Archive for June, 2010

Boxing Day*

Posted by Danielle on Thursday, June 17th, 2010

movingGerman soldiers moving their belongings in the trenches of Yper, Netherlands, 1915, photographer unknown, Nationaal Archief

*No, not that one.

I’m in the middle of moving to a new apartment and right now, I can’t think of anything else besides boxes, bubble wrap, packing tape, and just how the Helen of Troy I managed to accumulate so much stuff in two years. So I’m leaving you with a photo of these German soldiers moving their belongings in the middle of the woods on Armistice Day, 1915.

I love photos from the early days of the medium and being able to catch a glimpse of past lives. Archival photos and documents are fascinating to me. I found this, like yesterday’s photo of soccer on motorcycles, at the Flickr Commons.

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Diagnosis: World Cup fever

Posted by Danielle on Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

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Soccer on motorbikes on the football pitch of Crystal Palace in London, England 1923, photographer unknown, Nationaal Archief

Even though I don’t keep up with soccer that much (despite the fact that it is the most celebrated sport the world over), I’ve had a bit of World Cup fever as of late.

I find the drone of the vuvuzelas oddly soothing (and would hate to see them banned); The New Yorker has  a fascinating profile on U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard (who also has Tourette’s Syndrome); and I can’t get enough photos of soccer action, especially vintage photos like the astonishing one seen above. You can find more vintage sports photos at the Flickr Commons, an online archive of public photo collections from around the world.

I wonder if we’ll see soccer on motorcycles make a comeback in time for the 2014 World Cup?

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Andrew Dosunmu x The African Game

Posted by Danielle on Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

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Since we’re in the thick of the World Cup, I thought it would only be appropriate to highlight The African Game, a book dedicated to Africans’ passion for football (a.k.a. soccer) by Nigerian-born photographer and filmmaker Andrew Dosunmu. From the publishers:

The African Game is a unique vision of the continent as documented by Nigerian photographer and filmmaker Andrew Dosunmu. Punctuated with vivid essays by journalist Knox Robinson, The African Game looks to soccer as a way to explore modern African life, culture, and identity. A compelling, on-the-ground depiction of Africa’s passion for soccer, this book is the first look at the rich sporting culture that has produced some of professional soccer’s biggest and highest-paid stars. The African Game will be a definitive resource during this summer’s World Cup, which will show the continent’s players emerging as some of the game’s best—as we look to South Africa as the host of the 2010 World Cup. As these pioneers change the way the game is played—and the way we think about the sport itself—The African Game provides crucial back-story and documents the soccer mania that has gripped the entire continent.

Like a film artfully moving through its plot, The African Game follows a narrative of the sport in Cameroon, Senegal, Togo, Cote D’Ivoire, Angola, Ghana, Tunisia, and Egypt by exploring its resonance at all levels of the culture, from national team sponsorship to the unmistakable street style that Africa’s soccer mania inspires. The African Game mixes classic portraiture and gripping reportage-style photography to frame Africa, its sporting heritage, and its everyday vibrancy in a way that is rarely seen—Africa as it actually exists, not as we imagine it to be. With imagistic essays framed by vital facts and stats about each team, The African Game will not only be an indispensable resource in the months leading up to the 2010 World Cup—it will be an unprecedented document of the sport and its place at the center of African popular culture.

Pick up a copy here.

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Honfest!

Posted by Danielle on Monday, June 14th, 2010

honfestPhoto by Brian Krista for b

Honfest has been an annual tradition in Baltimore’s Hampden neighborhood since 1994. It’s a celebration of all things kitschy and quirky—-two qualities that describe Charm City to a T. See more beehives, giant sunglasses, feather boas and awesome blue eyeshadow from this year’s Honfest, which took place Saturday and Sunday, here.

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Friday link round-up

Posted by Danielle on Friday, June 11th, 2010

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Photo by Eadweard Muybridge

Once again, here is another round-up of interesting links around the photosphere…

+Second Saturdays is going down tomorrow in the Station North Arts District. If only I didn’t have to get ready for a big move; I would totally go. I’ll have to aim for July since the only thing on my brain right now are boxes, packing tape and figuring out how I amassed such a huge amount of books in a two-year span.

+The Corcoran Gallery has free admission every Saturday this summer. Take advantage and check out the new Eadweard Muybridge exhibit, Helios: Eadweard Muybridge in a Time of Change.

+Coveting this gorgeous photograph over at 20×200.

+The Lens blog has a lovely feature on Magnum Agency photographer (and spouse of everyone’s favorite street photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson) Martine Franck.

+The Baltimore Sun has a gallery of World Cup fans from around the world. This guy is my favorite.

Have a great weekend.

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Middle classes in Africa

Posted by Danielle on Thursday, June 10th, 2010

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“Businessmen”, Abidjan, Ivory Coast

Photo by Joan Bardeletti

Middle Classes in Africa—the name pretty much sums it all up. Back in 2008, documentary photographer Joan Bardeletti decided to document the lives of the middle class people in six African countries over the course of 20 months. His goals are to “present a new but realistic vision of Africa” and “explore new ways of associating photo essay and classical research work.” So far, the project has taken him to the Ivory Coast, Kenya, and Mozambique, and he has produced intimate photographs of middle class life in those countries.

Given that it is a two-year project, this, of course, cannot serve as a comprehensive survey of what it means to be in the middle class in these countries. But it can and does serve as a stepping stone towards thinking about Africa not as a monolith, but as a diverse continent of different countries and cultures that is in a constant state of flux. And it also serves as a great companion to African Lens, which I wrote about before.

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Katherine Wolkoff

Posted by Danielle on Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

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photo by Katherine Wolkoff

Do take a look at the portfolio of Katherine Wolkoff, a photographer who splits her time between New York and New Orleans. She creates work that are equal parts elegant and mysterious. I found out about her through an excellent design blog I stumbled on a few days ago—Black Eiffel.

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Apartamento Magazine

Posted by Danielle on Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Issue #1, from Spring 2008

I love the photography that appears in Apartamento, which tags itself “an everyday life interiors magazine.”

So, who wants to buy this for me as a belated birthday gift?

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A proper introduction

Posted by Danielle on Monday, June 7th, 2010

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Photo by yours truly

I’ve been blogging here for a few weeks and I realized I never properly introduced myself, did I? I just dove right into the thick of things. So before we go any further, I should let you know more about me. My name’s Danielle. I’m from Chicago and I currently live in the D.C. metro area. I’m a photographer and I also serve as the visual arts editor of the Liberator Magazine. (I also blog at other places.) I went to graduate school in Baltimore and fell in love with the city—the people, the architecture, the great (and cheap!) restaurants, the club music, the Harbor, the parks, the museums, the vibrant gallery scene… even the Light Rail. (I’m weird like that, I know.)

As for Innervisions, this is a place for all things photography-related that I find eye-catching, inspiring, and thought-provoking. My hope is that what I share here will inspire and provoke you as well, dear readers. I also hope that you’ll share your thoughts with me here and create a dialogue about where photography is right now and where it has the potential to go. You can leave comments here, email me (photo at daniellescruggs. com), or take to the Twitter. (@dascruggs)

Thanks for reading and coming along for the ride!

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Friday link round-up

Posted by Danielle on Friday, June 4th, 2010

Happy Friday! I decided to share a round-up of great links from various parts of the photosphere. Of course, if you have a link you’d like to contribute, feel free to leave a comment.

+Today’s Pictures at Slate remembers the Tiananmen Square protests.

+Lens is featuring “In the Heart and Soul of Cuba,” a fantastic photo essay that documents the people of Havana.

+Sunday is the last day to catch One Hour Photo Show at American University.

+Great feature on Dorothea Lange from NPR’s Morning Edition.

+Self Publish, Be Happy is a weekend-long event that will be celebrating independently published photography books. Lucky Londoners.

+I’m so glad I stumbled upon the portfolio of Lia Sáile. It’s full of ethereal, dream-like images.

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