Horacio Coppola, whose black-and-white photographs of the cafes, side streets and neon-lit boulevards of Buenos Aires in the 1930s, and of ordinary objects like a typewriter and a doll, introduced avant-garde photography to Argentina, died on June 18 in Buenos Aires. He was 105.
Brad Elterman's first photograph at the age of 16, of Bob Dylan performing on stage, started a life long love affair with photography. His images captured the last gasp of a bygone era of rock n' roll – the 1970s – the days when glamour was rare and pure and stars were stars because they were elusive and unattainable. His classic images of Joan Jett hanging out in motels and flipping off the camera, David Bowie coming out of his studio, Playboy Playmates hanging out in his Hollywood apartment pool, and more, capture moments in a snapshot style instantly recognizable as Elterman's own. And his photographs were published in every major magazine. Then he gave it all up. For three decades Elterman laid low. Over the last few years Elterman started to reemerge: he started a blog that archived his oeuvre, but also documents new moments, in 2011 he published a coffee table book called Like It Was Yesterday, and he has been having gallery shows across the world including his latest show Factory 77 in Los Angeles which opened a couple of days ago and will be open all summer. I got a chance to ask the very busy Brad Elterman a few questions about photography, Los Angeles, and some current projects he has been working on including including a new website that showcases his photographs from the 1970s and pop culture today, but is also a platform for new photographers.
PAS UN AUTRE: Can you remember the moment you knew you wanted to become a photographer - can you remember the first image you ever printed?
BRAD ELTERMAN: My first image ever printed was a performance photograph of Bob Dylan on stage in 1976. It was also probably the instant that I told myself that I would like to make a career out of this.
AUTRE: Who were some of your biggest inspirations - not just photographers?
ELTERMAN: Helmut Newton, Ron Galella, Richard Creamer all photographers of course. My mom was my greatest inspiration. She was a painter and she thought me to create my own style. She was so supportive as long as I was happy.
AUTRE: Who was your favorite subject to photograph?
ELTERMAN: Probably Joan Jett. She always has style and so cool to hang with and of course to photograph. Talent and style, you just can't beat that.
AUTRE: What was your impression of Los Angeles then (1970s) and now?
ELTERMAN: I loved L.A. during the 70's, but I did not know the rest of the world. Since traveling the world now, I still always come back to Los Angeles. The weather, the light, and all the characters. It really is one of the most creative and comfortable cities in the world. Not the culture of Pairs and New York, but you can n't have everything.
AUTRE: What are some of your thoughts as you look through the view finder?
ELTERMAN: It's hard to believe that I am taking photos again after a more than two decade break. During my silence, there was nothing to photograph and the internet did not exist. So when I look though the view finder I am sort of in disbelieve. It's a fun feeling and I like it.
AUTRE: What is Factory 77 and what can we expect from your current show?
ELTERMAN: Factory 77 just launched. It's my 70's photos, my new photographs of pop culture today and most importantly it is a showcase for all of the amazing young photo talent out there today. I have met so many talented photographers via the internet and I enjoy sharing stories with them. Erica Lauren, a Los Angeles based photographer is the editor and I will photo edit. We would love to showcase young rock bands who embrace the internet for exposure. No performance photos. I want the pictures to be raw and captivating. It will be great fun.
AUTRE: Most exciting plans for the future?
ELTERMAN: I am part of Vogue Italia's Photo Vogue this summer at 10 Corso Como in Milan. It is an exhibition from 101 photographers. The collection is amazing and there is some incredible talent. My photo is entitled "Valley Chicks" and I took it back in 1977 on a roll of black and white film. My Factory 77 exhibition photographs at Kana Manglapus Projects, Venice is up all summer and I plan on spending time at the gallery. It's going to be a cool summer.
Brad Elterman's exhibition Factory 77 will be on view until Spetember 10, 2012 at Kana Manglapus Projects. Follow Brad Elterman on his tumblr page. Text by Oliver Maxwell Kupper for Pas Un Autre
Hamilton's Gallery in London presents, for the first and possibly only time ever, Irving Penn's Cigarettes series in its entirety. Marking a quarter century as the UK representatives of Penn's studio Hamilton's has the unique privilege of presenting the full 26 images of the series along with a fully illustrated hardbound catalogue. Penn's cigarette still lifes were literally found on the street and brought into his studio to photograph, turning "pure detritus into a symbolic representation of contemporary culture." And by printing the photographs with his beautiful platinum palladium process he elevates the images to rare objects. Irving Penn's Cigarette series will be on view until August 17, 2012 at Hamilton's Gallery, 13 Carlos Place, London
A new photograph by Adarsha Benjamin
Valerie Phillips new self published zine Meow is now available from Create publishing. This is the first publication Valerie has released since Amber is for Caution back in 2010. Meow features model and photographer Arvida Bystrom. About the publication, photographer Valerie Phillips said, "...My friend Milene showed me a self-portrait by a girl called Arvida. She’d titled it Lick Fuck Luck. I loved it so much, I flew her from Sweden to spend the weekend with me in a big empty house in East London, so I could take pictures of her. We painted on walls, drank coffee and talked about all the random things we like. Arvida makes art mostly using her camera. She is 20 years old. She washes her hair, max, once a week. She has a hopelessly unrequited love of cats. She is allergic to them, so instead of the real thing, she surrounds herself with plastic ones. And stickers. Her favourite colours are pink and rainbow. She likes trance, techno and house. And she dresses in her own peculiar style, what I’d call girly intellectual hip hop." You can find Meow by Valerie Phillips here.
Now available, the first three volumes of Swedish photographer Anders Petersen's City Diary [Steidl]. Since the 1960s Anders Petersen has been documenting life beyond the margins of polite society, a world including prostitutes, transvestites, alcoholics, night-time lovers and adult conflict. Petersen photographs his subjects with a candid somewhat detached eye, and is able to disclose unpleasant realities such as drug abuse with a sense of bewilderment and currency. City Diary is an ambitious series of books ahowing Petersen's ongoing photographic engagement with life in the shadows in cities including Stockholm, Tokyo and St Petersburg. Anders Petersen's books are some of the most collectable produced by any living photographer. City Diary is the beginning of an open-ended book series which will be added to periodically and will available when ready. Together they will comprise one of the most exciting book works ever made. You purchase the first three volumes of City Diary here.
a new photograph by Moscow based Lena Vazhenina
On view until September 4, 2012, the Galerie Hors-Champs will show prints by young photographer Hannibal Volkoff, 3, rue de Thorigny , 75003 Paris
In 2000, Ryan McGinley, then a student, staged his first exhibition of photographs in an abandoned SoHo gallery. To coincide with the show, the artist created several handmade books featuring a sampling of his work entitled The Kids Are Alright. A copy eventually found its way into the hands of Sylvia Wolf, then a curator of photography at the Whitney Museum of American Art. In 2003, Wolf mounted an exhibition of his work at the venerable institution, the youngest artist to ever have a solo show at the museum. What Wolf recognized—and what other critics, curators, and collectors would quickly discover—was an artist who understood and chronicled his own generation (habituées of New York City’s downtown) as no artist had before him. McGinley had managed to capture the hedonistic adventures of youth culture—kids hanging out and enjoying life—but without the dark underbelly of earlier artists who mined similar themes. Ryan McGinley 's first major monograph of his photography, entitled Whistle for the Wind
Jessica eating a watermelon on the first day of Summer, photograph by Oliver Maxwell Kupper
Adarsha Benjamin & Perry Shimon, photograph by Oliver Maxwell Kupper
Photograph by Sisilia PiringThe Original Smashbox Photo Assistants Show is will be opening this Friday in Los Angeles. Happening each year since 1995, The Smashbox Assistant show has celebrated up and coming Los Angeles based photographers. Opening party Friday June 22, 2012—LightBox Stage in Culver City, RSVP here, 8549 Higuera Street Culver City, CA 90232
Charles A. Hartman gallery in Portland presents Summertime, a poignant early body of work by the photographer Mark Steinmetz. The photographs in this exhibition were taken between 1984 and 1991. They were made in Boston and New England, Chicago and rural Illinois, and Knoxville, Tennessee. Like all of Steinmetz's images, they embrace the space between artist and subject with a curiosity that is empathetic and enigmatic. Summertime, a recently published monograph by Nazraeli Press will accompany the exhibition. Summertime will be on view from June 20 to July 28, 2012 at Charles A. Hartman Fine Art, 134 NW 8th Avenue, Portland, Oregon
Photograph Oliver Maxwell Kupper
Madonna Nude by Lee Friedlander
Pace Gallery and Pace/MacGill in New York announce that they will represent legendary american photographer Lee Friedlander, who shot Madonna nude for Playboy (above)— he will continue to be represented by San Francisco’s Fraenkel Gallery — and will present a two-part exhibition of his work at their 32 East 57th Street locations in the fall. Follow Autre Magazine on Instagram for more updates like this: @AUTREMAGAZINE
In December of 2011 while walking on Sunset Blvd, near the intersection of Vine Street, Gregory Bojorquez was caught in the crossfire of a shoot out between a gunman and LAPD. As Bojorquez instinctively snapped pictures, police shot the gunman dead in the street. One innocent bystander was also shot and later died in the hospital. Bojorquez’ photographs were carried by hundreds of newspapers around the world, but have never before been available to view as a sequence of fine art prints. Using these series of photographs as a backbone, Bene Taschen (son of Benedict Taschen) has curated a retrospective of sorts of photographs by Bojorquez from the 90s and 2000s. Gregory Bojorquez .45 POINT BLANK will be on view at the Hardhitta Gallery until July 12, East Annex, 5900 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA
Alain Delon et Mireille d'Arc leave a party. Photograph by iconic French paparazzo Daniel Angeli, whose exhibition of photographs from the 60s and 70s, entitled Icônes, is on view until June 19 in the Galerie Art District at the Hôtel Royal Monceau 41, av. Hoche 75008 Paris.
Adarsha Benjamin & James Franco wearing Future Eyes. Photograph by Alia Penner
Photograph by Oliver Maxwell Kupper
