera that runs open source software to produce HDR images, in camera. Seems like there are endless possibilities for what it might be able to do, as it’s as much a computer as it is a camera. Here’s the story on NPR.

Jerry Siegel‘s new show “Now and Then: Snapshots of the South” opens at the Columbus Museum on Thursday night, August 13th.

Jazz great Bill Frisell has set Mike Disfarmer’s vintage portraits to music. I’ve never seen (or heard) a project like this before. Any other great musical interpretations of photography out there? Check it out!