29/04/06

Cambo Ultima 35 & Mamiya ZD Digital Camera

Cambo Ultima 35 & Mamiya ZD Digital Camera

Cambo Photographic introduces the implementation of the latest digital camera of Mamiya to expand the capability and versatility of digital photography with the ULTIMA 35 series.

Cambo Ultima 35 with Mamiya ZD
All photos Courtesy Cambo

The combination of the 36x48mm Dalsa sensor in the Mamiya ZD camera with the full view camera movements of the ULTIMA 35 offers expanded possibilities for perspective control and depth of field corrections with a higher grade of quality and creativity than ever before, without changing the characteristics and portability of the Mamiya ZD camera.

A dedicated mounting block and bellows assure an exact positioning in the optical axis for precise movements and easy focusing through the bright viewfinder. Cambo advises the use of Schneider or Rodenstock lenses for digital applications to be used on the ULTIMA 35. Also available is a lens adapter plate for the use of Mamiya RZ / RB lenses in combination with the Cambo ULTIMA 35 and the Mamiya ZD.



The Cambo ULTIMA 35's design allows today's digital SLR cameras on the market to be expanded into a complete photographic System. This design enables the photographer to photograph studio product, fashion, portrait, architecture or landscapes — both in the studio and on location, tethered to a computer or totally portable and wireless — in a unique combination of ultra-precise view camera movements with state-of-the-art digital technology.

The camera body can be taken off quickly and be used as a handheld camera with ils own compatible lenses for shots that require a stand-alone application, and can just as easily be rernounted onto the Cambo ULTIMA 35 again in perfect alignment for studio shooting.



Dedicated accessories, compatible with the Cambo ULTIMA 35, such as compendium lens shade, flat and recessed lensboards and a Mamiya RZ / RB lens adapter, as well as a vertical mounting adapter are ail available. Future developments of new digital SLR cameras can easily be adapted when they will be released. The ULTIMA 35 is also compatible with Cambo's general accessory System and can always be upgraded or retrofitted for other applications.

Designed and manufactured by Cambo Fotografische Industrie B.V., Kampen, NL
Web site: www.cambo.com

28/04/06

Expo de Gravures - L’Empreinte, 95 % Rouge - Lyon

Exposition Art contemporain > L'Empreinte
Exposition Art contemporain > France > Région Rhones Alpes > Lyon 69002

 

L'Empreinte 95 % Rouge 95 % Rouge

Galerie WM, Lyon

25 avril - 6 mai 2006

 

Exposition de gravures sur le thème du rouge qui regroupe dix membres de l’association d’artistes graveurs L'Empreinte : Burtin-Serraille, Crest, Danjou, Mangeot, Meiser, Paolillo, Jean-Marc Paubel, Savornin, Tisseyre, Trichelieu.

 

L'Empreinte est un groupe d'artistes pratiquant la gravure et les techniques de l'estampe. Réunis sous forme associative depuis 1995, les artistes de L'Empreinte multiplient les projets dans un esprit d'ouverture et de créativité. Le travail sur des thématiques communes est un des moteurs du groupe qui a produit des livres d'artistes sur le thème du fleuve, de la route, du bestiaire, et bientôt de la frontière. Deux échanges sont actuellement en cours : l'un avec des artistes brésiliens, sur le thème des hémisphères, l'autre avec l'atelier FGV d'Odense au Danemark.

Les manifestations organisées par L'Empreinte sont placées sous le signe de la gravure avec une optique d'ouverture. Les techniques les plus diverses et les moins conformistes de l'univers de l'estampe y sont représentées au même titre que les techniques traditionnelles.

Regroupés au sein d'une association communes, chaque artiste exposé à la galerie WM à Lyon a sa forme d'expression artistique bien distincte. Outre L'Empreinte, la couleur rouge est le lien entre chaque artiste. Un ensemble de gravures est proposé dans le cadre de l'exposition.

 

Galerie WM
29, rue Vaubecour
69002 Lyon

L'Empreinte
Association d'artistes graveurs
40, rue St Michel
69007 Lyon

 

maj

13/04/06

Apple Releases Aperture 1.1

Universal Version Delivers Improved RAW Quality, Incredible Speed & New Lower Price
CUPERTINO, California—April 13, 2006—Apple® today released Aperture™ 1.1, a significant update to the revolutionary all-in-one post production tool for photographers that runs natively on both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs. Aperture 1.1 features dramatically improved RAW image rendering and a new set of advanced RAW adjustment controls. Aperture 1.1 also delivers impressive speed gains on any Mac® including desktop performance on a MacBook™ Pro* with image adjustments and searching up to 4x faster. At a new lower price of $299, Apple is putting Aperture within reach of anyone shooting with a digital SLR camera.
“Since Aperture launched just over four months ago, we’ve been incredibly focused on improving image quality and performance, working closely with pro photographers to get it right in 1.1,” said Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice president of Applications Marketing. “With the RAW quality and overall speed of Aperture 1.1 and its new low price, there’s never been a better time for pros and hobbyists alike to take the art and craft of photography to the next level.”
“I love the fact that you can save RAW adjustments in Aperture 1.1 and use those settings on future jobs,” said Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Vincent Laforet who recently used Aperture to capture Olympic images from Torino for The New York Times. “In the past, sending a selection of photos to clients for approval could take hours to import, edit down, resize, tone and deliver. With Aperture, I can do all of this in five minutes. Aperture has become the core application for me.”
“The controls for working with black and white film in Aperture 1.1 are staggering—much more powerful than a wet darkroom,” said John Stanmeyer, co-founding member of the VII Photo Agency and a contract photographer with Time Magazine. “There are times when I’m working with Aperture that I’m about to burst through my skin with excitement at its potential. There’s no doubt Aperture will become the key tool for photographers.”
RAW image rendering in Aperture 1.1 is greatly improved in areas such as noise reduction, sharpening, and highlight recovery. New RAW Fine Tuning controls allow photographers to tweak decode settings such as boost, sharpening and chroma blur. A new built-in color meter displays pixel values in RGB, Lab or CMYK in the Adjustments HUD (heads up display) or in Aperture’s Loupe magnifying viewer. Enhanced export controls make it easier to output images at specific resolutions and improve the handling of layered Photoshop files. Aperture 1.1 offers support for the Nikon D200 and Canon 30D, as well as dozens of reliability and performance improvements.
Aperture 1.1 delivers significant performance gains on both PowerPC-based and the new Intel-based Macs providing photographers with desktop level experience on the new MacBook Pro and delivering a powerful entry-level photography workstation on the new Intel-based iMac®. Performance tests on a MacBook Pro have shown that common repetitive workflow tasks such as Lift and Stamp and searching are processed up to 4x faster on a MacBook Pro than on a PowerBook® G4.
Pricing & Availability Aperture 1.1 is available immediately as a free Software Update to current Aperture 1.0 customers. In addition, early adopters of Aperture 1.0 can claim a $200 (US) coupon redeemable at the Apple Online Store by visiting http://www.apple.com/promo/aperture/ as a thank you for their support. Aperture 1.1 is available to order for new customers for a suggested retail price of $299 (US) through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and through Apple Authorized Resellers.
* Performance tests on a MacBook Pro have shown that common repetitive workflow tasks such as Lift and Stamp and searching are processed up to 4x faster on a MacBook Pro with 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo than a 15-inch PowerBook G4 with 1.67 GHz Power PC.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning desktop and notebook computers, OS X operating system, and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital music revolution with its iPod portable music players and iTunes online music store.
APPLE - PRESS RELEASE - 13.04.2006

09/04/06

Daniel Firman, Le Grand Café, centre d’art contemporain, Saint-Nazaire - Toucher : coulé

Daniel Firman 
Toucher : coulé 
Le Grand Café, centre d’art contemporain, Saint-Nazaire 
8 avril - 4 juin 2006 

Daniel Firman
DANIEL FIRMAN 
Luc, 2005
Collection privée
Courtesy Galerie Alain Gutharc, Paris
© Sandrine Aubry

Daniel Firman
DANIEL FIRMAN 
Luc, 2005
Collection privée
Courtesy Galerie Alain Gutharc, Paris
© Sandrine Aubry

On pourrait dire de Daniel Firman qu'il réalise une sculpture sans visage, au sens propre comme au figuré car très mobile dans ses aspects formels et le propos qu'elle développe. C'est qu'au fond, ce qui l'intéresse, c'est précisément cet "espace mouvant de l'art qui, chez lui, part de l'axe du corps des individus pour s'étendre jusqu'à l'extrême éloignement de leurs projections objectives et mentales (les biens qui les modélisent ou les normalisent, les souvenirs qui les constituent)" (Emmanuel Latreilles). Ainsi les moulages de corps qu'il réalise dialoguent-ils toujours avec des objets et des signes caractéristiques d'une réalité contemporaine : une voiture, un vêtement, un sigle informatique… Au milieu de cette relation d'échanges constants et d'information réciproque entre les êtres et les choses, Daniel Firman choisit de faire émerger les symptômes d'un dérèglement, d'une faille.

L'exposition Toucher : coulé prolonge cette préoccupation au travers d'oeuvres inédites qui chacune à leurs manières expérimentent l'espace du Grand Café.

Daniel Firman
DANIEL FIRMAN 
Carla, 2006
Plâtre, vêtements, barre métallique
Collection de l’artiste
Production Le Grand Café, centre d’art contemporain, Saint-Nazaire
Vue de l’exposition Toucher : coulé, 2006
© André Morin

Le titre de l'exposition de Daniel Firman livre quelques pistes de lecture. "Toucher " renvoie à l'importance des notions de contact et de préhension tactile régulièrement évoquées dans les oeuvres antérieures (les mannequins portant des accumulations d'objets sur la tête). Mais il faut aussi entendre "toucher" dans le sens "d'atteindre". L'exposition propose donc un univers où les objets sont "atteints", impactés, tour à tour soufflés et déflagrés. "Coulé" évoque directement la technique utilisée pour réaliser les moulages de corps, ainsi que l'épanchement de la matière. 

Jusqu'à présent, Daniel Firman proposait une perception du réel à travers une relation physique et psychique entre le corps et les objets. D’ailleurs, ses fameux mannequins portant une accumulation d'objets sur les épaules résultaient-ils toujours d'un vécu (la performance de l'artiste portant la dite agglomération d'objets, comparant ainsi la résistance de son corps à celle d'un matériau). Cette relation véhiculait l'idée de l'encombrement et du compactage qui générait un espace et un système d'organisation spécifique. C’est entre autre le cas de Trafic (2002) présentée dans Toucher : coulé, seule oeuvre préexistant à l’exposition. Cette oeuvre est emblématique du travail de Daniel Firman en ce sens qu'elle met en oeuvre les principes de scattering-gattering que l'artiste a exploité souvent dans sa sculpture : il s'agit des gestes archaïques qui régissent le rapport du corps aux éléments : accumulation-dispersion, contraction, extension... théorisé par le danseur et chorégraphe Rudolf Laban. 

Daniel Firman
DANIEL FIRMAN 
Vue de l’exposition Toucher : coulé, 2006, 
Le Grand Café, centre d’art contemporain, Saint-Nazaire.
© André Morin

Daniel Firman
DANIEL FIRMAN 
Vue de l’exposition Toucher : coulé, 2006, 
Le Grand Café, centre d’art contemporain, Saint-Nazaire.
© André Morin

Pour Le Grand Café, Daniel Firman inverse le mode de relation entre corps et objets et propose une perception du réel sur le mode de la dilatation. Il expérimente l'espace en rejouant les questions liées à la sculpture : le plein, le vide, la densité, le poids, la masse, la tension, la mollesse. Le monde de Daniel Firman est un monde de cohabitation. Il porte une attention particulière à la manière dont existent des présences très différentes les unes des autres en élaborant un langage visuel aussi complexe que celui généré par la ville aujourd’hui qui fonctionne par disruption. Un doute s'installe : les êtres et les choses sont-ils au bon endroit ?

Directrice et Commissaire de l'exposition : Sophie Legrandjacques

LE GRAND CAFÉ, CENTRE D’ART CONTEMPORAIN 
Place des Quatre Z’Horloges, 44600 Saint-Nazaire
www.mairie-saintnazaire.fr

01/04/06

Daniel Joseph Martinez at Laxart, Los Angeles

 

DANIEL JOSEPH MARTINEZ

How I Fell In Love With My Dirty Bomb
(Opium des Volks)

FLESH EATING PROSTHETIC
(Phagocitage des prostheses)

 

Daniel Joseph Martinez at Laxart

© 2006, Daniel Joseph MARTINEZ / Courtesy LAXART

 

LAXART a new nonprofit contemporary arts organization founded on 2005 and located at 2640 S. La Cienega Los Angeles in a new space designed by LA based architect Peter Zellner. Its inaugural exhibition features new work by Los Angeles based artist DANIEL JOSEPH MARTINEZ who launches the new space with a series of site-specific interventions including a text painted on the façade of the building, video, photography and sculpture.

Daniel Joseph Martinez has been instrumental in informing discourses on identity in America through the vehicle of painting, video, sculpture and public works. Martinezs recent work negotiates politics and poetics, largely through the lens of minimalism. His proposed multimedia project for LAXART speaks to empire, modernism and difference, yet is rooted in a highly formal language, which examines vulgarity, beauty and the sublime. Daniel Joseph Martinez brings to bear imperative questions about the palatability of politics through formalism.

Daniel Joseph Martinez has articulated his interest in painting, mutation, indigestibility, incongruity, modernist tropes and contradictory politics. He has defined his approach to the exhibition as one of social relevance and responsibility. The artist creates a site-specific text-based work to be painted on the façade of the building with an accompanying neighboring billboard. Martinezs signage stems from both appropriated and composed texts that function in a slippery space between propaganda, advertising and protest.

 

© Daniel Joseph Martinez, 2006

© Daniel Joseph Martinez, 2006

© 2006, Daniel Joseph MARTINEZ / Courtesy LAXART

Pictures from D.J. Martinez’s Video: Hollow Men, 2006.

 

In dialogue with the skin of the space, Daniel Joseph Martinezs work will inhabit both the main and project galleries of LAXART. A new video projection entitled Hollow Men represents a meditation on the artists mantra that mutation is the most radical ideology. The video features a repetitious gesture of the artists hands flipping the pages of a monochromatic picture book imaging a police raid. Deficient of any index of geo-political specificity, time and place is abstract and the event represented becomes generic. Performed time and again, the artists hands alter into monstrous prosthesis.

In addition, Daniel J. Martinez produces two new photographic works in the context of the LAXART installation, using iconic photographs from both the 1972 Munich Olympics and 1968 Mexico City Olympics as watershed events. Focusing on the modernist architecture of the iconic Black September image, Daniel Joseph Martinez abstracts space, subjectivity, politics and history. The project rehearses Martinezs tendency to appropriate modernist tropes in order to contaminate them, creating a rupture of both meaning and context.

 

LAXART’s inaugural exhibition is made possible with generous support from Linda Pace, Peter Norton Family Foundation, American Center Foundation, Danielson Foundation, E-flux, Art Papers, X-tra and InterReview.

 

LAXART
2640 S. La Cienega
Los Angeles, CA 90034

Gallery Hours
Tuesday - Saturday
11am – 6pm

March 18 - April 29, 2006

www.laxart.org

Weegee, Photographs 1935-1960

 

 Weegee, Copyrighted

     © Weegee. Courtesy HOST Gallery

 

I have no inhibitions and neither has my camera...’ –WEEGEE

Weegee (Arthur Fellig) documented the nightscape of New York with a zeal and intimacy never seen before or since. With a large-format Speed Graphic camera and piercing flash bulb his photographs recorded tenement infernos, car crashes and gangland executions. Specialising in the night shift between 10pm and 5am, he was famed for being the first to arrive at a crime scene – sometimes even before the police.

Weegee also captured the personal  stories of the city’s immigrant and working class communities – their life and death stories played out on the streets of New York. He found washed up singers, late-night voyeurs and teenage murder suspects and photographed them ‘at their most human’, as he put it. His flash-lit photographs pierced the darkness of night, revealing the city in all its sordid glory.

Weegee’s photography defined New York City in the 1930s and 40s and 50s: its streets, bars and tenement blocks. His images of everyday people provide us a glimpse into the unseen. It is not hard to see why this photographer is today credited with ushering in the age of tabloid photography where private stories from the street become tomorrow’s front page splash. Developing film in the boot of his car and delivering his photographs to the newspaper picture desks put him squarely in the realm of press photography, yet after the decades that have passed these photographs have transcended reportage and come to define an age.

HOST gallery is collaborating with Side Gallery, Newcastle to bring this rare and authoritative collection of Weegee prints to HOST, many of which have not been shown before in London.

The exhibition is shown in conjunction with an exhibition of Juan Medina’s Cruel Sea at HOST.

 

WEEGEE, PHOTOGRAPHS 1935 –1960
12 April – 7 May 2006

 

HOST Gallery
1 Honduras Street
London
EC1Y 0TH

 

Free admission.

Opening times: Monday—Friday 10am—6pm or by appointment at other times.

Nearest tubes: Old Street, Barbican. Buses: 55, 243

Melanie Manchot Moscow Girls and other stories

 

Melanie Manchot


Moscow Girls and other stories

Exhibition at Haus am Waldsee, Berlin

 

Moscow Girls and other stories is a solo show of photographs and video works by the artist Melanie Manchot. Through her large-scale installations the conceptual artist initiates a dialogue between Moscow and Berlin, developing a cultural exchange on the basis of storytelling. For the work Moscow Girls Melanie Manchot asked young women from Moscow to tell a personal story that takes place during the historical changes of the 1990s. The photographs are supplemented by the acoustic narrations to which visitors can listen via headphones.

Oral history plays an equally central role in the seven-channel video installation Hotel Moscow. This work reanimates the luxury hotel that was commissioned by Stalin in the mid-1930s. As he mistakenly had signed blueprints by two different architects, the hotel was rigorously constructed in two halves. The old-established hotel has been pulled down in 2004. In Melanie Manchot’s work its history is reconstructed through the varying memories of contemporaries.

Groups and Locations (Moscow) continues the investigation of individuals and their local contexts. For this series of large-scale colour photographs Melanie Manchot has invited random passersby to pose for a spontaneous group portrait at historic sites in and around Moscow. The collected group, staring focused in the camera, is also a statement on the current assembly ban at locations of political importance.

The show “Moscow Girls and other stories” is intended to occupy all of Haus am Waldsee’s 400 square meters of exhibition space. It is complemented by works that have been completed in Berlin not until spring 2006.

 

MELANIE MANCHOT was born in 1966. She studied at New York University and at City University of London and graduated in 1992 with a Master of Photography at London’s Royal College of Art. Since then her work has been awarded international prizes and forms part of several private and public collections. It has been shown in numerous exhibitions worldwide, for example at the Photographers Gallery (London), the MIT List Visual Art Centre (Boston), the Hasselblad Center in Gothenburg and the 1st Moscow Biennale. Manchot achieved first international attention through her photo series „look at you loving me“ (1998). In sensual portraits of her mother as a nude, Manchot confronts the aging body with the media-made myth of beauty as permanent youth.

The exhibition “Moscow Girls and other stories” at Berlin’s Haus am Waldsee presents the first large solo exhibition of Melanie Manchot’s work in Germany.

 

A catalogue accompanying the exhibition is available (60 pages, 10 €).

Curator: Dr. Katja Blomberg, art director Haus am Waldsee

 

Haus am Waldsee