Aperture aggregates the best posts from this past week in the photography blogosphere.

• Forty years after AP photographer Nick Ut took the iconic ‘napalm girl‘ photograph in Vietnam, photographer David Burnett writing for the Washington Post reflects on an exposure that could have been his. He was standing mere feet away from the scene, surrounded by journalists, re-loading film into his Leica when he missed what became a most emblematic moment. The entry seems like it might have been a good fit for Will Steacy’s collection Photographs Not Taken, which features similar essays from photographers on moments that never became their pictures.
• “Radical change in the photography industry during the past five years has ignited an explosion of photo collectives,” writes James Estrin for the New York Times’ LENS Blog. He explores this recent trend after witnessing an impressive presentation by the newly formed Grain collective at the Look3 Festival in  Charlottesville, VA last month. The post offers a good bit of context for this May, 2012 Wired piece: “7 Budding Photo Collectives You Need To Know.”
• New Yorker’s PhotoBooth profiles Underage, an exhibition of work from six emerging photographers in their late teens and early twenties on view at Photoville, an exciting, week-and-a-half-long photography happening which kicks off in Brooklyn this Friday, June 22,  and features 60,000 square feet of exhibitions, hands-on workshops, nighttime projections, a “photo dog run,” and a “camera garden.” Find daily programming here.
• Time‘s LightBox goes “Behind the Cover: Capturing the American Dream,” exploring the process of the photo shoot for the birds-eye-view cover image by Jeff Minton that illustrates Jon Meacham’s article, “The History of the American Dream,” for this week’s magazine. They also profile Mike Sinclair, whose photographs accompany the same article inside the magazine. His current exhibition, Public Assembly, is on view at Jen Bekman Projects in New York City until June 23, 2012.
• A few things on street photography this week. Blogger and photographer Blake Andrews, who is interviewed by LPV Magazine here, reviews Cedar Pasori’s recently published “50 Greatest Street Photographers Right Now,” with an extensive selection of images. PetaPixel posts the highly informative video by Portland-based photographer Jimmy Hickey, “How to Photograph Complete Strangers” and the free 31-day “program” and e-book by street photographer Eric Kim, “Overcoming Your Fear of Street Photography in 31 Days.” This fall, we’re very excited to be publishing a monograph by Doug Rickard, “A New American Picture,” which offers a radical rethinking of street photography–photographs re-taken in Google’s Street View.
• Fototazo does another Book Discussion Group Recap on Gerry Badger’s collection of essays, The Pleasure of Good Photographs, this time focusing on “Without Author or Art: The Quiet Photograph,” exploring the restrained work of Stephen Shore, among others.
• The Fotojatka festival that traveled to cinemas around the Czech Republic last week screening audiovisual photography slideshows is now offering them free on their website featuring work by Kristoffer Axén, Nikos Economopoulos, Erwin Olaf, and Reiner Riedler.

Empty Vegetable Stand on Valentine’s Day, 3^rd Avenue & 110^th, New York 2010, photograph by Will Steacy, courtesy the artist

Michael Mazzeo Gallery is pleased to announce a special presentation of recent photographs by the American photographer, journalist, and social documentarian, Will Steacy.

Deeply moved by headlines decrying the perils facing the nation, Steacy, a former union laborer, packed his view camera and drove to Madison, Wisconsin to witness the heated confrontation between union workers and Governor Scott Walker. He spent 24 hours that night and the following day photographing events as they unfolded inside and around the capitol building, as the Governor prepared to sign the notorious bill restricting collective bargaining rights for union workers. Shortly afterwards, Steacy drove to Gary, Indiana, home to the first US Steel plant, and a city whose rise and fall has become a symbol of the plight of the American workforce. He photographed up and down Broadway, Gary’s main artery, documenting City institutions and local businesses, revealing the grim challenges that now face this once-vibrant city. Photographed in 48 hours, Steacy’s understated, quietly seductive images reveal an undercurrent of catastrophic anxiety enveloping the American psyche while pointedly exposing the harsh realities of a nation torn apart by misguided government policies and corporate greed. An outspoken critic of inequality and injustice, Will Steacy’s images, insightful, confrontational, and elegant, offer hope and renewal to a nation divided.

Will Steacy is honored to dedicate this exhibition to his mentor, Charles Gandee, 1952-2011.

Michael Mazzeo Gallery
508 W 26th street, Suite 318
New York

Opening reception:Thursday April 28, 6:00-8:00 pm
Exhibition on view: April 28- April 30, 2011
Artist talk: Saturday April 30,  3:00 pm

Empty Vegetable Stand on Valentine’s Day, 3^rd Avenue & 110^th, New York 2010, photograph by Will Steacy, courtesy the artist

Aperture is also excited to offer this limited-edition print by Will Steacy, one of five emerging artists selected by Aperture for the NYC Green Cart Photography Commission. This is the first of a series of limited editions from the Green Cart artists, soon to be released. These photographers were given the opportunity to document the NYC Green Cart Initiative, a program that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to underserved urban communities. Each photographer approached this project from a different point of view, offering a unique perspective of the Green Cart program.  The images have also been curated into an exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York titled Moveable Feast: Fresh Produce and the NYC Green Cart Program. Both the exhibition and the commission were  made possible with the generous support of the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund.

“I’m interested in the impact the fruit and vegetable carts will have on these areas and how they will compete with the neighborhoods’ established food institutions. As our country adapts to a struggling economy and we debate healthcare, the severity of these national issues can be seen on a local level through the Green Cart Initiative and its influence on New York City’s most economically challenged neighborhoods.”

-Will Steacy

Steacy’s work was inspired by his interest in the relationship between a community’s socio-economic status and its health records. One of the biggest debates in public health today is the fact that low-income households have the highest reported rates of illness, while high-income households report the lowest. Over the course of a year, he photographed the geographic areas where the highest reported instances of poor health and people living without health insurance overlap with Green Cart locations. Empty Vegetable Stand on Valentine’s Day, 3^rd Avenue & 110^th,  New York is a striking example of one of these neighborhoods.

The Curators and Artists

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© Andrew Hinderaker

Moveable Feast: Fresh Produce and the NYC Green Cart Program features the work of photographers who have turned their lenses on city neighborhoods where there is little access to nutritious food, documenting street scenes and urban environments. The exhibition also reveals a new, important use for a nearly ubiquitous and historic urban icon: the pushcart. Moveable Feast is organized by the Museum of the City of New York in conjunction with Aperture Foundation, with support from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund. Kodak generously donated film for the project.

Aperture Foundation asked five emerging photographers to undertake the NYC Green Cart Commission: LaToya Ruby Frazier, Thomas Holton, Gabriele Stabile, Will Steacy, and Shen Wei. As media outlets for this kind of sustained storytelling disappear, this commission is especially important—it supports photography, produces a meaningful archive, and expands public dialogue. Each of the five photographers brought a unique artistic vision and point of view to their mission of documenting the Green Carts, which operate in designated neighborhoods in each of the five boroughs. They photographed the carts themselves, the lives of the vendors, interactions with customers, and the commercial landscapes of the surrounding communities.

A special thanks to the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund for their partnership and support in making the Green Cart Photography Commission and this exhibition possible. Laurie M. Tisch commented, “The New York City Green Cart Initiative brings diverse partners together to help increase access to healthy fruits and vegetables across our city. Green Carts operate at the intersection of public health and urban culture. The Illumination Fund is delighted to help facilitate this inspiring showcase depicting the experience of NYC Green Cart vendors. The work of these emerging photographers celebrates an important NYC program as well as an iconic New York City street symbol.”

Susan Henshaw Jones, the Ronay Menschel Director of the Museum, stated: “We are so pleased to present the work of these artists, most of whom are working in the tradition of street photography and social documentary. The Museum of the City of New York has one of the most important repositories of photographs related to the social history of New York City. These five photographers follow in their footsteps. We are proud to present this exhibition, which helps focus attention on a vitally important civic issue.”

NYC Green Carts is an independently operated mobile fruit and vegetable stand program initiated by the Mayor’s Fund for New York City, the New York City Department of Health, and the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund. The Museum of the City of New York, with substantial and important holdings in the field of New York City photographs—most notably, in this instance, the Jacob Riis archive—jumped at the opportunity to exhibit the photographs in Moveable Feast and will complement the contemporary photographs with images from their historic collection. Several photographs of pushcarts will be exhibited, including an 1895 image by Jacob Riis, entitled “A Vegetable Stand in Mulberry Street Bend with Myself (Jacob A. Riis) in the Picture.”

Exhibition on view through July 10
The Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue

Sammy, Atlantic City, photo by Will Steacy, courtesy the artist.

Photography as a medium has always been actively concerned with describing identity. While a portrait is typically an artistic representation of a person where verisimilitude is the goal, here the inquiry is questioned and expanded. Rather than employing a camera to create an objective document, the artists in this exhibition are often involved in constructing narrative sequences that pose questions with open-ended outcomes. As the title, The Truth is Not in the Mirror… suggests, photography has the power to imply, construct, and/or deny a narrative. Many of the photographers are contemporary story tellers and, in this sense, their work reflects facets of our ever-changing precepts about family, identity, truth and fiction.

The artists in the exhibition: Tina Barney, Claire Beckett, Valerie Belin, Dawoud Bey, Jesse Burke, Kelli Connell, Michael Corridore, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Rineke Dijkstra, Jason Florio, Andy Freeberg, Lee Friedlander, David Hockney, Nikki S. Lee, Graham Miller, Martin Parr, Thomas Ruff, The Sartorialist, Alec Soth, Larry Sultan, Mickalene Thomas and Aperture Commissioned Green Cart artists LaToya Ruby Frazier and Will Steacy.

Wednesday, March 30 Lecture – Photographers LaToya Ruby Frazier and Jesse Burke  6 p.m.

Wednesday, March 9 Lecture – Photographers Kelli Connell and Will Steacy 6pm

Exhibition on view through May 22, 2011

Haggerty Museum of Art,
Marquette University 13th and Clybourn streets

See below for new upcoming exhibitions opening abroad in Europe:

Photo by Will Steacy

Will Steacy, who is a current contributor to Aperture’s ongoing initiative the NYC Green Cart Comission, has a new solo show The Montropolous Beast opening at Christophe Guye gallery in Switzerland this week. The Montropolous Beast, titled after a Zora Neale Hurston quote, brings together new and old works by the young artist whose photographs of America’s inner cities fall somewhere between photojournalist documentation and the poetics of romanticized realism. This will be Steacy’s first solo show abroad.

Will Steacy: The Monstropolous Beast
November 17th, 2010 – January 15th, 2011
Opening Tuesday, November 16th, 6-8pm

Chrisophe Guye Galerie
Dufourstrasse 31, 8008
Zurich, Switzerland

Photo by Robin Schwartz

Things Fall Apart a group show curated by acclaimed photographer Amy Stein and featuring an exciting roster of photographers opens November 20th at Berlin’s Pool Gallery. The exhibit brings together works by photographers Robin Schwartz, who was published in Aperture’s Tiny Vices books series, Lisa Kereszi who recently spoke on Aperture magazine panel 10 Things You Should Know About Magazine Publishing Today, Justine Reyes who spoke in Aperture’s NYPH ’10 panel series, Zoe Strauss, Juliana Beasley, Stacy Mehrfar, and Amy Stein herself. This exhibit considers the ways these disparate artist’s works comment on a collective understanding of the fine balance in our contemporary world between order and safety and a looming sense of chaos or danger. Things Fall Apart is Steins curatorial debut at Pool Gallery although she has exhibited at the gallery before.

Things Fall Apart Curated by Amy Stein
Works by Juliana Beasley, Lisa Kereszi, Stacy Mehrfar, Justine Reyes, Robin Schwartz, Zoe Strauss, Amy Stein
Opening reception November 19th, 2010, 6-9pm
On view November 20th 2010 – January 15th 2011

Pool Gallery
Tucholskystrabe 38 10117
Berlin, Germany

Sway, 2009 by Jowhara AlSaud

Today is the first day to bid online for items in Aperture’s largest auction ever. Browse Aperture’s Auction Catalog which features photographic works by a diverse range of artists including Jowhara AlSaud, Diane Arbus, Bruce Davidson, Joel Meyerowitz, Richard Misrach, Graham Nash, Mickalene Thomas, Brian Ulrich, James Welling, Kehinde Wiley, Michael Wolf, and Hank Willis Thomas. For the first time ever Aperture is also presenting an Emerging Artists Auction with works by Timothy Briner, Jen Davis, Cig Harvey, Mark Lyon, LaToya Ruby Frazier, and Will Steacy, among many others. Online bidding will remain open through Monday, November 1st at 12:00 noon EST.

Aperture’s 2010 Benefit and Auction will take place at The Lighthouse, Chelsea Piers on November 1st honoring Richard Misrach, Steven Ames, and Julie Saul. Immediately following the Benefit Dinner and Live Auction, the SNAP! Benefit Party co-chaired by Hank Willis Thomas, Carolyn Francis, and Giovanni Tomaselli of Polaroid, will feature special guest DJs, a raffle, an open bar, lite bites and treats.

Click here to preview auction items and bid online

Click here for more details and to purchase tickets to the 2010 Benefit Dinner & Auction

Click here for more details and to purchase tickets to the SNAP! Benefit Party

Morrissey ruined my life, 2009 by Adam Krause

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November 1st is Aperture’s 2010 Benefit and Auction. This year immediately following the Benefit will be the first ever SNAP! Benefit Party. Hosted by SNAP! The Aperture Foundation Young Patrons Program, this event is an exciting addition to the evening. Co-chaired by artist Hank Willis Thomas, Carolyn Francis and Giovanni Tomaselli of Polaroid, sponsor of SNAP!, there will be a silent auction of works by emerging artists including Jen Davis, Adam Krause, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Will Steacy, among others. The event will be spun by downtown fixtures, special guest DJs AJ Slim, Tim Barber of Tinyvices.com and Jeannie Hopper of LiquidSoundLounge.com and ArtOnAir.org. Featuring a raffle and a chance to win a number of luxury prizes, SNAP! Benefit Party will both be a celebration for Aperture artists, friends and patrons as well as a chance to support Aperture’s many valuable programs.

Click here for more information about the SNAP! Benefit Party and to buy your ticket

Click here for more information about Aperture’s 2010 Benefit and Auction

Click here to preview the Auction print list online. Online bidding on silent auction items begins October 18th!

Detail from Untitled, 2008 by Richard Misrach

Join Aperture for its 2010 Benefit and Auction on November 1st honoring photographer Richard Misrach; collector, philanthropist, former Aperture Trustee Steven Ames; and gallerist Julie Saul. This year’s auction will be Aperture’s largest ever with opportunities to bid on an exciting roster of prints by Diane Arbus, Bruce Davidson, Susan Meiselas, Joel Meyerowitz, Curtis Mann, Mickalene Thomas, Paul Strand, James Welling, Hank Willis Thomas and Kehinde Wiley among others.

Directly following the Benefit and Auction, the first-ever SNAP! Benefit Party and Emerging Artists Silent Auction hosted by SNAP!, Aperture’s Young Patrons Program will feature music spun by special guests DJs, an open bar, and great raffle prizes. The Emerging Artists Auction includes rising photographers such as Timothy Briner, Jen Davis, Adam Krause, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Will Steacy and many more.

Click here to preview silent and live auction items

Click here for more details and to purchase tickets to the 2010 Benefit and Auction

Click here for more details and to purchase tickets to the 2010 SNAP! Benefit Party

Tony by Will Steacy

Down These Mean Streets, a solo show of work by photographer Will Steacy, opens at Michael Mazzeo gallery in Chelsea Thursday, June 10th. Steacy, a contributing photographer to Aperture’s ongoing Greencart comission and a 2008 Tierney fellow, spent the past three years traveling to American cities and walking at night from the airport to the city’s central business district with his large format camera. The resulting images provide a rarely seen view of post-industrialist American inner cities, as years of neglect have left them with limited resources. The exhibition will include never before seen images, as well as a special limited edition newspaper (available for $5 at the opening) which is part of a larger installation on display exploring Steacy’s working process through journals, research notes, contact sheets, shot lists, influences and maps.

Click here to listen to Daylight Magazine’s podcast of Will Steacy discussing Down These Mean Streets

Down These Mean Streets
June 10 – July 16 2010
Opening Reception Thursday, June 10th, 6pm – 8pm

Michael Mazzeo Gallery
526 W. 26th Street
New York, NY
212-7416599

There will also be an 8×10 limited edition of 50 of the image Tony, San Francisco, 2010 available with the newspaper for $50.

NYC Green Carts are mobile fruit and vegetable stands initiated by the Mayor’s Fund for New York City, the New York City Department of Health, and the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund. These independently operated carts bring fresh fruit and vegetables to underserved New York City neighborhoods across all five boroughs. In the fight against obesity, diabetes, and other diet-related health problems, the Green Carts offer New Yorkers more options for buying nutritious food, while simultaneously creating about a thousand new business and job opportunities. Aperture and the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund have commissioned five emerging photographers: LaToya Ruby Frazier, Thomas Holton, Gabriele Stabile, Will Steacy, and Shen Wei to chronicle this remarkable program.

Through this partnership, Aperture reaffirms its founding commitment to explore social issues through the medium of photography and to provide a platform for emerging artists. Aperture will publish eight full-page public service announcements in Aperture magazine, and curate an exhibition to be installed at a local exhibition venue in September 2011 as the culmination of the two-year initiative. The exhibition will showcase the pieces featured in Aperture magazine, along with additional images and commentaries by the photographers and project partners. Look for the first announcement in the winter 2009 issue of Aperture, which hits newsstands late November.

Visit nyc.gov for more information on this ground-breaking project.