In this interview, Swedish photographer Kristoffer Axen explains the subject and process of his work which involves a lot of post-production. He touches on more specifically his At Sea At Night series, picturing a very “dark and claustrophobic” world inspired by painters and filmmakers.

reGeneration2: tomorrow’s photographers today exhibition and accompanying publication, is presented by Aperture Foundation from January 20 through March 17, 2011, in collaboration with the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland, and with the support of Pro Helvetia and the Consulate General of Switzerland in New York.

Following the worldwide critical acclaim of the book and exhibition reGeneration: 50 Photographers of Tomorrow in 2005, a breakthrough publication for artists such as Pieter Hugo or Nathalie Czech, Aperture Foundation and Musée de l’Élysée in Lausanne, Switzerland, have collaborated on a new edition. This second volume and exhibition–the broadest survey of its kind–features the works of eighty up-and-coming photographers selected from 120 of the world’s top photography schools.

As the digital revolution continues its relentless advance, it demolishes longstanding practices in every domain of the photographic field. reGeneration2 examine how the new generation of photographers operates, showcasing their inspiring creativity and ingenuity, and revealing the diversity of emerging photography.

Stay tuned for more video interviews with artists from this exhibition to be featured on the blog next week!

Click here to view and purchase the reGeneration2: tomorrow’s photographers today book

View the Aperture limited edition photographs by Kristoffer Axen and other reGeneration 2 artists here.

View previous interviews with curators William A. Ewing and Nathalie Herschdorferher and artist Geoffrey H. Short.

This is the first clip of a series of interviews with artists from reGeneration2: Tomorrow’s Photographers Today.

In this interview, New Zealand photographer Geoffrey H. Short explains the process and the spirit behind his explosions series, when the terror and the sublime meet. Short also touches on how the series developed in a different direction, and the importance of his participation to the reGeneration2 project for his career.

reGeneration2: tomorrow’s photographers today exhibition and accompanying publication, is presented by Aperture Foundation from January 20 through March 17, 2011, in collaboration with the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland, and with the support of Pro Helvetia and the Consulate General of Switzerland in New York.

Following the worldwide critical acclaim of the book and exhibition reGeneration: 50 Photographers of Tomorrow in 2005, a breakthrough publication for artists such as Pieter Hugo or Nathalie Czech, Aperture Foundation and Musée de l’Élysée in Lausanne, Switzerland, have collaborated on a new edition. This second volume and exhibition–the broadest survey of its kind–features the works of eighty up-and-coming photographers selected from 120 of the world’s top photography schools.

As the digital revolution continues its relentless advance, it demolishes longstanding practices in every domain of the photographic field. reGeneration2 examine how the new generation of photographers operates, showcasing their inspiring creativity and ingenuity, and revealing the diversity of emerging photography.

Click here to view our limited-edition print with Geoffrey H. Short and other reGeneration2 artists

Click here to view and purchase the reGeneration2: Tomorrow’s Photographers Today book

In this edited clip, the curators and authors of reGeneration2: tomorrow’s photographers today, William A. Ewing and Nathalie Herschdorfer, explain the anonymous selection process of this international survey through photography schools all over the world. By reviewing over 700 portfolios, the curators were interested to reveal “what photography schools are doing today” and not necessarily new trends. They also touch on specific directions within this survey they were surprised to encounter and the “complimentary unit” between the exhibition and the book.

This edited excerpt is from a panel discussion on reGeneration2 that took place on January 19, 2011 at Aperture Gallery, coinciding with the exhibition on view. In addition to the curators, the panel included Sam Stourdzé, Director of Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne and artists Ted Partin (USA), Benjamin Beker (UK) and Jennifer Osborne (Canada) from both reGeneration projects.

Stay tuned as we will soon feature on the blog a series of individual interviews with artists from reGeneration2!

reGeneration2: Tomorrow’s Photographers Today exhibition and accompanying publication, is presented by Aperture Foundation, in collaboration with the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland, and with the support of Pro Helvetia and the Consulate General of Switzerland in New York.

Click here to purchase the reGeneration2′s exhibition book

Alex Prager’s dazzling and saturated color portraits of young women depict a synthetic and surreal glamor. The images reference dark cinema and the melodramatic as conveyed through constructed scenes of suspense and uncertainty. Last fall coinciding with MoMA’s New Photography 2010 exhibition, artist Alex Prager and gallerist Yancey Richardson were in conversation at Aperture Gallery and Bookstore.  An excerpt of the discussion is now available to watch on Vimeo.

In this edited excerpt, Alex Prager explains how William Eggleston’s work has inspired her to start a career in photography ten years ago. She also speaks about how she works from the initial idea to the preparation of the shoot and the “magical minute” when everything comes together. When Yancey Richardson asks about the emotional quality of her photographs, she references the influence of silent movies and film noir from the 1940′s and their glamorous imagery.

Click here to watch the conversation!

Vik Muniz, whose book Reflex: A Vik Muniz Primer was published by Aperture in 2005, is the subject of a new documentary directed by filmmaker Lucy Walker. The new film titled: Wasteland follows Muniz as he embarks on an ambitious and moving project in his Native Brazil, traveling from Brooklyn where he currently resides to the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, home of the world’s largest garbage dump Jardim Gramacho. Collaborating with Catadores: workers who comb the dump for recyclable materials, Muniz constructs images from the garbage itself, transforming the materials being worked with while promoting wider awareness around issues surrounding waste, the ways landfills affect surrounding communities and reminding us all the potential power and impact of art. Wasteland opens in New York this Friday at the Angelika Film Center.

Wasteland
Opens in New York Friday, October 29th, 2010

Angelika Film Center
18 W. Houston Street
New York, New York

Click here to purchase Vik Muniz’sReflex: A Vik Muniz Primer

Internationally celebrated photographer Gregory Crewdson who appeared in Aperture magazine issue no. 190 (and is a former Aperture Work Scholar ) recently debuted a new series of photographs entitled Sanctuary, opening at Gagosian Gallery in New York. In this new body of work, Crewdson photographs the decaying grandeur of film sets on the back lot of legendary Italian film studio Cinecitta, once the setting of numerous iconic films by filmmakers Federico Fellini and Roberto Rosellini. Captured with striking detail, these black and white images present a different take on ongoing themes of the cinematic, truth and fiction, in the Artist’s work. A catalog of the exhibition is available through Abrams books.

Click here to view Aperture magazine’s featured web content with Crewdson, including exclusive production images and interviews.

The Times Center presents, TimesTalks: Stories & Pictures: Gregory Crewdson, A.O. Scott and Noah Baumbach on Tuesday, October 5th. New York Times film critic A.O. Scott talks about storytelling with film and photography with Academy Award-nominated writer-director Noah Baumbach (“Greenberg”) and renowned photographer Gregory Crewdson (“Beneath the Roses,” “Sanctuary”). Buy tickets here.

Gregory Crewdson: Sanctuary
September 23 – October 30, 2010
980 Madison Avenue
New York, New York

Los Angeles-based artist Zoe Crosher and Jan Tumlir spoke at Aperture this past winter following the appearance of Jan Tumlir’s article Femme Fatale: Zoe Crosher’s reconsidered archive of Michelle duBois in Aperture magazine issue 198. Their conversation situated Crosher’s work in relation to its historical precedents in the art of Conceptualism, the Pictures Group, and identity politics, exploring self-invention and role-playing as told through personal photographs and what comes of the great “archival theme” in the digital era. This talk can now be viewed online in its entirety.

In the below edited excerpt of Zoe Crosher in Conversation With Jan Tumlir, Zoe Crosher introduces her body of work The Unraveling of Michelle Dubois which considers the “Fiction of any sort of totality when it comes to photography” and the archive. Crosher describes the importance of installation in the work and her interest in “Collapsing all the different kinds of mediums” and “different kinds of photographs” in her practice. Jan Tumlir tells Crosher that the project addresses the history of how art takes up photography saying that the project presents “This beautiful solution,”  the photograph “does actually become art when it starts disintegrating.”

View the talk in full here:

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

A special limited-edition project is now available from Crosher titled The Vanishing of Michelle duBois. An edition of 15, each a unique image, as Crosher has slowed down and mapped out the stages of material disappearance. The image of the Naughty Nurse progressively transforms into a sea of mute whiteness; the information degrades and fades out, leaving only the traces of a fantasy history. Collectors can consider acquiring multiple prints to illustrate the series intent, or choose the individual image most appealing to them.

Photographer Dave Anderson‘s recently released book One Block: A New Orleans Neighborhood Rebuilds is a powerful portrait of post-Katrina New Orleans as seen through the prism of a single city block whose residents are attempting to rebuild their homes. Using portraiture and still lifes, Anderson explores the very nature of community while testing its resilience.

In the below edited interview Anderson offers a behind the scenes look at the project that took four years to complete. ”There were some wonderful people on the block and I became invested in them almost immediately” says Anderson as he discusses how his relationship with his subjects shaped the work. View Anderson introduce and tell the story of key images from the project and the people depicted within them.

For more from this project visit the new One Block Microsite. Featured on the site are interviews with residents of the New Orleans block from the book, outtakes not included in the book and more!

On the fifth anniversary of Katrina join Anderson and the residents of One Block as Aperture, Oxford American, and the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans host a block party on the block where Anderson. The party will feature local cuisine and musical performances by Rebirth Brass Band and Little Freddie King and will celebrate the resilience of these residents and the power of community.

An accompanying exhibition of Anderson’s photographs will open at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.

View Block Party details here.

Click here to purchase One Block: A New Orleans Neighborhood Rebuilds

As we approach the five-year anniversary of the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, Aperture is pleased to announce the release of Dave Anderson‘s monograph One Block: A New Orleans Neighborhood Rebuilds and related events, celebrating and considering the reconstruction of one street in New Orleans and the very nature of community and its resilience.

The portraits, still lifes and abstract images presented in One Block, documented by photographer Dave Anderson from 2006 – 2010, deliver a  powerful portrait of post-Katrina as seen through the prism of a single block whose residents are attempting to build their homes.

Bruce Harris on returning to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina “When I first came back to New Orleans, there was not a sound (…) at night, it was pitch dark.”

Stacy Rockwood on volunteer-based relief and rebuilding efforts: “Our recovery came from people from all over the United States. That just gives me great hope.”

Lisa Periloux on life in New Orleans after the Hurricane “Nothing is written in stone. I just kind of go day by day and hope for the best.”

Over the next few weeks join Aperture at events in New York and in Louisiana on the occasion of the release of One Block and in commemoration of the ongoing efforts of New Orleans and its citizens to rebuild their city.

Dave Anderson and Paul Moakley in Conversation
Tuesday, July 13, 6:30p

Aperture Gallery
547 West 27th Street, 4th floor
New York, New York

Dave Anderson: One Block Exhibition at ClampArt
Opening reception: Thursday, July 15th, 6:00 pm
Exhibition on view: July 15, 2010 – August 20, 2010

ClampArt
521-531 West 25th street
Ground floor
New York, New York

Dave Anderson Talk and Book Signing
Saturday, July 17th, 6:00 pm

Octavia Books
513 Octavia Street
New Orleans, Louisiana

Dave Anderson Talk and Book Signing
Tuesday, July 20, 6:30 pm

The Historic New Orleans Collection
533 Royal Street,
New Orleans, Louisiana

Click here to view Dave Anderson’s monograph One Block

This past March photographer Sarah Pickering and independent writer, lecturer and curator Susan Bright spoke at Aperture about Pickering’s first book Explosions, Fires and Public Order. The book gathers together four photographic series by the artist: Public Order which explores the Metropolitan Police Public Order Training Centre, a simulated urban environment where officers rehearse responses to scenarios of civic unrest; Explosion which document the use of controlled explosions by the British military in training exercises; Fire Scene and Incident which were produced while Pickering was an artist in residence at the UK Fire Training College.

In the edited excerpt below Pickering talks about the two series Public Order and Explosion. On Public Order Pickering states that the “sense of latent violence” in empty sets was a more “evocative” and powerful image to her than trying to capture action shots of the police training. Pickering also touches on autobiographical aspects in her work and identifies demonstrations against the war in Iraq as an inspiration for the images in Explosion.

View a second short excerpt focusing on Pickering’s Fire Scene and Incident series:

Excerpt 2

View the talk in full here:

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Click here to purchase Sarah Pickering’s Explosions, Fires and Public Order