Valérie Belin & CocoRosie

© Valérie Belin

Valérie Belin recently photographed the talented and fabulous Sierra & Bianca Casady -- the sisters behind the band CocoRosie -- for this Sunday's NY Times Magazine.

Valérie Belin is an amazing photographer and inspiration. Her powerful studies of mannequins, Michael Jackson impersonators, body builders and simple objects such as bags of potato chips, masks, and engines, never cease to amaze. They are simple, thoughtful, and stunning. Examples below.


All image © Valérie Belin.



Laura and I had the opportunity to see CocoRosie in 2005, and we (or I) LOVED them! I've fallen out of the music scene lately, but I hear their new album is insane. Check out a video from the album below.



Bianca is a talented visual artist herself, recently having a show at Deitch Projects. After the CocoRosie show that night in 2005, I stuck around to buy a shirt. I was lucky enough to have Bianca personalize the back of it for me. I told her I really wanted a shirt with the tour dates on it. So she told me to put it on. The next thing I know, she is drawing on my back. It has since faded, but she wrote, adding a few extra squiggles here and there, "CocoRosie, 1993 World Tour." It was nice while it lasted.

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,


From American Moments, ©Ellen Kok

When was the last time you had the Declaration of Independence read to you? Have a great Holiday!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92108861

Editing, etc.

I've been home now for about two weeks. If you are just checking in, I've been traveling the country and working on a new project for the last eleven months. I have not looked at a single sheet of film from the project since being on the road. I'm very excited to do so, but right now I am a bit overwhelmed.

In regards to the struggles of undertaking and completing a project, Sarah Sudhoff hits it right on the nose:

"First you have to think of an idea. Second you have to figure when and where to produce this idea or image in my case. Third you have to find the resources to take action and quite possibly get time off from work or other responsibilities. Fourth the work must be successfully shot followed by precise editing. Fifth, if you're still counting, is printing the work or uploading it to a website. Sixth getting the courage to share the new work which by this time seems old to you and has already taken up so much or your time, exhausted your funds and so forth. It seems at times the road leads no where with no end in sight."

Words cannot express my feelings about this project. I worked my ass of for a solid year to make it happen, and then I left everything behind, shut everyone out of my life, and focused on only myself and my work for roughly 300 days. Sounds wonderful, and it was, sort of. But the fact is I lost a lot this last year. I also gained a lot. Only time will tell...

I am going to try and dive into editing as early as tomorrow. I have decided to submit to the Blurb Competition (deadline in two weeks): I've talked to a few other photographers, and carefully read the comments on my previous post, and I do agree that the opportunity has the potential to outweigh the fine-print.

As of late, I have been struggling with discussing the editing process and showing Boonville work on the blog. Recently I've been reading Robert Adams' Beauty in Photography.

"To begin with, we ought to decide whether any public discussion of a particular work is appropriate. There are legitimate reasons for being hesitant to speak. Silence is after all the context for the deepest appreciation of art; the only important evaluations are finally personal, interior ones."

The blog does allow an outlet for me that I am comfortable with, to a certain point. But I've never really been one to show work online, or talk about a specific piece (with a few exceptions). Less is more? I believe there are eight images floating around the net from the project. In my opinion, that is too many. But with some time, it is possible that more will surface. Stay tuned for editing details, and other news.

Sarah Sudhoff & WIP

Uterus, 2006, © Sarah Sudhoff

My friend Sarah Sudhoff is the featured artist over at Woman In Photography this month. What a beautiful body of work. Check it out HERE.

Following my surgery in 2004 for cervical cancer, I began to photograph and perform in hospitals, morgues, medical museums and my doctors’ offices. My photographs and videos focus attention on the physical and emotional traces cancer and surgery can leave on the body while challenging the prescribed treatment for recovery and role of the patient.

View a great video interview with Sarah, HERE. You have to click on a few extra links to find it.

Read an essay written for The Intrepid Art Collector, HERE.

Also, Sarah has a limited-edition print for sale through Humble Arts, HERE.