Martha Rosler at USC

Martha Rosler, who received her MFA from UCSD in 1974, will be giving a talk at USC on Wednesday from 12-2. Her work "concerns social issues, which are manifested at sites as various as the kitchen, the television set, the streets and the transport systems." You can find more info here.

Urban Panoramas

The Getty has a new exhibition up that some might find interesting considering an approach to the city in relation to landscape photography. Urban Panoramas, which includes the work of Soo Kim, Jeff Liao, Catherine Opie, "reveals how multiple sensory experiences such as time and space can be collapsed into carefully composed images that interpret the essential character of an urban environment." Click here to view audio slideshows of photographers discussing their work.

State of Mind Panel Discussion TODAY

I know this is last minute, but there will be a panel discussion today at 2pm at MOPA in Balboa Park. You can find more info here. Photographers Ken Gonzales-Day, Nigel Poor, and Michael Light will discuss their processes, influences, and the current state of California photography. Each photographer is part of State of Mind: A California Invitational, an exhibition that celebrates the best contemporary California photographers. A book signing will follow the panel discussion.

Stephen Graham talk TONIGHT

Stop by the VAF Performance Space tonight at 6:30 and listen to Stephen Graham discuss his new book Cities Under Siege:
“Cities Under Siege is a detailed and intense forensics of new urban frontiers, laboratories of the extreme where experiments with new urban conditions are currently being undertaken. In this fascinating new work Stephen Graham has created a novel concept of the city, looking at war as the limit condition of urbanity and calling for an alternative urban life yet to come.”—Eyal Weizman, director, Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths

Also, here are the links to the two videos I mentioned I would post: Brian Ulrich and Taryn Simon

What Makes a Great Portrait?

About a year ago Joerg Colberg asked several artists, bloggers, curators, editors, and gallerists what they felt made a great portrait and you can see the responses here.

Photographing in Public

After our brief discussion in Lecture today about the rights of a photographer, I thought I would pass on a little more information. Click here for a copy of The Photographer's Right, a downloadable flyer explaining your rights when stopped or confronted for photography. Andrew Kantor also put together the more in depth document Legal Rights of Photographers, which you can find here. Here is a link to I'm a Photographer Not a Terrorist! which is a campaign in Britain "for everyone who values visual imagery, not just photographers" (they also have printable stop and search bust card if you are interested in what is happening across the pond). Their goal is to help photographers know and uphold their legal rights. For more information on that check out these recent articles in The Guardian and BBC.

Just Kids

Here is a link to Patti Smith discussing her early years in New York, and in particular her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, in her new book Just Kids.