What do you get when you take Elton John, Nan Goldin and a photograph of a naked child?

Apparently, a legal mess. Watch out everyone! Nudity is going to quickly overtake terrorism as the world’s next biggest threat.

Austin pointed me to this video of Garry Winogrand with Bill Moyers, 1982. The piece offers some of Winogrand’s now infamous and influential insights regarding photographing and photography. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

A picture is about what’s photographed and how that exists in a photograph.

I think that there isn’t a photograph in the world that has any narrative ability — any of them. They do not tell stories; they show you what something looks like to a camera.

The minute you relate this thing to what was photographed, it’s a lie.

All the photograph ever does is describe light on surface — that’s all there is, and that’s all we ever know about anybody… what we see… we are our faces.

Over the summer, Michael built a sailboat. He ordered the plans, bought all the wood, hardware, a sail and lifejacket, with the intention of setting sail in the Hudson river. Last Saturday, he accomplished his goal. He launched from a small beach off of Dyckman Street in upper Manhattan. I documented his excursion, starting in his studio earlier that morning, as he finished building the mast, and attempted to help him move the boat into a van to transport it to the launch spot. Unfortunately, halfway through getting the boat into the vehicle, I experienced a relatively bad (and recurring) back injury, and had to spend the rest of the day limping along, using the tripod for support.

I plan on creating a short video documentary about Michael and his boat project (which somehow relates to his MFA thesis and his painting practice). I shot almost 3 hours of footage (using Ben’s thankfully borrowed digital camcorder), detailing the various difficulties (carrying the damn thing, my back going out, the rain that threatened to cancel the whole thing, trying to find Michael after he disappeared up the Hudson), and plan on shooting a debriefing of sorts sometime next weekend. Hopefully, I’ll have a working edit done in about a month.

We were welcomed at the beach by a friendly group of Dominicans (and a curious Polish guy named Robert), who were having a great time getting drunk and high as they played maracas and other noise makers to music blaring on a portable CD player. We were also helped by a woman named Nan, who employed her Rascal-type scooter to go up the trail and keep us posted about Michael’s whereabouts after he sailed out of sight.

It was a very interesting and difficult experience - but not nearly as hard as it’s going to be to not somehow incorporate Michael, Row the Boat Ashore into the documentary.

Last Friday, our good friends from Nebraska — eagle*seagull — played at the Mercury Lounge. They were great, and it was fun to have midwesterners represent here in NYC. Unfortunately, their van was not so great, and they got to spend a lot of money getting it towed off the Manhattan bridge (at 4:30 in the morning), and then towed again later that morning to a repair shop for a new radiator hose. Nothing like being in a band, huh?

For the last seven days, I’ve been editing photographs for WireImage (now owned by Getty Images which also owns FilmMagic).

I’ve seen enough runway models and clothes for many lifetimes, and greatly admire those who do this for a living more than ever — it is difficult to work with photographs in that capacity and not become jaded, cynical or tired about artmaking and its eventual commodification.

However, this particular freelance job pays a lot, we’re treated very well — we’ve been fed sushi, lots of fancy coffee drinks and we get cars home at night — and we get to stare at pretty women wearing incredibly expensive clothes for 10 hours every day. So it’s not really all that bad.

As the week progressed, we began to come up with themes for the day. Today was hat day, and as you can see, we are all indeed wearing hats:

And those hats stayed on throughout our entire shifts. Even Jen’s bunny ears. We are all about commitment.

It has been great to meet some fellow photographers (and geek out all day long talking about tech stuff that no one else in the world cares about), but I am happy the week is almost over. Tomorrow is the last day, and after some drinks, I will be thankfully back out of the fashion loop, where I belong.

This is what the interwebs are for.

The interwebs (via reddit) have given some time to Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, usually considered one of the three – along with William Henry Fox Talbot and Louis-Jacques Mandé Daguerre – best known inventors (discoverers? pioneers? instigators?) of photography.

If you follow the link to the Harry Ransom Center’s The First Photograph exhibition, you’ll be treated to a relatively comprehensive history of Niépce’s involvement with the revelation of photography. Although not as tragic as poor Hippolyte Bayard, Niépce did not get to enjoy the spoils of his research and work (mostly because he died 4 years into his 10-year contract with Daguerre).

And here’s an interesting statement from an article on Niépce’s first photograph by Jim Lewis:

The quality of a photograph lies not in its subject matter but in the irreducible entanglement of photographer, apparatus, and image. The most interesting fact to contemplate is that someone had the will and the opportunity to take it at all.

Is this different that the quality of any art?

From everyone’s favorite wealth of questionable information:

Labor Day is a United States federal holiday that takes place on the first Monday in September. The holiday began in 1882, originating from a desire by the Central Labor Union to create a day off for the “working man”. It is still celebrated mainly as a day of rest and marks the symbolic end of summer for many.

• Hours of Work in U.S. History
• Take Back Your Time
• U.S. Department of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics
• International Labour Organization
• and, my very favorite, State of the Economy Overview at whitehouse.gov

From the State of the Economy Overview:

College Tuition Remains An Affordable Investment.
College enrollment rates among 18 to 19-year-olds increased by 6 percentage points from 2000 to 2005. 2005 marks the first year in which enrollment rates for this group passed 50 percent. Average net tuition and fees (accounting for grants) at four-year public universities was $2,700 for the 2006-07 academic year, and represented just 8 percent of income for families in the lowest income quartile. (National Center For Education Statistics, Census Bureau, and College Board)

That’s great – and to make up for the affordable tuition, they just raise the interest rates on student loans! I was at about 3% when I graduated from college three years ago. Currently, my interest rate is over 8%. Thanks, George!

(Related: here’s an interesting look at President Decider Bush’s use of his veto power.)