Cathy Fox of ArtsCriticAtl assesses Vivian Maier, whose vintage, black-and-white street work is now viewable at Jackson Fine Art, Lumiere Gallery, and soon, at Serenbe Photography Center. Creative Loafing takes a look, too.

“On the face of it, Vivian Maier led an ordinary, if solitary, existence. A single woman, she worked as a nanny in New York and Chicago and kept to herself. But Maier, who died in 2009 at the age of 83, had a secret passion: photography. A Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex, her constant companion, was the vehicle through which she participated in the multifarious experiences of the two great cities in which she spent most of her life.

And she was good. Damn good.”

Local filmmaker Neal Broffman has been shooting a documentary about Martin Parr. Mr. Parr has been commissioned by the High Museum of Art for its “Picturing the South” series (pdf link), and Mr. Broffman has been traveling with Mr. Parr while shooting.

“It is my hope that this documentary will be an accurate, objective guidepost for this and future generations of young photographers interested in studying the profession in which they have chosen to work. I would like the film to find a venue, in the short term, in film festivals and broadcast (in the US and overseas). And, back in Atlanta, Georgia Public Broadcasting will air the piece in early June.”

Check out the trailer above, and support the project’s completion if you can!

The Portfolio Show at Atlanta Photography Group will be hosting a juror’s talk from Julian Cox, Founding Curator of Photography for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) and Chief Curator at the de Young Museum. The talk is on Saturday at 11am, with coffee and bagels at 10:30!

As part of the “Conversations with Contemporary Artists“, Ralph Gibson will be speaking at the High Museum of Art on Thursday, Nov. 10th, at 6:30pm in the Rich Theater. Not to be missed! The conversation will precede the opening (on Nov. 12th) of Gibson’s show at the High, entitled “Quartet“.

Great to see Atlanta-based photographer (and ACP Volunteer!) Matthew Rond’s photographs on the front page of the newly launched CNN Photoblog. Check out the rest of Matthew’s work at matthewrond.com

Here’s some exciting news from Mary Stanley Studio, announcing a new project space, and “Ones to Watch”, which will be part of the ACP 2011 Photography Auction Gala on Friday, Sept. 23rd.

I am pleased to announce the opening of my new Project Space in downtown Atlanta. Please join me for the exhibition Preview 2011 ACP Ones To Watch opening next Thursday, September 8th at Gallery 2 at Marquis Two Tower located downtown at 235 Peachtree Center Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30303 from 6:00 – 8:30pm.

Independent curator and ACP Advisor, Mary Stanley, presents a selection of ten of the hottest emerging and established photography talents. These artists are highly collectible, nationally and internationally recognized, and set a high bar for innovation and quality. The ten works in the Preview exhibition will be auctioned for the benefit of the 13th Annual Atlanta Celebrates Photography Festival on Friday September 23, 2011. Sealed silent bids will be accepted until September 22 at 6pm.

Featured artists:
Holly Andres – Portland, OR
Kendrick Brinson – Atlanta, GA
Eric Defino – Los Angeles, CA
Sion Fullana – Brooklyn, NY
Steve Giovinco – New York, NY
Brendan Kingsley – Savannah, GA
Thomas Petillo – Nashville, TN
Christopher Rauschenberg – Portland, OR
Hrvoje Slovenc – Brooklyn, NY
Sarah Small – Brooklyn, NY

About our new location:
Mary Stanley Studio—Project Space is downtown in Gallery 2 at Marquis Two Tower on 235 Peachtree Center Avenue. The space is on the ground floor, adjacent to the Marriott Marquis Hotel (in the site formerly occupied by MODA – Museum of Design Atlanta).
Gallery Hours: Thursday & Friday from 12 noon – 6pm & by appointment.
Valet parking is available at the Marriott Marquis Hotel for $10.

Also for the environmentally efficient, it is VERY convenient to the Peachtree Center Marta Station. You can walk via the skywalk to the gallery without even going outdoors.

NANCY FLOYD
Competition Shooters

Please save the date:
Friday, September 16, 2011
Reception / 7-9 PM
Artist Talk / 7:30

Quickshot Shooting Range
1199 Zonolite Road
Atlanta, GA 30306
(located off Briarcliff Road, near Emory campus)

You don’t need to be a card-carrying member of the NRA to join us Friday, September 16th at Quickshot Shooting Range! We hope you will plan to come hear Atlanta-based artist Nancy Floyd speak about her ongoing series Competition Shooters – women competing for the honor of representing USA at the Olympic Games. Floyd will discuss her experiences photographing past Olympic trials, and her upcoming plans to shoot the women competing for a berth in London 2012. This is the first time this series has been shown in its entirety – many thanks to Quickshot for generously providing exhibition space!

Refreshments, snacks, great conversation and an opportunity to try your hand at marks(wo)manship! Quickshot will be donating firearm rentals to those who want to give it a try. We will be sending more information soon about this exciting evening at Quickshot!

For more information, contact Solomon Projects at info@solomonprojects.com or 404.875.7100.

From Jason Parker:

“Hello art friends, I’m writing to let you know about a public project and exhibition I launched today. For one week, four images will appear on the 14×45 foot digital billboard above Huff Furniture between Shadowlawn and Mathieson, viewable when heading south on Peachtree in Buckhead.

In among the advertising messages, these images don’t ask anything of the viewer, but address passersby directly with simple messages: “Yes,” “Please,” “Thank You,” “You Are Welcome.” There’s no website to visit, no number to call, nothing to buy. In marketing-speak, there is no call to action.

Without a second step, they are whole in themselves, and with a direct address they turn broadcast into an individual message for whoever sees it at that moment.

I intend it as a polite, discordant and humorous interruption of the incessant flood of commercial messaging, and a way to take advantage of a huge opportunity for artists to reach an audience outside of galleries. I hope you can get a look at them, and enjoy.”

From APG:

“We’d like to announce the call for entries for our upcoming exhibit, Anna Skillman Selects. Photographers selected for this show will have their work exhibited in the APG Gallery. Their names will be listed on the APG web site along with an optional link to their web site and promoted during Atlanta Celebrates Photography, an annual city-wide highlight of photography.

Entry deadline is September 10, 2011. Cash awards will be given: 1ST PLACE $150.00, 2ND PLACE $100.00, 3RD PLACE $50.00

Additional information and entry form can be found on our website.”

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.’”

More information here: http://sxsemagazine.com/SxSE.html

From ArtsCriticAtl:

“Simply put: he wanted the opportunity to run the show. He said that determining the direction of the collection is his first priority. Though it’s too soon to be definitive in that regard, he indicated that it would not be an abrupt departure from the course established by Julian Cox, his predecessor and another Getty alum. He had high praise for Cox’s acquisition of a group of photos documenting the history of the civil rights movement.

“What Julian did was great,” Abbott said. “He found a topic that had support and made the acquisitions and an exhibition in tandem. I’d like to continue that strategy, though it may be a new theme.“

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.”

Kael Alford was in town last week with a preview of her forthcoming work for the “Picturing the South” series at the High Museum of Art in 2012. Above, a multimedia presentation from Kael, with backstory about the project. [on Vimeo]

Jan Banning, a Dutch photographer whose project “Bureaucratics” was referenced by Martin Parr in his lecture last Thursday at the High Museum of Art, is currently shooting a new work-in-progress called “Down and Out in the South” in Atlanta.

© Jan Banning

“In September and October 2010, I was invited by 701 Center for Contemporary Art (701 CCA) in Columbia, SC (USA) as an artist-in-residence. While in Columbia, I made a series of portraits of homeless people. I came to understand that the men and women that roam around in the Main Street area of Columbia and elsewhere, an estimated 1,000 or more in total, are generally looked upon by the public as criminals, people to be afraid of and to shy away from. What became clear to me was in fact, the homeless are just as likely to be the victims of a crime as the perpetrators: life on the streets is hazardous. Many of them have mental health problems. Some have lost their homes due to the economic crisis, others are or have been “substance abusers” or have served prison sentences. Their names are published on the internet and with the legal restrictions there is little chance for them to get their lives back on track because of this public knowledge of their criminal history.

I realized that homelessness is not the most original theme for a photographer, however I felt I could add a new dimension by portraying these people not as what they are: homeless, with all visual references of destitution that society associates with that such as bagpacks, shopping carts, tents and sleeping bags, etc., but by focusing on who they are.

Atlanta photographer Morgan Kendall’s work can be found in the recent issue of the Dutch magazine, FLOW. Check out her work on flickr or on her blog, polaroid cupcake.

Here’s news about the “Nature Undisturbed Photography Exhibit” in Tyrone, from Donna Rosser.

Nature Undisturbed Photography Exhibit — April 16 through 30
Dogwood Gallery & Framer, 1175 Senoia Rd., N, Suite N, Tyrone, GA 30290

Opening reception, April 16 6-9pm Juror Talk at 7pm

April 30 at 2pm juror Susan Todd-Raque moderates a panel discussion on collecting photography. Panel to include: Kathryn Kolb, Lucinda Bunnen, and Brett Abbott

For more information about Nature Undisturbed — visit http://www.natureundisturbed.com

There’s a “Camera-less Filmmaking” Workshop at Atlanta Contemporary Art Center on April 14th. Check it out!

Workshop: Camera-less Filmmaking
Thu, Apr 14, 6 – 9 pm

Artist Vertna Bradley leads a workshop exploring the use of 16mm film as a medium, with techniques including bleaching, painting, photocopying, iron transfer, and found footage. Films created by participants will be shown during a special program on Thu, Jun 2, 7 – 8:30 pm.

$10 Fee includes materials.

Limited to 15 participants. Reserve your spot by e-mailing info@thecontemporary.org. First come, first served.

Hagedorn Foundation Gallery will be hosting a unique panel discussion on Wednesday Thursday night to coincide with their current exhibition “Home”. Facebook RSVP page is here.

In order to examine the singular voice in female photography, we will be talking about the women artists in this exhibition in relationship to those in the MOMA exhibition, Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photography

Panelists include: Rebecca Dimling Cochran, curator of The Wieland Collection; Lisa Kurzner, independent scholar and photography expert; Michael David Murphy, ACP Program Manager and writer, and artists Laura Noel and Stephanie Dowda. Moderator: Brenda Massie, Director, Hagedorn Foundation Gallery.

(Ed Note: MDM, mentioned above as a panelist, is also the author of this post.)