OUR FIRST 3-D POST!!! – Jack Laxer at the Getty
CLICK ON THE THREE THUMBNAILS BELOW TO VIEW ANIMATED GIFS. IF YOU’D RATHER VIEW THE IMAGES SIDE BY SIDE, WE’VE POSTED THEM AFTER THE JUMP.
WHAT: Photography in 3-D: Capturing the Built Environment, Photography by Jack Laxer
WHEN: Sunday, April 11, 2010, 3:30pm – 5:30pm
WHERE: Getty Center, Museum Lecture Hall
COST: Course fee $15 (includes 3-D glasses and parking); reservations required. Call (310) 440-7300
My grandmother owned a stereopticon, and as a child I was fascinated by it. I still have it, and it looks *just* like the contraption on the right. Basically, during the early days of photography the stereopticon was an invention that helped people of the late 19th century collect the sights of the world without leaving home… a magical machine displaying the most exotic wonders of the world in 3D so people could fantasize about being there in person. 3D may be all the rage when it comes to watching movies right now, but the art of 3D photography is still more amazing to me somehow.
The other day I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Jack Laxer who will be showing his master 3D/stereo photography of Modernist architecture at the Getty this Sunday (complete with 3D glasses provided!) . When he was kind enough to offer me the opportunity to feature some of his work on HiddenLA this week, I wasn’t sure how I was going to do it justice but I knew I was up to the challenge. Since I can’t exactly hand out stereopticans to all of you, I decided to try turning them into animated gifs… and it actually kinda works! Obviously the effect will be much better if you go to his Getty event and check out his work in person with 3D glasses on your face, but this’ll give you a taste. One warning though… before you click on the thumbnails below, just please be sure you aren’t epileptic. Oh, and just know if you haven’t had coffee yet, you probably won’t need any after viewing them. ;)
CLICK ON THUMBNAILS BELOW FOR ANIMATED GIFS
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TONIGHT – Jazz Photography *Icon* Herman Leonard!
What: Mingling with 86-year old legendary jazz photographer Herman Leonard in person. Enjoy art and refreshments along with music provided by Joey Altruda and his Cocktail Crew.
When: Tonight (8/29), 8-11pm
Where: Reserve,
420 North Fairfax
Price: FREEEEE!
Details: AIGA/LA & Reserve present The Photography of Herman Leonard. Meet legendary jazz photographer and coolest guy in the world, Herman Leonard, at his solo exhibition.
“In the late 1940’s, Herman Leonard’s passion for jazz brought him to the swinging clubs of Broadway, 52nd Street and Harlem. With the camera as his free ticket, he photographed and developed friendships with some of the greats of jazz history including Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington and many more.
A year’s apprenticeship with Yasuf Karsh provided invaluable experience photographing the likes of Albert Einstein, Harry S. Truman and Clark Gable. In 1956 Leonard was chosen to be Marlon Brando’s personal photographer for an extensive research trip to the Far East. In the late 1950’s Leonard headed for Paris where he worked in fashion and advertising and served as the European photographer for Playboy Magazine.
IMAGERY – The Car Next Door
Sometimes my little dog sits in my lap when I drive. Yeah, I know it’s not exactly an encouraged driving habit, but she knows if she stays very very still I’ll allow her to rest her face on the sill of the car window and stare at people. Lately, other drivers have started staring back at her and every once in a while I’ll hear baby talk coming from dog-loving drivers at stoplights (which of course she loves). Now I laugh and smile, but at first it felt awkward to me… as if there was some kind of social code being broken… like you aren’t *supposed* to acknowledge that you’re staring at other drivers while en route to wherever. With so much time spent in them, cars can be strangely personal, like an extension of someone’s private home.
VECTOR PORTRAITS is a collection of images by Andrew Bush, all taken between 1989 and 1997, that explore this exact unspoken code: “Andrew Bush (b. 1956) examines this tension between private and public in his remarkable series of photographs of individuals driving cars in and around Los Angeles—a city famous for its car culture. By attaching a camera to the passenger side window, Bush made these pictures while driving alongside his subjects—often traveling at 60 mph. Taking notes on the speed and direction he was going, Bush created extended captions for the images and called the series Vector Portraits.”
Besides the coffee table book, seems that some of the images may be available as prints if you like them.
