6.29.2016

Reading Shortlist 6.29.16

From Jacob Bernstein, Bill Cunningham, Legendary Times Fashion Photographer, Dies at 87, The New York Times

The Reading Shortlist is an occasional post with an eclectic listing of recommended sites, readings and links. A recommendation does not necessarily suggest an agreement with the contents of the post. For previous shortlists, please visit the site links page.
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Ahorn Letter #1. Glad to hear one of the best and most respected independent online photo magazines is not only relaunching after a couple years off, but expanding into new projects.

Kate Palmer Albers, Becoming a Stock Image, and other Surrogates for the Online Self, CIRCULATION | EXCHANGE. Interesting piece about the (im)possibility of public online erasure as well as on the work of David Horowitz.

Jacob Bernstein, Bill Cunningham, Legendary Times Fashion Photographer, Dies at 87, The New York Times. Have a look at the documentary movie "Bill Cunningham New York" and you'll see why every photographer in your newsfeed was sad that he died.

Joerg Colberg, Photojournalism and Manipulation, Conscientious Photography Magazine. Colberg has a pretty amazing ability after all these years to keep finding arguments to stir the conversational pot. This piece raises an interesting question: where does the burden of a photograph rest - in this case, romantic photographic kitsch that straightjackets its subjects as one-dimensional stock characters? The photographer who makes it, the publisher who distributes content employing art directors looking for specific images or the public who creates demand? I'll meet you at the bar and we'll discuss.

Daniel S. Palmer, ARTnews, GO PRO: THE HYPER-PROFESSIONALIZATION OF THE EMERGING ARTIST. The dangers of heavy speculative investment in young artists and of their precocious professionalization.

Robin Pogrebin, The New York Times, Art Galleries Face Pressure to Fund Museum Shows. Highlights the latest problems in gallery-museum financial intertwining and interdependence.

Neal Rantoul, A Disturbing Trend. A professorial rant on the deskilling of photography and the use of text to hide poor images in a project.

Peter van Agtmael, Time Lightbox, Why Facts Aren’t Always Truths in Photography. A nice reminder of the difference between the facts and the truth and between manipulation and deception in the midst of another community debate on those ideas.

War History Online, The Executioner in the Infamous Vietcong photo opened a Pizzeria in Suburban Virginia After the Vietnam War. Some context on the executioner in the Eddie Adams image.