Los Angeles is gearing up for all things photography with Paris Photo Los Angeles opening on the 24th, MOPLA (month of photography in Los Angeles) well underway, and on April 25th, the Los Angeles Center of Photography will hold a gala celebration, featuring the work of eleven Southern California photographers in an exhibition titled, Through The Lens: New Photography. The exhibition will present work in a variety of formats, from traditional 4×5 inch large format photography to toy cameras, phone cameras, and even underwater GoPro cameras and includes Jonas Yip, Wednesday Aja, Deborah Arlook, Tami Bahat, Magela Crosignani, Christopher Hall, Tracy Fleischman Morgenthau, Izumi Tanaka, Juliet Deissroth, Kristen Perman, and Sabine Pearlman. I have been an educator with LACP for thirteen years, and am so proud of these eleven amazing photographers who have come through my Next Step series of classes and are well underway in their fine art photography careers.  I know first hand how committed these artists are to their vision and craft. Congratulations to all. Hope to see you on Friday night!

THROUGH THE LENS: New Photography

WEDNESDAY AJA‘s Clubland

Shot in the dark, the provocative images in Wednesday Aja’s “Clubland” illuminate the glossy, garish, luscious minutia of nightlife’s landscape. A cultural observer documenting the unguarded moments and humorous juxtapositions up close and tightly cropped to reveal details often missed. Drink in hand, twisting arms and legs, sweaty thighs and torsos, ordinary shapes become abstract. “Clubland” provides a peepshow window view exposing the anonymous yet familiar.It’s not polite to stare, though you know you want to… Go on, take a look…

TAMI BAHAT‘s Improbable Truths

MAGELA CROSIGNANI’s Something is always far away

Magela Crosignani´s Something is always far away  explores the idea that no matter where we go to find meaning for ourselves there is always something unreachable and that ultimately our nature can´t be altered by any culture or role we may devise or by the failure or denial of any of these. Our presence is of a transitory nature, we inhabit these landscapes looking for meaning and a sense of purpose. We devise ourselves, create an identity and find something we ought to do. This project follows such journey through the landscapes of Pennsylvania, Los Angeles and India.

JULIET HASS‘s Return to the Desert

 CHRISTOPHER HALL‘s Swimming Lessons

Christopher Hall struggled to define his role as a new father until he found himself in a mommy-and-me swimming class with his infant daughter and couldn’t stop smiling. The process opened him up spiritually and emotionally and the resulting photographs document the sometimes hilarious, sometimes mystical ritual from a unique perspective thanks to his tiny GoPro underwater camera.

JONAS YIP‘s re:place

Jonas Yip’s series re:place explores the idea of place, both physical and temporal, what defines these places, and how these places are replaced over time: what do we retain of an actual place in our memories? It is an ongoing diaristic series of moments that suggest stories, fragmented and unfinished, and ultimately left for the viewer to complete.

SABINE PEARLMAN‘s Home

Sabine Pearlman created HOME, a series of memory objects while clearing out her childhood home in 2013. Photographing these objects enabled her to let go of the “thing”, yet hang on to the memories associated with it.

IZUMI TANAKA’s  Urban Haiku

While Izumi Tanaka shoots professionally, she has recently realized her iPhone was her “muse” as it gives her an easy access to be playful and explore creativity in making images. This series, Urban Haiku represents a part of a larger body of work she has been creating utilizing various iPhone apps. She’s inspired by the simplicity and abstract patterns she finds in her daily surroundings enjoying the process enormously.

KRISTEN PERMAN’s Laura Brown

There are a stream of messages and images about conventional roles and expectations, especially when it concerns motherhood. There is very little room for the person you were before, and those aspects of yourself begin to fall to the wayside as the roles are fulfilled day after day. Kristen Perman’s images are part of a larger series entitled ‘Laura Brown‘, exploring identity and the desire to find oneself by seeking solace in temporary spaces and places.

TRACY FLEISCHMAN MORGENTHAU‘s Sad Christmas Tree And Other American Studies

American Studies was my course of study in graduate school. Today as a photographer, I think about the word ‘studies’ in a different way. Sad Christmas Tree And Other American Studies is an ongoing series that explores elements of the American Dream including the concepts success, home, faith and fame. I think most people have an American Dream, whether we share it with a partner, announce it on Facebook or keep it for ourselves, unspoken. I’m interested in exploring the space between this dream and the day-to-day events that happen as we live our lives.

DEBE ARLOOK’s Scene and Heard

“I don’t know where he is … but he’s gone.”

Scene and Heard combines reality and illusion by merging unrelated images and text. Meaning is created by the viewer. Like a snapshot collector without specific direction, I was compelled to record snippets of overheard conversations from passersby in Hollywood. I had no plan. I was drawn to document dialogue that sparked my interest. Over time, I decided to pair these snippets to seemingly random photographs I made in the desert months earlier. Two separate and unrelated contexts combined to create a specific viewpoint, when there was none to be had.

(Mis)Interpretations happen on a regular basis as we make up stories in our heads, then try to convince ourselves our thoughts are accurate and founded in reality. Truth is, there is no meaning … except the meaning we create. Scene and Heard created it’s own meaning by evolving into a series of photographs resembling a storyboard for a low budget film. A dysfunctional love story … perhaps.

“I worship her, but what comes along with that is toxic.”

“I’m giving you imaginary love so hard right now.”