Torbjørn Rødland's Vanilla Partner

Torbjørn Rødland's photography is direct but idiosyncratic, pushing at the boundaries of aesthetic and social norms. His fifth book, Vanilla Partner, continues in this vein, combining images of fetishized isolation in a layout that rejects the linear structure of thematic photography books. Rødland’s practice navigates through the problematic and seemingly unchanging heart of popular photography. Accepting neither the humanist realism of most photographic portraiture nor the postmodern role-play, Vanilla Partner explores the cultural complexities and archaic foundation of contemporary image-making. Reconstructed scenes of ultrasoft BDSM read like twisted metaphors for photography’s ability to freeze or capture. The book title, dripping in innuendo, also poses a question about the ambiguity of the relationship between the artist and his medium. Is Rødland acknowledging the medium’s straight foundation or does he see himself dominated by it? Many of the images also have explicit political references, often linked to the 1980 US Presidential election. Vanilla Partner brings together works made in Oslo, Tokyo, Beijing and Rødland’s current home, Los Angeles. Torbjørn Rødland was born in 1970 in Hafrsfjord, Norway. Since the mid-90s his photographs have been exhibited widely. Vanilla Partner is available to purchase here.

Richard Kern New Book, Exhibition

Created in collaboration with Japanese hair salon/publishing house Salon Shizen a new book featuring photographs by Richard Kern, entitled 10:41, it features new images of young bodies "frolicking in the leafy Connecticut countryside." The series features very  prominently Kern's favorite symbole of youth and nubile eroticism: the cell phone; hence the name of the book is the time on most everyone's phone  when he took them and put them in a pile. The book is is available at Salon Shizen and Opening Ceremony. Come March, Kern is set to release Shot By Kern, his first Taschen book in four years, chronicling his experience doing a video series for Vice called Shot By Kern, in which the magazine films his shoots and interviews his models. The monograph is to be accompanied by an hour and 20 minutes of footage and a New York exhibition some time in the next year.

Mario Testino In Your Face

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A new book out now by Taschen entitled Mario Testino. in Your Face is an unorthodox collection of various images chosen by Testino from the span of his 30-year career reflects the diversity of his work, ranging from fashion and advertising shots to sexually-charged images and autobiographical photos. Full of color, life, and humor, this selection is a testament to the sheer brilliance of a tireless chronicler of fabulousness. This book is published in the occasion of the In Your Faceexhibitionat the MFA Boston (which opens October 17, 2012 and runs to February 3, 2013).

Legendary William Eggleston at the Gagosian Beverly Hills

Photographer, and legend in his own right, Brad Elterman caught some magical moments of the opening of the legendary William Eggleston exhibition opening of his classic Los Alamos series at the Gagosian Beverly Hills in Los Angeles on view now through November 10, 2012. 

Wolfgang Tillmans Neue World Exhibition and Book

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Tillmans's latest project sets its sights on the world. Over the period of more than two decades, Wolfgang Tillmans has explored the medium of photo-imaging with greater range than any other artist of his generation. From snapshots of his friends to abstract images made in a darkroom without a camera or works made with a photocopier, he has pushed the photographic process to its outer limits in myriad ways. For this collection of photos, his fourth book with Taschen, Tillmans turned away from the self-reflexive exploration of the photography medium that had occupied him for several years by focusing his lens on the outside world—from London and Nottingham to Tierra del Fuego, Tasmania, Saudi Arabia, and Papua New Guinea. He describes this new phase simply as “trying out what the camera can do for me, what I can do for it.” The result is a powerful and singular view of life today in diverse parts of the world, seen from many angles. Says Tillmans, “My travels are aimless as such, not looking for predetermined results, but hoping to find subject matter that in some way or other speaks about the time I'm in.” The exhibition Wolfgang Tillmans: Neue Welt / Wolfgang Tillmans. New World will be on show at the Kunsthalle in Zurich until November 2012. The  monograph will be available on October 30, but is available for preorder now. 

Edible Selby Exhibition

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Todd Selby will premiere his second solo exhibition at Jackson Fine Art in Atlanta by transforming the gallery space into a cornucopia of international food artisans with their delectable creations drawn passionately from his highly acclaimed NYTimes: T Magazine column. There will also be an early release of his new book Edible Selby, officially released by Abrams in October. Todd Selby: Edible Selbywill be on view until November 17, 2012 at Jackson Fine Art, 3115 East Shadowlawn Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia. 

Dennis Hopper's Lost Album on View @ Martin-Gropius-Bau

On view at Martin-Gropius-Bau Museum are an impressive four hundred vintage photographs taken by Dennis Hopper in the 1960s. Tucked away in five crates and forgotten, they were discovered after his death.Many of these pictures are icons, such as the portraits of Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, Paul Newman and Jane Fonda. They also cover a wide range of subjects. Dennis Hopper is interested in everything. Wherever he happens to be, whether in Los Angeles, New York, London, Mexico or Peru, he takes in his surroundings with empathy, enthusiasm and intense curiosity. He seeks and savours the “essential moment”, capturing the celebrities and types of his time with the camera: actors, artists, musicians, his family, Hell’s Angels and hippies. He leaves an impressive photographic record of the “street life” of Harlem, of cemeteries in Mexico, and of bullfights in Tijuana. Hopper accompanies Martin Luther King on the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Dennis Hopper: Lost Album is on view until December 17, 2012 at Martin-Gropius-Bau, Niederkirchner Straße 7, 10963 Berlin, Germany

Juergen Teller Outside His Exhibition at The Journal Gallery

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Juergen Teller's exhibition Irene im Wald is currently on view at The Journal Gallery in Brooklyn. Irene im Wald is the first part of what Teller sees as a four-part series to be shot in the woods near the house in Erlangen, Germany, where he was raised. "Gebrüder Grimm, witches, the big bad wolf—the forest is one hell of a scary place, I thought. But even as a child I was drawn towards it—it was scary, but the beauty and the peacefulness of it all sucked me in." Juergen's next exhibition The Girl with the Broken Nose will be on view at the Palazzo Reale in Milan starting September 20 and an exhibition at ICA, London starting in January. Irene im Wald is on view until November 4 at The Journal Gallery, 168 North 1st Street Brooklyn NY photograph by Michael Nevin

[PHOTOS] Billy Kidd Shot Heather Huey at Clic Gallery

On view now at Clic Gallery, Heather Huey Was Shot By Billy Kidd is a collaborative photographic project between Billy Kidd and his girlfriend haute milliner Heather Huey. The series features a series of nude black and white photographs by Kidd of Huey in some of her creations which include body cages, hats, and other accessories. Billy Kidd Shot Heather Huey is on view at Clic Gallery, 255 Centre Street, New York, until September 30, 2012. photography by Annabel Graham for Pas Un Autre

Scott Shuman, The Sartorialist, Opening at Danziger Gallery

In many ways Schuman can be seen as the first "true" photographer of the digital age. His pictures are shot digitally, disseminated digitally, commented on digitally, and printed digitally. Keenly sought to lecture, shoot, exhibit, and attend the front row of fashion shows around the world, none of this would have happened before the internet. To celebrate the September publication of Schuman's second Penguin book, The Sartorialist: Closer, Danziger Gallery will be mounting a two week exhibition concurrent with New York's Fashion Week. The Sartorialist will be on view from September 7 to September 15, 2012, at Danziger Gallery, 527, West 21st Street, New York